by Maria Dean
"It is," the woman on the other end said hesitantly. "But I'm sorry, Miss Pfeiffer, I don't remember working with any Lionheart Law."
Astrid frowned. "I have a report that says you filed with us on the 21st of August in 2015. Your brother passed away from cancer and you were concerned it was due to a new miracle drug you picked up."
"Are you sure you have the right number?" Hilda said. "My younger brother died of lead poisoning. It was all over the news, Miss. It hit our family very hard." She paused. "Is this some sort of joke call?"
"No ma'am," Astrid said quickly. "You can look up my credentials online." She glanced around at the others, who were all reacting to their calls in a similar panic. "Mrs. Juarez, did your brother ever mention anything about a company called VidaCo?"
Hilda went silent. "You need to hang up now," she whispered. "Hang up and don't call again."
The line cut. Astrid was left hanging.
"Please, sir, just give me a chance..." Irene's face fell. "He hung up on me! I mentioned the damn company and he just hung up!"
"Did he also say it his family member didn't die of cancer?" Nicole asked. "Because that's what happened with me. He told me his son was hit by a car, not because of childhood leukemia."
The collected, eldest Russo plucked the grey kitten off her shirt. "I was told there wasn't anyone in the family named Nadia Carpenter."
Moon Moon, the puppy Astrid had fallen in love with, toddled over to the lawyer. He nipped at her fingers and made himself comfortable in her lap. Astrid hugged the puppy close with one arm and continued to dial a number with the other. "They're covering it up," she groaned. "We need to keep going."
The four rang all fourteen numbers, and found none of their clients died of cancer. None of the families remembered a miracle drug being involved. And at the mention of any pharmaceutical company, particularly VidaCo, they all hung up.
Astrid laid down on the ground, Moon Moon and the Rottweiler coming over to lick her face. "This is insane," she groaned. "I can't believe none of them remember."
"You said your friends were making the other calls, right?" Irene asked. "Surely someone else had luck with the clients!"
Beatrice wasn't as optimistic. "If this is the work of alchemists, then there's no chance they remember a thing. Some sort of spell must have been used to silence them. Or a potion, much like their miracle cures."
Nicole opened her mouth to argue with her sister when Astrid's phone rang. "It's not registered," she noted, leaning up to grab it off the floor. "Hello?"
"Miss Pfeiffer, this is Hilda. We need to speak immediately." Hilda Juarez spoke in a rapid, hushed tone. Her voice wavered. "Can you come to the Mercado Central on Lake? Tomorrow morning?" Hilda didn't wait for Astrid to respond. The phone hit the receiver, and Astrid was left with more questions than she'd started with.
CHAPTER 3
To avoid terrify her, Astrid didn't bring any of the Russo cousins her to meet Hilda Juarez. Nor did she take any of her legal team, who she was concerned would draw attention to themselves in the supermarket. She brought back-up in the form of X, whom she promised more information about the shady alchemists.
Hilda wasn't who Astrid expected she was. Astrid realized this when a twenty-four-year-old woman in nurse's scrubs approached her and X and handed them both piping hot Styrofoam cups. "It's just hot chocolate. I looked you up on the internet," she confessed. "When you walked in, I wanted to bring you something as a thank you."
X perked up at the peace offering. He sniffed it, decided it was safe, and took a hearty sip. "Gracias, jeva," he said happily.
Hilda snorted. "Tienes familia en Honduras?"
"Mis tías," he confirmed.
Astrid guided them toward a bench in the back of the market. "Not that I don't enjoy this connection," she said as she glanced around, "but we need to talk."
"Right," Hilda nodded. "I'm sorry this is so rushed. I just swore I wouldn't talk about it around the family anymore. They don't remember like I do."
She pulled out some concha bread from her purse and offered it to the investigators. Astrid accepted, retrieving a voice recorder while she munched on the sweet bread. "My brother died from cancer in 2015. Lung cancer. He was always a smart kid. It was just bad timing." Hilda shook her head. "When we got the diagnosis, we knew we couldn't afford to pay for the treatment. But our mother was very religious. Every night, she would pray for something to fall into our laps. It came in the form of VidaCo."
