by Jeff D Ellis
David grabbed a rifle. “We get P90s? Cool! The first time I saw one of these was on the StarGate: SG1 TV show. It seemed like all of the characters used one of them. Why do we get such nice toys?”
“I thought it might help if this does end up being another Windigo. In the boxes of ammo, you’ll find both armor-piercing duty rounds as well as tracer rounds. The tracer rounds might cause more damage to a Windigo. The other ammo is for anything else. The pistols are FN Five-seveN and hold twenty rounds in the magazines. The FN P90s are set up for semi-auto and fully automatic fire from fifty-round magazines. I’m supplying three magazines for each of the guns. I suggest filling two magazines each with the duty rounds and one magazine each with the tracer ammo, but it’s up to you. It has both a white weapon light and laser targeting modules attached for working in the dark. I also suggest leaving the P90s in the safe in the SUV unless you are going on a raid and just using the pistols for everyday work. David, I’m sorry it’s not as compact as the gun you normally carry.”
David looked thought the sight on the P90. “I like the reflex sight on this one, and I can manage with the pistol.”
“I don’t expect you have much experience with these guns outside of video games. I will need you to spend some time on the range before you can take them in to the field. Why don’t you come back for some training later tonight when Hammer isn’t waiting?”
“Hammer, sorry about the wait. Why don’t we take Abby’s SUV? It’s set up for encrypted comms back to the office here.”
“No reason to drag two cars around Seattle.” Hammer pulled a sheet of paper off his notepad. “Here is Tracy Keen’s address.”
Ember landed on Abby’s shoulder as they headed to the garage.
CHAPTER NINE
Missing Assistant
THEY ARRIVED AT Tracy Keen’s house. The place looked like it was built in the early 1900s, but was in good condition. David and Abby let Hammer take the lead.
Hammer knocked on the door and they waited for a couple of minutes with no luck. He pounded loudly on the door. “Ms. Keen! SPD! We need to ask you a couple of questions. Please open the door.”
They heard moving around inside. After a moment, the door opened.
“Are you Tracy Keen?”
The women looked closely at Hammer. “Yes. What’s this all about?”
Hammer held his badge up so that she could see his ID. “May we come inside? We need to ask you a few questions about your boss, Councilmember Prescott. It will only take a couple of minutes.”
She stepped back into the room so they could enter. “Has something happened to Ms. Prescott? I was out sick today and haven’t heard anything from the office.”
“These are Deputies Seymour and Brooks. They are helping me with the investigation. Your boss went missing overnight and we are trying to find out what might have happened to her. When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Detective, I wouldn’t know anything about her being missing. She seemed fine last night when I left to go home. I did find it slightly strange that when I called in sick, she didn’t answer the phone. She normally takes my calls.”
“Where were you last night?”
“I was home alone all night. Normally I might go out with friends, but I was feeling a little under the weather.” She touched Hammer’s arm and gave him a warm smile. “Detective, are all these questions really necessary? She hasn’t been gone that long. You can’t possibly think I had anything to do with it, do you?”
Hammer blushed and stammered. “No, we’re just worried about her.”
David nudged Hammer. “I think I can take over from here, Detective. Ms. Keen, what is your relationship with Greta Burke?”
Keen looked away and took a step back. “I’m not sure I know what you mean. I work for the Councilmember.”
“I think you do know what I’m talking about. I can see it all over you. I met your real boss this morning and I bet she called you right after I left and told you what was going on. And that’s why you didn’t bother going into work.”
Her face went cold. “Okay, you got me, but if you know Greta, then you know I can’t tell you anything. She would do worse than kill me if I talked. You need to take it up with her.”
David nodded. “I’ll do the talking then. I think you were keeping an eye on the Clan’s investment and sometimes using your other skills to gain favors or information. I really don’t care about that.”
She took a deep breath and seemed to relax a little. “What do you want from me?”
“Just a couple of questions, and we will know if you are lying. Did the Councilmember know you worked for Greta?”
“As far as I know, she didn’t know. For someone who lived off bribes and payoffs, she sure didn’t understand people. I think one of her other staff worked for the Russians. With the amount of money changing hands, those involved wanted to make sure their interests were being served.”
“Did she double-cross anybody?”
“Not that I could tell.”
“Did you pass along information to Greta about other things Prescott was involved in?”
“Of course I did. I made a log of anybody of political interest that came in and sent it on. We didn’t bother with any of the little people that thought the Councilmember was there to help with their common problems.”
“I would like a copy of the log for the last week.”
“You will have to ask Greta for it. I destroy it right after sending, to make sure Prescott doesn’t find it.”
“Did you bug the office?”
Keen bit her lip. “I didn’t know it was bugged, but that’s not my area.”
David nodded. “Do you know who might want to kill Prescott?”
“I don’t know. She seemed to be taking care of all the people who paid her. Maybe it was some sort of random attack.”
“People attacked at random don’t get their bodies eaten.”
