Detective Shannon was a tall man, with a slender frame and dark red hair. That combined with his pale skin, bright blue eyes, and last name made the chances of his being Irish pretty strong. He studied Babbs and me for a long few minutes, watching us watch the other officers as they took inventory of the scene.
Emergency dispatch had sent EMTs, officers, and crime scene investigators. They crawled all over the room like ants, placing numbers on the ground, taking pictures, and measuring just about anything they could find. Though there seemed to be no evidence of an actual crime.
“The body is wet.” He looked at me.
“Yes,” I replied. “When we came in, she was floating in the fountain. Babbs and I pulled her out to see if we could get a pulse, but we couldn’t.”
“You thought you could get a pulse from someone floating face down in water?”
“She wasn’t face down,” Babbs replied. “She was face up. The way people do when they relax in a pool. She probably didn’t drown.”
“What makes you think that?” Detective Shannon cocked his head to the right just a little.
“She isn’t blue. When people drown, aren’t they usually blue?”
The detective looked at Babbs, his eyes a mix of suspicion and curiosity as he scanned the room then made his way out the front door, though he didn’t answer her question. Doing a quick turn, he kept his eyes focused high, then stopped as he spotted something.
“Call security.” He looked at another detective then pointed to a security camera. “Pull that footage.”
“Yes sir,” A young officer said, leaving the store.
“What time did you arrive here?” Riley asked.
“About seven forty-five,” I replied. “We were supposed to meet Hannah here. We were going out for sushi to celebrate. Kind of like a good luck thing . . .”
“Celebrate?”
“Yes,” I replied. “This shopping complex opens soon, and Hannah was giving me a small space to show my line.”
“Line?”
“Clothing line,” Babbs interjected, giving the detective a quick up and down glance before stopping on his shoes. “We have a clothing line. Perhaps you’ve heard of it . . . Vanguard?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Babbs deadpanned, still focused on his shoes.
They weren’t the worst shoes in the world, but they were far from the best. Which is a real shame. I hated when men chose not to put any thought into their shoes. And Riley Shannon, it seemed, hadn’t considered anything outside of a standard black loafer. No defining attributes, no extra notions, no bold stitching . . . nothing. They were just kind of there, as was his tie.
“We came to meet her and drop off a few things,” I said. “But after a little while, we just let ourselves in. That’s when we found her floating in the water.”
“How long until you let yourselves in?”
“Half an hour, maybe,” I said. “We figured we’d go ahead and put all of the stuff away. That way, when she got here, we’d be able to leave straightaway.”
“Why here?” Riley asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Why meet here? Why not at the restaurant, or at her home? Even the street in front of the building may have made a little more sense. Why come all the way to the third floor of this place just to turn around and leave the second she gets here?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” I narrowed my eyes. “It was her suggestion.”
“Seems an odd choice.”
“I guess it does, if you think about it,” Babbs replied.
“It’s my job to think about it.”
“We needed to drop off these clothes anyway. Besides, I was supposed to meet Nicco here so we could go over the space.”
“Nicco?”
“My boyfr—my friend.” I had to get better with this. I don’t know why I always had such trouble defining my relationship with Nicco. “He’s supposed to build my display shelving.”
“And where is he now?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “He never showed up. Though he did say he was going out with some friends. Maybe he was going to stop by after. Maybe he misunderstood.”
“Can you call him?” Riley asked.
“No, actually. He doesn’t have a cellphone.”
“Excuse me?” Detective Shannon said, his eyes the size of quarters.
“He doesn’t have a phone. He’s not really into that.”
It almost never occurred to me how out of the bounds of reason it was for a young twenty-something guy to not have a cellphone. It made perfect sense to me. Back home, in the magical realm, there were no phones. No one needed them. If you wanted to get in touch with someone, you basically just pictured their face and said a small incantation. Magic took care of the rest.
“That’s a new one to me.” Riley scribbled something down on his small pad. “I need you two to hang around to answer some formal questions. If you don’t mind.”
“Looks like we were right about the sushi,” Babbs sighed, sitting on the ledge of the large window.
We watched them meticulously go over the scene. It was pretty boring . . .
About an hour later, the young detective came walking back in, a small stack of papers in his hand. He and Riley spent the next few minutes going over what turned out to be photos, studying them while looking at the crime scene. Then, after what seemed like way too long, Riley made his way to Babbs and me.
“According to the video footage, Hannah arrived here about an hour before the two of you. Which accounts for how you found her here. Your story of hanging around for a while also checks out.”
“Good,” I replied. “Then we are free to go?”
“Yes.” He handed me a photo. “Unless, of course, you can identify this man.”
My heart sank when I saw the man in the pictures. It was Nicco. I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t even seen him arrive, which made sense as I looked over the timestamp. According to the video, Nicco arrived about twenty minutes before Babbs and me, then went into the store. Hannah would have already been inside.
“No,” I muttered, trying my best to steady my voice. “I don’t recognize him.”
