The Plane and the Parade (Veronica Barry Book 3)

by Sophia Martin

  She ran over the words she’d heard Daniel say again. “Are you sure she’ll say yes? Are you sure it’s not too soon?” Veronica tried to imagine what he could mean, other than the obvious, but her mind locked on to the phrase, “Are you sure she’ll say yes?” Dear god. Was he planning to propose?

  Sunny was chattering about the movies as she moved from the oven to the fridge in the kitchen. “Here,” she said, handing Veronica a stack of plates—blue glass, also a find from antiquing in Placerville. “You can set the table.”

  Veronica nodded, grateful that she wasn’t required to talk just yet. Her mind was still whirling. Marriage? He was really thinking about marriage?

  For a moment, her thoughts went to Melanie, who wanted to be married, at least for the sake of this baby. It didn’t seem fair.

  Not fair at all. Because Veronica did not feel ready for marriage. Maybe she should feel ready—she was in her thirties, after all. But she just didn’t.

  “So I figure we watch To Catch a Thief while we chow down?” Sunny said.

  “Sure,” Veronica agreed. “I’m famished. Let’s get started.”

  Which wasn’t really true, but once the movie was on, Sunny wouldn’t think it strange if Veronica didn’t talk, and Veronica needed to think. She managed to hold up her end of the conversation as Sunny produced the tuna casserole—and to her credit, it smelled so good that Veronica found her appetite again. Sunny dished out a serving to each of them and grabbed the remote, starting the film on her decidedly un-retro flat screen television. As Sunny sighed contentedly, watching the opening credits, Veronica shot her an envious glance. Sunny would enjoy this day just as planned, but Veronica would not be able to stop all the thoughts that now rattled around in her head.

  Chapter 6

  Daniel called when they were nearly through with Vertigo. By then Veronica felt calm enough about the vision of him to answer without letting on that anything was amiss, but she still hadn’t been able to come to any sort of conclusion about how to handle the proposal when it came. In the meantime, she really hoped he wasn’t about to invite her to an elaborate romantic dinner.

  She needn’t have worried.

  “I’m at a crime scene,” he said. “Sorry I missed your calls. I’ve been here all day.”

  “A crime scene?” Veronica echoed, catching Sunny’s eye. “What happened to desk duty?”

  “They’re short two detectives because Pushkin had a family emergency and Carter broke his ankle playing softball.”

  “How—”

  “Stray bat.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yep. And with all the cuts last year, we never have enough staff to go around anyway.” Daniel lowered his voice, “The Lieutenant doesn’t like the look of this one, Ronnie. They needed another detective so I’m off desk duty.”

  “What doesn’t he like about it?”

  “One of the victims is… unusual. I’d like you to come to the scene, see what you… see.”

  “You want me to come over there?” Veronica asked reluctantly. The last time Daniel had her come to a crime scene—the arson of a single family home—the very angry ghosts of the victims attached themselves to her and proceeded to give her visions of being burned alive whenever they thought she wasn’t working hard enough on their case.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry to have to ask. I hate to ruin movie day.”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll tell Sunny we need a rain check.”

  “Well, I can’t guarantee anything, but I don’t think this scene’s as bad as the Carver house, for what it’s worth,” Daniel said, referring to the arson scene. “I mean, it’s still bad. We’ve got two bodies. One’s a kid. Looks like she may have been a student at your school, actually.”

  Veronica frowned, her pulse quickening. “It’s a girl? What’s her name?”

  “Ivy something.” Veronica could hear a rustle of papers. “Ivy Landis. Do you know her?”

  She didn’t, but the name was very familiar. “I’m not sure,” she said. Then it came to her. “Wait. She’s the girl those officers asked me about.”

  “Which officers?”

  “Um… Posey and… Donohue, I think his name was. I was in the main office at ERHS and they came in and started asking about her. I guess they caught her smoking in the park next to the school.”

  “Did they pick her up?”

  “I don’t know. They asked about her, and I didn’t know anything, and when I pointed out the building where ERHS houses summer school, they dropped it. Of course, that’s about when I went and had a vision and they thought I was threatening them.”