Tracy turned pale and sat down. “Eaten? No one told me she was eaten. A Windigo running loose in Seattle? You have to protect us from it!”
“What do you know about a Windigo?”
“People think Vampires are bad, but we’re nothing compared to a Windigo. Those things eat people and can never get enough. The more they eat, the more they need to eat. We heard something was eating homeless people, but thought it was rumors. If something ate the Councilmember, then it has to be real. I think I’ll stay indoors or in groups of people until you catch this thing.”
David looked at the others to see if they wanted to add anything. “Thank you for your time.”
***
Abby closed her car door. “David, I tried to connect with you in there mentally. Did you hear me?”
David shook his head. “Sorry, I missed it. Let’s try again later.”
Abby looked back at Hammer. “Now what? I don’t think Hammer should interact with Greta Burke again, and we still have the lead on Thorn to follow up on. Maybe we should split up? David and I can pay Greta a visit to try and get that log while Hammer checks out Prescott’s last known location at Thorn Technologies.”
Hammer nodded. “Drop me off back at my car and we can regroup later to compare notes.”
Abby dropped Hammer off at his car. This would be so much easier if they could just have suspects brought to them like on the TV shows, but it’d be hard to maintain the cover of it being a missing persons case.
“David, are you feeling okay? It’s strange our connection didn’t work.”
“I’m just tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“All right, we can talk about this later.”
While he might have been tired, she could tell that wasn’t the real problem. It had to be related to the virus he was fighting off. It hurt that he was keeping things from her.
***
“Welcome back to The Second Circle; I hope this visit is for pleasure.”
Abby shook her head. “I’m sorry to say this is business again.”
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“Sorry to hear that. It would be our pleasure to add a little enjoyment to your day sometime. My name is Onyx.” The woman looked down at something in the desk. “Greta will see you now.”
David looked at the door. “I think we know the way. Thank you, Onyx.”
Greta stood as they entered the room. “David, you’re looking a little pale. Are you feeling okay? I’m sorry if I was abrupt when you were here yesterday. Please sit down. How may I serve you?”
David decided to take the lead on this one. “I’m sorry for the surprise. I’m doing fine. If I had known about the Clan before, things would have been handled better. We’ve much to learn before we’re up to the level my parents were at.”
Greta smiled. “All is forgiven. I had thought you would have heard from your boss about us before coming here. What can I do for you?”
“We’re still trying to hunt down Ms. Prescott’s killer. I heard that you might have a log of people that have been going to her office that might help with the suspect pool. Maybe you have some theories of who could have done such a thing?”
Greta’s eyes turned cold. “I would love to help find her killer. Prescott was good for business and with her gone, I now have to find a new ally on the city council. I have gone over the list and put out word on the street that I want the killer found, dead or alive. So far, I don’t have anything. You’re not looking for any of the usual suspects. I think it might be a Windigo. For a Windigo to have been operating as long as it has in Seattle, it would be very good at covering its tracks. No one in the Veiled community seems to know where it may be hiding.”
“We recently killed a Windigo in the Underground, but this seems more advanced, and all this happened after that one died. I would still like to look at your list. Maybe we would find something you missed.”
Greta shook her head. “Thank you for taking care of that one. Please find the right one. The one you seek is not on the list. You have to trust me. Please don’t ask again.”
“Is there anything else you can do to help us?”
Greta looked away for a moment. “I want this killer dead. It’s bad for business. It made a mistake in feeding on someone important. I will pay you half a million dollars if you kill this monster before I find it. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
David stood. “Thank you for your time, Greta. Let us know if you hear anything that could help. We will get back to work on finding the killer wherever it may be.”
“Good luck! I look forward to this being resolved quickly.”
As David and Abby passed the reception desk, Onyx held out her hand. “Greta wanted me to give you this. The card has my number on it. Call me anytime day or night and we will assist you however we can.”
David took the card. “Thank you, Onyx. I believe you already have our information. Please let us know if you come across any information that could help in our investigation.”
When they got to the SUV, Abby looked over at David. “We’re not really taking her money, are we?”
David shakes his head. “I can’t imagine my parents taking money from Greta. We do our jobs and follow procedure and try to bring it in alive to stand trial for what it’s done.”
Abby started the car. “Let’s head back to the office.”
CHAPTER TEN
Thorn
HAMMER ARRIVED AT Thorn Technologies. It was a modern two-story building that shone of glass and polished steel, surrounded by a well-manicured lawn. It looked like most technology companies in the area. From the outside, it would be hard to tell what they did. He parked in one of the several visitor spots right in front of the building, and walked through the glass doors to the reception desk.
Hammer held out his badge wallet. “Detective Frank Hammer. I’m here to see Dr. Otis Thorn.”
She looked up at his badge. “Detective, do you have an appointment? Dr. Thorn is a busy man.”
“Please call and ask him if he could make just a few minutes for me. It would take a lot less of his time than if I had to have bring him downtown to have a quick conversation.”
