Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(79)

He must have hid them there while I distracted the poltergeist. Jeremy switched his attention back to the excavation as plastic started to show under the dirt.

Clive gave his staff a little wave, and the dirt stopped. He knelt on the ground and placed his hands flat on it. Sighing, he stood with a distasteful look on his face. “I count ten bodies.”

“Time for a full-on cleansing spell,” Jeremy said. Alarm flooding Clive’s face was the only thing that made Jeremy reach behind him on instinct and grab the butcher knife’s handle as little Kevin, who had woken sooner than his parents because of the ghosts’ influence, almost jammed it into his side. “You are so lucky you picked a fucking kid to possess.” Jeremy flicked the boy’s head, and Kevin’s eyes rolled into the back of his skull. As Jeremy caught the boy, he glanced at the unmoving entranced parents. “Since your spell didn’t hook into the kid strongly enough, you owe me the decency of not blabbing about me knocking out their kid.”

Clive scratched his head apologetically. “I didn’t see a thing.”




“IT’S REALLY over?” a dazed Mr. Evans asked Clive and Jeremy as he shook their hands again.

Clive nodded. “Yes, finally.”

“See?” Mr. Evans said as he wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We didn’t have to destroy the house like that lady said. She probably watches too many movies.”

“No,” Jeremy said. “Burning the house down and the ground surrounding it would have been the best first option. There are only a handful of agencies like us who could beat a haunting of this size without coming to harm. At our prices, everyone would have laughed at you and told you to go fu—go for a much higher amount.”

Mr. Evans shook his hand a third time to probably stop him from talking while his wife began glaring. “Thank you so much again. I’ll remember you if I or my friends ever run into this kind of trouble.”

“You’re welcome,” Clive said.

“Thank you, Mr. Wizard and Mr. Magician!” Kevin waved at them as they moved to the door.

Jeremy actually waved back and bowed again.

I guess he has some good points with the younger ones. When the door shut behind them, Clive looked at Jeremy. “We made a good team in there.”

“My mind hasn’t changed. I’m still leaving you the first chance I get.”

“I’m not doubting your resolve,” Clive said as he got in the car. When Jeremy was situated properly, he started it and smiled as Kevin waved good-bye with both hands from a window. Before they reached the end of the driveway, another car pulled up, and an older man got out.

The old man walked to Clive’s window and tapped on it. “Pardon, but are you the ghost exterminators?”

“Is that who I think it is?” Jeremy asked out of the side of his mouth.

Clive kept his face smooth of emotion except for slight confusion at being addressed by a stranger. An hour earlier, and those ghosts would have settled down if we gave them him. He lowered his window and smiled. “Yes, may we help you?”

“I was wondering if you disturbed the property too much.” The old man’s shoulders sagged. “I know it’s not mine anymore, but the family has been kind and let me know when they did any construction.” He pointed at the neighboring house. “Properties lose value that way, and the neighborhood association takes things like that very seriously.”

Clive tilted his head to the side. “Thank you for the advice.” He raised his hand and slowly lowered it parallel to the old man’s face. “Why did you come here?”

“So I could assess the damage and shoot anyone before the cops were called. With all the robberies, it’s easy to make it look like a breakin.” The old man blinked and clutched his throat. “I’m not supposed to say that.”

Clive’s jovial smile disappeared. “With the truth spell I put on you, yes, you are. And you’ll keep talking when the cops get here.”

The door to the house opened slowly, and Mr. Evans stepped outside with a fireplace poker clutched in front of him. “Mr. Cooke?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Clive turned to their client. “Call the police as soon as we leave. This villain won’t be able to move or shout until you say the words, ‘He’s a murderer’ in the presence of a person with a gun—other than him.”

Mr. Evans’s jaw set, and his chest rose and fell quicker as it dawned on him what the killer’s intentions had been. “I wish those ghosts had killed you.” He looked at Clive. “It’s safe for me to go inside?”

“Yes, and Mr. Cooke will patiently wait out here.”

Mr. Cooke licked his lips as he struggled to move. “What have you done to me?”

Jeremy leaned over to Clive’s side of the car, so he could stick his head out the window. “He did a far nicer thing than what I would have done to you.” He sat back and pointed at the steering wheel. “We’re done, so now it’s time for you to feed me expensive food.”

“Since you almost got stabbed, pick anything you want,” Clive said as he drove around the car blocking them and left the serial killer in their rearview mirror. I know Mr. and Mrs. Evans probably aren’t in the best moods after lack of sleep, but I don’t think they’ll kill him before the cops arrive. Maybe rough him up a little. He glanced at his passenger as they drove away from the large houses. I wonder what Jeremy would have done if he’d done this job alone. Would he have allowed the murderer to live? Jeremy was right. Sooner or later their moral differences would create enmity between them, and perhaps his leaving was for the best.