Kiss the Witch Goodbye

by Lisa Olsen

  The connection was broken and Anna returned to her body, surprised to see the slender taper burning low in the holder. More time had passed than she’d thought, but still she hadn’t been shown anything interesting. Frowning to herself as she rose to stretch and bring some life back into her cramped muscles, Anna abandoned her search for enlightenment and went downstairs to fix herself a simple meal of soup and crackers.

  The failure bothered her for the rest of the evening, and even a soothing bath didn’t do much to heal the sense of disappointment that clung to her. Not wanting to be a nag, nevertheless Anna felt like she had to do something and sent Nick a quick text. Any response on that sketch yet?

  His text came back within a minute. Nope, but it’s early.

  Did you talk to Natalie yet?

  This one took longer to receive. No, there wasn’t time.

  Nick!

  It’s not something I want to blurt out in the bullpen, okay? I’ll talk to her, I promise. Gotta go, Park has something for me.

  She wasn’t satisfied, but what else could she say? Settling in with a movie, she tried not to think about it. Inevitably though, her thoughts went back to that glimpse of the motel room, thinking about the faded pattern on the bedspread, the dingy color of the walls, every detail she could recall until she nodded off on the couch.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Nick sent the email with a flourish, cc’ing everybody and their mother on it, desperate to pick up a new lead. It was late, most likely no one would even see them until morning, but he couldn’t help but hit the send/receive button on his email every few minutes to see if there was any response.

  Maybe it would’ve been faster and easier to go through Natalie, but he didn’t want to start the conversation with how he’d obtained the sketch of the unknown victim. And despite the way he’d stuck up for the FBI agent earlier with Annaliese, he had to admit her suspicions had started to get to him. Natalie had been behaving different on this case, acting rashly and unprofessionally on occasion. Was it possible that he couldn’t trust her to give him all relevant intel, not just the parts she deemed important?

  His phone chirped and a message came through from Anna. Any response on that sketch yet?

  Boy, she sounded even more impatient than he was. He sent back, Nope, but it’s early.

  Did you talk to Natalie yet?

  Nick squirmed in his seat, glancing up at the clock. In the back of his mind he knew he probably should’ve brought it up before Natalie took off to get a few hours of rest for her shift on Jax’s surveillance detail, but it was a delicate situation. Even if he did have his doubts, one didn’t just go accusing an FBI agent of that kind of misconduct, especially not an old friend. No, there wasn’t time.

  Nick!

  It’s not something I want to blurt out in the bullpen, okay? I’ll talk to her, I promise. Before he could hit send, his phone rang, Park’s picture coming up on the screen. Gotta go, Park has something for me.

  “Please tell me you have good news,” he said, crossing his fingers superstitiously.

  “That all depends. Does catching a suspect red handed count as good news?” She said it so nonchalantly, Nick almost missed the magnitude of her words.

  “Shut the front door,” he gasped. “You have someone in custody? Who is it? That nutbar stalker roadie?”

  “That’s right. I’m bringing Mr. Dwiggins in for processing as we speak.”

  “What did he do?”

  “I don’t want to spoil it for you, I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

  “Why you sly minx, you’re holding out on me on purpose, aren’t you? I love it!” he crowed, delighted beyond belief with not only her news, but the almost playful banter between them. His little Shellybelly was indeed coming out of her shell.

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes, sir. Oh, and tell Brady he owes me twenty.”

  “You got it. I’ll see you in a few.”

  A quick call to Brady and Natalie to bring them in, and Nick could hardly contain himself waiting for Park to show. He considered calling Annaliese to tell her the good news, but decided to wait and see exactly what they had to work with. It was almost too good to be true to think it might actually all be over, but he trusted Park’s instincts. If she said she’d caught him red handed, he knew it must be enough to charge him.

