The High Priestess (The Darkest Desires Series Book 1)

by N. M. Brown

  “Nurse Willow, I don’t think you understand what you’re suggesting.” Hale said politely. McQueen couldn’t help but agree with his partner. There was no one like Echo Headly in the world.

  Nurse Willow straightened her back and walked towards Hale. Though she had to look up, there was a tone in her voice that made it clear she wasn’t intimidated. "As medical practitioners, we don't give up. We don't like to suggest there isn't a silver lining. However, sometimes we have to." Nurse Willow looked to the Detective’s with determination on her face. "If Lizzy continues with these bouts of violence, she won't last much longer. The surgeons did what they could, but in my experience when a patient doesn't want to live and has injuries to this extent, they don't."

  "What are you suggesting? " Hale’s shoulders sagged further and even though McQueen was stood behind him, he knew the sorrow that would be on his face.

  Nurse Willow looked at McQueen, perhaps seeing he was taking the news better than Hale. "I would suggest detectives, that you find this Echo and get her here as soon as possible."

  "We can't." Hale snapped but even he had lost the grit in his voice. "She’s… she’s currently in custody."

  "Hale?" This case was spiralling out of control and they had no leads, no witnesses who weren't crazy and both men were at their wits end. "May we speak outside." McQueen didn’t know what to expect, but Hale left without a word.“Thank you, Nurse Willow.” He remembered to say and with a polite nod, he followed behind. The hall was quiet. The snooping nurses had gone, and McQueen was pretty sure you could throw a handful of stones and wouldn't hit a doctor.

  "What now?" McQueen watched his partner as the man seemed to age before his eyes. His back bent forwards and his eyes lost all shine. He looked tired. Exhausted. McQueen wondered again what Hale had been like when his wife was around, and again why had she left?

  "We can't bring her here." Hale processed. McQueen didn't comment allowing the senior detective work everything out at his own pace in his own mind. McQueen had made his judgement, but he would wait. "Her lawyers will have a field day with us." He seethed to himself. "If she even has one yet. It would be just like the Hellion’s to only bring one in last minute. Smug bastards." Hale was all in his own head now. The hall had disappeared for him, and as he paced, he ran a hand over and over his bald head. McQueen wasn't sure why the other Home owners had anything to do with this, but he remained quiet. He probably wasn’t wrong. To run a place like Cardinal House would cost a fortune so they had money. Money could buy the best lawyers in the world. Echo was pretty safe from any real prison time.

  Sighing hard, Hale placed his hand on his hips and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need information." Defeated and deflated, Hale looked to McQueen, no longer angry. Just a man on the edge. "We have no evidence. Just flimsy paper trails and theories. Any half decent lawyer could shred through what we have for both Echo and the Maddock hit man. We have no indication that the two of them have ever met or know each other, so it’s unlikely a team job. It’s one… or the other… or someone we don’t even have.” McQueen nodded. He too had thought of this, but Hale just kept going, slowly getting to where McQueen suspected he already was.

  “If we bring her here to assist, she'll never get convicted and we’ll lose. If we ask for her help, and don't get evidence that Maddock did this, we lose. If we bring her and get a suggestion someone else did it, both our suspects can walk, easily. And then of course,” Hale let out a humourless laugh, “If we do nothing, we will also lose."

  Taking a breath, McQueen laced his fingers together. "When did it become a game to win or lose?” Hale blinked at McQueen like that idea hadn’t occurred to him. McQueen took that moment to continue. “We need information Hale, we need evidence, and we need anything. The tech guys have found nothing but dog DNA and the victim’s blood at the first and second crime scene. We have Maddock the hit man down for the murder of the real Maddock, but that’s it. There is nothing about our current case.” McQueen took a breath but stood his ground, knowing the next part might help, or damn his career forever. “Echo… Echo has done… unspeakable things. Things that are immoral and unethical. But she has said before, and I believe her; she gives people what they ask for. Despite how twisted she is, I don’t think she would kill. She doesn’t… ‘believe’ in death. We need a chance at something. Anything.” He held his breath but when Hale didn’t say anything, he continued. “We should bring her here. She might help. She might get through to Lizzy. At the very least Lizzy might scream in fear and we can nail her for conspiring with the killer, or at least being at the crime scene.”

