Hidden Magic by Wynter Daniels Page B

like?”
    She shook her head. “One was in the shadows. It was so dark. Hannah was terrified.”
    He’d questioned her family and her friends yet no one had told him anything about her having a boyfriend but he wondered if she did. Or both men could have been working together to hurt her or rape her. But Jilly had said both were important to Hannah. And someone was going to hurt them both. “Did you get any sort of feeling for who these men were to her?”
    “No. Just that she knew them and she was afraid.” She shivered and he yearned to take her into his arms again, but he couldn’t.
    He had no business mixing work with his personal life. But he believed her, in her. When had he gotten on board and started accepting anything supernatural as legit? He took a moment to digest the notion.
    “Two men. Interesting.” There was no way of confirming that any of them were at the scene since it had rained the entire week prior to them finding Hannah’s car. All the tire tracks and footprints and God knew what other evidence had been washed away. “Can you give me any details on who these men could have been?”
    She gingerly touched the tree again and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she shook her head. “I think she knew them both because like I said, I got the impression they both meant a lot to her.”
    “Could they have been rivals for her affection?”
    Her forehead creased. “Maybe.”
    “Someone has to know something about the men. Hannah’s school friends say she didn’t have a boyfriend and her parents confirm that.” He kicked the dirt. What was he missing? If she had a secret relationship—or more than one—she wouldn’t be the first teenage girl to keep that information from her parents. But none of her girlfriends had known much of anything about Hannah. Maybe she had a friend he didn’t know about.
    He scratched his head. “Let’s go. I’ll drop you at Mind’s Eye or at your place if you want. I’m going back to square one. I’ll interview everyone Hannah knew all over again if I have to. If she had a boyfriend—or two, someone had to have known.”
    * * * * *
    Hours later Jilly slapped a mosquito from her arm as the coven’s Beltane ritual practice wound down. Her mother had always said she had sweet blood, which was why the bugs loved her so much. It was always worse during rituals since they were usually held on the beach bordering the woods in the early evening, right when mosquitos fed.
    Eloise stepped into the middle of the circle. “That was terrific, folks. Thank you— most of you—all for memorizing your parts. We’ll get the maypole out of storage tomorrow then we’ll be all set.” As the group dispersed, she headed straight for Jilly.
    “See you tomorrow.” Taryn waved then joined their friend Haley who waited for her near the entrance to the south path into the camp.
    “Night.” Jilly just knew Eloise was going to reprimand her again for leaving with Zander today. Or maybe she just wanted to scold her for now have her part of the ritual completely down. She drew a steadying breath.
    “Someone came in the store this afternoon asking about you,” Eloise said.
    People came asking for her all the time, usually referrals. “Did they make an appointment?”
    Eloise shook her head. “Not a client, at least I don’t think that was what she wanted. She asked for you by name, and wanted to know if you worked there. When I said you did, she thanked me and left.”
    “Hmm. Maybe she’ll come in tomorrow.”
    “I don’t think so. She didn’t seem to be in the market for a reading or anything else we have to offer.”
    Eloise was trying to tell her something, but she didn’t understand what.
    They started walking toward the north path to the camp. “What did she look like?” Jilly asked.
    “Thin, blond, very put together, you know, very professional looking.”
    The back of Jilly’s neck prickled. Could Hannah’s mother have come searching for her?