by Sharon Joss
DESTINY BLUES
SHARON JOSS
Aja Publishing
USA
DESTINY BLUES Copyright © 2013 by Sharon Joss
All rights reserved.
Published 2013 by Aja Publishing
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Cover design Copyright © 2013, 2016 by Aja Publishing
Cover art & design by Lou Harper
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All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or incidents or events is coincidental and not intended by the author. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.
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CHAPTER 1
It was a stretch, but I just managed to slide the parking citation beneath the wiper blade of the white Freightliner refrigerator truck. I’d never had to crawl across the hood of such a big-assed truck to issue a parking ticket before. I half-fell, half-jumped to the ground, and dusted the grime off the front of my uniform.
“Give him another one, Miss Mattie,” Mr. Yousef insisted. The truck was parked directly in front of Mr. Yousef’s Paradise Garden Cafe, taking up three parking spots, which Mr. Yousef liked to think of as reserved for his customers. “Give him two more! He’s ruining my business!”
He was right, of course; I should write two more tickets. But I wasn’t altogether certain that Mr. Yousef wasn’t trying to get another look up my culottes while I sprawled across the hood of that truck again. I’d barely started my shift, and I was already dirty and sweaty. Upstate New York is especially humid in July, and beneath my helmet it was like a sauna.
“How long has the truck been parked here?”
He flapped his apron; his chin jutted toward at me like a bulldog’s. “It was here when I arrived at six this morning. That’s five hours without paying! I am certain it was parked there all night. Why you won’t tow it? What are you waiting for?”
Mr. Yousef was usually such a jovial man; I’d never known him to be this agitated. The Paradise Garden Café was a popular spot for lunch in Picston. They served the best Greek-Middle-Eastern-North-African food in town. Most of the crew from Parking Control were regular customers. His home-made Koshari in particular was legendary. I sure didn’t want to upset him any further.
I walked around the truck again, looking for an oil leak or problems with the tires, but couldn’t spot anything obvious. The truck was in rough shape. A couple of gashes appeared to have compromised the insulation, and there was a lot of rust. The refrigeration unit wasn’t working. The rank aroma of rancid meat was already beginning to overwhelm the good smells emanating from the café. I could see Mr. Yousef’s point.
“He’s got twelve hours to move the truck. If it’s still here tomorrow, we can do something then.”
The scowl on Mr. Yousef’s face deepened.
I began to fill out the second ticket. I should have filled out all three citations from the get go; that way, I’d only have had to crawl over that stinking truck once.
“Wait! Please, miss; I’ve got the money right here.” The parking violator jogged toward me; jaywalking across the street from the Buzztown Café.
The guy in the summer linen suit was blonde, tanned, and fit. No socks. He looked like he belonged behind the wheel of a sleek Italian sports car. He flashed me a mouthful of the most perfect set of chompers I’d ever seen, and slammed a quarter into the meter. No kidding, this guy could have been in toothpaste commercial.
No way he was the driver of this beat-up hulk.
He glanced at my nametag. “Officer Blackman. Does the “M” stand for merciful, by any chance?”
I blushed; glad for my helmet and mirrored shades. I recognized him.
I didn’t exactly know him, but I’d seen him at my gym. Older guy, maybe early forties, but in great shape. As in, really great shape. Underneath that business suit, lurked the broad-shouldered body of a gymnast. I’d been trying to catch his eye for weeks, but this wasn’t how I’d imagined our first meeting. I hoped he wouldn’t recognize me, parking control officer uniforms being what they are. My formerly crisp white shirt and navy culottes were already damp with perspiration, not to mention truck grease.
The odor of rotted meat wafted over me. He’d probably already lost the whole shipment. A couple of fifteen dollar parking tickets would be the least of his worries. Somehow the suit and the meat truck didn’t seem to go together.
“This your vehicle, sir?”
