by Renee Jordan
I couldn't tell him.
“Nothing,” I said. “I...I...just wanted to hear your voice. I forgot about the time. I just got off work.” I wiped my eyes, controlling my emotions.
“Oh, sure,” he said, his voice coming alive. “How was work? Did the drunks play nice tonight?”
“Of course they did,” I said, forcing a girlish laugh. “They love me. And they were so generous with their tips tonight. I told them all about you. More than a few were happy for me. Even if you are a cop.”
He laughed. Such a rich, warm, loving laugh. I couldn't lose that. He didn't need to know about the photos. As I talked to him, I picked them up. It was easier. I had to fake being at ease, being happy. I couldn't let the photos drag me down. Then Thomas would know.
Chapter Eight
Five years ago...
“Who would you like to be tonight, Penny?” Lexie asked me as Axel pulled his van to the curb on the deserted, LA street. It was nearly 2 AM. Everyone who was up was out at the clubs and not in the small business district we were in.
“Taylor Swift,” I said, standing up in the back of the van and shaking my curvy hips. “I'm already a hot blonde.”
Lexie clapped her hands over her mouth and laughed, her dark-red hair shaking about her shoulders. My best friend was a slimmer girl than I was. The poor thing just didn't have my great ass or my large boobs. But she was still pretty in a thin girl sort of way. I'm sure there were guys that thought she was prettier than me because she was skinny.
Not that I cared. I was hot and curvy. So what if I was on the plus side? That just meant there was more of me to love.
“Taylor Swift it is,” Lexie nodded, her green eyes twinkling in the light from a nearby streetlamp. “And I'll be Jennifer Aniston.”
“Make me the Rock, baby,” Axel said from the driver seat. He peered around, his shaggy, long hair framing a handsome face. Tonight he wore only a tank top, showing off his sleeve-tattoos which Lexie thought were the hottest thing about him. I didn't get what was so sexy about barbwire, skulls, and chains wrapped about his arm, but Lexie gushed over them.
“Oh, I don't know if you can pull the Rock off, honey,” Lexie said. “I think I have something perfect for you.”
Axel frowned. “Come on, baby.”
She blew him a kiss. My totem tingled between my breasts as Lexie reached out to her magic. Her belly shirt exposed the tattoo of a star bound in black rope inked to the right of her bellybutton. The ropes came undone and the star shone.
“Spirits of illusion,” Lexie called out, “clothe myself and my friends in new flesh. Grant us our desires and change our appearance.”
My totem prickled worse as her magic reached out. A moment later, the glowing balls of light spirits shot through the sides of the van. They pulsed with happy light, eager to obey Lexie. Like me, she was a skilled witch, gifted with light magic instead of my air. The lights danced around the three of us. They moved faster and faster, leaving streaking blurs behind them. The blurs grew, spinning cocoons of intangible, glowing threads about us. The lights' intensity grew and grew.
I closed my eyes shut as the magic tingled around me. My skin warmed wherever the spirits touched me. They clung to me, shaping a new appearance over my flesh and hiding any part of me that slipped outside their illusion.
If I had a mirror to look into, Taylor Swift's face would stare back at me.
The lights faded. I opened my eyes and stared at a preening Jennifer Aniston straight out of the early days of Friends, complete with the flowing, brown hair and cute face. Lexie put a hand on her hip, posing for me.
“So?” she asked.
“Eh,” I shrugged.
“Oh, you bitch, it's perfect.” She grinned at me. It was strange hearing Lexie's voice come from the famous actress's face.
“I'm wearing a robe,” Axel called. “Babe, who did you turn me into?”
I laughed so hard when Draco Malfoy's face stared back at me from the front of the van, his white-blonde hair slicked back, a puzzled expression on his handsome, bad-boy face. Lexie sniggered beside me.
“Babe?”
“Tom Felton,” she answered.
“The actor that played Draco Malfoy?” Disappointment soured his voice. “Come on, Babe. Make me someone sexy.”
“Oh, he's so sexy,” Lexie cooed. “Mmm, he was the first guy I fantasized about. I grew up with those movies. Such a bad boy.”