“According to the footage, this man entered the store, stayed inside with Hannah for about fifteen minutes, then came running out like a bat out of hell. He left through a side door and disappeared down the street. It was only a short time later that the two of you showed up,” Riley stated. “Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Anything at all?”
“No,” I replied. “Like I said, we assumed she hadn’t gotten here yet. We called the police as soon as we realized what was going on.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Thank you. As I said, you’re free to go.”
I stood still for a few moments, my body reeling from the shock I’d just received. There was no way in hell Nicco had anything to do with this. Sure, I’d seen him kill before, but it was never an innocent person. And besides, Nicco is half-werewolf. If he were responsible for what happened to Hannah, then wouldn’t the scene be bloodier? Wouldn’t it have been violent?
The truth was, I didn’t know what Nicco was capable of. I never really had. I knew he loved me, but I also knew he was dangerous if he needed to be. But what about this situation would have caused him to just end someone’s life? And a mortal, no less.
“Hey.” Babbs looked at me. “Don’t worry about it. You know Nicco. You know he had nothing to do with this.”
“I know,” I said. “I just—”
“Hey.” Detective Shannon snapped his fingers. “If you find that boyfriend of yours, I’d like to speak with him.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Sure thing.”
As I turned to leave, something caught my eye. Something strange that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Look,” I said to Babbs, pointing to the fountain where we’d found Hannah. “I don’t remember that symbol carved into the stone. Do you?”
“No.” Ba
bbs focused on it, then took her phone from her pocket. “But I took a few selfies earlier. I’m sure the fountain is in some of them.”
Babbs and I scrolled through her phone. She was right. There sat the fountain, but there was no symbol. It was a small series of triangles surrounded by some sort of tribal incantation I didn’t understand. I’d never seen it before, but I was sure it was magic. I’d seen enough books on old magic to know it when I saw it.
“Who carved it?” I asked. “And when?”
“It had to be after we left,” Babbs said. “Which means it was either Hannah or Nicco.”
“Nicco?”
“I’m sure it wasn’t him,” Babbs clarified. “I’m just saying. He was the only other person here. And he is half-warlock, so . . .”
“Right . . .” My voice deflated to nearly nothing as I pictured Nicco’s face.
“What does it mean?”
“I have no idea,” I replied. “It’s old. I know that, but that’s about it. Quick, take a picture of it.”
Babbs snapped a few really quick shots as we headed for the door. I would have rather hung around and studied it a little more, tried my best to figure it out, or at least gotten a feel for what kind of magic it was tied to, but with a room full of police officers and crime scene technicians, there wasn’t much time for casting.
Babbs and I headed down the stairs and out into the bright city night. Normally, I would have stopped to take in the sheer splendor and ambience of the bustling crowds and vibrant city imagery. Tonight, though, after seeing those pictures, it just felt as if, once again, my whole world had been turned upside down.
“There’s no way he did that to her, right?” I looked at Babbs.
“No way!” she replied. “This is Nicco we’re talking about. The guy who makes amazing tiramisu, the guy who climbed out onto the balcony to grab a toy for the upstairs kid after he dropped it. He isn’t a killer, Ginni. No way.”
“We have to get home,” I replied. “Maybe he’s there. Maybe he’s waiting to tell us what happened.”
“I’m sure of it.” Babbs tried her best to reassure me.
5
We were only steps away from our apartment building when it hit me. “There’s a full moon,” I said.
“What?” Babbs stopped beside me.
“Look up. There’s a full moon tonight.”
“Don’t do this, Ginni. Don’t think like that. Nicco didn’t do this. You know that!”
“That’s the problem, Babbs. I don’t. What if he couldn’t control himself? What if she cut her finger and he smelled blood? What if he didn’t know she was in there and it spooked him?”
“No. It can’t be.”
“Technically, it could,” I said, my eyes filling with tears.
“No. It really couldn’t. Just think about it. He was in there for fifteen minutes before he came running out. He was fully clothed and in human form. If he would have shifted, he wouldn’t have looked like that. There would have been some kind of evidence.” She placed her hand on the back of my head and began stroking my hair. “You’re going to a bad place. You’re thinking the worst. I know Nicco, and so do you. He wouldn’t do this.”
“You’re right,” I said, finally steadying myself.
We entered our apartment to find it just as we’d left it, only there was no sign of Nicco. I walked through every room, yelling his name to no avail. Then I noticed it. A few of his things were missing, things I was sure were there when I’d left. Had he come back to retrieve them? Was this the proof I’d feared? I had one sure fire way of finding out.
“Ashwagandha,” I said, running toward the pantry.
“What?” Babbs asked.
“I need some ashwagandha, some gingko, and some ginseng.”
“Are you doing a spell?” she asked, her voice alive with disbelief.
“We’re doing a spell,” I said, scooping up the herbs and laying them on a small blanket in the middle of the floor. “These are all herbs tied to memory and cognitive function. And since two witches live here along with a warlock-werewolf hybrid, there should be more than enough magic in the air to carry the spell.”