He glanced up the street. “Ah, I’m helping out a friend. The truck conked out early this morning and he left to get another. He asked me to come and wait for the tow.” He held up a Styrofoam coffee cup. “I stopped for a coffee; didn’t realize the time. This is my fault, officer. Please don’t write that ticket. The tow guy said he’s on his way.”
Up close, he was even better looking. I echoed his grin, with interest.
Mr. Yousef flapped his apron and glared at me.
Focus, Mattie. Technically, I was obligated to write three tickets, but with a tow truck on the way, maybe a little leniency was in order.
I nodded my head to the ticket on the front windshield. “I’ve already issued the first citation, sir. But I’ll give your friend a break on the others this time.” I gave him my best professional smile. “I hope your friend doesn’t lose all that meat,”
He gave me a quizzical look. “What meat?”
“Isn’t that what’s inside the truck?”
“No, pretty lady. It’s flowers. From the flower market. Tear up that ticket, and I’ll give you a whole armful.”
I rolled my eyes. What a flirt. Maybe I liked him better from a distance. “No thank you.” I recognized the truck coming up the street and waved to the driver, Chad, who worked for my brother. “Here’s your tow. You have a nice day, sir.”
I left Mr. Wonderful and Chad to their business, nodded to Mr. Yousef, and walked back to where I’d left my scooter. The distinctive smell of rotten meat and licorice seemed to trail after me. Flowers my ass. It didn’t take a detective to know he was lying through his teeth. I told myself it wasn’t my concern.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the time; Parking Control is a good gig. It’s just that sometimes my Scooby detective hormone goes into overdrive. I have to remind myself that I’m not paid to investigate; I’m paid to write tickets. Then again, maybe it wasn’t the detective hormone at all. I hadn’t even kissed a man in six months.
With my thoughts still so preoccupied by Mr. Wonderful, I didn’t notice my three-wheeled scooter until I was practically standing next to it. I stopped in my tracks and stared at the transparent apparition seated just behind the driver’s seat.
It was no larger than a three-week-old kitten; grey-brown and hairless, with yellow bulbous eyes and a face like a gargoyle.
The bottom fell out of my stomach. Suddenly, the extra-strength dose of putridity in the air made sense. I groaned. They call it teratosis, or, ‘breath of the demon’. That was no cat. That was an un-materialized demon. And somehow, he’d attached himself to me.
CHAPTER 2
My left eyelid began to twitch. Not only did this thing smell bad enough to strip the chrome off a hubcap, but it’s stare gave me the creeps. I’d never actually seen one before, but along with all her other probl
ems, my mother had been plagued by a series of demon spirits for most of her inebriated and abbreviated life. Or djemons, as they’re called, before they materialize. Her doctors thought they contributed to her mental decline and eventual suicide.
Of course everybody knows Shore Haven, New York is the spirit capital of the northeast. Located some forty miles east of Rochester, along the lake Ontario shoreline, the neighboring towns of Picston and Shore Haven sprawl around the base of Sentinel Hill, one of North America’s few demon portals. Legend has it that a horde of djemons were imprisoned beneath the hill in ancient times, and that the local Senequois tribal magic keeps them there. Every once in a while, though, one of them gets out and attaches itself to a human. They’re invisible to everyone but their new host at first, but readily identifiable by their ugly appearance, glowing yellow eyes, and putrid smell.
I glanced around, but nobody seemed to be watching me. I threw my ticket pad at it, and it went right through the thing. It didn’t even move. Yup. It was a djemon, all right. The only thing I knew about un-materialized demons is you have to get rid of them. Fast. Before they attach themselves to you and become materialized demons. Because once they materialize, they’re with you forever. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, after 9/11, the government required all demon masters to register their demons for tracking purposes. Say good-bye to your passport, airline travel, or your government job. And that includes Parking Control.
