by Skye Knizley
"Storm, Levac, my office!" he ordered.
Raven looked at Levac and the two of them entered the office with Raven kicking the door shut behind her.
"Raven, I owe you an apology," Frost said as the two detectives sat down. "I've been going over the evidence that kid Aspen collected and I agree, there is no way you could have been in two places at once. Your injuries make it obvious where you were at the time DeGrey was killed."
He pulled open his desk drawer, removed Raven's badge and tossed it to her. "I don't know why I am putting Chaos back on the streets, but you're unsuspended as of now. There's new info in the case as well. Zhu confirmed that the stiff in the morgue isn't DeGrey. Her name is Cassidy Stryker, a girl who went missing from Canada last month. A little hair dye and a boob job and she is the spitting image of Rayne DeGrey."
"I bet if we check passports we'll find a familiar name," Levac said.
Raven shook her head and smiled at her partner. "No bet here, Rupe, cause I'm pretty sure you're right."
"You two are back on the case, I am pulling Gibbs and Murtaugh off as of now," Frost said.
"Thank you, sir," Levac said.
Raven nodded and the pair rose to leave.
"One more thing," Frost said. "Ray…I'm sorry about the Shelby. I know it was your father's. He was a good man and it meant a lot to see the old girl outside every day."
"Thanks, Chris," Raven replied. "I will find whoever blew her up before dad starts rolling over in his grave."
Raven and Levac had just sat down at their desks when Frost leaned out of his office again. "A black and white just found another stiff. It is hanging from a light pole just outside Chi Che Wang Park. Get that kid Kincaid and go check it out!"
"Swell," Raven said. "Demons, headless bodies and we still don't even have a living suspect. Can I be suspended again?"
Levac stood and shrugged back into his coat. "What would be the point? You were working the case even while you were suspended. Come on, partner, let's roll!"
Raven slipped into her own jacket hung her badge around her neck, happy to have the familiar weight hanging between her breasts. She polished it with her sleeve and then followed Levac out the door.
En route to the new crime scene, Levac called both Aspen to meet them at the scene and the border patrol to see if either DeGrey's or Riscassi's names came up around the time Cassidy Stryker went missing. By the time he'd finished arguing with the stubborn border agent, Raven was parking the 770 behind a black and white at the crime scene. Though the patrolmen were making an effort to keep the scene from prying eyes, the body dangling on two meat hooks from the street light was somewhat hard to ignore. Like Shevlin the body was headless and covered in cuts. On the man's back someone had carved and sewn 'Die Raven Storm'.
"This is getting more and more personal," Raven said.
Levac nodded, his face somewhat green. "Then someone doesn't like you very much."
Raven climbed out of the 770 and started toward the scene. "The feeling is mutual."
Chi Che Wang Park sat in the middle of a large condominium development, essentially surrounded on all sides by three and four story buildings. During the summer the park was alive with children running and playing and even on some winter days you would find kids playing after school. Today, it was thankfully empty except for a handful of crows hoping for a murder victim snack.
Raven ducked under the crime scene tape and, ignoring the body, began to search the area around him, her gaze occasionally drawn to the big red slide in the middle of the playground. As before there was high-speed blood spatter from whatever removed the victim's head, this time on the fence that surrounded the park. The pattern indicated the victim had been sitting or kneeling when he was beheaded.
"Do all your cases come with multiple victims?" Aspen asked, squatting and opening her crime scene kit.
"Most do," Levac said. "We always get the most interesting and gruesome cases. Raven thinks I look like this cause I'm a slob. It's really cause her cases give me nightmares."
Raven half turned her head to focus on something stuffed in a nearby storm drain. "No…you're a slob and you sleep like a rock, Rupert."
She dusted off her hands and reached inside the rusty old drain where she found a wad of clothing. She pulled out a pair of mechanic's coveralls, a pair of boxers and a pair of work boots that had an inch of blood in them. She turned the coverall until she could read the name: Kenny.
