The Monstrous Seven (A Hannah Hickok Witchy Mystery Book 4) Read online

  “There was,” Cooper agreed, finding the résumé in question. “So ... she’s twenty-three but she’s been on her own since she was seventeen and her parents died. She became an emancipated minor. She told that story about being able to hold onto her childhood house by herself and it was inspiring. She was really proud of what she’d been able to accomplish … and entirely on her own.”

  “It was,” Hannah agreed. “I definitely liked her.”

  Cooper ran his tongue over his teeth as he considered the three candidates. “You know, even though we ruled it out because it seemed rushed, if we picked two candidates right now we could train a manager and a regular bartender at the same time. That would also allow us to give jobs to two out of three.”

  “And I would be out of this uniform faster than I anticipated,” she mused.

  “I have news for you, even if you don’t have to wear that uniform for work, you’re still going to keep it for private games upstairs.”

  She pinched his flank and laughed. “You have a dirty mind.”

  “Only where you’re concerned.” He caught her hand and squeezed before sobering. “I think it’s a good idea. We have solid candidates here and we can move this along faster than we anticipated. What’s not to like about that?”

  “I ... don’t know.” Honestly, even though she thought she had solid reasons for hiring by position when the search first started, she was starting to wonder if he was right. “Who would you want for the positions?”

  “Lorna and Nikki,” he answered, not missing a beat. “Lorna should definitely be the head bartender but Nikki has a ton of potential. She could be here a really long time, maybe even transition to other jobs along the way.”

  “Yeah.” Hannah rubbed her chin. “What if I like Ray and Nikki, though?”

  Cooper frowned. “What’s your deal with Lorna? I don’t understand why you don’t like her.”

  “It’s not that I don’t like her,” Hannah reassured him quickly. “It’s just that ... I liked Ray better.”

  “Because he’s hot?”

  She laughed. “No. Is that why you like Lorna better?”

  “No.”

  They stared at each other for a long beat.

  “You’re the boss,” Cooper said finally, heaving out a sigh as he started tapping on his computer. “This is your decision. If you want Ray, then it should be Ray.”

  “I asked you to be part of this for a reason. You know Casper Creek better than I do. I’m still a newbie. If you think Lorna would be better ... .” She trailed off and chewed on her lip.

  “I don’t think Ray will be bad,” Cooper reassured her quickly. He kept having to remind himself that, despite what looked to be relatively healthy self-esteem at times, Hannah was still finding solid footing in life. Her previous boyfriend — actually her fiancé, but he didn’t like to think about it — had cheated on her left and right, leaving her ego in shambles. Cooper wanted to nurture her faith in herself, and if she gave in to his wants and needs, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “I think we should go with the people you want,” he prodded gently, returning to his typing. “You’re in charge. You get to decide.”

  “But what if I’m wrong?”

  Cooper swallowed a sigh. “I don’t think you are. I think, in truth, all three of these people are going to be great. Whatever combination we settle on, it’s going to work out. In fact ... .” He trailed off at the sound of raised voices outside, his attention drifting to the double doors. “What’s that?”

  Hannah shook her head, uncertain. “I don’t know. It sounds like someone is fighting out there.”

  “It does.” He extended his hand and stood. “Come on. We’ll pick up this conversation in a few minutes. I think we could both use a breather.”

  Hannah linked her fingers with his. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  2

  Two

  A small group of people were clumped together on the street when they exited the building. It took Cooper a moment to figure out what was going on, but when he did, he quickly released Hannah’s hand and flew headlong into the melee.

  “Knock it off,” he growled, grabbing a man who looked to be in his thirties by the front of his shirt and dragging him away from another man.

  The second man looked annoyed about the fight being broken up and moved to attack Cooper from behind. Hannah found herself drawn into the brawl without even realizing what was happening.

