My Wicked Valentine

by Lotta Smith

  “That’s a good point,” I said. “Are you kidding me?” My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. “Oh my God!”

  “Oh my God!” Jackie put her palms on her cheeks a la The Scream by Munch. “I’m so shocked!”

  “Oh maa gaah!” Sophie joined us, putting her little hands by her face just like Jackie did.

  “Ooh, look at you, Sophie, darling…” Jackie cooed. “You’re sooo adorable when you do that. Oh, yes. You’re so pretty. You know what, Sophie? You should seriously consider modeling. Fendi, I’d say. Let’s ask your mom for her opinion.” And she looked at me expectantly.

  “Jackie, our current priority is about Brian, not Sophie’s modeling career,” I pointed out and then stroked my daughter’s silky hair. “It’s so shocking for Uncle Brian to be captured by the police, Sophie. I know it’s a mistake.”

  “Dah.” Sophie nodded as if to agree with me.

  “Sophie’s modeling career? What are you talking about?” Rick sounded rather panicky. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no modeling career for Sophie. I don’t want to risk my baby being exposed to the freaks and perverts. Is that clear?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said half-heartedly. I knew Rick loved Sophie, but he had a tendency to overreact when it came to anything and everything he considered could affect her well-being. “Hello? Why is everybody distracted by other stuff? So, it’s a huge mistake to accuse him of a murder, but how did it happen?”

  “Well, I don’t have sufficient information to rule out his involvement in the murder. But at the same time, he’s not stupid enough to drag us into the investigation if he actually did it,” Rick replied. “Anyway, he sounded annoyed when he called me. Apparently, he meant to call you but ended up calling my cell phone by mistake—which frustrated him even more. Can you imagine his tone when I got the call? He demanded why I picked up his call in the first place.”

  “Wow, he must have been freaking out.” My eyes widened.

  I’d known Brian Powers for years, and he wasn’t a guy who got easily shaken up. Not only did he talk to dead people like I did, Brian was also an exorcist. He was capable of sweeping the spirits off the surface of this world for good. Still, that side of his ability was specifically reserved for genuinely evil or deranged spirits, since erasing a spirit was something equivalent to a death penalty, and most spirits voluntarily moved to a better world immediately once they had a closure. He used to help us with our paranormal cases, and even now, he often did so. And so far, I’d never seen him losing his cool even when he was dealing with rather scary ghosts.

  “Yeah,” Rick muttered. “I wish I were there with him.”

  I was about to make some sympathetic noises, thinking Rick was worried about his lifelong pal despite his bad habit of making fun of the exorcist at every opportunity he could find. I found it endearing that he was so supportive of Brian.

  But my sympathy vanished when he went on. “If I were there, I’d have snapped some photos of him handcuffed and escorted to the police station. If I put those photos into a collage, the image would be so Hallmark-worthy.”

  “Hey, that’s not funny,” I pointed out. “Then again, I wonder why he didn’t ask the victim about the killer. That’d have made the situation a whole lot easier, I guess. It’s not like he’s a total stranger who might be a random freak to the police officers. He could have asked them to let him talk to the victim.”

  “Hmm, that’s a good point,” Rick commented.

  In the past few years, Brian had managed to snag much-needed exposure, and since then, his fame and popularity had literally skyrocketed. And voilà, now he had not just one but six TV shows of his own along with goods, with his face and name on them, to fend off evil spirits and other things. Rick often joked Brian’s talismans must work like magic, because even the evilest of the evil would think twice about getting close to items with “such menacing, scary faces of Brian Powers!” I wanted to believe he was just kidding, but I wasn’t sure. Rick happened to be a complex guy, and what he was actually thinking was often difficult to assume.

  Considering they’d been friends for such a long time, their bond must have been super tight. According to Rick, Brian was able to see and talk to dead people when they were still little boys in the kindergarten.

  Yup, you heard me right. There were times when my husband used to be a little kid, and I always had a hard time visualizing him in a little smock and maybe with a beret on his head. I knew everyone had their childhood, but I didn’t have a chance to see him when he was a child. When I met them for the first time, Rick was already an adult who stood at six foot two, and Brian was even taller at six foot four. Both men were fully armed with lean, hard muscles. Rick regularly trained at an MMA gym, and as for Brian, he was a former NFL recruit. Personally, I felt it’d be easier to believe if you told me they were born tough and muscular rather than they used to be babies like anybody else.

