Lifting the Veil (4 page)

think I’ll pass.” She brushed at his hands.

“What the hell is going on in here?” her brother asked from the doorway, a duster in one hand and

a bucket full of supplies in the other.

“She’s an accident waiting to happen, Chief. How did you manage to keep her from breaking her

pretty little neck while growing up?”

“You can’t tell her anything, so don’t waste your breath, Love. She’s kind of stubborn like that.”

“You wouldn’t have known what to do with a tutu-wearing, doll-playing, clingy sister. So don’t kid yourself, Max.” She rolled her eyes, hopped down from the chair, and whisked the supplies out of his hands.

Assessing the supplies he’d brought, she paused. “Tell me you have a vacuum. With the thickness of dust on those cabinets, these cleaning supplies won’t make a dent. They’ll only manage to push the dust around.”

“Demanding little thing, isn’t she?” Jack chuckled.

“Get used to it, Love. She’s your partner.” Max grinned while walking out of the room, returning

seconds later with a vacuum. He rolled it over in front of her and eyed them both. “You two play nice.”

Just perfect.
She ignored them both, set up the vacuum cleaner, and proceeded to suck up as much dust off the cabinets as the little hose on the vacuum would pick up. If she was going to be working in this little office for days, it was a chore that had to be done. She set about taking the rest of the cleaning supplies to the surfaces and finished the job. Content, she released a pent-up breath and plopped down in front of a computer with one of the files and tried to figure out the best way to work through their files.

“Are you always this anal?” Jack asked from his computer, two files already completed.

“Are you always a jerk?” she countered.

He shrugged. “Not always, you just bring out the best in me.”

“Really….this is your best?” She chuckled, flipped her file open, and started typing. Her eyes

scanned the contents. As she learned to maneuver through the system, she was picking up speed until she flipped to a photograph of a victim’s lifeless body. Her heart sank in her chest. A blonde woman was lying dead in a field; her hair clung to her head, all matted and dirty. White bark-looking leaves surrounded her body. There was a hole in the center of her chest, her white dress covered in blood. Her throat was slit and her face was drained white.

Sophie’s hand flew to her mouth. Ringing started in her ears. Her vision tunneled and she started to sway. Her breathing became labored. She reached for Jack’s arm to steady herself. His stunned

expression was the last thing she saw before she slipped into a black void.

Disoriented, Sophie opened her eyes and rubbed her hand along the ground. Blades of grass tickled
the palms of her hands. The sun in the blue sky above shined brightly in her face. She turned her head to
the right; her gaze followed the flower and grass field as far as she could see. She turned her head left
and noticed a tree-lined asphalt road, devoid of cars. She eased herself up, her vision still swimming and
blurred.

“Hello,” she called out.

Silence greeted her. She rose to her feet and steadied herself before she tried to walk. The heat and
glare from the sun played a water mirage against the asphalt.

She swiveled in place. No houses, no cars, no sign of help in sight.

“Goddess of night.”

The sound of a woman’s soft voice drifted to Sophie’s ears. The air around her grew thick as the
wind picked up, blowing Sophie’s hair into her eyes.

“Hello. Is anyone there?” Sophie called out again and turned in place, stopping instantly to stare at
the woman in the white dress who suddenly appeared, turning in circles in the field. She was holding
what looked to be a band of leaves in her hand. The burning leaves produced a small stream of white
smoke that was drifting through the air.

“Goddess of light.”

The woman turned in circles, letting the smoke surround her body.

Sophie slowly approached while watching the unusual ritual taking place. The girl turned toward
Sophie as she neared. The blonde woman wasn’t just any woman; Sophie recognized her from the picture
and froze in place.

“This is a dream. I must have fallen and hit my head. That’s the only explanation.”

The woman stopped spinning. Startled, she gasped, and her hand flew to her chest. “Who are you?”

“I’m Sophie.” She stopped three feet away, unsure of what to expect. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled. “I’m Valerie. Are you a goddess?”

