Chapter 17
Wednesday, August 21st, 1985
"How was the meeting yesterday Kam?" Kelly asked as she walked into the office, bags with take-out food in her hands as her Angels all gathered around the bar, taking their order from Kelly, all of them sitting around on the bar stools.
"Oh, it was beyond boring. Janet and I only stayed for about two hours, ate and talked to people, but there were a lot of whom I believe to be the regular who wasn't there, not sure why. It was not much people there at all. We talked to some of them about food and lifestyle choices but we both decided that it was better to just head home early." Kamili said, shrugging her shoulders as she was sitting in the armchair.
"You're not upset that you weren't attacked right?" Madison grinned as she walked inside.
They had all been out during the morning, Sandra and Madison at the Prospect, working early to meet up with Kelly and Kamili for lunch. Kamili and Kelly had been gathering up everything they had, laying it out on the tables in the office, trying to get some thread through it all. They had a pile of photos, with all information from the CIA and the FBI attached to them along with their own research. They had the notebooks, the paper clippings, magazines, photographs, Ava's diary which Kamili was still reading, and all the things spread out was the reason to why they were eating by the bar.
"It was really boring there." Kamili smiled, shrugging her shoulders while digging into her food. "But going home early I did have time to read her diary some more. It's mostly stuff about making your own potions, ideas for different spells, notes and thoughts she wanted to remember. So far, she hasn't mentioned other witches by name, but I will keep reading it."
"Did you find out anything about Josie?"
"No, not really. She wasn't there. I asked around a bit about her, but people seem to distance themselves from her a bit. A few other women seemed to be a bit scared to talk about her. She can apparently be a bit crazy, making me wonder if it's her Alicia has been writing about when writing about the crazies amongst the witches."
"Maybe. We need to find out some more evidence before we take it to court though." Kelly sighed.
The four women ate in silence for a moment before Sandra chuckled.
"Humans really are creatures of habit, right?"
"What do you mean?" Kelly asked, rolling the noodles around her chopsticks.
"We have a whole building to sit in. There is a kitchen table downstairs and there are living room areas there as well. And still, we sit here in our little bar."
"We will have to start eating downstairs, otherwise that's just a waste of rent." Kelly laughed.
"Next time." All angels joined in.
"How are things at our favorite magazine?" Kamili asked, looking over to Madison and Sandra.
"You know how I wrote a draft about our four missing women?" Sandra said, her eyebrow up as the others nodded. "Well someone took it. It's missing."
"What? That's not suspicious at all." Kamili said sarcastically.
"I know, right? Well now I know they know so I will definitely be on guard for whatever may show up. I have a feeling it's going to go down very soon."
"I believe so too." Madison said. "I overheard two women, graphic designers I think, talking about a third woman. They kept saying how she had changed, her personality seemed different, she seemed much more stressed, her behaviour changing quite a bit. I couldn't figure out who they were talking about though, but I plan on hanging out more in their area to hopefully get more clues."
"They were talking about a she at least?" Kamili asked, Madison nodded.
"There are so many women working at the office." Sandra said, finishing off her food. "If we could just find one woman who might have a connection to the witch community."
"We do all agree that those two much be connected?" Kelly asked, looking around.
"They must be." Kamili said, pushing away her empty box with take away as well. "I know we said in the beginning that a witch would not burn another witch but I do belive that a witch would burn another to throw suspicion off."
"I think you're right." Kelly agreed.
"In one of the columns Alicia mentioned drugs as well. It's not impossible that the killer was high, maybe hallucinating, seeing and thinking that there was real witchcraft involved." Sandra said.
"That's definitely a possibility." Kelly said. "I will keeping going through all the files, read up on the people from the magazine to see if someone has a connection to the witches. I'll also keep eyeing through the diary. You guys should be taking off soon, right?"
"As soon as Madison is finished." Kamili smiled, watching Madison push the last pieces of chicken into her mouth, nodding.
"I'm done."
"No talking with your mouth full." Kamili said, her stern mother voice on for a moment before she laughed, Madison swallowing hard before laughing as well.
"Sorry mama."
"Come on, let's head off. We'll see you tomorrow Kelly. You know where to find us if you need anything."
"Sure. Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Kamili laughed for a moment, rolling her eyes before she suddenly realized something and twirled to Madison. "You are coming, right?"
Madison smiled, nodding, happy to be invited, before the three of them headed out of the office. Kelly smiled, moving herself to the couch as the three angels walked outside.