  While I was mulling over my thoughts, Sophie patted my hand. “Mommy! Cookie!”

  “She wants more cookies,” Jackie informed me.

  “Sure.” I handed her a small piece, making a mental note to pack some cookies and other treats so that she’d have something to eat at the precinct when she got hungry. “Okay, Sophie, we need to get ready. We’re going to visit the NYPD to help Uncle Brian, and Daddy’s coming to pick us up.”

  “Daddy!” Sophie widened her eyes as she munched on the sweet treat.

  “Hey, Sophie, darling! Daddy’s here!” Rick enthused at the other end.

  “Mm-mm,” Sophie replied half-heartedly, utterly focused on her cookie.

  “Yummy?” Rick asked eagerly.

  “So, Rick, we’ve got to go. Sophie and I have to get ourselves ready,” I told him.

  “Sure. Take your time. It’s not like Brian’s on the barge of imprisonment or something like that. I have a hunch he’ll recover his composure by the time we arrive at the precinct.” He hung up.

  * * *

  Forty minutes later, we were at one of the interrogation rooms at the Seventeenth Precinct.

  Brian Powers hadn’t regained his cool. On the contrary, he was openly panicking to the point the place seemed like a panic room and not an interrogation room.

  “Christ! You’ve got to do something, Rowling! Or else, I could end up with twenty-five years in prison for the crime I’d never committed!” he said breathlessly as soon as Rick went inside.

  “Wow, I appreciate your warm welcome, Brian.” Rick flashed a cocky grin as he went inside. “First of all, you don’t need to yell and end every sentence with an exclamation mark. In case you haven’t noticed, my hearing’s perfect. Secondly, freaking out in front of the detectives never does you good. And thirdly, don’t even think about cussing. Sophie’s with me, and I don’t tolerate cussing in front of my daughter.”

  “What?” Brian’s eyebrows shot up to the north.

  “Hi, Brian.” I did a little finger wave at him from the doorway to the interrogation room.

  “Hey, Mandy. Thanks for com—” He stopped in midsentence as his eyes registered Sophie in her stroller.

  “Who could have expected to encounter a baby at an interrogation room?” Brian shook his head in an apparent disbelief. “I didn’t know very young children were welcome in the interrogation room.”

  “Usually, they’re not, but Detective Rogers has kindly agreed to bring her with us,” Rick replied. “Good thing we’ve previously collaborated with her on a case.”

  Sophie seemed happy and excited to find Brian. When we were heading for the interrogation room, led by an officer, she was quietly dozing off and on in her stroller. But as soon as the door opened and she found Brian, her face lit up. “Dah!” She extended her arms toward him, as if she was asking him to hold her.

  Rick didn’t miss that. “Come here, darling.” Cooing at her, he unstrapped her from the stroller and gently held her in his arms. “Daddy’s gonna hold you as long as you like, Sophie. Uncle Brian can’t touch you right now, you know. He�
��s suspected of committing a murder.”

  “I didn’t do that!” Brian snapped.

  Sophie’s eyes widened. Her eyebrows twitched, and her lips quivered. She was going to cry.

  “It’s okay, darling.” Jackie was floating by her side, whispering into her ear. “Why don’t you come to Mommy? Hi, Mommy? Guess who needs a hug?” She turned to me, beckoning.

  “I’m coming.” I approached them. “Rick, Sophie wants to come back to her stroller.”

  “Of course, she does,” Brian interjected. “Sophie’s such a sweet girl, and she doesn’t tolerate you bullying me.”

  “Bullying you? Who, me?” He shrugged and then looked at me. “Okay, Sophie. We’ll have a ton of fun later.”

  Back in her stroller, Sophie yawned.

  “Anyway, I didn’t expect to see you in the interrogation room.” Rick gave Brian a head-to-toe onceover. “Especially with you clad in just a bathrobe.”

