by Sandra Elsa
"Let's not forget Detective Alban" Wally added.
"Had to bring that jerk up, didn't you." Prick accused me of setting off a bomb to distract the watch in pursuit of a suspect.
I watched out the darkly tinted window as we approached district three; land of the upper-middle-class, or is that lower-upper-class. Mr. Self- Important hadn't been hurting for cash. Their wealth was evident in the attitude of the pickets as they stopped us at the gate..
Sure, the Watch had lost vehicles and they'd been used in crimes, but Wally had radioed ahead. They'd had ample time to check with dispatch before we arrived here, but they still insisted he fully stop and everyone in the vehicle display their idents. He stared at mine for quite some time before handing them back.
Finally he said, "I'm afraid Miss Leone is not welcome in District Three."
"Told you not to bring me." I put a calm face on it, but I panicked as I pondered the source of the banishment.
"What the hell did you do now, Frankie?" Wally sounded less than pleased.
"Beats the hell out of me.” I tried to keep the defensiveness out of my voice. I hated for them to know they were having any effect on me. Good or bad. “Was here yesterday morning. Maybe Mrs. Ludovissy or one of the other upstanding citizens of this dump didn't appreciate being outted." Or maybe someone was concerned about what Mrs. Ludovissy knew.
Chapter 4
Sergeant Wallin turned back to the picket. "Miss Leone is in protective custody. She’ll be with me while we're here. We have reason to believe one of your citizens is in danger you can either allow us to enter, or risk the fallout if something happens to the civilian."
"Orders are…"
"Whose orders, Picket?" Wally glared at me and I shut my mouth and left him to handle it. "Unless you can tell me whose orders you're acting on and what the reason behind your orders is, she'll be traveling with me. Your local watch commander can take it up with Chief Hortimus down at HQ."
The picket blanched, but rallied. "Orders come from one of your own, Sergeant. A Detective Dowling. No reason given."
"Open the gate now, Picket or I'll have you on trash detail in District Fifty-five."
The man had been game, but nobody wanted to go to Fifty-five. Especially not somebody as menial as a picket. "I'm calling it in, Sergeant."
"You do what you feel you need to do, but you open that gate right now."
The picket shrugged and pushed a button. I looked in the mirror as Wally pulled through. Radio grasped in his hand, the picket appeared to be arguing with somebody.
"You gonna tell me what you did now?" Wally watched me watching the picket in the mirror.
"Nothing. Met Self-Important in Three when he hired me. Didn't have trouble getting in then," We'd walked along, feeding ducks on the source, two strangers, a chance meeting. A few brief sentences and his ident scanned in my handheld so I could check him out before an official meet at Minale's. "And I've been coming in here every morning for the last three weeks. Guess I'll have to look up Dowling and find out when I pissed in his Wheaties. I can't for the life of me put a face to the name."
"You've met him. Chief's daytime toady."
"Blond guy? Average looks? Nose like somebody punched him once or twice?"
"One of those times would be me." Wally said, nodding at every point of description.
"Say it ain't so, Wally!" I fluttered my eyelashes and placed a hand to my heart. "You being so mild mannered and easy to get along with and all. Maybe he knows you're dragging me all over the place and is taking revenge on you."
"That almost makes sense. If anything has happened to Mrs. Ludovissy because he had us detained at the gate, I'll have his job."
I rolled my eyes as he glanced in the mirror. "Cut the crap, you think she's guilty of something, not that she needs rescuing. Remember who you're talking to."
Rollick laughed. "She's got you there, Sarge."
"Whatever the reason for that little delay, at least Dowling didn't invoke the chief's name while he was giving orders." Wally tightened his grip on the wheel and drove without further comment.
#
It seemed strange to actually approach apartment three-G in building one-nine-eight on Central Avenue. I'd grown used to sitting across the street, watching for Mrs. Self-Important to come out for the day, making notes of any visitors to the building. The last thing I wanted to do today was introduce myself to the woman I'd tailed to her rendezvous with Mr. Movie-Star.
