by Lisa Olsen
“I don’t…” He let out a short laugh. “I was going to say I don’t believe in that stuff, but now… Jesus, anything is possible.”
“I think we’d better go talk to Nick,” she said gently. If there were other victims out there, that could change the investigation for him. Maybe if Jax sat with a sketch artist they could figure out who the girl was? On the chance it was a premonition they had to try, it could save the girl’s life.
Jax wasn’t convinced in the brilliance of the idea. “I’ll pass. If I go telling him I had visions of killing girls, he’ll lock me up. Hell, I’d lock me up too.”
“No, he’s not like that.”
“He’s a cop, he can’t be trusted.”
Anna picked up his hand. “You have to trust me then. Nick will listen to us. He’s very open minded.”
“You don’t get it,” Jax shook his head. “I can’t go to the cops with this, that FBI chick is psycho, man. She totally has it in for me.”
It was true, Natalie wasn’t her favorite person, but Anna struggled to find a way to describe the woman in a positive light. “She’s very zealous, yes…”
“Zealous, my ass,” he scoffed, pushing himself up off the couch to pace the length of her sitting room. “Do you know how I met her? She totally picked me up in a bar, never said word one about investigating me. Instead, she said she was a fan, came on pretty strong, so yeah, I took her home with me. I woke up in the middle of the night and she’s going through my stuff. I tossed her out of there, figured she was one of those stalker fans looking for a souvenir and didn’t think any more of it. And then she turns out to be with the FBI investigating me for murder? That there is fucked up.”
Anna’s mouth hung open as he told the story, her opinion of the woman taking a turn for the worse, if that was possible. “Are you serious? Couldn’t you complain to her superiors or something? That can’t be a sanctioned tactic on their part.”
“I tried to get her removed from the case, and I thought I’d succeeded, but here she is in my face again.”
“Now we really need to talk to Nick,” Anna insisted. “He needs to know about this and he definitely needs to know about this other victim. Please, Jackson, it can never hurt to tell the truth.”
“Fine, but only because I trust you, Apples.” There was a smile on his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Anna hated to see the fear and doubt gathering there.
“It’ll be okay, I promise. Nick will understand.”
* * *
“He’s missing time and getting visions of killing girls?” Nick’s jaw fell for a full thirty seconds. “That’s it, you can’t stay there with him any more.”
“I’ve already got my bag packed and in the car,” Anna said, trying her best to smooth over the shock of Jax’s unusual, off the record, statement. That brought him up short, he’d clearly expected more of a fight from her.
“Good… I’m glad you understand how dangerous he is.”
“No, Nick, that’s not it,” she tried again. “I still don’t think he’s the killer, but I do feel like there’s an evil surrounding both him and Ruby. For some reason, he’s tapped into the killer’s consciousness and I think we’d be crazy not to explore that.”
“You know my captain will think I’m crazy if I go to him with any kind of Voodoo that you do,” Nick muttered, staring at the monitor that showed Jax May sitting in the interrogation room by himself, toes tapping anxiously against the table leg. “Alright, if you don’t think it’s your boy, who do you think the killer is?”
“Whoever it is, the flash of the hands and arms I saw definitely wasn’t Jax’s. It was fast, but the biggest difference was the killer didn’t have his tattoo on his wrist. That’s a pretty big clue, isn’t it?”
“I’m listening,” Nick said, his eyes never leaving the monitor.
“And the cuts on the girl’s hip, that was definitely different. You never mentioned anything about the killer cutting the girls anywhere but on the wrists, right?”
Nick stiffened. “There have been cuts like that, underneath the tattoo, we just haven’t released that information.” He got very quiet, lips pressed into a grim line as he studied Jax’s image. “This is it, Anna… he’s our guy.”
She’d made it worse. That gleam of certainty hadn’t been in Nick’s eyes before, but she saw it there now. “No, wait. I didn’t see a tattoo on the girl’s hip. The cuts I saw were on bare flesh.”
