by E. A. Copen
“That's not exactly exonerating testimony, Sal.”
“True,” he said, chuckling. “But just because you can kill with magick doesn't mean you do. You're a cop. You carry a gun. Hell, you probably have it on you right now and I'd be willing to bet you load it with silver and iron. If you wanted to, you could whip it out right now and blow me away. You could have done it earlier. But you didn't. Why?”
It was a stupid question and I wrinkled my nose at it. “Because I don't have any reason to. Invading my space is hardly a capital crime.”
“Elias was my friend. He may not have been part of the pack but his absence leaves a hole that won't be easily filled. And with Leo missing—” His eyes went wide and he quit talking mid-sentence, closing his mouth tight.
“Leo?” I asked. “Who's Leo and how long's he been missing?”
“Forget I said it,” said Sal going back to his stew.
“Forget you brought up a missing persons file that I don't have a file on?” I stood and followed him across the kitchen. “I don't think so, Sal.” When he didn't answer me, I grabbed the ladle from his hands and pointed it at him. “You can tell me here or I can take you downtown. Your choice.”
He cracked a slight smile. “Take me downtown in what car, Judah?”
“You know what I mean,” I said, trying to ignore the warmth in my cheeks as he called my bluff. “I'm not messing around. I will call someone to come pick you up. Don't make me.”
Sal's smile faded. “I'm serious, too. If I tell you what I know, you've got to promise not to tell anyone you heard it from me. Not only that, but you've got to promise you won't run off half-cocked and do something about it. That's what Elias did. Now, he's dead.”
“Sal, what do you know?” He sighed and gestured to the ladle I'd seized from him. I held it out and he took it back, stirring the soup in silence for a few minutes before I said, “Sal, I promise. Now, please?”
“Valentino and Nina have an illegal baby,” he said quietly. “The pack's been keeping it quiet ever since she got pregnant, since BSI stuck their nose in and told them they couldn't have kids.” He looked up to gauge my reaction before continuing. “Leo, their son, he's been the pride and joy of the pack ever since he showed up. Breathed new life into all of us. After all the shit we've gone through, it meant something to us to have new life around. It's like... like there was some good in the world after all, you know?”
“And he's missing?” Sal didn't answer. “Jesus Christ.” I pulled out my phone and started to dial.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling it in. We need to find him. Get an Amber Alert out and boots on the ground before—” Sal grabbed the phone out of my hands and popped the battery out. “Hey!”
“I can't let you do that,” he said calmly. “You promised.”
I glared at him, squared my jaw and glanced at the door. Sal stepped between me and my exit. “We need to get the whole department behind this, Sal, and the sooner the better. Hell, it may already be too late because you selfish idiots don't trust the very people who are supposed to be protecting you!”
“Judah, please. Hear me out. Sit down and I'll tell you everything. Promise me you won't do anything until you've heard all I have to say, at the very least. Please?”
I took in a deep breath, crossed my arms and marched back to the table to sit. “All right, but only until the end of this conversation. After that, all bets are off.”
Sal turned the burner under the soup down and came to sit across from me again, leaning forward on his forearms. “Leo is the third child to go missing from Paint Rock in the past month. The first was some baby troll on the other side of the rez. The parents went to the police. The cops found nothing, not even any evidence the kid existed because, like Valentino and Nina, they'd been denied a permit. The case got closed. The parents took it to city hall. Chanter sits on the city council so, even though the council didn't do anything, the pack started looking into things. A few days after that, another kid got taken. A fae, I think. Then three days ago, Leo went missing. All three kids were taken from their cribs from behind locked doors with no signs of a break in without disturbing the parents. All were unregistered.”
“What does any of this have to do with Elias?”
“I was getting to that,” Sal said with a nod. “Valentino accused Elias of being involved. He was convinced that no one could have gotten into the house without a key and Elias had been... Well, he'd been acting kind of off. Valentino thought Elias was behind it and threw him out. The night before he died, Elias stayed with me. He was beside himself, more so than usual. Poor guy didn't sleep a wink. He kept going on about how Leo was in danger. I got the feeling he did know something but not like Valentino said. I think that, while the rest of us were chasing our tails, Elias had already tracked Leo down. I think, that night, when he tore out of here, he was going with the intention of saving his nephew. He wanted to prove to Valentino that he'd changed.”
