“I’ve heard most of them, but the coven is a new one,” said Ben, amused, sipping his coffee. “The Dulles Airport thing was wrong. I saw the guy on the security tape, definitely not Todd Sutton.”

“Seriously,” said Caren, sounding a little surprised. “You need to get a phone line for tips.” Just then the bell rang and a customer came through the door. Caren excused herself and went back behind the counter.

Placing his cup on the coffee table, Ben noticed there was a Ouija board—an old one. He touched the curved edges. It doubled as a tray. It was vintage, but the wood on it was pretty and it had been well kept. He pushed the planchette with his finger, causing it to move a little. It seemed to move a bit farther than his effort implied, and he jerked back a little. “What the—”

Smoothly, as if it were skating, the planchette began to slide across the wood. Instinctively Ben looked up to see if it was hooked to a wire. He looked under the table to see if there was a remote. That would be a funny gag, he thought. The planchette stopped, like it was idling, waiting for him to focus on it. Then, slowly it began to move again, stopping on the letter D.

“Okay,” said Ben nervously, still glancing around to see if anyone was watching him, playing a trick on him. This would be the kind of prank his college buddy would play… then he realized that Walker was dead.

The planchette traveled across the board, landing on E.

Ben picked up his coffee and sniffed it. It smelled like coffee and it didn’t seem to be spiked. “Okay.”

As though it was waiting for his affirmation, the pointer moved again, settling on the letter Z.

Z? Ben looked confused and waited for another letter. A minute went by and nothing. “Dez?”

Nothing.

Caren appeared behind him and Ben jumped. “Oh my God, you scared me.” He put his hand on his chest.

“Are you okay?” Her brown eyes were wide. He noticed how long her eyelashes were and that one eye was actually green. Heterochromia, they called it.

“Is this some trick board?” He pointed to the Ouija with the planchette still resting on the Z.

“No,” said Caren. “Why?”

“I swear it moved.”

“Oh God,” said Caren. “Not you, too.”

“Huh?” Ben looked confused.

“Lara hates Ouija boards. In all fairness, years ago, at my sister’s slumber party, one went nuts in front of us. There was a house full of screaming girls. Lara thought it was her mind that had done it. To this day, she still thinks it was her doing. My dad said it was likely static electricity.”

“Static electricity?” Ben was a huge skeptic, but even he wasn’t buying that answer. But then what was the alternative? He picked up the coffee cup and empty plate.