| |
Wynona was sure her fingers were going to be broken before the night was out. She couldn’t stop wringing them together as Rascal drove the two of them out to the field. The police were still searching the area and Wynona was extremely grateful they had gotten the call before her sister was actually arrested. “Did they say what they found?” Wynona asked, her eyes glued to the windshield.
Rascal sighed. “No. But we’re almost there.” He glanced her way. “I’m really sorry, Wy. I wanted her to be innocent...for your sake.”
“Thanks,” Wynona whispered. She forced her hands apart and clenched her fists. The knuckles were aching, but she needed to be doing something! This case had been a nightmare from the beginning, and now the worst possible scenario was coming true.
Wynona wasn’t sure whether to curse or to cry. She had spent her energy and risked her reputation defending Celia, and now it looked as if it might be in vain. Wynona could only hope that the police were wrong. That maybe their evidence wasn’t as strong as they thought, because no matter what they found or what anyone said, Wynona still couldn’t see her sister as a murderer.
Violet squeaked softly and wrapped herself further into Wynona’s dark locks.
Wynona sighed. She hadn’t wanted to bring Violet along, worried about the chances of them losing each other in the wide open field, but Violet had been insistent and eventually Wynona couldn’t argue any more. “I know,” Wynona whispered back. “It doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Violet chittered.
“Maybe they’re wrong,” Rascal offered as he put the truck in park. “We both know Chief Ligurio isn’t exactly a fan of your family, especially not of Celia. Maybe he’s jumping the gun with this evidence.”
“Let’s hope so,” Wynona said, jumping down from the passenger side. She wasn’t exactly short, but she also wasn’t exactly tall. Wynona considered herself a fairly average sized woman, but Rascal’s truck was obviously not built for the average. It took a bit of work to get in or out of it.
“Here we go,” Rascal said as he walked around to her side and offered his hand.
Wynona took the offering without hesitation. Right now she needed all the support she could get. She didn’t even care if the chief saw them.
“Deputy Chief Stronclaw,” an officer said as they drew closer. His deep, gravelly voice caught Wynona’s attention and she looked up, realizing it was the ogre officer she had seen from a distance during the case about Chef Droxon.
Seeing the large creature up close was more than a little intimidating. His face looked like it was made out of stone and Wynona was positive that if the man had been wearing short sleeves, his bulging muscles would have looked the same.
“Oozog,” Rascal said curtly. He had gone into officer mode, other than the fact that he was still holding Wynona’s hand. “Where’s the chief?”
Officer Oozog pointed to a group a little way into the field. “They’re searching for more pieces of the bracelet,” the officer said. “The chief has all the creatures with good night vision working on it.”
Rascal nodded and pulled Wynona along. “Thanks,” he threw back over his shoulder.
Wynona scrambled to keep up with Rascal’s long strides. “Bracelet?” she asked. “People probably lose jewelry out here all the time, since hikers come through here. How in the world can they be sure anything they find is pertinent to the case or that it belongs to Celia?”
Rascal didn’t answer as they were coming up on the men, though Wynona knew he didn’t truly have an answer for her anyway. She had mostly been speaking out loud.
“Deputy Chief.” The officers all began their greetings as Wynona and Rascal passed by them.
Chief Ligurio stood up and whipped around, having heard Rascal’s name being whispered. “Strongclaw!”
Rascal nodded and walked up to his chief’s side. “Chief. Catch me up.”
Chief Ligurio’s red eyes were glowing in the semi-darkness as they darted down to their combined hands, then back up to Rascal. “We got an anonymous tip that brought us back out here.”
“What did they say?” Wynona interrupted.
Chief Ligurio frowned, then sighed, as if he understood why Wynona was so anxious. “They said they were hiking the area and saw several beads during their walk. It struck them as unusual, so they didn’t pick them up, simply called it in since it was near where the media said Indigo’s body was found.”
Wynona pinched her lips together. “That seems a little convenient,” she muttered.
Rascal squeezed her hand, but didn’t turn to her. “Can we see what you’ve found?”
