“Of course not, Evie. But,” I continued before she could interrupt, “if we give him the background, leaving out that Juni was probably a djinn, we can tell him to look for a sister. With the risk this sister poses to humanity, let alone exposing all of us with her actions, it’s imperative we find her sooner rather than later. Maybe with their additional databases and stuff, Jacob’ll have better luck.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Evie reluctantly agreed.
“And the LA cop too, right?” Catherine asked.
“I’ll let Liz know and she can tell Selina. We just leave the paranormal stuff out of all of it,” I concluded and the other women nodded in agreement.
A narrow band of light was surfacing over the mountain range outside the city. Evie gestured to it. “Sun is coming up, ladies, so I’ll need to kick you out now. Time for my beauty sleep.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sitting in my car, watching the light brighten around me as the sun came up, I considered my options. It was barely daytime. The detective was probably not even awake yet. Although Liz definitely was, she was likely prepping for her show in a couple of hours. The best thing, I decided, as I started my engine, was to go home and get my own beauty sleep for a few hours. I was truly running on fumes, after being up for … how many hours? I started counting backwards to determine how long I’d been awake and then realized this was further proof of my exhaustion. Time to return to The Lakes.
Unfortunately, with the sun up, a skinny dip in the lake was not a good idea. I decided a quick swim in my pool would have to suffice. And I guessed I’d be neighborly and wear a swimsuit. Once inside my home, I padded silently across the natural stone floor while I stripped my clothes off. I grabbed the aquamarine one-piece off the back of the wicker chair in the breakfast nook (its permanent home when I wasn’t wearing it) and slid the glass door open. Stepping out onto the concrete, I breathed in the crisp morning air. The mountains were visible in the distance.
Water caressed my skin as I dropped beneath the surface of the pool. No underwater life lived here so I swam a few laps, flipped a few somersaults for fun, and practiced what I liked to call, mermaid maneuvers. I realized I was smiling underwater and settled to the bottom. Colorful pebble-tec instead of boring plaster coated my pool and I delighted in the dolphin, turtle, and seal I had custom designed for the floor.
Despite the replenishing qualities of the water, the exhaustion from lack of actual sleep threatened to overwhelm me. I surfaced with reluctance. I felt someone’s eyes on me and a quick glance to my left identified the source.
“Hi, Elliott,” I called out to my neighbor and swam to the side closest to our shared wall. He had a dazed look on his face.
“How—?” he asked, and I groaned under my breath. I knew better than to stay underwater so long during the daytime.
I hoisted myself out of the pool and began the short walk to where he stood on the other side of the shared concrete wall. His eyes tracked the water dripping off my slender figure. I squeezed the extra water from my long green hair and flashed a bright smile at my befuddled neighbor.
“You aren’t going to sing me to my death, Mia, are you?” He asked with a nervous laugh, probably his idea of flirtation. I managed not to roll my eyes at his not-so-subtle joke that I was a siren. This was why humanity couldn’t know about us. They wouldn’t even get it right!
“Of course not, Elliott,” I responded, modulating my voice slightly and watching his eyes glaze in response. “You didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, did you, Elliott?” I’d reached where he stood opposite and touched his arm resting atop the short wall.
“Like what, Mia?” he asked in a daze.
“Exactly, Elliott.” I smiled and saw that he was completely mesmerized. My green eyes sparkled and I giggled, the sound of a tinkling bell. “You enjoy the rest of your day, Elliott.” He nodded like an excited puppy and I turned before I broke the spell with a real laugh. I felt his eyes watching me walk away, back toward my sliding glass door. After opening it, I turned to give him a slight wave goodbye, and then closed the door tightly.
I really hated entrancing humans when it was my fault they saw something they shouldn’t. The need for discretion was always present. I knew better. Sometimes, though, the water just called to me. I shrugged even though nobody was watching, peeled off the wet bathing suit, and returned it to the back of the wicker chair before trudging up the stairs to my bedroom for a well-deserved nap.
Hours later, I woke finally refreshed physically and emotionally. My phone showed a text from Liz letting me know she was free. Before I called, I sent a quick text to Jacob, asking if he had time to meet today and where.
“Hey, Mia,” Liz answered the call. Apparently, I’d already made it onto her Contacts list. I smiled.
“Hey, Liz, how was the show?”
“Very good. How was your nap?”
“Excellent.” Chit chat out of the way, I dove right in. “I may have some new info. I thought I’d swing by and pick you up, then we could go see Jacob.”
“Ooo, what new info?” I could hear the reporter in her salivating at my words.
I laughed. “I’m gonna make you wait.”
“Tease.”
“Are you at the studio or home?”
“Studio.”
“Be there in fifteen.” Ending the call, I read the response from Jacob that he was at headquarters for training today and to let him know when we’d arrived.
*****
Liz still wore remnants of her show makeup, I saw, when she opened the passenger door and hopped in my car. She’d changed into a t-shirt and jeans, though, from whatever fancy dress she wore for the show this morning.
“What do you know?”