Getting into the different cars, they all headed to their respective homes to get a shower and a change of clothes, Sandra walked and fed her dogs, cuddling her cat and catching up with the parrot. Her neighbor would be looking them all over tonight and tomorrow morning, but Sandra still hated leaving her pets. All three angels finishing up at their respective homes, they got into separate taxis and met up at a walking distance from Janet's house. Giggly, the three detectives were not very subtle as they sneaked around back of Janet's house, climbing over the fence, planning to surprise her.
They had of course forgotten all about Raven.
The massive rottweiler came jumping into the air, a loud bark sounded as a warning just as Sandra was halfway over the fence, and she fell over with a yelp. Upon seeing who the intruder was, Raven instantly changed and lowered her front body to the ground, inviting Sandra to play. Sandra was on her back, laughing loudly.
"Sandra, you dead? Did Raven eat you up?" Kamili hollered down, sitting on top of the fence, holding onto it while laughing hard, Madison giggling loudly next to her, peaking over the top.
"Yes, I'm being kissed to death!" Sandra laughed as Raven's tongue happily licked Sandra's face.
"You're very loud, for being sneaky detectives."
Kamili looked up with a wide smile towards Janet who was standing a few feet away, baby in her arms, staring at her friends with a questioning eyebrow.
"What are you up to?"
"Happy birthday!" Kamili laughed as she jumped down from the fence, Madison following suit, Raven happy as she danced around the angels while Kamili offered Sandra a hand up.
"Oh no, I hoped you had forgotten about that." Janet sighed, but with a hint of a smile on her lips.
"Of course not." Sandra laughed. "We have the evening planned."
Janet raised an eyebrow as Devin walked outside, holding a bag for her that he had packed earlier. Now he held it out for her, in exchange for their son. "I get to spend some quality time with my son. You go out and have fun."
Janet laughed, giving the boy a good cuddle before leaving him over to Devin, giving her man a quick kiss. She hadn't really been without her boy since he came, and the thought made her feel slightly sick to her stomach but knowing her friends she knew she would have a great evening.
And it didn't take long before they were all in a taxi, heading towards the first stop of the evening, which appeared to be a hotel, one of the nicer ones in town. Janet gave a whistle as the four girls walked inside, Kamili walking up to the desk.
"Hi, we have reservations for the night in the name of Diallo."
Not long after, the four girls were shown to the top floor, doors opening to a beautiful suite. The four of them walked around the place, taking it all in before finding the bedroom, dropping their bags in the beds. There were two single beds and one really big king-sized bed in the room.
"There's only three beds." Kamili said. "I ordered four."
"Oh, that's alright, Janet and I have shared plenty of beds before."
"I knew the two of you were getting it on." Kamili laughed. "Coming out of the closet, are we?"
Sandra's face flushed red. "No, I only meant sleeping!"
"Yes, yes, whatever you say." Kamili grinned. "You take the big bed but no hanky-panky while Mads and I are in the room."
"We'll keep it down." Janet laughed, Sandra still embarrassed, but getting over it she begun to chuckle.
"Okay, I'll try to keep my hands off but no promises." She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.
Kamili grinned at her two friends, before looking down at her watch. "Oh, girls. We need to get a move on if we are to make it to the jacuzzi and sauna before it's time for our massages."
All her friends' faces lit up and soon they were heading down towards the spa area, giggly and happy to have a relaxing day off, just the four of them.
A few hours later, they had all been swimming in the pool area, enjoyed the jacuzzi and sauna and also got an hour-long massage, followed by acupuncture and a visit with the chiropractor, getting their bodies loose and nice. Very relaxed, they headed back up to the room, playing cards while they took turns in the showers, changing into fancier clothes, and headed out for dinner. Coming up to La Bonne Cuisine, they sat down at the VIP-table and enjoyed the fabulous French cuisine that Aurore was becoming famous for. Not having to order as Aurore already knew what they liked, their food consisted of fresh produce, cooked to perfection, Kamili's following her diet, Sandra's being vegetarian, Madison's duck being very strong in flavors and Janet's being a perfect coq-a-vin. All of it served with wine fitting perfectly.
As dessert arrived, the head chef brought it out herself, still dressed in her white jacket and chef's hat on top of her head, not singing as she knew Janet would've probably killed them with the spoon for putting her in the center of everyone's attention.
Placing the beautiful cake down to the table, it was easy to see that Aurore had begun her career in pastry, mostly famous for her beautifully decorated cakes. This one was absolutely no exception with its black handmade roses, and they all stared at it with big eyes as Aurore grinned before sabering open a champagne bottle.
