Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

Only when I’d heard the door chime and his car start did I stand up from behind the counter with my wad of damp paper napkins. “I can’t believe I made such a mess,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow. “I was wondering what you were doing down there. I almost thought you’d recognized him and were trying to hide, or something.”

I started to say that I had no idea who he might be, then realized that maybe this was a good opportunity to give her a valid excuse for keeping an eye on him. “He did look familiar,” I said.

She gasped and put a hand to her mouth. “You didn’t see him on America’s Most Wanted, did you?

Maybe I should call the police. Do you think it would help or hurt business if word got around that a famous serial killer stayed here? I mean, as long as he didn’t kill anyone while he stayed here. That would probably freak out potential customers. But if he got arrested here, that might get some attention, right? We’d at least have a few reporters staying here, and the motel name would get in the paper.”

That was a little more excitement than I’d been aiming for. I’d forgotten how active Nita’s imagination could be. “No, nothing like that,” I corrected her before she could get carried away and call the police. “He just looks familiar. Maybe it’s someone I know from New York.”

She put a hand on one hip. “Why would someone from New York be here?”

Thinking fast, I came up with something I was sure would get her attention. “You know, he may be someone from this band I once saw in a club.” Not that I frequently went to see bands in clubs, but that was certainly her image of my Sex and the City life in New York, so I went with it. “He could be on his way to Austin from Dallas for a concert or music festival, or something, and he might be taking the back roads to really get into the roots of the country.”

Her eyes grew huge. “Oh, wow! A rock star in my motel! Just think, if he ever does hit the big time, that could make this place famous! We could make room twenty-five the—” she had to check the registration form “—the Phelan Idris room, and we could decorate it with concert pictures. We could make this the Rock and Roll Motel!” She flipped up the counter and ran to the lobby, where she could look out the side windows toward Idris’s room, and I knew I had her hook, line, and sinker. She’d track every move he made. After watching for a few minutes, she turned to me. “Do you think you could watch the desk for a few minutes? I ought to get my camera. I’ll need proof he stayed here if he gets famous. We have plenty of rooms, so if someone needs a reservation, get their info and give it to them. There’s no way we’ll have another person checking in this afternoon. I’ll be back in a sec.” She was gone before I had a chance to object.

When she was gone, I went back into the office and grabbed one of the extra keys for Idris’s room off the key rack and pocketed it, glad that Nita’s dad hadn’t yet upgraded to card keys. Then I picked up the phone. I realized I hadn’t asked for Owen’s cell phone number, and he certainly hadn’t volunteered it, but I knew Teddy’s number, and they were probably still together, so I dialed that one.

“Hey, Sis,” Teddy said when he answered. “Have you settled down any?”

“I’m fine. Is Owen there with you? I need to talk to him.”

A second later, Owen came on the line. “Katie?”

“Idris just checked into the motel,” I said without bothering with a greeting.

“He what? Are you sure?”

“I was right here when it happened, though he didn’t see me, and it’s his name on the register. There can’t be more than one of him.”

“But why is he here?” He sounded almost frantic, which was strange for him.

“Funny, that question didn’t come up when he was asking for a smoking room with an open-ended stay.”

“I’ll get Sam on surveillance.”

“He’s in room twenty-five, and I think he’ll already be under surveillance.” The front door chimed, and I said, “I’ve got to go. We can discuss it later.”

Nita was back, breathless and with flushed cheeks from her dash to the family home behind the motel.

“Any calls or new guests?”

“Not a one.”

“I already took a picture of his car, but it’s a rental, so it doesn’t really say anything important or meaningful about him. I guess we’ll have to wait for him to come out.” She dragged a couple of the lobby chairs over to the window, and I joined her. “Oh, I should have gotten snacks for our stakeout,”

she added as she settled into a chair, her camera at the ready. “So, were you ever going to tell me what you were so upset about when you got here?”

“Oh, just something with my brothers,” I said dismissively, not really wanting to get into any issues with Owen at the moment. Then I had a brainstorm. My brothers. Of course. I knew exactly why Idris had come here. “And speaking of my brothers, I’ve left Owen alone with them for too long. I’d better get back home. You’ll let me know if anything interesting happens?”

She didn’t take her eyes away from the window when she responded, “Of course. This is the most exciting thing to happen to this place in ages.”

“The band wasn’t all that good,” I said, already worried that I’d set her up for disappointment.

“It doesn’t take much to be the most exciting thing to happen here,” she replied dryly.

I was glad I’d parked on the side of the office away from Idris’s room, so even if he was so bored or paranoid as to be staring out the window, he still wouldn’t see me. When I got home, the barn was empty, so I headed into the house. The door to Dean and Teddy’s old room was shut, and I had a feeling that’s where the guys were. I knocked lightly on it and got out the “It’s” part of “It’s me”

before the door swung open.

“That must be really handy,” Teddy said. His eyes had a wide look of surprise and awe, like he was still taking everything in. He and Owen sat on one of the beds, most of the magic course pamphlets spread between them, while Dean sat on the other bed, watching the other two suspiciously. It almost looked like a slumber party for overgrown boys.

“So, I guess y’all are all squared away,” I said, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind me, in case Mom came back or Granny showed up.

“Yeah, Owen gave me the whole story,” Teddy said. “It’s absolutely incredible, isn’t it? I mean, all those years I spent playing Dungeons and Dragons, and it turns out to be real, and we never even knew. Just think of the trouble Dean could have gotten into if he knew he had magical powers all along. Though I guess he managed to get into enough trouble with them now.”

“And think of how amazing my tattletale abilities would have been if I’d been able to catch him,” I said. Then I turned to my other brother. “Dean, you wouldn’t happen to have called anyone at your magical correspondence school about what’s been going on, have you?”

“Well, there is a customer service number you’re supposed to call when you’re ready for the next lesson or if you have any problems.”

“When was the last time you called it?”

“Um, uh, well, last night, when I couldn’t get into the bank. You’re supposed to let them know if something doesn’t work, and being bounced off the door wasn’t in the troubleshooting list, so I called right away, and then they transferred me to someone higher up, so I guess it was a bigger issue than I realized.”

“That’s why Idris is here, I bet,” I said to Owen.

“What did you tell them?” Owen asked. He’d gone pale, and I could see the tension in the muscles around his jaw.