  Finally, she stepped off the elevator, leading Edward Dwiggins by the arm, his hands cuffed behind his back. The guy was tall, at least six foot two, maybe three, and skinny, his arms and legs gangly. His blonde hair was the color of straw, natural, since his eyebrows and lashes matched, giving his pale eyes a washed out quality. Dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, he didn’t give off that overt bad boy vibe, but there was definitely something off about the guy.

  Nick followed her while she took him to their most secure interview room, punching in a code to open the door and shoving him inside.

  “Wait here,” she barked, pulling the door shut before he could say single word. “Brady here yet?” Park asked casually, as if she hadn’t singlehandedly brought in the bad guy.

  “No, he has farther to come in, but he’s on his way.”

  “I don’t know, sir. Maybe we should wait until the rest of the team arrives, so we don’t have to repeat things.”

  “Now you’re just getting ornery,” Nick replied, narrowing his eyes at her. “Spill or I’ll throw you in the next room and beat it out of you with a wet noodle.”

  Park cracked a rare smile. “I was standing my post around the corner from the main hallway outside Miss May’s hotel room. I could still see the door easily, but I wasn’t within view of the elevator. I figured that was the best way to keep an eye on the place but stay out of sight.”

  “Smart, and then what?”

  “About an hour after the security detachment was dismissed I observed Mr. Dwiggins arrive and prepare to knock on the door. I approached him and identified myself, asking him to state his business. He mumbled something about a date with Miss May and when I remarked upon the time, he suddenly got all twitchy and bolted.”

  Interesting. “What did you do then? That guy’s at least a half a foot taller than you. Please tell me you dropped him, flying tackle style,” he grinned.

  “That’s when I tasered him, sir.”

  “Nice,” he approved. “But how is that catching him red handed?”

  “In the fall, an object I deemed suspicious fell out of Mr. Dwiggins’ pocket.”

  “What kind of suspicious?”

  “A small plastic baggie of white powder I determined to be GHB.”

  “How do you know it was GHB?”

  “He admitted to it when I asked him.”

  “No way, he can’t be that stupid.” Nick looked to the monitor which showed Ed Dwiggins doing his best to pull out a chair with his hands still cuffed behind his back.

  “Oh, he most definitely can, sir. He kept insisting he’d done nothing wrong and I was interrupting his date.”

  It was all interesting and certainly seemed to point things heavily in the roadie’s direction, but it wasn’t enough for the smug confidence in Park’s eye. “There’s obviously something else you’re not telling me,” he prompted.

  “That would be what I found when I searched the rest of his pockets.” She hesitated and he shook his knuckles at her until she caved and gave him the smoking gun, so to speak. “I found several tie wraps and a single razor blade wrapped in cardboard.”

  Nick let out a low whistle. “I’d say Brady definitely owes you that twenty. Did he say what his plans were for the evening?”

  “He claimed he was on the way to see Ruby for a special evening of swapping bodily fluids.” She made a face. “His words, not mine.”

  “Is Ruby alright?”

  “Yes, he never breached the suite. Neither she nor Ms. Spencer had any idea what Dwiggins was going on about, she barely knew who he was. Dwiggins pitched a fit when she couldn’t come up with his name, started spouting about her denyin
g their love. That’s when I had to zap him again.” The tiniest smile hovered over her lips.

  “Great job, Michelle,” Nick beamed, clapping her on the shoulder like a proud father and her smile spread to an almost grin.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  His eyes returned to the monitor, where Dwiggins was scratching his nose against his shoulder to little effect. “I can’t wait to get in there and break him. You want first crack at him?”

  “As much as I appreciate the opportunity, he and I have already had words. It might be better if you spoke to him next, or perhaps Brady. I think he has a problem with women as authority figures.”

  “Oh, he does, does he? I’d better get in there then before Fox gets in here and eats him alive.” Armed with only the pictures of the victims in a plain manila folder, Nick strolled into the interview room. The roadie’s eyes lit up as soon as Nick came into the room and Park seemed to be right. Relief crossed the dirtbag’s face at seeing it was a man. “Good evening, Mr. Dwiggins,” he said pleasantly, starting to remove the cuffs. “Or can I call you Ed?”

