Lucid (25 page)

I gasped and ran my fingers along the intricate swirls.
It looked just like…

I lifted the pendant from under my shirt and compared the silver charm my grandmother had given me to the symbol on the spine. They appeared to be the same design.

My heart accelerated in steadily increasing thumps as I pulled the long necklace over my head, then held the pendant between my fingers beside the spine to compare them. They were identical.
Were they the same size too?
I moved my silver pendant over the gold symbol. As soon as I lined them up, the pendant flew from my fingers, attaching itself to the symbol on the spine.

I let out a gasp and jerked upright in my bed. When I gently lifted my chain out of the way, that’s when I noticed that the half moon brass plate at the base of the book’s spine had flipped open. The moment I slid my pendant away from the symbol on the spine, the brass half moon slammed shut. “No way!” I whispered, glancing at Houdini. His only response was to tilt his head as if he were trying to understand what I was saying.

I placed the pendant back on the symbol. When the brass plate at the bottom popped open again, I peered into the dark space between the spine and the book’s binding. “What are you hiding?” I tilted the book. Nothing. As I shook it gently, a thin roll of parchment paper slid into my lap.

“I’m so sorry, Freddie. I had no idea…” I said in a hushed, regretful tone. I picked up the paper, then gently began to unroll it with shaking fingers.

No taller than four inches high and six inches wide, the paper featured a drawing of a raven flying toward the sun, another raven standing with its wings folded on the ground, then yet another raven flying below the ground where the raven stood. They weren’t drawn vertically, but diagonally from each other. I wasn’t sure if the drawing was supposed to depict one raven in three different positions, standing, flying up, and then flying down, or if it was supposed to represent three different ravens. I scanned the picture, my greedy gaze memorizing every detail.
Was this what the thief wanted
?
Why was it worth killing for
?
What did the drawing mean
?

Maybe if I drew it myself, it might give me some idea behind its meaning. I leaned over and grabbed a pen and Ethan’s journal. As soon as I flipped to an empty page, the stiff paper in my hand suddenly felt flimsy. I glanced at the unrolled paper and watched in disbelief as it began to grow thinner and thinner until it completely disintegrated in my hand, joining the dust flickering in the sunlight.

I gaped at my empty hand, then slid my gaze to Houdini’s. “That was
real
! Not some crazy hallucination. You saw that, right?”

He just blinked. Patch wasn’t paying us any attention. He was too busy playing with my necklace on the statue.

I set my pen to the page, intending to draw as fast as I could before the image faded from my mind, then I paused. That picture was hidden for a reason. A man died protecting it. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to recreate it. At least not until I could figure out what it meant. I stared at the blank page for several minutes, wracking my brain for answers to the meaning behind the picture. When a text beeped on my phone, I jumped. Holding my hand over my thudding heart, I grabbed my phone to check the text. Maybe Ethan had gotten back early.

Drystan – 8:30 a.m. ~ Don’t forget. Nine a.m
.

“Really, Drystan?” As if he heard me, another text came through.

Drystan – 8:31 a.m. ~ No excuses. You need the distraction
.

I didn’t want to sit around thinking about how if I’d only believed Freddie and taken the book, he might still be alive. I pulled my necklace away from the spine and watched the brass plate pop back into place. Once I’d put the necklace back on, I texted him.

Me – 8:32 a.m. ~ See you at nine, slave driver
.

Drystan – 8:33 a.m. ~ Water.

Me – 8:33 a.m. ~ Yeah, yeah. You still owe me a latte
.

It was after eight-thirty. No time for a shower. I’d be late again if I didn’t hurry. I ripped off my sleep t-shirt, then removed the necklace, but I paused to stare at the pendant before I slid it into my jewelry box.
Did my grandmother know that her necklace was a key to unlocking a hidden picture people would kill for? Did she know what the picture meant or why it was so important?
When Drystan and I were done for the day, I’d call Gran and find out what she knew about the necklace.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Why did I have to find out what happened to you last night from my dad, of all people?” Lainey literally pounced on me, hugging me tight, the moment I walked in from my workout with Drystan.

