Couture and Curses Page 9

  Caleb laughed and turned over the SUV’s engine. “I never knew you had such a vindictive side, Winters,” he teased, looking over his shoulder before easing out into traffic. “It’s kinda hot.”

  I barked a laugh. “I don’t know about that, but if it gets me a ticket to tag along, sure, I’ll go with it.”

  Caleb didn’t confirm whether or not he was going along with my request, but when we reached the intersection, he paused a moment, before flipping the blinker to indicate a left turn.

  My smile deepened and I settled back into my seat, mentally flipping through a list of possible remarks to make to the grumpy woman after Caleb flashed his badge and demanded information.

  To my chagrin, the entire thing was a lot less buddy cop show than I’d built up in my head during the quick drive over to the estate sale warehouse. I went inside first and the woman scowled up at me, “You again?”

  Caleb appeared at my side and the woman’s eyes shifted to him. “Who’s this? Your bodyguard?”

  “This is Agent Caleb McCord, with the SPA. He’s got a few questions for you,” I said, smiling down at the woman.

  Okay, okay, so it wasn’t exactly the witty zinger I’d been reaching for, but the woman’s lip curled up a little and that was mildly satisfying.

  “What do you want, agent?” she all but snarled.

  Caleb didn’t show a hint of annoyance at the woman’s cold tone. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and produced the sketch. “I’d like to know if you recognize this woman.”

  The woman held his stare for a deliberate moment before dropping her eyes to study the sketch. “Yeah. That’s her. The one who gave me the Heart of Poseidon.” She glanced up, her eyes narrowed again. “I’m assuming that’s what this is about? Your other little toady was already here asking about it.”

  Caleb bristled, his lips going into a thin line. “Yes, I sent an agent here to speak with you.”

  “He’s the lead investigator on the case,” I added, leaning across the counter.

  Caleb cleared his throat and I straightened.

  “We appreciate your cooperation, ma’am. Would you happen to have any information about this woman? Her name? Address?”

  Carolyn sighed and then raised her hand. For a moment, I worried she was about to call her dwarf back out from his cubby-slash-office, but instead, she snapped her fingers and a filing cabinet drawer to her left flew open. A rustle of invisible fingers worked over the labeled tabs, all while Carolyn kept her eyes on us. The rustling stopped abruptly and a single file popped up above the rest. With another gesture, the drawer slammed shut and the file floated across the office and Carolyn plucked it from the air.

  “She claimed the items belonged to her recently-passed uncle. According to her, he was something of a hoarder and for that reason, she didn’t want to hold the sale at his former place of residence.” As she spoke, Carolyn flipped through the sheets of paper in the file. I saw a photograph of the sapphire and rolled my eyes. She’d had it the whole time.

  “Is that unusual?” Caleb asked.

  “Not really,” Carolyn replied, her tone flat. “We’re not a pawn shop, but if someone comes to us with interesting and valuable items, we’ll agree to sell them at one of our showcases or auction nights. Of course, we always prefer to be able to go in and see all the items available and try to set up an individual event. The accounting is easier that way.”

  I nodded as if I understood, but in reality it seemed like Carolyn and whatever associates worked for her were running a high-end pawn shop, regardless of her claim that they merely organized estate sales as a service to a deceased person’s relatives. Why else would they need a huge warehouse to store it all? Sounded more like Storage Wars than Antique Roadshow.

  “Anyway, this woman—ah, yes, Ramona Quell,” Carolyn continued, running her finger along some kind of application form with boxes of information filled out in blue ink, “she had a suitcase of smaller items. A couple watches, some cufflinks, candlesticks, a few rare books, and then the Heart.”

  “Did you take all the items?” Caleb asked.

  Carolyn shook her head, still consulting the form. “No. We didn’t take the books. I told her to try the bookshop at Dragon’s Crossing.”

  “Did all of the items sell?” I asked. “Or just the sapphire?”

  “One of the watches sold,” Carolyn replied. She flipped through the photographs and held one out.

