Lifting the Veil (19 page)

His cock was semi-erect when they arrived. His reprieve was short-lived as he rounded the car and

opened her door. Her dress had shimmied up her legs, giving him a glance at the garter and thigh-highs waiting to be peeled off. He cleared his throat. “You just had to go there.”

She gave him a seductive smile. “Foreplay, baby.”

He helped her out of the SUV and waited for her to adjust her dress. She slid her arm around his.

They walked into the restaurant and his instinct was to pull her right back out. Streamers lined the restaurant and people milled around. Her best friend was present and accounted for, several cops

lingered by the bar, and even the coffee shop owner had shown up along with half the town.

“Did she invite the whole town?”

Sophie gave a polite nod and pulled him farther into the action.

“Happy Birthday” was yelled by the party guests, making Sophie’s cheeks tint to a light pink.

They weren’t there even a few minutes before she was descended upon by her hoards of friends

and the town folk, being whisked away by a group he recognized as harmless. Jack spotted Marshall

standing off to the side of the front door, his hands in his pockets, and a file beneath his arm. “Glad you could make it.”

“I’m surprised you did.”

Jack’s tilted his head. “Why would you say that?”

Marshall nodded in Sophie’s direction. “Because if she was at my house and looked like that, we

would have been late, and her hair would be a mess.”

Jack nodded in agreement as he watched Max walking in their direction.

“Great party.” Marshall held out his hand and shook the chief’s hand. “It’s great to see you again.

Thank your wife for the invite.”

“One day, I’ll learn to tell that woman no.”

They all chuckled.

“How did it go with the mayor?” Jack asked.

They all sat down at a table away from the festivities. “Mayor first claimed he didn’t know her but, when I pressed, he claimed the money was a loan.”

Marshall picked up his beer and took a swig. “Is that so?”

Both the chief and Jack glanced at Marshall, who slid a file in the chief’s direction. “Happy

birthday.”

“What? It’s not my birthday.”

The chief flipped the file open.

“I know, but it’s hers, and if the mayor is involved, it will be one step closer to giving Sophie her life back. Free to come and go as she pleases.”

The chief scanned through the documents. “Are you trying to tell me the mayor is the pentagram

killer?”

Marshall shook his head and pulled the last piece of paper from the stack. “No, seems you have a

copycat. Someone familiar enough with the case to make you think that it’s the same guy doing all the crimes. There was a pentagram killing five states away when Beatrice and her friend were killed, and another one the night that Sophie’s car was broken into.” Marshall pointed back to the file after handing Jack the autopsy reports on the latest deaths with the dates and times highlighted. “The mayor is dirty but not from these killings.”

The chief read the documents and his mouth hung open. He glanced back up. “Do you know what

this means?”

Jack grabbed the file, tired of being left out in the cold.

Marshall nodded. “That the mayor is involved with the Ramone cartel.”

Jack lifted up a picture of the Mayor meeting with the Ramone drug lord. Drugs were being placed

in his trunk. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Afraid not, my friend.” He glanced at the chief. “Off the record, if you were to say… access his

accounts, you might find some intriguing money transfers that don’t include the dead psychic and my sources are telling me there is another exchange going down tonight.” Marshall glanced at his watch. “In two hours, to be exact.”

“I can’t see him going through with it after I talked to him today.”

Marshall swung his gaze to Max. “I never said he was smart. It’s going down. Trust me.”

“Son of a bitch, his own daughter was trying to bust this asshole,” Jack murmured, remembering

the bust he’d made and the way he was benched afterward.

“Looks like it’s your birthday, Jack. Care to be involved in the bust?”

Jack grinned and his eye twitched. If that fucker had anything to do with the crap Sophie was going through, he would shoot the bastard himself. “Hell yeah.” Jack paused from rising and sat back down.

“But I don’t see the connection to Sophie or the other women who turned up dead.”

