The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2)

by Sophia Martin

  “There are plenty of Francophone countries in the world that are predominantly Muslim,” Veronica said.

  Daniel was quiet for a moment. Finally, Veronica looked up from her menu. He was gazing at her.

  “How long are you going to keep this up?” he asked.

  Veronica tried to look confused.

  “Please, Ronnie,” he said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What is really going on?”

  Veronica raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know what you mean!”

  “Veronica, give it up,” Daniel said. “The story doesn’t hold water, okay? I’ve heard my share of fake cover stories. This is a fake cover story. Fess up.”

  Veronica groaned and closed her eyes. “I can’t tell you,” she murmured.

  “Can’t tell me what?”

  “What Khalilah really needed my help for.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s a secret! She made me promise not to talk about it with anyone,” Veronica said. “I’m sorry about the lying. I didn’t want to lie to you. But you won’t let anything go.”

  “Oh, so it’s my fault you lied?”

  “No, of course not,” Veronica sighed. “I’m really sorry. I should have just said it was a private matter.” She gazed at him slyly. “I should have known you’d just respect that.”

  Daniel narrowed his eyes at her. He shifted in his seat, clearly finding it difficult to to decide what to do with that. The server arrived, and they each ordered: she chose chicken pra-ram, and he had red curry. The server smiled and left.

  “It just seems strange to me, that’s all,” Daniel said in a burst. “Khalilah accused you of conning Melanie, then obviously she let that go after she saw how things turned out. But I was pretty sure you’d never hear from her again afterwards. I mean, the whole thing was awkward.”

  “You know, she didn’t accuse me out of nowhere. Your partner helped,” Veronica said. Why did she bring up his partner? This wasn’t going anywhere good. Why couldn’t they put the subject behind them and just enjoy dinner?

  “Granted,” Daniel said. He tapped his lower lip with the stick that came with his Thai iced tea. “You happen to ran into her Friday, and you said she acted weird. And then she called you up and wanted to meet. And she apologized for the way she treated you, but she needed your help with something. Does it have to do with your ability?”

  “Daniel… I can’t say.”

  He was still looking at her through narrowed eyes. “I’m concerned, Ronnie. What could Khalilah need the help of a psychic for? It’s not illegal, is it?”

  “No!”

  “Just tell me what it is. I promise I’ll never let on that I know if I run into her.”

  “I can’t,” Veronica said miserably.

  “It is something shady, isn’t it. That’s why you can’t tell me.”

  “Daniel…”

  “Just pretend for a minute that I’m not a cop—”

  “But you are a cop—”

  “Aha! That’s it. It’s something illegal.”

  “It’s not illegal,” Veronica said. She was getting weary. “It’s just… a delicate situation.”

  Daniel paused at that. Veronica wondered whether making it sound like feminine trouble of some kind would make him back off. She didn’t relish lying again. This was no way to start a relationship. She didn’t want to do to Daniel what Bo Bedragar had done to her, lying about who he really was and what he was really doing—that was awful. What Bo had done didn’t even have all that much to do with her—well, until later, when Daniel’s partner, Felsen, had used the case to make Veronica look guilty of fraud. Bo had mainly been embezzling from his work. At the time, Veronica hadn’t been involved at all, except for having more insight than was strictly normal, and somehow when the truth came out, if felt just as much like a personal betrayal as it would have if he was cheating on her. If she kept lying to Daniel, he’d end up feeling the same way.

  Veronica sighed. “Okay,” she said. “But you have to promise, Daniel. Promise that you are not a cop when I tell you this. Do you understand?”

  “Sure,” Daniel said, eyeing her.

  “Daniel, I mean it. I’m only considering telling you this because I don’t want to screw things up by hiding things from you. But if you turn around and use this information like a cop, I will never tell you anything again. Are we clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  “Swear.”

  “What is this, fourth grade?”

  “Daniel, swear to me. Swear on your father’s head, or your mother’s, or your fish’s. Or something.”

