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“Maybe it’s some force at work.” Her hands encompassed a ball in the air. “Maybe we’re meant to work this case—together.”
“Then let’s do it.” He encircled her wrists with his fingers. “Tell me what you know about witches and covens.”
“I wish I knew more. My mother told me that people used to come and see Dad for help, mostly communicating with dead relatives. He acted as a medium.”
“You were too young to see any of this, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Dad left before I was five.”
“He remarried?”
“No.”
“Your half sister?”
“My father’s a musician and a brujo. He didn’t need marriage to procreate.”
“So he handed down his gifts to another daughter? One whose mother didn’t mind the development of the talent?”
“Mind? She may have encouraged it. There are a few women who would seek out a brujo just for that purpose.”
“To have a baby with him?”
She nodded over the steam rising from her cup.
“What kind of woman would use a baby as a pawn?”
Christina coughed. “You can never understand other people’s motives.”
“Seems pretty low to me.”
“Anyway,” she continued, tapping the table as if to bring his focus back, “that’s about all I know. I’m not sure what kind of witchcraft Vivi practices.”
Eric sketched out the symbol on a napkin. “Do you think she’s in the same coven as Nora and Liz?”
“I don’t know, but what about your guy in San Diego and the other woman in Portland?”
“We’re going to have to comb through the files and look for the link. We weren’t looking at witchcraft, were we?”
“Nope. We got our break tonight.”
He drained his cup. “Let’s call it a night and see if we can link the other two murders to this coven. Where is your father, anyway?”
“Mexico. Why? Did you think you could use him for research?”
“Where’s Vivi?”
“Great. You’re going to try to question her? I think she’s in Big Sur.”
“We can always make a return trip to Kindred Spirits.”
“One thing at a time. We need to make sure this theory applies to the other two victims, or we’re dead in the water.”
“I have a feeling about this one.”
“Now that makes two of us with feelings. We should open our own detective agency.”
“And compete with my little brother, Judd?”
“Ah, but does Judd have feelings?”
He snorted. “He actually has very few of those.”
“Let’s head back. I’m really curious to look at those case files now.”
Tossing his half-full coffee cup into the trash, he asked, “We are going to bed first, right?”
Her eyes flew to his face, but shadows obscured his expression, so she shrugged off the double entendre. “I plan to get a good night’s sleep. I know I have to look at those files with fresh eyes.”
“Now we have something specific to look for.”
They stepped off the curb and a car engine revved. Her step faltered, and Eric jerked his head to the side. He held up his hand in case the guy behind the headlights wasn’t paying attention.
As they entered the crosswalk, tires squealed and the car hurtled toward them.
Christina screamed and flew through the air.
Chapter Six
Eric still had her by the waist where he’d grabbed her just as the car whooshed past them, spewing exhaust and burning rubber into the air.
Several pedestrians shook their heads and one man yelled an obscenity after the speeding car.
Christina had stumbled back against Eric’s chest, and he pulled her tightly against his body. “Are you okay?”
“That was close.” Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. “What’s the matter with that guy? Didn’t he see us?”
“He saw us, Christina.”
She spun around, her nose almost touching his. “Are you sure?”
“I waved at him. Didn’t you hear the car take off? Zero to fifty.”
“Okay, what are you saying, Eric?” She placed her hands on his solid chest and leaned away from him. “Do you think he was aiming for us?”
“Sure seems that way.”
Her fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt. “Then it’s no coincidence. I know there are some bad drivers in this city, but they usually don’t aim for pedestrians.”
“Unless those pedestrians are investigating a series of murders and are getting too close for comfort.”
