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She straightened up and turned to face him. “It’s our sign. It’s the sign from Liz Fielding’s necklace.”
Chapter Four
Eric’s jaw tightened and he ducked around Christina to get a better look. The symbol mocked him, and he felt like smashing his fist through the glass.
Why had he never remembered the necklace and that symbol before now? He may have told the police about it after the kidnapping, had probably even described it to them, but he must’ve erased it from his memory after that.
Christina stiffened beside him and grabbed his arm. “Who put it there?”
Turning, he scanned the parking lot, his gaze traveling across the lampposts. “There aren’t any cameras here, so we’re out of luck.”
“It must be someone connected to Liz’s murder.” Her fingernails clawed at his flesh through his suit jacket.
“Or maybe just someone connected to Liz.” He smacked the roof of the car. “We need to find out what that symbol means, and we’re going to start by going to Nora’s bookstore.”
“Nora’s bookstore?” She snapped a couple of pictures of the symbol with her phone’s camera.
“The Kindred Spirit. Think about it. Sounds like one of those fantasy, sci-fi places.” He leaned forward and scraped the edge of the white markings with his thumbnail. “White shoe polish.”
“Do you want to head over there right now?”
“It can wait. I need to get out of this suit. I’ll make sure the store is open later.” He pulled out his phone and slid into the car. He tapped in a search for the bookstore and checked the location and hours. “They’re open until midnight—the witching hour.”
“Technically, midnight is not the witching hour. That would be 3:00 a.m., sort of the opposite of the time Christ was born at 3:00 p.m.”
“And you would know.”
“Did you just call me a witch?”
He glanced at Christina’s profile. Her smile was bright but brittle. He’d have to tread lightly. Too much unfinished business and animosity lay between them. “Isn’t your half sister into some of this stuff?”
She loosened her grip on the steering wheel. “Yep. She inherited some of my father’s particular gifts just like I did, and she ran with them.”
“How close are you to her? Maybe she could help us with this sign.”
“Not that close. I haven’t spoken to her in over a month, and I’m not comfortable discussing these things with her.”
“Okay. Forget that.”
She wheeled the car into the circular driveway of the hotel. “Do you want me to drop you off in the front?”
“Just park. I can wheel my suitcase in.”
She made the turn and slid a card into the slot for the parking arm, which creaked open. “Do you think I’m being followed?”
“Someone knows you’re working this case and knows your car.”
“Do you think that sign on the windshield is there to tell me something or threaten me?”
“I don’t know, Christina. Either way, it’s a break.”
“Either way, we need to inform Rich.”
He hauled his suitcase from the trunk and piled Christina’s briefcase and his own bag on top of it. She waited while he approached the front desk.
“Checking in. Brody.”
“I have your reservation right here, Mr. Brody, room 632.”
Christina made a sharp movement beside him. “I’m in 634.”
The clerk tapped a few keys on her keyboard. “Those two rooms are connected. That was a special request on the reservation for Mr. Brody.”
Eric held up one hand. “It wasn’t me. Travel made my arrangements.”
The hotel clerk’s gaze darted from him to Christine. “D-do you want a different room?”
“It’s fine.”
“Fine.” Christina echoed in a faint voice.
Eric tapped his Bureau credit card on the counter once before handing it to the clerk. He had to get ahold of his professionalism here. But why had the Bureau decided it was a good idea to pair him with his ex-fiancée on a case? Of course, it wasn’t the Bureau who had made that decision. It was the killer when he decided to leave those tarot cards on his vic in San Diego, linking that crime with Christina’s three cases.
He followed Christina’s clicking heels, dragging his suitcase behind him, trying to keep his eyes off her swaying hips.
She’d always been slim and athletic with some nice curves. Now those curves had become dangerous. She’d filled out where it mattered most.
