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“But I thought it was the youngest—and especially the only girl—who could get away with things.”
“Not in my family. I think I was held to a higher standard. Boys will be boys, you know, but girls are expected to be better than that. But I guess I did mostly stay out of trouble. I just always felt bad for Frank and Teddy getting in trouble so much when Dean got away with it.”
The door opened and Mom stuck her head outside. “Phone for you, Katie. I think it’s Nita.”
“Coming,” I said, trying to get off the swing gently so it didn’t send Owen rocking too much. He looked better, but he still looked like he’d be better off sleeping for a week.
“Hey, what is it?” I asked when I got to the phone.
“Three more people checked in, and I have two more reservations. This is crazy.”
“More band members?”
“Not unless they’re reviving the big band in a postmodern way. There are too many of them. Do you usually get guy groupies? Or maybe they’re like a new version of the Grateful Dead, with people who follow them everywhere. That would be cool, but Mom and Dad won’t be okay if they’re doing drugs in the motel or planning a concert in the parking lot.”
“Are they giving you any trouble?”
“They’re fine. I just don’t have the staff for this. Say, you wouldn’t want to pick up a housekeeping shift, would you? I don’t need it today because all the rooms were already clean, but tomorrow’s going to be a nightmare.”
“I’ll have to get back to you on that. Thanks for keeping me posted. Maybe we’ll stop by later today to check out the commotion.”
I returned to the porch and told Owen what Nita had reported. “You know, playing housekeeper might not be such a bad idea,” I said. “It would give me an excuse to spy on these guys and see what’s going on.”
“But she said she didn’t need help until tomorrow, and I hope we have a sense of what’s going on before then.”
“If Idris is rallying his troops, it’s too bad we told him about Dean. We could have had a double agent.”
“We could still have a double agent.” I’d seen that look in his eyes before, and it made me nervous.
Normally, he was totally sane and rational, but he had a well-hidden crazy streak, especially where Idris was concerned. It was probably a testosterone thing, so I didn’t understand it.
“What do you mean?” I asked warily.
“Well, you were just telling me about some of your sibling issues growing up. It’s not outside the realm of imagination that it could work both ways. What if he didn’t care what his baby sister said about doing bad magic and only told you he’d given it up to appease you, and then he went right ahead with his plans?”
“Oh, you are sneaky. I’ll give him a call.”
I moved to head back into the house, but he handed me his cell phone. I called Dean’s cell and said,
“Have you actually posted any nasty stuff about Idris on that course message board?” I asked.
He groaned. “Sorry, Sis, I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“No, that’s good. See if there’s something going on about him rallying his troops in town. It seems like they’re congregating. You need to go meet with him and tell him your sister and her crazy boyfriend are full of it, and you wouldn’t listen to us anyway.”
“And then report back to you everything they say? Got it. I’ll give you all the details when I have them.”
I closed the phone and handed it back to Owen. “Looks like we have us a double agent. I just hope we can trust him.”
“You think he’ll turn on us?”
I sighed and worried my lower lip with my teeth. I felt like a turncoat. This was my brother I was talking about, and as much as he sometimes irritated me, I did love him. But there were bigger things at stake here than family ties. “He’s susceptible to flattery, so if Idris manages to get under his skin, it might affect his loyalty. You know, it’s too bad we can’t send Teddy as the spy. He’d fit right in with that crowd.”
Owen fought back a yawn. “With the right preparation, I bet I could fake him as a magic user.”
“But that wouldn’t be a good use of your resources. You need to get some rest. I have a feeling it’s going to be yet another crazy night.”
Sure enough, I’d barely fallen asleep when the usual tapping on my window woke me. I hadn’t planned to be going out, so I was in my pajamas instead of dressed for action. I opened the window, and Owen whispered, “I just heard from Dean and from Sam. Idris and his people are gathering on the courthouse square. It’s definitely some kind of magical rally.”