Chief Ligurio reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag. Inside were two pieces of dark stone.
Wynona squinted and leaned in closer. The daylight was quickly disappearing and she was struggling to see what type of bead it was.
“Hang on,” Rascal said. He let go of her hand and fumbled around until a light shone from his phone, illuminating the stones.
Wynona’s eyes widened as she saw the dark green color. She knew those beads. They had been clanging against her tabletop just a couple of days ago.
“What is it?” Chief Ligurio demanded.
“What makes you think these belong to Celia?” Wynona asked, though her raspy voice more than likely gave away her concern. “They could be from anything.”
The chief nodded slowly. “Which is why we’re still out here,” he said, watching Wynona carefully. “The tip said they’d seen the stones before and implicated your sister.”
Wynona scowled and folded her arms over her chest. “And you don’t find that suspicious? It sounds a little too easy.”
Chief Ligurio sighed and tucked the baggie back in his shirt pocket. “Ms. Le Doux, despite what you might believe, I’m not the bad guy here. But a woman is dead and we’re running out of leads.”
“What about Niam Stocker?” Rascal asked. “I sent you a message about what Wynona and I discovered.”
Chief Ligurio nodded. “We called the hotel and no less than three workers can confirm they saw him. Not to mention the security cameras show that he hadn’t left his room during the timeframe of the murder.”
“Did you see Indigo?” Wynona asked quickly.
Chief Ligurio nodded. “Yes. She was spotted on video leaving the premises before sunrise, but once she walked out the front doors, we lost her.”
A sinking feeling began to build in Wynona’s stomach. Something was niggling at her. “What about Indigo’s shoes?” Wynona asked. “Her body didn’t have shoes. What was she wearing in the video?”
The chief paused. “I’ll admit I didn’t focus on her shoes, but I seem to recall some sandals.”
“So she had to have known her attacker,” Wynona whispered to herself. She rubbed her forehead. A nasty headache was starting to pulse behind her temples.
“They didn’t have video on the outside of the hotel?” Rascal inserted.
Wynona looked up in time to see the chief shake his head. “They have a ward on the outside, but not inside. Hence the video.”
Rascal blew out a breath and nodded. “Got it.” He looked to Wynona, as if asking what she wanted to do.
Violet squeaked softly and Wynona paused to listen.
“Can we see where the body was again?”
Chief Ligurio narrowed his eyes at Wynona’s shoulder, but ultimately nodded and turned to lead the way.
“What did Violet say?” Rascal asked as they walked.
Wynona shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure this is where she wanted to go.”
Violet chittered a little louder and Rascal’s ear twitched in the mouse’s direction. “Ah...good point.”
Wynona almost stumbled. “What did you catch? Can you really understand her?”
Rascal shrugged. “Just the jist of it. You speak to her like you understand. What do you hear?”
“I mostly get feelings and just indulge them,” Wynona said. “Since she usually responds, I figure I’m not too far off.”
“Here,” Chief Ligurio interrupted.
Violet scrambled down Wynona’s shoulder and leg, then began darting around the flattened patch of grass.
Wynona’s anxiety went up a notch. She didn’t want Violet to get lost. But instead of interrupting, Wynona forced herself to trust in her tiny friend and began walking around the spot herself. “Can I borrow your flashlight?” she asked Rascal.
He handed her his cell phone and she turned it on, shining it on the scene.
A delicate shudder ran up Wynona’s spine as she considered what exactly they were looking at. The body’s imprint was still slightly visible if one knew what they were looking for, and Wynona hoped that Indigo wasn’t vindictive enough to want to stick around and haunt her scene of death. The last thing Wynona needed was for a vengeful spirit to come and scare the living daylights out of her when she had no magic in order to protect herself or anyone else.
Her eyes stayed glued to the ground as she slowly walked the perimeter. Violet paused and began to squeak. Wynona shifted until she could see what her mouse was staring at. She squatted down to get a closer look. “I don’t see...” Her voice trailed off as Wynona realized what Violet was trying to show her.
