We didn’t have anything as fancy as a cordless telephone in the house. We’d only upgraded to push-button phones instead of rotary dials a few years ago when so many services started requiring touchtone. That meant it was almost impossible to get away from Mom to talk on the phone. I was stuck talking on the kitchen phone, right in front of her. “Hi, Dean, what’s up?” I said when I took the phone.
“The odds are a little more in our favor for tonight,” he said.
“Why, what happened?”
“Well, three of them left in a hurry, totally freaked out. It seems they got a look at Sam and are now less sure they want to be mixed up in this. Then three more got arrested. I guess there was a traffic violation. Jason pulled them over, and then he found some contraband in their car—drugs of some type. I have a feeling it was herbs for potions instead of actual dope, but by the time they verify that, our fight should be over.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral for Mom’s benefit. “I’m glad that’s been taken care of.”
He laughed. “Let me guess, Mom is hovering and listening.”
“Exactly.”
“I thought you two were just supposed to raise some interest, not make that big a splash. They’re all in awe of how powerful this wizard must be to have eluded them like that. But be honest, wasn’t a lot of that due to your driving?”
“Maybe. I guess I’m not totally useless.”
“Who’d have guessed, my little sister comes out ahead in a car chase.”
“Thanks for the report. I’ll see you later.”
The moment I hung up the phone, Mom pounced. “Wasn’t it sweet of Dean to check on you like that?”
“Yeah, it was really swell of him.” I could tell she was dying to know what Dean had told me, but the phone rang again before I had a chance to make something up. I was closest, so I answered.
It was Nita. “Help!” she said. “I still don’t have housekeeping help, and these people are animals.
I’ve had a bunch check out already, but there are still too many here. Can you come do a few rooms for me? Pretty please, and I’ll love you forever. I’ll even buy lunch next time.”
I wasn’t sure that going to the motel in the truck the would-be wizards had been chasing was such a good idea, but the chance to spy on them was nearly irresistible. “I’ll be right over.” I hung up the phone and told Mom, “Nita needs housekeeping help, so I’m going over there. Can I borrow your car? I had a little trouble starting the truck earlier today.”
The truck was unreliable enough that Mom didn’t question me and just handed over her keys, which had the added benefit of ensuring that she wouldn’t be wandering the town while the wizards were on the loose. I went upstairs to change shirts and do something different with my hair so I wouldn’t be so obviously recognized as the driver of the truck they’d been pursuing. A Cobb Comets baseball cap with my ponytail pulled through the back worked wonders.
While I drove to the motel in Mom’s car, I tried to think of ways to get rid of even more of our visiting wizards. I recognized one of the cars in the motel parking lot from the chase. Most of the spots were still empty, so the gangs must have been roving the streets still. As I made the rounds, I lit the magical candles in each room to get more of that jarring skewed spell into the air. I wasn’t sure how much good that would do, but I figured every little bit would help. It sounded like we’d already lost a few wizards to headaches caused by the candles.
The guys who’d been in the car chase were in their room, and I held my breath as I went in with a pile of towels. As I’d expected, they barely looked at me. “I was wondering when housekeeping would finally show up,” one of them said. I made sure to make a note of which one he was so I could tell Owen to give him a special blast.
“We’re full, so it takes longer,” I said, keeping my head down so my hat brim covered my face.
“Now, would you like me to change your sheets or just make the bed?” That was my subtle way of saying that I couldn’t do much about the bed while they were lying on it.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Just clean the bathroom and leave the towels.”
On my way to the bathroom, I paused by the dresser and moved the candle behind a stack of pizza boxes, then lit it. The bathroom was enough to make me wish I had access to magical cleaning spells.
I had three brothers, so you’d think I’d be used to what guys could do to a bathroom, but this was something else. I was really going to make Owen give them the full treatment. It was a good thing I had gloves. By the time I’d finished clearing out their science experiments and returned to the main room, they were all holding their heads and moaning. I had to suppress a smug smirk.