All of them applauded and cheered her on before saluting with their glasses, clinking them together while once again wishing Janet a happy birthday.
As the wee hour of the nights creeped in, they all found themselves on the dance floor, having moved from the restaurant to The Upstairs. The music in the club was loud and the multicolored lights twirling in the roof, and all girls were happily rocking it out on the dance floor. They had been dancing for a while, planning to take a break but "oh just this song!" kept being repeated every time the DJ changed the was just so many good songs and neither one of them wanted to miss out.
The volume was loud, the base shaking the whole place, there were a lot of people all huddled together on the dance floor, the smell of sweat and alcohol very distinct but people were drunk enough to not notice.
All angels were enjoying themselves, wide smiles on their lips as they moved their bodies around. None of them had been clubbing for ages as there just hadn't been time for it. But between all the bad things that went on at work, they finally found some time now to just let loose and not care about tomorrow, just for a little while. With their bodies just listening to the music they could allow themselves to be in the moment and don't think about other worries. As Michael Jackson's song Thriller slowly faded out it gave them all a second to breathe, smiling towards each other through the dim but colorful lights, laughing, before they could hear Freddie Mercury's voice across the speakers and the whole dance floor lit up again as an inferno.
Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time
I feel alive and the world I'll turn it inside out, yeah
And floating around in ecstasy
So don't stop me now don't stop me
'Cause I'm having a good time, having a good time
Everyone on the dance floor went into sort of a trance at the sound of Freddie's incredible voice, and the massive crowd moving along with the music down on the floor sends the whole night club into a frenzy. There was certainly something special about this music, nothing could really get a crowd going as Queen could.
I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go, go, go
There's no stopping me
Kamili could feel the sweat on her body as she moved around, having had just enough alcohol to not notice the signs that she should calm down until it was too late. The room suddenly swayed, and somewhere through the fog she could hear Sandra call her name. She couldn't answer her though, and the darkness was surrounding her before she had time to stop it.
The next thing she knew, she was being dragged through the crowd, off the floor by strong arms and fast legs, her own legs not really taking her weight and her eyes not wanting to open fully, all while the music faded off in the background. She could feel her arms draped over two other people's shoulders, hands holding tightly to her wrists, arms across her lower back, holding onto her belt, pulling her across the floor down the hallway. Her head was hanging forwards, down towards her chest and she forced her eyes opened slightly, but immediately got nauseas as the floor was moving rapidly. Somewhere between her own heartbeats and the ringing in her ears, she could hear the faint voice of Freddie.
Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (yes, I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all
"Take her in here."
Kamili could distinguish Aurore's voice all of a sudden, close by, but she was not alert enough to show any reaction to her old friend's voice while her other friends pulled her along. She could hear them mumbling, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, the whole world blurred into a misty fog.
She suddenly felt how she was carefully lowered down and soon touched a soft couch, and she could feel strong hands move her body around, so that she was lying on her side, a hand under her head, a knee up, keeping her in the recovery position. Becoming more and more alert, Kamili tried to focus on her breathing.
It was quiet in there. The lights were dim. A wave of fresh, cool air hit her as someone opened a window. Someone was sitting down next to her hip, taking her arm and placing two fingers against her wrist, another hand gently rubbing her back. A cold cloth suddenly touched her face, moving over to her neck, upper back and chest. Kamili carefully tried to open her eyes again, instantly met by Janet's face, her dark eyes full of worry.
"Hey, are you back with us?"
Kamili nodded carefully, trying to focus on Janet's eyes instead of the pain in her chest and the way her heart fluttered. Janet gently wiped her face again with the cold cloth, allowing her to take her time.
"Does your chest hurt?"
Kamili nodded quietly, swallowing hard while closing her eyes again for a moment. She had been taught something called the valsalva maneuver by her cardiologist, and she tried her hardest to perform it, not really managing but slowly getting there. She could feel her heart beginning to calm down a little, but it was still racing out of her chest.
"Sweetie."
Kamili opened her eyes and saw a glass of water in front of her. Janet held it for her and helped her drink through the straw before closing her eyes again, breathing heavily.
"Kamili, how are you doing? Do we need to call for help, or drive you to the hospital?" Janet asked, her voice calm and quiet while she kept wiping Kamili off with the cold cloth.
"No." Kamili breathed. "Just... give me a moment."
The room lay dead quiet for another two-three minutes as Kamili just focused on her breathing, the chest pain finally subsiding, her breathing returning to normal.