"Our vic's first name is Kenny and he worked as some kind of mechanic," she said. "Diesel, by the smell of it."
"I've got a head over here," Levac called from where he was looking under an older pick-up truck. "Looks like it rolled this way after the um…impact."
Raven let Aspen bag and tag the clothing and joined Levac by the truck. The head was stuck just behind the driver's side tire, the pale white eyes staring blankly outward.
"It looks like a clean cut," she said.
"Just like the first one," Levac agreed.
Together they managed to retrieve the head and get it into an evidence bag to go to the lab. Raven couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen the man somewhere before, she just couldn't place him. His face was lurking in her memory, it just wouldn't rise to the surface.
When she and Levac rejoined Aspen, she was supervising Kenny's body being pulled from the hooks it had been impaled on and lowered to a waiting gurney. He had obviously been tortured, including nails put through his genitalia and upper thighs and deep cuts across his chest, just like Shevlin. Blood was congealed around the wounds indicating he too had been alive when the torture had started. A lack of any blood save from the blow that killed him indicated he'd been tortured elsewhere and then brought to this location where he was sure to be found.
"Whoever our suspect is, it's someone who knows me very well," Raven said, just loud enough for Levac to hear.
Levac pulled his eyes away from the butchered victim to look at her. "What makes you say that?"
"This park, and the theater," Raven replied. "My dad used to bring me here to play when I was little, and we used to go to Sunday movies at the Oriental. The perp isn't just taunting me. They know me, or at least knew my father and his habits."
"Do you still think Riscassi and DeGrey have something to do with the murders?" Levac asked.
Raven nodded. "Yeah. But I have a feeling something else is going on. Someone else is pulling the strings. If I didn't know better I would say that these were revenge killings of some kind. They're sending me a message in the most gruesome way possible. Someone who likes drama, like that bastard Strohm. It's his kind of theater."
"You emptied a magazine into his face, Raven, I don't think he's coming back from that," Levac said.
Raven turned and walked away from the corpse. "We've both seen weirder things."
Leaving the crime scene technicians to do their job, Raven climbed into her car and leaned back in her seat, watching them work while Levac took a phone call. She ran through the evidence they had so far and didn't like the way any of it fit. There were too many missing pieces to get a clear picture, and it gave her a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Levac opened the door a second later and slipped into the car, grateful to be out of the winter chill. He rubbed his hands together for a moment, getting the circulation back before turning sideways to face his partner.
"So do you want the good news?" he asked.
"The border patrol got a hit on Rayne DeGrey," Raven replied.
"No, they got a hit on De… hey how did you know?" Levac asked.
Raven laughed. "I can read lips, Rupert. You were broadcasting like an old telegraph. That doesn't really help us much considering we don't know where she is hiding."
Levac frowned and put his foot on the dashboard as he thought. Raven lowered her sunglasses and stared at the offending foot until Levac removed it again.
She raised her sunglasses and started the car, letting the low rumble echo through her. Somehow the sound made
it easier to think. After a moment she turned and looked at Levac. "Feel like shaking a few trees and seeing if anything falls out?"
Levac put his own sunglasses on and grinned. "What the hell? We've already killed vampires and demons, whatever else is out there can't possibly be worse, can it?"
Raven stared at her partner for just a shade too long, making sure her face was completely blank.
"Oh come on!" Levac said.
"I didn't say it could be worse," Raven said, putting the car in reverse and spinning it through a J-turn.
"No. You gave me the blank 'what are you, stupid?' stare. I hate that stare," Levac said.
"At least I didn't say it could get worse."
* * *
CHAPTER SIX
Riscassi and Levine. Their names were synonymous with organized crime. They'd worked every case from Gianni Gioto to Morgan the Shiv, it didn't matter how big or small the case, if you were a Mafioso you were defended by Riscassi and Levine. They handled Italian mafia cases almost exclusively.
