by Melody Raven
He tucked the phone into his pocket and did one last look around the messy apartment. From the looks of it, Christine wasn’t living there anymore. She’d come to the reception as his date, though. Had he asked her to come? Why want a woman there who was going to be making a fool of him?
Derek shook his head as the questions kept piling up with no answers in sight. He took the elevator down, hoping to avoid Bastian, but immediately regretted it. The car was slow and shaky and he was half convinced he was never going to make the lobby. Reyes had been a young, healthy guy when he’d originally rented this place probably. The condition of the elevator hadn’t been a deal breaker for him then.
His plan to avoid the bodyguard didn’t work because Bastian was leaning against Derek’s car when he walked onto the street.
“Get a good look?” asked Bastian.
“Not as good as I want to. What are the chances you’d let me bring in some forensics guys?”
“I let you inside as a favor. As a sign of my gratitude for your help in finding Reyes. From here on out, I’m not grateful. Understand?”
God, he really didn’t like this guy. “I get it. I’m getting out of your hair.” He knew better than to think this was the last time he’d see the scary witch. Especially considering his phone was vibrating in his pocket and he was ninety percent sure it was Sam who was calling.
Claire let out a breath and tried to clear her mind. Just let the magic come to her. That’s what Jackson had said. The meditation was coming easier to her. When she’d first sat down and tried to center herself, her mind had gone wild. Remembering little things she was supposed to do and dealing with the little itches she didn’t realize she had until she was trying not to move.
But after a week of effort, Claire had finally found some sort of peace. Not that she’d been able to get any better control over her magic, but she felt as if she were making progress. And the last two days of meditation had been... different. She didn’t come out of the trance feeling ready for a nap or as though she was ready to crawl into bed. Instead, she’d felt energized. Almost tingly with anticipation. Was that what magic felt like? Maybe she was getting the hang of it. Maybe Jackson wasn’t completely crazy.
Just as she was starting to slink into her thoughts, her phone rang. Claire’s eyes snapped open. She bent forward and snatched the phone off the coffee table and frowned when she saw Jackson was calling. Did he know she’d been thinking about him? “Hello?” she asked hesitantly.
“Blowing up any salt shakers yet?” asked Jackson.
“I thought you said that wouldn’t happen to me.”
“Sometimes what I expect and what actually happens are two different things. But the point was, is anything happening?”
Claire let out a sigh. “I haven’t tried to do anything. You told me to meditate and I’ve been meditating.”
“Well, it’s time to stop meditating. Let’s meet up and see what you’ve learned.”
She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t learned anything. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Fine. Then let’s meet again and I’ll teach you.”
Claire finally pushed herself up and made her way to the kitchen. She opened the top drawer and found a pen and paper. “Okay,” she said. “Where are we meeting?”
“Same place as before. Do you think you’ll get there in an hour?”
At this time of day, it should be more than enough time. “Yeah. I’ll see you then. And none of that invisible man crap. It wasn’t cute the first time.”
“Of course it wasn’t cute. This face wasn’t made for hiding.”
Jackson hung up before she could point out his vanity. Claire sighed and set the paper back in the drawer. Didn’t look like she needed to write anything down anyways. She kept the pen in her hand as she twirled it between her fingers. She knew what Sam had told her to do: call the magic to her and then use it.
But Jackson said it wouldn’t work for her. She’d been clearing her mind and meditating like crazy for the past week. She should already be charged up. What had happened when she moved that whole tree? She hadn’t thought about it. It just happened.
So before she could overthink anything, Claire threw the pen into the air and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the clattering of the pen against the hardwood floor. But just silence greeted her. She cracked open one eye at first and then the other. Holy crap, it worked. The pen floated in the air right in front of her nose, spinning in slow circles. She’d managed to levitate pencils in the past few weeks but nothing like this.
Nothing with control.
She smiled as she snatched the pen out of the air. There. At least she had some form of progress to show Jackson. She changed out of her yoga pants and into jeans, but kept on her t-shirt. It was another hand-me-down from Sam, all black with a smattering of red roses arranged in the shape of a heart. Sam had been too busy trying to be the good granddaughter to pick up any of her clothes. But if it gave Claire time to push off doing any more clothes shopping than absolutely necessary, she was a happy camper.
Once she was changed, she pulled on a black leather jacket and tennis shoes before she headed downstairs and hailed a cab. The stupid pen thing had her smiling during the entire ride to the abandoned lot where she’d met Jackson before.
She got there a few minutes early, but that was the plan. She didn’t trust Jackson to not pull the invisible stunt again, and this time she was going to be ready. She glanced around her at the decaying city behind her and the deceptively serene trees in front of her. She went farther out into the center of the lot and turned as the cab she rode in turned the corner and left her. This driver was not nearly as concerned about her safety. Maybe it was because she wasn’t projecting as much fear this time.
Now she was... excited. Maybe it hadn’t done much, but the meditation had helped. Maybe if Jackson was right about her being a different type of witch, that meant he was the only one who could help her. The one who could teach her how to harness her power. To defend herself. Claire smiled once again when she heard a branch snap behind her.