I leaned back in my chair and tapped my fingers on the tabletop. “You think that the person who took Leo and the person who killed Elias were the same person?” Sal nodded. “Do you have any evidence?”
“Nothing concrete. But, if you could put back together those last few hours, find out where he went from here, I'd be willing to bet you'd find Leo, too.”
“Then why haven't you and your pack tried it? You're the expert trackers.”
Sal snorted and stared at the tabletop. “I tried. Elias covered his scent. I couldn't follow him.”
I thought for a minute and then nodded. “If I let you into the crime scene, do you think you could help sniff out our killer?”
“Maybe,” said Sal with a shrug. “But I'm almost a hundred percent sure neither Tindall nor Chanter would go for that. Hell, if Chanter even found out I was talking to you, he'd be pissed.”
“And Tindall would shit a brick.” I gave a cynical laugh before letting my expression sober. “And my superiors would have my ass for contaminating a crime scene any more than I already have. They'd be even more pissed if I brought a potential suspect in to cover up evidence. Apparently, I can't trust anyone in the pack until I can rule each one of you out. You wouldn't happen to have an alibi for last night would you?”
“Nope,” said Sal. “Not aside from Elias, anyway.”
I went to the window and pulled aside the sheer curtain that blocked Hunter from view in time to see him miss making a free throw. He was sweating and red in the face but clearly enjoying himself. Hunter was eleven, young enough to make me worry that he could be picked up, too.
“Hey,” said Sal, still sitting at the table. “You don't really think I'm guilty, do you?”
“No one's innocent,” I answered absent-mindedly and then wondered why I hadn't stormed out of there to call the police. Because, I reasoned. Even if they do find Leo Garcia, they'll take him away from Valentino and Nina. I couldn't bear to lose my son. Is it fair of me to subject them to the same punishment? Is it so wrong to love your child? No, if someone was going to find Leo Garcia and connect his disappearance to Elias' murder, it had to be me. I was the only one I could trust to handle the case with care. But I wasn't going to make any progress tonight. Tomorrow, I'd hit the books hard and tear both cases apart, look at them from all the angles.
Sal studied me carefully. Then, he uncrossed his arms and went to get out a few plates and bowls from the cabinets. He had just enough for the three of us. “Well, since confessions make for awkward dinner conversation, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to interrogate me in front of the kid... What are you going to do about him?”
I pushed the curtain a little higher and leaned my forehead against the window, watching him shoot and miss. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On how this case pans out.”
Sal shook his head and stirred the soup. “You might not have that long, you know. Full moon's in a couple of days. If Chanter's right, and he's never been wrong, Hunter's going to turn
any month now,” he said, pulling down cups to finish setting the table. He pointed at me with a spoon. “You're going to take him to Chanter. Even if you can't trust me, you have to trust him.”
I smiled at him. “I don't have to trust anyone, Sal.” But I knew he was right. If Hunter did turn and no one was there to help him... What? What could happen? I didn't know and I wouldn't know if something went wrong, either. He needed someone there to help him understand what he was becoming. He needed to have more of a chance than Elias had. I could lose him, I thought. But, even if I do, at least he'll be safe.
Sal walked over to look out the window behind me and smiled. “He's not terrible,” Sal said. “Kid's a natural. Mind if I give him some pointers after dinner?”
~
After dinner, Sal and Hunter played a game of HORSE until it was too dark to see. Even though Sal was clearly better, he almost let Hunter win before absolutely destroying him. A big flood light kicked on before we fell into total darkness and Sal thought that would be a good time to walk Hunter through a few tips before letting him free throw until he got it right. While Hunter threw a few practice shots, Sal slipped back with his arms crossed and watched like one of my gym teachers used to do.
“You need a ride in town tomorrow morning?” Sal asked me without looking over.