Sweating now, I picked up my ticket pad, and waved it in the direction of the demonic mirage. The apparition slowly dissipated. Gone for now, but he’d be back. I glanced at my watch. It was a tad early for lunch, but there was an extermination company just a couple blocks from here. Visitors from all over the world come Shore Haven every August to be blessed by the ancient spirits and healed at the Spirit Festival. They come to get their auras read, their chakras cleansed, and their fortunes told. It’s also one of the few festivals in North America where you can get your demons banished.
With any luck, I’d be rid of this thing in less than an hour.
Five minutes later, I turned down Empress Street and was stopped by a police barricade. My heart sank when I saw four sheriff’s cars and the county coroner’s black van parked outside Four-Starr Pest Abatement. A crowd of onlookers from the neighborhood gathered on the sidewalk, watching the proceedings. From the weighty silence in the air, I knew it must be bad.
I motioned to the sheriff’s deputy assigned to crowd control. Picston has their own Police Department, but Shore Haven has a contract with the Monroe Country Sheriff’s Department.
“What’s going on, Lenny?” I asked. Lenny Dawson was the Sheriff Department’s best bowler.
“It’s the owner’s wife, Mrs. Starr.”
“Heart attack?”
He glanced around. “More like shark attack.”
A shiver ran up my spine, in spite of the heat. Not another one. I shook my head. The local press had christened him ‘The Night Shark’--as the wounds were described as generally similar to that of a great white. No traces of DNA had been found at the crime scenes, and the murder weapon hadn’t been identified yet. Mrs. Starr would be the fourth victim in four weeks--the first in Shore Haven. Whoever it was, the guy was extending his territory.
Lenny asked me a question.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said what are you doing here, Blackman? Why aren’t you patrolling the streets like all the other little meter maids?”
As I pondered my snappy comeback, the aroma of baby demon washed over me. Most likely, this place would be shut down for days for the investigation. I’d have to find another exterminator. And soon. The stink was so strong; I could barely draw a breath. I choked out a flimsy excuse to Lenny and got out of there.
CHAPTER 3
Three days later, I fought back another wave of nausea as I stood next to my scooter in the parking lot in front of Picston City Hall. I clamped my jaws shut; determined to keep the Lucky Charms I’d eaten for breakfast where they belonged. I swear, the fetid stink was growing worse by the minute. If I didn’t get rid of this djemon soon, I’d go stark ravers for sure.
The nights were the worst. I couldn’t breathe through my nose, and if I tried to breathe through my mouth, I could taste it. I couldn’t sleep or keep food down. Olfactory hallucination or no, I imagined the toxic fumes were strong enough to melt my brain calls. I took a deep hit off the Springtime Fresh dryer sheet crumpled in my hand. The scented sheets offered only short-term relief.
I glared at the demonic illusion seated on the asphalt beside me. “This is all your fault.”
Blix replied with his one and only expression, a yellow-eyed stare.
“Same to you, buddy,” I sneered. In just a few short days, I’d come to hate him with everything in my sleep-deprived being. “Your remaining hours are now in single digits.” I glanced up at the clock face on City Hall, and checked my cell phone for the fourteenth time to make sure the darn thing was turned on.
By six o’clock this evening, my demon hallucination and the corresponding reek would be gone, and my little teratosis problem would be extinct, thanks to the capable folks at Merle Shine’s Pest Control. After three nights of misery, life would be sweet again, and I’d be back to my usual self with no one the wiser. If only they’d call to confirm.
“Come on guys, it’s after nine already.” I’d been counting the minutes. I’d waited in the parking lot at Merle Shines this morning, waiting for the first person to show up for work. Lucky for me, it was the receptionist. I’d told her I couldn’t wait until next week for my scheduled appointment, and begged her to squeeze me in today.
They were short-staffed and busy, she’d told me.
I lost it. Burst into tears like some blubbery six-year-old. I hated myself for being such a wuss, but I couldn’t help myself.
She reluctantly agreed to ask Merle to get me in as the last appointment of the day. No promises, but she could see my desperation.
