by Lisa Olsen
“It’s Annaliese’s influence,” Rose smiled. “She’s been trying to stretch his mind. He can’t help it if he doesn’t know how to separate fact from fiction yet.”
“Ah, Anna,” Ruby nodded. “I forgot the two of you are a thing. You are still a thing, right?”
“Very much so,” Nick nodded, glad to be on a new topic.
“Good,” said Ruby in approval. “I know she and Jax were hot and heavy when we were kids, but she’s not right for him. No offense, I mean I love her to pieces, but my brother needs someone… Well, not her.”
“At last we have something we can agree on,” Nick agreed wholeheartedly, and Ruby smiled at him, her entire face lighting up.
“I like you. You’ll make sure this whole trip down memory lane with Jax doesn’t take a permanent detour, won’t you?”
“I’ll do my best,” he promised. “How come you didn’t want to go stay with her then? That would’ve been the best way to make sure things stayed in the past with them.”
“And leave all this?” Her eyes swept over the room and it became clear to Nick how important creature comforts were to Ruby.
“You could always come and stay with me,” Rose offered. “My place is much more comfortable and just as opulent.”
Ruby touched her cheek fondly. “That’s sweet, but the label owes me these accommodations and I intend to use them.”
“You could always keep the room and come and stay with me at the same time.”
“Ha, that’d be funny as hell. Maybe,” Ruby considered, her face scrunching up as she pondered the move. “It’s hard to give up the concierge though. What if I want Chinese food at three in the morning?”
“Then I’ll get it for you. I’ll get you anything your little heart desires.” Rose’s voice dropped to a sultry purr, tracing a finger down the side of Ruby’s neck, over her heart, and to the swell of her breast before capturing her lips in a soft kiss.
Nick cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the display (or more comfortable than he should be in his official capacity). “I should probably get going.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Rose left Ruby on the couch, smiling lazily up at the ceiling, her face soft and dreamy. Natalie was nowhere to be seen when they opened the door, and Nick assumed she was waiting for him downstairs. There were a couple of fans down the hall, the bouncer keeping them far away from Ruby’s door, affording the two of them a few moments of privacy.
“Rose, I know it’s none of my business, but be careful what you’re getting caught up in with Ruby, okay? I know the two of you go way back, but you don’t want to get mixed up in the drugs and that lifestyle.”
“You’re right, it’s none of your business,” Rose retorted, her lips pressing tightly together. “Besides, men in glass houses shouldn’t cast stones.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you should clean up your own mess before you start picking apart someone else’s,” she hissed. “I know things aren’t as hunky dory between you and Annaliese as you made it seem. Take my advice, Nick, fix things with her before you lose her for good.”
“I did,” he insisted, getting a little hot under the collar. “Annie and I are fine.”
It was the look of pity on Rose’s face that made Nick’s stomach curdle. “Don’t underestimate Jax’s power over her. He was her first, you know what I mean? A girl doesn’t forget her first.”
* * *
“I think we’re wasting time on this angle, I have to say it,” Natalie declared after Nick gave her a brief rundown on his conversation with Rose and Ruby. “I still say Jax May is our dirtbag.”
“Why would the guy be killing girls who look like his sister?”
“Who the hell knows what goes through the head of these sick fucks? Maybe she’s driving him up the wall and he can’t kill her cause she’s his meal ticket, so he does the next best thing?” She was scratching again, and Nick caught sight of the bumpy rash creeping up the side of her neck. “All I know is I’ll be parked outside that house tonight.”
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea? Maybe you should go back to the doctor?”
“What? Oh, shit.” Natalie seemed to notice what she was doing for the first time. “No, I just need to put more cortisone cream on, that’s all.”
He wasn’t going to argue with her, but it sure looked nasty. “I think you’re on the right track for keeping eyes on both of the siblings,” Nick agreed. “If you’re set on sitting watch, I’ll have Brady take some of the shift tonight outside Anna’s place. And Park can take the hotel after security is dismissed for the night and keep an eye on Ruby.”
Her head tilted to one side with a speculative smile. “I was sort of hoping you’d keep me company tonight.”
“We both know that’s not a good idea.” He was willing to forget the advances she made the night before, but not if she kept on making them. For the rest of the ride back to the precinct, he spent half the time on the phone coordinating surveillance shifts with Brady and Park, and the other half talking to Veronica about her art project (due next Monday). By the time they got there, Natalie had fallen silent about any plans she had for Nick to join her on a stakeout and he sure hoped she’d gotten the message.
To his great surprise, they found Annaliese sitting up in the bullpen, chatting with Park at her desk.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you,” Nick smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “But I’m glad you’re here. Is anything wrong?” Natalie immediately veered off in search of the break room for a cup of coffee without another word. Park got up and joined Natalie after giving Nick a wink that was so quick, he thought he might’ve imagined it.
Anna’s eyes flicked to Natalie, but she didn’t give any indication she was upset, except for the way her hands tightened on her skirt, bunching in the fabric. Nick was one of the few people who recognized that she only did that when her nerves were tightly strung. “Rose said you think the killer might be after Ruby next. She called me in a panic, wondering if that was true or if you were trying to scare her. I said I’d talk to you and try to find out what I could.”
