Pretty Witches All in a Row (12 page)

This was familiar… a dream.  Part of Annaliese could identify that, even as the rest of her remained trapped in the nightmare.  The cold, analytical part of her mind detached, hovering above the scene below.  She saw herself lying nude upon a field of wildflowers that bent and swayed in the breeze.  A dark pentacle drawn around her hovered somehow above the flowers. 

A figure loomed above her, shrouded in darkness.  Its tendrils reached for her and she screamed as she felt their icy grip snake across her wrists and ankles, holding her fixed.  Unable to escape, a peculiar lassitude took hold of her, and what connection she had with her body faded along with the pain.  Dispassionately she watched from above, divorcing herself from the terror her body faced.  Her breathing became slower and steadier.

Să îmi dea puterea

Să îmi recapăt tinereţea şi să îmi dea viaţă de-a pururi

There was a flash of silver and then she saw the knife’s descent, plunging into the body below with a sickening thud.  Suddenly there was no air, no breath, no light; only a terrible sinking sensation, as though she was being sucked into a black hole.  Losing that detached calm, a terrified scream ripped through her, drawing her out of the void, even as the final words hovered in the air.

Aşa cum am spus aşa sa fie

This time Anna grabbed the dream journal next to her bed and wrote down everything she could remember, frustrated as the dream started to fade faster than she could make her hand operate the pen.

* * *

Time was ticking.  As Nick looked up at the clock on the precinct wall, he felt the numbers staring back at him accusingly, the second hand moving impossibly fast.  The more time passed since the murders, the less likely it would be that they’d ever crack the case.  It was a statistical fact and something they struggled with every day.  That was the reason he worked such crazy hours.  That was the reason that he hadn’t been on a second date since moving up to Portland.  And that was the reason his toe tapped impatiently on the caster of his office chair; waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with him and report to work, so he could get some more answers. 

He hated waiting.

His desk phone chirped obligingly, and he sat forward with a jerk, picking up the handset.  “Gibson.”

“There’s a lady here to see you.  Says you know her, and it’s a matter of life and death.”  The tone of voice from the front desk sounded less than convinced, but then again, they were the front line of defense against the crazies.  “Says her name’s Annaliese Cross.”

“I’ll be right down.”  Without waiting for a response, he leapt up from his desk, feet sliding a little as he came to a stop in front of the elevator doors.  It was early, before six AM.  What would bring her down to the station at that hour? 

He spotted her pacing by the main desk, looking agitated, scared or upset about something, he didn’t quite know her well enough to know for sure which it was.  “Annaliese?” he called out, waving her over to the secure doors. 

“Nick!”  Her face lit up when she saw him.  “Something happened, didn’t it?” she asked in a low voice as soon as she reached him.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about…”  He pushed the door open to allow her into the hallway, leading her towards the elevators. 

“I think there was another murder last night.”  Anna hurried over, her voice hushed but urgent, as though it scared her to say the words aloud and Nick ushered her quickly into the elevator, away from prying ears.

“What makes you say that?”

Annaliese took a deep breath.  “The other night when Skye was killed, I had a dream, a nightmare really.  I didn’t think much of it at the time, it faded so fast…” 

A dream… she had come down to the station in a panic over a dream?

“Last night, I had the same feeling, only… more.  I can’t explain it exactly, but I wrote down as much as I could and that’s when I realized, I think I had the same kind of dream the night Zoe died too.”

He liked her, but this was stretching his beliefs, even for a guy as open minded as he liked to think he was.  “What kind of dream was it?” he said carefully.

“Well, see now that’s the thing.  The dream wasn’t exactly the same each time, but the feeling was and the words… I wish I could remember them.”

“Words, like someone spoke to you?  The killer?”  He herded her out of the elevator and steered her towards his desk.

“Not talking to me exactly, it was like an incantation, in another language that sounded kind of like Italian but not.”

“Kind of like Italian but not...”  Nick closed his eyes in exasperation.  “You’ve gotta give me a little more than that to go on, Annie.”

“My father used to call me Annie,” she said suddenly, an odd look on her face. 

Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, he dismissed it and moved on.  “Okay, let’s take it from the top.”  He guided her to a chair next to the desk.  “You had a dream last night that reminded you of a dream you had both times the other victims were killed.”

