Pretty Witches All in a Row (6 page)

“Yeah, why?  Do you know her?”

“I talked to her this morning.  She’s the VP of marketing over at Naturelle Organics; Skye Mackenzie worked in her department.  The thought of her au naturale is definitely worth spending a few moments on,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair. 

“A real looker, huh?” Brady grinned back.

“And then some, she is one put together lady.” 

“So she was friends with our vic?  Got her the job there?” Park asked and a pensive look came over Nick’s face.

“Well… no, she said she didn’t really know her all that well…”

“She must know her at least a little bit if they share some of the same friends.” 

It cemented the notion that Sera had been holding back, downplaying her relationship with Skye for some reason.  Definitely something else to ask Annaliese about.  Was he manufacturing reasons to see the pretty witch again?  Nick chose to ignore that question for the time being, inhaling his sandwich before he gathered up the pictures to bring with him.

* * *

This time the store was open and the music was playing at a more respectable sound level; instrumental guitar music he’d never heard before.   He liked the Dylan better…

There were a few customers in the shop now who paid him no mind, more interested in their own activities.  Feminine laughter drifted from the back of the shop and Nick fancied he could hear Annaliese’s voice among them, leading him towards the rear.  He had just reached the counter when she appeared, a tray of clean coffee mugs in her hands.  The comfy pajamas were gone, replaced by a pair of slim fitting blue jeans and a green peasant style blouse that made her agate eyes seem all that much brighter.  Her dark hair still fell loose and tousled, and if she was wearing makeup, it was soft and natural.  He noted with some amusement that her feet remained bare. 

“Detective,” she nodded with a pleasant smile, setting down the tray.

“It's Sergeant, actually,” Nick corrected her, leaning casually against the counter. 

“Does that matter?”  Her brows rose a fraction. 

“Yeah, it does actually,” he grinned. 

A careless shrug was given.  “I don't like labels.” 

“Oh I do, they make it so simple to classify people with.  You however... I'm having trouble with.  What do I call you?”  He propped his elbows on the counter, resting his face in one hand as he studied her with mock intensity. 

The pose had its desired effect and she laughed softly.  “Is there something wrong with Miss Cross?”

Nick made a face, “that sounds so formal, I was hoping we were past that.”

“Past that?  We just met this morning.”

“Yes, but now we’re old friends.” 

“Are you hitting on me?”  Her head canted to one side as she stared back at him, indignance warring with amusement in her tone.

Not the tone he was going for, perhaps he was losing his indefinable charm?  “I wouldn't call it hitting, no… more of a light pat.” 

Amusement won out at his shift in expression.  “I would think you'd be a little worried about the consequences of your actions.”  She raised a single brow, but there was a teasing lilt to her voice. 

“Why, are you gonna turn me into a toad?”  He found his smile again as she teased him back. 

“Naw,” she shook her head, brown locks dancing.  “Then I'd have to kiss you to turn you back when your lackeys come to find out what happened to you,” Anna replied matter of factly.

“The preferred term is minions.”

“Again with the labels…  Two visits in one day
Sergeant
, have I graduated to suspect or is this a social call?” Her tone was light as she started to move the clean cups off of the tray onto the counter. 

“Hmmm, that’s a tough decision…” he pretended to consider.  “If you’re a suspect, then I have an excuse to spend lots of time shadowing you, but if it’s a social call you’ll probably be a lot happier to see me.”

“What makes you think I’m happy to see you?”

“You’re smiling; I’d call that a good start.”

“That’s just because you keep saying boneheaded things,” she laughed before trying to appear serious.  “I’m amused… not happy.”

“Boneheaded.  Ouch,” he winced.  “Alright, I’ll have to work on it,” Nick promised, drawing out the envelope of pictures.  “Actually, I was hoping you might take a look at some pictures for me, from Skye’s place.

Annaliese hesitated, her eyes going to the envelope.  “Of the body?” she breathed, clearly disturbed by the idea.

“No, no nothing like that,” he assured her quickly.  “It’s pictures from her house; some things we’re having trouble identifying.  You know; witchy stuff.”

“Oh.  Of course, if I can,” she nodded, easing as she understood what it was he wanted of her.  Tucking the hair behind her ears as he withdrew the sheaf of pictures, she came around to the same side of the counter, leaning close as she studied them.  

