Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

Owen was sitting on the front porch swing, two dogs at his feet, when I got home. “You look a lot better,” I told him as I joined him on the swing.

“I’m feeling better. What are you doing home so early? If you keep this up, they may realize they can function without you.”

“I’m trying to wean them off me so it won’t be too hard to get away again.” I waited for him to say something about me going back to New York with him when this was over, but he didn’t, so I got to the reason I’d come home so quickly. “I don’t know for sure if this is relevant, but Nita said several people have checked in at the motel already this morning and she has a few more reservations.

They’re all young men, and she wasn’t impressed by the ones she’s seen so far.”

“I take it this is unusual?”

“She usually checks in maybe a dozen people a week, at the most. I thought it was kind of suspicious that we’re hit with a relative onslaught of the kind of people who are usually drawn to Idris the day after he gets here.”

“You’re right. There probably is something going on.” He took the cell phone from his pocket and made a call. “Sam? Anything to report from last night?” He listened to the response and said, “Can you get back over to the motel and keep an eye on it? We’ve got a few new guests we aren’t sure of.

Thanks.”

He closed the phone and returned it to his pocket, then said, “The police investigated pretty thoroughly last night, but they didn’t seem to know what to do about a set of mysterious break-ins in which the stolen goods were returned. They were baffled, but they didn’t have any suspects in mind.”

“So it looks like Dean will get away with it. As usual.”

“He may have escaped the police, but I don’t think your grandmother is through with him.” He grinned then, and he suddenly looked years younger with the worry and tension around his eyes easing a little. “Do I detect a hint of sibling rivalry there?”

“He always had a talent for getting away with murder. He might have started it all, but the rest of us got in trouble while he got off scot-free. Frank said he could roll in the manure pile and come out smelling like roses. Dean could smile at Mom, and she’d forget that he was even in trouble.”

“But I thought it was the youngest—and especially the only girl—who could get away with things.”

“Not in my family. I think I was held to a higher standard. Boys will be boys, you know, but girls are expected to be better than that. But I guess I did mostly stay out of trouble. I just always felt bad for Frank and Teddy getting in trouble so much when Dean got away with it.”

The door opened and Mom stuck her head outside. “Phone for you, Katie. I think it’s Nita.”

“Coming,” I said, trying to get off the swing gently so it didn’t send Owen rocking too much. He looked better, but he still looked like he’d be better off sleeping for a week.

“Hey, what is it?” I asked when I got to the phone.

“Three more people checked in, and I have two more reservations. This is crazy.”

“More band members?”

“Not unless they’re reviving the big band in a postmodern way. There are too many of them. Do you usually get guy groupies? Or maybe they’re like a new version of the Grateful Dead, with people who follow them everywhere. That would be cool, but Mom and Dad won’t be okay if they’re doing drugs in the motel or planning a concert in the parking lot.”

“Are they giving you any trouble?”

“They’re fine. I just don’t have the staff for this. Say, you wouldn’t want to pick up a housekeeping shift, would you? I don’t need it today because all the rooms were already clean, but tomorrow’s going to be a nightmare.”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that. Thanks for keeping me posted. Maybe we’ll stop by later today to check out the commotion.”

I returned to the porch and told Owen what Nita had reported. “You know, playing housekeeper might not be such a bad idea,” I said. “It would give me an excuse to spy on these guys and see what’s going on.”

“But she said she didn’t need help until tomorrow, and I hope we have a sense of what’s going on before then.”

“If Idris is rallying his troops, it’s too bad we told him about Dean. We could have had a double agent.”

“We could still have a double agent.” I’d seen that look in his eyes before, and it made me nervous.

Normally, he was totally sane and rational, but he had a well-hidden crazy streak, especially where Idris was concerned. It was probably a testosterone thing, so I didn’t understand it.

“What do you mean?” I asked warily.

“Well, you were just telling me about some of your sibling issues growing up. It’s not outside the realm of imagination that it could work both ways. What if he didn’t care what his baby sister said about doing bad magic and only told you he’d given it up to appease you, and then he went right ahead with his plans?”

“Oh, you are sneaky. I’ll give him a call.”

I moved to head back into the house, but he handed me his cell phone. I called Dean’s cell and said,

“Have you actually posted any nasty stuff about Idris on that course message board?” I asked.

He groaned. “Sorry, Sis, I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“No, that’s good. See if there’s something going on about him rallying his troops in town. It seems like they’re congregating. You need to go meet with him and tell him your sister and her crazy boyfriend are full of it, and you wouldn’t listen to us anyway.”

“And then report back to you everything they say? Got it. I’ll give you all the details when I have them.”

I closed the phone and handed it back to Owen. “Looks like we have us a double agent. I just hope we can trust him.”

“You think he’ll turn on us?”

I sighed and worried my lower lip with my teeth. I felt like a turncoat. This was my brother I was talking about, and as much as he sometimes irritated me, I did love him. But there were bigger things at stake here than family ties. “He’s susceptible to flattery, so if Idris manages to get under his skin, it might affect his loyalty. You know, it’s too bad we can’t send Teddy as the spy. He’d fit right in with that crowd.”

Owen fought back a yawn. “With the right preparation, I bet I could fake him as a magic user.”

“But that wouldn’t be a good use of your resources. You need to get some rest. I have a feeling it’s going to be yet another crazy night.”

Sure enough, I’d barely fallen asleep when the usual tapping on my window woke me. I hadn’t planned to be going out, so I was in my pajamas instead of dressed for action. I opened the window, and Owen whispered, “I just heard from Dean and from Sam. Idris and his people are gathering on the courthouse square. It’s definitely some kind of magical rally.”

“And I take it we’d better be there, huh? Give me a second to put on some clothes.” I closed the curtains, then pulled on my black jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt. If we kept this up, I was going to run out of dark clothes. My wardrobe wasn’t designed for sneaking around in the middle of the night.

“It’s too bad there’s no Starbucks in this town,” I said with a yawn as we neared the square.

“It wouldn’t be open at this hour, anyway. I think even most of the ones in New York would be closed by now.” Owen pulled into a parking space in the grocery store’s rear loading area, then we went around the side of the buildings and approached the square, where Sam was waiting for us.

There were at least two dozen young men, including Dean, gathered around Idris, who stood in the gazebo. With some red-white-and-blue bunting behind him, he’d look like he was making a campaign speech. I supposed that was sort of what he was doing. Dean stood out in the group. He looked too handsome and self-assured. The rest of those guys, and they were all guys, seemed like they were probably making up for some sense of inadequacy. Dean was, too, I reasoned, but his inadequacies were better hidden.