Marshall shrugged. “I’m still working on it. It could be any one of the other people that went to the psychics for a reading. He’s just the major money flow until I find more.”

The chief patted Jack on the back. “Let’s go break the news that we’re leaving early.”

Jack rose and paused again. “What about Sophie? We can’t just leave her here unprotected.”

The chief glanced back at Marshall. “Will you stick around until the party is over? I’ll have a unit drop her off at Jack’s house. The bust should be over by then.”

Marshall nodded. “I don’t mind staying with her at Jack’s until he gets back.”

Jack regarded his best friend as trepidation travelled down his spine. The thought of Sophie falling for his best friend clenched his heart tightly. He couldn’t have it. He wouldn’t have it. “That won’t be necessary. If I’m not back, I’ll have the officers check out the house and post a unit outside until I get back.”

Marshall nodded. “That will give me time to check out the other leads I’m working on.”

Sophie was standing by the bar, unable to take her eyes off the table in the corner where Jack,

Marshall, and her brother were talking. She watched her brother’s face as he read the contents of the file. His face reddened and he balled his fist. His face turned stone cold. He was pissed off and he was in work mode. She’d seen him like that only once. Whatever he was reading wasn’t anything good.

“I call dibs on whichever one you don’t want,” Amber said as she slid up next to Sophie.

“Except for the married one, he’s mine,” Eileen chimed in as she walked up on Sophie’s other side.

“They look like they’re planning,” Sophie said as she nodded toward the table.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Amber patted her arm as they all watched Jack pull out his Glock and check the clip.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Eileen added. “I know that look. Max is in cop mode.”

Eileen left them standing there and walked over to the table to talk to her husband. Sophie

watched as Eileen pursed her lips and pointed back to Sophie. They exchanged a few heated words

before Eileen returned. “Looks like they’ve got something to take care of. Jack, he and a few others will be leaving the party. It appears you’ll have a police escort home, someone to check the house, and a unit stationed outside until Jack returns.”

Sophie nodded, unable to form a complete sentence. Whatever they were doing had to be

significant for them to take off on such an important night. She clenched her trembling hands together as she watched Jack walking in her direction.

“We’ll just leave you two to work it out,” Eileen said, taking Amber by the arm and leading her

away.

“Sophie, we have to go.” Jack kissed her cheek and took her hand. “I’m so sorry, but it’s important.”

She nodded. “Did you find the killer?”

He shook his head. “No. But it’s still important that we take care of this.”

“I understand.” Sophie held his gaze, unable to take her eyes off of him.

He leaned into her and, in front of God and everyone, pressed his lips to hers in a kiss only lovers would share.

Jack broke the kiss but leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

With those words, Jack, her brother, and about ten other cops she recognized, left the party. There were a few stragglers left behind. Several of the townspeople and a few cops were enjoying the party.

Kingston and another cop nodded at her, giving her a clue of who was left to play babysitter. The night dragged on. Even the festivities and dessert didn’t cheer her up. An hour and a half later, she was saying her goodbyes and found one of the cops she liked, completely ignoring Kingston’s eager glance. She asked him to take her home and he did. He checked that the house was secure before he left her alone.

He paused at the door momentarily to tell her another unit would be sitting outside.

She closed the door behind him and locked it. Being in Jack’s house, without him present, was

weird. An unease swept down her spine.

You need to leave.
Will’s voice told her what she already knew.

“I can’t until he gets back.”

Go now,
Will demanded, and she ignored him, opting for her gun instead. She changed into jeans and a shirt and shoved the gun in the waistband in back.

“I’ll be okay,” she said not sure if it was for Will’s benefit or her own.

The doorbell rang, pulling her attention from Will.

Sophie lifted the curtain back just enough to see the cop car out front. She went to the door and

pulled it open. Kingston stood on the porch, his hands laced behind his back. “I know Jack is on the stakeout and just wanted to check in on you.”

