Page 23 of Obsession

“Miss Price, meet Lottie. Lottie, Miss Price. Lottie’s Skylar’s best friend and roommate.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Violet sticks her hand out, but Lottie doesn’t take it. She stares at her, untrusting.

I turn to her companion. “And you are?”

“Haven, my boyfriend,” Lottie says. He gives me a jerky nod, then steps back, falling into the shadows. Can’t speak for himself? Interesting. I turn back to Lottie.

“You called us. What has you concerned?”

Lottie wrings her hands and paces in front of me. “Skylar had a date. Someone we met at a local gathering.”

Gathering.What exactly is a gathering? I do my best to reserve judgment, but it’s hard, seeing the dark, cramped apartment my sister shares with her friends, knowing I’m fully capable of putting her in a bigger, better place.

“They were supposed to go to dinner,” Lottie says. “They had plans, and she even told me where they were going.” Tears brim behind her glasses.

“Where?”

“Bubbles and Broomsticks.” Pretty common name. In a city like Salem, over a quarter of the local establishments features names playing off some variation of the word “witch.”

“She went to meet him, and she came home earlier than she expected. She’d texted me that the guy creeped her out.”

“Did she give you specifics? What exactly creeped her out?”

I fucking hate that my sister went out on a date with someone she didn’t trust and I didn’t know.

I pace in the kitchen, trying to ignore the way I want to break things. My hands clench, and I try to steady my breathing. I hate this. If they hadn’t tampered with anything, I’d have gotten full footage of everything. “And I have no idea where she is because you two thought it smart to remove all surveillance.”

Violet places a gentle hand on my arm. My skin heats where she touches me, and I take in a calming breath. My fingers unclench, relaxing by my sides.

I didn’t know she’d have that effect on me.

Lottie doesn’t respond but plays with a silver lip piercing, her brows drawn together over her large glasses.

“What happened after she came home?”

“Well, about an hour later, I heard the front door open and close again. I yelled after her, but either she ignored me, or she didn’t hear me. Honestly either could’ve happened.”

“Did you see her?” Violet asks.

“When she came home?”

“Yeah.”

Lottie shakes her head.

“So she didn’t respond, and you didn’t see her,” Violet says. “Is it feasible that it was someone else who came into the house and left again?”

Lottie’s magnified eyes widen. “Oh. Oh, God, I didn’t think of that.”

“Do you lock your door?” Violet asks, shooting me another look as if to warn me not to lose my shit.

“Well… sometimes, yes, sometimes no.”

Even Violet looks frustrated at this point. “Lottie, this is important. Did you lock the door last night?”

Lottie winces. “I have no idea.”

Violet’s lips thin. I run my thumb over the metal handle of my gun to calm my nerves.

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