Claire swung around, but there was no one there. Of course Jackson was going to pull this again. “I’m not going to deal with your tricks!” she called out. “If you don’t show yourself right now, I’m leaving.” And by leaving, she meant calling a cab and waiting twenty minutes for one to show up.
Jackson didn’t suddenly appear in front of her and the hair on her neck stood on end. She could totally believe Jackson doing the invisible act again. But he wouldn’t be hiding from her. He would be messing with her or trying to activate her magic somehow.
Instead, all she heard was the soft rustling of the wind through the trees, which was more menacing than relaxing. Claire turned in a circle but didn’t see or feel anything. “Jackson!” she called out once more, hoping he’d respond to her this time.
Except the figure that emerged from the woods definitely wasn’t Jackson. Claire stumbled back and threw any magic she might have at the approaching figure, pushing everything she could through the palms of her hands. And it worked. She could feel the gentle humming that she’d been energized with leave her body in a big whoosh. But it wasn’t enough to even make the figure flinch.
No, no, no, no. This wasn’t going to happen again. Claire turned and started to run, but she never got a step before something grabbed her ankle and yanked back. Claire hit the rough grass and dirt hard and twisted around to see what was holding her, but there was nothing there. She started to scoot back, but then a boot pressed into her throat and held her into the ground.
She winced as the pressure on her windpipe increased. She wasn’t going to cry. She was going to get out of this. She had to get out of this. The person holding her down obviously didn’t agree.
“Hello, Claire. It’s time to finish what we started.”
Sam looked at Derek’s empty office and then back out at the cubicles on the floor. If Derek was there, she should be able to see him. He towered a good tw
o feet over all of the fake walls. But just because she didn’t see him didn’t mean he was gone. He could be in an office or even in the bathroom.
She sighed and debated waiting in his office for him like a good girlfriend, but she was too antsy, too energized from their night together. She’d always known that sex was a great way to power up and recharge, but sex with Derek was like shoving her arm right into a light socket. She remembered that night with Jackson not too long ago. She almost felt bad for Jackson. He was so handsome and well-meaning and there for her.
But he was nothing compared to Derek. When she had left Jackson, she felt a slight buzz, almost as if she’d had a strong coffee. But when she’d left Derek last night, she felt as though she’d just had a coffeepot full of espressos. She walked along the line of cubes and clenched and unclenched her fists. She wanted to try something. Right now, she felt as though she were capable of anything. As if she could try any spell and pull it off. As if she could actually be the granddaughter Claudia wanted.
Voss walked out of his office and froze in place when he saw her. Considering she’d dressed for the precinct in her black sentry pants and a black button-up blouse, she knew it was purely recognition that was shocking him. “Ms. Harris,” he said with a mixture of respect and questioning.
With all the mind control he’d been under the past week, it was easy to forget that he was the reason she was there. The reason she’d started to help the police to begin with. “Hello, Captain. I’m looking for Derek. Is he around? He should’ve been expecting me.”
Voss’s brows drew together. “He’s not here? He’s supposed to be working on the le—on his current case.”
Well shit, she wasn’t trying to get him in trouble. “Don’t worry about it,” said Sam. “I only just walked in. I’m sure he’s in the bathroom.”
“He’s looking for Reyes,” said a voice from the other side of the cubicle wall next to Sam.
“He’s doing what?” bit out Voss as he moved to look over the cubicle wall.
Sam followed. The detective below seemed to be a little younger than Derek, but the years weren’t quite as kind. From this view, she could see how his hair was thinning and his beer gut pressed against the desk. But what really caught her attention were the papers strewn across his desk. Namely the picture of a severed leg. “You’re looking into the missing body too?” she asked.
Voss jerked away from the wall and gently but firmly put a hand on her arm and led her back toward Derek’s office. “I’m happy that you and Pierce seem to be happy. I’m especially happy you’re not planning on suing us after the little incident a few months ago. But I can’t have you wandering around here unsupervised, understand?”
Before Sam could tell him exactly what she thought, a big hand clamped down on Voss’s shoulder. “Hey, Voss,” said Derek as he came between him and Sam. “I had to run to my car for a second. Everything okay here?”
She wished she could pretend she hadn’t just pissed off Derek’s boss, but he was too good at reading people. “Everything is fine. I got here a bit early and started to wander.”
“Maybe you could meet your girlfriend downstairs next time,” said Voss with a pointed glare that really said, Maybe you shouldn’t be meeting your girlfriend at work at all.
He left without another word and Derek ushered Sam into his office. Even though the windows didn’t give them much privacy, he still backed her into the corner and caught her mouth in a kiss. Sam couldn’t help the smile as she kissed him back. Even though it was over much too soon, a small rush snaked through her veins. Apparently she was into making out in public places. Who knew?
