Page 94 of The Sister's Curse
She gave it a passing glance. “Dad collected crosses. Even ugly ones.”
Leah and Kara went down the hallway to Leah’s room. I turned left, into the master bedroom.
This room didn’t belong with the rest of the house, which was almost sterile. The closet had been ransacked, and I saw tracks in the carpet from the wheels of a piece of luggage. I peered into open drawers, seeing men’s clothes.
I went to Leah’s room. Leah was putting clothes and notebooks on her bed, and Kara carefully placed them in garbage bags. It seemed so harsh to move a child out with garbage bags, but this was the way of things.
I glanced around Leah’s room. A Bible sat on the nightstand, which Leah didn’t bother to pack up. She grabbed notebooks out of her closet, and framed photos of a woman with Leah, who I presumed to be her mother.
“You look like your mom,” I said softly.
Leah stared down at the picture in her hands. “I miss her.”
Kara put her arm around Leah. “It’s gonna be okay, kiddo.”
“Yeah. Yeah, it is.” She nodded to herself.
My gaze fell on one of Leah’s notebooks. It had fallen open, showing some of her art. There were very good pen-and-ink drawings of a cat, a lion, and a woman with angel wings. “You’re a very good artist.”
“Thanks. Dad thought my art was a waste of time.”
I flipped the page and saw a picture of a snake eating its own tail. I kept my voice light. “What’s this?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Nothing.” She closed the notebook and stuffed it into a bag.
“Leah, I have to tell you that I think this symbol is important to the case I’m working. I need you to be honest with me.”
Leah looked at me, her chin lifted a notch. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s something. It’s something I keep seeing, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
Leah crossed her arms over her chest. “Why should I tell you anything?”
I sat on the edge of the bed. “I know the adults in your life have failed you in a really major way. Trust isn’t something that’s given freely. I get that. But there are people dying here. This is serious.”
Leah looked away. “I saw it at the gas station. I traced it.”
“I think you and your friends have been in contact with Viv Carson. Viv has gone missing.”
Leah blinked. “She’s missing?”
“Yeah. We’re trying to find her. We suspect foul play. If there’s anything you can tell us, it might save her life.”
Leah’s shoulders sagged. “She’s like my mom in a lot of ways, you know? But stronger. My mom never really fought back, but Viv does.”
“Viv is the leader of your coven.” Saying it aloud felt like cracking a geode open, exposing to light something that hadn’t been seen in many years.
She nodded. “Viv showed us that we’re not just here to serve. We’re here to be powerful. To be free.”
“Leah, did the coven kill those people?”
She looked away.
“I can’t help you unless I know what happened.”
Leah’s lip trembled. “I…I had an abortion six months ago. Viv took me.”
The bill at Viv’s house wasn’t for Viv’s procedure. I sat beside Leah and took her hand. “That’s not what I—that’s not killing.”