“Right,” she nodded. 

“Do you have a history of prophetic dreams?”  Nick almost couldn’t believe he was asking her that, but he supposed they weren’t usual circumstances.

“Not prophetic dreams per se.  I’ve dreamed things that have come true before, but I usually don’t remember that I’ve dreamt it until right before it happens, so it’s not like it does me any good.  Mostly I forget them as soon as I wake up; I even forget to write them down in my dream journal.”

“Dream journal?”

“Yes, I brought it with me.”  She dug it out of her shoulder bag and flipped it open to the page marked with a purple ribbon. 

“Fair enough, so tell me about this dream.”

“They all start the same; I can hear these muffled words, sort of echoing through the air.  I don’t recognize what’s being said or the voice, but like I said, it sounds like an incantation.  This time I could see myself lying on a field of wildflowers with a dark pentacle around me, like the one you showed me in the picture.  Then a creepy dark figure was there and I couldn’t move.  Its touch was cold, even though I was burning up at the same time.”  Her breathing was shallow and rapid as she recounted the dream, eyes unfocused.  “I was sort of watching from above at the same time too, and I could see a knife the instant before it stabbed me.”  Her hand went to her heart. 

She sure looked spooked, and from the way she was telling it, he had absolutely no doubt she believed what she was saying a hundred percent.  But a dream wasn’t exactly evidence, and she wasn’t giving him the face of a killer.  “Could you tell who it was, that had the knife?” he probed gently.

“No.”  Her head shook from side to side as she came out of it.  “It was a dark figure, no distinct features at all, I’m sorry.”

“What about the voice, did it sound like a man or a woman?”

“I don’t know, it was otherworldly sounding,” she gave him a sheepish smile.  “I know it’s not much to go on.”

It wasn’t
anything
to go on, but he patted her hand gently.  “What happened after that?”

“After I was stabbed, I woke up and wrote everything down as best I could.  I couldn’t get back to sleep after that.  I know it was a dream… but I can’t shake the thought that there’s more to it than that.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I had to talk to you, just in case.”

It was probably nothing, but it couldn’t hurt to check up on everyone, make sure they were alright.  “I’m glad you came in, even if it turns out to be nothing.”  He gave her hand a little squeeze, but let it go when he spotted Park and Brady stepping off the elevator.  “We’ll try and reach the rest of the Coven, make sure they’re all right.” 

“I already got a hold of Rose, but I couldn’t reach the others.  But it was the middle of the night, not everyone has their ringer on at night.”

Nick stood as his team approached, not really sure why he had a fleeting stab of guilt over having Annaliese at his desk.  “Come and meet the guys.”  He touched her elbow lightly.

“Guys, this is Annaliese Cross, she owns Argent Flame,” he said by way of introduction.  “Annie, this is Detectives Kip Brady and Michelle Park.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”  Annaliese rose and shook the offered hands.

“Likewise,” Brady smiled.

“Ma’am,” Park nodded, looking back to Gibson expectantly. 

“So, to what do we owe this unexpected visit?” Brady asked pleasantly.  “It was unexpected, wasn’t it?”

“Miss Cross has a strong… feeling, that there might have been another murder last night.  I assured her we’d check things out, make sure everyone is ok.  Speaking of which, were either of you able to reach Miss Xiang yet?”

“No dice, she keeps dodging us,” Brady replied sourly before recalling that he was standing next to a friend of hers.  “You know, maybe if you called her, asked her to get in touch with us, that would help.  We only want to ask her a few questions.”

“Yes, of course, I could do that,” Annaliese readily agreed.  “Have you been able to talk to everyone else in the circle?”

“Yep, she’s the last holdout,” Nick nodded. 

“I’ll try to reach her, have her give you a call.” 

“Here.”  Nick took out one of his cards and scribbled his cell phone number on the back.  “In case you need to reach me again, it’ll save you the trip down.”

“Thanks,” Annaliese smiled, accepting the card and tucking it into her bag. 

“Well, we’ve got cop stuff to get back to, bad guys to catch.”  He touched her elbow again.  “I’ll walk you out.”

“Oh, right.  It was nice to have met you,” she smiled at the other two detectives. 

