“He’s a day walker?” Oliver and Liz said at the same time.
I glanced at them. “Did Levi not mention that?”
Oliver let out a string of French, which I was starting to understand were curse words. He ended in English with, “That stupid fucking blood-sucker.”
I stared at him for a moment. “This doesn’t change anything. If I’m going to help on this case, I need to go see the crime scene.”
“A day walker.” Liz sat there and thought for a moment. “You don’t think he’s the one out killing people?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t. There’s no sign of it being vampire related other than the one vampire victim, but I’m not stupid enough to think he’s not pulling the strings.”
“Levi never mentioned his maker being a day walker. This changes everything, Abigail.” Oliver shook his head. “We can’t let you out of here.”
“Again, it doesn’t change anything.” I stared at my uncle. “It never has. Samuel got his little taste of me at my birthday party. He’ll wait to see how Levi reacts to him being in town again before he makes a move on me. I go to the crime scene, and Samuel sees it, he’ll understand that Levi doesn’t control me and that I’m not scared of him. He loves the fear he gives people. I won’t give him that.”
Liz shrugged. “He can’t take us all on, right? That’s why Abigail has security.”
“But half our security is missing. Merick is MIA, and Simon is in a magically protected city.”
“If Merick doesn’t show back up soon, we need to look for him as well. I’ve been trying to give him space to grieve, but I’m starting to worry about him.”
Liz sighed. “Hopefully that’s not the body we’re going to go see.”
I hadn’t considered that. “Nick knows Merick. Hopefully he would have said something.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. Sometimes getting information from him is like pulling teeth.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Okay, let’s go look at the body.”
Oliver stood. “Keep your phone on so I can track you. Just in case.”
“I never turn my phone off. If it’s off, it’s because I’m unconscious and Simon turned it off. Or it’s been destroyed.”
“And that’s what I’m worried about.” Oliver put his hand on my shoulder and then Liz’s. The safe house disappeared around us.
#
Oliver had dropped us off at Liz’s car, and now we stood in front of what used to be Clarissa’s shop. The shop sat between two others on the road. It used to have a little glass fairy hanging in the doorway, but that was long gone. The ‘For Sale’ sign in the window was now faded from being there for so long. Last time I had been inside the shop was when they had found Clarissa’s body. A few times now, I’d come and drank coffee outside the shop just to feel close to her.
Currently, it was a lot like that last time I’d been in the shop. Emergency vehicles crowded the skinny one-way street. Gawkers were on the median that separated the side street from the main road. Liz and I walked through the crowd, and with each step I felt grief trying to drag me down. I wouldn’t let it. I wasn’t going to find Clarissa’s body in the shop again.
No, there would be another body in the shop, and if the pattern continued, it’d be someone I knew, or someone connected to my mother. Nick greeted us at the door. He jerked his head in the shop's direction. “It’s gross.”
“I’m sure we’ve seen worse.” I tried to keep a joking tone in my voice, but Nick didn’t smile.
He stepped to the side and motioned for us to go in. Hanging from the ceiling was a man that I’d never seen before. He hung by his feet from a chain staked to the ceiling. Blood had dried underneath him, dripping from his bloodied face. His hands hung down, dried blood coating the palms.
“Do you know him?” Nick asked as he stepped up behind me.
“No. Do we have an ID on him yet?” I put a pair of gloves on and moved forward to examine the body. But before I could get too close, Balin’s voice stopped me.
“Collins, what are you doing here?”
I turned around and faced him. “The King of Vampires request my help on this case. Right this second, I’m going to examine the wrists of this man and see if he shows signs of being tied up like the other two victims. Then I’m going to walk around the shop and see if there are runes that might connect him to the other crime scenes. Would you like me to go on?” I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice. My emotions were high, but I should have expected Balin to be on scene. He was the lead detective in the case, after all. But when I worked with Mason, he tended to let PIB take over as soon as we were on the scene. He would wander off to go talk to the officers or the witnesses and leave us to work.
Balin stepped almost toe-to-toe with me. “Get off my crime scene. If the King wants his people here, he needs someone other than his daughter. The blood-sucker has no place in this investigation unless he’s hiding evidence.” He stared at me, but I refused to back down. “Is he hiding something, Collins?”
“You’d have to ask him that, Detective,” I answered. “I’m just here to check out the crime scene and offer my expertise.”
“Out,” he snapped at me and pointed to the door.
I strolled out of the shop. After I cleared the crime tape, I texted Liz that I’d just be down the street grabbing coffee.
She sent me back a super quick ‘k’. I strolled up the hill and stopped at a coffee shop. I hesitated for a moment. Nothing was different. This was where I grabbed my coffee any time that I was down here. I paused and looked over and saw someone staring at me from the doorway of another shop. A shop that I didn’t realize was still open.
Loraine’s Dollhouse.