“Can I tell him what this is regarding?”
Hammer put his badge away. “It’s an urgent matter related to Cora Prescott.”
She looked down at her computer screen and typed a message. “He will see you in a moment.” The woman handed him a sign-in sheet. “Detective, please sign in.” She waved at a security guard. “Please escort Detective Hammer to conference room 2A.”
Hammer was escorted up to the second-floor conference room without comment. “I will just wait here then?”
The guard left without looking back. Hammer moved around the table to take a seat facing the door. The room was one of those glass-walled conference rooms that always left you feeling like you were in a fishbowl being watched by everybody that passed by. He kept looking at his watch, wondering when someone was going to come in.
A thin man in a white lab coat came in and extended his hand. “Detective, I’m Dr. Otis Thorn. Can I please see your badge?”
Hammer stood to shake hands and gave Thorn a good look at his badge and ID. “Sorry to take you away from your busy schedule, but it’s somewhat urgent. I do have some questions about Ms. Prescott.”
Thorn sat across from Hammer. “Please have a seat. How can I help an SPD Homicide Detective? Did someone kill Cora?”
Hammer kept close watch on Thorn’s body language. His body was tensed up, and his eyes locked on Hammer with a cold steady gaze, as if to intimidate him. “I hope she is still alive. She has been missing for a few days and due to her status in the community, I was tasked with the job of finding her.”
Thorn’s body relaxed slightly. “I’m at a loss then. Why are you here?”
“We were going through her private schedule and it seems you are the last person she was meeting with on the day she went missing.”
Thorn kept up his unblinking gaze. “I don’t know what to tell you, Detective. We were actually going to meet up for dinner to talk about how the research grants we’re getting could help the city. At the last minute, I was called away to an urgent lab matter and had to cancel, I never actually saw her that night.” He started to point a finger repeatedly at Hammer as he talked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help. I really need to get back to work. Someone will escort you out in a moment.” He pulled out his phone and started typing away as he turned his back on Hammer and left the room.
Almost as fast as Otis Thorn left, a burly security guard entered the door. “This way, please.”
Hammer stood and followed the guard. “I know my way out. There is no need to show me to the door.”
The guard gave Hammer a push on the back. “Company policy.”
Hammer straightened up. “Push me again and you will be taking a trip downtown.”
The guard smiled and tried to force the issue. The elevator door opened as if on cue and Hammer stepped in and pushed the button for the lobby. The guard stepped in behind him. Hammer exited the elevator and looked back at the guard and was given a look like he would welcome the chance to toss Hammer out if he ever came back.
The woman behind the desk waved Hammer over to sign out. Hammer looked at her sharply. “Are all visitors required to sign out? Can you look up when Ms. Prescott signed in and out two days ago? It would have been about 5:30 p.m. that night.”
She looked down at her computer. “I have Ms. Prescott signing in at five-twenty-five to see Dr. Thorn, but I don’t see her signing out. She must have left after six when I went home. The night guard must have forgotten to make her to sign out. It’s against policy, but the guards don’t seem to care.”
Hammer nodded and smiled. “I can see how they might make your job harder than it is. Thank you so much for your help.”
“Have a nice day!”
As Hammer got into his car, his cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was his Captain. “Hammer.”
“Were you just bothering Dr. Thorn? I just got an ear full asking why you
were interrupting his important work for a missing persons case.”
“He must have been worried to have complained so fast. Thorn was the last person to see the victim alive. I had to interview him, and he lied to me.”
“You better have a good case worked out if you are going to see him again. With a man so well connected, you better have proof he is involved. Do you have proof?”
“Not yet. The woman at the front desk said she signed the victim in, and the victim had not left in the next thirty-five minutes before she went home. Thorn said he never saw her that night. If you saw the security they have, you would know she wouldn’t have been allowed to stay that long if he was unavailable. He lied.”
“Maybe they were having an affair. It doesn’t mean he killed her. Move on to other suspects.”
“Yes, sir. I still need to track down the Russians who were paying her off.”
“You do that. That seems like a better bet than a respected scientist and member of the community. Keep me in the loop.”
Hammer called Abby’s number.
“Abby Brooks.”
“I’m done with Thorn. Meet up back at the office?”
“We’re on our way there now. See you soon.”
***
David went back into the conference room and set down. “Where were we?”
Gwen smiled. “You were about to tell us about what happened with Greta.”
“She has a list but won’t share it with us. Is there a way to force her?”
“In a way her office is similar to a foreign embassy and it would be hard to force her to give it up. We would have show there has been a treaty violation to get a judge issue a special warrant.”
“Thanks. Someone killing Prescott seems to have pissed Greta off. She put out a bounty on whoever did it, dead or alive. She even offered us half a million dollars to bring her the head of the killer. I don’t think she was doing it to throw us off her scent. It does seem like our killer is a Windigo and I don’t think a Vampire can become one. I should also tell Hammer about Abby’s vision.”