A Finder's Fee Read Free Page A

power in the necklace, like I did through
our
connection,” Ann explained. “I tried to send her a mental message to leave it alone. But Dae, as you know, is easily blindsided by her curiosity.”
    “Like
you
know,” Shayla sniped as she handed the box to her grandmother.
    Flourine Lily shook all over as she handled the empty box, first with her fingers and then with her feathers and beads. “A
witch
. That’s what we have here,
chère
. The necklace belonged to a powerful witch.”
    Everyone stopped and took that in. Trudy moved a little closer to Tim. He smiled reassuringly at her but had no clue what was going on.
    “There are no witches around here, Gram,” Shayla responded. “This isn’t the bayou. And I’d know if there was a witch in the area.”
    “She lives not in our time, girl. The necklace and the power were brought forward from the past. It was preserved, waiting for the right person. Someone like Dae was the only way the witch could communicate.”
    “Dae isn’t a medium.” Shayla felt a little threatened that her friend might have taken on a new ability, one that might rival her own.
    “She couldn’t be,” Flourine said. “This witch isn’t a spirit you can talk to in your crystal ball. Her power is strong, but it all focuses in the necklace. She don’t exist on any plane.”
    “Are we talking about possession?” Shayla’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying the witch from the past has possessed Dae?”
    Flourine dropped the box to the floor. “It burns my hand to touch it.” She looked at Ann. “You were right to be scared for her. She might be trapped in the past with the witch forever.”
    “There is definitely a time distortion surrounding the necklace.” Ann wanted to get in the last word. “The entity—we wouldn’t call her a witch anymore—was very strong. This was a psychic trap for the unwary. Dae certainly qualifies for that.”
    Kevin frowned at her. “Are you suggesting Dae has been taken over by this witch since she put on her necklace? If so, we have to figure out what she wants. What’s her endgame? What is she hoping to achieve?”
    “There
was
a witch in Duck’s past.” Trudy shivered. “We all heard the story of Maggie Madison when we were growing up. She did some bad things to people and a storm washed her away. I think that was back in the 1600s.”
    Tim agreed. “She put a curse on someone’s horses and made a cow go dry. I don’t remember exactly.”
    “How do we track where she’s taken Dae? How do we get rid of her?” Shayla asked.
    “Normally, I’d say we’d use Dae’s cell phone and credit card to track
her
,” Kevin said. “But she didn’t take them with her.”
    “Do you think Maggie Madison knew we wouldn’t be able to find Dae if she made her leave those here?” Betsy was a little scared but holding up well because she didn’t want to be sent to another room. She wanted to help her friend.
    “It’s possible,” Ann said. “The entity has access to Dae’s brain. She might be able to understand the ramifications of what that could mean for her, if not the technology itself.”
    “So what now?” Trudy asked. “Dae has to be somewhere. Everyone knows her. She can’t hide out without someone spotting her. Maybe we should print up posters and have everyone search for her.”
    “The witch may be using her powers to disguise the poor girl.” Flourine’s eyes unfocused as she stared across the room. “I know a spell we could use for this.”
    “Not necessary.” Ann got to her feet. “I can still feel Dae. She’s not far away. I’m sure she’s still here in Duck, doing the entity’s dirty work.”
    Flourine had already dropped to the hardwood floor and was drawing a circle on it with chalk. Her eyes closed as she mumbled words no one could understand. She spit on her hand and rubbed it into the circle.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Kevin,” Ann whispered. “Seriously?”
    Shayla got down beside her grandmother. She’d