“I can’t trust what you saw. It could be some kind of a dream state where not everything is as it seems.”
“Then you can’t trust what he saw either.”
“I can trust that his having intimate knowledge of the murders makes him our top suspect right now.”
“Not if it’s because he’s seeing them, not doing them. What about that time I tapped into a vision of Ellie’s past? I saw how she killed those girls, it didn’t make me a killer.”
“Annie…”
“No, you have to listen to me. The girl we saw wasn’t one of the existing victims. That means you could have other killings out there somewhere that got ruled as a suicide. Or… you might have another victim coming up soon. Maybe if you got Jax to sit with a sketch artist you could find her?”
“And tell her what? That a murder suspect had a dream about killing her? I’m sure that’d go over well.”
“Oh, you’re not even listening anymore, are you?” Anna’s temper flared at the smirk on his lips. “Here I am, desperately trying to give you new information on the case and you’re not doing a damn thing about it. And after I told Jax he could trust you.”
“What do you want me to say? The only rock solid information you’re giving me is that he knows more about the deaths than he should. Do you seriously expect me to ignore that?”
“No, of course not, I’m just asking you to broaden your mind to accept everything I’m telling you, not that narrow piece of information. You know I wouldn’t make this up, Nick. I know what I saw, just like I did with the other visions I’ve gotten in the past. I saw that girl on the bed and he’s right, she’s not one of the girls you have on the board here. And that’s not all.” Annaliese went on to tell him about Natalie’s tactics for approaching Jax, her voice low as she expected the FBI agent to pop up at any moment. “That’s got to be illegal, isn’t it? At the very least it’s unethical. Or is that standard practice for cops these days?”
“No, no it’s not.” Nick looked stunned, and she added in her own two cents.
“So, that gets me to thinking. If she’s willing to do something like that, how can you be sure you can trust anything she says or does with regard to this case? What if there’s other evidence she’s suppressing in order to stay on her quest to implicate Jackson?”
“Natalie has definitely taken a personal interest to this case, but I find it hard to believe she’d go that far. I’ll ask her about it,” he added quickly when Anna opened her mouth to ask if he was calling her a liar.
Annaliese pressed him for more. “And what about finding out who the girl is that he saw?”
“I’ll have Jax sit with a sketch artist. Will that make you happy?”
“Yes, thank you, it will,” she smiled, mollified. “If there’s any chance we can keep another girl from getting killed…”
“We’ll take it,” he agreed. “Why don’t you sit in with the sketch artist as well, maybe you can help keep him on track. You got a look at her too, right?”
“Right, I’ll do what I can to help. Thanks, Nick, I knew I could count on you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I told you I’d get to the bottom of this case. That includes the possibility that Jax is the one doing the killings. Friend of yours or not, I’ll take him down if I need to.”
“I know. That’s all I want, to catch the killer.”
“Thank you for exercising your common sense, even if you don’t think he’s the one. I’ll feel a lot better with you at my place.”
“Actually, I’m going to go stay with Ros
e until this all blows over.” It felt simpler that way, especially with the awkwardness that’d sprung up between them lately.
“Oh, okay. If that’s what you want.” Nick seemed to accept it on the surface, but she could tell he’d been hurt by her decision.
“It’s not… I just think it’s for the best right now with everything going on.”
“Sure, I understand.”
He didn’t though, and she couldn’t blame him, she hardly knew if she understood it herself. Leaning up on her tiptoes, Annaliese kissed him deeply, not caring who saw them or whether it was appropriate. Nick didn’t hesitate either, pulling her into his strong arms.
There for that instant, in the safety of his solid embrace, she felt like everything would be alright, one way or another. Anna clung to that sense of peace, desperate to make it a reality. She knew she was giving him mixed messages, but she couldn’t help it. That’s exactly how she felt on the inside, all mixed up.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sitting with a sketch artist had gone a lot better than she’d thought it would. It was amazing the way he could shape a face based on the broadest of descriptions, knowing the right questions to draw them out with more detail. After no more than a half hour, the woman’s face emerged, startlingly close to the girl she’s seen in the brief vision.
