by M J Hutto
19 Surprise!
Surprisingly, Mother didn’t make me open gifts. She did, however, make me stand through two hundred plus people singing me happy birthday. I’d lived through it and made it home with my boxes. I’d given Dorian the charm and the blood with instructions on what to do. He was, at first, appalled and then intrigued. If it worked, I might have a new use for the spell. It was pretty involved though and required a lot of upkeep. So probably not anything retail.
Thibbs left at midnight, as per usual and Jaylin stayed until he got back early this morning. We had already watered, sang, and danced with the plants. We’d spent time with our fur friends. The cats, miraculously, didn’t mind him. I’d opened the shop this morning and would return for the later shift. Maxine and Reva were working the busy time.
I had a few appointments this evening around five for readings. I had time to go through Granda’s boxes and maybe even stir a few potions, create a few charms. I’d written a new one I wanted to try out.
I grabbed the boxes and pulled them onto the coffee table in the living room. Thibbs had gone though them a little last night so he was napping now. I sat down to sift through the contents. Doing it made me a little sad, I missed Granda a lot, but touching his things might just help me feel closer to him.
I pulled out the blades; he’d kept them razor sharp. One was silver with moonstones set into the hilt; the other was obsidian with lapis lazuli set into the hilt. I set them aside to find appropriate places for them later. Maybe the curio cabinet. Maybe a display case of their own.
I pulled out some of the bottles and jars next. They were carefully labeled and sealed. Granda had taught me to do the same. “S’important, a stoirin, always put the label on. You dunna wan’ to put in the wormwood when you meant the cedar-wood.”
The smile on my lips was happy. I could hear him talking and feel his presence with his things. I could even smell the powder he’d used for his shoes. I finally got them all out and they covered the coffee table. I’d have to go through them all to make sure they were still good but most looked fine.
There were only a couple of books in the boxes. One was a copy of the spell book I currently used. He had made me copy them each by hand into my own book. He said it would help me remember them and make the spells my own. I flipped through his book; he’d added a few spells at the end. Must’ve been while I was away on a trip.
My hands smoothed the pages of the book gently. His handwriting had been more like calligraphy than simply handwriting. He always said a man’s penmanship was important. He was proud of his writing and reading abilities. A tear slipped off my cheek hitting my hand. Ugh, I’m crying a lot lately.
I bit hard on my lip to stop the tears. I couldn’t afford to mess this book up. I couldn’t get another, and it was an invaluable link to my Granda and the past.
Once I had my tears in check I continued on to the next book. This one was more what I needed. It was full of descriptions of practitioners he knew, like a yellow-pages or little black book I guess. There were phone numbers and information about what type of practitioner they were: green witch, kitchen witch, crystal witch, hedge witch, cosmic witch. And by my name…hereditary, cosmic and chaos witch.
And a small notation under his name was my mother’s name with hereditary non-practicing witch. I’d never seen this book before. My mother had never even hinted at such a thing and I was honestly shocked. Granda had never mentioned it either. Did Mother know? Was she ashamed? Is that why she pushed me away? Babushka’s name was included as a diviner and cosmic witch. I’d known she was a practitioner.
Those were all interesting, but not necessarily what I was looking for. I set the book aside to look through more thoroughly later and possibly add to. I knew quite a few Chaotians, I knew I should add them. Maybe I could spell the book, so it was only visible to those who knew what they were looking for. It could be bad for that to fall into the wrong hands.
There were two books left. I lifted the heavier of the two and found my Granda’s Book of Shadows. He’d written instructions in the front for adding pages or adjusting the arrangement inside. It looked like he created something like a three-ring binder but without the rings.
I lost track of time as I leafed through the pages. Some of the things inside were surprising. He’d seen a werewolf in Johannesburg, a djinn in Cairo, a leprechaun in Venice, and an angel in Bogota. He’d told me stories of their travels but made them seem like fairy tales. I guess they weren’t, I wondered why he hadn’t told me, maybe I just hadn’t listened.