"Pulse is slowing down." Sandra said calmly, relieved. She had almost been able to feel Kamili's pulse without touching her earlier as it had been so rapid.
Kamili looked towards Sandra, her hand moving out to hold her wrist, and Sandra caught her in a Roman handshake, helping her up into sitting position, allowing Kamili to look around freely, noticing that they all were in Aurore's office in the back of the restaurant. Sandra sat next to her in the couch, Janet who was on the floor moved up to Kamili's other side. Aurore was leaning back against her desk, still wearing the chef's jacket but her hat was off, arms crossed over her chest, Madison standing in the background, not really knowing what to do.
Kamili took the glass from Janet's hand, drinking it slowly to make sure it didn't come back up again. Taking a few deep breaths, she looked up at Janet while leaning back in the couch.
"What happened?"
"You fainted, we caught you as you tipped over. Do you remember anything?"
"I was just enjoying dancing, then it all got blurry."
"Well, no more alcohol for you." Aurore sighed in the background, the others agreeing.
"I didn't drink that much. A glass of champagne, a glass of wine and one drink. I think it was just all things combined." Kamili whispered. "Alcohol for the first time in ages, the loud music, the heat down on the dance floor..."
"... that stupid heart of yours." Sandra added, a knuckle rubbing Kamili's sternum. Kamili looked up at her, smiling gently, before putting her head down on Sandra's shoulder, Sandra chuckling as she got her face full of Kamili's afro curls.
"You were supposed to take it easy, remember you were almost blown up day before yesterday. You should've told us you were not up for this." Janet said gently.
"But I was up for this. I've felt fine all day, maybe sore and stiff but heart has felt fine since I left the hospital on Monday. I just… I just didn't notice it in time. I'm sorry for scaring you guys."
"Let's get back to the hotel room." Sandra suggested, rubbing Kamili's back. "We can get popcorn and watch a movie until we fall asleep, and then in the morning we get the hotel breakfast before we have to go back to work."
"Sounds like a great idea." Janet nodded."I vote for renting Back to The Future. They say it's good."
"Good choice, I haven't had time to see that." Sandra said, looking between Kamili and Janet.
"I'll drive you." Aurore offered. "I was heading home anyway."
"Thanks." Sandra smiled to Aurore before turning her head towards Kamili. "Are you okay to move?"
"Yeah." Kamili said tiredly, allowing Sandra and Janet to help her to her feet, holding her for a few seconds before making their way out to the car.
Arriving back to the hotel room, all girls changed into sleepwear. Kamili crawled down into the big double bed while Sandra made two big bowls of popcorn, Madison got them all some sodas and water and Janet started up the hotel room's video player. Soon all four of them were cuddled down in the large bed, happily, drunkenly eating popcorn and watching the TV excitedly as the movie started. Sandra, who was squished down between Kamili and Janet offered Kamili popcorn but realized that she was already sleeping before all the clocks started ticking in Doc's house, not even reacting as Marty McFly blew up the amplifier.
As the movie finished, Janet turned the TV off. Madison rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom, soon followed by Janet and then Sandra. As Sandra emerged from the bedroom the others had already crawled back down into the beds, drifting off to sleep. It was very late, and they had all had a long day. Sandra could feel a warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart as she looked through her glasses at the scene in front of her. Madison had crawled down and was already snoring lightly in one of the single beds, Janet next to Kamili. Sandra squeezed herself in next to Kamili on the other side of her, putting her glasses away and turned the lights off.
"I thought you'd prefer the single bed, that's why I laid down here." Janet offered, looking up over the sleeping angel in the middle of the bed.
"I know. I... I just want to be close to her tonight." Sandra said quietly, laying her head close to Kamili's shoulder. "She scared me."
"I know. She scared me too, I hate seeing her so vulnerable."
"I want the old, powerful Kamili back."
"She's coming, I'm sure of it. Well just help her out for a while." Janet smiled, putting her head down deep into her pillow. "Now, try to get some sleep sweetie. Do you still take your meds?"
"I normally do but I don't want to take them together with alcohol."
"I'm sorry if you felt pressured to drink just because we did."
"That's alright. I know I'm safe in your company, and to be honest I didn't drink that much, I just had a glass of champagne and a glass of wine."
"Trust me when I say we will all let you know if you begin to slip."
"I don't plan to do that. My head is in a much better place now." Sandra smiled, yawning. "Did you have a good birthday, all things considered?"
"I absolutely did. Thank you so much."
"Next year is the big three zero."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Janet said, closing her eyes, drifting off to sleep with a smile on her lips.