  “It don’t matter to me as long as you take these things off, my nuts are itching something fierce. I didn’t do nothing wrong. That crazy bitch don’t got nothing on me.”

  Nick ignored the way he dug at his crotch with a smile of satisfaction, opening the file as if he were reading from a report. “Let’s see here. Detective Park stopped you outside Miss May’s hotel room, where you freely admitted you intended to seek her out. You had not only a pocket full of zip ties, but a razor blade and, ah yes, here it is, enough GHB to knock out a rhino. That doesn’t exactly sound like nothing to me.”

  Dwiggins shifted uncomfortably in his chair, face twisted with distress. “Okay… you’re looking at this the wrong way.”

  “Is there a right way to look at it?” Nick asked mildly.

  “Yeah, I was going to see Ruby, cause she asked me to. I wasn’t gonna attack her or nothing, sheesh.”

  “Do you have a prior relationship with Ruby?”

  His smile spread like an infection, taking over his entire face. “Ruby and I are like this.” He put two fingers together, rubbing them against each other in a gesture that made Nick feel crawly.

  “Which means what exactly?”

  “She wants me, I know she does.” He oozed sleaze-covered confidence.

  “Did she come right out and tell you that or did you infer it psychically?”

  “Huh?” Nick guessed it took him a few seconds to figure out what infer meant. “No, see, I’ve loved her from afar for a long time and I could tell she wanted me too, on the count of the way she looks at me. She looks at me like she sees me, man. Really sees me, you know?”

  Nick nodded, resting his head against his hand, propping himself up against the table. “Uh huh. So she saw you and then what?”

  “And I knew we were on this collision path where one day we’d just bam, come together.” His hands smacked against each other, his smile wide and goofy. “And tonight was supposed to be it, until you guys pinched me for nothing.” The smile fell away, replaced by a deep scowl. His emotions were definitely erratic, and Nick suspected he was already on something.

  “So, in this cosmically fated path you were on,” Nick began in a reasonable tone. “You decided you wanted to be with the woman you love by drugging her and tying her up? And then what? You’d decide to carve her into pieces with that blade?”

  “No, man, it wasn’t like that.” His hands came up in a supplicating gesture. “I’m a lover, not a fighter. The restraints were for her, yeah, but I wasn’t gonna cut on her.”

  “Why tie her up then?”

  “She likes it,” he said with a smarmy grin. “That girl has a dirty, filthy mouth and I can’t wait to be inside it.”

  Nick ignored the queasy feeling that statement provoked, forging on. “What’s the razor blade for?”

  “Aw man, you’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you?”

  “That is kind of the point of this conversation, yes,” he nodded.

  Dwiggins slumped lower in the chair, shaking his head before he blurted out. “It’s for the coke.”

  “What coke?”

  “See, first we party with the coke and then we slow things down with some cool jams and drop a little easy lay, and get all crazy-like.”

  “Well, you’ve definitely got the crazy part down, so you got that going for you,” Nick quipped, straightening in his chair. “Where’s the coke?”

  “It’s someplace safe, if you catch my drift,” he grinned.

  He caught the drift alright, suddenly losing interest in finding it. “Why go through the trouble to keep the coke in a safe place and the GHB in your pocket?” Nick wondered aloud.

  “I thought she might have fun finding it,” Dwiggins sniggered. “Sorta like a treasure hunt, you dig?”

  “Gross.”

  “Look, if you’re going to bust me for the drugs, go ahead and bust me so I can pay my dime and get out. I’d like to get back to the party before my girl gets cold, if you know what I mean.”

  Did the guy seriously not understand what kind of trouble he was in? “Oh, I think we’ve got a few more questions before we’re done here, Ed. Tell me, do you always go through this much effort with the girls you woo?”

  “Nah, Ruby’s special. Well, some. A guy’s gotta get his rocks off while he’s waiting for the main event, you know?”

  “And the fact that Miss May was in her room with her girlfriend… how did that factor into your plan?”