As she leaned close, Nick got a whiff of lilacs and something he couldn’t identify, almost kind of spicy.  Not perfume exactly, maybe it was her shampoo, but it was nice, and he didn’t move away as she leaned close.  “What can you tell me about this star thing on the floor?”  

“The five pointed star is called a pentagram, pentacle when it’s in the circle.  They’re typically used for protection, though it’s unusual to see one drawn out like this unless they’re undertaking some major spellwork.  Normally you see them in jewelry, like these.”  She pointed to the glass counter top to his right that held a wide array of pentacles worked in silver. 

“Major spellwork?  Like what?” Nick asked, his imagination kicking into overdrive.

“I don’t know… I don’t go through this much trouble unless I need to work some serious mojo.  It’s kind of hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like it might be drawn with black salt, that would be used for protection or to keep away negative influences.”

“Black salt?  Where do you even get black salt?” 

“It’s not really black salt, it’s regular white salt mixed with ash or charcoal,” she explained.  “For her to have drawn this out, she must have been afraid of something fairly serious,” Anna frowned, instantly sobering. 

“Or someone.”  Nick’s frown matched hers. 

More laughter sounded from the back of the shop and two women appeared from the direction of the kitchen.  One looked about Annaliese’s age or maybe a year or two older, with shoulder length dark, wavy hair and bright blue eyes.  Her cheeks were ruddy, possibly from the laughter or some other kind of exertion and she studied him with undisguised interest.  The other girl watched him as well; younger than the other two, she was painfully thin and very pale, her bleached hair styled into a short spiky cut, shot with streaks of bright blue color. 

“Ladies, this is the detective I was telling you about. 
Sergeant
Gibson.”  Annaliese smiled over her shoulder at him. 

“Oh, you were right.”  The younger one gave him a speculative smile.

“This is Feather; she’s one of the part time employees I told you about this morning,” Anna introduced the girl.

“Feather… is it?”  Nick offered a hand, and the girl shook it, a wide grin on her face before she continued on to unpack a large cardboard box of pillar candles onto a shelf, eyes darting back to them frequently as she worked. 

“And this is Rose,” Annaliese continued, gesturing to the brunette who watched him just as avidly, with less amusement on her face. 

“Oh, Rose Spencer?”  The name clicked for Nick, she was one of the ones involved in the nudity incident with Annaliese, and he extended his hand to her as well. 

“Do you have the sight?”  Rose asked, moving behind the counter to stand next to Annaliese, ignoring his offered hand. 

“The sight?”  He fixed her with a puzzled look, dropping his hand at the rebuff.

“How did you know my name?” she asked, darting a pointed look to Annaliese.

“I didn’t say anything.  Hand to God.”  Anna placed a hand over her heart.

“Which one?” Rose smirked, nudging her with her elbow.

“Actually it’s my job to find these things out, Miss Spencer.”

“It’s Ms. Spencer,” she offered him a tepid smile.  “What else did you find out about me?” 

“Your name came up in connection with ah… an incident… involving Miss Cross… and a park… and…”

“Say no more,” Rose nodded sagely, “it figures that would be my defining characteristic as far as the police are involved.”  She gave a roll of the eyes.

“You found out about that?”  Annaliese’s eyes flicked to Nick’s face, but she didn’t say anything further. 

“What else do you know about me?” Rose asked, drawing his attention back to her. 

“That’s about the extent of it, your name came up.  I wasn’t even sure if you knew Miss Mackenzie, or just have mutual friends.”

“See, I told you,” Annaliese nudged Rose back.  “I didn’t rat you out.”

“Rat you out?” Nick’s brows rose expectantly.

“Anna tells me that you have been asking questions about the rest of the coven,” Rose replied.  “But she also told me that you’re a very nice man and I have nothing to fear from answering your questions,” she added, in a tone that made it clear she was parroting what she’d been told.

“You think I’m nice?  That’s always good to hear.”  Nick gave Annaliese a lopsided smile before turning his attention back to Rose.  “And good to hear you don’t mind talking to me.  I thought it was called a circle, though.”