“Yeah. To the station.”
He nodded. “I can let you borrow the truck if you want. Just promise not to get a scratch on it. It's not technically mine. It's Chanter's.”
“You related to Chanter?”
“He's my uncle.” Sal turned to steal a glance at me. “Don't tell him I told you about the priest. Father Reed and Chanter don't get along. If he knew Elias was talking to a priest, he might refuse to do the ceremony tomorrow night. He'd make the church bury him. I'm not sure Elias or Valentino care either way but Chanter won't feel he's at peace until he's burned the body the old way.”
“Why would Chanter even care? Elias wasn't in your pack.”
Sal was silent while Hunter tried another free throw and missed. “He was one of us. Maybe he wasn't with us or part of us but he was one of us. I'm not sure that makes sense to you but there it is.”
A sudden chill went through me as I remembered the state Elias' body was in, all twisted and half human. “Thanks for the truck. I'll be good to her.”
“Sure thing,” Sal said and went back to watching Hunter miss his throws. His form was all wrong and Sal had corrected him a hundred times on it already. I think he was content to let Hunter try. “If you don't mind my asking...What happened to Hunter's father?”
“He died,” I said simply and immediately regretted it when Sal started to say how sorry he was for bringing it up. “Don't be. It was a long time ago. Hunter never knew him. It's why he doesn't know.”
“You going to break it to him?”
I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the basketball finally making its way through the net. “Tomorrow,” I said. “I need tonight. Just give us tonight.” I don't know why I felt like I needed his permission not to tell Hunter. Maybe I was afraid that, if I didn't, he would. We'd lived for eleven years this way, with this secret eating away at me on the inside. Maybe Hunter had already figured it out. His nose was so sharp. If not, it might drive him even further from me.
“Chanter can help. He's got experience with that sort of thing. Or, I can. I've helped others through it before, too.” There was silence and I longed for crickets or the call of an owl to fill it. “You should come to the ceremony tomorrow night. It'll give you a chance to meet the whole pack. But better you don't wander in on your own or in an official capacity or they're like to chase you away. Tell you what, what time are you going to be done with work?”
That was up in the air and depended largely on how cooperative the computer decided to be, but I answered, “By six.”
“Swing by my place after and we'll go together. Then, you can introduce Hunter to Chanter officially and talk about what to expect. You can see first-hand how we do things and decide if it's for you. If not, we can point you in the direction of someone who can help. I'm sure of it.”
I gave Sal a skeptical frown. “Why are you being so helpful?”
Hunter hit the backboard with his next shot and the ball bounced off of it. Sal caught it and tossed it between his hands. “Because I should have helped Elias more than I did. Because, if someone had helped me the way I'm helping you, maybe things wouldn't be so screwed up on my side of the fence. Also, I have a soft spot for a woman in distress, especially if she's hot.”
He tossed the ball up in perfect form, going for a three pointer. I smiled smugly when the ball spun around the rim and bounced right back out. “Nice try,” I said.
“Can't win if you don't try,” Sal said and went in to fetch his keys.
Chapter Ten
The next morning, I parked my borrowed truck and dragged myself into the station without making eye contact with anyone. I didn't want to talk and I didn't want to see their surprised faces when I showed up for a second day of work. Since my office was too much of a mess to get anything done, I spent the first part of my day cleaning it. I borrowed a broom from the janitor's closet (which was slightly larger than my office) and got to work clearing out cobwebs and paint chips. It took me three phone calls and some cash under the table but I finally found someone willing to move that broken desk out.
Around noon, Tindall peeked his head in and raised an eyebrow at how I'd arranged the office, placing my personal laptop directly on the floor and curling up next to it to start my research. “Cozy,” he remarked.
“It'll take me a while to find another desk I like. The movers charged me an arm and half a leg to take the old one away.”
He nodded and strode in uninvited. “Doc says they collected the body last night.”
“Did he put a rush job on my tox screen?”
“As ordered.”
“Good.”