  “Hey!” She stepped directly in front of the attacker, who had both hands clenched into fists, and searched his face for a hint of reason. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Cooper released the first man and turned quickly, frowning when he realized how Hannah had positioned herself. “What are you doing?” His frustration came out to play as he gently nudged Hannah to the side, giving the aggressive individual a pointed stare as he tried to move his girlfriend to safety. “Don’t jump between two men who are about to throw punches.”

  She made a face. “You did.”

  “I’m the security chief.”

  “And he’s trained,” another voice offered from the sidelines, causing Hannah to snap her head in that direction.

  Tyler James, Casper Creek’s animal wrangler and resident veterinarian, had joined the party at some point. Hannah was certain he hadn’t initially been out there when they exited the saloon, but she guessed he’d been drawn to the location by the noise too.

  “I don’t need both of you ganging up on me,” Hannah groused, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m perfectly fine.”

  Under different circumstances, Cooper might’ve found the obstinate tilt of her chin adorable. This situation was fluid, though, and the last thing he wanted was to worry about her. “Can you do me a favor and step up there?” He used his most reasonable tone as he indicated the front porch of the saloon, which was still in the middle of things but got her out of harm’s way ... at least mostly.

  “Ugh.” Hannah made a grumbling sound deep in her throat but did as he asked. She recognized that he had a job to do and she was getting in the way. That didn’t mean she liked being treated like glass. She wasn’t breakable, and she was fairly certain she’d proven that more than once over the past several weeks. “Happy?”

  “Thrilled,” Cooper replied, not missing a beat. “I appreciate your cooperation.”

  Hannah worked her jaw and flicked her attention to Tyler, who looked amused by the show. Rather than give voice to her displeasure, though, she sucked it up and decided to let them handle the problem ... at least for the time being.

  “Tell me what’s going on here,” Cooper prodded, turning his attention back to the men. “Who started what?”

  “He picked a fight with me for no reason,” the man Cooper separated announced, his eyes flashing with indignation. “I was just walking through town, minding my own business, and he completely melted down.”

  “Uh-huh.” Cooper had a calm countenance. He’d spent years serving in the military and understood about out-of-control emotions. “What’s your name?”

  The man balked. “Why does that matter?”

  “Because I asked.” Cooper wasn’t the type to take guff from anybody. “When you purchased your ticket at the base of the mountain, you agreed to our rules ... and that means I’m in charge up here. If I want to know your name, then you have to provide it. If not, you can sit here and wait for me to call local law enforcement and I’ll let them sort everything out. I guarantee you’re not going to like it if that happens, though, because then charges might be forthcoming.”

  The man cursed under his breath, although Hannah could make out the angry words, and then sighed. “Rob Linus.”

  “Hello, Rob.” Cooper kept his smile in place even though Hannah was certain he was anything but happy. “Are you up here alone today, or were you with a group?”

  “I came with some friends,” Rob replied. “They’ve already headed down. I needed to use the facilities and then I was going to
follow, but this guy distracted me. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “And how did he distract you?”

  “He ... started saying stupid things.”

  “I’m going to need more information than that.”

  “Well, maybe I don’t want to give you more information than that,” Rob hissed. “Maybe I don’t think this is any of your business. Maybe you should step aside and let us work out our own problems.”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t really work that way up here,” Cooper countered. “As head of security, I’m basically in charge of everything. That means you do what I say.”

  Hannah made a face and shook her head. She’d seen men flex their testosterone before, and that seemed to be exactly what Cooper was doing. Not only that, he seemed to be enjoying it. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him act this way before.

  “They got in a fight out of nowhere,” Justin Finch volunteered. He was one of the gunfighting re-enactors and he had his full costume on, although he’d unbuttoned his shirt and looked to be ready to call it a day. “I was heading to the brothel to change before taking off when I saw it happen.”

  “You didn’t see anything,” the other man snapped. “You stuck your nose in a situation that didn’t involve you and now you’re trying to seem important ... even though you’re not.”