  It was a solid piece, likely another pricey heirloom, though I didn’t know enough about watches to attach a dollar value to it. Caleb, on the other hand, let out a whistle. “Is that a Hooperson original?”

  Carolyn gave a bored nod.

  “The rest of the items will go up for sale at an auction,” Carolyn continued, taking the photo back. “We hold quarterly auctions to get rid of things hanging around in the warehouse.”

  Caleb slowly peeled his eyes away from me, though the concern remained etched in his tense profile as he looked back at Carolyn. “Did anyone come in asking about the watch or the sapphire?”

  “Just her,” Carolyn replied, pointing at the sketch that still lay on the desk between us. She scoffed and continued, “It was maybe three days after she sold the items to us. She came back in all in a panic and said she’d made a mistake. She needed the items back and tried to return the money. I told her this wasn’t a pawn shop and that if she wanted them, she’d have to attend the sale, same as everyone else, and buy them back at their full market value.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the woman but she ignored me. Everything about this place was slimy and underhanded. What had made Ramona even come to this dump in the first place? Surely, it wasn’t based on a five-star review or word of mouth.

  “When was this?” Caleb asked, ignoring my ice-queen stare.

  Carolyn looked back at the paperwork. “A little over three weeks ago. Haven’t seen or heard from her since.”

  Caleb’s phone chirped and he automatically reached into his pocket for it. He frowned at the number on the screen and then looked up at Carolyn. “Thank you for your time.”

  Carolyn grumbled something that sounded like didn’t exactly have a choice as we turned away.

  Outside, Caleb answered the call and walked a few paces away from me. Official business, I surmised, not attempting to follow. The wind caught Caleb’s words and carried them to me, though it was impossible to decipher what was going on. Only when he ended the call and turned back to face me did I realize something bad had happened.

  “What?” I asked, bracing myself, pleading with the stars that it wasn’t about Aurelia.

  Caleb slid the phone back into his pocket. “My agents got a lead on Ramona and found her apartment.”

  “That’s great!” I exclaimed, only to back down a second later as Caleb’s expression remained tense. Frowning, I added, “Isn’t it?”

  “Ana, she’s dead.”

  Chapter 12

  Ramona Quell lived in a townhouse only a few blocks from my condo building. When we arrived at the scene, a swarm of SPA agents were already present, standing in small groups and casting concerned glances around the lot and toward the building. Others spoke with the cluster of onlookers, likely the neighbors drawn out of their homes by the commotion.

  Agent Bloom met us on the sidewalk when Caleb rolled his SUV to a stop at the curb. Agent Bloom opened my door and I climbed out. “Thank you.”

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Ms. Winters,” he said, throwing a look at his partner from over the top of the vehicle.

  If Caleb noticed the meaningful glance, he ignored it as he rounded the front bumper. “What are we looking at?”

  “Homicide,” Bloom replied, his tone flat.

  Caleb swore.

  “Jensen and Knapp got the tip,” Bloom said, gesturing briefly at two agents who were speaking to the public. “They were canvassing the shops near Aurelia’s to see if anyone recognized her. According to them, the owner of the flower market lived on the same b
lock and gave them her name and address. When Jensen and Knapp went to speak with her, they got no answer at the door, but when they were leaving, a neighbor poked her head out and said she was worried about Ramona.”

  “Did the neighbor say why she was worried?” Caleb asked.

  “Apparently, up until a few weeks ago, Ramona had a roommate, possibly a romantic partner, and they were constantly fighting. Last night, she heard arguing and figured the roommate was back in town, or if they were dating, they were back on again. A little after midnight, the voices stopped, and someone peeled off on a motorcycle. This morning, the neighbor went over to see if everything was all right, but got no answer. When she saw the agents, she figured they were there to do some kind of wellness check.”

  Caleb rubbed a hand over his jaw. He had a few days’ worth of stubble showing and for the first time, I noticed the dark circles under his eye and the new depth to the lines at their corners. It was as if he’d aged somehow during the drive over. “Jensen and Knapp went inside?” he asked his partner.