I shook off the feeling and went into the coffee shop to buy my cup of coffee. I paid for the cup and walked back out of the shop. I looked back at the doll shop where a woman was standing. It wasn’t Loraine, she was locked up. This woman had short black hair and a tattoo that scrawled down her neck and disappeared into her shirt. I couldn’t make it out from where I stood, but I could see that she was staring at me. I did the only thing I could think of. I raised my coffee cup and nodded to her. She nodded back to me and went back into the shop.
There was a moment that I thought about going to the doll shop to talk to the woman, but I had enough on my plate at the moment. I didn’t need to get wrapped up in anything else right now. I went back toward the crime scene and was stopped at the tape. According to the officer, Balin threatened to have their badges if they let me back into the crime scene.
I went back to Liz’s car with my coffee and played stupid games on my phone while I waited for her.
#
My phone was almost dead by the time Liz got back to her car. I put it down when she got in on the driver’s side.
“So?” I asked.
“Balin will be calling O’Donald and telling him about you being at the crime scene.”
“That’s not really what I’m asking.” And I had a feeling she knew that, but she needed to get what Balin said off her chest.
“I don’t know how O’Donald feels about you working for Levi, but I want to prepare you for what’s coming your way.”
“O’Donald won’t fire me.”
“Balin is pushing for removal of your badge. I don’t know what you did to the guy, but he hates you. He hates that you work for Levi and that you’re his daughter.” Liz held up her hand when I started to argue. “Adopted or not, that doesn’t matter. When was the last case you two worked together?”
I leaned back and tried to think when the last case was I’d actually worked with the detective. “It had to have been when I was first out of the academy. Other than that, it’s always been Mason. Balin would come in on occasion on smaller cases, but he’s never really been hostile. Well, at least not like this.”
She nodded. “Wonder if it has to do with Levi coming out as King.”
That was a possibility. I rubbed my eyes. “How do you
think O’Donald will handle it?”
My phone rang two seconds later. O’Donald’s name flashed on the screen.
Liz looked over my shoulder at the screen. “I don’t know, but I’m guessing we’re going to find out.”
I answered it. “Special Agent Collins.”
“My office, now.” Was all he said.
“I’m about twenty minutes away. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“ASAP, Collins.”
I looked at the phone as he hung up on me and then to Liz. “I’m in so much trouble.”
She gave a nervous laugh and put the car in gear before pulling out into traffic from her parking spot. I sat in the car and glanced at the time. “We’re not going to make it back by dark.”
“Who do you fear more, Levi or O’Donald?” Liz asked.
I thought about it. “O’Donald. He’s capable of ruining my career,” I muttered. “I should have just stayed home. I didn’t think Balin was going to be there. I figured he’d already seen the crime scene and then had gone. Fuck.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Don’t panic yet.” Liz merged on to the highway, heading downtown.
“I’m trying not to panic, but I don’t know O’Donald well enough to read him. With Boss Man, I knew what limits I could push, I knew he’d always do the right thing to protect his agents, and sometimes that made my choices hard.” Like the time they had suspended me for shooting at a suspect and accidentally starting a riot. “But now I walk two worlds…”
“It’s going to be complicated, but Levi has a good relationship with PIB. Hopefully O’Donald understands how valuable that is.” Liz tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Hopefully Nick backs us up on this.”
I wasn’t sure what Nick would say that could sway O’Donald, but if it would keep my ass out of trouble, I’d hope for it too.
It wasn’t long before we were at the downtown PIB building. The office building stood tall against the backdrop of the mountains. The asphalt of the parking lot was looking a little worn from use, but overall the whole property still looked well taken care of. Which it should, since it was only a couple years after a magical bomb had taken the building out, and a magical sinkhole had taken part of the parking lot.
Liz and I got out and headed to the building. I noticed her texting as we approached the entrance. We walked in and she stuck her phone in her pocket. “I’ll be in my office. I have some paperwork I want to get turned in while we’re here.”
I nodded and headed up the stairs to the fourth floor where O’Donald’s office was. I walked down the hall to the door. The plaque on the door read ‘Agent O’Donald.’ I wished that Boss Man was still behind the desk, because at least I’d have some idea what to expect.
I knocked on the door and heard a gruff. ‘Come in.’
I walked in and stood in front of the large wooden desk. “You wanted to see me, sir?” I could be polite when I wanted to be, I could reign in the sarcasm and attitude that often got me into trouble if I had to.
O’Donald looked up from his paperwork. “Collins, have you always been such a pain in the ass?”
That was not what I was expecting him to open with. “Um, yes?” I wasn’t really sure how to answer that question.
He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit, please.”
I felt like I was walking into a trap when I sat down. Like the time the principal called me to his office for accidentally trapping someone in a circle. I folded my hands in my lap. “I’m really not sure how to answer your question properly.”
“Nick warned me you were a spitfire, that you played by the rules when it suited you, but you bent them when you had to. I figured as your former partner, he knew what he was talking about. He promised that you stayed out of trouble most of the time, so did Agent Jefferson. They both swore that I wouldn’t have to call you to the office… often.”
I stayed silent, not sure where this was going.
“Detective Balin called me. Not only did he want me to take your badge, he wanted me to put you in lock up for the night for being at a crime scene that wasn’t yours.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but O’Donald held his hand up.