X was scribbling every word down in a notebook. "What did they offer you?"
"Free treatment," Hilda explained. "Miguel just needed to sign one of those acuerdos, where he couldn't talk to anyone about it. So, did we. And everything was fine at first. We thought he was getting better."
"When did you know something was going wrong?" Astrid asked.
Hilda thought about it for a few moments. "I don't know when it started, but I know when it got bad. He started complaining about pain all over his body. His chest was the worst. Miguel would always clutch it when he came home from school. I thought he was playing it up to get attention from our mother."
"And then he died," X finished.
"And then he died." Hilda clenched her fists. "We were home alone that night. Our parents were out with our older brother, celebrating his promotion. Miguel and I were finishing one of his favorite movies when he got up to get pizza. I was cuddled up in the living room when I heard him. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he just fell. I found him crumpled in a heap, halfway between the living room and the front hall." She didn't miss a beat, out of breath as she continued. "I checked his pulse and tried to resuscitate and..." Hilda gasped out, her tears catching up with her words. "He was gone."
X reached out, hesitantly, and held his hand out to her. She grasped it and breathed out a long, heavy sigh. Hilda bent over her lap as the tears dripped on her scrubs. Astrid paused her recorder.
"You're not alone," she whispered, rubbing Hilda's back. "We're here for you. You're not alone."
Astrid found herself with a bittersweet revelation. There was nothing like the loss of a loved one to bring people together. She thought of Nova, who wasn't lost physically but had still left because of her. Her mother, who was never there for her. They hadn't died, but Astrid had still lost her family in her own, broken way. She understood.
"I'm fine, really," Hilda sniffled. "I'm okay. It's only been four years."
"Exactly," X said. "Four years is still a short period. It's okay to still be grieving."
Hilda inhaled, slowly, and exhaled. "I can keep going." She tapped Astrid's recorder. "Turn it back on. I need people to hear it." When she saw the light turn on, she continued. "We knew something was wrong immediately. Oliver, my older brother, went to Lionheart Law with what he'd earned and put it all into a lawsuit against the company. We heard from other customers we weren't the only ones, which gave us hope something would come out of it." She gritted her teeth in frustration. "And then the VidaCo representatives came to our house. They served us all from a fancy bottle of wine. They apologized for our loss. And the next day, it was like nothing had ever happened."
X looked up, confused. "But you remember."
"I remember." She nodded in confirmation. "They put a potion in the wine to wipe our memories of what happened. But I've always been able to see through it. Miguel always told me I was special. When we were young, I could see things others couldn't."
Us Gray women have always been different. Hilda was like Astrid. Not an alchemist, not a dragon, just a normal girl with an abnormal quirk. "And no one else understood it," Astrid replied. "Let me guess, you wrote it off as something weird from your childhood?"
"Exactly," Hilda said. "It tapered off when I grew older. But when they tried to convince us Miguel didn't die from cancer, I knew it happened again. I had to pretend, obviamente, that everything was fine. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. So, when you called, I was so shocked I didn't know what to do." Hilda tapped Astrid's recorde
r. "Now, even if they try to trick me, I know you've recorded it. I can trust you."
"Hilda!" Another nurse spotted her and flagged her down. "Ready to get to work?"
She nodded, squeezing X's hand once more before standing up. "Thank you," she whispered to them. "Stand up for my brother's memory. Do him justice."
Astrid and X watched her wander into the crowd with her friend. Hilda left them with the hot cocoa and the sweet bread, the most she could do for people who were trying to avenge her brother. They both felt a sharp pang of regret they'd involved the poor woman in their dangerous investigation. Now, Hilda and her family might once again be at the mercy of the alchemists. If so, it was all Astrid's fault.
"I'm not crying, you're crying," X joked.