“Yeah, that’s her alright,” Jax agreed, a pucker of worry permanently etched on his brow since she’d dragged him down to the precinct.
“Great, I’ll get this to Nick. Thanks for your cooperation,” the artist said with a brisk smile, tucking the sketchbook under his arm.
Park escorted them out of the building, and Anna was grateful for her polite detachment. Nothing in her face or manner treated Jax like he was anything more than a witness and not a suspect.
“Thanks, I wasn’t sure I’d be walking out of there,” Jax admitted when they reached the street. “My lawyer’s gonna shit a brick when he finds out about this.”
“It was the right thing to do, though.”
“I wish I could be sure of that. I’m pretty sure Nick thinks I’m guilty now,” he said with a rueful grin.
“He’s keeping an open mind,” she assured him. Maybe Jax believed her, maybe he didn’t.
“Are you really going to stay over at Rose’s?”
“Yes, I am, at least for tonight.”
“It’s probably for the best, just in case. The last thing I want is you endangering yourself, especially if that danger is me.”
“I keep telling you, that’s not what’s going on here. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and go on back and get some rest.”
The corner of his mouth twitched higher. “Yes, ma’am. Boy, when did you get to be so bossy?”
“People change.”
“They sure do,” he sighed, pulling on a pair of sunglasses even though the worst of the sun was long gone. “I can make it back to the house on my own. Thanks again, Anna. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Hang in there, Jackson. We’ll figure this thing out.”
Only she didn’t feel any closer to finding any real answers. Knowing that Jax wasn’t the killer didn’t put them any closer to finding out who it was. There were plenty of people out there with pale, slender arms, both male and female, and she wished she’d gotten a better look than that single flash.
Maybe there was a way she could.
* * *
Rose was on her way out as Annaliese arrived, but stopped to give her a key and the new alarm codes. “Got to change them up every once in a while, keep people on their toes,” she said, her voice light.
Despite the airy tone, Anna got the feeling Rose wasn’t in as much of a happy-go-lucky mood as she displayed. “Hey, sit down and talk to me for a minute,” she said, pulling her into the parlor. “Is everything okay?”
“Sure, they’re just swell,” Rose tried, blinking fast as a rush of emotion came over her. “And by swell, I mean everything’s all swirling around like a cyclone of crazy and we’re caught in the middle.”
“You mean with you and Ruby? I noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with her lately. Are things…?”
Rose shook her head. “It’s not serious. She’s kind of messed up right now.”
“How do you mean messed up?”
“Sometimes I’ll find her sitting there staring off at nothing. At first I thought it was the fact that we hadn’t seen each other for so long, like we didn’t have anything to talk about anymore, but that’s not it. She does it whether I’m there or not. I’ll say her name, even wave a hand in front of her face and she won’t snap out of it until she’s good and ready. It scared the hell out of me the first time it happened. I was about to call an ambulance. But then she blinked and sort of came to, and it was my Ruby smiling back at me.”
“Do you think it’s the drugs?”
Rose let out a long breath. “I think that’s part of it. But I haven’t seen her take any of the hard stuff. She’s not keeping any syringes around and no pills she doesn’t have a prescription for. Just booze and a little grass, but I can tell she’s zonked out at least half the time, which means she’s hiding it, which is bad.”
“Hey, booze and pot can screw up your life just as bad as the harder drugs if you let them take over your life,” Annaliese pointed out. “And just because she’s on a prescription doesn’t mean she’s not abusing it. Have you tried talking to her about it? Let her know you’re worried?”
“You know Ruby, you can’t tell her what to do. The first time she called me a self-righteous prig, I decided to drop it. She’s an adult, right? Ruby has the right to screw up her own life like anyone else,” Rose smirked.
