"What did you mean 'Bess's testimony'?!" Bess Stirling said hotly.
Sitting in the back room of the Caboose, the entrepreneur looked panicked. Mariah was pretty sure Bess had told her story - laying out the plan of a shadowy, alien-backed tech company to buy up land around the Moonwood by any means necessary, ultimately including the murder of Shannon Charm and the impending attack on Moonwood Mill - as honestly as the shady developer was able to. She obviously wasn't expecting the response she'd gotten.
"Mandy... it's Mandy, right?" Bess gestured at Miranda. Mariah blinked, realizing the entrepreneur didn't know their real identities. "You said testimony?" Bess continued. "Like, in court? I never said anything about testifying!"
"Where did you think this was going, Bess?" Knox said, stunned. "Did you think you were just going to tell us and... what? Everything would magically be OK?"
"I mean, I told you what Grey and Hand are planning," Bess said earnestly. "You can warn Rory and the Volkovs and everyone. They can... I don't know... be safe... get out or... or something. No one has to die!"
"Because everyone in Moonwood Mill is going to tuck tail and run when they hear about this, right? Then you can have the land and finish your deal. Your conscience is clean and you still come out on top. Was that the plan?" Demarco scoffed.
"Yes!" Bess cried, her eyes wide.
"What about Shannon?" Knox growled.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry about Shannon. I really am, but I can't fix that," Bess insisted.
"Yes, you can," Miranda said with her implacable calm. "You can testify. You can hold the people who did it responsible and see justice done."
"But I'm responsible!" Bess shouted. Her eyes went wide, horrified, as she heard her own words. Mariah wondered if Bess had ever admitted that to herself before this moment.
"I'm... I'm responsible," Bess repeated in a whisper. "It's my fault. It's my fault Shannon died."
"Yes," Etta said, her voice soft but unyielding. "It is your fault. You did something horrible and people got hurt. Shannon died. You can't change that... but you can decide what you're going to do now, who you're going to be now. You can stand up with us and try to do some good, or you can go back to Hand and Grey and be a murderer among murderers."
"That's if they don't just kill you," Mariah pointed out with sarcastic humor. "Because they don't really need you anymore, and once they find out that you us warned about Moonwood Mill..."
"There is that to consider too," Etta agreed.
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"So, we've got mountains of evidence and a witness now," Jenny smiled, obviously trying to be encouraging. "That's good, right."
"It's good," Genie nodded, not really feeling it.
"I mean, now we can prove to Baron Charm that it really wasn't the Dark Court who killed Shannon. So, he won't do all the bad stuff Miranda was talking about... breaking the Witches' Council and making the secret war worse and everything," Jenny pointed out.
"Yeah, I don't know how I feel about telling the angry wizard who already hates my family that my mother ordered his daughter's death," Genie sighed.
"Oh, that's a point," Jenny said gently. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I guess I can take everything we have, plus what I can get out of this Bess Stirling person, write a hell of an expose, and send it to my editor," Genie said. "He'd run with it, because of the Baron Charm connection. He's a public figure, after all. I'd just have to cut out, or gloss over, my mom's involvement... again. Of course, I'll have to cut all the parts about witches, vampires, werewolves and aliens."
"That doesn't really leave much, does it," Jenny mused.
"Murder, coverups and corruption. I can probably spin Grey as the last major crime boss in the Republic. It's a story, but is it a top story? I don't know," Genie sighed. "I just don't know if it will be enough. Does it really get justice for Shannon? Maybe if I can dig deeper into the money trail, find out about these investors... Brighter Future and Gateway... we can work to dismantle the whole conspiracy, without bringing out all the other stuff. The thing is, that will take time and, with what Bess apparently said about them planning to attack Moonwood Mill, it doesn't sound like we have time. God, we need to stop them."
"What about Candi?" Jenny asked.
"Stephens probably still keeps some in the kitchen," Genie said, distracted.
"No, Agent Candi," Jenny chuckled. "Candice Barnett. You know, the spy who gave us the police files and pushed us to investigate deeper to begin with. Maybe she can help with the whole stopping them part."
"Do you know how to get ahold of her?" Genie asked.
