Page 18 of Jane's Story
We caught an elevator with just the three of us. Aunt Penny blinked. “You two have had quite the interesting day, haven’t you?”
Charles’s cheeks puffed as he released a pressured breath. “Well, it certainly isn’t the day I’d planned with Jane here.”
“Wait, you planned things for us to do?” My hopes soared for a split second.
“I wanted to do more.” He wrapped his arm around me and gave me a brief squeeze. But then he dropped his hand back to his side. “Your willingness to help is beautiful.”
Aunt Penny snorted with glee. “All of Jane is beautiful, wouldn’t you say?”
It might have been my imagination, but I swear Charles’s cheeks flushed. “Indeed.”
Aunt Penny hadn’t only come to help with the investigation. She wanted to meet Charles and steer things in the “right” direction.
My merry-go-round of emotions made me dizzy. The surprise at running into Charles, doubting if he cared for me, then suspecting he maybe did just in time to learn of two murders. The wall spun as we stepped offthe elevator.
“Jane, are you all right?” My aunt stared at me and caught me by the elbow.
“Just a bit overwhelmed. Sometimes my blood pressure drops a bit.” I needed a chance to chat with Lizzy and process everything. She had some explaining to do, after all.
Charles furrowed his brow and patted my shoulder. “Would you like to rest in your room for a while?”
Aunt Penny’s grin showed me she had caught on to Charles’s concerned expression. I shook my head as we entered our suite, hoping she wouldn't reveal anything about our conversation the night before.
“No, no, let’s figure this out. I just need a glass of water.” I waved his comment aside and pulled out my keycard to open the suite.
Aunt Penny let out a soft whistle as we crossed the marble foyer. “Look at this… I mean,theserooms!”
“I had the same reaction when I first saw the place. Our bedrooms are upstairs,” I said.
“Your bedrooms?” Aunt Penny raised an eyebrow.
My face must have turned as red as a tomato. “Well, yes. There are a few bedrooms. My room is on the right and Charles’s is on the left. The suite is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“I see.” My aunt winked at me. “But really, this place is something else.”
She was right. Velvet cobalt drapes complemented the room’s polished brass accents. A crisp blue and white Delftware vase of fresh pink peonies adorned the gold and glass art-deco coffee table. Polished marble floors stopped only when covered by plush Persian carpets.
“This place looks like it came out of one of those fancy architecture magazines or something. I could get comfortable here, all right. Thanks for taking such good care of our Jane.” Aunt Penny looked between me and Charles. Her grin told me she was enjoying this a bit too much. She’d be texting my mom within the hour, telling her how well Charles and I got along. They’d be looking for wedding venues by the end of the week if I didn’t put a stop to it.
Wondering whether bringing her to the hotel was my brightest idea, I attempted to intervene. "Shall we get started?"
"If you're up to it." Charles nodded.
“I think we’d better. Charles, did you find anything that belonged toArmond?” I asked.
Aunt Penny clapped her palm to her forehead. “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. The objects work kind of like mirrors, so the closer they were physically when he died, the better. Jane, to make this work, you’ll need to funnel your power into them.”
Charles pulled a watch and an engraved pen from a travel bag, then handed them to Aunt Penny. “Armond left these on the desk in the room where he worked. I think I’ve seen him wearing this watch. They weren’t in the same room where he died. Sorry, it’s not much.”
“Better than nothing,” Aunt Penny accepted the objects and narrowed her eyes, looking them over. “It’s a good thing our Jane has seeing power.”
“It’s not very strong. Usually it just means I can sense emotions,” I muttered. I’d always tried to keep that part of myself hidden because I figured it might upset people if they knew I had an immediate insight into their character. But my mom told our entire extended family everything, and Aunt Penny wasn’t one for secrets. She would likely share anything she knew about me with Charles within the hour.
Aunt Penny set the items on a side table and turned on the lamp next to them. “Now this will work sort of likean old movie projector. We’ll need all the blinds drawn and lights off except for this lamp. Jane, coat your hands with the potion and touch the objects. Funnel your sight power into them, and they will start a projection to show us what happened near them recently.”
A slight tingle went down my spine. The potions my family mixed up in our little shop weren’t usually so strong, since selling very powerful magic could have ethical and sometimes even legal consequences. We concocted truth serums, love potions, healing tonics or salves, and occasionally something to enhance memory, which helped in school. But I’d never used anything this powerful.
“We need to secure the room first.” I locked the deadbolt and latched the door so we wouldn’t have any unexpected guests. In the dark room, Aunt Penny pulled a glowing aqua vial from her pocket and dropped a little bit of liquid into my hands.
