Angel Magic

Chapter Six

With a startled cry Cassidy struggled to release her legs from the confines of her sheet, and sat up. The dream quickly faded but she knew it couldn’t be as nightmarish as her life. She looked around the one room apartment expecting to see Stefano on the end of the bed with a gun pointed at her head. An involuntary sob shook her body and she covered her mouth with a hand. Despite her efforts to stay calm, tears burned her eyes.

   How had she come to be back home? Who had touched her? How? How…? Cassidy lunged from the bed and upturned the bedside table. The empty drawer toppled out and landed on the carpet with a muffled thud however she didn’t notice. Her attention was on the tiny memory card taped to the base of the table. She leaned her forearm on the bottom of the table and rested her head on her arm.

   “Tristan, are you here?” she asked quietly. With a deep breath, she straightened and stroked her fingertip across the cool plastic. “Do you know what this is?” Cassidy sat with her back resting on the wall. “It’s the memory card from my cellphone.”

   She smiled bleakly at the empty room before her gaze returned to the memory card and she wiped tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. The flash of black steel in moonlight filled her head and she closed her eyes, wishing she could forget. Nico’s men would never have known she’d stood there, except for the flash of her phone’s camera.

   “Oh, Tristan…” She wanted to live a normal life again.

   Cassidy crawled back onto the bed and curled into a tight ball. She stared at the electricity lines outside her window, lulled by their gentle sway in the wind. The very edges of sleep dimmed her mind and she closed her eyes. Cool fingers touched her cheek. With a sigh, she relaxed her body. The cool touch moved to her lips like a whisper on her skin. Breath stirred her hair, stroked the sensitive lobe of her left ear and then she heard a soft voice laced with a strong Scottish brogue.

   “Do not fret, bonny lass, I will protect you for as long as you live. And longer.”

   The sun had barely touched the horizon and Cassidy was at the window staring through the violet dawn at the detective. He stood in his usual place, shoulder resting on the light pole, arms cross as he gazed up at her. Unable to stand his attention any longer, she stepped away from the window and pressed her back to the wall. She now remembered the night before, except for how she arrived home. Although, sometimes the scent of soap lifted from her clothes. The detective had brought her home, or at least that was what she wanted to believe.

   Cassidy drew in a deep breath and studied the open suitcase on the bed. Now, she had to run again but she didn’t know where to go. A sound at the door startled her. She turned to the window, alarmed when the detective had disappeared, and hurried toward the bathroom, the only room with a door. A large white envelope was shoved under her door and slid along the threadbare carpet for a short distance. Shadows under the door paused for a moment, then moved away with the sound of steady, sure footfalls. Long minutes passed before Cassidy was brave enough to retrieve the envelope.

   Sitting on the bed, she considered the sealed envelope, turned it over several times, wondered if she should open it or toss it out the window. Who had left it – the detective, or one of Fabian Nico’s thugs? If it was the latter, the envelope could contain anything from a small body part to something that would kill her. She dropped the envelope onto the bed, stood, and closed her suitcase, snapping the clasps shut. Her eyes moved to the envelope. Maybe the detective had pushed it under the door, and he wanted to help her. Maybe it was money, or a train ticket, or an invitation to the Prime Minister’s Ball. Cassidy managed to smile at the thought. Imagine!

   You can’t be scared forever. Open the envelope. Her nervous sigh sounded loud in the quiet room as she moved around the bed and picked up the envelope. It felt like paper. And poisonous powder. “Seriously,” she muttered and ripped the envelope open.