Corpse in the Crystal Ball (8 page)

Five minutes into the dense woods with no trails and a few yards away from the river, I stopped.

“Sunny, this is crazy. It’s too thick to walk through here, and I don’t see anything.” Mitch stood by my side.

“I agree, Miss Meadows. I think we’re at a dead end,” Captain Walker added as he joined us.

“No!” I yelled.

They both looked at me like I’d been sniffing too much incense, but I wasn’t giving up. I had wished the woman would go away for good, and now I was terrified she had left us all permanently. For a brief moment, I had been her. She’d truly loved Mitch. She wasn’t evil like I’d thought. She was human. A little selfish but human nonetheless. And terrified. And she didn’t deserve to go through what she had gone through.

“No,” I repeated more calmly. “We’re so close. We can’t give up now. We’re all she has.” I kept going and heard them reluctantly follow me. Two more steps and I finally broke through the brush into a clearing and then froze in my tracks.

Mitch and Captain Walker joined me.

“Thank God,” Captain Walker said. “I didn’t think I’d—” He stopped talking. “Mitch, what’s wrong?”

Mitch had darted past us both and dropped to his knees on the ground. “Not again,” he said softly, his shoulders shaking suspiciously.

“What happened?” Captain Walker stepped over to his side, and then his head slumped forward and he slowly knelt down beside the detective, looking defeated. “Oh, no,” was all he said.

I couldn’t speak as I joined them and stared down at Isabel Gonzales. She’d been beaten severely until she was barely recognizable, strangled with what looked like some kind of corded wire based on the marks on her neck, and thrown into the river. But she hadn’t died right away.

She’d miraculously survived long enough to make it out and crawl into the woods as far as she could until she’d collapsed. Without a cell phone, she hadn’t been able to call for help. But she had left a partial message carved into the soft spring earth with a stick before death won the battle and claimed her.

I gasped and slapped my hands over my mouth in shock.

It’s okay, Mitch. You didn’t mean it. I forgive you. I …

“I’m sorry, Detective Stone,” Captain Walker said later that day from the confines of his office at the station. He closed the door tight. “I’m going to need you to turn in your badge and gun. Until this case gets solved, you’re suspended.”

“What?” Mitch sputtered in shock, falling into the nearest chair as though he didn’t trust his legs to hold him. Being a cop was everything to him. It was all he had left. “This is ridiculous, and you know it.”

“It’ll be okay, Stone,” Chief Spencer said, with his full head of salt-and-pepper hair parted on the side to precision. “We all believe in your innocence, but our hands are tied. Take some time off. You’ve earned it, anyway. Let us do our job, and you’ll be back to work in no time.”

“Speak for yourself, Chief,” Mayor Cromwell boomed, his shocking orange-red troll hair flopping about as he thundered. “Everyone knows the detective and Ms. Gonzales
had a fight. Enough people heard him say if she didn’t leave town, she’d be sorry.”

The mayor’s beady eyes narrowed. “He has no alibi. Claims he went out of town to get away, yet so did Ms. Gonzales on the same night. Now he returns, and she is found dead with the murder weapon missing, claiming she forgives him? For what, murdering her and hiding the evidence? You may have botched the job, but she died just the same.”

“That message was only a partial message. You have no idea what she meant or what else she planned to say. You know what, forget it, you son of a—” Mitch surged to his feet and lunged forward with fists clenched.

“Easy, Detective.” Chief Spencer stepped between them and steered Mitch to the other side of the room. “It’s not worth it. Don’t do anything stupid. Just lay low and stay out of this case.” He looked him in the eye. “We’ve got your back. I promise you.”

“In the meantime I’d like Miss Meadows on the case,” Mayor Cromwell said in a no-nonsense tone. “And I want the detective’s car and house searched before he has a chance to go back and hide anything else.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mitch grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’m flattered, Mayor,” I said carefully in this highly charged situation. As much as I wanted to argue with Mitch about my competence, I knew now was not the time. Besides, I had my own work to do. “With all due respect, I’m really busy these days with my fortune-telling business. I’m sure your boys in blue can handle things.”

“Miss Meadows, I know firsthand how successful your business is. That’s why I insist you be a part of this case.
You’ve proven yourself invaluable to this department. Today being no exception.

“We never would have found Ms. Gonzales without your help. And I have a feeling that finding her killer will be a whole lot easier with your assistance. The good citizens of Divinity reelected me for a reason. I won’t let them down.” The mayor paused and looked us each in the eye, one by one. “This discussion is over. Are we all in agreement?”

“If you say so,” Chief Spencer reluctantly agreed. He still wasn’t any more of a believer than Mitch was, and I never felt as though he liked me for some reason.

“Consider it done,” Captain Walker said, always the peacekeeper.

Everyone looked at me expectantly, except Mitch, who stared at me accusingly as though his job were the last piece of candy on earth and I’d stolen it. But what could I do? I felt guilty for wishing Isabel gone, felt sorry for Selena, and even felt worried for Mitch. If there was any way I could help solve this case, bring justice to Isabel, peace to Selena, and clear Mitch’s name, then I would do whatever I had to.

I was doing this for
him
.

I sighed. “Sure thing, Mayor. When do I start?”

“Immediately,” he said, but Mitch wouldn’t even look at me.

Arms loaded with Chinese takeout as a peace offering, I climbed the cast-iron staircase to the top floor of Mitch’s apartment later that evening. The rain had stopped, but the sky still looked dark and foreboding much like the man who dwelled within. I knew Mitch was angry that I was helping
with the case and that he was suspect number one, especially since he still considered himself the boss and me his lowly assistant.

He had no clue I didn’t want this job any more than he wanted me to have it. I had enough on my plate with my fortune-telling business now that it was thriving. Being a consultant to the police was time-consuming and dangerous. I was only helping out so I could clear Detective Grump Butt’s name.