“Oh, that.” Rose must’ve been on the phone the instant they’d left the hotel. “Yes, we do think that’s a possibility. Take a look at these and tell me what you see.” He laid out the pictures of the victims for her, the same ones he’d shown Ruby and Rose.
“Sweet Goddess… that does look a lot like Ruby. But the killer couldn’t know that, not unless he knew her ten years ago.”
“You’d be surprised what people can turn up on the internet these days. Your high school reunion is in a couple of months, isn’t it? How much do you want to bet I can find pictures of Ruby looking like this inside of fifteen minutes?”
“Yes, but… I don’t understand, why wouldn’t the killer be fixating on what she looks like now?”
“We don’t know, we’ve only scratched the surface of this angle. Maybe it’s someone who she used to know back in the day? Maybe I should be following Rose around,” he quipped, only to receive a dark look from Anna.
“That’s not funny, Nick. You know she wouldn’t do anything like that. And besides, she’s been up here in Portland the whole time.”
Had she? A flight to Los Angeles only took about two and a half hours, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say that out loud. “Anyway, we’re still checking into the idea that Ruby’s a possible target, but try and tell Rose not to worry. She’s got her own security for protection and there’s no indication that she’s in any immediate danger.” Nick wasn’t ready to tell her about his order to keep the twins under surveillance, he didn’t want to tip Jax off.
“But the killer could be working his way up to her, like you said, couldn’t he?”
“It’s definitely possible, which is why I’d rather you stayed away from the both of them.”
Anna gave him a penetrating stare, assuming that remark stemmed from jealousy and he had to admit, there was a part of him that had taken Rose�
�s warning to heart. Though he knew there was something solid between him and Annaliese, he didn’t want to underestimate the sway Jax held over her.
“Thanks for the talk. I should probably get out of your hair and let you get back to it,” she said, rising with supple grace.
“Wait…” Nick leaned closer, his voice dropping. “Maybe you should come and stay with me for a while? Just to be on the safe side.”
“I don’t know, Nick.”
“If you want to help Jax out he can stay at your place, but there’s nothing that says you have to stay there too, is there?”
“That seems kind of rude, don’t you think? Inviting him to stay and then abandoning him?”
Nick couldn’t suppress a roll of the eyes. “It’s not like you’re locking him in the basement, he can watch TV and veg out. Besides, don’t those artistic types like to be left alone to create? Maybe he’ll pen a good song or two out of this.”
Anna hesitated, considering the offer. “You don’t think things will be weird if I come and stay with you, even temporarily? What about Veronica?”
“No, not at all,” he said quickly. “You know Veronica would love to have you. That way you two can gang up on me all you want. Besides, I seriously do want to get you to myself for a few minutes so we can have that talk.” The last place he wanted to tell her that he loved her was at the police station.
“What talk? Aren’t we talking now?” Her brows drew closer together, the fists holding tight to her skirts again. What was she so nervous about?
“Well, sort of.” His gaze swept the room, there were plenty of people around, most of them too focused on their own tasks to pay them much mind, but it was far less private than he’d hoped for. “But I think this is the wrong kind of place to talk about where this relationship is going, don’t you?”
Her eyes widened in surprise and perhaps a touch of fear. “Why do we have to talk about that? You know I don’t like labels. You have your space, I have mine. It’s worked for us just fine in the past.”
“Things change, Annie. Don’t you want to talk about what that means for us?”
“What will be, will be, there’s no point in talking it to death,” she shrugged.
That wasn’t very encouraging. Nick was still trying to figure out how to answer that one when she hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder.
“Look, I’ll think about your offer, but I have to get back to the store. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Nick escorted her to the elevator, at a loss for what to say given the turn of the conversation. He couldn’t keep from adding a final warning though. “Whatever you decide, be careful. And you call me if anything weird happens. Whoever is doing these killings could be fixating on this demonic symbol that keeps cropping up. They might not take too kindly to a witch being in the mix.”
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself,” she smiled, stepping into the elevator.
“But you don’t have to,” Nick sighed as the doors slid shut. He was starting to get a bad feeling. Like maybe things were about to take a turn for the worse.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Change. Nick wanted to change things between them and all Annaliese could think about was that death card looming over their relationship. That, more than anything, had kept her from pursuing the conversation with him on where their relationship was headed. If there was major change coming between them, she wasn’t ready to face it yet, not with everything else going on.
She drove home deep in thought, remembering as an afterthought to call Rose and fill her in on what Nick had told her. Anna tried to downplay the danger, but the truth of it was, she was afraid for Rose being so close to Ruby. All it seemed to do was reinforce Rose’s desire to stick by her side though.
The driveway was blocked by a racy BMW when she got to the store, and Annaliese cursed under her breath as she was forced to find street parking almost three blocks away. Before she could make an announcement asking whoever it was who’d taken her space, angry voices filtered through the store, coming from the direction of the kitchen.
