Witch Hearts (15 page)

“Ruby, are you okay? Oh, Jesus.” Marshall reached out and she flinched, finally looking away from the dead body. Ruby took his hand and he helped her up, cradling his arm around her so she couldn’t turn back to look at Denise. She felt him cringe at the sight.
 

“Why are you here?” Ruby replied numbly.

“I followed you to this neighborhood. What are you doing here?”

“You…followed me?” All Ruby could hear was white noise, her head pounding from her screams.
 

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you when I can. We couldn’t risk you getting taken so when I saw you go into our building and then immediately back out, I figured something was up. I was around the block when I heard you scream.”

With the adrenaline leaving Ruby’s body, the cold washed over her. It left her shaking, felt like an internal earthquake and it was only when Marshall held her close in a tight embrace that she started to feel warm again. Ignoring Marshall’s chiseled chest and arms, she closed her eyes and tried to recount everything that had happened, as well as wonder what happened next.
 

“I didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene,” Ruby muttered.
 

Officer Marshall stepped back to look at her, puzzled. “What?”

“I almost threw up when I saw her chest,” she explained. “I didn’t want to mess anything up for the police.”

She put her forehead against his chest again and could’ve sworn she felt him almost smile at her consideration.
 

“I hate to tell you this since it’s clearly important to you,” Marshall said in a low tone, “but I’m going to have to take that book in as evidence.”

Ruby’s shoulders sagged, but she nodded, knew he was only following procedure. How on earth would she explain why she risked life and limb to get a book full of wonky symbols and rhymes?
 

The next hour was a blur to her. Marshall called in the body and soon the house was full of policemen, detectives, the medical examiner, and media trying to worm their way through the door. Ruby answered all of the questions Detective Phillips threw at her, no longer bothering to hide her exhaustion. Phillips’ eyebrows only raised slightly when she gave him all the magic details, but she ignored it. He could do what he wanted with the information - it was the truth and if he thought her crazy, she wouldn’t be able to convince him otherwise. Finally, Officer Marshall led her out to the side of the house, away from prying eyes, and she collapsed on the sidewalk.
 

Marshall sat next to her. “Can I get you anything?”

“A straightjacket. Or maybe a time machine.”

“You don’t believe in time travel spells?” he joked.

“They’re frowned upon. Witches who try can get in pretty big trouble, in more ways than one,” she said. He grimaced as though he regretted hearing her answer.
 

“Officer Marshall-,” she started.
 

“Call me Ben.”

“Ben, I thought you were a regular police officer. How long have you been tailing me?”

“Since I took your report down to Phillips at the station. He put me on special assignment since we live in the same building and I had access to you.”

“You’ve been with me that long?” He nodded and she blushed. “Have you heard everything I’ve said?”

A fervent shake of the head calmed her. He hadn’t heard her tell Miranda about Cooper’s…appendages. Thank the goddess.
 

“Your boss is pretty cute.” A hint of a smile crossed his lips.
 

“You’re not exactly her type.”

For a split second, he looked offended. “Because I’m black?”

“What? No! She’s bi, but mostly digs girls.”

Despite the circumstances, he chuckled, pretty white teeth gleaming against dark skin. “Oh, I see. Story of my life.”
 

A thought struck her as she thought back over the previous days. “That means you saw Cooper’s friend, right?”

“The skittish guy in the coffee shop?”

She nodded. “Did you happen to see where he went when he left?”

“Actually, since Cooper was with you, I followed him. He shook me off between alleys, though, so I went back to our complex.”

She sighed in frustration, looked up from her knees to see chocolate brown eyes on her. “I don’t understand how someone can do this to us.”

“It’s not your fault,” he assured her in a gentle voice. “This guy is a full-on psychopath who happens to target young women who practice Wicca.”

“That’s nice and all, but not very reassuring.”

Ben hesitated for a moment before asking, “What’s so important about the book you risked your life coming here?”
 

She sighed. “It’s Courtney’s spell book, a family heirloom. It doesn’t deserve to be in the hands of her killer.”