I nodded my head. “When I was fourteen, every girl I knew had such a crush on him. He's still cute.”
“A crush, huh?” Axel smiled. “Okay, Babe. Maybe you should keep the illusion going after the heist.”
“That'll make celebrating so hot,” grinned Lexie. She grabbed the handle of the sliding door and yanked it open. “Let's get rich.”
Excitement boiled inside of me as I followed Lexie onto the street. I caught my reflection in a window. I paused to pose as Taylor Swift, her hair a lighter shade of blonde then mine, her face not as round and her body was definitely slimmer. I tried to touch her hips, but my actual flesh, made invisible by the spell, stopped my hands a few inches away. I was a thicker girl than Taylor Swift. Lexie put me in a pair of low-riding jeans that made Taylor Swift's ass look great on me.
Her boobs were small though.
“Stop preening, Penny,” Lexie said as she strode down the street. “Come on. I bet they have a tiara.”
“Ooh,” I grinned. “I can be a princess-thief.”
I rushed after Lexie. Though the illusion put me in cowboy boots, I wore only sneakers. They slapped on the sidewalk. Axel came around his van in the gray, flowing robes of a Hogwarts student, a green-and-black tie about his neck.
“We'll make a killing,” Axel confirmed. “There was so much jewelry when I was in there earlier today. It'll get us set for our next score.”
“Next?” I asked.
“The big one,” he grinned. “We'll need some stuff, but it'll set us up for life. In a month, we'll be on the beach sipping mai tais and enjoying the good life.”
“I thought this was the big one.”
“Not if we want to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.” Axel put his arm around Lexie's waist, the illusion of his robe's sleeve phasing through Lexie's body. Light spirits could only shape illusions, they couldn't make anything that had substance.
“It'll be fine,” Lexie said. “Axel has gotten us this far.”
I bit my lip. Lexie and I had known each other since we were kids. We ran away from Kansas to LA together. We planned on using our magic to make us movie stars. Eighteen and stupid. If we hadn't fallen in with Axel, I don't know what would have happened to us. But he and Lexie hit it off right from the start, and when he learned we had magic, it gave him ideas.
Back home, we had gotten into trouble before, shoplifting, underage drinking, minor stuff. I always loved the thrill of using my magic to steal makeup or a candy bar. My grandmother would beat me if she ever found out how I used my gift.
After we committed our first robbery, I found the rush addictive. Axel kept planning more and more elaborate ones, and I was raring to go. We went from living in a one-bedroom apartment in a sketchy neighborhood to having a gorgeous penthouse. It was so easy. No one could catch us with our magic. I could get us into any locked building and Lexie could cloak us in different appearances. It was hilarious watching the news reports of famous people robbing places.
They called us the Hollywood Bandits, which I thought was terribly unoriginal.
I made short work of the lock on the metal security shutter that blocked the front windows and glass doors of the jewelry store. Axel hauled up the security shutter. This was the most dangerous part of the theft. If a cop happened by, it would be so suspicious.
“It's my turn,” Lexie said, gathering her magic.
I nodded my head, my eyes focused on the glass cases. I wiped my damp hands off on my unseen jeans and shifted my hips as Lexie sent her light spirits racing around the building. The glowing ball
s zoomed around it, searching for the security system and disabling it. The alarm would go off, but it wouldn't call out.
Axel produced a collapsible baton from his pocket. He flicked it open and smashed the glass door. The tempered pane shattered into pebbly pieces and crashed to the floor. A flood of glass particles washed about our feet. He knocked out the glass pieces remaining in the frame then stepped through the door, Lexie on his heals.
The alarm blared. Lights strobed in the room. I strolled in after the pair, pulling out the pillow case I had stuffed in my back pocket. I shook it out as Axel's baton crashed into glass case after glass case. He worked fast, breaking them open while Lexie and I went to work scooping up the jewelry and dumping them into our bags.
It was so hard not to admire every single piece I discovered. I scooped up gorgeous pearl necklaces, garnet-studded earrings, diamond tennis bracelets, and gold lockets. Everything went into my bag. It grew heavier as I worked, the jewelry tinkling inside as I cleared one case and moved onto the next.