  Bloom nodded. “Found Ms. Quell. There were signs of a struggle, broken dishes, upturned chairs, a broken lamp, that kind of thing.”

  “Cause of death?”

  Bloom hesitated, his gaze shifting past Caleb’s shoulder.

  Caleb tensed. “Bloom?”

  The agent exhaled. “From first glance, it looks like magic, a curse, was involved. Marty’s in there now. He thinks it’s the same MO as the curse that struck—” Bloom’s eyes cut a quick glance at me.

  “Aurelia,” I finished.

  Agent Bloom’s lips tensed and he nodded.

  Icy fingers wrapped around my spine and gripped hard. “But, Ramona is dead. Not just in a trance or something?”

  “She’s gone,” Agent Bloom said gently.

  Caleb placed a hand on my shoulder. “That doesn’t mean Aurelia can’t recover, Ana.”

  I nodded, but kept my lips pressed tightly together to contain the sob in the back of my throat.

  “I need someone to take Ana home,” Caleb said to his partner.

  “What? No!”

  “Ana,” Caleb said, keeping his voice low, “there’s nothing more you can do to help. You should go home and try to get some rest.”

  “Rest?” I winced at the shrillness of my tone, but was unable to walk it back. We were too close, and Aurelia was my friend. “You think I can just go home and have a glass of wine and relax in the tub after this?” I glared back and forth between the two of them. “There’s a killer on the loose and I’m the only one who’s seen him!”

  Agent Bloom took two steps back and then scrambled away, as if retreating from an encounter with a startled bear.

  Caleb took my arm gently and steered me away. “Ana, we don’t know anything about this shadow man. I can’t exactly put that in the official report. I’ve asked the top SPA magic consultants. They never agree on anything, but they all agree that a shadow can’t have autonomy.”

  My lips pursed together. “So, you’re saying you don’t believe me?”

  “No. That’s not what I said,” Caleb replied, sounding haggard. “I’m just pointing out that this shadow man isn’t the attacker. There’s something pulling the strings.”

  “Fine.” I folded my arms. “But I’m still the closest thing you have to a witness right now. Maybe we can go back to the hospital. I can touch Aurelia’s hand again and see if that sets off another vision.”

  “Ana, no!” Caleb’s tone surprised me and I blinked hard. He grimaced and cast a look around before leaning in and lowering his voice. “You are not to go anywhere near Aurelia. We don’t know what’s going on and making any more connections with this … this … thing, isn’t going to help. If anything, it will only put you in more danger.”

  “If I can stop this from happening to anyone else, I have to try.” My own tone was less inflamed but still urgent as my gaze slipped back to the facade of the townhouse. I shuddered, thinking of the tragic scene that lay concealed behind the line of bushes and navy blue walls.

  “You don’t have to be the hero or the martyr here, Ana. We have a fresh batch of clues and leads to follow now, and that’s what we’re going to do. Me and my team. We’re going to put an end to this.”

  “Caleb, I—”

  He raised his hand and signaled a group of three agents. “Agent Miller? Come here.”

  An athletic blonde with a long ponytail came jogging over. From the wide-eyed freshness on her face, I assumed she was one of the junior agents in Caleb’s unit. “Yes, boss?”

  “Ana, this is Meryl Miller,” Caleb said.

  I offered an awkward wave.

  Caleb gestured toward me. “Agent Miller, I need you to take Anastasia home and stand guard outside her door.”

  “Caleb!” I barked, a new bubble of fury rushing to the surface. “I don’t need a warden!”

  Caleb leveled me with a solemn look. “It’s not to keep you in, Ana. It’s to keep everyone else out.”

  The fury bubble frosted over and shattered, leaving me cold and shivering. He was worried I was next on the shadow man’s hit list.

  He turned all his attention to the junior agent. “I’ll send Agent Malone to the hospital to watch Aurelia’s room. I want guards alternating around the clock to watch both women until further notice. Can you organize that?”