The building stood on the corner, a gleaming edifice of chrome and glass standing forty stories tall and housing all manner of scum and villainy clad in the guise of attorneys and assistants. Raven and Levac strode through the doors as if they owned the place. Just beyond the doors were a pair of metal detectors and a pair of rent-a-cops in blue and black uniforms who looked more like they'd been hired for their bicep size than their brains. Otherwise the lobby was very plain, with only a handful of leather chairs, brass side-tables and potted plants dotted around the cavernous room.
One of the guards stepped forward with a plastic tray.
"Please empty your pockets and hand me your purse please, Miss," he asked, his voice sounding as if it was having trouble somewhere near his bowels.
Raven raised her badge up in front of the guard's face. "Detective Raven Storm, Chicago police. This is my partner Detective Levac. We're here to ask attorney Maria Riscassi a few questions."
The guard blinked at the badge and Raven imagined she could hear the man's brain engaging.
"Is she expecting you?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Levac said. "But there are a couple of loose ends we'd like to tie up. Nothing important, you understand. I'm sure she will see us. What floor is she on?"
"Twenty three," the bemused guard replied.
"Thank you, sir, you've been very helpful," Levac said.
The two detectives proceeded forward, walking around the metal detectors and toward the elevators.
"I'll have to clear it with her," the other guard called.
"You do that," Raven said, pressing the button for level 23. The doors closed before either guard could say anything else.
They stepped out on the 23rd floor a few minutes later. Here there was a foyer carpeted in blue and red. Matching sofas marked out a waiting area near a plasma TV that was currently displaying the local weather. Across from the elevator was a semi-circular desk set between two doors, one marked Attorney Maria Riscassi the other Attorney Michael Levine. A severe-looking woman with black hair, an olive complexion and dark eyes sat behind the desk, her cream skirt-suit immaculate.
"Hello officers," she said. "The lobby guard said you were on your way up. I'm sorry, Attorney Riscassi isn't here right now.
Raven sniffed the air; Riscassi's perfume had been very distinctive. Ah…there she was.
"Of course she is," Raven said. "She's in her office."
The receptionist was taken aback by Raven's response and stammered, "No, she's off today…"
"Actually, she's in her office, alone, eating a poppy seed bagel if I'm any judge," Raven said.
"It's fine, Ma'am," Levac said. "We just have a few questions, won't take a minute."
"But…" The receptionist started.
Raven ignored her and pushed through the door into Riscassi's office. The blue and red motif had followed from reception into the office, save here the chairs were made of red leather. The walls were covered in a mixture of barrister bookcases heavy with law books, knickknacks from around the city and paintings of various people including Rocco Riscassi, Charles Lucciano and Al Capone.
Maria Riscassi sat behind a wide antique desk, half of a poppy seed bagel in her hand.
"I tried to stop them, Ms. Riscassi, they were most persistent!" the receptionist said from behind them.
Riscassi put her bagel down and stared at the two detectives. "Its fine, Byanca. I will take care of their questions."
Byanca nodded and pulled the door shut behind them. Raven twisted the lock before turning back to Riscassi.
"Thank you, Detective," Riscassi said. "I should have done that before having my snack. Do you have a warrant to come barging in here?"
Raven laughed and dropped into one of the chairs while Levac poked around the office.
"A warrant? To come in here?" she asked. "That's like buying a ticket for a hell bound train. Besides, we don't need one."
"Really? How did you reach that conclusion?" Riscassi asked.
Levac didn't look up from his perusal of the various knickknacks he was poking at. "For starters we know you and your friend DeGrey went to Canada a few weeks ago and found a dead ringer for Rayne. You brought the kid back, bought her new breasts, dyed her hair, did a little mojo and somehow switched her with DeGrey, probably when they moved her to holding. And we know Rayne DeGrey is alive and well, probably not too far away."
"Maybe you could help us out with that?" Raven asked. "I've got a few questions to ask her."
"I'm sorry? I've never been to Canada in my life and I was under the impression you killed my friend Rayne, Ms. Storm," Riscassi replied.
