Three Witches and a Killer: Wicked Western Witches Book 1 Read Free Page B

down when it came to my name though. She’d wanted something a little more elegant, so I was called Mercedes Rose. Needless to say, I was happy to shorten it to just Sadie.
    Dad quickly clicked off the website but it was too late.
    “I saw that,” I accused.
    A mask of boyish innocence dropped over his face.” Saw what?”
    “Never mind.” I waved away his question. I had bigger fish to fry.
    Like most Costellos, Dad had shadow black eyes, and at the moment they were sparkling with good-natured mischief. Now that I’d caught him slacking on the job, he couldn’t exactly reprimand me for doing the same.
    My Pops might slip here and there but he was still a professional; he looked the part too. From his flawless gray suit and red tie to his haircut, Dad was the perfect image of the successful lawyer. Not a single dark hair was out of place.
    Mom would have preferred it if Dad had been a defense attorney. I could understand her reasoning. There was a lot more money in getting criminals off than prosecuting them, but that wasn’t Dad’s thing. Fredrick Costello was a fighter for justice, which was a good thing, most of the time.
    Of course, there was that one time that I’d had one too many margaritas and jumped up on the bar at the Raven Nest’s to do a partial striptease. Apparently, there were a few conservatives in the house who had no appreciation for my efforts to liven things up.
    In my own defense, it was soon after my divorce and I was a little crazy.
    Who can blame me?
    Anyone who has ever lived with a bore of a control freak would know what it’s like to finally get a breath of freedom. It’s intoxicating.
    As fun as it had been to get in trouble that night, it was time to focus on the task at hand.
    “You were right about that delivery. It was a job.”
    Instantly, a smile brightened his hardnosed lawyer face. “Good! That should help soothe your mother’s nerves.”
    Mom was completely against the idea of me opening my own business, but that was only because she was old-fashioned. Mom was convinced a woman’s place was in the home. Sometimes I thought she would have been a lot happier if I’d just stayed with my husband and started having babies.
    My sister was good at getting Mom’s approval, but unlike Day, I had no desire to be a soccer mom. If and when I had children, they’d probably be doing their best to keep me out of trouble.
    “So who is your first client?” Dad asked, clasping his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his high back leather chair.
    Leather chairs were one of the perks of being the county prosecutor.
    “This isn’t my first job,” I reminded him. “Don’t forget the cat and the Crossroads Funeral Home.”
    Dad rolled his eyes. “Finding the lost cat doesn’t even count, and ghost hunting at a mortuary is not exactly something to add to your resume,” he informed me for the second time in the same day.
    “Hey, that mortuary job was actually quite difficult. I don’t think you have any idea what it is like to have a demon possess your partner and turn him into a crazed serial killer.”
    Dad shrugged. “If that actually happened, then you and Pax more or less asked for it.”
    It was no use. Dad would never understand. You would think that being born into an ancient line of witches would have given him more of an open mind, and it might have if he hadn’t turned his back on his heritage years ago.
    It was best to change the subject. “I’m not sure who the client is. They want to remain anonymous, but they did give me a $2,000 advance.”
    “Wow! That’s a good start. What is it they want you to do, stalk the mayor?”
    “Nothing quite that crazy but they do want me to catch a killer. Whoever this anonymous client is, they believe that Canton Petrova’s death was no accident. In fact, they think this is just the beginning and that all the heads of the CO5 will be targeted,” I explained.
    Dad frowned and shook his head. “We have no proof that