“Maybe you should give her some space then? Don’t let yourself get too close too fast?”
“Is that what you told yourself with Jax?”
Anna shifted uncomfortably. Why did everyone always try to insinuate that there was still a thing between her and Jax? “Jax isn’t an addict. And I’m not the one looking to resurrect something from the past. What we had is ancient history. We’ve both moved on. Maybe you should too? I don’t like the idea of you letting yourself be hurt. What’ll happen when they move back to L.A. and she leaves without a second thought? Would you go with her?”
“I could, for a while anyway,” Rose considered aloud. “Maybe we can make it work when all of this murder stuff is behind us. I can tell it’s upsetting her far more than she lets on.”
“I can’t imagine being in her shoes right about now. She must’ve been shocked to find out the girls resemble her, even a past version of her.”
Rose’s chin came up in determination. “That’s why I can’t abandon her now in her time of need. I don’t want her to be alone. I feel… something’s coming, Anna, something bad.”
Anna nodded, taking hold of Rose’s hand. “I feel the same way.” In the briefest way possible, she took her through the highlights of Jax’s vision, knowing Rose was one of the few people who would accept it without automatically reading Jax’s guilt into it. “What do you think it means?”
“I think another death is coming, soon,” she said after a long moment’s thought, her blue eyes wide.
“You don’t think he did it, do you?”
“No, not from what you said. Besides, for all Jax’s temper, he loves women. I don’t see him as an abuser.”
“This is more than abuse, this is death. What if we’re wrong? We didn’t see things coming with Ellie at all.”
“I know, and I have that same jittery feeling again. That’s why I’m going to go stay with Ruby tonight. Maybe I can keep her safe.”
“Or put yourself in danger,” Anna pointed out, but Rose just shook her head.
“Not gonna happen, sweetheart. I’m a brunette, I’m not on the menu. Feel free to join us if you want. It’d be like a slumber party.”
Annaliese smiled over the invitation, but she had something else in mind. “No, thanks. I’ll rough it here, if it’s still alright. I promised Ni
ck I’d stay away from the both of them.”
“Good ol’ Nick and his ever controlling ways,” Rose sighed.
“He’s just looking out for me, same as you’re doing for Ruby.”
“So why aren’t you spending the night at his place tonight?” Rose fixed her with a penetrating stare. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought,” she added when Annaliese didn’t answer. Picking up her keys, she shouldered her bag and offered Anna a brief hug. “I’ll catch you later, sweetie. You know where I’ll be if you need me.”
“Same here,” Annaliese replied, returning the hug. “Take care.”
Accompanying Rose to the front door, she locked it up tight and set the perimeter alarm before going up to seek the spare bedroom she usually stayed in when she spent the night. It was lavishly furnished with a huge king sized bed, decorated in creamy brocade with a punch of burgundy velvet for contrast. At least a dozen candles perfumed the room with the soothing scent of vanilla and caramel.
Once she was sure Rose was gone, Anna moved quickly, assembling the items she’d need for another attempt at scrying. This time she’d focus on expanding that flash of the vision she’d shared with Jackson, and hopefully she’d find a way to identify the killer.
Rose had all of the components available in her ritual room, especially because Annaliese wanted to keep it simple. She already had the pretty amber bracelet on, and decided to include a protective ring of salt to keep any bad energies from following her back.
Only it didn’t work. None of it did.
At first she tried reaching a meditative state like she had with Jax, but she never reached that level of trance. Thinking it might be her own fear holding her back from becoming a part of the darkness again, she switched to fire, her element of choice, focusing on a single candle flame. It was easy enough to slip her mind into the flame, becoming a part of it, but it didn’t take her to the murder scene. Instead, it showed her sitting in a booth at her favorite Chinese restaurant with Nick, laughing and having a good time. Until she opened her fortune and he snatched it out of her hand, his face darkened by a deep scowl.