"Yeah, that's a point," Jenny said, looking at her phone. "I didn't exactly get her contact info when we... oh, hey, would you look at that. It's here in my contacts. Candi, with a little heart on the 'i' even. I don't remember putting that in there..."
"She probably hacked your phone or something," Genie muttered. "Do you think we should..."
Jenny had already dialed.
"Candi, sweetie! How are you?" Jenny said, her voice bright and bubbly and just touching on bimbo. "Yeah. Hey, like, you remember that role we talked about at the park the other day? Yeah, I totally talked to those guys about it. It's just... wow... I mean, you were so right. It is like totally me! I know, right? But Candi... wait for it... I think they've got a part for you too! Yes! We have got to talk about it! Can you do lunch? You're going to be in Windenburg? Sweetie, it's kismet. There's this cute little coffee shop... You know it? Awesome. I will totally see you there. Oh, Candi, one thing... how do you feel about aliens?"
"I fear you," Genie said, stunned.
-------------------------
"Ok, I get that Bess has to hide. Believe me, I get it," Mariah said. "But why does she have to stay in our house?"
After having what had turned into a couple of lengthy conversations with Genie and Jenny, they had all returned to the little house Mariah and Miranda rented under the names Mary and Mandy Cavaliere. The house that had hidden them for months, giving Mariah a taste of a quiet, almost normal, life.
"Because Grey still doesn't know we're here," Miranda pointed out. "If he did, his goons would have kicked in our door and tried to kill us already."
"What about..." Mariah started.
"She can't stay with Knox," Miranda pointed out, "and do we really want to get Missy and Clay more involved in this than they already are? Besides, it's probably only for a day or two. Once Genie and Jenny talk to their Agency contact, we'll know better what the plan is."
"Fine," Mariah groaned.
"Oh my God, was someone watching KPop Demon Hunters?" Bess chuckled from the couch, turning on the TV.
"Yes, I was!" Mariah wheeled at her. She'd liked her quiet, almost normal, life, damn it!
"Don't kill the witness," Miranda said softly.
"I'll have you know it's a fantastic movie with amazing songs. It's won multiple awards," Mariah continued hotly. She was hideously embarrassed that she loved that movie, that she cried at the end every damn time, but she wasn't going to let some crooked land developer dis it!
"OK, sorry," Bess blinked, shocked. "Do you mind if I watch the Financial channel?"
"I'm going out to the garden. Don't kill the witness," Miranda repeated.
"I'll come with you," Mariah sighed.
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They had some time before lunch. Time enough to grab a shower and a change of clothes.
Standing in the steamy bathroom, Genie looked at the scar on her arm. The bullet wound, only recently healed, ached. The ache reached right down into her soul.
She remembered the dark, grimy street. She remembered Uncle Max, standing under the flickering streetlight, pulling the gun from under his jacket in one smooth, almost graceful motion. She remembered the gun, the cold dark metal of it and the gaping cavernous barrel... Heat and light and sound and pain. Such sudden, shocking pain.
Is there just something evil about my whole family?
Is there something evil about me?
"Hey, are you OK," Jenny asked gently.
"No," Genie sobbed. "No, I'm not. Jenny, I... I need answers. Not just for me. I need to be able to explain all of this to Kassidy. She needs to know why... why her own mother ordered the death of her friend. We both need to know why."
"We'll find you your answers," Jenny said seriously. "We'll talk to Candice and hand things off to her for a little while. Then we can take a little time and find your answers."
"How?" Genie moaned. "Gwen said I should talk to my uncle, but even if I wanted to talk to Uncle Max... and I don't... I don't know how to find him!"
"I was thinking about that," Jenny said. "See, the stuff Gwen says never makes any sense until it makes sense. She said you needed to understand your mom's relationship with Genevieve. We thought she meant you, but now I think she meant your grandmother. So, when she said you need to talk to your uncle..."
"I have two uncles," Genie gasped.
-------------------------
"Miranda," Etta said, then hesitated. "I... I need to talk to you about something."
Miranda looked up from her plants to see Etta and Demarco coming through the garden gate. They'd been circling the house while Bess got settled in. Checking the perimeter, Demarco had called it in a way that reminded her of Mariah.
