NO SOUVENIRS

by

Piper Merlyn

Chapter 7

The Chapters

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

Even with Frank driving carefully, they got lost twice before finally finding Pine Street again. None of them had paid the least bit of attention to direction or street signs, while riding the cable cars, and it was entirely different, driving. Quite a few drivers blew their horns because Frank would slow down at inopportune moments.

"There," said Joe with a tone of relief. "Whew. I'm driving back to the hotel."

Frank parked in front the old Victorian where Jasmine and Macey lived and gave Joe a hard look. "You drive like Mario Andretti."

"I paid attention coming here, so I know how to get back."

"And I don't?"

Callie snorted. "Save the bickering for later. Come on."

Vanessa cleared her throat. "What if Jasmine sees us?"

"I have an idea." Joe pointed at Vanessa. "Why don't we go up, buzz her, ask her about that pendant and then when we leave her apartment, we'll check out Macey's."

"That's devious, Joe," said Callie. "Downright sneaky."

"But it works." Frank nodded. "That's what we'll do then." They got out of the car and up the six steps to the front door. They buzzed Jasmine's apartment and waited. Joe shifted his  weight from foot to foot. "We should've called. Maybe she's not home, maybe she's—"

"Yes?" came Jasmine's voice over the scratchy speaker.

"Jasmine, it's Frank Hardy. We came up yesterday, looking for Macey."

"Have you found her?"

"No," said Joe, sticking his face close to the grid. "We need your help on something, though."

"Sure, come on up."

There was a buzzing sound and the click of a lock being undone. The four of them darted inside and headed up the stairs to the top floor. Jasmine was waiting for them with her door open. "Come on in."

Joe led the way inside and stopped cold. Two people were standing by the table where Jasmine's computer sat. The man was tall, with a trim beard and somewhat longish dark brown hair. His blue eyes twinkled as he nodded to them. The woman was more on the petite side with sable curls and dark eyes.

Frank cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company."

Jasmine shook her head. "They're not company." She gave the couple a grin. "They're not that special."

The man held out a hand. "Thane Sarver, and this is my fiancée, Cristina Dimitri." His blue eyes shot to Jasmine. "Stop smirking."

Jasmine wrinkled her nose at him. "I can smirk if I want to. I told you a year ago..."

Cristina laughed softly. "Jasmine, enough with the razzing. You'll annoy Sheldon."

Jasmine grunted. "Now it's Sheldon's turn to find a fiancée."

"I already have a ladyfriend, mind you, Jasmine. I need no singles ad or any such rubbish." An older man, tall, aristocratic, came towards them. He nodded to four newcomers. "Sheldon Reeves."

Jasmine quickly introduced the Hardys and their girlfriends. When Joe saw everyone looking at him, he groaned. "Let me guess, you know Casi too."

Thane smiled. "As a matter of fact, we do. Met her in Egypt two years ago. So you know her too?" At Joe's nod, Thane's smile widened. "Then you've met her husband?"

Joe nodded again. "Yeah. It was freaky."

"I'll say," said Sheldon, "considering you both have the same name. How intriguing," he added, his accent a mixture of English and just a hint of French.

Jasmine looked at Frank. "So what can I help you with?"

Vanessa took off the necklace and handed it to Jasmine. "Macey sent this to me. What is it?"

"Oh. It's a triquetra. A Celtic knot symbol for three."

Frank cleared his throat. "Jasmine, what do you know about witches?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Witches? You mean Wiccans, don't you?"

"Wiccan." Joe said. He nudged Frank. "Remember that girl in Sag Harbor - Ashlan? She said she was a Wiccan and Jude mentioned a coven."

Callie frowned. "Coven - like a witches' coven?" She slid a glance to Frank. "Sounds like you had a very interesting trip to Sag Harbor. When was this?"

"We told you, Cal. Those sisters whose mom and uncle were killed, remember?" said Joe.

Jasmine nodded slowly in response to Callie's question. "They have the same belief system to a degree. There are four major days celebrated in the Celtic year. Samhain – Halloween, Candlemas, Beltane and Lughnasadh." She pronounced the last word loon-sar. She gave a slight shrug. "Interestingly enough, those days coincide with the Wiccan year's major sabbats."

"Sabbats?" asked Callie, puzzled. "What are those?"

"Sacred days. There are four major sabbats and four minor sabbats in a Wiccan year. The four major ones are Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. The four minor ones are the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices," explained Jasmine.

Frank looked over at his brother. "So it is possible the five missing women are Wiccans – witches."

Jasmine took a deep breath. "San Francisco has its New Age-ers and hippies, both drawn from the nature lore and mysticism of Wicca. I know about three years ago, seven women were killed. The tabloids raised the issue of altars, Satanism and what not, but that's not true."

Reeves  looked at Jasmine. "I had not realized you had researched all that, Jasmine."

"Got sidetracked a couple of years ago. I think around the time Michael was thinking that there was a significance to Casi being born on Halloween." She waved a hand as if to dismiss it all and smiled at the four teenagers. "I'm glad it came in handy."

Cristina stepped forward, tapping Jasmine's shoulder. "You said seven women were killed three years ago, all apparently Wiccans. And now five women are missing, also Wiccans. Could it be a serial killer?"

Jasmine took a deep breath. "I don't know. The killings just stopped. It  was weird actually, the killings started on Friday the 13^th. Seven women killed in the course of one day. That's unusual even for a big city like this one."

"Besides being Wiccan, was there anything else that connected them?" asked Joe.