  Meryl nodded so enthusiastically, I halfway expected her to follow it up with a salute. “Yes, boss.”

  Satisfied, Caleb dismissed her and she took off at a jog, presumably to get an SPA vehicle. When she was gone, Caleb took a half step closer and took my arms gently. “Please,” he said, dipping his head so his gaze made contact with mine. “Stay home until we know what’s going on. I know this involves you, Ana, but I need you to hang back and let us figure this out. I’ll never forgive myself if something else happens to you.”

  My shoulders sagged as all the fight drained from me. “I will. But, please, Caleb, call me as soon as you know something. I won’t be able to sleep until I know what’s going on.”

  “I will.”

  He gave me a quick kiss and then let me go just. I figured it didn’t bode well for the boss to go all marshmallowy in front of his team, but as he walked away, I wished he was still holding me.

  “So, you and the boss, huh?” Meryl said once we’d driven a few blocks.

  “What?” I asked, turning away from the passenger window.

  “Agent McCord. You two are, like, dating, right?”

  “Oh. Yes, we are.”

  The blonde nodded thoughtfully, her eyes never leaving the road. I wasn’t even sure if she was blinking. Her hands were locked at ten and two as though fastened there with some kind of invisible bond. “That’s good,” she finally decided with a final nod. “He needed someone.”

  I frowned. “What makes you say that?”

  “Oh, nothing bad,” the agent hurried to add. “But it’s good for him to have something, or, someone, I guess, to drag him away from the office from time to time.”

  I relaxed. “He does have some workaholic tendencies.”

  In that regard, we were well matched. The stakes of our respective careers were obviously on different planes, but both required focus and long hours put in at the office. Since we’d begun dating, I’d slowed my schedule a little bit and I knew he’d scaled back his hours as well.

  “He always told us he’s a lone wolf,” Meryl said, rolling to a stop at an intersection. A Shimmer Bus zoomed by and she glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. “Guess that means he’s finally found his mate.”

  “We’re happy together,” I said, feeling a little awkward at the personal conversation. I rarely talked about my relationships with even my closest friends, so to sit in close confines with a virtual stranger and discuss it was out of my depth.

  “That’s good.” Meryl shifted her gaze back to the road as the tail end of the bus went by.

  “How long have you been an agent?” I asked her, attempting to scuttle out fr
om underneath the spotlight.

  She smiled. “Six months.”

  “Oh, wow.” I blinked, she was even fresher faced than I’m imagined. For a moment, I wondered what Caleb was thinking, sending me with such an inexperienced field agent. If he truly thought I was in danger, why hadn’t he sent me along with one of his top agents? Perhaps he needed them all at the scene of the crime, hunting for leads and clues.

  “I’m not new to the agency though,” Meryl continued. “Before this, I was a warden at one of the SPA prisons.”

  “Stars!” I exclaimed, swiveling in my seat to reappraise the blonde.

  She giggled. “I get that a lot.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”

  Meryl waved a hand, brushing off my apology. “Don’t worry about it. I understand the confusion. It’s actually one of my advantages. No one expects me to be very strong or intimidating.”

  “What … um … are you?”

  “I’m a witch. Like you, right?”

  I snorted. “Yes, but let’s just say that it’s only by technicality. If you’re badass enough to have worked as an SPA warden, then I imagine all of my power would fit inside a thimble, compared to your Olympic-sized swimming pool.”

  Meryl laughed. “I doubt that.”

  “Believe me,” I said, my tone a little flatter than I’d intended. My magic—or lack thereof—was something of a sore point. One that hadn’t bothered me too much before my younger sister reappeared in my life and reminded me on a daily basis how little I actually knew. Years of training and schooling in academy and I still could barely magic my way out of a paper bag.

  “My sister is a potion witch and she’s … brilliant. I, on the other hand, appear to have been skipped over when the magic was winding its way down our branch on our family tree.”

  Meryl considered this, her lips quirked to one side. “I didn’t know that was possible.”