All she knew was that she couldn’t tell Melissa about the death veil here, in the middle of a dress shop.
Melissa looked perplexed. “It can’t wait?”
Rose took a desperate step toward Melissa. “No, it can’t. Please get dressed.”
Melissa hesitated a moment, as if to protest, but she finally pivoted and returned to the dressing room. Rose glanced at Bella, not surprised to find the dressmaker’s expression as wary as Melissa’s had been. She looked away and started pacing off her nervous energy until Melissa reemerged from the dressing room wearing a business suit.
She handed the veil she’d selected to Bella. “Put this on my account and hold it for me, okay?”
Bella scurried away to ring up the sale while Melissa draped her garment bag over one arm and grabbed Rose’s elbow with the other hand. She led her outside at a brisk, angry pace, stopping when they reached the silver Lexus parked in front of the dress shop. She put the dress in the backseat and faced her, eyes flashing fire. “What the hell’s going on?”
Rose’s legs trembled with the urge to run far away from the skeptical world, to a place where she’d never have to try to explain the unexplainable again. She pushed her fingers through her hair with shaking hands and took a deep breath. “Okay. When you hired me, you checked my references, right?”
Melissa’s eyes narrowed. “Right.”
“And people in Willow Grove probably had a good bit to say about me, didn’t they?”
Melissa’s lips quirked. “They think you’re some kind of romance wizard. Said you were quite the matchmaker.”
“I used to be. I used to be a lot of things.”
Melissa gestured impatiently. “What’s going on, Rose?”
“I see-” Rose paused, wondering if there was a better word than
Melissa blinked. “Veils? Wedding veils?”
Rose shook her head impatiently. “Not wedding veils. Just-veils. Shimmery veils over some people’s faces. I used to see good ones. Happy ones.” Rose rushed through a quick explanation of the true-love veils.
“So you see true-love veils and use them to match people?” Curiosity battled with skepticism in Melissa’s dark blue eyes.
“Yes. Or, at least, I did,” Rose admitted. “But this is about something else-”
Melissa’s expression darkened. “Something bad?”
Rose looked up at Melissa, willing the girl to believe. Taking another deep breath, she plunged ahead, saying the words she’d never said out loud before, even to herself.
“I see death.”
Chapter Seven
“You see death.” Melissa’s posture, expression, tone of voice all conveyed rejection.
“I know, it sounds crazy-”
“It doesn’t sound crazy. It
Rose caught her arm. “I know it sounds impossible.”
Melissa whirled around. “Let go of me.”
“You know me. Would I say this if it wasn’t true?”
Melissa shook her head, her brow furrowed. “I don’t think I know you at all.” She turned to open her car door.
“I saw a death veil on Alice Donovan’s face,” Rose blurted.
Melissa froze.
“That night at the club,” Rose continued, “when she was dancing and she turned toward us, I saw it on her face.”
Melissa turned slowly, a dangerous glitter in her eyes. “Don’t even-”
“That’s why I left right after she did. I wanted to catch her before she left, to try to warn her.”
Melissa’s shoulders stiffened. “Did you?”
Rose nodded. “I told her what I was seeing.”
“And she called you crazy.”
“More or less,” Rose admitted, despair washing over her.
Enunciating her words slowly and carefully, Melissa asked, “Did you do anything to Alice?”
Rose stared at Melissa, hurt. “Of course not. I was trying to warn her.”
“Like you’re trying to warn me.”
The tears burning behind Rose’s eyes spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t care if you think I’m nuts. Could it hurt to be extra careful over the next few days?”
“You know I had a new alarm system put in my house last week. My car has a state-of-the-art security system. I’ll be fine.”
“Just remember what I said, okay? Maybe you and Mark should get away for a few days. For your anniversary-make it a long weekend. Give the police time to track this man down.”
Melissa’s eyebrows rose. “You think the slasher’s going to get me? Like he got Alice?”
Rose looked away from the shimmering veil marring Melissa’s pretty face. “Maybe not if you get out of town for a few days.”
Melissa shook her head. “I have a wedding to plan, and now I have to find a new planner. I’m not going anywhere.” She slid behind the wheel of her car and started to close the door.
Rose put her hand on the door, stopping Melissa from closing it. “Don’t go anywhere alone, Melissa.”
“Get your hand off my car door.” Melissa’s voice grated.
Rose stepped back. Melissa slammed the door shut, gunned the engine and whipped out of the parking slot, tires whining.
Knuckling the tears from her eyes, Rose trudged to her own car. She felt achy and heart-sore, weighted down by the shroud of despair blanketing every part of her life these days.
Considering her emotional state, it should have come as no surprise when she arrived home to find her sister Iris pacing the back patio. She’d probably sensed Rose’s agitation all the way from Willow Grove.
Rose parked her Chevy, peering through the windshield at her sister. Iris glared back, her posture tense.
Lovely.
“What the hell is going on, Rose?” Iris greeted her.
“Nice to see you, too.”
Eyes flashing with equal parts concern and irritation, Iris held up a newspaper with a large headline: Police Confirm Link Between Three Murders. “I was reading this story about a serial killer stalking your neighborhood when I came across your name. You helped set up a neighborhood meeting to address the issue? How civic of you.”
Rose sighed. “Since when do you get the
“Since my flighty sister pulled up stakes and headed to Birmingham without any notice.”
Rose pressed her lips together. “I’m fine.”
“And how did the neighborhood meeting go?”
“It went well. Lots of good information.”
To Rose’s surprise, Iris’s coffee-colored eyes filled with tears and her face crumpled. She sank onto the wrought iron bench by the door. “Rosie, what have I done?”
Rose sat beside her sister, putting her hand on Iris’s knee. “Done? Why would you think you’ve done something?”
Iris dashed away a tear with an angry jab of her thumb. “I don’t know, maybe because you moved out of the house on a whim and left me there alone, and now you won’t return my calls?”
“I’m sorry.” Guilt washed over Rose in a dark wave. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I guess I was trying to avoid
