Lifting the Veil (10 page)

ticked by, and he was still gone. She glanced over her shoulder through the plate glass window to find him standing at the counter looking at some papers. He nodded and handed them back to the old man

before returning to her side.

“He’s pulling some strings to get your approval quicker than the three-day waiting period required in Easton.”

“He can do that?”

Marshall shrugged. “If you know the right people, you can get just about anything.”

“And you do? Know the right people?”

He grinned. “It makes my life easier.”

“Thanks. I think.”

He removed her earmuffs that were dangling around her neck. His fingertips grazed her cheek,

making her heart skip a beat. What the hell was wrong with her? He was Jack’s friend.

He cupped her cheek and his gaze held hers. The move was intimate something she wasn’t

expecting. “What’s wrong, Sophie? What are you scared of?”

“I can’t tell you,” she whispered.

“You can trust me.”

The image of Jack appeared in her mind. His cocky grin, the twinkle in his eye, and the way he was starting to believe in her. She pushed her confusing feelings aside. “I don’t even know you.”

He dropped his hand and stepped back, placing a bit more distance between them.

“You will.” He grinned and opened the door into the next room. “Sam, she’s going to need a Glock

like mine, complete with ammo and holster.”

Sam nodded, pulled out a gun, and laid it on the counter.

She reached for the piece and the associated price tag. Her eyes bulged. “I can’t afford this right now.” She glanced up at Sam. “Can you hold this for me?”

“Sure,” Sam said and glanced between her and Marshall. “Absolutely, Ms. Masterson.”

Sam slid a card across the counter. “Here is your membership card. You might need it next time you come in if I’m not working. Just show it to the clerk.”

“Thank you.” She turned to Marshall while pulling her phone out of her purse. Amber was going to

be pissed that Sophie was late. “I’m afraid I have a prior engagement but thank you for showing me how to handle the gun. I didn’t mean to monopolize your time.”

He flashed his dimples once more and lifted her hand to his lips, placing a tender kiss on the flesh.

“You can call me anytime you need anything, Sophie.”

Her knees grew weak from the gesture. Her heartbeat quickened, making her smile. He slipped her

cell phone out of her hand and programmed a number into it. “There,” he grinned. “If you’re ever in a jam or need anything at all.” He waved the phone. “You have my personal number. Call me day or

night.”

He handed her back the phone. Sophie glanced at her watch and hurried out of the building on her

way to meet Amber.

****

wasn’t expecting to see her at the club. How she’d even figured out that the establishment was a club intrigued him. He turned back around and walked to the counter. “I need to see her reports, Sam.”

Sam nodded and pulled the paperwork out of the file. “Who is she?”

Marshall mulled that question around in his mind. “For now, just a friend.”

“Uh huh. You’ve never brought a
friend
to the club, much less sponsored a dame before.”

Marshall chuckled. “There’s a first time for everything.”

Marshall continued to scan the documents that held her address, her birthday, and her previous

places of employment on her credit report. He glanced up at Sam. “She was an accountant?”

Sam clicked his tongue. “Sure is a waste, a pretty thing like her stuck in a stuffy room with a

calculator all day.”

Sam started to put the gun back into the box, and Marshall stopped him. “I’m buying it for her.”

“You are?”

He waved the paper in his hand. “It appears Ms. Masterson’s celebrating her birthday tomorrow.”

Sam nodded and shoved the gun case in a bag and handed it to Marshall. “I’ll just add it to your

account.”

“I’ll see you later, Sam.”

Sam waved as Marshall stepped outside.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the familiar number.

“Love,” his best friend answered on the first ring.

“If your girlfriend needs protection, all you had to do was ask. I can put my security detail on her to make sure she stays safe. Or, better yet, maybe she needs my personal attention.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jack demanded with confusion clouding his voice. “I don’t

have a girlfriend, especially one who needs protection.”

“Sophie came into the club to buy a gun and learn how to shoot. If she’s just a filing clerk, why does she need a weapon?”