  “It’s called a spa robe,” Brian mumbled.

  “So, you were indulging yourself with a spa treatment where an esthetician got whacked, am I correct?” Rick said, as if he was trying to compare notes between the case synopsis provided by the police officer who led us there and what Brian had told him.

  “I suppose so,” Brian said dryly, averting his eyes from Rick.

  “Okay. So, what type of procedure were you receiving at the time of the crime?” Rick kept on digging.

  “Hello? What does that have to do with the case?” Brian narrowed his eyebrows.

  “Come on, I don’t know if it’s indeed irrelevant till I know it,” Rick countered. “Besides that, even if you’re all clammed up about the procedure, this piece of info is written on the case file—which I have all access to.”

  Crossing his arms, Brian looked up at the ceiling. “I had a facial course,” he mumbled. “I had a clay pack which softens my skin and minimized the pores, along with a series of massages that tightens up my facial muscles. Look, I’m in the field where it’s important to look good.”

  “I know!” Jackie chimed in. “When I was alive, I used to have occasional spa treatments, and I loved that.”

  “Right. Spa is not only good for your skin but gives you some time to relax.” Brian nodded at Jackie.

  “What did Jackie say?” Rick looked at me.

  “She’s impressed with the facility,” I replied, indicating Brian. “Look at his face. His skin looks so gorgeously smooth. They’ve also managed to add some glow to him.”

  “Uh-huh.” Rick observed.

  “This salon must be good,” Jackie went on, floating by Brian and trying to feel his skin. “Ooh, I wish I could feel the smoothness…” Being a former Broadway heartthrob with the heart of a lady diva, her passion for pursuing beauty and good-looking men was endless.

  “And I’m glad you can’t touch me,” Brian muttered, raising his palms in an apparent attempt to fend off the nosy ghost.

  Sophie extended her arms again, like she was trying to touch his face to see the result of spa treatment herself. “Bah!” She waved at Brian and looked me.

  “Ooh, darling, you don’t need a facial yet, you know,” Jackie cooed, flying back to us. “When you’re at a young age like you, you have the most important beauty portion called youth. We can hit the salon when you’re like fifteen years old or so.”

  “Fifteen?” I tilted my head. “Isn’t that a tad bit early for a fifteen-year-old to have facial treatments?”

  “No, it’s not, Mandy.” Jackie shook her head. “You’ve probably heard about the saying that goes ‘Offense is the best defense,’ right? This concept is so true for antiaging. It’s best to start treatments at early ages.”

  “Whee!” Sophie chimed in, holding onto my arm with her little hands.

  “You see? She can’t wait to have a spa visit with Mommy,” Jackie interpreted for me.

  Brian rolled his eyes. “Your daughter can’t wait to go on a mother-daughter spa date,” he informed Rick.

  “Oh, yeah?” Rick looked at us and then at Brian. “Do they offer family spa packages?”

  “No, they don’t.” Brian shook his head. “This salon only targets male clients who take their privacy very seriously. So, there’s no such plan like couple spa or family spa packages. I believe they don’t even offer same-sex couple spa.”

  “Okay.” Rick nodded thoughtfully. “I guess I’ll have to look for places where they offer mother-daughter-plus-father packages.”

  “Pardon me?” My eyebrows shot up. “Are you planning to tag along on our first spa visit?”

  “Of course, I am,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m her dad.”

  “Look, she’ll be a teenager by then and probably won’t even appreciate having a treatment with me in the same room.”

  “So?” He raised an eyebrow. “She may not be happy to experience her first spa treatment with you, but she’ll love having it with me in the same room.”

  “I doubt that. Believe me, there are some boundaries that can’t be overstepped,” I pointed out. “Most teenage girls won’t say yes to indulge herself with a spa treatment with her dad.”

  “Why not?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s outrageous. Like I said, I’m her dad.”

  “That’s why,” Brian interjected. “Did you fancy going on a father-son spa date when you were in high school?”

  “No way! Don’t be gross.” Rick made a face.