I glanced over her shoulder at my mom, who was skimming the paper while eating a late lunch at the island. She paused from taking a bite of her sandwich, brow raised as if to say,
Why haven’t you told your
best friend
about last night yet?
Instead, she said, “Lainey’s been here since noon, waiting for you.”

“Are you okay?” Lainey searched my gaze.

I exhaled a slow breath. “It’s not something I’ll ever forget, but working out helps with the stress of it all.”

When I caught Mom’s nod of approval, I knew she felt better about letting me go this morning. She’d tried to stop me until I explained that I needed the exercise to work through things and to get rid of the grogginess from the PM medicine she’d given me. Before I left, I’d made her promise never to give me that medicine again.

Mom lifted the paper. “There’s an article about Mr. Holtzman, Inara.”

“What does it say?” I peered around Lainey’s shoulder.
Did they have a suspect?

She skimmed her gaze down the fine print. “It says he was found in the sanctuary, and that the circumstances of his death are being investigated, but no arrests have been made at this time.”

The image of the birds trying to defend him from other predators flashed through my mind, making my heart ache.
The ravens!
I tensed. “Does it say what will happen to his ravens?”

Mom skimmed some more. “The Wildlife Preserve has offered to take them since they’ve had experience fostering ravens.”

My body slowly relaxed. The ravens were so loud last night, their pain and sadness echoing through the woods as the coroner drove away with Freddie’s body. “I’m relieved to hear they’ll have a new home and won’t just be tossed into the wild. I’ve heard good things about the Wildlife Preserve.”

“I would’ve freaked if I’d been the one to stumble upon a murder scene. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Lainey squeezed my shoulders. “First the library, now this—”

My grip on Lainey tightened, tension ebbing through me.

“What about the library?” Mom asked, alarmed.

Lainey glanced over her shoulder and said in a casual tone, “Oh, just Nara having to be tortured with library research recently.”

Nice save, Lane.

Turning back to me, she continued, “If you had just answered my texts, I wouldn’t have had to wait at your house for the last two hours. Though while I waited, I’ve learned all kinds of things I didn’t know about you.” She paused and glanced at Houdini now leaning against my leg. “Like the fact you have a dog, and that Drystan is teaching you self-defense.” The last she said with narrowed eyes.

Both Mom’s eyebrows were raised now. Great. I’d told her we were running together. Nothing more. With her back to my mom, Lainey whispered, “I texted him and asked what you guys were doing at the park.”

I waved my hand, feeling the burn in my shoulder and stomach muscles. “It’s only my second day. Drystan thought it would be a fun addition to the running. Did you know he does parkour?” I asked, changing the subject. The last thing I needed was my mom to freak out because I felt I
needed
lessons in how to defend myself.

“What’s parkour?” Mom and Lainey said in unison.

“It’s easier if I show you.” I walked over to the laptop Mom used for bills, then sat down at the kitchen desk and opened the laptop. I typed in “parkour video” to pull up a couple for them to watch.

When the videos were over, Mom said, “Wow, that’s pretty amazing. Reminds me of that opening chase scene in the remake of
Casino Royale
.”

I nodded. “That’s exactly what parkour is, just like in that scene…well, except there’s usually not bad guys involved.”
Oh, the irony of that comment…

“Drystan can do all that stuff?” Lainey’s eyes were wide. “No wonder he’s one big muscle.”

“Yep, he can do that. He says it’s a state of mind, a way of living your life in a constant state of natural motion.”

“Matt’s going to want to do that crazy stuff once he learns Drystan can teach him how.” Lainey shook her head and snorted. “He’ll probably break his leg.”

Did I detect a bit of worry in her tone? Like she cared if Matt got hurt? “Drystan will be glad to have someone to experiment with.”

“Matt’s
not
doing those insane acrobatics.” Worry flitted across Lainey’s features. When she saw me watching her with a sidelong look, she flipped her hair and continued in an airy tone, “I mean, it’ll totally ruin the impact if he escorts me into the dance on crutches.”

I raised an eyebrow. Lainey wasn’t as unaffected by Matt as she let on.

“You’re not doing dangerous stunts like that, are you?” Mom glanced at the screen once more, looking worried.