I was still shaky from the experience. I flapped the front of my white uniform blouse, hoping for a cool breeze. My shirt was already sticking to me. Moisture from an early morning shower rose from the pavement in steamy waves; the mute air hovered, thick with tension. My tension. I hated waiting. I felt like Wile E. Coyote clinging desperately to the receiving end of an Acme rubber band, just before the anvil made the return trip.
The front glass doors of City Hall opened, and a dozen somber men and women in crisp blue uniforms approached. How I envied them. They strode as a unit down the steps and passed by me with neither a word nor glance in my direction, a first. The chief had been under a lot of pressure lately to solve the Night Shark murders, and after the most recent victim, his men had showed up today to support him at the press conference. It’s what cops do.
Picston’s finest climbed into their air-conditioned cruisers and leisurely circled the lot before heading out on patrol. Lou Scali gave me a grin and a mock salute as he drove by with his new rookie partner, Wesley Zigo. The kid looked like he didn’t even shave yet. The rookies were getting younger every year. That should be me riding with Scali. I was way better than that string bean Zigo any day.
I tucked a strand of limp hair back under my helmet, tightened the strap, and then swung my leg over the seat of my three-wheeler. I straddled the clammy pleather seat, and pulled down the legs of my culottes, hoping for some air movement, but no luck. Between the relentless weight of the stuffy air and the eerie silence of the men, I had that hinky feeling real cops sometimes get when all hell was about to break loose.
My gorge rose again, and I forced myself to swallow. The line of black and whites exited the lot as I fired up my scooter. Ten seconds later, all six patrol cars hit lights and sirens, and six powerful engines thrummed up Seneca Avenue. A silent alarm, or maybe another body. I hoped not. Things were bad enough with the FBI running the show now. Any other day, I might consider following them, but not today. Nothing was going to keep me from my teratosis extermination appoin
tment with Merle.
Focus Mattie. I waited, tapping my fingers against the handle grips for a last tardy civilian to pass by, before I eased the trike out of my parking space. My route today covered the northeast part of the city, and the sooner I reached my quota, the sooner I’d be out of this heat. After my appointment, I might mosey over to McGill’s tonight for the Dart ‘N Drown tournament. Every cop in town, and most of Parking Control would be at the bar. I’d hang with the gang and get the four-one-one then.
I’d cruised to within twenty yards of the exit of the lot when I spotted a large brown toad emerge from the landscaped shrubbery and begin to crawl across the pockmarked asphalt. The kudzu summer weather brings them out. I did a double take when I caught sight of the three-inch fangs.
I shuddered. That was no toad, that was another stinkin’ djemon. What I was seeing was impossible. I already had a djemon. Once you had one, you couldn’t get another. I looked around, but there was no one else nearby. I shouldn’t be able to even see this guy.
Angry frustration tore through me in an instant, and raw adrenaline shot through my veins. White-hot fury surged, kicking me into action. I goosed the gas on the three-wheeled scooter and veered directly for it.
I knew it wouldn’t do any good, but the smug expression on the thing’s ugly face goaded me like the flag on an expired parking meter.
“Eat this, grease spot!”
My cell phone began to ring. I ignored it. My grip on the handlebars slipped, but didn’t deter my resolve to squash the disgusting creature flat. My chin dropped, my arms braced rigidly against the handles, the throttle wide open. The scooter whined in protest, but we were approaching warp speed now: nothing could stop me.
I didn’t see the pedestrian until almost too late. My life flashed before my eyes as I jerked on the handlebars to avoid him. Idiot! The front wheel hit a pothole and the steering wobbled. Queasy prickles of uncertainty stung my cheeks. The scooter wasn’t made for quick maneuvering. The left rear wheel achieved lift-off, and the machine started to tip. I slammed my weight back, but the momentum was too strong. Unable to let up on the throttle, I was no longer in control of the scooter. Images of bumpers, metal rims, and tires flew by as I careened unchecked across the parking lot, accompanied by the shrilling of the darn phone. This was not going to be good.