  The acclaimed Detective Hale looked off down the hospital hall with a stern expression on his face. Hands on hips, his coat pushed back, he looked fierce. But when he spoke, it was strained and cracked. "Go-… we’ll bring her in, and you better pray something comes out of it." He prompted through gritted teeth. He might have said more, but the shrill, chirp of his mobile drew away both their attentions. “Detective Hale speaking?” McQueen waited patiently while Hale listened to the other end. Yet even as he did, McQueen saw Hale’s hand clench around the phone and his jaw lock. “What did you just say?” McQueen waited with bated breath.

  Only a few more seconds passed before Hale drew the phone away from his ear, trying to contain his rage. “What is it?” McQueen asked, gut churning with unease.

  Hale needed to take a breath before he spoke. “Maddock the hit man posted bail. His lawyer walked out of the station with him fifteen minutes ago.” Hale slammed his fist in the wall. “God damn it, we had him on murder charges. How the hell did he get to just walk out?”

  McQueen gaped. “Did they at least put a tail on him?” He asked. Hale’s face was devoid of all emotion which was answer enough for McQueen. “Shit!” Their number one suspect, however dubious, had just walked.

  “You go get Ms. Headly.” Hale nodded to himself, “Bring her here, and get some kind of lead. I’ll find Maddock.”

  “How are you going to manage that?” McQueen scoffed, not thinking. Hale narrowed his eyes and McQueen swallowed hard. “Right, right.” McQueen cleared his throat. “I’ll collect E- Ms. Headly.” McQueen nodded, thinking how that particular conversation might go down after their last visit. His bet, not well.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Benny!” McQueen called walking into the station pulling the laughing man away from his doughnuts and cream.

  By the time Benny made it over to McQueen’s desk, most of the powdered sugar had fallen off his shirt, but he still looked disorderly. “Yes McQueen.” A sneered tickled his lips. Apparently, someone put an end to Benny’s exaggerated rumours. Guess who got the blame?

  “I need you to pull Ms. Headly from her cell and bring her here.” Shuffling through some papers, McQueen found Echo’s file, thin and freshly compiled. It was about to get a lot thicker.

  Benny scoffed. “Why? That bitch is going to rot. Hale will see to it.” Then Benny’s tubby cheeks became a mottled red and his hands, previously on his hips, crossed over his chest. “Or are you hoping to get one last, desperate shag in before the witch croaks?” McQueen breathed deeply, “Gods you must be desperate to go near that psycho? Not as many sheep here in the English countryside as Ireland, ‘ay McQueen?” Benny got a few chuckles from his other buddies by the coffee machine which bolstered Benny’s confidence.

  Standing slowly, McQueen, looked down on Benny’s small stature. “Officer Rocher. Would you do as requested? I’m sure as you aspire to be a detective you know how hard it can be? Have you received your recommendations yet?”

  Benny’s eyes flashed, and his fists shook. All he had to do was hit him, and Benny would be gone, stuck being a security guard. McQueen was almost surprised to feel himself egging Benny on, wanting him to punch him. He was the very image of what officers in the force shouldn’t be. Someone though the same though, as Benny was repeatedly shot down in his application to take the detectives training course.

  “Miss Headly you say
?” Benny spoke through clenched teeth and a look that promised this wasn’t over. “I’ll bring her right out.” Feeling the twisted anger drain out of him, McQueen was pleased to see Benny’s troop of mates had moved on. He could bow his head over his desk and curse in peace. This case was just building to become way too much.