“Taylor,” squealed Lexie, remembering to use our fake names. Cameras were recording. “A tiara.”
She held up the silver tiara, diamonds and rubies flashing in the strobing light. My jaw dropped at the sight of it. The tiara had to be worth a fortune. I rushed over to her, my pillowcase bumping over and over into my leg.
“Beautiful,” I said, snatching it up and placing it on my head.
Lexie giggled. “It's vanished halfway into Taylor's hair.”
“Doesn't matter. I'm a princess-thief,” I said, spinning about and swinging my sack of ill-gotten loot.
“Ladies,” Axel shouted. “Come on, keep grabbing the jewelry. We have another minute before we need to get out.”
“Sorry, honey,” Lexie said.
Axel shook his head as he scooped jewelry into his pillowcase. I turned away and headed to the rings. There were so many beautiful engagement rings. It was hard not to be envious of Lexie at that moment. She had found an amazing guy. In the year we had been in LA, I had only found jerks.
Now they were hot jerks, and the sex had been great, at first, but none of them lasted.
I wouldn't be surprised to see an engagement ring on Lexie's finger before the year was out. It might even be one of the rings I scooped into my pillowcase. Some had huge diamonds on them. They must cost tens of thousands of dollars. Lexie would look so beautiful with one on her finger.
I paused, staring at a square-cut diamond ring on a platinum band, the sides adorned with smaller gems. I pictured a hunky, strong man kneeling before me and holding up the black case, a big grin on his face. I would be so happy. My heart would flutter and my breath—
A police siren screeched to life outside the shop. Flashing red-and-blue lights flooded through the showroom. I turned just as a floodlight from the side of the police cruiser shone right into my eyes. I froze, ring in hand, squinting against the light. A police radio crackled.
“10 Adam 93,” a gruff cop voice called, “I need backup. 10-31. Three suspects.”
“Everyone in the jewelry store, hands on your head,” a second cop shouted, a woman's voice.
I couldn't see. My heart thudded in my chest as I raised my hands over my head, the jewelry bag clinking. A pair of dark forms appeared, blocking the floodlight as they came to the door. A pair of cops, their guns drawn, stepped through the broken door.
We were caught. Horrifying images flashed through my mind of jail. Big, butch women would take one look at my pretty face and want to make me their bitch. I couldn't go to prison. That didn't sound at all fun. Why did the cops have to show up right now? We were about to leave.
“Fuck,” Axel groaned. “Ladies, anytime now.”
Right, magic. I had magic. I had to use my magic. But which spell?
“Drop the bags,” the male cop commanded, his gun trained on Axel. “Do it.”
The female cop aimed her gun right at me. I trembled. She had a hard, a no-nonsense, Hispanic face. Her dark eyes bore into mine. “Drop the bag and put your hands on your head, blondie.”
I swallowed and glanced at Lexie. My body shook. Then my totem prickled. It was so hard to think with a gun shoved in my face. My eyes snapped back to the gun. If the cop pulled the trigger...
I opened my mouth to cast a spell, but only a frightened squeak escaped.
“Spirits of illumination, blind my enemies and protect me,” cast Lexie.
The light spirits soared into the faces of the cops. They couldn't see the spirits—only a witch could—but they noticed the effects. The Latina cop stumbled back, shaking her head and rubbing at her eyes. The male cop staggered. His gun fired.
I let out a frightened squeak.
“I can't see anything,” the female cop snarled. “Bill?”
“What the fuck,” the male cop snarled. He took a step back and slipped on a shard of broken glass from the shattered display cases. He fell to the ground in a heap.
“Penny,” Axel called out. “Don't just stand there. Use your magic. Bind them.”
“Right,” I nodded, my ears ringing from the gun shot. The cop could have hit one of us. His bullet must have missed Axel. My totem prickled as I unleashed my magic, “Spirits of wind, bind my enemies.”
My voice cracked. A few air spirits drifted through the room. I hadn't cast the spell with confidence. Spirits were like children. If you weren't firm with them, they would find all sorts of ways to wiggle out of listening to you.