“What spell?” she asked.
“Think of it kind of like the security camera back in the mall. Only . . . alive.”
“What?”
“I’m going to ask the apartment to replay its life. To take us back to what happened after we left. Nicco’s stuff is missing, which means either he was here or someone else was. Either way, I want to know what’s going on.”
“Okay!” Babbs rubbed her hands together. “Let’s do this. It’ll prove he’s not the one responsible for this. I’m sure of it.”
Take me back to what was before,
let the present be no more.
A simple trick of time and space,
An hour before, in this same place.
It was a simple spell, but it worked, which for the moment, was all that mattered. The air fell silent, the sky outside filling with light as time reversed. Then it happened. Nicco opened the door.
“This is so cool,” Babbs whispered. “I’ve never been inside a spell before.”
“Shh . . .” I said. “You’ll alter it.”
Babbs and I watched history replay itself in front of us. Nicco stormed through the apartment as though he were looking for me. Then he stopped, pulled his shirt off, tossed it in the hamper, and began collecting a few things. He tossed them in a bag then slid a black T-shirt over his body and headed out the door, stopping for just a moment and looking back, the way someone does when they’re saying goodbye.
I had to admit, it didn’t look good. Not for Nicco and not for me. I’d thought about his being a murderer. Heck, I’d even said it aloud to my best friend. But until that moment, I didn’t really believe it. But the evidence was too great. There was video proof of his going in and leaving the store during Hannah’s murder. And now this. It was all just piling up together and becoming almost too much to bear.
“Babbs.” I looked at her as the illusion dissipated. “I think he might have something to do with this.”
“We don’t know the truth,” she said. “Things look one way and turn out to be another. It happens all the time. You know that. Don’t do this. Don’t lose faith in him. I know it doesn’t look good. But let’s find him. Then we’ll know for sure.”
“How?”
“We’ll ask him.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He won’t lie to you. That will never change.”
“What was in the bag?” I asked. “Do you remember what he took with him?”
“No. But he changed shirts, remember?” She scurried over to the hamper. “Here! This is the one he—” She stopped short.
“What?”
“It’s wet.” She sighed. “Not soaked, but there are wet spots all over it.”
“So he was near the fountain?”
“Maybe . . . or maybe we’re missing something. Replay the memory.”
“I can’t,” I replied. “It only works one time. The magic won’t allow it to keep repeating. Not like this.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “We look around and see what we can find, I guess. I know a few things are missing. I just don’t know what.”
“There was a book here.” Babbs pointed to the small table next to the couch. “I think it was like a journal or something. I saw him writing in it a couple of times.”
“Yeah . . . that leather-bound one. It was brown, right?”
“Brown or like . . . dark red. I can’t remember. But I think I’d know it if I saw it.”
We scurried around the apartment, looking through drawers, under tables, and on top of just about anything we could find. In the end, we basically narrowed it down to a small list of herbs, a journal, and a few pictures. Aside from that, Nicco had left everything else behind. Not that it mattered too much. He was both a warlock and a werewolf, after all, so I doubted getting new stuff would be too problematic
.
I laid my body across the couch, still able to smell the pheromones from his wolf side, still able to feel the echoes of his magic in the air. It was like he hadn’t left at all. In that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of loneliness wash over me. I missed him terribly. Even though he’d only been gone a short time, it still felt like a part of me was missing.
He’d been by my side ever since the day I left Enchanted Lake. Ever since I took my first steps into the mortal realm. He’d watched over me, protected me. He’d loved me . . . and now I had no idea where he was or if I’d ever see him again.
“Tell me what to do, Babbs. Is he a killer, really?”
“I know it’s hard, babe. I know that. I don’t know what to say to make it better. I wish I did, but I don’t.”
Time must have slipped away from me—either that or the emotional stress of the day had gotten the better of me—but the next thing I knew, it was morning. I’d woken to find myself still on the couch, Babbs asleep right beside me. I stared down at her as she lay beside me. She hadn’t left my side the entire night. It was both sweet and the hallmark of a true friend. I took a deep breath, pulling myself up without waking her.
I brewed a small pot of coffee, scooping up the remote and turning on the news. One guess as to whose face was splattered across the morning news. Yup . . . it was Nicco. They had no name, just an image from the video, though I knew better than to think that would last long.
Second Buckhead had become a mystical mecca for so many witches and warlocks, not to mention a few other magical beings. Who knows how many of those people had seen Nicco and me walking down the street or having lunch? I was sure the police would have his name by the end of the day.
That was the first night I’d spent in that apartment without Nicco in the next room, without hearing him creep in to check on me in the middle of the night. I hated it. I wanted him back, to know where he was and why he’d run. I wanted to know the truth of what happened in that store before I got there.
They say sleeping on something makes you see it clearer and maybe they’re right. In that moment, I’d woken to the knowledge that the man I knew would have never killed an innocent woman. He hadn’t done this and I was going to set out to prove it, both to myself and the rest of the word.
Magic & Mini Skirts Page 3
