Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,7
the door, that strange dichotomy that allows something that tastes so good at night to smell so bad the next morning. Her attention quickly turned to the five customers sitting at the bar: three men, two women. All except one young man appeared to be fifty and up. One of the women was a werewolf. Thanks to Ari’s witch gifts, she could spot the auras of shape shifters, even when they were in human form. The wolf gave a brief nod of acknowledgement.
The other four were full-blooded humans. They studied Ari with curiosity and speculation. Neighborhood bar. Strangers stood out. They must be wondering why Joe brought one of the snoopers inside.
Ari knew they weren’t staring because she looked different. Even though her parentage was mostly witch blood, a taint of human had given her the blonde hair. Light hair, green eyes, girl-next-door ordinary. Nothing about her shouted witch. The raven hair, so common to her race of conjurors, had passed her by. She was usually mistaken for human, and she had heard her share of blond jokes—before people got to know her. Often under-estimated on first impression, she had learned to make it work for her.
The younger man sized her up and offered the bar stool next to him. He wouldn’t have done that for a witch. Ari took the offered seat; Joe went behind the counter.
“This here’s Guardian Calin,” Joe announced. “Works for the Magic Council. She’s here about the shooting. Introduce yourselves. Anybody need a refill?”
The young man turned to her, his face a little more guarded after that introduction. “Never met anyone who worked for the Magic Council.”
Ari gave him a friendly smile, ignoring his obvious invitation to elaborate on her job or her parentage. Once they were finished with introductions, she asked about Eddie. They clammed up.
“Don’t mind this crew,” Joe said. “No one wants to get Eddie in more trouble.” He gave the counter a vigorous rub. “Known him a long time. He’s a good kid.”
“And a friend of mine,” Ari said. “If I can help him, I will. But I need to know exactly what happened.”
They relaxed a bit after that, enough to admit everyone had been present the night before except the young man sitting next to Ari.
“Last night was busy,” Joe began, as he finished with the refills. “Being a holiday and all. Lots of celebrating, so there was quite a racket. But we all heard the shots real well. Four of them. Wasn’t fireworks. Too powerful for that. Thought somebody was celebrating with a pistol. Whatever it was, I knew it was trouble and dialed 911. By the time I looked outside, everybody was standing around the body. Then the cops came.”
“Could you see the victim?”
“Um, not really. Saw someone was on the ground. Then heard it was Jules. I didn’t stay outside long. Went back to watch the bar.”
“From what you could see, did Eddie have a gun?”
Joe finished wiping the bar counter. He tossed the rag underneath and leaned on his elbows. “No gun. Saw Eddie, as well as I can see you, but no gun. Can’t believe he’d shoot someone. Two summers ago he tended bar on the weekends after I broke my arm. Wouldn’t take any money.” Joe shook his head, lips pursed. “Don’t understand what happened last night. Gotta be some kind of mistake.”
Ari encouraged Joe to talk about Eddie and listened with interest as he related details of Eddie’s family history. The West kids had grown up with a church-going mother and an alcoholic father. Liquor hadn’t been allowed in their home, but Old Ed, as Joe called him, bought a pint or two every time he sneaked out of the house. “Drink finally killed him,” Joe concluded.
Hmm. Ari kept the spark of surprise off her face. Eddie had said his father wasn’t around much when he was young but nothing about the alcoholism. “And yet Eddie worked for you. With that history, I’d have thought he would stay away from bars.”
“Not around here. Everybody stops at the Inn. Even kids come around to buy their soda. And the West kids both drink a little. Not too much,” he added quickly. “With Lorraine and Jules it was always wine.”
“Any idea why Jules was coming here last night without Lorraine?”
“Often did. They came together now and then for a drink. But more often, he’d stop for a bottle. Take it over to Lorraine’s.”
Ari frowned. Who buys their home stash at a bar? Sounded expensive to