“Dude, you aren’t making any sense. How does Sophie even know about the club?”

“I assumed you told her.”

“Nope.”

“Hmm. Regardless, I felt responsible knowing who she is, so I taught her how to shoot and

explained the mechanics and laws to her.”

“Is she still with you?” Jack growled into the phone.

“No. She said she was late for a prior engagement. I wonder what the schmuck looks like.” Marshall slid into his car and held the phone nestled between his ear and shoulder while shutting the door. “Is she in danger? Should I send a team just in case?”

“No,” Jack answered quickly, and Marshall stifled his laugh.

“What’s yours is mine and vice versa. If I need
to take care
of your woman, just say the word.”

“Knock it off, Marshall; I’ve only known her for less than a week. She isn’t my woman, but I’m damn sure if she needs
taken care
of I can handle it myself.”

“I’ve got your back, Jack. You need to figure out where things are going with her. In just the little time I’ve spent with her, she’s piqued my interest.”

“Marsh…”

“I just wanted to warn you.”

“Noted.”

Marshall clicked his phone closed and grinned even bigger than before.

Sophie pulled up outside of Amber’s house and stepped out of the car. The little yellow bungalow

was nestled on a quiet street. All of her neighbors were blue collar, middle-aged families that cared for one another. It was a nice neighborhood, a quiet place. The neighborhood, the neighbors, the house, the kind of ideal place Sophie dreamed of living when she got her act together.

Amber’s front door swung open. She stood in the doorway wearing a black cocktail dress complete

with hose and heels. Her hair was twisted up, and curls framed her face. Oh crap.

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

Forgetting was an understatement. The only thing she remembered was dinner and not the

dancing and drinks afterward. Her mind had been on other things since they’d made her birthday plans.

A night out on the town was the farthest thing from her mind, and the last thing she wanted to do.

Sophie trotted up the steps and stopped in front of her best friend. “How about we reschedule and just do dinner?”

Amber narrowed her eyes. “Do you know how long it took me to look this good? We do this every

Friday night before your birthday. It’s tradition, Soph. Why aren’t you dressed?”

She waved her hand. “Never mind, you can borrow something of mine.” Amber turned and walked

back into her house, leaving Sophie to follow.

“I’m not really up to going out tonight. How about we go tomorrow night?”

Amber spun around. “Your birthday party is tomorrow night. Don’t tell me you forgot. Eileen will be pissed if you don’t show up for your own party.”

Sophie tilted her head back and clenched her eyes closed. With everything going on, the last thing she wanted was to celebrate her birthday. She let out a long sigh. “I forgot.” Her eyes sparkled when a new thought popped in her head. “Hey, I’m working on a case. Do you want to help?”

Amber started clapping her hands, and her eyes grew big. She abruptly stopped. “Wait…since when

does your brother let you work on cases?”

Sophie shrugged. “He doesn’t know anything about it.”

Amber kicked off her heels. “Then I’m in. Let me go change.”

Walking into the kitchen, Sophie fixed herself a drink while she waited. Where they were going and what she had in mind wasn’t going to be fun necessarily, but she would be with her best friend and on the eve of a birthday she didn’t even want to celebrate.

Amber returned twenty minutes later wearing all black. Her curls were now pulled back in a

ponytail. Sophie couldn’t help but grin.

“You look like a cat burglar.”

“Don’t we need to snoop around and look for clues?”

Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe.”

They both got into Sophie’s car and headed back toward town.

“Where are we going?”

“First stop, Mystic.”

“What are we going to do when we get there?”

Sophie took the next left, trying to remember the address she’d typed into the computer system.

“We’re going to see if Marilyn, a.k.a. Valerie, left anything behind when she departed. The cops didn’t even know to ask the store owner.”

Amber glanced at her watch. “You better kick it into gear. They close in thirty minutes.”

Sophie sped up, trying to make it back into town in the little time they had left. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard as she pulled in. They had fifteen minutes before the shop closed. They walked inside like shoppers.