His head bobbed in a slow nod. “I guess I can understand that. Maybe next time you call me first, though.”

“Deal.”

She put her head in her arms to block out the sounds. The mixture of horror and defeat hurt down to her soul. All she wanted was a time turning spell powerful enough to go back and insist Courtney meet her for a drink that night instead of go for a run. Was that so much to ask? According to the one witch who’d tried it in a century, yes. He was still stuck in a time loop somewhere depending on who you asked.
 

Ruby heard the motorcycle before she saw him and closed her eyes in anticipation. Cooper was not going to be pleased and she braced herself for the swearing that was bound to be thrown at her. Ben quirked an eyebrow at the sigh she heaved, but stayed quiet.

When she opened her eyes, Cooper was getting off his bike. He strode toward them, folded his long body to sit down next to Ruby on the pavement. Before she could say anything, he pulled a plastic bag out of his jacket and handed it to Officer Marshall.

“Here’s the note he left,” Cooper said. Ruby winced at his flat, angry tone.
 

“Thanks. I’m going to take this to Detective Phillips,” Marshall replied. He shot an uncomfortable look at both of them and took off, not at all unhappy to escape the tension.
 

Several long seconds ticked by and Ruby wondered which one of them would speak first. She knew she owed an apology for running off towards danger, but she refused to let him make her feel bad about the decision. Finally, she could no longer take the silence and broke the ice.

“It was Denise,” she said, her voice sounding dull and lifeless.
 

“Who?” Cooper looked at her, confused.

“Denise, from Michael’s coven. We saw her at the meeting last week. She asked if Courtney had been raped.”

“Oh shit, I remember now. Dark hair, pretty smile?” Cooper asked. Ruby nodded, felt as though her head might pop off and float into the sky. He heaved a regretful sigh.
 

Another bit of silence passed and Ruby’s brain finally clicked.

“That’s four hearts.” She looked at him, felt the rising panic on her face. “He only needs one more to finish the ritual.”

He sighed. “Yeah. Shit.”
 

He put his arm around her, drew her in close to him. Heat radiated off his body and she allowed herself a brief moment to bury her face in his shoulder.
 

“I could’ve gone my whole life without ever seeing something that awful,” Ruby mumbled into his shirt.
 

“I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I can’t even imagine how terrible it must have been to find her.” He planted a gentle kiss on her temple.
 

“It’s one of those things I’ll never unsee, you know? I have a feeling I’ll still be having nightmares about it when I’m eighty.”

Neither of them bothered adding it, but Ruby knew they both finished that sentence with, “If we make it that long.” She didn’t bother hiding her fear and looked up at Cooper’s face, at that constant jaw stubble and his serious green eyes. He swallowed hard, the scar at his throat twitching at the motion.

“You have to promise me something,” he said. “I’m by no means telling you what to do, but I’m begging you, please give me a heads up if you go somewhere without me. I thought you were still at work - I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack when Marshall called me.”

She nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run off, but-”

“I saw the letter. I understand why you did it. And thanks for caring so much about Courtney’s book that you’d risk doing what you did.” He squeezed her tight to him and she inhaled his scent, tears pricking her eyes.

“I’m scared, Coop.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

Ben Marshall and Detective Phillips walked over to them; Ruby and Cooper ended their conversation and stood up. Phillips nodded at Cooper in greeting but addressed his question to Ruby.

“Marshall says you knew the girl.”

Ruby nodded sadly, tears attempting to well up in her eyes again. She cleared her throat and blinked them back. “Yeah, she was a member of the coven I used to be in. We saw her at a meeting a few days ago, Saturday night.”

Phillips copied her words onto his small notepad. “And what did you know about her?”

Ruby shrugged. “Not much. She came into the coven shortly before I left, so I didn’t get to know her well. She moved here from Michigan or something, I don’t think she had much family. Michael would know more if you want to get details.”

Phillips nodded. “I’ll be sure to contact him. Now look, I’m only going to tell you this once. The next time a note appears anywhere, you call me or Marshall here instead of skipping off to play a hero, got it?”