I shook my head in fast jerks. “No way. Drystan has shown me concepts, but I don’t have the muscles to do extreme stunts. He’s just teaching me some of the moves as another way to stay in shape, that’s all.”

Mom visibly relaxed. “Well, then. I’m suddenly less concerned.”

I pinned Lainey with a knowing look. “So you came over here and waited for two hours just to yell at me for not answering your texts?”

Lainey gave a sheepish smile, then retrieved an oversized duffle bag she’d set by the front door. “Well, that and the fact we need to pick out masks.”

“Masks?” Mom had returned to her stool and was crunching on a baby carrot.

Bag in hand, Lainey returned to my side, beaming at my mom. “Yes, for Saturday’s winter dance.”

“You have a dance coming up, Nara?” Mom’s attention shot my way. “Why didn’t you tell me? We need to get you a dress.”

Thanks, Lainey
. I kicked Lainey’s foot before standing. “I didn’t mention it because I’m not going.”

Mom looked perplexed. “Why not?”

Really Mom?
I frowned. “Because I’m not going without Ethan.”

“Ah,” Mom said, nodding.

“I told Nara we can all go as friends. She’s just being stubborn. But she at least promised to help me pick out my outfit,” Lainey beamed, then slid a ‘you
did
promise’ gaze my way. Without missing a beat, she tugged me toward the stairs. “Hurry up and get a shower, Nara, so we can start trying on all these masks.”

I eyed the bag. “That’s full of masks? What’d you do, buy one of everything?”

Lainey nodded. “I knew getting you to drive with me forty minutes to the specialty store would be near impossible.” She shrugged and glanced down at the bag. “I’ll just return them once you help me make a decision.”

Ugh, I had promised I’d help her pick her outfit
. As I jogged up the stairs, I was glad I’d already hidden Ethan’s and Freddie’s books back under the mattress before I left to meet Drystan. Lainey followed fast on my heels, dragging her bag of masks up the stairs behind her.

Trying on masks with Lainey meant I’d be busy the rest of the day. It wouldn’t be just about the masks. She’d want to discuss hair and makeup and probably Jared. All I wanted to do was take a long shower to ease my sore muscles, then read my grandmother’s journal from front to back. While I gathered a clean set of clothes from my drawers, the conversation I’d had with Gran after my practice with Drystan had left me itching to pull out the silver-paged journal. She’d said her sister only wore gold, but that hopefully Margaret mentioned the necklace in her journal since she’d asked Mom to give it to me when I was old enough.

Lainey bouncing excitedly on my bed drew me out of my musings. I headed for the shower with a sigh. I definitely wasn’t going to get to read my grandmother’s journal until after dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, I came out wearing a t-shirt and yoga pants while pulling my semi-dried hair into a ponytail. Lainey grabbed my hand and tugged me over to sit on my bed, her expression subdued. “I called my dad while you were in the shower to find out if he could get any information about that poor man who was killed.”

Every fiber in my body froze. “What did your dad say about Freddie’s case?” I whispered, almost afraid to hear.

She squeezed my hand. “I know it’s little comfort, but the early findings from the autopsy is that Freddie died from the blow to his head when he was thrown through the glass door. Nara, he was already dead when he was impaled on that tree branch. My dad did say that they’re scratching their heads over how his attacker got him up there. Other than Freddie’s fingerprints and yours from your time there the day before, they only found one other set at the crime scene.”

My breathing started up again. At least Freddie hadn’t suffered through that kind of brutal, deliberately malicious torture, and thank God they’d found fingerprints. “Did they find a match to the prints?”

She shook her head, sympathy in her gaze. “Not yet. Remember the prints have to be in the database for them to find a match.”

I was so thankful Freddie wasn’t aware what his killer had done with his body. He’d be sickened if he knew his raven sanctuary had been defiled in such a way. I think Freddie would have approved of the Wildlife Preserve taking his ravens in. I didn’t know if the birds understood what had happened last night, but they did understand death. They needed to get away from the place where their caregiver had violently died. It was no longer their
sanctuary
.

I squeezed Lainey’s hands. “Please thank your dad for finding out some of the details. It helps relieve a little of my anxiety. At least they have a lead of some kind.”