Astrid laughed, but no sound came out. "I think we're past that point," she admitted, wiping a tear off her cheek. "What did you think about all of that?"
"I think the alchemists are definitely up to something," X replied. "I've been looking into their work in Saint Paul. According to my records, every time a slayer or hunter killed a dragon, the alchemists collected the body."
Astrid choked on her cocoa. Trying to be mindful of their very public location, she asked, "What would they need the bodies for?"
X's face fell. "Look, Astrid, I don't know your stance on dragons. I know you're working on my side, but you seem like you have a good heart. I don't know if you want to know about this."
Their lives depend on you, Astrid. The nagging voice was back. You need to keep going if you want to keep them safe.
"Xander," she replied quietly. "I need to know."
X looked at her over the brim of his glasses. His eyes watered, and for a moment the glistening green in his eyes shimmered a light blue. "I got into this business because I feared monsters as a kid. My dad was my protector for all of six years, and when he died, I felt like they all would get me. So, I went into hunting, digging for the knowledge that would keep me safe." He flipped the pages in his notebook to an earlier portion. "But I never realized they feel pain too."
Gingerly, Astrid lifted the book out of his shaking hands. The pages ripped under the intensity of X's writing as he got more frustrated with his findings. Astrid read the first line and blanched.
"It's for a ritual," X said. "They carve up the dragons and drain them of their blood. They do it so the dragons are still alive for the most of it. It's a ritual designed to make them feel as most pain as possible, before finally silencing them once and for all."
His drawings detailed the same alchemic symbols Astrid had seen in the alchemist's world. "What do they use it all for?"
X pointed to the bottom of the page. "The different parts of the body go toward potions and what I assume are their miracle cures."
"And the blood?"
"It will sound weird, but they think it will keep them immortal. It's part of an essential ritual they've been practicing for years." X retrieved another journal from his satchel. "I called in a favor at the Nokomis Library. This is a detailed record of all their rituals involving dragons. If you want to look deeper into alchemy, this is where it's at."
Astrid traded books with him, placing the blue journal in a bag she borrowed from Sally. "I'm going to be honest with you, all of this could lead to some of your former clients getting arrested for malpractice and coercion. Are you sure you want to be involved in that?"
X snorted. "I told you a few days ago they weren't exactly my friends. If I accidentally get them arrested, I'll have no hard feelings."
She sought for something to thank him with but was cut short by her phone buzzing. Without a glance to the caller ID, Astrid picked it up quickly. "Astrid Pfeiffer, Lionheart Law. How can I help you?"
"Hey, sweetheart. I was just calling to see how you've been doing." Her father's voice shocked some sense into her. Goosebumps running up her arms, Astrid sat straight up with her phone glued to her face. "Astrid? You still there?"
"I, uh, yeah." She snapped out of it. "How are you doing, dad?"
X stopped packing up and gaped at her. "Aaron Pfeiffer?" He gasped.
Astrid nodded, trying to hold everything in. He hadn't called her in months, chalking it up to being busy at work or traveling. Now she thought about it, Astrid wasn't even sure she knew what he did for a living. As a kid, he always told her it was 'business'. That could mean anything. That could mean murdering people like her friends for the sake of immortality.
"I'm doing good, kiddo. I just wanted to hear your voice. I really miss you sometimes, Astrid." He paused, and Astrid could practically see the worn lines on his face. The wrinkles in his cheeks when he'd try to crack a smile. It was one of the few memories she had from her childhood, the only time she remembered one of her parents smiling.
"You know, I want to come visit you sometime." That broke her out of her happiness. "Think I could come up for the weekend? You could show me all the sights of the cities, and whatever you cool kids do."
Stay away from me, Dad. You never loved me in the first place.
"Sure. Whatever you want."
***
Astrid arrived at her job a little late, not that Tom minded. He, Winston, and Sally all reported results similar to hers and the Russo cousins. No one recalled a family member dying of cancer, and most of them clammed up when VidaCo was mentioned. Only two didn't, a family who'd pulled out of a case with one of Astrid's coworkers, Eric, and Astrid's former clients the Coopers. In both cases, the respondents sung praises of VidaCo. It was just like when Astrid had called Jason Cooper after he canceled.