  Frustration, fast and hard, flashed across Cooper’s face. He took the job at Casper Creek because he was sick of petty fights when he left the military. He didn’t sign up for this and was completely annoyed by the entire thing. “What’s your name?” He focused on the second man.

  “Fred Rogers,” the man replied, not missing a beat.

  “Okay, Fred ... .”

  Hannah cleared her throat to get Cooper’s attention. He didn’t look happy, but he feigned patience all the same. “Do you have something you want to add to this conversation, Hannah?”

  She nodded. “His name isn’t Fred Rogers.”

  The man shifted from one foot to the other, annoyance obvious. “How do you know?”

  “How do you know?” Cooper queried, genuinely curious.

  “Fred Rogers is Mr. Rogers’ real name. You know, from that television show with the puppets and being nice to your neighbors. There’s no way his real name is Fred Rogers.”

  Cooper wrinkled his nose and pinned the man with a dark look. “Is that your name?”

  “I just told you it was.”

  “I’m with Hannah,” Tyler said, moving up behind the man in question and quickly slipping his hand into his back pocket so he could withdraw a wallet.

  “Hey!” The man turned, his fist cocked, but Cooper stopped him before he could throw the punch.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Cooper hissed, his anger on full display. “I’ll end your life before I let you throw that punch. If you think I’m not capable, or that I’m blowing smoke, think again.”

  Hannah was taken aback. Cooper’s reaction seemed completely out of character. She was uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken and when she opened her mouth to suggest that maybe they should simply separate the men and send them down the chairlift one at a time, a hint of movement between the buildings across the street caught her attention.

  There, a man who appeared to be in his fifties looked positively gleeful as he wiggled his hips and did a little dance. He was watching the show with rapt attention, and he looked way too happy.

  “His name is Trent Gibson,” Tyler volunteered upon reading the man’s license. “There’s nothing else of note in here.” He folded the wallet and handed it back to the man. “Was that so hard?”

  Hannah’s mind was working at a fantastic rate. Between the dancing man in the alley, the testosterone that appeared to be flying in every direction, and the undercurrent of fury flowing through the street, she was suddenly uncomfortable ... and she felt completely outnumbered because she was the only woman present.

  “At the risk of poking my nose in, maybe we should just break this up and send one of them down the lift right now and keep the other in the saloon for thirty minutes,” Hannah suggested in a low voice.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cooper countered. “There’s nothing to stop the first individual from waiting in the parking lot to jump the second guy when he finally gets down there.”

  “Except we have people down there,” Hannah offered reasonably. “We can call down, have whoever is running the ticket booth watch for the first guy and message us when he’s gone. I mean ... that’s probably the safest thing, right? Nobody has broken any laws up here.”

  For a moment, Cooper looked as if he was going to argue. Then common sense prevailed and he nodded. “That’s actually a good idea.” He rubbed his chin. “There’s no sense in keeping this going when it’s not necessary.”

  Hannah smiled, relieved. “Great. Maybe you could walk Rob down and Tyler and Justin can keep Trent up here. We can even get him a drink in the saloon. I’ll do that.”

  Cooper hesitated and then nodded. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “Great.” Hannah held his gaze for a moment longer before allowing her eyes to drift to the man in the alley. He’d stopped dancing and was now glaring ... directly at her. She was about to bring attention to his presence when Trent started squawking.

  “Did you hear that, Rob?” He hopped up and down. “The hot chick with the big boobs is going to get me a drink. That means she thinks I’m more of a man than you.”

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

  Cooper was already moving, his plan to walk Rob to the lift abandoned. “What did you just say?” He grabbed the front of Trent’s shirt and practically lifted the man off the ground. “Apologize to her!” It was a command, not a request.

  “Hey!” Trent slapped at Cooper’s hands, obviously surprised by his reaction. “It was just a comment. There’s no reason to get riled up. I mean ... she’s freaking hot. Look at her. Also, if she didn’t want to get ogled like that, she would cover up some.”

