Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Charlotte was doing the breakfast dishes while I wiped down the table when both of our phones started going off.

Sebastian's name flashed on my screen, and I quickly answered it as I heard Charlotte say, "Hey, Denver. What's up?"

I walked into the other room and said, "Tell me you have information for me."

"I have information. I'm sending it right now so you'll have all the details," he said.

"Perfect. What are the highlights?" I sat on my couch and opened my notebook.

"The reason we had trouble finding information on John Vincent is because that's not his birth name."

"It's not?"

"No. It's Francis Jonathon Krass and?—"

"Krass!" I cried out. "Tell me he's related to someone named Sharon Krass."

"Sharon is his sister. How did you know that?" Sebastian asked.

I quickly filled him in on the events of the coven meeting from the night before. "Gigi didn't tell you?"

"She said some strange man appeared, but she didn't tell me you knew his name." Sebastian tsked . "You need to tell Brix there is something rotten over there at the PPPD."

"Why?"

"Because Sharon Krass is the longtime partner of one Officer J. Stone."

I froze in place. The implications of the revelation were huge. "You're saying that John and Stone's significant other are brother and sister."

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

No wonder Stone seemed to be covering for him. Or at least not looking too hard. He was trying to keep his partner happy. "Does the document include Sharon's address?"

"You're not going to go over there, are you?" Sebastian asked, concern in his tone.

"Charlotte and I are officially on this case for the MTF. I think we have to," I said.

"You do realize you'll be going up against the entire police department if you target her, right?"

"Are you trying to tell me to stay out of it, Sebastian?" I knew he was worried about me, but this was my job. I didn't have a choice.

"No. Not at all. I just want to make sure you're protected. Have some back up or something."

It was the middle of the day on a Wednesday. None of the coven members were going to be able to drop their work just to go talk to this woman. Besides, I didn't even know if she was involved outside of just trying to protect her brother. "We'll be careful," I promised him. "And if we find anything out that means we have to engage her or Stone, we'll call the MTF for backup."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Damn. My reputation was preceding me.

After we ended the call, I walked back into the kitchen to find my sister on her computer, peering intently at the screen. "What are you looking at, Charlotte?"

My sister jerked her head up, her eyes wide and her lips pressed into a grim line when she turned her laptop around to show me her screen.

The headline read: Missing Premonition Pointe Woman the Second to Disappear in Less than a Week.

The picture below it was none other than Lacey's neighbor, Kylie Brickenson.

I let out a sharp gasp. "No! When? How?"

"Last night. Apparently she went for a run just before dark and never returned. Her sister reported her missing around midnight after she never came to pick up her daughter."

"No, no, no, no, no." I shook my head back and forth as if that would change anything. Finally I looked up at my sister and, in a barely audible voice, asked, "Is this our fault?"

"Our fault ?" Her expression turned stormy. "Definitely not our fault. Whoever took her is entirely to blame."

"You know what I mean. Was she targeted because we went over there yesterday and she talked to us?"

Charlotte's outrage disappeared as she slumped against the couch. "Maybe? Probably." She squeezed her eyes closed, looking as pained as I felt. "But it's still not our fault. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I do." I stood. "Come on. We have work to do."

She stared up at me. "Where are we going?"

"To track down Sharon Krass. If John took Lacey, then it's highly probable that he came back for Kylie. She's the only one who knew he'd been at Lacey's apartment that morning."

"Who's Sharon?" she asked in confusion, and I realized I hadn't yet filled her in on what happened at the coven meeting or my call with Sebastian.

After getting her up to speed, I went back into the kitchen, opened my laptop, and then scanned the information that Sebastian had sent. After jotting down Sharon's home address and her place of business, I grabbed my phone and said, "Ready?"

"No." Charlotte disappeared into her bedroom. Two minutes later, she was back wearing black leggings and a black sweatshirt.

I glanced down at my jeans and my red T-shirt and went to change. Once I was in my own sneak outfit, I joined Charlotte near the front door. She had my dagger in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other.

"Remind me to give you a raise later," I said, grinning at her.

"Don't worry, I will." She smirked and then led the way out to my SUV.

After I vetoed Charlotte's desire to drive, I climbed into the driver's seat and glanced at the clock. It was just after eleven on a Wednesday. "Do you think she's working or at home?"

"Try work first," Charlotte said as she scrolled through her phone. "It says here that her office is open most days from ten to two."

"Ten to two?" I cried. "Seriously? The woman only works four hours a day?"