  “Veronica, I swear that whatever you tell me I will keep in strictest confidence. I swear on my honor.”

  “Fine,” Veronica said with another sigh. “There’s a young woman: her father saw her abducted.” Veronica proceeded to explain everything as clearly as she could, but it was difficult since she herself didn’t really understand all of it.

  “So you intend to help Khalilah find this kidnapper and then confront him to force him to free this woman?” Daniel asked tensely when she was done.

  “Not confront him,” Veronica said, feeling uneasy. “We’ll be sneaky about it.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows. “You can’t do this,” he said.

  “Daniel…”

  “You can’t. It’s way too dangerous.”

  Veronica sighed. She wasn’t sure she disagreed.

  “I’ll talk to some of the detectives in Missing Persons—”

  “No!” Veronica exclaimed. “Did you not hear what I said about her family?”

  “You know, the Sac PD isn’t a bunch of idiots, Ronnie. We actually know how to keep someone from being murdered at the hands of her family—”

  “Will you protect Yesenia Saleh, too? How about Fayez Jadeed—or Khalilah—for that matter? These people might decide to blame anyone for what happened, if they find out Amani was raped—if they even suspect it! We have to do this so that they never know she was found!” Veronica slapped her palm on the table. Daniel looked startled. “This Hamza person is a real jerk from what I can tell. He had plans for Amani, and those plans got screwed up when she was taken. He’s pissed—I bet this makes him lose all sorts of face with that business associate he was going to give her to—”

  “I thought you said the business associate was probably behind the kidnapping.”

  “I don’t know!” Veronica said. To her own ears, she sounded like Khalilah had when Veronica had tried to convince her to go to the police. “This whole thing is crazy. I don’t know what to do. I just want to help this girl—can you imagine what she must be going through? How terrified she must be?”

  “Veronica, you can’t help her. This is out of your league!”

  Veronica shook her head. “Maybe. But I can’t just sit back and do nothing. If there’s a way I can help, I have to try.”

  “Look, how about I do a little investigating—” Daniel held up a hand as Veronica started to protest. “Unofficially. Okay? No one will know. I’ll just poke around a little. Find out what I can about Hamza Ahmad and his business associates. I’ll go in early tomorrow and do it before I’m on the clock. I won’t tell anyone about it.”

  Veronica stared at him, trying to see if he was serious about keeping it secret.

  “I promise you, Ronnie,” he said in a gentle voice. “I promise I won’t alert anyone. Just let me help you—let me find out who you’re messing with.”