I sat back on the couch, the book open to a page about crossroad demons. Maybe this was Thibbs’s demon. I wondered how many there were. Granda had met two according to his notes. He named them but was clear about not saying their names. He also gave directions for summoning them. Step one, find crossroads. Step two, figure out a different way. DO NOT SUMMON A DEMON!
I looked at the clock when the phone rang. Damn. I was due at the shop in fifteen minutes. I put the book back in the box and answered the phone finally on the fourth ring.
“How’s the birthday girl?”
I looked at the receiver. “Well, it’s not my birthday so I don’t know. Maybe you have the wrong number.”
“I guess the paper got the date wrong. You looked stunning in you party outfit. I think I like you better in a dress though. Maybe next time something that shows off your legs.”
The voice was almost familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Who the hell is this?”
They softly chuckled and tsked. “How sad. I didn’t make more of an impression. You should take better care to remember the men you’ve been kissing.”
“Jim?!?”
We started talking at the same time. “Oh good…”
“Wasn’t kissing you!”
“You remembered after all.”
“You son of a bitch. What the hell?”
His laugh was soft and low and set my teeth on edge. He wasn’t listening and he wasn’t making sense. He had to know after two different instances of me physically assaulting him he wasn’t my type.
“You were wearing too much makeup though. And I prefer your hair up off your neck. You have a lovely neck; I just want to cover it in kisses. I like to bite, do you like that?”
I looked at the phone again. This guy was bonkers. Was he the one? Was he going to try to kill me? One of those if he can’t have me no one can? An idea came to me. I didn’t bother to answer his ridiculous statements or question.
“Thank you for the compliment. You know, I was thinking. Maybe we could do one last reading if you haven’t been to see anyone else yet. I’m reading tonight.”
He sighed loudly. “Are you trying to trick me? Gonna have your new boy toy or your cousin over there waiting for me?”
Since that’s exactly what I planned, minus the boy toy, I guess I’m not as slick as I thought.
“I just hate things ended the way they did. I didn’t even finish your full reading; I never gave you your lucky numbers or helped you answer your question. You hadn’t even asked it yet.”
“You answered the damn question,” he grumbled. “I’ll think about it. But if you’re planning to have one of your boys in blue there I won’t stop. I’ll just come back another day when you aren’t expecting me.”
“Okay, well, I’ve gotta go. I’m supposed to be in the shop by now. I hope to see you tonight.”
“You might not see me, but I’ll definitely see you. Good night, sweet Kable.”
I shivered so uncontrollably I almost misdialed the phone. I called Dorian’s cell phone. I’d leave a message if he didn’t answer.
“This is Dorian’s phone, hold please.”
I looked at the phone again, not that it had helped me any of the other times. I shook my head and waited. I still had a few minutes before I had to be in the shop. I tapped my foot while I waited. Then I heard the sirens and yelling. I bit my lip, this sounded like kind of a bad time.
Dorian came on as I was loweri
ng the phone from my ear. He was out of breath and had a tenseness to his voice he didn’t usually carry.
“What’s up, Kable?”
“It kinda sounds like you’re busy, maybe I should just call back later.”
“Well, yeah, I’m busy. I’m at work. But I’m here now, you never call so it must be important.”
I told him about the conversation with Jim. He was cussing before I even got to the part about inviting him to the shop this evening.
“You WHAT?! Kable, what the hell? Are you insane?”
My cheeks flushed. “I’m tired of sitting idly by waiting for shit to happen.”
“What are you talking about? You never sit by and let shit happen. You are in perpetual forward motion. You pick up your damn mail from the post rather than let it get delivered! What are you trying to tackle now? Besides a potential rapist?”
My shoulders were stiff, and my face was on fire. “I’ll have you know I have a plan. Plus, you aren’t my damn father.”