After locking her three coworkers in her office, Astrid filled them in on Hilda Juarez's case. She played the recording for them too. When it paused in the middle so Hilda could cry, Astrid looked up to find the other three tearing up.
"I'm fine," Tom sniffed. "I don't need anything."
Winston tossed another used tissue into Astrid's wastebasket. "I do."
Astrid handed her office mate a Kleenex and turned back to her boss. "Can we use this confession?" She asked, referring to the first part of the interview. "It's not enough for coercion, but it's good for malpractice. I can even get the part where she said other families have experienced it too. If she's willing to go on record, we could even have her come in for a press event to call them out for cover ups."
He nodded, pacing the length of the room. "We'll still need more evidence. If Giovanni can get us the financial resources, though, this could be it." Tom pointed to the recorder. "Make sure you save that in five places. We can't afford to lose it all. And Astrid, don't tell us where they all are."
Astrid, bent over her computer, looked up through her curls. "Why not?"
"If these alchemists are as powerful as you say they are, then we might be in danger too. That's fifty-five families who've lost the memory of a loved one. Their entire lives have been destroyed because of the alchemists and their shady drugs. For all we know, our attack on them could lead to us being next."
Tom adjusted himself in the seat in front of Winston. In the years they had known each other, Astrid had never seen Tom so flustered. They were friends, sure, but not as close as she was with Winston or Sally. Tom was her boss, first and foremost. Their entire relationship was based around a power dynamic. When Tom wanted to feel vulnerable, he went away to his office on the fourth floor of Lionheart.
Now, she was seeing him in a new light. His eyes shone under the harsh office lights as he blinked away tears. His shoulders straightened, though his hands shook behind his back. He was trying to be strong in the face of his employees. They were supposed to look up to him. They weren't supposed to know he could be scared.
"We'll get through it," Winston said softly. "We're goddamn will executors, Thomas. Astrid has been threatened more times than she can count. I've had a gun pulled on me before. We can handle this." With a crooked grin, Winston added, "And if we can't do something about it, Astrid's dragon friends can definitely do it." He looked to Astrid for confirmation.
She shrugged. "When in doubt, I could just portal you into another dimension." It wasn't a helpful offer, but it made Tom smile again. "Let's just focus on getting solid evidence, okay?"
Sally bowed out to go continue making calls. Giovanni e-mailed her that morning with a list of more cases from Russo and Yuma that involved VidaCo or its many subsidiaries. It even listed a case against one Ronald Hope, where a client named him in a sale that led to the death of the client's stepfather. It was dropped, of course, though the lawyer's notes say Hope was shifty and hiding something. Astrid noted the name and swore she'd call him later to follow up about the case.
Tom and Winston shared a chaste kiss before Tom headed off to make more calls and Winston buckled down to searching the internet for concerns about VidaCo. Though the clients they called in person had been interviewed, there were others online who hadn't filed a lawsuit. These believed VidaCo was responsible for the death of their family members. He set to work trying to contact them, giving Astrid a thumbs up every time he got news someone wanted to go on the record. Meanwhile, Astrid began the complex task of filing the paperwork for her joint suit with Giovanni. It was a long, arduous process that would involve emailing back and forth with Gio, his receptionist, and the infamous Marlin Yuma (of Russo and Yuma). Marlin was eager to meet Astrid, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the suit or because she was an Alice. Dragon shifters were weird like that.
By the time her lunch break came, Astrid was exhausted. Traveling through different dimensions, fighting alchemists, and getting in deep with the monster hunters all paled in comparison of how stressful it was to file paperwork with another firm. At times like this wondered why she was a lawyer in the first place.
"I always liked to paint," she muttered in the office's dining room. "I could've become a bad artist and lived in Appalachia. Or took up Nova's witchcraft in North Carolina."