“Yeah, us too.”  Brady gave her a little half salute.  Park simply nodded, a faint smile on her face, which was friendly for her.

Nick was silent until they stepped into the elevator and he stepped closer to her once the doors slid shut.  “I’ll call you if I find out anything,” he promised.  “In the meantime… be careful, okay?”

“Why Detective, are you saying you’re worried about me?”  She moved a half step closer to him as well.

“Sergeant,” he corrected automatically, closing the distance between them.  “Maybe… would it bother you if I was?”  His fingers reached out to capture the sleeve of her coat, tugging her closer still. 

“No.  In fact, I think I might like it.”  Her face tilted up to meet his, and he brushed his lips over hers once, twice…

The elevator chimed as they reached the ground floor then and Nick closed his eyes in disappointment.  Then was not the time or place for it, but soon maybe.  “I’ll call you later.  Whether I find anything out or not.”

“Alright, you be careful too,” she nodded, reluctantly pulling away.  “Hey, you still have that pendant I gave you, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it here in my pocket.”   

“Let me see it.” 

Dutifully, he reached into his pocket and withdrew it, depositing it in her hand.  “Did you change your mind already?  Decided to be an Indian giver?”

“You’re meant to wear it,” she replied, opening the clasp and fastening it around his neck.  “There, over your heart,” Annaliese smiled, tucking it under his shirt and smoothing her hand over the little lump it left.

Nick laid his hand over hers for a moment, wondering if she could feel the way it beat faster at her touch.  “Thanks, I feel better protected already,” he smiled, resisting the urge to lean in and kiss her again.  “Now scoot before my team sends a search party out for me.”  He had to get his head back in the game.  But later… they would definitely finish the rest of that kiss.

* * *

Prepared for a bit of ribbing, Gibson took hold of the situation the moment he got back upstairs.  “So… where do we stand on exhuming the body?” 

“Good news there Sir, we got permission late yesterday to have the body exhumed.  It’ll be done first thing this morning, and we’ve already got Dr. Fielding on standby.”

“Music to my ears.  Let’s go for number two, anything interesting come up on the financials for our coven?”

“Not really.”  Park picked up a green folder and flipped through it.  “The first victim was pulling in a decent salary as an engineer, no unusual deposits or withdrawals.  Seraphine Ryan is making six figures at the cosmetic company, the only odd thing I could find about her bank records is a pretty hefty quarterly pay out to a trust account for a Cherrilyn Cotton.   We don’t have any hits yet on who that is or what her connection is to her.” 

Nick opened his mouth to ask them to dig further but Brady interrupted him.  “Already on it, boss.”

Park continued, referring back to the folder.  “Meiliyn Xiang seems to be barely keeping her head above the poverty line.  She shares a two bedroom apartment with a friend, Bonnie Myers.  There are some sporadic deposits for a thousand dollars a pop, but we traced those back to her parents who seem to be helping her out when things get a little tight,” she paused, flipping to another page.

“Rose Spencer is our high roller of the group, she comes from serious family money; predictably, she doesn’t seem to be holding down any kind of job.  She’s got the usual expenditures on various charities you might expect, shelter for battered women, breast cancer research, SPCA.  Some of her bigger withdrawals we’re still digging into, her bank records are the most erratic of the bunch.”

“She spends more on shoes than I make in a year,” Brady muttered sourly.

“Your girlfriend…”  Park steered them back on course with a not so subtle dig at Gibson.  “…makes a fairly steady living.  She’s not rolling in it, but business has steadily increased over the past three years.”

“She’s not…” Nick started to respond automatically, but then realized he was giving her the reaction she wanted.  “Continue…” he added evenly and Park’s lips twitched into a brief smile. 

“Eleanor Wentworth, is living off of the income from a sizeable nest egg, but we’re not sure where that original amount comes from yet.  She’s been living by modest means for the past five years, no big withdrawals or deposits.”

“In fact, it was hardest to find information on her out of the bunch.  Maybe it’s because she’s older, no employer, no internet, no driver’s license, she’s almost living off the grid.  We’ve got power and utility bills in her name at the place she’s living going back about fifteen years.  Before that… it’s anybody’s guess,” Brady interjected and Nick frowned over that, Veronica’s warning still hanging in the back of his mind.