“Oh my god.” Olivia leaned closer to the windshield to scan the heavens. “That was scary.”
“It looks like it’s going to pour,” Bel said.
“Glad you’re driving.”
“Gee, thanks.” Bel rolled her eyes as another bolt of lightning violated the air.
“Anyway, you were saying?”
“Right…” Bel rewound her thoughts. “The mermaids’ nudity. Maybe it was meant to showcase the art. The early tattoos were lost to decay due to the chicken wire, but over time, the scales grew more detailed. Ursa said it herself. Color and blackwork are different techniques. Maybe she hated her first few attempts at color, so she wrapped them in wire and sank them to forget the shame. But then she started getting better and wanted to frame her talent. With every success, she increased her skill and her pride, so instead of letting the fish destroy her work, she preserved it. No clothes. No barriers. Just art immortalized.”
“When you put it?—”
Crack!
“Good god!” Olivia shrieked as the sky flashed white before surrendering to the grey clouds. “Anyway, when you put it like that, Ursa makes sense as the killer. The tattoo expertise, the mermaid obsessed, the embalming experience, the proximity to Bajka. Neptune’s Ink is just far enough not to be considered local, yet close enough to allow her familiarity with our lake. In theory, she fits.”
Crack!
“But without evidence, that’s all it is. A theory,” Bel said.
Crack!
And with that deafening explosion of thunder, the heavens opened up and wept, battering the SUV until Bel was driving blind. The windshield wipers were no match for the torrent beating down on them, and she eased off the gas. It was no use, though. She couldn’t see beyond the wall of water.
“Bel! Look out!” Olivia shouted, her arms flinging out before her as if she could stop the car by sheer force of will.
An ugly sound escaped Bel’s lips as she slammed on her brakes, and for a long, silent moment, the women stared at the telephone pole they’d been inches away from slamming into.
“I didn’t see that,” Bel whispered, the pounding rain the soundtrack to her panic.
“I barely saw it,” Olivia said. “It was just a shadow and my anxiety that made me yell.”
“I…” Bel’s voice wavered, and she rubbed her chest as if the soothing pressure could reach her erratic heart. “I don’t think I should drive in this.”
“No.” Olivia’s answer was instant. “I can’t see anything. It’s too dangerous. We should wait here until the rain slows.”
“Yeah… I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Olivia asked. “You didn’t make this storm so violent.”
“No, but I…” Bel burst into tears, her reaction out of her control.
“Are you okay?” Her partner reached out and gripped her wrist. “We weren’t going that fast. You would’ve wrecked your brand-new SUV, but we would’ve been fine.”
“I’m just freaked out.” She swiped at her face with her free hand. “The news reported I died in a car accident, and then Taron Monroe’s kidnapper almost killed me after I forced an accident to help her escape. So it’s…”
“Scary?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it’s okay. We don’t have to drive.” Olivia slid her palm down Bel’s wrist to grab her hand, and Bel stared at their intertwined fingers. Her friend. She’d so desperately missed her friend.
“I’ll call Eamon to come get us.” She pulled out her cell, and even though Olivia stiffened at his name, she didn’t let go.
“No service.” Bel cursed. “And this storm doesn’t look like it’ll let up anytime soon.” She glanced down at her necklace. “Sorry about this,”she mentally apologized to her boyfriend as she hit the panic button.
“Sorry about what?” Olivia asked.
