The Last Word (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

bad, but it’s just not happenin’. They’ve both been checked out and there’s nothin’ wrong, medically speakin’. Been goin’ on five years since they started tryin’. Munin is kind of their last hope.”
    Olivia dabbed her lips with a paper napkin. “And can they expect a healthy set of triplets nine months from now?”
    “I reckon not,” Dixie replied. “See, Munin doesn’t take cash or checks. You have to bring her somethin’ that’s real precious to you to get her help. If the witch doesn’t think what you brought is special enough, she won’t lift a finger for you.”
    “What does she do with the objects?”
    Dixie shrugged. “Who knows?”
    Impatient to return to her manuscript, Olivia offered to tell Laurel about Munin. “The big shot of the Oyster Bay Gazette staff might not cover the story herself, but maybe one of the Features writers would be interested.”
    With a scowl, Dixie picked up Olivia’s empty plate. “I’m not tellin’ you about the witch so that you can turn her into a Disneyland attraction. I’d rather have my teeth pulled than visit her remote hideaway, let alone spread word about the woman. I’m only tellin’ you about her because she sent a message back with my cousin.”
    “For you?”
    “No.” Dixie piled Olivia’s silverware and crumpled napkins on top of the dirty plate. “For you.”
    Bomb dropped, Dixie skated off to the kitchen with her tray. She then tarried at the two remaining tables, filling water cups, delivering a fresh syrup jug, fetching extra napkins, and exchanging small talk.
    Haviland stood up, yawned, and stretched, indicating he’d had enough of the diner for one day.
    “Just a few more minutes, Captain,” Olivia promised him. “Let me strangle the resident dwarf, and then we’ll be on our way.”
    As though sensing her friend’s ire, Dixie lazily coasted back over to the window booth. “Ah, so now you’re chompin’ at the bit to hear about our witch. Well, I won’t keep you in suspense another second.” She grinned wryly. “Munin asked my cousin if he knew you. He said everybody knows who you are, but only a couple of folks know you well. The jackass mentioned my name and told Munin that you and I were friends. So the message came to me.”
    Olivia felt a constriction in her gut. She sensed that once Dixie relayed the message, her life would be altered yet again. Perhaps not greatly, but she didn’t welcome any more change.
    In the last year alone, she’d opened a second restaurant, reunited with a father she’d believed dead only to watch him die, discovered the existence of a half brother, and fallen for Oyster Bay’s chief of police. Olivia Limoges was a woman who liked to be in control of her own future, and as of late, she’d been unable to exert much influence over her fate.
    She turned toward the window, observing locals and tourists going about their business unburdened by the press of circumstance. “What does the witch want from me?”
    Dixie’s grin faded, replaced by a look of solemn concern. Because she was adept at concealing her feelings, it was easy to forget that Olivia had been put through the wringer over the past few months. Dixie spoke to her friend very gently. “Munin wants you to come to her. Says she’s got somethin’ of your mama’s to show you. Apparently, she’s been waitin’ for the right time to send for you, and now the time’s come.”
    Olivia was unprepared for this. “That’s ridiculous. Why would my mother, a librarian and do-gooder, have given something to a woman known as the local witch? And I use that term loosely.”
    “Maybe you shouldn’t,” Dixie warned. “If your mama handed over somethin’ she treasured, then she was lookin’ for help outside the normal realm. She obviously had a problem that couldn’t be fixed by the folks she knew. The question is, did she get what she needed from Munin?”
    The tightening sensation in Olivia’s chest increased. It was difficult for her to picture her gentle and beautiful mother, the quiet and kind librarian, traipsing through a barely discernible track in the swamp in search of answers.
    “I am not going to respond to this woman’s summons,” Olivia announced. “It’s probably a scam, though more creative than most, I admit.”
    The family of four ambled out the door, waving at Dixie before leaving. Her mouth formed a smile, but her ale-brown eyes were troubled. “Munin said you wouldn’t agree at first. That