  “What? You didn’t tell me about this.”

  Veronica explained what happened and how Felsen took the opportunity to try to discredit her.

  Daniel cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable. Felsen was still his partner although while he was on desk duty he hadn’t worked as closely with her. Veronica guessed that now that he was fully reinstated they’d be side by side again. She didn’t like it—she felt a weird jealousy, but also just a sense of unease that someone as jaded and self-serving as Felsen was supposed to be watching Daniel’s back when they got into dangerous situations.

  “I’m sorry she’s like that, Ronnie. I think she feels threatened. You have an unfair advantage, knowing what you know,” he said at last.

  “You mean in general, or specifically what I know about how she framed Evander Collins?”

  She could practically see Daniel wince. “That was a serious lapse in judgment, of course. But she’s a good cop.”

  “We must have different criteria for that.” She knew he felt compelled to defend Felsen because of everything they had been through on the job, but it irritated her just the same.

  “Let’s agree to disagree,” he said.

  Veronica exhaled through her lips. “Fine.”

  “So can you come over? We’re by an alley that runs behind the Appleby’s between G and F and connecting 44th and 45th.”

  “I’ll be there in a half an hour.”

  ~~~

  Sunny declined to accompany her—”A crime scene? Maybe if I hadn’t eaten lunch!”—and Veronica stopped on the way to pick up coffees. Many of the police officers and other staff knew her as Daniel’s girlfriend now, and if they spotted her delivering a cup of coffee to him they wouldn’t lift an eyebrow.

  Black and white police sedans guarded either side of the alley and the forensics staff had put up yellow crime scene tape. Several officers crouched around the alley scraping bits of things into baggies and sifting through trash. Veronica spotted Felsen on one side. She held a notebook and pen and appeared to be interviewing a large African American man in a black Appleby’s shirt. Daniel stood at the other end of the alley talking to two women in blue CSI polo shirts. Veronica paused to take in the sight of him—he wore a lightweight blazer of gray linen that fit him well, showing off his trim body, over tan slacks and white dress shirt. He was leaning in to listen to the investigators. His hair, which he combed back from his face, fell forward in loose waves on his forehead. Pride filled her heart equal to the anxiety that also rose knowing that he was back on active duty. Please keep him safe, Veronica prayed to anyone listening.

  Ducking under the tape Veronica walked quickly over to Daniel, holding her coffees like they would shield her if Felsen happened to turn around before she reached the safety of Daniel’s orbit. The CSI staffers glanced at her but didn’t stop talking as she approached.

  “…too early to be sure,” one was saying. “But I’m telling you, Seong, it looks like it.”

  “I heard Otanes is going to examine the bodies today,” said the other. “Top priority, per the DA.”

  Veronica came to a halt next to Daniel and handed him his coffee without interrupting.

  “And the lab’s all over that dirt,” said the first.

  “Okay, thanks,” Daniel said. The women moved away to join the others who were working the scene. Daniel moved in closer to Veronica. “Hey,” he sai
d. “Thanks for coming out.” He took a sip of coffee. “And thanks for bringing coffee.”

  “It’s my cover,” Veronica said.

  Daniel gave her a nod. “Good idea.”

  He gestured to dumpster where two CSI staffers were working. “That’s where we found the first body. At first we thought maybe he’d just been dumped there, but then Anders spotted blood over there.” He pointed to where a staffer was scraping at the concrete. “And we found the girl’s body just a few feet away behind some trashcans. My running theory is she walked in on the perp dumping the first guy so he offed her too. Tawnya is pretty sure it’s the same perp responsible for the two bodies. The male vic has mud crusted on his shoes that may end up giving us something. And we think there may also be a third victim. She survived the attack, but unfortunately she can’t tell us much. She’s in a coma. Although I thought maybe you could pay her a visit later.”

  “The male victim is the one you said was unusual? How is he unusual?” Veronica asked.

  Daniel took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “Actually, let me wait and tell you after you have a look around. I don’t want to influence what you see.”

  Veronica nodded. Her hands felt cold. All in all, she would have preferred to spend the rest of her afternoon watching fake crimes in Hitchcock movies rather than walking around a real crime scene and visiting some poor victim in a hospital. But that was just selfish. If she could help catch however had murdered Ivy Landis she had better get to work.

  “Can we walk over to the dumpster?” she asked softly.

  Daniel nodded and led the way, sipping his coffee. In a slightly loud voice he said, “I told you, I’m fine, Ronnie. You didn’t have to come and check up on me.”

  Veronica caught his drift. “I thought you were going to be on desk duty for at least a couple more weeks.”

  They continued in this vein until they reached the dumpster, and Veronica paused. If she touched it, she might get a vision, but she might also arouse the wrath of the CSI investigators, who would, no doubt, see it as a contamination of their scene. With a sigh, she deliberated stepped on a rock, rolling her ankle. The sharp pain was real enough, and she gasped, throwing an arm out to catch herself. Her palm slapped the dumpster, which was full, so it only made a low thud.

