“I’m wondering if we should conserve water and share.” Etienne’s face was all mock seriousness.
“I think that’s the most sustainable option,” she agreed.
Etienne washed Ophelia thoroughly, cupping and teasing and massaging every ounce of her flesh. She was warm and languid in his arms, and he made her come on his fingers again.
Under the covers of her bed, Ophelia’s body was wrapped around Etienne’s. Her head rested on the nook between his chest and armpit, and the weight of his arm on her back provided her with a level of comfort she had never experienced. It was comfort and safety with a partner. She didn’t think she had ever felt so much peace with another person.
“I want to have sex with you,” she said in the safety of the dark.
“Technically, what we did was considered sex...a lot of sex.” She could hear Etienne’s smile in his words.
“You know what I mean.” Ophelia playfully swatted his chest.
“I do.” His tone turned serious. “And I want that too, O. Whenever you’re ready.”
They fell asleep tangled in each other’s limbs.
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
Healing Artists was a well-oiled machine. Her days were primarily filled with grant applications, board meetings, and managing a small team of people who helped with fundraising and community outreach. She wondered if she could use her connections through Healing Artists to spread the word about her treating practice, but she wasn’t sure how to go about doing that. Using the cross necklace she took from Mateo to find other magical people was an option, but something about it felt wrong, like an invasion of privacy.
Ophelia ultimately decided to keep Healing Artists separate from her other work for now. Avery promoted her business verbally through all of his connections and gave out her number so people could start scheduling appointments. But no one had yet. Soon, she hoped. Soon she’d be able to help even more people and carry on Mawmaw’s legacy.
As she continued to work in her studio, an email chimed in her personal inbox, and she switched screens to check it. She gasped when she saw what it was. The files from Detective Lewis. Without wasting a minute, she downloaded the attachment and began looking through the numerous documents. The first fifteen pages appeared to be customary forms that detailedwhat happened, when it happened, who responded on the scene. Each document had to be signed off on, and so far, there was nothing she didn’t already know in great detail.
On the sixteenth page, she saw the composite sketch of her attacker. She recoiled from his evil face.
Steadying herself through a deep breath, she returned to the composite, her eyes locked on the biggest clue thus far—the cross necklace. It hung around his neck outside his hoodie. She stood from her desk and ran from her studio, across the lawn, and into her cottage. She opened the bedside table drawer and grabbed the cross she’d taken from Mateo. She recalled describing the cross in detail to the artist, and this image could confirm what she had been thinking all these months.
Her heart was beating fast, and her hands were clammy as she returned to her studio and held up the cross to the computer screen. It was the same exact cross.
Her mind hurt. What could this possibly mean? Ophelia grabbed her notebook and began to write out her thoughts. Mateo and her attacker had the same cross, but Mateo wasn’t the killer. He was already dead when Mawmaw’s murder occurred. Plus, he said he purchased the cross on the “black market,” whatever that meant. Did he mean on the dark web or something else? She wasn’t sure. But what she wanted to know was if there were duplicates of the cross with the same ability. And was there a connection between the cross and the Cutthroat Killer?
With her thoughts organized, she paused writing and kept going through the files. “Ah-ha,” she whispered when she found the coroner’s report.
Death Record
Kings County Coroner’s Office
Brooklyn, New York
Name of Deceased: Albert Thompson
Address: Unknown
Marital Status: Single
Age: 52
DOB: June 18, 1954
Found dead at: Fulton Park, 70 Chauncey St, Brooklyn, NY 11233
Date and Time found dead: December 7, 2019 5:31 AM
Immediate cause of death: Starvation
She had a name. Albert Thompson. Ophelia continued to scroll through the pages, stopping when she found notes from Detective Lewis on Albert’s criminal background. Albert had quite the rap sheet. In the years leading up to his death, he had been arrested several times for public indecency, assault, and battery. Charges for the assault and battery cases were dropped due to credibility.