  Veronica sighed. “Okay.”

  ~~~

  The rest of dinner was uneasy. They tried to talk about other things, but it felt artificial. Daniel studied her too intensely, like Veronica was one of his suspects. Was this always what it was like dating a cop? Probably not. After all, most women didn’t get themselves involved in abduction cases. Most women had no reason to. Veronica had no reason to, except that she might be able to help, because of her ability.

  It made her tired. So far everything her ability had contributed to the situation had
amounted to a great big zero. Maybe this was the spirits’ way of telling her she was not meant to be an amateur detective. And she was fine with that. Veronica had never been a thrill-seeker. She certainly wasn’t prepared for any confrontation with a kidnapper. Daniel was right that this whole thing was beyond her.

  The only trouble was, Veronica cared about Amani. She’d never actually met the woman, but the glimpses she’d had of her, and the things she heard her say, the sound of her voice… Veronica’s heart went out to her. Veronica might not know her, but Amani was real to her. And Amani was going through a terrible ordeal, that might very well end in her death, either at the hands of her captor or her own family. It was worse than anything Veronica could imagine.

  How could she sit by and do nothing, when there was a chance she could help?

  As they left the restaurant, Veronica’s cell phone went off. The display said “Khalilah Jadeed.” Veronica shut off the ringer and let it go to voice. She didn’t want to talk to Khalilah in front of Daniel. She was going to have to confess that she’d caved and told him the truth. She didn’t look forward to Khalilah’s reaction to that.

  Daniel drove her home. He was quiet. Veronica wondered if he was pissed at her. Was she finally going to manage to ruin this for herself?

  “I’m sorry I lied,” she said as they approached her street.

  “Apology accepted,” he said, glancing at her with a hint of a smile.

  “I won’t ever do it again,” she said. She looked at him. “I promise. It’s not worth messing things up with you.”

  “I’ll keep my promise, too,” he said. “I won’t tell anyone what’s going on until you say so. Unless—”

  Veronica stiffened.

  “Unless things get dangerous. There’s not all that much I can do without a statement by Jahid Ahmad to the effect that he witnessed his daughter’s abduction. But I won’t sit by and do nothing if you or Khalilah get into trouble,” he said.

  Veronica closed her eyes and sighed. “I guess that’s reasonable.”

  He pulled up in front of her duplex. It was a little white house with a tall blue fence that went from the front edge of the building around the back yard.

  Veronica turned to Daniel, thinking about kissing him but still unsure that he had really forgiven her.

  “Are you sick of dealing with my drama yet?” she asked with a weak chuckle.

  He gave her a half grin. “Like I told you before, you keep things interesting.”

  “It won’t always be this way,” she said.

  He frowned. “I think maybe it will be, Ronnie.”

  Veronica shook her head. “No, it won’t! How can it? It’s not like I’m trying to get involved in this kind of thing…”

  “That’s just it,” Daniel said. “Since I’ve met you, you’ve witnessed a murder, helped find a kidnapped girl and stop another murder, and within two months you’ve gotten involved in finding another kidnapped girl.”

  Veronica laced her fingers together. She didn’t know what to say.

  “And you aren’t equipped for it, Ronnie. If you keep it up, you’re going to get hurt,” he continued. “You have to stop.”

  “I don’t want to get involved,” Veronica pleaded. “But how can I just stand by—”

  “—when you might be able to help. I know, but you also told me that none of the information you’ve gotten so far has been useful anyway,” Daniel pointed out. “It’s time to let it go.”

  Veronica gazed at him. “You said you would help me.”

  “I said I’d find out what you were getting mixed up with. This Hamza Ahmad sounds like he could be a pretty dangerous man. I don’t want you crossing him. You seem convinced that he would actually kill his own niece, or someone else if he shifted the blame on them.”

  “But not me,” Veronica said. “He has no idea I know anything about it. He has no idea who I am.”

  “If you keep meddling in his business, he’s bound to notice you sooner or later,” Daniel said. “There are real threats out there, Veronica. This isn’t a game. I see things happen every day—to nice people, not just criminals hurting each other—nice people get killed. Nice people like you.”

  That annoyed her. In fact, everything about this particular conversation annoyed her. What was he saying? That she was weak. This whole time, he really was thinking she was weak. Someone to be protected. Well, she might not be some badass homicide detective, but she wasn’t a victim, either. Maybe she got hurt when they went after Grant Slecterson, but she’d survived. She’d found him, hadn’t she? Angie would be dead without Veronica’s help. She couldn’t just pretend that she didn’t have this ability. Not when it meant she could save someone like Angie. He was telling her to stay out of it, to leave the investigating to the big boys. Well, she wasn’t going to.

  Daniel got out of the car and started round to open her door for her.

  Veronica swung the door open and hoped out. “That’s okay,” she told him with a smile at his startled expression. “I can get it myself.”

  “Ronnie…”

  She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Daniel,” she said, and marched to her door without looking back.

  ~~~

  She was about to call Khalilah back when the cell phone went off. It was Melanie. Veronica chewed on her lip for a moment, considering not picking up the call. She wanted to call Khalilah right away, before she lost the head of steam she’d just built up from her conversation with Daniel. She also didn’t want to tell Melanie about any of it, because Mel worked in the DA’s office. She would think calling the police was the right thing to do. But Veronica was so used to telling Melanie everything. She wasn’t sure she could stop herself.

  With a moan she picked up the cell and hit talk.