  “I figured she’d kick that bitch to the curb. She was only with her because it got her name in the tabloids. But trust me, she’s into riding hog as much as any other chick.”

  “There’s just one problem with the whole seduction scene you’ve laid out.”

  “That bitch with the Taser? Man, my nuts are still aching something fierce.” Dwiggins pulled at his pants, adjusting himself as Nick blinked at him.

  “She tasered you in the balls?”

  “No, she tasered me in the chest, but she kneed me in the balls when I wouldn’t go down.”

  She really had dropped him. “That’s what you get for resisting arrest. Only the problem I was thinking of has less to do with your privates and more to do with your delusions.” Nick pulled out the smiling picture of Hayley Lambert, sliding it across the table to him. “What can you tell me about this girl?”

  “Smoking hot piece.”

  “Is that all?”

  His head tilted to one side as he studied her. “I don’t know, I’d have to see her naked.”

  “Oh, but you did see her naked, didn’t you?” Nick pressed. “The night you killed her.”

  “Whoa, hey, I didn’t kill nobody.”

  “No? You just like to drug them and tie them up.”

  “It’s all consensual…” he whined, scooting his chair farther away as Nick loomed closer, standing over the table.

  “What about this girl?” He plunked down another photo. “Did you party with her? Did it get out of hand? At what point did you decide to cut on the girls instead of the drugs?”

  “I didn’t do that. I don’t even know those girls.”

  Nick’s voice took on a cajoling tone, trying to coax a response out of him. “But you wanted to, didn’t you? Those smoking hot pieces, like you said. Strutting around in those tight leather clothes, just like Ruby. Practically asking for it, weren’t they? Did they want to party too? And their tattoos, just… like… Ruby.” He stabbed at the picture with his fingertip to emphasize the words and Dwiggins recoiled, the back of his chair coming up against the wall.

  “No, I didn’t want those girls, all I want is Ruby. It’s always been Ruby.”

  “But Ruby doesn’t exactly know you, does she? She didn’t know any thing about your date tonight or what you had carved out in your twisted mind. Were you going to kill her too?”

  “No, that’s not what happened. I just needed her to see me. See that I could be what she needs. I’m th
e only one who knows what she needs.”

  “And what does Ruby need?”

  “She needs a real man to put her in her place.” He licked his lips, eyes shining as fervor replaced the fear. “All that talk… I knew we were the same. I was gonna give it to her good and hard until she screamed for more. I like it when they scream.”

  “Did she scream?” Nick thrust another picture of Hayley in his face. One of the crime scene photos that showed plenty of blood.

  “What? I don’t…” His eyes swept over the picture and Nick’s gut twisted as he realized the guy was getting off on the sight of the nude girl and all the blood.

  Snatching the picture back, he tucked it away, moving as far away from Dwiggins as he could without looking like he was retreating. More than anything, Nick wanted some fresh air. The idea that he was sharing breaths with the scumbag across from him was enough to churn his stomach.

  “Let’s take it from the top,” Nick said, trying to find his calm and get the job done. “Tell me exactly why you thought Ruby wanted to see you tonight.”

  Dwiggins began his colorful narrative again, a few of the details changing, but the story was essentially the same. He thoroughly believed that Ruby wanted him to come up and see her for a private party, heavily featuring sex, drugs, and rock and roll. He seemed almost happy to share the story with Nick and continued to deny any contact with the other girls, but the more he talked, the more vivid and disturbing his feelings for Ruby were revealed.

  “Can I go now?” he asked politely once Nick stood, initial questions exhausted.

  “Better sit tight for now, Eddie. It’s gonna be a long night.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Park and Brady were excitedly chattering away as Nick stepped out of the interview room, taking a deep breath of semi-clean air.

  “Did you catch the part about Ruby seeing him? Sounds like shades of stalker mail. I think this is our guy,” Brady beamed. “It’s only a matter of time before we break him and he cops to the rest of it.”