Quite possibly the woman had either killed her husband, or at a minimum arranged to have him killed. Wally wasn't letting me sit in the car though. He dragged me up to the door. It opened before he could push the buzzer.
After a brief startled moment she recovered, bright, perky, blonde innocence, trying to convince the troopers on the doorstep, the travel bag in her hand was perfectly normal at this time of night. She'd been leaving, but Wally chose to ignore the obvious. She took one look at their uniforms, eyes passing swiftly from Wally to Rollick, a flitting frown crossed her face before she turned away from him to curiously examine me. "Something I can help you with, troopers?"
"Good evening, Ma'am. I'm Sergeant Wallin, my partner, Trooper Rollick. Sorry to bother you so late. Do you know where your husband is, Ma'am?" Sergeant Wallin rolled his hat in his hands as he spoke, each word carefully modulated.
Cool as could be, she said, "I'm afraid I haven't seen him in over a week. We had a bit of a spat. He packed a bag, hopped in the car and took off.”
I spun around and looked at the little Miata sitting in their parking spot. One car per family and that, only with a proven need to travel.
She either didn’t notice me looking—entirely possible since she was looking at Wally like he was the best thing since smoked turkey legs—Or she just didn’t care about my thoughts on the subject as she pushed her lie forward. “He only took a small bag so I assumed he'd take some time to think about it and return. Is he in some sort of trouble?"
Wally rolled the hat twice more before asking, "Might I inquire what you fought about?"
"You may not. What is this about?"
Rollick held up the envelope I'd given Wally and withdrew a picture from it. "Is it possible you fought about an extramarital affair?"
The perky blonde turned into an angry shrew. "Where did you get those photos?" Wally's hat spun three times around and I noticed Mrs. S-I watch it go too. She calmed down as it spun. I rocked back on my heels and considered Wally. All the time I'd known him, I never realized he had a lick of magic. I closed my eyes and looked with dismay at the soothing blue color emanating from his hands. At the end of the third turn, he said, "Your husband's body was found earlier this afternoon. He had a business card for a private investigator in his pocket. The investigator admitted Mr. Ludovissy paid him to have you followed. He turned over his notes and photographs to the watch."
I silently thanked Wally for the misdirection on gender.
Her nose jutted in the air with righteous indignation. "So, I had an affair. Doesn't mean I killed him."
"We're not accusing you of murder, Ma'am. The gentleman in the photos is a person of interest to the watch. What can you tell us about him?"
"He didn't kill my husband either, unless it was self-defense. He was good-looking. I slept with him. I'm sure your private investigator informed you that was only about once a week. Met him at a coffee shop down by the source in District One a couple weeks ago. That's about all I know."
"Are you not even curious to know what happened to your husband?"
No trace of emotion showed on her face. "Won't bring him back if I sit here and listen to you tell me he was shot, stabbed, drowned," she turned and stared at Rollick with distaste back on her face, "or even that he had his throat ripped out. If he's dead, that's all I need to know."
"Well the truth is; forensics hasn't yet examined the body. We can tell you, his throat was not torn out." She didn't want information so Wally didn't volunteer it. "Do you mind if I go through your hus
band's belongings to see if I can find anything that might point us to his killer?"
She opened the door wider, licking her lips as she looked at Wally. "You're welcome to enter, Sergeant, but I don't like your trooper's sort, and since you didn't introduce your companion I assume she's not law enforcement."
"True, Ma'am. However if you don't want my partner in your apartment I'll have to return later with a warrant. At that time you’ll have no choice in who you permit through your door, or how much damage is done as we search for clues."
She glanced at her travel bag, then back at Rollick. Probably figured they weren't likely to let her just disappear. "Fine," she snapped and held the door open, standing back while they entered. Wally's fingers around my wrist as firm as the cuffs had been, drew me in behind him. Our hostess sniffed as I passed her, I wondered if I was beneath her, or if I stunk of rotting bodies. I'd spent longer in the alley than Wally, so maybe the second. Somehow my money was on the first.