Sophie hesitated; her phone ringing broke the silence. She stepped back to let him in as she pulled out her phone, recognizing the number immediately.

“Hey.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, Kingston just showed up to check on me.” Sophie turned around to look at Kingston, and

that’s when she noticed the red scratches on his wrist.

He pulled out his gun and pointed it at her. “Tell him everything is all right and you have to go.”

She nodded, and trepidation travelled down her spine. “I’m kind of tired. I’ll see you when you get home, okay?”

“Sure. Sophie, are you sure you’re all right?”

“No, that’s not a good idea. You need to stay and do your job.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She heard the moment Jack caught on. “Sophie, are you in

trouble.”

She hesitated and decided at the last minute to give him one last shove that she was in deep shit. “I love you,” she said before she hung up the phone. Kingston stalked over to her and whipped the phone out of her hand.

“Stupid move, witch. Now I’m going to have to kill him.”

Sophie circled around the couch, trying to put as much distance between them as possible, not that the sofa would stop the bullet that was aimed at her chest. “I’m not a witch.”

“I heard different. You’re a damn freak. Another liar spreading your venom all over my town.”

Sophie swallowed around the lump in her throat, not making any sudden moves to go for the gun in

her waistband. She had to keep him talking. “I don’t lie.” She held up her hands. “Why did you kill them?

What did they ever do to you?”

Kingston knocked his head with his fist. The man wasn’t right in the head. He already had a few

screws loose and he was losing more.

“They told me we were going to live happily ever after. They promised that I was going to grow old with her and my son.”

Sophie’s heart dropped in her stomach. “You went to one of them?”

“She made me. She wanted to know the sex of our baby before the test could tell her. She was one

of them. She didn’t tell me until after we were married and I made had her quit the coven, but she was one of them, and they lied to her…and to me.”

She needed a way out, and he had the exit blocked, the rooms blocked. There was not much else

behind her but a closed and locked sliding glass door and the kitchen. There was nowhere to run,

nowhere to hide. He had her and, if she had to guess, he would be a quicker draw, considering he had her pegged with his gun. “I’m not one of them.”

“I saw you go into the devil’s shop. You came out with a bag.” He nodded. “You’re one of them. I’ve been watching you; I know you are.”

“Your wife wouldn’t want you to do this,” Sophie tried to reason. “She wouldn’t want you to kill

me.”

He narrowed his eyes. “She isn’t here.”

Sophie saw the apparition out of the corner of her eye. His wife was most certainly there, along

with Will, but she couldn’t tell him that. Then he would know without a shadow of a doubt.

Sophie heard Will’s voice in her head.
Tell him.

No,
she answered back.
He’ll kill me.

She heard a soft female voice.
Tell him I wore a blue dress on our wedding day.
Tell him he gave me
a four-leaf clover on our first date.

“She’s here. She’s watching.”

He tightened his hold on the gun. “You’re just saying that.”

“She said she wore a blue dress on her wedding day.”

“Half the fucking town knows that. She didn’t tell you.”

Sophie kept her hands raised. “She said you gave her a four-leaf clover on your first date.”

The barrel of the gun dipped, only slightly, but not completely.

Give me more. I need more,
Sophie said in her head.

We were going to name the baby Bart after my great-uncle.

Sophie glanced at the woman in disbelief. Poor kid.

Just tell him.

“She said you were going to name the baby Bart after her great-uncle.”

“Shut up,” he screamed and covered his ears.

He pointed the gun at her again and she saw the twitch in his finger a second before she heard the explosion. The sound echoed through the room, and pain radiated through her right arm sending her to the ground on her ass. Blood gushed out of the little hole, soaking her shirt and the wood floors. She writhed in pain as she held her arm. He rounded the sofa and grabbed her off the floor by her hair. “I might just have some use for you yet.”

He squeezed her arm over the bleeding hole, the pain unbearable; she closed her eyes and begged

for the darkness to suck her away.

****