  ~~~

  The light shifted eerily, and it was late dusk and the sun was failing. She could hear sobbing—muffled sobbing, muffled cries—and she peered around the dumpster. For a moment she felt disoriented; she’d fallen against the long side of the dumpster facing the alley, and now she was crouched to the side of it. Choking noises. In the dim she made out two forms. A large one crouched over a slighter one. The victim turned her face as she clawed at her throat, her mouth wide.

  ~~~

  Veronica rejected the vision with a cry, coming back to herself in the bright light of the crime scene. Tears flooded her eyes and her vision blurred. She covered her mouth with her hands, her body clenched with tension that built within her. Trying to keep herself together was such an effort it hurt. She wanted to cry out again. Smothering the urge, she wasn’t sure she could keep control. The look on that poor girl’s face.

  After a moment she became aware of Daniel crouched at her side, whispering.

  “Ronnie,” he was saying. “Ronnie, it’s okay.”

  Forcing breath into her lungs, she shook her head. “It’s not,” she managed to get out, feeling the tears roll from her eyes down her cheeks. “He strangled her, Daniel.”

  Daniel closed his eyes and nodded. “That’s what he did to the woman who was injured, too.”

  “He was choking her.” Veronica didn’t want to think of what she’d seen, but she had to. She closed her eyes. It hadn’t been easy, in the dusk, to see details. “It must have been Ivy.”

  “Where?” Daniel whispered.

  Veronica looked around and pointed to a spot not far from where the staffer named Anders was scraping up blood.

  “That’s consistent with what CSI has so far,” he said.

  Closing her eyes, Veronica rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. Useless. The vision hadn’t shown her anything they didn’t already know. Maybe if she’d seen the assault from a different angle, she might have gotten a look at the perpetrator’s face. But that would have been too easy! Why couldn’t the spirits have showed her what was happening from the other side? It didn’t do her any good to see poor Ivy’s face.

  Then her eyes flew open.

  “Daniel, there was a witness.”

  Daniel furrowed his brow. “What?”

  “The vision I had,” Veronica said. “I was seeing through someone’s eyes. It wasn’t Ivy’s, and it wasn’t the murderer.” The thought of seeing things from his perspective made her shudder. Well, it wouldn’t have been any better if the spirits had chosen to give her Ivy’s memory. No wonder they chose a third party. They were protective of Veronica, after all. “There was someone on this side of the dumpster,” Veronica gestured. “Someone who watched the assault. That’s how I saw what I did. They were hiding back here.”

  “Maybe the third victim,” Daniel muttered.

  “What is going on over here?” came Felsen’s voice. Veronica looked round behind her. Felsen stood there, arms crossed, eyes flashing.

  Daniel glanced at Felsen and then put a hand under Veronica’s arm. “Are you ready to stand up now?” he asked.

  Nodding, she gripped his arm with both her hands.

  “Easy does it,” he said as they stood. Veronica tested her ankle as Daniel turned to his partner. “She twisted her ankle and went down pretty hard. A little dazed for a second.”

  Felsen snorted. “What’s she even doing here, Seong? It’s a crime scene. That little clumsy stunt probably destroyed evidence.”

  Veronica narrowed her eyes at Felsen. Her ankle throbbed a bit, but she found she could put weight on her foot without making it much worse. “You know why I’m here,” Veronica muttered.

  Felsen raised her eyebrows. “Do I? Please, enlighten me.”

  With a groan Veronica rolled her eyes. She could feel Daniel’s stare boring holes into her head. He didn’t want her to say it, and she supposed she understood. But it was so tiresome to have to sneak around, especially when it was to do things that were so unpleasant. “I’m checking up on Daniel,” Veronica said after a moment. “He shouldn’t be off desk duty yet.”