"Rollick, start in the kitchen. Francesca and I will go through his closet." Wally dragged me off in the direction Mrs. Ludovissy waved. He glanced down at the travel bag and said, "Please accompany us, Mrs. Ludovissy."
In the room, a fauxwood chair sat beside a vanity with a huge mirror which showed every smudge along with my tatty black hair. I ran fingers through it in a feeble attempt to straighten out the shoulder length mess, then settled for turning away from the mirror as Wally sat me on the chair. "Do not move, Frankie. Do not touch anything except that seat." His tone demanding, he pronounced every word slowly and clearly.
I almost snorted. I couldn’t believe he was trying to magic me in place. "I'm not an idiot, Wally. Cut me some slack. I didn't want to be here in the first place."
"You have a way of touching the wrong thing at the wrong time, Frankie.”
Wrong thing, right time, I thought at him. Too bad neither oif us were telepaths and he wasn’t watching my expression. Most of the stuff I touched turned out gold in the end, even if the alchemy sometimes included a rough path getting there.
Totally oblivious to my silent thoughts Wally rambled on. “Chief probably wouldn't have half as many difficulties with you if you hadn't caused that explosion out in District Nineteen, just when the watch nearly caught Johnny Girlo."
I rolled my eyes and sighed in the manner of the long suffering. I didn't bother to deny it. No one believed me when I proclaimed my innocence. And in that instance I was totally and completely innocent.
Mrs. Ludovissy peered at me with more interest. I ignored her. Sitting sideways on my appointed chair, I watched Wally start through the closets while keeping Mrs. Ludovissy in my peripheral vision. He pushed clothing aside, thumping the walls, searching for false panels and for the first time, Mrs. Ludovissy looked nervous. Her eyes glanced not in the closet with Wally, but to a point in the corner of the room where a painting of a young couple in a boat hung in an otherwise barren spot.
Wally came up empty on hidden rooms or compartments and started searching through pockets of the hanging clothing. Finished with that he came to the vanity and started pulling out drawers and fumbling through personal belongings, spending a lot of time in a drawer with a handful of business cards, once again searching for false bottoms.
I nudged his foot with mine and grinned at him when he glanced up at me. Mrs. Ludovissy watched us closely. I leaned forward until my lips brushed his cheek. He snatched his head back in surprise, then, swift to conclude I didn’t want my input into the search to cost him the bust, he shifted his body between me and our audience. "How many times I gotta tell you not to toy with me, Frankie." His words sounded harsh, the anger just right for the unrequited lover being made a fool of.
In the shelter of his body I rolled my eyes toward the painting in the corner. "You know you love it, Wally. You're the one who dragged me along. You know how I adore being dominated." I made sure I put plenty of sarcasm in it.
His eyes followed mine toward the painting. "Keep teasing, Frankie. One of these days I won't be responsible for my actions. Especially not with citizens who will back up my claim that you threw yourself at me."
"As if that would ever happen."
"Christ, Frankie, you kissed me, not the other way around."
"A peck on the cheek. Nothing to get bent out of shape over."
"Everything all right in here?" Trooper Rollick stuck his head in the door.
"It's fine." His voice gruff, Wally waved Rollick back out the door. Wally was a good actor.
Rollick hesitated just long enough. "Want me to take her with me. I know she drives you nuts, Sarge."
Wally shook his head. "I can handle her kind of nuts."
Rollick shrugged. "Kitchen's clean. I'll be in the den."
"All right, couple more things to go through in here."
Mrs. Ludovissy shifted position as though she would follow Rollick, then she looked back our way and back again to the door. Clearly there was something in both rooms she didn't want found.
Wally leaned down and kissed me. On the mouth. With tongue. I struggled backward and slapped his face as he released me. There'd be a red mark. He gingerly felt his cheek as he straightened, confusion clearly overwriting his normal, steadfast, earnestness. "You started it Frankie. I should haul you in for assaulting a member of the watch." His anger was real, but it didn't feel directed at me. What the hell had prompted him to try to turn an innocent deception into a kiss like that?