He sighed, sounding very tired which made me feel guilty. I hated feeling guilty. I had a plan, damnit.
“Kable. You always have a plan, and you are incredibly good at moving forward. I am not trying to be your father, but I am trying to keep you safe. This guy is not stable.”
The background noise got significantly quieter, and his voice dropped, “Look. We’ve got another dead Orokkian. I’m officially on the task force and if I do all right will be moved to the Chaotian Division. If we can solve this, I guess, and prove it’s worth the tax dollars.
“I know you just want this guy off the street and out of your hair. I’ll come by after I get off work. I’ll come in the back, so no one knows I’m there. I get off in a few hours. Do you think you’ll be okay till then?”
I nodded, realized he couldn’t see me and said yes. We hung up and I walked over to the shop after I woke Thibbs. Jaylin still hadn’t shown up. Maybe Reva or Maxine could stay a few more hours until Dorian could get there.
I didn’t like the idea of keeping them in the middle of this. I needed to talk to Maxine about Dani. I was hoping things were settled. I’d ask them about the house hunting, and I needed to talk to Reva about her dad too.
She told me last night his tests weren’t conclusive and there were going to be more. He was going back next week. That sounded like a long time to me and like hell while they were waiting. Maybe they could get an appointment sooner or something. I was afraid for her, and I wanted to help but there wasn’t much I could do.
I called out to them when I walked inside but didn’t get an answer. I called out again, it was really quiet. I guess there weren’t any customers. I washed my hands and walked to the front counter. I didn’t see Maxine or Reva at first. Then I saw two pairs of feet sticking out from under the table.
I ran over to check on them but came up short when I noticed the words carved into the table. Tag. I swallowed and looked around the shop. I didn’t see anyone. I went to the door and locked it. I raced back over to the table and found both women unconscious but breathing.
They were waking up when I called 911. They didn’t remember much. Both had been having a snack and drinking a cup of tea, that’s the last thing they remembered. The officers took a sample of the tea. After Maxine vomited, they took a sample of that too. Neither Maxine nor Reva would agree to go to the hospital.
The officers took pictures of the table and looked over the video. It was fuzzy and distorted during the fifteen minutes prior to my arrival which was the only opportunity for the incident-attack-to have happened.
My table would need to be sanded down and re-stained. I sent them home and decided to work on that tonight. I didn’t want this to be a daily reminder. It was bad enough anything happened to them but a daily reminder of that was out of the question.
I felt like everything was out of control. What the hell was happening? Was I in a Lifetime movie? There were too many things going on right now. Or maybe there was just one thing with a lot of parts. Maybe Jim was it. That was the simplest answer, wasn’t it? Ockham’s Razor, right?
I found some sandpaper after I called my clients to reschedule. Then I sat down to work on getting the surface smooth while my brain continued to think over my problems.
20 Employing the Razor
I was still sanding the table when Dorian walked in. He was disheveled; hair sticking up, shirt stained and dirt on his face. I couldn’t remember seeing him like this since we were kids. We used to wrestle, play soccer, climb trees, you name it. Then we got older and those were kid things. He still played soccer but managed to look like a model doing it. Maybe he wasn’t playing hard enough anymore.
“Who’d you get in a fight with?”
“I’m low man, I got to go through the trash on the scene.” He was grinning when he said it, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.
“What ya doin’?” he asked, puzzled.
Oops, I guess no one had mentioned the incident. I hadn’t called. I knew he was busy, and we had things handled. I filled him in on things, he took it fairly well.
“Why the hell didn’t you call me? Are they okay? Are you okay? I’m going to find that mother-fucker and…”
I glanced up at the cameras. He stopped talking.
“You aren’t going to do anything since we don’t know who did this. However, won’t the stalking laws allow you to arrest Jim if he comes around me again? I’ll file the phone call. Between that and the two physical things we should be able to get him, right?”