He waited a long time, probably expecting me to elaborate on my thoughts. “You know, Black, I've always been kind of skeptical on the magick front. I mean, I've seen a lot of things since I moved out here but real magick isn't one of them and there's a good reason for that. Visions and evidence collected from a séance aren't admissible in court.”
I scrolled through another police report before looking up. “How long have you known Leo Garcia was missing?” His upper lip twitched slightly, and I knew I'd hit on something he'd rather let stayed buried. “How many other undocumented kids are missing?”
“Just the three you probably already know about,” he said flatly and then shifted his weight. “It's not like I didn't try, Black. There's no hard evidence the kids ever existed and my superiors don't feel that's where they should be pooling departmental resources, despite my protests. I couldn't keep the cases open to do any damn good so, when the Garcia kid went missing, I thought it was best left to the pack to deal with it.”
I stood and cracked my back. “You didn’t even file a police report when Leo Garcia went missing.”
“How did you even find out about this?”
“That part doesn't matter. What does matter is finding those kids. If this department isn't going to do that, then I will.”
Tindall walked over and closed the door, bolting it shut. “That's what Elias said, too, and you see how well that worked out for him.”
“You knew Elias was looking into the disappearances?” I crossed my office to stand next to Tindall who was resting his forehead against the wall. “And you didn't think to bring that up yesterday?”
His head snapped up and he shot me a glare of daggers. “I was told to back off or turn in my badge, Black. If I'd told you about those kids, you would have went off half-cocked, tearing this town apart. The parents are skittish enough that they won't talk to me. If you start poking around, we'll never find their remains.”
“Remains?” I raised my eyebrows. “There's a chance those kids are still alive. Even if they're not, we're not going to contin
ue to look the other way while some monster terrorizes this town. Who the hell does your chief think he is?” I stopped and took a deep breath. Getting upset and taking this out on Tindall wasn't going to help me find those kids and Elias' murderer any faster. I needed info and evidence and I needed it fast. “Tell me everything you know about those missing kids,” I said in a shaky voice.
Tindall told me everything, which wasn't much. In the limited time he'd had to pursue the cases before his superiors got wind of what was happening, he hadn't been able to find any connection between the victims other than that they were unregistered residents. The cases he'd worked had been on victims of different income brackets, different races, from different parts of town. Like Sal had said, they'd gone missing sometime overnight. The houses hadn’t had any signs of a break-in. “My primary suspects were always the parents in both cases,” he finished. “Rita Greenlee, the troll mother of the first kid, had a history of mental instability. She'd been on and off anti-depressants most of her life.”
“What about the Garcias?” I asked.
Tindall shrugged. “Valentino's some kind of ex-gang banger. Wouldn't surprise me if he lost his temper and took it out on the kid. You know how stressful raising a kid can be.”
I scrolled through the closed Garcia file on my laptop and frowned. “Do you have any kids, Tindall?”
He took a long time to answer, so I looked up. Poor Tindall looked like I'd stabbed him in the gut and twisted the knife. “Used to,” he said, his voice full of tension. “A daughter. She'd be eighteen now.”
“Oh God,” I said, rising. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean...”
“It's not like it's a big secret,” Tindall said with a strained smile. “It's how I wound up here, you know? But I'd rather not talk about it. My wife... We never had what you'd call closure.”
I nodded and continued in a gentler tone. “Valentino doesn't strike me as that kind of guy. He seemed more desperate and frantic when I met him. He'd do anything to get his child back. Wouldn't you?”
He walked over to the window and gave the desert outside a good, long stare before he cleared his throat. “Teagan Summers came to me. She was a mess, poor woman. She'd pulled her whole life savings and shoved it across the table at me, begging me to find her daughter.” Tindall turned away from the window, his expression pained. “She's where you'll want to start. This... monster... It isn't finished doing whatever it's doing. My hands are tied with miles of red tape and political bullshit. The chief doesn't want me on this. Hell, he doesn't even want me to help you. But dammit, Black, no parent should ever have to put an empty coffin in the ground. Not one. If you can find these kids or what's left of 'em, I'll risk my badge on it. All I ever found was dead ends and closed doors.”