  “Well.” Detective Rogers cleared her throat. “I was thinking you’d have something more to ask Mr. Powers other than the spa experience and your future spa date plans.” Her tone was neutral, but her expression said something like “Why did I bother to let them in in the first place?” But she didn’t say that. Instead, she went on, “Just for your info, but Mr. Powers is being questioned as a person of interest.”

  “Oh, crap… Isn’t that a flag for false accusation leading to a wrongful conviction and imprisonment?” Brian muttered, blanching.

  “No need to worry about that, Brian,” Rick assured him and then turned to the detective. “Detective, I guarantee he’s not the killer.”

  “Based on what?” The detective arched one eyebrow.

  “If he’s determined to kill off someone, he’ll do that wearing something less revealing.” Rick indicated the psychic with the palm of his hand.

  “Oh, yes. That’s a good point,” Jackie agreed with him.

  “Whee!” Sophie swung her arms and legs, looking at him and then at me, like she was requesting me to take her closer to Uncle Brian.

  “Also, my smart daughter would never try to get near a murderer.” Rick turned to Sophie, sporting his dazzling smile. “Isn’t that right, Sophie?” Picking her up, he looked into her eyes with his mesmerizing green eyes.

  With a wide grin, Sophie cooed and nodded.

  Detective Rogers pulled me aside, whispering to me. “What’s happened to him? I’ve never seen him as a sweet daddy material.”

  “Me neither,” I replied in sotto voce. “But he’s been a great daddy and really caring husband. He occasionally over-fusses about our daughter, but I’m trying to take that as a good sign.”

  “Of course.” She patted my arm. “Don’t get me wrong. I just wanted to tell you congrats and lucky you.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Detective Rogers allowed Rick to look at the crime scene photos. She told me I was welcome to take a look, but I declined. I used to work for the FBI, but I didn’t have much expertise in deciphering the crimes from the photos. If I looked at the photos, Sophie would want to join me observing them. I was questioning my decision to bring a one-year-old with us to the police station’s interrogation room, and I didn’t have to give it a thought whether it’d be good to let our little daughter to look at the photos of a murder scene.

  Anyway, Sophie, Jackie, and I moved to the observation room next door with the audio on. Both Rick and Detective Rogers wanted me to be familiar with the case.

  According to the detective, at approximately 11:43 a.m., Shannon K
avanaugh, the chief esthetician of a premier spa in Lexington, was found lying on the floor at the guests’ locker room. When the ambulance had arrived, she was already in cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 12:42 pm.

  Detective Rogers’s continued, “The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. As you can see, the heavy bleeding from the victim’s back of the head, she’d been repeatedly beaten.”

  “Yikes.” Jackie pressed her lips together, but then she turned to me. “Oh my God, it’s like a horror movie. When things are getting scarier and scarier, I don’t really wanna see it, but at the same time, I’ve gotta see what’s going to happen next. I’ll go and check out the photos.” She went through the wall and into the next room.

  “Beetin!” Sophie declared proudly.

  “Wow, you just said beaten.” I applauded. “Good job, Sophie.”

  “Goo jo.” She giggled.

  “Ooh, the crime scene photos were horrible! Talk about the blood bath!” Jackie shuddered, floating back to us.

  “Bluh bah!” Sophie parroted, and I was relieved her pronunciation was not quite clear. I had no intention of correcting her pronunciation, and that wasn’t because of my concerns for scarring her self-esteem by pointing out her mistakes. It had more to do with the fact that I regarded the phrase “blood bath” as inappropriate for a one-year-old child. Also, I didn’t fancy having total strangers staring at us whenever she uttered “Blood bath! Blood bath!” It would be awkward, especially if that happened when we were shopping for her cutesy baby clothes. Seriously, I’d definitely stare at any babies if they were saying “Blood bath!” at Bergdorf Goodman.

  “Thanks for the info, and too much info.” I rolled my eyes at Jackie.

  “That’s okay.” Jackie winked, not taking my sarcasm. Turning to Sophie, she clapped her palms. “Sophie, I’m so impressed. You’re learning tons of new words, and both Mommy and I are so proud of you!”

  Sophie raised a hand, flashing a wide grin.

  “Hmm, it looks like the crime scene wasn’t secured before the CSI had arrived.” Rick’s comment echoed from the speaker.