Chapter 13
“They are definitely hiding something when it comes to these valentine cards.” I shut the Aston’s door and waited for Zane to slide behind the wheel a few seconds later. “And by denying they have them, it just makes them look guilty.”
“But guilty of what?” Zane asked. “Murdering Mari?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like that they’re lying to us.”
“While we’re still in town,” Zane said, “let’s talk to Eliza Nordic.”
I pulled out my phone and opened the PADA app. “Eliza Nordic. Vampire. Works as a teller at Tidewater Savings and Trust.” I looked up at Zane. “That’s on the corner of Main and Harbor, right?”
Zane nodded and headed toward the bank.
A few minutes later, he parked along the curb and we pushed through the glass doors of Tidewater Savings and Trust. The bank wasn’t very big at all.
There was a row of teller windows along the back wall, a small gathering of chairs near a window, and two desks off to the side for personal banking needs.
Behind the second teller window, I spotted Eliza Nordic.
She looked up as we approached, and recognition flickered in her eyes. She finished with her customer, placed a small sign on the counter that read Next Window Please, hopped off her barstool, grabbed her cane, and stepped out from behind the counter.
“I thought I might see you two today.” Her cane clicked softly against the tile floor as she walked toward us. “This is just awful.” She motioned toward the small sitting area near the front window, away from the teller line. “We can talk over here.”
We stopped near the chairs. “I’m Detective Kara Hilder, and this is my partner, Zane. We met briefly last night at the Quinn house, but we didn’t get a chance to formally introduce ourselves.”
Eliza nodded. “Yes. Let’s sit.”
We sat in the upholstered chairs facing each other. Eliza leaned her cane against the armrest and sighed. “My heart is breaking for Jayla. She must be devastated. Mari was a nice woman.”
“You liked her?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. She was always so nice when she came in. We’d chat while I processed her deposits. She’d ask about cheerleading and how the girls were doing. She didn’t have to do that, but she did.”
“She banked here?” Zane asked.
Eliza nodded. “Yes. Maybe I’m not supposed to say that, but you guys are PADA, so I assume you can access that information anyway.”
“Did you know her in high school?” I asked.
Eliza grimaced. “Yes and no. We were in the same graduating class.”
“Friends?” Zane asked.
Eliza shook her head. “No. I was...different back then.”
“Different how?” I asked.
“I was popular. I was a star volleyball player and a cheerleader. Things like grades came easily to me.” She swallowed.
“I had a full-ride volleyball scholarship to a supernatural college once I graduated.” Her fingers tightened around the edge of the chair.
”Until the accident.” She glanced out the window for a few seconds, then looked back at me.
“I ran with a girl who was just as mean as I was. Together, we were a force. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
” She let out a small laugh. “I wouldn’t even be friends with my old self.
I was awful.” Her gaze dropped to her cane.
”Life has a way of humbling you, though.
Especially when it comes to people you weren’t nice to. ”
“People like Mari Quinn and Rayna Halter?” I asked.
Eliza nodded. “Exactly. Like I said, I was a different person back then.”
“What happened to change that?” I asked.
Eliza tapped her cane against the floor.
“This happened. It was Valentine’s Day, and we’d had a snowstorm the night before.
Had there not been ice in the parking lot that day, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad.
” She looked out the window again before continuing.
“My best friend and I both liked this boy named Bruce Bloodletter. A vampire. He was the star quarterback, played basketball, was class president. You know, all the typical stuff. And my best friend and I just knew he was going to ask one of us to the Valentine’s Day dance at school.
He’d been joking about it all week. Keeping us guessing.
” She shook her head. “Definitely a jerk move, but when you’re seventeen, you don’t see it like that. ”
“No, I suppose you don’t,” I said.
I’d been homeschooled by my Sensei, and so I had no idea what a typical human or supernatural school day looked like with classes and students…much less with school dances.
Eliza sighed. “I woke up that morning and found a box of chocolates and a rose on my doorstep. There was this mushy note with it signed by Bruce, saying how he couldn’t wait to see me at school, and how he had something important to ask me.
I was so excited. I got dressed in my prettiest outfit, did my hair, and hurried to school.
I’m at my locker, waiting for my bestie to get there, eating the chocolate and smelling the rose like every three seconds…
and when my friend finally greets me, we both tell the same story!
We’d both had chocolates, flowers, and a note from Bruce on our doorstep.
” She smirked. “You’d think we’d have marched down to Bruce’s locker and torn him apart for being a jerk.
But we didn’t. Instead, we got angry at each other.
Each accusing the other of lying and of trying to be a poor sport.
And it got ugly. Like hair-pulling, pushing-and-screaming ugly. ”
“You okay?” I asked when she stopped talking.
“Yes. It’s just hard to talk about even after all these years.
So anyway, someone breaks up the fight, and we go about our day, but for reasons I still can’t explain to this day, as the morning went on, my anger at my best friend got out of control.
By lunch, I was actively looking for her to rip out her hair.
” She snorted. “Can you imagine? And when Bruce found out what was going on, he loved it. Egged it on. Saying he wasn’t sure who he was going to pick.
And I just kept getting angrier and angrier.
” She blinked back tears. “Again, I can’t explain where this rage came from.
When the final bell rang, I yelled at my best friend to meet me in the parking lot.
We were going to settle it once and for all. ”
“You were going to fight her?” I heard the incredulity in my voice, but I couldn’t help it.
Eliza let out a bark of laughter. “Yes. Can you believe it?”
“The foolishness of our ego,” Zane said. “Trust me, I know all about it.”
I gave my Fallen Angel a small smile.
“So anyway,” Eliza continued, “we’re standing near our cars, both of us shouting at each other.