I drew in a deep breath. I was a powerful witch. I could handle these cops. They couldn't harm me. They couldn't arrest me. I spoke with authority. I commanded the air spirits to bind my enemies. The energy rushed out of my totem.
A flood of spirits rushed from me. The cloudy spirits descended on the cops. They whipped around the cops' hands and wrists, creating powerful, sucking vortexes that pulled wrists and ankles together. The female cop shouted in surprise as she fell on her side.
“What is going on?” Fear thickened her voice.
“Come on,” Axel said as he raced out of the store. “We have to move, ladies.”
I nodded my head, my heart thudding. We could have died tonight. How close had Axel come to getting shot? I glanced at my bag of jewelry. Was this really worth it? All the excitement soured inside of me as I stepped over the bound female cop and rushed out of the jewelry store.
Outside, Axel and Lexie, their arms about each other's waists, whooped their excitement. “Your magic was amazing, babe.”
“I know,” laughed Lexie. “Those cops didn't stand a chance.”
New sirens grew in the distance. I threw a look over my shoulder. “Come on, we need to hurry. More are coming.”
“Right, right,” Axel said. He gave Lexie a quick kiss, then broke away from her, moving at a run.
I was glad to follow the pair, fear propelling my feet to run faster and faster. I didn't care what Axel claimed, this score had to be big enough to set us up for life. We could enjoy the sun and the beaches. I would fine me a hot local man with golden-brown skin, and Lexie and Axel could get married and settle down.
We didn't need Axel's big score. This had to be enough.
I shook in the back of the van as Axel drove us away. So many sirens screamed through the night. All of LA's finest descended on us while the crack of the gun echoed over and over through my mind. I was so wrong for ever thinking this was a fun game.
Chapter Nine
The present...
Three days later, I had almost forgotten about the photos left on my bed. Someone was clearly playing a mean trick on me. I didn't know who did it, but when I found out, I would put a spell on them. Something annoying. Like they would always have a wet crotch so people would think they pissed themselves.
The photos themselves were off to the dump. I had put them in a garbage bag and thrown them away in a dumpster behind the Passion Moon Diner before popping in to have breakfast. While I ate my grits and eggs, I watched the garbage truck come by, scoop up the dumpster's contents, an
d then whisk it off to the dump.
The pictures were out of my life. I didn't need to worry about them at all. I had to focus on my new relationship with Thomas. I had seen little of him. He worked the day shift, and I worked nights. It made it awkward to get together. Tuesday night, he had surprised me by waiting at my house when I got off work and we had a hot romp.
But he had to leave early. Far too early, to get to work.
But I had the day off today. And I wanted to spend some of it with my boyfriend. Since it was nearing noon, my breakfast time and everyone else's lunch time, I hopped into my truck and drove down to Olson to surprise him at work. I was taking my boyfriend out. It was the twenty-first century, so I could do that.
The Olson police station bustled with activity. I blinked, looking around the lobby. Several blue uniformed cops moved with purpose, one escorting a man with a wild beard into the back of the police station, the mountain man handcuffed. My nose twitched. He did not smell pleasant.
“Hi,” I said, gliding up to the desk sergeant, the pungent scent lingering. “I'm here to see Sergeant Wilson.”
The desk sergeant, a gray-haired, portly man, looked up and then grinned. “Well, well, well. So you're the girl that's got him stumbling around like a blind man in a titty bar.”
“Yep,” I said, giving him a big grin. “I have that effect on men.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, not too shy about taking a gander at my low-cut top. “I believe that.”
“So, is he here?”
He nodded and pressed a button, buzzing the security door. I grabbed the handle as he said, “Head on back. Take the first left. His office is at the end of the hallway. Has his name in gold letters and everything.”
“Ooh, fancy,” I said, yanking open the door.
“Yeah, fancy's one way to describe it.”
I headed down the hallway, passing a briefing room and then a small gym before I reached the hallway. To the right was a barred door. I guess the holding cells were that way. I went left, passing doors with gold lettering explaining their rooms' purposes. At the end was Thomas's. “Sergeant Wilson,” it read in gold lettering, “Criminal Investigation Department.”