“What?” Rascal demanded from over Wynona’s shoulder.
“See this?” Wynona gently ran her fingers over the grass. “See how it’s bent?”
Rascal and Chief Ligurio stepped up closer. “She was dragged,” the chief snapped. “Or at least partially. The grass isn’t all the way down, so there must have been some magic involved in carrying the body.”
Wynona nodded. “It looks that way.” She frowned. “Which way were Indigo’s feet?”
Chief Ligurio pointed to the area closest to the bent grass. “Her feet were closest to where you are now.”
“Why would someone with magic drag the body low enough to the ground to leave a trail though?” Rascal asked, scratching behind his ear. “It seems odd.”
Wynona nodded in agreement as Violet began making noise again.
Violet darted from side to side and then suddenly took off into the grass.
“Vi!” Wynona cried, rushing after her friend.
“Hang on,” Rascal called. With a small groan, he hunched over and a burst of fur dove after the mouse.
Wynona was frozen for a split second as she tried to process what she’d just seen.
Chief Ligurio cursed. “Dang wolf,” he grumbled before following the chase.
Wynona forced her feet in motion and tried her best to keep up, but all the other supernaturals left her quickly in the dust. By the time she caught up to the group, she was breathing so heavily she could barely see straight. If she could speak to whoever cursed her as a baby, Wynona definitely had a few choice words for them at the moment. “Did you find something?” she asked between pants.
Rascal laid down in his wolf form and whined.
Wynona frowned as she watched Violet scramble up to burrow into the fur on his head. “What is it?” she asked Chief Ligurio, since he was the only one who could actually speak to her.
Chief Ligurio cleared his throat and stepped to the side. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said. Without waiting for her response, he stepped off and began shouting orders in the radio on his shoulder.
Wynona’s entire body began to tremble and she once again turned on Rascal’s flashlight. There in the grass lay a white sandal. Only a few feet away, in the direction of where they had just come from, was the second one, but the first held Wynona’s attention the most, since there were other pieces with it.
Several jade beads were scattered around the area, along with a wire that was more than likely the inside of the bracelet itself. A single gold bead stood out from the rest and Wynona couldn’t help but notice the initials carved into the gold.
Even without the letters, however, there was no denying it at this point. Wynona knew that her sister had a jade bracelet. But she hadn’t been wearing it the other day when she and Celia talked at the shop. The jade one was a piece Celia had received many years ago for her birthday. The gold bead was certainly distinctive and even in the dark was clearly read.
Tears pricked Wynona’s vision. “It’s Celia’s,” she whispered.
Rascal stood up and padded over, rubbing up against her thigh.
Wynona sunk her hand into his fur and let the soft strands soothe her, but it was difficult. She wanted to scream and rage that none of this was fair. Someone had to be setting her sister up, but the evidence was right in front of her. How could she continue to affirm Celia’s innocence with so many red flags screaming otherwise?
Violet ran up Wynona’s arm and began to nuzzle her neck.
“I’ll be alright,” Wynona said woodenly. She didn’t let go of Rascal. His strength and warmth were an absolute necessity at the moment, but she did try to calm Violet’s agitation. “It’ll all work out.” The words were meaningless, but they gave her something to focus on.
“Strongclaw,” Chief Ligurio said, coming back to the group. “Go change and get back here. I want this wrapped up tonight.”
Rascal’s glowing eyes looked up at Wynona and she reluctantly let go and stepped back. “Thank you,” she said softly.
With a slow nod, he trotted into the woods and came back only moments later, back in his human form. “Do you want me to take you home before we get too deep into this?” he asked her in an aside.
Wynona shook her head. “No. I think I want to be there.”
His eyebrows went up. “You sure?”
Wynona nodded. “Yes. I need to hear it from her.”
He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, but nodded. “Okay. Hang tight. We need to bag this all up, and then a few of us will go pick her up.”
A Le Doux family reunion was on the horizon and Wynona was anything but happy about it.