Chapter 18
“Ican’t explain why I want to question the bartender,” I said as Zane held open the door to Bottoms Up. “I just feel it might be important.”
“You don’t have to justify your instincts, Kara.”
It was between hours for the bar. Most of the barstools and tables were empty. The vampire behind the bar, David, looked up when we walked in, and I gave him a small wave.
“Great,” he grumbled. “PADA. Just what I need.” He looked around the empty bar. “You’re gonna run off all my paying customers, Valkyrie.”
I laughed. “Good to see you too, David.”
He leaned against the counter. “What can I do for you two?”
“Do you know Rayna Halter?” I asked.
“Of course I do.” He tapped his temple. “Steel trap up here.” He grinned, flashing his fangs. “Plus, she went to school with my older sister.”
Zane chuckled. “Were you working when she came in around three o’clock yesterday on Valentine’s Day?”
“Yep,” David said. “I remember her coming in.”
I frowned. “Really? You don’t have to check your books for a receipt?”
“Nope.” He nodded to someone over my shoulder and turned around to grab a bottle before turning back to us.
“I remember because when she came in, she had blood on her shirt. I said something to her, in case she didn’t know, and she said it was ketchup.
” He shook his head and poured the liquid over ice. “Wasn’t no ketchup.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
He stopped pouring and gave me a long, flat look. “I’m a vampire, Valkyrie. I know blood when I see it and smell it.”
I laughed. “Touché.” We’d already seen Rayna’s copy of the receipt, but I asked anyway. “What time did she leave? Can you tell us that?”
“Little before four.” He handed the drink to the server who’d stepped up next to me. She thanked him and hurried away. “And before you ask, I had Valentine’s Day plans with my girl, so I pulled an open-to-four shift. Rayna and the guy she was drinking with were the last two I rang out.”
I smiled. “Thanks, David. We appreciate it.”
He waved us off. “Really? Then come back when you’re buying something.”
“Is it me, or is it hot in here?” I asked.
The bartender grinned. “I keep it extra warm. Makes the patrons thirsty and they order more.”
Outside, the cold air was a bit of a relief from the heat inside the bar. We got into the Aston, and I waited until Zane pulled out onto the street before speaking.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” I confessed. “The blood is throwing me. I mean, we’re thinking on the day of the murder, Rayna left Bottoms Up and then confronted Mari at her house after four o’clock.
That’s in keeping with the time of death.
But why would she have blood on her blouse beforehand? And whose blood is it?”
Zane chuckled. “Looks like we’ll go see Rayna next. Get that question out of the way.”
Halter Marina Supply & Tackle wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been early in the morning. Herman, the selkie shifter who had been behind the cash register, was sweeping the floors when Zane and I entered. He looked up and frowned.
“We’re about to close,” he said, leaning on the broom. “Almost four o’clock.”
“We just need to see Rayna,” Zane said.
Herman glanced up at the office behind the counter. “She’s in there. I better go let her know you’re here. She don’t like it none when she has surprise visitors.”
We followed behind him and waited while he spoke into the phone on the counter next to the cash register. He set it down and nodded. “You can go on in. I probably won’t see you when you get out, so have a good night.”
Zane clasped the elderly man on the shoulder. “You too, Herman. Give my best to Griselda.”
Herman smiled, his worn eyes lighting up. “I’ll do that, Zane.”
I walked up the three stairs and opened the door. Rayna was behind her desk when I walked in, glasses on, papers spread out in front of her.
“I’ve got a business conference call at four-thirty,” she said without looking up. “So you’ve only got a few minutes.”
“We’ll be quick.” I strode over to her desk, Zane on my heels. “We wanted to ask you about the blouse you were wearing yesterday when you went into Bottoms Up. The one with blood on it.”
She looked up then and took off her glasses. “What about it?”
“How did you get blood on your blouse?” Zane asked.
Rayna snorted. “I work at a marina, surrounded by smelly fish all day. There’s blood all over the place. I probably brushed up against something. I don’t know.”
“You told the bartender it was ketchup,” I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Because I didn’t want to announce to the world that I’d gotten fish blood and guts on me. Okay? When I noticed it, I did a quick spell to remove it. I thought I’d gotten it all, but obviously that nosy vampire said otherwise.”
“Where’s the blouse now?” I asked.
“I threw it in the fireplace when I got home. It was ruined.”
“You burned it?” I mused. “Why not just throw it away?”
“Because I like burning things.”
Of that, I had no doubt. “We have—”
The ringing of her cell phone cut me off. She glanced down and groaned. “I need to get this. If I don’t, he’ll just keep calling.”
I caught a glimpse of the screen before she answered it and saw the name “Hunter.”
“Hello?” She paused. “Are you serious? A memorial? Why?” She sighed.
“Fine. What time?” Rayna glanced at Zane and me, then turned her back to us, facing the window and the expansive ocean.
“Yes. I’ll be there. Seven p.m., Bottoms Up.
” A short huff. “I’m not staying long, Hunter.
I have a life.” She disconnected and turned back around. “Are we finished?”
I’d had enough of her dismissive tone. I leaned over the desk and looked her in the eye. “We know what you and Mari and Sasha and Reed did in high school to Eliza Nordic. You realize that, right?”
Rayna snorted. “What? That we made a spell that would make two girls fight over a guy? Big deal. It was a low-level spell. They were supposed to have a little cat fight, and that was it. Not my problem they took it too far.”
I shook my head. “No. We know you added another spell, making it so the girls’ anger intensified during the day, making their emotions compound as the hours went on.”
Anger flashed in Rayna’s eyes. “Oh, yeah? Prove it? You can’t.
” She waved a hand dismissively in the air.
“It was fifteen years ago.” She gave me a creepy small smile.
“Plus, the only other witch in our group who could maybe implicate me is dead. And not by my doing. But still my good fortune, wouldn’t you say? ”
This woman was about as cold-blooded as they came. Zane must have sensed my rage because he asked the next question.
“Did you use magic to further harm Eliza in the parking lot fight she had with Darla?” he mused. “The one resulting in Eliza being severely hurt and permanently injured?”
“Again, it was fifteen years ago. What the others thought they saw happen…didn’t.”
“Is that why you killed Mari?” I asked. “Because not only was she going to tell everyone what you all did back then…but she was going to admit to the extra steps you took in making sure Eliza got what you thought she deserved?” I shrugged.
“We also know you blamed Eliza for losing out on Winter Court Queen. Your so-called friends have all ratted you out.”
Rayna stood, her eyes flashing. “We’re done here. You can’t prove I killed Mari because I didn’t. I have nothing more to say on anything else that may or may not have happened fifteen years ago. This is beginning to border on harassment.”
“I don’t like that woman,” I said the minute the doors to the shop closed behind us. “I mean, I really don’t like her. She’s smug and arrogant about what she did. Almost like she’s proud of it.”
“Something tells me she is.” Zane pulled out of the marina parking lot. “Supernatural Sport Resort to talk with Hunter?”
I nodded. “I think so. He has a lot to explain.”