  “Hey, Mellie,” she said.

  “Veronica, you are a genius.”

  Veronica gave Bloss and Binky a startled look. The cats sat on the floor looking up at her. What could Melanie mean? “Uh…”

  “Angela was singing, Veronica. Singing, when she got home.”

  “Oh,” Veronica said. “The club.”

  “She told me she picked the name! All About Animals. She couldn’t stop talking about it. She loves the girls in it, especially that Shona. She’s happy, V.”

  “That’s great,” Veronica said, sitting down on the couch. It was a relief that Melanie was so excited. She wouldn’t ask Veronica much about her day. But Veronica also felt disappointed. She wanted to talk about everything, she realized. She wanted to tell Melanie all of her fears and frustrations about the investigation, and also all about Daniel and his condescending overprotectiveness. But this was better, she told herself. It was better not to bring Mel into it. It was bad enough that Veronica had told Daniel the truth.

  “Tell me about these kids, who are they?” Mel asked.

  “Shona’s a great kid,” Veronica said. “She’s sporty—she’s doing track right now but in the fall she’s also in volleyball. She takes French III. She has great grades, and I think she’s in a couple of AP classes.”

  “Angie said she’s a junior?”

  “Yep,” Veronica confirmed. “And then the others I don’t know very well. They all seem nice. Shona’s friend Regina’s a bit of a character.”

  “Oh, yeah, Angie’s not sure about her. But she didn’t sound like Regina was mean or anything.”

  “No, not mean,” Veronica agreed. “Regina just has a lot of personality. She’s outspoken.”

  “Okay,” Melanie said. “Anyway, I know you have to get back to your grading, hon. I just wanted to call and say thank you.”

  Veronica nodded, her eyes closed. The grading. Jesus. She’d forgotten all about it. “Yeah,” she managed. “No problem, Mel. I was pleased to see Angie having a good time.”

  “Are you okay, V?”

  “Oh yeah,” Veronica said, shaking her head. “I’m fine. Just a little stressed. You know how the end of the quarter gets.”

  “Yeah. Keep
your head up,” Melanie said. “Talk to you soon.”

  “Yeah, give Angie a hug from me and tell her she’s a good kid.”

  “Will do.”

  Veronica ended the call and stared at the phone for a moment. Should she put off calling Khalilah back and tackle the pile of papers instead? Maybe Daniel had a point after all. She wasn’t some kind of detective. She was a teacher. She had her own responsibilities. Her grades were due. She couldn’t just make them up out of thin air—parents would call or email when the report cards came home, they needed concrete evidence to explain why their kids were failing, or getting an unacceptable C or B, in some cases. If she couldn’t show them the assignments, quizzes and tests that justified the grades she gave, they would complain to the principal. It was a headache she preferred to avoid.

  But the grading pile was also a headache. And she couldn’t just turn her back on Khalilah. And screw what Daniel said. He thought she was some damsel in distress. Maybe it was romantic, but it made her feel like a loser. She wasn’t going to let anyone make her feel weak. She wasn’t weak. She could help Amani Ahmad in a way no one else could, and she was going to do it. If she could just get a useful vision.

  She called Khalilah.

  “Veronica,” Khalilah said by way of greeting. “I’m glad you called. I have a name, of the business associate.”

  “Good,” Veronica said, although her stomach did an uncomfortable flip.

  “It’s Mohammed Ghattas. Fayez said that Hamza, Jahid and Mohammed were going to buy a grocery store together.”

  “Khalilah, I have to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “I went to dinner with Daniel tonight. He… he got me to tell him what was going on.”

  “What!”

  “He promised not to get the police involved. But he’s going to look into Hamza’s background, to see if he’s really dangerous.”

  “I can’t believe this. Veronica, why did you tell him?”

  “I’m sorry,” Veronica said. “I really am. I just didn’t want to lie to him, or hide things from him. But now I wish I had. He’s convinced I’m in over my head and that I can’t do this. But I want to help Amani.”