  “McQueen?” Pausing his running mind and looking over his shoulder, McQueen saw Officer Ramirez swiftly moving towards him. Behind him slowly walked Nic Hellion, his hair a mess, t-shirt baggy and stained. He’d not met Nic in person, only seen images of the family Hale had gathered from the raid, but watching him now, especially in his bare feet he gave him the creeps.

  “I’m sorry Mr. Hellion, now isn’t good, if you could come back another time…?” McQueen suggested but Nic didn’t move. Instead he smiled slowly and rocked on his heels.

  “No need to be so formal detective. Call me Nic.”

  “Well… Nic, we’re still very busy so if you don’t mind Officer Ramirez will show you out.” Again, he didn’t move even when Ramirez stood a little too close. He just looked lazily around the station. “Mr. Hellion, I-,”

  But Nic butted in, still with a smile plastered on his face as he circled his and Hales desk. It reminded McQueen of a creepy clown. “I was actually looking for Detective Hale. I wished to speak to him.” He rolled to the tips of his toes as if to get a better look around. His arms remained clasped behind his back. “He and my family had a very interesting discussion when he visited our home. I’m here to… extend an olive branch, as it were.” The slow, coy smile Nic pulled as he spoke gave McQueen a horrid sinking feeling.

  “Detective Hale isn’t here.” McQueen said steadily. “You can leave a message at reception.” McQueen doubted any friendly conversations happened on Hale’s watch during a raid, but the notion still didn’t sit well with McQueen. He wasn’t even sure he wanted Nic to leave a message, though he couldn’t pin point why.

  “Oh. Well that’s fine. I’ll try later.” That didn’t make McQueen feel any better. Suddenly Nic’s eyes flicked over McQueen’s shoulder and a very small twitch curled the corner of his mouth. That alone should have prepared McQueen.

  “Nic…Why are you here?” Echo asked wearily, looking at her family member.

  Nic shot Echo a humorous smile, “No need to flap sweetie, I'm not here for you. I’m here for the same reason I only even come to the heart of Rippling: substance.” And he laughed deeply and under his breath at his own private joke. Again, it was creepy. Echo didn’t reply, but she furrowed her brow more, either not understanding like McQueen, or she didn’t like the answer. Snapping her forward, Benny slammed her into the chair next to McQueen’s desk, closing the cuffs around the table leg and cross beams.

  “There you go Detective! Try not to pound her too hard.” And like a scolded child, Benny walked away with his vulgar mouth in toe. Any other day McQueen would have reprimanded his disrespectful words and lack of professionalism, but today had just been too long.

  “Well, again, I hope I answered your question Mr.-… Nic. If you want to follow Officer Ramirez…”

  “Of course, of course.” Amused he stepped back and stopped, spotting the stack of files McQueen had previously been shuffling through. The corners of Cassi’s autopsy photos had fallen out showing blood, bone and the mutilated lower half of someone’s body. Pale white glowed in the camera flash, but the glossy paper didn’t do the crime justice. “What an unfortunate case. So sad….” Nic mused while Echo scoffed loudly, but said nothing.

  Hastily, McQueen restacked the pile, hiding the images from view. “Sorry, Mr Hellion. Those shouldn’t be anywhere for anyone to see.” McQueen looked back at Nic and was disturbed to find no disgust on his face.

  “Interesting, but bloody-,” Nic spoke on, eyes trained to the spot the photos had once been. “Such violence delivered on so few. Takes me back-…” Nic seemed to just be able to hold his tongue, eyes flicking to McQueen’s who watched him with new found interest. “Well, whoever is doing this, they do like the old ways.”

  “What do you mean ‘old ways’?” McQueen asked, squaring himself to face Nic, but he stayed quiet, lost in his own thoughts. “Mr. Hellion” McQueen asked harder this time, catching his attention. “What do you mean old ways?”