“A friend of mine who knows people,” I started, deliberately vague because I wasn’t sharing Evie’s paranormal status – and I knew it would drive Liz crazy.
“What friend? Who does she know?” I flashed a smile and Liz shook her head. “Fine. Continue.”
“My friend who knows people said that although we don’t have a last name for Juni, my friend has reason to believe we should be looking for a sister.”
Liz’s mouth fell open. “What… where… how… I don’t understand,” she finally completed a statement. Her mouth twisted while she thought.
“Without a last name at all, and uncertainty whether the first name is even real, how on earth could your friend, no matter what she does or who she knows, possibly have deduced that there’s a sister?” Liz stared at me, her look indecipherable.
I made a noncommittal noise. “She just does.”
“How are we going to bring this to Selina and Jacob? They’re police officers,” she needlessly reminded me. “There’s no way they’re going to accept this information, without thinking we know more than we’re sharing with them. Do we know more than we’re sharing?” She asked this question, a shrewd look on her face as she tried to figure out where I was coming from.
“That’s all I can say,” I replied honestly. Even if I trusted Liz more, she was a newscaster. There was zero chance if I told her the paranormal angle that it wouldn’t wind up all over her show in the morning. I wasn’t dumb.
“Hmm.” Liz removed her phone from her purse and sent a text. Less than a minute later, her phone dinged, several times in a row, announcing responses. “Shocker. Selina wants to know how I could know this, who told me, and what more do I know.” She gave me the side eye. “What should I tell her?”
I knew her question was mostly rhetorical, but I ticked off the answers to Selina’s questions anyway. “You have your sources, you don’t disclose your sources, and that’s all you’re willing to share right now.”
“Or, how about this?” she countered. “I have my source, her name is Mia, and she’s hiding the rest of the information.”
The clear irritation in her voice surprised me. She was a reporter, after all; she should understand protecting sour
ces. I guess she just wasn’t used to being denied. “We’ll start with this,” I said gently. “And see what happens.”
She nodded her head, though the crossed arms and frown suggested less agreement. Before she could say anything else, we arrived at Metro headquarters.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I pulled into the parking lot off of MLK Blvd and headed to the building on the left. Once inside, I texted Jacob. Two volunteers in bright yellow shirts sat behind a glass partition with a small opening at the bottom.
“We’re here to see Detective Jacob Dawson,” I announced to the hole. “He’s on his way to get us.”
“ID please,” came the response.
Liz and I slid our driver’s licenses through the hole, the volunteer dutifully made a note of our information.
“Phone number?” We each rattled this off. The door to the left clicked then opened as the volunteer slid visitor badges on lanyards through the hole. “Wear these at all times in the building and return them on your way out.”
“Thank you,” I spoke into the hole, before turning to Jacob walking through the open door. “Perfect timing, Detective Dawson.”
The detective’s eyes took in my appearance again – occupational hazard, or should I take this personally? Sheesh. I almost wanted to strike a pose for his benefit, but it wouldn’t be that impressive, with my hair in a high ponytail, green t-shirt, and jeans over green wedges. He, on the hand, looked business casual nice, with a short-sleeved blue shirt over dark khakis and boots.
My eyes finished their exploration and he had a soft smile when I met his gaze. “Good afternoon, Ms. Fynn. And Ms. Addison,” he added a beat later, his expression souring when he recognized the newscaster.
“Try not to be so happy to see me,” she quipped.
“What can I do for you ladies?”
“Liz and I took a field trip to LA,” I started, “to look into the other Facebook Live murder.”
Jacob’s eyes were unreadable in an impassive face. “Okay.”
“We uncovered some information we think may be helpful,” I continued with a big smile. See how helpful I could be? He didn’t bite.
“How did you investigate that case in another city? Friends in high places?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Liz retorted coyly and Jacob stiffened.
“What did you find out?”
I quickly brought him up to speed, skipping over the part with Selina giving us copies of department documents, and instead focusing on the deceased’s social media info and our talk with his mother.
“We have a unexpected new direction you can pursue,” Liz finished with a sly smile. “We’re hoping to make a deal.”
“We are?” Liz shot me a look and I realized I said that out loud. Would have been nice if she had clued me in beforehand.
“We’ll give you our information if you promise me an exclusive when you learn more.”
“I don’t have the authority to make a deal like that, Ms. Addison,” Jacob said tonelessly.
“You’re a detective, aren’t you?”
“I’m on a team. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No, it doesn’t. And I’m not going to argue with you like we’re children. If you don’t wish to share your information without a quid pro quo…,” he turned to head back to the locked door.
“Jacob, wait!” He turned back, more at my use of his first name than my request, I would guess. My face reddened. “I’ll give you what we have.”
“What?!”
“Liz, I get that you want the scoop, but solving the murder is more important,” I explained to my indignant partner. She harrumphed and crossed her arms. Jacob was now smiling.
“Look, Ms. Addision, I can try. That’s the best I can agree to,” he offered.
“I’ll accept that,” she agreed, mollified at least a little by his concession.
“We believe the murders of Roger Miller in LA and Chad Johnson here were committed by the same person,” I began.