"They were all single, lived alone." Jasmine looked down at the triquetra symbol pendant. "Hmmm..."

Vanessa took a step forward. "What?"

"The triquetra symbol. I know where I've seen it. Piper has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist. And their cat. Her collar has the symbol like a tag." Jasmine turned to look at them, absently handing Vanessa her necklace back. "The triquetra is the symbol for three –  three sisters....I wonder..."

Frank leaned forward. "What?"

"Well, the newspaper is supposed to report only news, facts, but in the last four or five years people have disappeared. Usually it's people who are bad or criminal, but one person who disappeared was the Assistant District Attorney about a year and a half ago. He vanished without a trace. Police looked into it for awhile and even one of the officers vanished. No more's been heard about either of them."

"What's that got to do with the Halliwells?" asked Cristina.

"Well, the ADA, Cole Turner, he was married to Phoebe."

Joe sighed and glanced at Frank. "We keep coming back to them," he said quietly.

Frank shushed him and nodded to Jasmine. "Thanks for the information, Jasmine. We appreciate it."

Jasmine smiled. "No problem. It's my job." At their puzzled looks, she laughed and added, "I'm a professional researcher, remember."

Callie managed a smile at the other people in the room. "It was nice meeting you all."

"Same here, same here," said Reeves. "Thane, we must be going too. Let Jasmine get back to her research."

"Okay, Sheldon. Jasmine, next time you talk to Michael—" Thane smiled at her grunt. "Tell him to call me at the hotel in Egypt. I'll be there for the  next month or so."

Joe looked over at the couple, noticing their dark hair and almost olive complexions. "Are you two from Egypt?"

Cristina laughed. "No. I'm from Greece. Thane is from North Carolina." Her smile widened. "I’m a paleontologist, I study ancient languages. Thane's an archeologist."

Frank nodded. "Nice to meet you," he said, starting for the door.

After a chorus of good-byes, the four teenagers headed down one flight of stairs to Macey's apartment. Joe already had his lockpicks out and in less than a minute, he had the door open. "Let's get in, before they see us," he whispered.

The four of them ducked into the room and Joe pushed the door closed. The apartment was dim, the late afternoon sun filtering weakly through the lacey panels on the windows. Joe walked over to the low table. It sat against the wall on squat legs and a long black scarf was draped across its top.

On its surface sat several taper candles, brown, white, dark blue and  pink. An oversized goblet that looked like it was gold sat to one side and beside it was an antique-looking dagger.

Joe looked at from various angles. There was a definite oddness about the items on the table, the large throw pillows on the floor as if they were used to kneel on. There was a rustic broom leaning against the wall beside the table. But was it really stuff witches used?

Frank peeked past the long row of black lace curtains. Beyond was a neatly made bed with a drape of sheer netting hanging from the ceiling. In the dimness, he could make out an armoire, a desk with a computer on it and a filing cabinet, draped with a black scarf. Resting on the top was a clear shallow bowl. Next to the bowl was a rectangular champagne-colored crystal attached to a chain.

Frank pushed back the curtains and found a light switch but when he turned it on, only a dim blue glow filled the sleeping area. Surely, she didn't work on the computer in the near dark. He moved closer to the desk and found an old-fashioned banker's lamp, its green shade not allowing for much light. The lamp was situated to focus all the available light onto the keyboard.

He tugged on the top drawer of the filing cabinet, prepared to find it locked, but the drawer slid smoothly open. There were no files in it though, just two leather-bound books. He moved to pick the top one up but something stopped him. Frank frowned, puzzled. It was as if he didn't want to touch them. His frown deepened and he tried again, but felt a sense of being repulsed. How odd.

Frank tried one last time as he heard someone come up behind him. "What are they?" asked Callie, gazing at the books and then around the sleeping area. "She's really into the mysticism, huh?"

With the extra light, no matter how dim, he saw the walls were painted with symbols. "Hmm, Callie, can you pick up that book?"

Callie gave him an odd look, reached into the drawer and then yanked her hand out. "Weird."

"You feel it too?"

Callie frowned. "It's like...like it doesn't want me to touch it. How weird is that?"

Frank sighed and pushed the drawer closed. He opened the bottom one but only found more practical things: hanging folders with information on utility bills, rent receipts, grocery receipts, payment stubs. He pushed that one closed as well. "I don't think we'll find anything in here."

He and Callie walked into the living area of the apartment, and saw Joe had wandered over to the kitchen, and was poking through the refrigerator. Vanessa was standing by the low table, just staring at the things on its surface.

"Something's going on, Joe." He started to mention the books but something kept him from saying anything.

Callie looked at  him oddly and then frowned. She shook her head, looking puzzled. "Frank..."

Joe turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Vanessa cocked her head to one side and then dropped to her knees. From that position, she stretched out on her side and looked under the table.

Joe frowned. "Van, what are you doing?"

She reached under the table and pulled out a thin book. Frank walked over to her and she handed it up to him. She got to her feet as he opened it. He was stunned. It held names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses.

"How'd you know to look there, Van?" asked Joe, excited.

Vanessa shrugged. "That's how I hide my diary. Mom hasn't thought to look under my desk, just in the drawers."

Joe gave her a hug and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Way to go, babe."

Frank  scanned the contents of the book. "Look, there's that triquetra symbol next to several of these names."

Joe looked over his shoulder. "Wonder what it means?"

"I don't know," said Frank. "Let's take this and we'll look it over at the hotel. We'd better get out of here."

Joe nodded. "Let's go then. But I'm driving."

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