He sat down, his head in his hands. “Maybe. Ever since that thing with the little Orokkian boy the courts have taken this kind of thing more seriously. I’ll talk to the judge in the morning. Maybe I’ll get Aether to do it so it’s not your cousin pushing the issue.”
I scowled, “I don’t think we should involve Detective Aether. He has enough to do right now. What’s this about another murder?”
He arched a brow and smirked but let it go, “Another body was discovered today. She was identified as…” He pulled his notebook out of his shirt pocket. “Called herself Kaddy Kates.”
My head swung up from the table. “Oh my God. Are you sure? I know her. She reads palms.”
He was nodding. “Yep. This one was a little different. Still looks like some torture but not exactly the same. More broken bones, less cutting. Maybe other types of assault. Her face around her eyes was pretty bad. Looked like a lot of hitting and maybe kicking.”
“Wow. Is that better or worse?” I asked, thinking about my dream.
“Neither. I don’t think it matters. Both are dead, but what do I know?”
“I guess you’re right. I’m kinda surprised the city created a task force for two murders.”
He was shaking his head. “It’s only two here. Apparently there have been others around this area, in a couple of other cities. And”-he looked down at his hands- “you know Sabine Fairmont?”
I nodded. “She grew up with us. She was dating that congressman’s son from City 5 or might still be. Seems like there was some kind of to-do involving them recently. She was at my party yesterday.”
“Well, no one has seen her since the party. She never made it home. She doesn’t carry a cell so we can’t use GPS to track her movements. Her car was found parked near your parents’ house.”
“Oh God! You think the same person has her?”
He shrugged, rubbing his forehead. “She’s Orokkian. I know she doesn’t practice Chaos, but she’s been in the news lobbying for rights. She’s outspoken with political connections and possible aspirations. Victor seems to think she might be an up-and-coming mover and shaker. He’s been at the forefront for getting this task for going.”
“Well, that’s good-the Victor thing, not about her. She’s a touch sensitive empath, though. She doesn’t practice but sometimes she has a hard time shielding.” I looked down at my hands and bit my lip. “I helped her with concentration and strengthening them.”
I sniffled and drew a breath. “She�
�s been a great spokesperson and I think he might be right. I think she’s planning to run for office in the next election and I think she’ll win.”
We looked at each other over the table. “I hope she gets the chance.”
“Me too.”
I put my hand over his. “Y’all will get this figured out.”
“Well, Galen and I both got pulled to the task force. They put a tech and ME on the team, I don’t know who yet. And I think maybe one other officer, not sure yet. We’re supposed to be working closely with someone from the DA’s office too. Make sure we are doing things by the book.
“Achlys is sitting in on the autopsy tonight. We’re due back at 0600 for a team meeting. I think he’s probably gonna sleep at the office. Or maybe in his car. I was planning to go back tonight but I’m gonna stay with you. I’ll leave early to grab new clothes. I think I’ve got a pair of sweats here.”
I rolled my eyes, “Please don’t let me ruin your chance to stop a murderer. I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter. I’ll get Jekyll and Hyde to sleep inside with me tonight. I can bring Emma and Lucy in too if it makes you feel better. I’ve got my wards up. No one can get in without paying a heavy price.”
My face moved in something like a smile. “I don’t think he’ll be back. I’m pretty sure this was Jim,” I said motioning to the tabletop. I was going to have to find my electric sander to get this done any time soon. I’d look for it in the morning.
“Hey Dorian?”
“Yeah?”
“What if it’s Jim?”
“What do you mean? What if what’s Jim?”
“I think I’m connected to these murders in some way. And Jim is a really crazy new development in my life. Maybe he’s not just a little bonkers but, you know, the whole shebang.”
“Connected how?”
“I told you Jaylin is here. She’s here to help me out with some stuff and one of those things is maybe some danger avoidance. I just don’t know how likely it is for me to be involved in multiple psychodramas. You know. Maybe one psycho is all the psychos.”