  Felsen smirked. “That isn’t up to you,” she said, but Veronica could see the wheels turning behind her hard gaze. She knew perfectly well that Daniel had asked Veronica to come, and she suspected that Veronica’s fall had masked a vision.

  What she would do with that knowledge, Veronica didn’t know. Felsen had already proven she was willing to see men die rather than acknowledge Veronica’s gift. She wouldn’t want to admit that Veronica had anything to offer this investigation. But would Felsen choose a course of action that might come back on Daniel somehow? Veronica hoped not.

  “You should get her out of here before she really screws something up,” Felsen said to Daniel, and to Veronica, her meaning was clear. Get your psychic girlfriend away from this crime scene before I make sure you regret she ever came.

  Felsen walked away towards the two female CSI staffers, and Veronica turned to Daniel. “How about we go and visit that woman in the hospital?” she suggested.

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  ~~~

  “Her name is Sarah Berkovich,” Daniel whispered as Veronica sat in a chair pulled up to the side of the victim’s bed.

  She had blonde hair and dark, shapely eyebrows, and a bandage covered part of her hairline. The skin of her face was pale and unlined—she was young, probably younger than Veronica. Mid-twenties. Her brown eyelashes lightly touched the skin under her eyes, but her lids were immobile—she didn’t dream. Veronica wondered if she would get anything from Sarah if she took her hand.

  Veronica gazed at her. Sarah had purple bruises on the front and sides of her neck, where she had been
strangled.

  “Where did they find her?” Veronica asked, glancing up at Daniel, who stood at her shoulder.

  “She was behind another dumpster down the street. The guy who found her was pretty freaked out—I talked to him at the station. He thought she was dead, and then he found her pulse. Brave guy, most people won’t touch a dead body,” Daniel said. “Of course, it’s not always advisable. You know, trampling on a crime scene…”

  “Like I seem to do on a regular basis,” Veronica muttered.

  Daniel chuckled softly.

  Inhaling deeply, Veronica raised a hand, allowing it to hover over Sarah’s, which rested on the blue hospital blanket. Veronica really didn’t want to see anything from Sarah’s ordeal. But if she didn’t try to see something, her cowardice would no doubt lead to someone else being victimized like Sarah. Still, she tried to stall. “You never told me what made the male victim unusual,” she said to Daniel.

  He sucked on his teeth for a moment. “I will,” he said. “I just want to see if you get anything first.”

  With a sigh, Veronica closed her eyes and murmured to the spirits, “I have to do this. Show me something I can use.”

  She lowered her hand, gently grasping Sarah’s.

  ~~~

  She came out of the back door of a restaurant—she could hear the din of conversations, cutlery, and calls of staff in the kitchen. She fumbled with a small brown purse and found a half-empty pack of cigarettes with a red lighter stuffed in it. As she plucked a cigarette and the lighter from the pack, she heard a heavy thud, followed by a cry. She frowned and took a step into the dim of the alley.

  “Is that—is that—did you—” came a high-pitched, quavering voice.

  A gruff, deep voice answered too low to make out words.

  Veronica’s host crept farther forward. She flinched as she caught sight of a large shape that lunged and grabbed a smaller one. She crouched behind the side of the dumpster and peered around it, catching sight again of the assault she had seen before. The large form gripped the smaller one’s throat, and as she clawed at her attacker’s hands, the girl’s face turned, catching light. Her mouth opened in the same horrible grimace.