Palm of Destiny by Rebecca Segal Page A

was a suspect. The sudden death of Angelique and the disappearance of Elijah and Rosalie in the same few days were enough to convince local authorities that he must have something to do with it all. Apparently knowing two out of the three people who were either murdered or missing was a bad thing.
“I understand that, sir, but what you’re describing doesn’t make any sense.” The officer tilted her head at him, and one eyebrow lifted. Then she looked down at her notes. “I quote, word for word, from your lips: ‘I walked into the antique section of my store, and they were gone.’ That’s it.”
“That’s all there was, officer. I’m telling you the truth. You guys have been through this place, and my house, twice now and haven’t found anything.”
“Officer Zan, I have a phone call up here for you,” came a voice from the front of the store.
“Excuse me.” She gave Morgan an odd smile, then turned and went to take her call. Morgan, now alone, casually left the room and followed the female officer just far enough that he would be able to eavesdrop on her conversation. It would be one-sided of course, but any information was better than none.
“This is Officer Zan,” she said, leaning on Morgan’s desk. “Really? He’s talking? Well, all right then. I’m just going to finish up with Mr. Glassus, and then I will be right down. Thank you very much.”
Turning away, Morgan stepped toward a shelf against the wall. It held various scents of incense, as well as a wide variety of brands. There were also some oil burners and a rack filled with dozens of different oils. There was a clink as he picked up one of the oils, turning it over so that he could see the scent: Vanilla. It was a scent that he didn’t particularly care for, but before he could replace it, the officer was moving directly toward him.
“Mr. Glassus?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her card. “If you think of anything…anything at all…give me a call. In the meantime, I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll call you if I find it in my heart to tell one hell of a lie, Officer Zan.” The smile that he gave her was slightly less than tolerant. It left quickly when she gave him a glare, then turned and headed for the exit. “Finally,” he whispered, his shoulders dropping down from their tense hunch. With a shake of his head, he waited until the rest of the officers had filed out, then moved to the store sign and turned it to ‘Open’.

 
    Chapter Fourteen
 
 
“Where are we?” Rosalie winced as she slowly sat up. One of her hands moved to the side of her face, which was burning hotly. It stung when she made contact with it with her fingers, and she quickly pulled them away. She pushed midnight-colored hair out of her brown eyes, lips parting in a gasp when she saw where she was.
“Rosalie…shit…don’t move!”
That was Elijah’s voice, calling to her from across a short distance. She wiped at her eyes, unknowingly smearing soot and ash across her lid and cheekbone. In looking around, she could tell that she was in some sort of open space. It had been gutted from the fire, and the floor was in pieces. There were gaping holes in the floor, some of which went all the way down to street level… thirty feet below. The walls were more like ragged edges than barriers, and they had a gray tinge to them from smoke and fire.
They were in Elijah’s burnt apartment… and it looked ready to collapse at any moment.
“What do I do, Elijah?” She couldn’t stop the fear from entering her voice. “What do I do? The floor feels like it’s going to collapse!”
“It won’t! Um…okay…” Elijah pressed the heel of his right hand against his forehead, his eyes clenching shut. “Give me a second to think.” He knew that she probably had less than seconds. Less than the time it would take for him to figure something out. But it wasn’t like he dealt with this sort of thing all the time. He wasn’t a hero!
“Elijah!”
“I