"Only sometimes, apparently. It also says to call ahead just to make sure she's in. Must be nice to be an independent accountant."

My thoughts whirled with what an asset Sharon must be if Stone and his partner were actual dirty cops. While we had less than zero amount of evidence that they were doing anything illegal, I had witnessed what appeared to be a drug deal behind the police station the day before. There was no telling what those two were up to.

Charlotte pointed me in the direction of Sharon's office, and within ten minutes we were parked across the street from the unassuming office that happened to be directly across the square from our own offices at the dating agency.

My sister peered out the window. "Should we go in?"

"We aren't going to be able to ask her about her brother from out here." I pushed my door open and was just climbing out of the SUV when a woman stepped out of the office and locked the door behind her. I ducked back into the vehicle and looked over at Charlotte. "That has to be Sharon, right?"

"Looks like her to me." Charlotte held up her phone and pointed it in my direction. The picture on the screen looked like a more put-together version of the woman who'd just left the office.

"Yeah, it's her. Isn't it amazing the things photo filters can do these days?" I mused as I put the SUV in gear.

Sharon had climbed into a sleek Mercedes and was already speeding down Main Street.

"Floor it," Charlotte said.

I refrained from rolling my eyes and did a U-turn right there in the middle of the street so that we could follow the Mercedes through downtown.

"She's got a lead foot," Charlotte mused.

I side-eyed my sister. "She's not the only one."

"I was chasing down a lead. What else was I supposed to do?"

The Mercedes turned right, and I quickly changed lanes so that I could follow.

"Is she headed to the police station?" Charlotte asked, looking worried.

"Doesn't look like it. If she was, she'd have turned already." I kept my eyes on the Mercedes as I tried to pinpoint where she might be going. The road we were on led out of town and into the foothills. There wasn't much out that way except for residential homes and trailheads. There was a town about thirty miles away, but it was small, and the only businesses were a gas station, a convenience store with a sandwich shop, and a dingey bar.

"Maybe the casino?" Charlotte asked.

Right. I'd forgotten all about the casino as I wasn't much of a gambler. "Maybe." Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Sharon turned into the parking lot of the Cascade Casino. I followed her, but instead of following her to the valet, I held back, opting to park in the lot so that we could keep our distance.

"Look at her, hurrying inside," Charlotte said.

"I guess she needs her fix. Let's go before she gets lost in a sea of slot machines."

We hurried across the lot and into the casino. We were immediately assaulted by the bells and chimes of the slots going off as person after person hit the buttons, eagerly waiting for a payout.

"She's over there!" Charlotte called over the noise.

I followed her gaze and spotted the woman standing next to a man who was feeding a bill into his machine. She looked annoyed as she held out her hand and glared down at him. Finally, the man reached into his wallet and handed her a wad of cash. She counted it quickly, stuffed it into her blouse, and then strode away, heading for the exit.

"That looked like a shakedown," Charlotte said.

"Maybe. Or I suppose it's possible he just owed her some money." I didn't really care about the money. I just wanted to find out where I might look for John and whether Sharon knew anything about his whereabouts. I took off, trying to put myself in Sharon's path, but a large group of gamblers filed out of the buffet, obscuring my view.

"Excuse me. Excuse me," I said over and over again as I tried to fight my way through the crowd. But then a woman slipped right in front of me and grabbed my arm, taking us both down. My elbow hit first and then my backside, sending a shooting pain from my tailbone. "Son of a bitch!" I cried out and rolled to my side, holding my elbow to my frame.

"Marion!" My sister cut through the maze of people and crouched down. "Are you okay? Anything broken? Do we need to take you to the emergency room?"

I sat up, pain throbbing up my arm as I slowly bent the limb. While my elbow ached, there was no sharp pain or any reason to think anything was broken. "My arm is okay, I think. Let's see if I can stand."

She helped me up, and after a few steps, it was clear I was going to live.

"Where's Sharon?" I asked as I glanced around.

"I don't see her," Charlotte said as she guided me toward the door.

"Dammit. We missed a perfectly good opportunity to talk to her." I ground my teeth together, hoping we could still find her. "Let's go. She's probably either going back to the office or going home."

Charlotte frowned as she looked me up and down. "Are you sure you don't need to go see someone?"

"I'm fine," I insisted, and then I noticed that my black leggings had a run and there was something sticky on my sweatshirt. "Ugh. I look like I've been dumpster diving or something."

"You kinda smell like it too," Charlotte teased.