“He said you were there on behalf of the King, which as much as I think it’s a conflict of interest, my higher ups insist that it’s okay.”
I relaxed a little.
“However, if Levi wants you on a scene as part of his team, he needs to contact me. Not Liz, not Nick. Me.” He folded his hands on the desk.
“Understood, sir.” I pressed my lips together. “I only wanted a quick look at the scene. Liz had asked me about some runes they found at Seth’s and Michele’s scenes. I wanted to see if there were any at the new scene.”
He nodded. “I want you back on the case as PIB. I know the first two victims were connected to you, but you’ve been cleared as a suspect, and since neither of them were people you were close to, we’re going to call this unusual circumstances and let you back in on the case.”
My heart leaped. That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear at all. “Okay, what’s the catch?”
“No catch. I think you might be more of a danger to yourself and the team when you’re off the field.” He chuckled. “So your vacation is officially over, welcome back.”
I stared at him for a moment before I stood. I waited for him to tell me he was kidding or joking, but he simply went back to the paperwork on his desk. I turned and walked out. I went down the stairs and to my office. I found it empty when I peeked in. So no Nick yet, and I headed to Liz’s office. I knocked on the door and she swung it open.
“Still have a job?”
“I’m back on the case, actually.” I held my arms out. “I don’t know what game O’Donald is playing, but I can’t read him at all. He’s worse than Boss Man ever was. At least I could predict what Boss Man would say about something like this.”
Liz shrugged. “Well, that’s good at least. I texted Oliver to meet us here instead of your house. We don’t have the time to drive back before dark.”
“Perfect.” I looked out the windows facing the mountains. The sun sat just above the peaks, casting orange and pinks over the sky. “I’d rather not tempt fate twice today.”
“Yeah, me either,” Liz muttered. She clicked her mouse a few times. “Come on, let’s go.” We both took the stairs and went out front where Oliver was standing.
“I see you two had an eventful day. Anything new I should know about?”
I shrugged. “O’Donald put me back on the case.”
“Interesting. What about the newest victim? Did you know them?”
Liz shook her head. “No, and we don’t have any identification on them yet. Once we do, we’ll run it through the system and see if it pops up with any relation to Abby.”
“O’Donald didn't seem to realize that this could all be connected to my parent’s death.”
“We might have left that part out in our updates.” Liz shrugged. “Nick wanted to keep it out as well because he said reopening that case would open a can of worms.”
The three of us were silent for a moment. Oliver finally spoke. “Come, it’s time to get back to the safe house.”
He put a hand on our shoulders, and the moment the world started fading, I swore I saw the woman from the doll shop staring at me from behind a car.
#
We reappeared in the house, and I stepped away from Oliver. I was about to ask him about the girl when Levi’s voice echoed through the living room.
“Where have you been?”
Liz and I both turned around to see Levi standing there, his arms crossed and his brow pinched in a look that I knew meant he disapproved of the situation.
“Crime scene,” Liz and I both said at the same time. I noticed that Oliver stayed oddly quiet.
Levi closed his eyes, and I knew that he was counting to ten. He was about to lose his composure, and I was going to poke the bear.
“Worr
ied that Samuel might have seen me out and about?”
Mario snarled and looked at Oliver and Liz. “You weren’t supposed to tell her.”
“They didn’t. I’m a smart girl and figured it out. You and Levi fed me just enough information that I put two and two together.”
Levi opened his eyes. “Everyone but Abigail out of the room.”
Mario protested, but Levi spun to face him. “Just out of the room. Not out of the house.”
Mario bowed his head and marched up the stairs with Oliver and Liz right behind him.
Levi pointed to the couch. “Sit.”
He was speaking in one word demands, I was in trouble. “Listen.”
I sat down and watched as he paced the room before sitting down in the chair.
“You are not taking these situations seriously enough.”
“We have four bodies and a missing werewolf. Merick might also be missing. There’s a lot more at stake then you worrying about Samuel trying something while I’m walking the streets doing my job.” I crossed my arms. “Seeing as his last attack was on your own property. While you watched.”
Levi put his head in his hands and growled. “I cannot stop him, Abigail. The power a sire has over their fledgling is like nothing I can describe. I knew what he was going to do the moment he told me I had to stay on the dais. I knew that he was going to bite you. He’d made it clear in his command, but I couldn’t move. Even as you struck out against him. I never want to feel that way again. So my only choice is to make sure you stay away from him and he doesn’t know where you are when he’s in my territory.”
“I don’t fear him. And had he not drugged me, I would have fought back and you know that. I will not let Samuel control my life because you can’t fight against him. I’m being cautious. We thought it out before we went. I was never in a secluded place, and there were eyes everywhere. It’s not like I went for a walk by myself and tempted him to come get me.” I shook my head. “O’Donald put me back on the case, and I’m not going to turn that down.”
Levi shook his head. “I told you once that solving the murder of your mother and Tobias isn’t a road you want to go down.”
Something Wicked (Here Witchy Witchy Book 11) Page 12