The question made Sophie pause. “I’ve been called many things but never one of those. Where are
we?” Sophie asked, unsure she was going to like whatever answer was given.

Valerie’s smile slipped into a frown. Her whole demeanor changed in an instant from one of peace
to one of concern. “You shouldn’t be here. You don’t belong here.”

The tension in Sophie’s shoulders tightened. “I know. Where are we?”

Valerie picked up more bundles of the white leaves lying at her feet. “You have to find him and stop
him.”

Sophie stepped closer to her. “Stop who?”

“Stop the man who killed me. He won’t stop until you catch him. There have been others.”

“Is this where you died?”

Valerie nodded and pointed to a space near the road.

Sophie glanced over her shoulder. The grass showed no signs of the crime, devoid of everything but
the same leaves that Sophie had seen in the picture. The same leaves that the woman was burning. She
turned back around.

“Who…” Sophie’s words trailed off. Valerie had vanished.

Sophie spun in place, frantically looking for the woman who had disappeared. Sophie’s head started
to pound, the throbbing intense. She dropped to her knees and cupped her head against the sharp and
sudden pain.

“Sophie.” The faint sound of her brother’s voice called to her in her head. Her world started spinning
again.

She was briefly sucked into a weightless black void before she felt the glare of bright lights on her closed lids. She opened her eyes, her gaze landed on her brother’s white, stricken face.

“
Thank god.” He clutched her to his chest, cutting off her ability to breathe.

“You’re squeezing me,” Sophie choked out until he loosened his hold.

“I knew this was a bad idea. You’ve been here for thirty minutes and you fainted. Eileen is going to kill me.”

“Drink this,” Jack commanded while holding a glass of orange juice to her lips.

“Thanks.” She took a sip. “But, I could really use some coffee.” Sophie smiled sweetly trying to hide her embarrassment. She could feel the heat climbing from her chest into her cheeks.

Sophie waited for Jack to leave before she let her brother help ease her up and into the chair.

“What happened?”

“You fainted,” Max explained while flipping the pages of the file she’d been working in. “I guess I should have warned you about the pictures.” He let the page drop. “I’m sorry, Soph. Maybe this was a bad idea.”

Sophie shook her head and sipped the orange juice that Jack had originally brought her. “No, it

wasn’t. The picture just caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting that. I can do this.”

Max remained silent. His brow creased in the center. He didn’t believe her. She’d seen that look her entire life. She didn’t need to read his mind to know he didn’t think she was capable of doing the job.

She was a failure…again.

“I. Can. Do. This,” she stubbornly clarified again. “It was a fluke. I’m fine, honest.” She rested her palm on his arm and held his gaze. “Max, I need this job.”

He ran his hand over his face. “If it happens again, we’re going to have to find you something else to do. Deal?”

Her determination to see this through coursed through her veins, driving her to succeed. “Deal.”

The muscles in his jaw ticked. “Good, now go home.”

“What?” Her voice rose in octave. “You just promised.”

“You fainted, Soph. I want you to go home and relax. You can start fresh tomorrow.”

“I don’t want special treatment just because we’re related.”

“That wasn’t a request, Soph. That was a directive issued by your superior officer. These files have waited years already. Another day isn’t going to hurt.”

He held the door open, waited for her to grab her things, and escorted her out to her car. “Are you okay to drive?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

A whispered hush filled the room as the other employees watched Max escort her out of the

building. Any respect she’d hoped to gain for being more than the chief’s baby sister flew out the window. She opened her car door and tossed her things inside.

He tapped the roof of her little red compact car. “Be safe and text me when you get home.”

She nodded.

“I mean it.” Max grinned.

“I’m sure you do,” she quipped while sliding into the car.

She turned the key in the ignition and eased away from the curb, her mind replaying what she’d

seen when she was passed out or from wherever the hell she’d been.