"About damn time," Demarco snarled, wheeling on her heels and marching back out the gate. "I'm... going to patrol the neighborhood. Tell her what you have tell her," the werewolf called over her shoulder.
"Lux, wait, I..." Etta cast panicked looks between Miranda and her departing partner. "I... I'll be right back," she said to Miranda before chasing after Demarco.
"What was that about?" Miranda asked, perplexed.
"Demarco's jealous," Mariah said.
"Jealous? Jealous about what?" Miranda blinked.
"Madonna. You know, for a wise and powerful strega, you can be really dense sometimes," Mariah chuckled.
"Sorry about that," Etta said as she returned. "It's just... Demarco. She...."
Etta hesitated, looking around. She was obviously surprised to see that Mariah had gone back inside, leaving her alone with Miranda. Not as surprised as Miranda had been. Her wife had made it perfectly clear she still wasn't comfortable with Etta, but she'd left them alone to talk. Miranda wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Mariah thinks she's jealous," she said with forced lightness.
"She... she might be a little jealous," Etta admitted. "Not that... I mean... oh, Outer Dark."
"I forgive you," Miranda said, deciding to just skip all the dancing around and get straight into the important stuff.
"I mean, I really need to... wait, what?" Etta stammered, flustered.
"Claudette. Etta. I forgive you," Miranda said firmly.
"I betrayed you." Etta said. "I used magic to... oh hell, I basically raped you. I..."
"Ok, let me stop you right there," Miranda said, with a deep breath. "Yes, you dosed me with a potion that increased my attraction toward you and lowered my inhibitions. Yes, there are serious consent issues there... but trust me, that part wasn't traumatic. Traumatic was the whole knocking me out, kidnapping me, and dosing me so I couldn't use my powers while your father schemed to have me killed by vampires."
"OK, yes, I have a lot of feel guilty about," Etta sighed, somewhat missing the point, Miranda felt. "Believe me, I remember it all."
"Well, why don't you remember that you also rescued me?" Miranda asked, unrelenting. "In the end, you were the one who got me, and Jenny, out. You helped us escape. You stood up to your father. You actually dueled him, which was amazing."
"I lost," Etta pointed out. "If Gwen and Cassie hadn't show up..."
"It doesn't matter," Miranda insisted. "You tried... and when it was over you didn't run or try to excuse what you did. You stood before the Council and submitted to their justice. You gave up your magic and went into exile. I don't know that I could have done that."
"You would never have to," Etta whispered.
"And since then, you've been working with the werewolves, protecting people and doing good... all without your powers," Miranda continued. "You said to Bess she had a choice, about who she was going to be. I know what choice you made... and I know that you're still beating yourself up for what you did. So, I'm telling you - I forgive you. Let it go."
"I... you... oh gods," Etta felt tears on her face.
Before Miranda knew what she was doing, Etta had thrown her arms around her. With a sigh, she pulled the other woman close, holding her gently, soothingly.
"I forgive you," Miranda repeated. "Just to be clear though, I'm not going to sleep with you again."
"Ok, that's... that's ok," Etta smiled.
"Or shower with you," Miranda added as the hug ended. She still wasn't sure how much of what had happened between them years ago had been Claudette's potions and how much had been a couple of randy teens discovering each other, consequences be damned.
"Well, it saves water," Etta said with a little grin.
"I don't think it did," Miranda said. She really shouldn't be thinking about these things. "As I remember, we were in that shower for a really long time."
"Well, we did a lot of... cleaning," Etta said.
"Which we're never doing again," Miranda said with a nervous glance back at the house.
"Right," Etta smiled. "I know that. I just... Anyway! There was actually something else I needed to talk to you about... about your wand."
"We are definitely not doing that again!" Miranda said, blushing hotly. That had definitely been the potion! Hadn't it?
"'This one time, at band camp...'" Etta quoted. At least she looked just as embarrassed at the memory as Miranda felt.
"If you repeat that to anyone, I will turn you into a frog and you can hop back to Moonwood Mill," Miranda said stiffly.