Jacob nodded. “LAPD and I agree.”
“We also believe that the murders may be related to Roger’s girlfriend, Juni.”
“We looked at that angle and dismissed it,” Jacob disagreed.
“Why?” Liz asked.
Jacob paused before answering. “Juni had no connection to the victim here; and she was long-gone or long-dead by the time of either victim’s murder.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “But, we have reason to believe that she may have a sister who is seeking revenge for Juni’s death.”
If Jacob’s eyebrows could rise any higher at my comment, they’d launch off his head. “Where did you get information that Juni has a sister?” His eyes narrowed at us.
“We aren’t in a position to share that right now,” Liz responded primly, and I glanced down to hide the laughter in my eyes. Even she didn’t know where my information came from!
“What is the connection between this alleged sister and the second victim? If you’re assuming she killed Roger because she believes Roger killed Juni, both very big ifs, by the way,” he over-enunciated to make his point, “what possible reason could she have to kill Chad?”
“We don’t know,” I admitted, and Liz smacked me in the arm. “We don’t,” I reminded her, rubbing my upper arm. She packed a wallop.
“Anything else?” Jacob pointedly checked his watch.
“Nope, that’s it. We just thought you should know,” I finished lamely.
Jacob sighed. “No. Thank you. I’ll make a note of it and let the FBI know when they arrive.” His eyes appeared stricken the moment the words left his mouth. Or, more accurately, the initials.
Liz’s eyes, however, lit up like it was her birthday. “The FBI is getting involved? Really?”
Jacob closed his eyes for a moment, knowing he couldn’t retract his words. “Yes. That isn’t public knowledge. You didn’t hear it from me.”
“Of course,” I assured him, already worried what Liz might do with that information.
Liz extended her hand and Jacob clasped it, rather reluctantly it seemed to me. When their hands separated, he moved his in my direction. I reached out to shake goodbye.
A visible spark popped between us and then his hand enveloped mine. “Damn, that static electricity,” I mumbled.
“Are you okay?” he murmured. His thumb rubbed my skin.
My cheeks flushed as heat flared in his eyes. How could we have this much attraction? I didn’t even think he liked me.
Our hands separated and I answered, “I’m fine.” I glanced at Liz, my heart sinking when I saw the smirk on her face. “We hope the information is helpful.” I yanked the visitor badge lanyard over my head, Liz following suit, and flung them both at one of the volunteers.
I grabbed Liz’s arm and steered her toward the glass door. I felt his eyes on me and despite my better judgment, risked a glance over my shoulder while we opened the door to exit. He had tilted his head, regarding me with another unreadable expression. I gave a half wave and scooted through the door before he had a chance to respond.
Liz wisely stayed silent until we were safely back in my car. “You two should just get a room,” she crowed.
My cheeks flushed again. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“The heck you don’t.” She laughed. “There was a visible dang spark when you touched. Visible,” she repeated. “That doesn’t happen every day.”
“Sure, it does,” I argued. “It’s called static electricity. Just like I explained to Jacob.”
“Don’t you mean Detective Dawson,” she teased.
I sighed. “Whatever. We’re done.”
“What do you mean, we’re done,” she demanded, all trace of laughter gone.
I exited the parking lot onto Alta Drive, considered whether or not to take the 15 or surface roads back to the television station, while I deliberately delayed answering. Of course, I w
as going to continue to look into the murders. But, now that I knew for certain there was a paranormal aspect, I really didn’t want a reporter of any kind involved. Too risky. Liz waited me out.
“We’ve given them a name. And now the FBI will be involved,” I finally stated, not meeting the eyes I felt staring at me.
“Are you kidding? This is our story!”
“No, it’s a probable serial killer,” I countered. “And we are not the best people to solve it.”
Liz stewed in her seat while I drove in the silence. I began to rethink my stance. Not about telling her about the paranormal underworld; I was for sure not breathing a word about that.
No, I was thinking about the adage, keep your enemies closer than your friends. Not that I considered Liz an enemy, but if I wanted to stay on top of what she was learning, continuing to work with her was the best way. What would be our next step that didn’t involve the paranormal? I decided to pitch the question, sans the paranormal.
“What would be our next step then?”
“You’ll keep investigating with me,” she said excitedly. A twinge of guilt surfaced at my deception.
“Of course,” I answered with a smile.
“Let’s think a minute.” Liz tapped her finger against her lip as she considered our next move. She jolted up in the seat, straining the seat belt. She faced me. “I know a tech guy; maybe he can do more with the partial picture of Juni. Also, I’ll see what he can find on the dark web.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed. “Since both victims were actors, I’ll check in with friends of mine who know most of what’s going on in Vegas.” Liz eagerly agreed to our plan.
My mind raced. Technically, I’d already spoken to Catherine and Evie, but maybe they’d heard something new. Because I was actually stumped. I was fairly confident the murderer was the dead djinn’s twin sister, but I was at a complete loss about how to find her. It’d been two days since Chad’s murder and two weeks since Roger’s murder. If she killed again, we probably had about ten days.
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