Jack slammed the door behind him, grumbling as he went in search of coffee for the little princess.

A little bit of blood and the damn woman faints. She was in over her head, and he was stuck with her, and his hell was just beginning. He filled a Styrofoam cup full of coffee and turned in time to spot the chief escorting Sophie out the front door. He grinned in triumph, not caring who witnessed it. His problems were solved. She’d quit. He glanced at his watch; the countdown for his return to the streets had now started.

Jack did a little shuffle on the way to his desk, bypassing the room he referred to as the cold case freezer. He slid into his seat, kicked his feet up onto the desk, and crossed them at the ankles. He sipped the warm coffee, his mind debating which case to work on next.

“Love, get your feet off that desk,” the chief called from behind him, interrupting Jack’s short

reprieve.

The chief stopped at his desk and planted his hands on the wood. “You’re not off the hook. She’ll be back tomorrow.”

The tension in his arms and neck coiled. “Sure thing, Chief. I’ll be ready to pick back up where she fainted.”

“See that you are.” Chief Masterson disappeared into his office, shutting the door behind him.

The phone on Jack’s desk rang. “Detective Love.”

“I need some intel.” A crackle swept through the phone line but Jack recognized Marshall Dixon’s

voice instantly, and he should. They’d been best friends since they were teenagers.

“I’m sorry. I must be hearing things. Did you say
you
need some intel? You do realize this constitutes a favor, right?”

“You heard me right.”

Jack laughed. “What is it that I can do that the great and mighty Marshall can’t?”

“Oh stuff it, desk jockey. Does the name Annie Cash mean anything to you?”

Jack picked up the pen and tapped the lid against the paper pad. “Annie Cash….that’s a name I

haven’t heard in a long time. Why do you want to know?”

“Friend or foe?”

“That’s not an easy answer. She’s been both.”

“What is she now?”

Jack shrugged as if his friend could see him. “She can be a major asset; but if you piss her off, she’ll turn into your worst enemy.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same woman?”

“Five two, short red hair, attitude.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what she looks like in the picture I’m holding.”

Jack leaned back in his chair. Was Marshall screwing with him? “You’ve never met her?”

“Nope, not yet. She was taken hostage, and my company has been commissioned to bring her back.

I just need to know if there’s more than meets the eye.”

“Well, if she’s being held captive, I can guarantee it isn’t against her will. I would bet money that there was a reason why she let them take her in the first place. Did you already send in an extraction team?”

“Yes,” Marshall replied with a tone that held a note of annoyance.

Jack chuckled at the irritation in his friend’s voice. “I can almost guarantee they’ll come back

empty-handed. If I were you, I’d look into whatever intel you can pull up on her captors. They must have something she’s after.”

“Exactly how do you know her?”

“I dated her.”

“Hmm. I didn’t see that angle. I owe you one.”

“An ace in my pocket to save for a rainy day. That doesn’t happen often.”

“If ever.” Marshall chuckled.

Ten minutes later, after small-talk, they hung up. He’d grown up with Marshall. They’d attended

the same training academy and martial arts classes, and yet, they’d split into opposite career directions.

Marshall started up his own company in the security sector, brilliant at planning and stealthy like a ghost. Getting in and getting out was his specialty. Celebs contacted him for protection, and government officials contracted him when they didn’t want to get their hands dirty. For years Marshall had been trying to bring Jack on board and, for years, Jack refrained.

He glanced over to the chief’s office and remembered Sophie. Unemployment was just one little

sister away.

****

was just about to plop down on her recliner when the door opened behind her. She swung around.

Relief filled her body upon seeing Amber’s smiling face. “I saw your car outside so I knew you were home.”

“You might have gotten an eyeful if I had a guy over and we were getting busy against the wall.”

Amber shrugged. “First of all, you have no guy. Second of all, you’re too much of a prude to be

pinned to the wall.” She grinned. “And third, if he was cute and hung, I’d ask if he had a brother, so I still would have walked in.”