  Instinctively, Hannah crossed her arms over her chest to serve as camouflage. “I told you these outfits had to go,” she muttered.

  Cooper didn’t release his grip on Trent, but his eyes drifted to her. Even though he was enraged — and, truth be told, he felt the reaction was out of place given what had been said, although he couldn’t seem to contain his temper no matter how hard he tried — the expression on her face was enough to bring him back to reality with a heavy thud.

  “New plan,” he said, shoving Trent away from the group and toward the lift. “Trent will be leaving first. Rob, you can grab a drink in the saloon. It’s on us. You’ll be allowed to leave in thirty minutes.”

  Rob puffed out his chest, haughty. “That sounds delightful.” He shot Trent a triumphant look. “I guess I’m the one who gets to look at the hot chick while you get to leave. That’s karma for you, huh?”

  Things happened fast. Cooper didn’t realize that Trent was lunging for Justin until it was already too late. During his tours overseas, he’d learned to react to a situation fast. This time, though, he was so flabbergasted by what was happening he was a split second behind the action.

  From his position in front of the group, Trent managed to reach around Justin and draw the revolver from the man’s holster. He had it cocked and pointed at Rob before anyone could so much as breathe.

  In her head, Hannah knew that the gun wasn’t loaded. They were prop guns. There were no live rounds on the premises. Cooper had told her that he and Tyler were the only ones with weapons, although she was convinced that Arnie Morton, the blacksmith, also had a few guns that he didn’t strut around with. That didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  Hannah was used to hearing the guns go off three times a day during the re-enactments, but she’d never been this close before. The roar of the weapon was deafening and her eyes went wide as her hands automatically flew up to cover her ears. Unlike what she was expecting, though, Rob reared back as if he’d been struck and there
was a splash of blood on the front of his shirt.

  Hannah’s mind was a jumble of images as she tried to register what was happening. Cooper had jumped on Trent and was attempting to wrestle the gun out of his hand. Tyler had raced forward to help Rob. Justin’s face was white as a sheet and he looked as if he was going to pass out.

  Instinctively, she snapped up her head to look for the man in the alley. This time he was doing a jig, his finger in the air. He must’ve sensed Hannah looking at him because he was gleeful as he lifted his eyes and met her gaze. Then, as if straight out of a movie, he poofed out of existence and disappeared, leaving nothing but the brief smell of sulfur in his wake.

  “He’s dead,” Tyler announced, slamming Hannah back to the here and now. “I ... he’s dead.”

  “How?” Cooper barked. He had Trent pinned to the ground, but the man was still ranting and raving. “How was that gun even loaded?”

  “I don’t know.” Tyler looked to be at a loss for words. “What do we do?”

  “Call Boone.” Cooper was grim as he turned his attention to me. He seemed relieved to find I was fine but there was trouble lurking in the depths of his eyes. “We need help out here, and we need it now.”

  JAMES BOONE WAS THE SHERIFF IN THE real world, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a regular fixture at Casper Creek. He and Cooper had developed a close relationship and spent a lot of time together. This, however, wasn’t the sort of reason the sheriff wanted to visit Casper Creek.

  “I don’t understand how this happened,” he said, standing over the body with his hands on his hips. “I just ... I didn’t think the guns were supposed to be loaded.”

  “They’re not,” Cooper reassured him, handing over the weapon in question. “I checked it myself. All the other rounds in the gun are blanks. I ... don’t know how this happened.”

  “That’s not going to fly.” Boone was firm. “I mean ... this is a catastrophe of epic proportions. I need to know exactly what happened.”

  Cooper was calm as he laid out the information, although his eyes kept darting to Hannah. She’d barely said a word since, only responding that she was fine when asked if she was okay. Otherwise, she’d been completely separate from the fight. Cooper wanted to go to her, take her in his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. But he had a job to do ... and he wasn’t entirely certain things would turn out fine no matter what he promised.