Ruby opened her mouth to protest but Phillips cut her off. “I’m serious, Ms. Jackson. I don’t want to see you get hurt in this psycho’s little game and right now, he’s playing you like every pawn on the board.”

Ruby looked down at her feet, a shamed blush rising to her cheeks. She deserved the reprimand and besides, after everything that happened today, she felt damn sure she’d never go anywhere alone ever again. She said as much to Phillips who gave her a sharp nod.

“I agree. Make sure to take your friend Cooper here with you or give Ben a call. I would suggest not going anywhere alone, at least until we catch this guy. You need to be vigilant about your safety since he’s obviously waiting to get you alone to strike. I don’t want to even consider what might’ve happened if Ben hadn’t tailed you.”

That thought hadn’t even occurred to Ruby and she shuddered underneath Cooper’s arm. He squeezed her tight to him in reassurance. They thanked Phillips and he said his goodbyes, walked away in quick, confident steps back to his police officers.

Ben moved to walk away and Ruby grabbed his arm. “Thank you,” she said, craning her neck to look up at him. “Thank you for following me, for being brave enough to come downstairs and get me. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t. You might be the only reason I’m alive right now.”

He gave her a gentle smile. “I’d say I’m just doing my job, but I’m glad you’re okay. You’ll be sick of me after a few more days of this.”

“Doubt it, but you’ll hear it if I get tired of it.”

“And I’ll ignore it and continue to follow you around until we get this guy,” he replied.
 

Marshall and Cooper shook hands and he walked away, looking at his notes. Cooper walked Ruby to her car and followed her back to her apartment, where they locked themselves in and remained for the rest of the night.
 

A day after Ruby found Denise’s body, she received a text message from Lacy.

Michael told us what happened. Are u ok?

Yeah, thanks
, she texted back.
Please stay safe until this guy is caught.

Def. Wanna make some magic soon?

Ruby couldn’t help but smile. Lacy was shy, but once you got to know her, she had a bubbly personality. Ruby could do with some happy this week.

Sure. Come over tonight?

See you at 8! :)

Ruby was due back into the shop this afternoon. The thought of being out in public, sitting and talking to strangers all day made her uneasy. At least in her apartment, she was safe. She called Miranda to take the day off, guilt sitting heavy on her shoulders. As she explained what had happened, Miranda couldn’t stop cursing and her gasps of shock. Then Ruby began to ask for yet another day off.
 

“This is going to make me a jerk,” she said, but Miranda cut her off.

“How about you stay home a few more days?”

“Wait, what?” Ruby looked at her phone, not sure if she’d heard correctly.

“I think…I think it would be better for everyone.” Miranda sounded hesitant, almost nervous, and that was not her style.
 

“What aren’t you telling me?” Ruby asked. Her grip tightened on the phone.
 

Miranda exhaled with a defeated sigh. “He left a note, Rubes. We found it last night - I left my iPod and came back for it on my way to the gym.”

“
What?
What did he say?”

“That if you came here, it made you an easy target. He suggested I didn’t want to do that. Much as I hate it, I guess I agree with him.”
 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry—”

Miranda cut her off, her tone sharp. “This is not your fault. Tell me you know that.”

“I do, but I still feel bad in general,” Ruby said. Miranda couldn’t see her helpless shrug. “Did you call the cops?”

“Yeah, the mustache man, Phillips, he came by. And a really hot officer named Ben didn’t want you to panic, so I waited until you called. Look, honey, no offense, but I don’t want you anywhere near us right now. How about I pay half your week’s salary if you promise not to come in? I’ll—”

“Miranda, I don’t need the money, so don’t do that,” Ruby interrupted. “But I was thinking along the same lines as you. I don’t want anything to happen to you or Richard because I work there.”

“Well, consider it a staycation. Hang out at home until the killer is caught. That should be soon, right?” Ruby could hear the fake cheeriness in Miranda’s voice even over the phone.

“That could be weeks. I might go crazy if that happens.”