  “Ancient India.” He smiled. “They had a beautifully gruesome law. Been abolished over the years but it was said to be brutal. Now what was it?” The excitement on Nic’s face chilled McQueen to the bone and if a voice could blister your skin, while soothing it too, that was the voice that slipped from between Nic’s lips. “If a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or her excellence, violates the duty which she owns to her lord, the king shall have her devoured by dogs in a place frequented by many.” McQueen gaped. “In short. If you were unfaithful you were ripped apart by dogs. It always seemed to be the woman however.” Nic chuckled looked into nothing again, eyes unfocused as if remembering, before looking back, meeting McQueen’s stare. “Anyway, I’ll bid you a due. I’ll leave a note for Detective Hale at the reception?”

  And like that, with a low sweeping bow, Nic walked away. It was so abrupt Ramirez had to jog slightly to catch the kid up and escort him out.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  McQueen slumped in his chair. He took a minute or two to himself and Echo didn’t speak. This surprised him, but he took the reprieve. He knew she would want out of here and to have the charges dropped, but knowing her character, he really didn’t want to take her to a traumatized victim. Looking sideways at the vixen, he ignored the pitter-patter of his heart and remind himself that she’d drugged him. She’d drugged the victims and lead them to their deaths.

  “What?” She growled at him, fire in her eyes.

  “Ms. Headly-,” Yet just as McQueen gathered his wits, he heard his name called across the station, and saw a bouncy Two hop towards him.

  “McQueen. Have I got the best news for you?”

  Clearing his throat, McQueen turned his back on Echo. “Tell me Two: have you caught our killer for us? Got him locked up tight? That would be nice.” McQueen laughed at his own pathetic joke, but despite looking slightly more concerned for him, Two’s smile didn’t drop.

  “Not exactly but the next best thing.” McQueen perked up, “I’ve got him on tape.”

  XX

  Echo watched as more life drained from the detective’s eyes while his exhausted body followed the Techy down the hall. Another lead to follow, another possible dead end. Echo almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. Cuffed to the chair, she didn’t feel so pitiful. She gave the cuffs a sharp tug just to test them, but as expected they were solid and biting against her skin.

  Looking back towards the exit as the daylight died in the doorway, the sun beginning to set, she thought of Nic’s sudden appearance. She’d always been wary of him. She wasn’t scared but he was… sneakier; sneakier than the other family members. If Nic had been here it wasn’t a pleasant reason. If he wished to speak with Detective Hale, it was for a reason. He never ‘fed’ as they others called it. Sam feed off passion and heat. Archer bathed in the need and want that coursed through people’s veins. Twilight would dance among the cat fights and broken friendships, drinking it all in. But Echo had never seen Nic eat and if it ever came up, he just shrugged and said he needed only a little sustenance.

  Shaking the cold chill that threatened her, she took in her situation again. Chain to a desk was more interesting than in a six by six cell, but everyone was giving her a wide birth. Cowards, she thought and smiled. She liked it when people feared her. McQueen didn’t fear her though, not yet.

  “What to do…?” She mumbled to herself. She needed to get free. Free from these cuffs, free of the station and more than anything, free from under the critical eye of Detective Hale. With McQueen: he was avoiding her, despite still feeling curious. She had awoken something in him, whether he knew it or not. But the tall, bright detective wasn’t swayed by just anything so battering her eyelashes wouldn’t get her free. McQue
en was too weary of her so if she wanted out of here, it would take Detective Hale’s say so. Unless…

  Closing her eyes, she plotted. Archer had spent what little time he could afford teaching her how to manipulate and control. Control people and you control their action. Control their actions you can control their lives which for him, included their bank accounts.

  She’d done cons a thousand times over, she was good at getting her way. While Adin had been absent, Echo had absorbed every trick, every lesson, every scrap of knowledge she could just for this moment. While Adin had been of killing, murdering or stalking, Echo had learnt to deal with the living. And the one thing she’d leant was she had a knack for it. She couldn’t work people’s emotions like the Sins, something she despised admitting, but she did hold one thing over them. It was a flaw they each had, a catch, to make life fair.