I elbowed her and then winced when pain shot up my arm again.

"Serves you right," she said.

We hurried as fast as we could out of the casino. And just as we stepped out, we spotted the valet getting out of her Mercedes. She jumped in and sped off.

"Let's go!" I cried as I broke into a run, holding my sore elbow to my body.

When we got to the car, Charlotte shoved me out of the way and took the driver's side. "You have a broken wing. I'm driving."

My arm was throbbing, so I didn't protest. As soon as I was in the SUV, she took off like a bat out of hell. I gripped the oh "shit handle" again and prayed to the goddess that we'd get back to town safely.

Luckily, the road only had a few hairy turns, and by the time I saw the familiar sights of Premonition Pointe, I was confident we weren't going to be found in a ditch on the two-lane highway.

"Looks like she's headed back to work," Charlotte said when the Mercedes took the turn for downtown instead of the one that would head north toward the house that had been in Sebastian's file.

"I think she's getting lunch first." I pointed to the fast food burger joint as Sharon pulled into the drive-through.

"I could eat," Charlotte said and made the turn, following her.

"Park in the lot and I'll go in and grab something. We can't be stuck in the drive-through when she leaves."

"Fine." Charlotte pulled into a parking space and hit the brakes, making the seatbelt nearly choke me.

"A little finesse next time please. Text me if she's taking off." I jumped out of the car and ran into the burger place. Luckily there was no line. I ordered two burgers, two fries, and two drinks, hoping that my uncomplicated order would mean I wasn't waiting forever.

Sure enough, right after I paid, the server handed me my food and two cups. I was just finishing filling the second soda when the text came through.

She's at the pickup window .

I hurried out and got back in the SUV. "Made it," I said.

"You didn't get me a milkshake?" Charlotte stared at me with puppy dog eyes.

"I went for simple. Be happy you got anything at all."

"Ketchup?"

"It's in the bag," I said, shoving it at her.

Charlotte was busy dabbing ketchup on her fries when Sharon's Mercedes pulled away from the window.

"Time to go," I said, snatching the packet out of her hand and sending a blob of ketchup onto her sleeve.

"It's better than whatever I'm sporting," I said before she could complain, gesturing to the sticky sweatshirt I was still wearing. "Now get moving before we lose her again."

Sharon sped down Main Street, passed her office, and turned into an older neighborhood with cottages that sat on a hill and had distant views of the ocean. We followed her through the neighborhood and then back down to Main Street.

"What is she—" I started.

Whoop. Whoop. The sound of sirens blared through the air, and suddenly there were flashing lights behind us.

"Shit." Charlotte pulled the SUV to the side of the road and glanced around. "Hand me my wallet."

I did as she asked and waited for the cop to come give her the ticket she so rightfully deserved. But instead of going to the driver's side, the cop knocked on my window. I quickly lowered it and looked right into the face of Officer Stone.

"Ms. Matched," he said, his expression full of rage. "Why are you stalking Ms. Krass?"

Interesting that he called her Ms. Krass. Was he unwilling to admit that they'd been partners for years. "Stalking?" I scoffed. "That's not what I was doing at all."

"Did you or did you not follow her all the way to Cascade Casino and then back into town?"

"Well, yes, but we weren't stalking her. I just wanted to ask her a few questions about her brother John," I said just to see what his reaction would be.

"How did you—" He cleared his throat as his face turned bright red. "I suggest you leave Ms. Krass and her brother alone, Ms. Matched. You wouldn't want anything to happen to that shifter of yours, I'm sure."

"Was that another threat?" I shot back.

"It sounds like it, doesn't it?" His lips curved into a sinister smile. "It wouldn't take much to pin those abductions on him."

"You've got nothing on Jax." My entire body was vibrating because of his audacity.

"No, not yet, but it sure would be a shame if some evidence just appeared, wouldn't it?"

"Trust me when I say this, Officer Stone; if anything like that happens, I will take the entire department down. Understand?"

"You could try, I suppose." He smirked. "But doubtful. In any case, all you need to do is stay away from Ms. Krass and her brother, and you won't have anything to worry about." Then he strolled back to his patrol car and left us on the side of the road.

"Well, that was creepy," Charlotte said.

"Very." I stared at the police car until it disappeared around a corner. There was no doubt in my mind that Stone wasn't just protecting Sharon. He'd made a point of telling me to stay away from John, too.

Charlotte started the SUV. "That was a bust. Where to now?"

"Home. I think we need to regroup."