“Circle sounds a little less scary than coven to outsiders,” Annaliese replied with a half shrug.  “I’ll give you two a minute to talk.  Feather, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me!”  She called out before retreating through the archway, a last glance over her shoulder before she disappeared from sight.

“So, did you find out what started the fire?” Rose asked.

Nick blinked, not having expected her to come out swinging.  “How did you know there was a fire?”  So far he’d been careful not to discuss the cause of death, or the circumstances surrounding it.

“I saw the fire on the news… I recognized her house… she’s dead… I figured that made sense.”  Her head moved from side to side as she spoke, weighing in with each point. 

“Ah,” he nodded, not quite sure what to make of her.  Her tone was pleasant enough, but he couldn’t quite shake the idea that Rose didn’t like him, and he couldn’t tell why.  Maybe it was because he was a cop; it happened.  “I’m not at liberty to discuss the ongoing investigation into the fire,” he answered with a note of apology in his voice.  “How long have you known Miss Mackenzie?”

“Skye and I go way back, since she first blew into town.  She was a beautiful, innocent, lovable, crazy goofball; my kind of person.”  Rose gave a crooked smile and he saw the first bit of real warmth from her.

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Last night.  We went to a movie, but she cut the night short because she had a headache. 

Someone who’d actually seen her the night of the murder… now he was getting somewhere.  “What time did the movie start?”

“Ah… around seven-thirty.  We were a few minutes late, so we missed a couple of the trailers.”

“What movie did you see?”

“Oh, that one with the husband and wife and they’re on the run from those killers?”  She gave a roll of the eyes.  “Total garbage, but she really wanted to see it so…” 

“Do you generally see movies that she wants to see?”

Rose gave a half shrug.  “It doesn’t matter so much to me what movie we go see, it’s about spending time with friends.  Oh… unless it’s about bugs, I can’t watch anything with bugs or spiders. They give me nightmares.”  She leaned in to whisper that last point.

Nick leaned in and replied in kind with a whisper.  “Me too,” he smiled, before leaning back.  “Did anyone see you at the movies?” 

She considered that one for a moment.  “I dunno, probably… maybe, I wasn’t paying attention really.”

“What time did the movie get out?”

“A little after nine I think.  We stayed until the credits were over, she always likes… liked to listen to the music that plays over the end credits.”  Rose amended her statement, a flicker of pain crossing her features. 

“When did you part ways last night?”  Nick asked the question in a gentler tone. 

“I drove her home after the movie, like I said she wasn’t feeling well.”  Her eyes focused on the counter, remembering.  “I offered to come in and sit with her, try and help her headache go away but she said no, she was going to try and go to sleep early.  That if I came in she’d probably end up with a hangover as well as the headache.  If I’d just insisted… maybe none of this would have happened.”

Nick was loathe to speak; she seemed lost in thought, and somehow more vulnerable.  “You couldn’t have known…”

Her eyes flicked up to meet his, an inscrutable expression on her face.  “She’s right, you are kind of cute,” she murmured before her voice regained its normal, slightly sarcastic tone.  “If you like the type.”

“But you don’t?” 

“Don’t take it personally; it’s not your fault.”

Taking a leap, Nick went out on a limb.  “Was Skye your type?”

The expression on her face changed to a grudging respect.  “Closer, but no, we weren’t sleeping together if that’s what you were asking,” she smiled.

“Before I forget, where were you last night between the hours of eleven thirty and two AM?”

“Home, alone.  Sorry, no witnesses, but my security system is monitored; you should be able to check when I came home and turned off the system and when I armed it to go to bed.  It’s with Sentry Security.” 

“Alright, thanks, we’ll give them a call.”  Nick made the notation in his notepad before he remembered something he’d almost forgotten.  “Let me ask you something.  That incident in the park, were all of the ladies involved part of your coven?”

“Trying to nail down that mental picture?”  Rose shook her head with a smirk.  “Let me think; yes, I think we were all there, except for Skye, she hadn’t joined the group yet.”

“Are there any other members that weren’t there that night?” 

“No, I think we were all there.”

“We were all where?” Annaliese asked, returning from the kitchen with a plastic tub of cookies.

“That night we got caught skyclad in Highland Park, were we all there except for Skye?” Rose asked, reaching for a cookie absentmindedly.