Suddenly, we’re in this pushing and shoving match again.
By this time, half the school was watching and spurring us on.
My best friend was a witch, and so she used magic against me.
She pushed out a wave of magic so powerful, it lifted me off the ground and sent me flying into the middle of the parking lot.
Unfortunately, one of my other classmates was driving and coming right for me.
He tried to slam on the brakes, and I tried to move, I really did, but I was frozen and rooted as well.
” She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them.
“Anyway, they think he slid on some ice. Instead of slowing down, it shot his car straight into me, breaking my right leg and hip and crushing my pelvis.” She tapped the cane again. “Hence, the cane.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “That’s awful.”
Eliza nodded. “It is. And it was. It took me almost a year of physical therapy to walk again. The witches and fairies at the hospital did what they could, but they couldn’t put me back together perfectly.
I definitely wasn’t going to college on an athletic scholarship.
I didn’t even go to college at all.” She wiped away a tear.
“A lot of people thought I got what I deserved. Even to this day, I don’t have many friends from high school. ”
“And the other girl?” I asked. “Your best friend at the time?”
Eliza smiled ruefully. “She’s a famous actress living in a supernatural town outside Hollywood. She goes by the name Darla Starling now.”
I frowned. “I think I just saw her in something.” I turned to Zane. “Something we watched?”
Zane looked at me and nodded once. “Wicked Witch.”
I turned back to Eliza. “Do you know anything about valentine cards being sent to Mari, Hunter, and Rayna Halter?”
Eliza frowned. “No.”
“Rayna thought you were sending them,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “I wasn’t. I mean, I don’t know them well enough to send valentines.
” She hesitated. “Plus, I don’t really like Rayna Halter.
I know that’s terrible to admit. I’m sure it stems from high school and how awful I was to her.
But the two times I’ve tried speaking with her recently, she’s been nothing but gruff and dismissive with me. ”
“But not Mari?” Zane asked.
“No. Mari was different.” Eliza’s voice softened.
“Her daughter is on the cheer squad, and since I help coach, we’ve had plenty of chances to interact.
Mari was always kind. She didn’t hold my past against me.
” She leaned forward in her seat. “I’ve tried making up for my past by volunteering in the community whenever I can. ”
Zane nodded. “Can you tell us where you were from two until five o’clock yesterday?”
Eliza leaned back in her chair. “I got off work at three-thirty. Middle school cheerleading practice starts at four. I usually go straight there from work, but I was a little late yesterday because I had to run an errand for the squad.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“This is basketball and wrestling season,” Eliza said.
“It’s busy for the girls. Not only are we practicing, but they decorate the halls and lockers of the athletes.
So I told the head coach I’d park in the teacher’s lot behind the school—near the cheerleading shed the middle and high school squads share—and bring up all the supplies to make posters.
The banners were current enough, but the girls wanted to make new decorations for the lockers.
So after they practiced their cheers and dance, they went to work on decorations. ”
I wasn’t sure how to ask my next question without sounding insensitive.
Eliza laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. How could I carry all the stuff? I’m not a witch, so I can’t use magic.” She glanced down at her cane. “And I wouldn’t be able to carry it all in one haul.”
I nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“I have a cart. It’s just a little buggy, really. I can load everything inside the cart and still pull it and use my cane to get around. I enjoy doing it.” She sighed. “It makes me feel relevant and useful.”
“One last question,” Zane said. “What time would you say you made it to practice?”
“Maybe four-fifteen? Something like that. I’m sure if you ask the head coach, Mindy Abernathy, she might be able to tell you.” Eliza smiled. “Mindy is nothing if not punctual. And she likes the cheer squad to be that way as well.”
“Thank you for your time, Eliza,” Zane said.
The three of us stood, and Zane and I headed outside.
“It ended up being a nice day for February.” I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the sun outside. “Maybe the last of the snow will melt off by tonight.”
“I usually don’t mind the winter,” Zane said, “but I’m looking forward to spring.” He winked at me. “And for what’s happening right after spring.”
I gave him my most innocent look. “What’s happening then?”
“Summer cookouts,” he deadpanned.
“Oh, haha,” I said, getting inside the vehicle.
Zane laughed and pulled out onto the street.
“So here’s the question,” I said. “Could Eliza leave her place of employment, drive over to Mari’s, go inside and kill her, and then make it back to the school and load up supplies in that time frame? Knowing she can’t walk very quickly.”
“Only way I can see it happening is if Eliza already had supplies packed in her vehicle. If she already had the supplies handy, then she just simply had to drive into the parking lot and go inside with the buggy.”
I snorted. “Well, I hadn’t thought about that. But you’re right.” I glanced over at him. “But what’s her motive to kill Mari? They seemed to like each other. Mari and Eliza both testified to that.”
“I agree. Hunter and Sasha Carter have the biggest motives and the most to gain with Mari’s death.
“Rayna is stumping me. I’m not sure what her motive to kill Mari is—outside of this weird aversion to Eliza that Rayna has, and Rayna didn’t like the fact Mari befriended her.
But that’s not worth killing someone over.
” I sighed. “Then again, I heard Rayna tell Mari she better cut off the friendship with Eliza or else. She even brought Jayla into it. Rayna said it would be best for everyone—including Jayla—if Mari stopped the friendship, especially when Mari said she wanted to tell Eliza something.”
“But we don’t know what that something was, right?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. But I get the feeling we aren’t getting the entire truth with these supernaturals. Not about what happened to Mari, not about these mysterious veiled-threat valentines.” I sat back in frustration. “I think we still only have half the puzzle pieces.”
“Let’s see what we can get out of Hunter and Sasha.”
I settled back into the seat. “Supernatural Sport Resort, here we come.”