Sophie headed straight for the counter. “I need your help with our investigation.”

Amber stepped up beside Sophie, dropping any pretense of why they were there.

“I’ve already told the cops everything I knew about Beatrice. She’s a member of the coven that’s on the outskirts of town. That was all I really knew about her.”

“My questions aren’t about Beatrice. I wanted to see what you remembered about Marilyn.”

“Who?”

“Valerie,” Sophie corrected. “You said she worked here. Did she leave any personal items behind

that she forgot to pack up or just never came back to get?”

The woman nodded. “You’re the first person to ask.” She looked at Sophie skeptically. “I know the

guy you were with is a cop. Are you?”

“Listen, Sophie had a vision about her and we’re just trying to figure out what happened to her.”

Amber answered for Sophie. “We’re just trying to help.” Amber nodded to Sophie. “But if it makes you feel better, Sophie does work at the police department.”

The woman’s gaze went back and forth between the two.

“We believe she’s dead.” Sophie broke the news that no one else had bothered to tell her.

The store owner’s mouth parted. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she covered her mouth with her

hand. “I didn’t know.”

“They didn’t tell you when they asked about the receipt?”

“No.” A tear dripped down her cheek. “They didn’t.”

“The only link between the two killings is this store and the dresses they were wearing. We’re just looking for any clue she may have left behind. Please help us.”

The old woman nodded. “Wait here.”

She disappeared into the back room, emerging a couple minutes later carrying a box in her arms. “I packed up all of her things after she missed a few of her appointments. Eventually her customers figured out she was gone.”

“Did she have an appointment book?”

“Not with her clients’ numbers in it. I wasn’t snooping, mind you; I was trying to cancel whatever appointments she had on the books.” She shrugged. “She kept a book. Good luck figuring out her

system.”

“Earlier, before you knew she was dead, you mentioned you thought she’d just skipped town

because of her inheritance. Didn’t you think that was odd that she’d left everything behind?”

“I didn’t know what to think.” The woman pointed to the box. “I saved everything for her, in case

she came back. It’s all here in the box.”

A smile formed on Sophie’s lips as she took the box out of the woman’s arms.

“Thank you. We’re just going to look through her stuff for clues, and we’ll return the contents as soon as we’re done.”

The storeowner nodded. “I’m only trusting you because I know you work with the cops. Have you

used your gifts to help them on a lot of cases?”

The question made Sophie pause. She’d never even considered doing it as a job. “This is the first.

I’m just hoping I can help.”

“Good luck.”

Sophie followed Amber out of the store. She watched her best friend slide into the passenger seat

while she popped the trunk and set the box inside. An uneasy feeling made the hair on her neck stand on end. She could feel eyes on her, watching her. She took a minute and scanned her surroundings,

looking for the source of her unease. There were a few people on the street, none of them even paying attention to Sophie. She glanced behind her at the row of cars parked on the other side. They were all empty. She even glanced up to the tops of the buildings and scanned what she could see of the roofs.

Not a soul in sight.

She slammed the trunk, cautiously made her way around to the driver’s side, and slid behind the

wheel.

“I knew I should have been a detective. This is fun. Where to next?”

The muscles in Sophie’s shoulders tensed. “I guess the parents’ house. We can do a stakeout.”

Amber clapped her hands. “We need coffee and snacks and binoculars.”

Sophie backed out of the spot and started down the street, checking out the alleyways as she

drove.

“What are you doing?” Amber asked because Sophie was going ten miles an hour and slowing

down as she passed each alley.

“I felt like I was being watched back at the shop.”

“I’m sure it’s just the adrenaline from working on the case. It is kind of spooky if you think about it.

A killer on the loose, taking out psychics and mediums.” Amber’s mouth parted. “Oh, Soph….you could be next.”

“What?” Sophie asked. Amber was making no sense at all.

“Think about it. You’re coming into your abilities; you’re seeing dead people, getting messages,