"That's Detective, Ms. Riscassi," Raven said. "I've been cleared of that supposed murder. Whoever did your dirty work was off on their timing. My car was being blown up at about the time your fake DeGrey was being murdered. In a way, you helped create my alibi. I'm sure you're very proud of Guido and Nunzio."
Riscassi frowned and Raven could smell her annoyance and…confusion?
Levac put down the desk toy he'd been fiddling with and walked back to where Raven was sitting.
"Ms. Riscassi, this will go easier if you just cooperate," he said. "Where is your friend DeGrey?"
"I have no idea what you two are talking about," Riscassi replied. "Like I said, I've never been to Canada and as far as I know my friend Rayne died in a holding cell a few days ago. I haven't seen her since your interrogation session. Now please get out of my office before I call security!"
"You're lying," Raven said. "I know it, my partner knows it and you know it. One more time from the top. Where is Rayne DeGrey?"
Riscassi didn't answer. She instead picked up her phone and pressed a button. A moment later she said, "This is Attorney Riscassi. Please send security to my office."
"All right," Raven said, standing up. "Have it your way. I don't want to embarrass your security force, I know they take pride in their biceps and chest sizes. Just remember that this was the easy way."
"Are you threatening me, Detective Storm?" Riscassi asked.
Raven smiled and leaned halfway across the desk. "Your lackeys blew up my Shelby in an attempt to kill me. Now you're mixed up in peddling Thirst and at least three murders. Yeah, it’s a threat. I'm going to nail your skinny ass to the wall no matter what it takes."
With that Raven turned and left the office.
"Thank you for your time, Ma'am," Levac said, stepping through the door and closing it behind him.
Raven could feel Byanca staring daggers at them as they waited for the elevator. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the steaming receptionist then turned back to the elevators. The doors opened a heartbeat later and four security guards filed out.
"Attorney Riscassi is right through those doors," Raven said, pointing. "I think she has a poppy seed stuck in her teeth."
The two detectives stepped into the elevator and Raven gave the receptionist a jaunty wave as the doors closed.
"What did yo
u get?" they asked each other in unison.
Raven laughed and said, "Okay, you first."
"She has a lot of old Mafia memorabilia in her office, especially books and newspaper clippings relating to the nineties and naughties," he said. "There is a framed clipping of her father being arrested by your father in the same frame as a clipping of your father being killed in the street by unknown assailants. I also spotted an article about you being promoted to detective. Your eyes were scratched out in the photo."
Raven watched the numbers go by as they descended. "It's nice to have adoring fans. She's a sore loser, when I was in Narc I put a lot of Mafia drug dealers and enforcers in the ground or behind bars."
The elevator doors opened and there was a guard standing just beyond. He only got as far as "Ms. Riscassi said you were to be…" before Raven punched him in the face, knocking him flat on his back. She squatted beside him while Levac drew his pistol and covered the other guards.
"Look, bub," she said. "You're a security guard. That means you secure the building against intruders. I'm a Chicago police officer. That means I protect the city against, well, the scumbags you're being paid to secure. You can't detain me. I'm here on lawful business and even if I wasn't, a two bit moron like you isn't going to detain me."
She patted him on the cheek and straightened, her gaze falling on the other five guards between her and the doors. She arched an eyebrow at them and they spread out, allowing Raven and Levac to pass through and out the doors.
Out on the street, Levac holstered his pistol. "You're going to give me a heart attack, Ray! How did you know?"
"Know what?" Raven asked.
"How there were guards outside the elevator," Levac said.
"Oh. Would you believe woman's intuition?" she asked.
Levac gave her a look. "Hell no!"
Raven sighed and crossed the street to where the 770 was parked. Levac hurried to catch up, narrowly missing a speeding yellow cab. Inside the car he said, "You didn't answer my question."
"I could smell sweat and Italian sausage," Raven replied. "It got stronger as we got closer to the lobby."
"You can smell what someone has been eating?" Levac asked.