The stubborn knucklehead should be thanking me.

I’d felt guilty watching him leave the station earlier without his gun or badge and having to be humiliated as his fellow officers searched through his belongings. He’d somehow looked naked even though he’d been fully clothed. He’d glared at me so accusingly, like this was all my fault.

I hadn’t written his name in the dirt. Isabel had!

Still, the thought of him sitting in his apartment feeling lost and alone tore me up inside. So I’d shown up with my peace offering and prayed for the best. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door.

The door swung open, but a lost and lonely Mitch did
not
stand on the other side. A fragile-looking, stunningly gorgeous Selena Gonzales did. She wore cute little yoga pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and nothing on her perfect peach-painted toes. I just stood there with my mouth open, gaping at her.

“Hi, Miss Meadows. Please, come in.” A red and puffy-eyed Selena smiled and stepped back, albeit a bit wobbly.

I’d completely forgotten about her and the fact that Mitch had been left with the unpleasant task of picking her up from my house and telling her that we’d found her sister dead.
The captain had given me a ride home. By the time I arrived there, Mitch and Selena were gone. Somehow I’d thought she’d be staying in a hotel, but it was obvious she needed a shoulder to cry on.

Mitch’s shoulders were certainly big enough.

That alone didn’t make this any easier. Why couldn’t he be scrawny? Why couldn’t he be ugly? Why’d she have to be so nice? I pasted on a smile as I entered the redbrick apartment building, bumping the door shut behind me with my hip.

“Hi, Selena. Please, call me Sunny.”

“Here, let me help you.” She took one of the take-out bags and headed to the kitchen. I followed and set the rest of the food on the counter. She chewed her bottom lip, looking at me like she didn’t know what to say next.

“I am so sorry for your loss,” I said.

She crossed her arms. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“I, um, brought along a peace offering. I’m sure you heard what happened with Detective Stone being suspended. I just want you to know that I know he didn’t have anything to do with your sister’s death. I promise you I won’t stop until I find out who did.”

“I like you, Sunny,” she said so sincerely that I felt like crying as well. “I know Mitch doesn’t believe in your abilities, but I do. If anyone can figure this whole mess out, I really believe it’s you.”

“Thank you for that. Now, if the detective …” My voice trailed off and my mouth hung open. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight before me.

“If the detective what?” Mitch asked as he stood outside the bathroom door.

He wore only a white towel wrapped around his waist. Wet strands of his thick black hair stuck out in a messy style that was sexy beyond belief. His dark five o’clock shadow, which didn’t quite cover the scar along his jaw, revealed he hadn’t shaved. His tanned skin gleamed as it was stretched taut over broad shoulders, bulging biceps, a beautifully sculpted chest, rippled abdominal muscles, and strong toned legs.

Even his feet were masculine and perfect, dammit.

“Uh, Tink? You having a spell again?” he asked, puckering his forehead and looking impatient. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Oh, I was having a spell, all right, and it had just been broken, thankfully. Grump Butt was sooo not Prince Charming, and I was a fool to keep forgetting that. “I am here to get started on this case whether you like it or not.” I lifted my chin a notch and crossed my arms.

He just grunted at that and retreated to his bedroom to hopefully get dressed in something that covered every inch of him.

“Don’t mind him. He’s all bark and no bite. He’ll come around,” Selena said, pulling out the bags of takeout. “Do you mind? I’m a little hungry. I couldn’t eat anything that Granny cooked for me earlier because I was worried sick. Now I’m just sad. She’s such a sweet lady, your grandmother. You’re lucky to have her. Isabel and I only had each other, but now …” Selena swallowed hard and tried not to cry as she pulled out some paper plates.

“You’re right. I am lucky, and I don’t tell Granny nearly enough.” Life really was short, and I needed to start appreciating all that I had and forget about all that I didn’t.

Selena filled her plate and so did I. Then we both headed to the ultramodern living room and sat on the black leather furniture. The white painted bookshelves, photos of New York City on the walls, and marble statues on the tile-and-glass end tables never ceased to amaze me. How a barbarian could have such great taste and class I’d never know.

“Are you up for talking about your sister?” I asked her.

“Absolutely.” She nodded. “It makes me feel like she’s still here.”

“Good.” I pulled out a pad of paper and pen from my loose, baggy sweatpants, which were not nearly as cute or flattering as her yoga pants. Then again, her
parts
weren’t any jigglier than her sister’s. I sighed. “Can you tell me what your relationship was like with your sister?”

“Well, I loved my sister and we were twins, but we were very different people. We had our parents, but we didn’t have much else growing up. That always bothered Isabel. She was so smart. She received a full academic scholarship to NYU and earned her business degree. We were all so proud of her.” Selena smiled, looking off in the distance as though lost in a fond memory.

Finally, her smile faded and she continued. “I have never been that smart, but that’s okay. I’m happy being a waitress and an aspiring actress, although these days I mostly waitress. It’s hard to make a living sometimes, but I get by. I’m good with people. They like me. I get a part or two here and there, but it’s enough. I’m happy.”

“Can you tell me when the last time you saw Isabel was?”

“Two weeks ago, right before she left for Divinity. Like I said, Isabel was always restless. Never content. But even I was surprised when she packed up her stuff and took off.
I didn’t even get to say good-bye. She called me on her way here, saying she wanted to start over, but first she had unfinished business.”

“You mean her relationship with Detective Stone?”

Selena blinked, looking surprised and apparently speechless.

“What unfinished business did she have with Mit—I mean, the detective?” I asked.

My heart started beating and I wondered if I was about to find out why Mitch hadn’t proposed. What that phone call had been about on the night he’d had a ring in his pocket. What could have possibly made Isabel scar his face like that?