Feather’s eyes were wide and round as she listened in, the girl’s mouth dropping open as the argument kicked up a notch into profanities. “He just stormed right through, I couldn’t stop him,” she whispered when Anna reached the back of the store.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know, but he sure is mad.”
Annaliese nodded, patting the sensitive girl on the arm. “It’ll be fine, I’ll take care of it.” Squaring her shoulders, she strode through the arch and into her kitchen to find Jax sitting at the table, a deep scowl etched over his features. She recognized Gideon Strong, dressed as he was for their press tours in a suit over a casual t-shirt. The manager paced the length of the spacious kitchen, his face red with anger.
“If you could keep your shit together for like five minutes! Can’t you see I’m trying to put together a major fucking deal here? Can you grasp the concept of that? Or is your mind too fucking soaked in whiskey to hear the words coming out of my mouth? Am I talking Korean right now? Hello, I’m fucking talking to you!” he screamed when he saw Jax wasn’t even looking at him anymore.
“Excuse me, this is a place of business,” Anna said calmly, without a trace of nerves in her voice. “If you can’t keep it down, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Business?” Gideon gave a short bark of laughter. “Right, right, right, that’s all I’m trying to discuss here, but your loverboy doesn’t seem to be getting it.”
“Lay off, Gideon, I’m warning you.” Jax’s gaze was fixed on the table, his voice low and threatening.
“You’re warning me?” Gideon scoffed. “I’m warning you. If you don’t start listening to me, we’re all going to be out on our asses. So why don’t you tell your piece to get me a cool drink so we can finish our discussion.”
Jax was up like a shot, upsetting the chair as he lunged for Gideon. “Watch your mouth when you talk about her,” he growled, grabbing his manager by the lapels.
“You want to go? Let’s go.” Gideon’s jaw thrust forward pugnaciously. “I’m not afraid of you.”
Annaliese didn’t know whether to try and pull them apart or throw a bucket of water over them to try and cool them off. “Okay, that’s it. This business meeting is over.” Neither one of the men backed down. “Option number two it is,” she grumbled, grabbing for the sink sprayer and hosing them down.
Gideon shrieked like a girl, hopping backwards. “What the fuck is wrong with you, you crazy bitch? These shoes cost more than your car.”
Jax wiped the water from his eyes, a sassy smirk on his face as he added insult to injury, tossing the dregs of his coffee over his manager’s feet. “And now they’re vintage.”
“Don’t, don’t… don’t think I won’t make you pay for these,” Gideon sputtered, too shocked to get the words out for long seconds.
“You can bill me. Now get the fuck out.” Jax took a threatening step forward and this time Gideon shrank back before turning on his dripping heel and stomping out of there.
Annaliese caught up a pair of dishtowels from the hanger under the sink, tossing one to Jax and the other on the floor to start sopping up the mess. “That was kind of intense. Is everything okay?”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Jax dabbed at his face and neck before crouching beside her to help clean up. “He’s an asshole, but he’s good at his job.”
“What happened to laying low?”
“I know, but I had to tell Gideon where I was, he’s my manager.”
“Maybe you should think about getting a new one?”
“I would, but we’re locked into a contract with him for another three years. Besides, he’s not always such an asshole.”
“What’s got him so riled up?”
“He’s feeling the pressure. There’s this big deal he’s trying to put through and he wanted me and Ruby to get on this conference call at like four in the morning. But Ruby b
eing Ruby, she told him to fuck off. I already told him I’d talk to her, I don’t know why he was being such a dick about it.”
“People get crazy when there’s a lot of money behind something, I guess,” Annaliese murmured. There were so many volatile personalities involved, she wasn’t sure what to make of them. On the surface, Gideon’s outburst was the most alarming, but Jackson’s response was no less violent. The gleam in his eye as he’d advanced on Gideon, almost eager… she’d never seen him look like that before. What might’ve happened if she hadn’t been there to cool things off?
Right then and there she made up her mind to trust in Nick, even if she didn’t share all of his opinions on the matter. “Listen, I need to go take care of some stuff, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Annaliese went straight to her room, trusting Feather to hold down the fort in the store now that the fighting was over. Pulling a bag out from under her bed, she started packing up enough clothes to stay away for a few days. Nick was right, better safe than sorry.
“You’re leaving?”
The question sent a jolt of adrenaline through her, and Anna whirled to find Jax standing in her doorway with a cross between accusation and hurt on his face. “Just for a few days. It’ll make Nick feel better about things.”
“You think I did it?” Definitely hurt, and Annaliese swallowed, not sure if she should voice her doubts or not.
“No.”
“You hesitated.” He shook his head in disgust. “You honestly think I could do something like that? Jesus Christ, Anna, I keep telling you, these murders don’t have anything to do with me or Ruby.”
“Then why do the murdered girls look just like Ruby used to, before she changed her look?”
That shook him. “They… What do you mean they look like Ruby?”
“You know they do.”
“Do you know how long it’s been since Ruby started playing rock star? Her hair’s been every color of the rainbow. I never made that connection, all I knew is they were blondes, that’s it.”