As Derek crossed to sit at his desk, Sam covered her mouth with her hand. If she and Derek were going to keep on like this, she was going to have to get used to living without her dark lipsticks. A price she was more than willing to pay.
“What did you need in your car?” she asked, trying to think of small talk when all she really wanted to know was when they would be able to get a few moments to themselves again.
“I lied. I was just at Reyes’s apartment.”
Sam tensed as she fell into the chair on the other side of Derek’s desk. “You went there alone? Do you have a death wish or something?”
“There was nothing to be afraid of,” said Derek. “Reyes was dead.”
“Oh my God,” breathed Sam. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I don’t think it was your family who did it. Your bodyguard was there when I arrived and he said your grandmother had nothing to do with it.”
It took Sam a second to realize who her bodyguard was. “Bastian? And you believe him?”
“He made a good argument that since I have no power in this relationship that he has no reason to lie.”
Sam nodded. “That sounds like Bastian. So if Claudia didn’t kill Reyes, who did?” She wanted to feel bad. She logically knew that it wasn’t really Reyes who’d infected her. But she couldn’t deny the rush of relief at knowing that he couldn’t hurt her anymore.
Derek reached into the pocket of his brown leather jacket and threw a phone wrapped inside a plastic bag on the desk. “This is all I have. Bastian is going to clean the scene and no one is even going to know there’s been a murder.”
“Maybe we should let him handle it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I think last night proved we’re both out of our league. Claudia is better suited to face anything darkness related.”
“Whoever this is just killed a cop. They’re probably the same person who worked with Tommy Collins. Who taught him the spells and helped him kidnap and rape five women. Who helped kidnap Claire.”
Sam sucked in a breath. The further she got from the incident with Tommy, the easier it was to block his horrendous actions. But she had to remember. She couldn’t let what happened to those women be forgotten. “So you think we might get prints off the phone?” She could see the white powder coating the shiny black plastic and knew he’d already started to run prints.
“No. But in my line of work, you need to eliminate some things. So it was worth doing.”
“What about the leg case? Don’t you have to work on that today? You can’t keep pushing back your other workload for this.”
“Prints take time to run. In the meantime, I’ll brief you on what I’ve got so far on the leg case and you can tell me if there’s any way you can help on the case. But no potions in gardens this time, okay? That freaked me out.”
“It wasn’t pleasant for me either,” she said under her breath. “But I don’t get why they’re putting so much pressure on you to solve this. They have other detectives.”
“Yeah, but after the Tommy Collins fiasco, they’re trying to push the pain-in-the-ass jobs on me. The better you are at your job, the more work you get kind of thing.”
“At least you’re getting help from other detectives.”
Derek snorted. “Other cops maybe, but not detectives.”
“I just saw someone looking at the pictures. Isn’t everyone on this level a detective?”
Derek pushed his chair back and stood. “You saw someone here looking at pictures of a severed leg?”
“Yeah. It’s the kind of thing that scars you for life, so I’m pretty sure I’m not mistaken.”
“Who? Where?”
Sam pointed through the windows toward Voss’s office. “The guy right over there.”
“Cooper,” breathed Derek as he moved past her and out of his office. Sam followed and stopped at the cube she’d just been at.
“Hey, what case are you working on?” asked Derek.
Cooper let out an annoyed breath. “I really don’t have time to talk, Pierce.”
Derek let politeness fly out the window as he just barged into Cooper’s cube and started to look through the papers. “Why are you looking into the leg?”
“Hey!” Cooper started to snatch all of the files out of Derek’s hands. “Because the captain is pretty much threatening to t
hrow me to the wolves if I don’t figure out who is behind this. Apparently the mayor is breathing down his neck about it. They’re worried about civvies finding body parts all over.”
Derek let Cooper take the rest of the papers as he backed up slowly.
“What?” asked Sam. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing good,” grumbled Derek as he strode right into Voss’s office without knocking. “Who else is working on the leg case?” he demanded.
Sam raised her brows at how he spoke to his boss, but she didn’t get in the middle of it.
“What the fuck is your problem, Pierce?” Voss shot back, without answering the question.
“My problem is that you’ve got me and Cooper working the same case without telling us. Who else do you have on this case?”
Voss tilted his head as though trying to understand why Derek was so upset. “I need this case solved ASAP, Pierce. It’s our job. Solve crimes.”
“Who. Else.”
“Everyone. I have everyone looking into it.”
Derek backed up slowly until he was out of the office and stumbled back to his own.
Sam followed and softly shut the door behind him once he reached his desk. “What’s happening, Derek? What do you know that I don’t?”
“This was a diversion.”
“What?”
“Everything is connected. Someone brainwashed Voss to help with the coverup.”
“Derek, you’re not making any sense.”
“This case, Voss’s stick up his ass about it, the fact that every single homicide detective is working on it and following up on dead ends. It’s all misdirection. Someone—someone who is probably mind bending Voss and who knows who else—is getting all the cops to look in another direction. So what are we missing? While we’ve been looking at this fucking leg, what has someone been getting away with?”