My attention returned to Mrs. Ludovissy. She had moved just before Wally did. I focused on the space around her and came away with an ugly impression of a rust colored aura. Shit. She was a fairly powerful magic user. But what type?
Wally brusquely turned away from me and went to the bed, lifting the cover and peering under the box spring. He opened cabinets on the deep headboard then stood and knocked on the wall behind the fine faux-mahogany furniture. Mrs. Ludovissy relaxed as she became certain she was dealing with incompetence. That's when Wally turned and walked to the painting in the corner.
I watched her carefully. Now that I was prepared for it I could block any magic she might try to use against him. As his hand touched the painting she tensed. He lifted it away from the wall and she dropped a hand into a pocket. I casually pulled my nine-mil out of my shoulder holster and flicked the safety off. She withdrew her hand slowly from her pocket. It held nothing more than a lighter. A tiny blue dot of magic glowed within the device. Without a second thought I snuffed the glow.
She turned to the dresser and took a pack of cigarettes off the top of it. They were her husband’s brand. Her hands shook as she fiddled with the lighter. Wally took the painting off the wall revealing a small door. No fancy safe, just a door. His hand moved toward the latch that lay in a small cut-out so the painting hung flat. She lifted the lighter to her cigarette, but hesitated.
"Wally?" I stopped him.
"What now, Frankie?" He spun away to look at me.
She lowered her hand.
"Sorry. It's nothing." He spun back to the door and she lifted the lighter again. "Wally!"
"What!" His annoyance was plain, edged sharper by the embarrassment of my fingerprints stinging his cheek.
She lowered the lighter and he glanced over at her. I pointed the nine-mil at her and Wally frowned.
"I followed her for two weeks. Never once saw her smoke. And she's waiting to light that, the moment you open that door."
His hand went to his Colt before he glanced down at my nine-mil. "Put that away, Frankie. You're a civilian."
"I'll put it away as soon as you take that lighter--or whatever it is --out of her hand."
For a change he didn't argue with me.
She backed away from him as he raced toward her. She flicked the lighter twice in rapid succession and frowned when nothing happened then flicked it again. Wally tackled her, following her to the ground, tearing the lighter from her hand. The smile on her face told me something was wrong. She stretched a hand toward his cheek, fingers splayed, her ugl
y energy coiling around them. "Touch him bitch and you'll join your husband." I waved the muzzle of the pistol at her. “Get away from her, Wally."
Chapter 5
Wally jumped to his feet, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "Wha’d'ya see, Frankie?"
"The way she licked her lips when you did the hat trick and the way she just tried to get her paws on you, I'd say she's a siphon. I don't know how talented you are, but she obviously hoped it would be enough to use against me and Rollick after she drained you." Rollick entered the room. Without a glance at either of us, he bent over the grieving widow flipped her over and cuffed her hands behind her.
"Small wonder she doesn't like you, Rollick."
"Her sort never like any of us she can't drain. Here I thought she was just prejudiced."
Mrs. Ludovissy trembled. "Get your hands off me, you animal. You should all be shot with silver bullets. Whose brilliant idea was it to let you become citizens?" Her voice pitched higher as hate spewed forth.
Rollick ignored the diatribe, as he got on the radio. "Dispatch, I need a magic containment unit in district three for an unregistered siphon." He gave the address then sat her on the bed. "What happened to your husband, Mrs. Ludovissy?"
"I don't know what happened to him," she screeched. "He attacked my lover then left. Maybe Harrison went after him."
"You got her, Trooper?" It was an unnecessary question but Wally asked it anyway before turning back to the door in the wall. The door was nearly thirty inches wide and twenty-four inches high. Wally examined the lighter in his hand then tossed it to me. "What d'ya make of that Francesca."
I took out a pocketknife and pried up the metal rim, examining each piece as it came away in my hand. What I held in the end was clearly a detonator. "She pushed it. Don't see a timer so I'm not sure why we didn't blow up." I took out the tiny piece of crystal that had contained the spell and held it up to the light. "Looks like maybe her ignition spell expired."