Polar (Book 2): Polar Day

by Julie Flanders

  “The FBI agents say they’re still looking for someone who may have been working with their arsonist. They think he may have had an accomplice who started the fires last night.”

  “They’re idiots,” Danny said.

  With that, he’d had enough small talk. He headed towards his desk but kept going past it, walking instead to Jack Meyer’s office. His boss sat at his desk, unshaven and hollow-eyed. Danny clearly wasn’t the only person who hadn’t slept in far too long.

  “I have a feeling you want to see me, Captain.”

  Jack looked up at Danny and nodded. “Close the door and have a seat, Fitzpatrick.”

  Danny complied and stared across his captain’s desk, thinking back to the day he had dropped his badge and gun on a different captain’s desk and walked away from the Chicago police department. He had thought then that he was done with being a cop. He should have stuck with that.

  “Tessa’s alert now and has given a statement that Dzubenko set her on fire and you saved her life. She corroborated everything you’ve said about what happened last night. Including the fact that Dzubenko set a fire at his own home to separate the two of you and trap her.”

  “Imagine that. I was telling the truth. And yet I hear that our FBI friends are still obsessing over their arsonist.”

  “They’re trying to save face. The fact is the asshole they’ve got is an arsonist and has caused a lot of trouble around the state. He’s a freak. A pyromaniac or whatever the hell you call them. So it’s no loss that he’s gone down.”

  “Right. But he had nothing to do with Dzubenko’s killing spree. So why are they looking for an accomplice of his that could have set the fires last night?”

  “Because no one can figure out how Dzubenko set any of the goddamn fires. Including the one he set to burn Tessa. Tessa herself says she doesn’t understand how he did it. People want answers and we don’t have them.”

  “There’s never going to be a satisfactory answer. Just like there’s never been a satisfactory answer to the question of how Aleksei Nechayev managed to disappear into the Arctic in the middle of winter without even a pair of snowshoes. I’ve found, sir, that there are things in this world that simply don’t make sense.”

  “Well that’s not going to cut it. Christ people were burned alive here. And the whole goddamn city could have burned down.”

  “And Jamie Dzubenko did all of it. People will forget about it soon enough and stop asking questions about it as long as they know the killer has been stopped and no one is going to be running around setting them on fire any time soon. The conspiracy theorists will eat it up but no one will ever truly be able to figure it out.”

  “Again, Fitzpatrick, that’s not going to cut it. We’ve got a big problem here.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You emptied your revolver into an unarmed man. You fired at least three shots after the one that killed him. You were found at the scene covered in his blood. This same unarmed man happened to be all over the news as a victim of police harassment. That’s our problem.”

  “Unarmed? You ask Tessa how ‘unarmed’ he was. I’d call setting someone on fire being armed. He was threatening me with the same fate. The only reason I was able to stop him was because he was so damn delusional he thought a gun wouldn’t hurt him.”

  “But how was he setting the fire? Don’t you see, that’s what’s causing this mess! Did he have a cigarette lighter he was touching to Tessa’s skin? A match? She says he had nothing. All she will say is he was chanting.”

  “Right. He was chanting. Just like he was chanting before he killed Nick Torrance and Jennifer Higgins. And you can bet if we’d had sound on the surveillance video at the church we would have heard it before he killed Richard Phillips as well. That was his weapon, sir. It’s some kind of fucking magic. Illusion. He’s the murderous version of Harry Houdini. Call it whatever you want so that people will believe it. That’s what it was. Magic”

  Elbows on his desk, Jack put his head in his hands and slowly rubbed his eyes. “I actually believe you. But I don’t know how we’re going to sell a story like that.”

  “Sell? Where are we working? Advertising?”

  Jack let out a breath and looked across his desk at Danny. “The Chief has ordered an investigation into all of this. And he believes that the department made a mistake promoting you and letting you continue to work without any mental health treatment after what happened to you up in the Arctic. He thinks you were already a vulnerable man after the murder of your wife and that near-death experience was too much for you to handle.”

  “Are you kidding me? So the pyromaniac isn’t going to be the scapegoat in all this, is he? I am.”

  “Danny…”

  “No, screw this. I never should have come to work at this god-forsaken place.”

  “The Chief wants you placed on administrative leave. You’re to receive a mental health evaluation and counseling, and a psychiatrist will need to determine when you’re fit to return to duty.”

  Danny met Jack’s eyes. “You agree with all this?”

  “No, I don’t. But I do think you need help. I’ve thought that since we found you in the Arctic. And why wouldn’t you? Christ look at what you’ve been through in the past few years! This is an opportunity to take some time and heal, Fitzpatrick.”

  “Fuck healing. And fuck this department. I’m not going to any psychiatrist or counselor or anyone else.”

  “It’s your choice. But you’re on paid leave as of today. I need your badge and gun.”

  Danny stood up and defiantly lay both on the desk, his eyes never leaving Jack as he did so. “I did this once before, you know? Voluntarily, that time. When I did I swore I was never going to work as a cop again. I should have stuck with that.”

  He turned and walked out of the captain’s office without another word. He stopped at his desk and grabbed what few personal items he kept here at the station then headed for his car, ignoring Mark Chambers as he walked out of the building. Danny drove away from the Fairbanks police station without looking back.

  ****

  Chapter 63

  “What are you going to do?” Tessa asked from her hospital bed.

  “I have no idea. Maybe I’ll work as a PI. Maybe I could be like Magnum.”

  Tessa laughed and immediately grimaced at the resulting pain. “Don’t make me laugh,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. What about you? Any idea when you’ll get out of here?”

  “I don’t know. They’re going to have to do skin grafts on my arm and leg. And my lungs were damaged from the smoke.”

  “Well, I picked Maya up last night and she’s staying with Sox and me. She’s not happy but she’ll live. You don’t have to worry about her. She’s got a home with us for as long as you need.”

  “I’m glad. Thanks for taking care of her.”

  “Hey, it’s not like I have anything else to do, right?” Danny glanced around the sterile hospital room. “You and I have spent more than enough time in hospitals in the past year, haven’t we? Christ I was only in here a few hours and I couldn’t stand it.”

  “Danny,” Tessa said. “How did Dzubenko start the fires?”

  “You said it yourself. Illusion, remember? He was the world’s greatest magician.”

  “It wasn’t illusion.” Tessa gently lifted her bandaged arm from the bed. “This isn’t illusion. It’s a real burn. From a real fire.”

  Danny looked away and stared at the wall. He let out a breath and turned back to his partner. “Tessa, remember when I tried to tell you up at Nechayev’s place that he was a monster? A real monster? You thought I was just in shock and talking nonsense. I wasn’t.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I’ve learned in the past year that things I always thought were nothing more than horror stories and fairy tales were not. They’re real. Dzubenko started the fires with magic. Witchcraft. He came from a long line of witches, going back centuries in the Ukraine
.”

  “Witchcraft,” Tessa said. “Witches?”

  “Right. I know it sounds crazy. I know you probably think I’m crazy…”

  “No, I don’t. I would have before Dzubenko set my arm on fire with his voice but now…” Tessa shook her head. “Maybe I’m crazy.”

  “I thought I was crazy too, if it makes you feel any better. I still think I am.”

  “Well, we all think you are,” Tessa said, a sly grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.

  “Right. I’m the crazy cop who needs a psychiatrist, I forgot. Glad I can amuse you.”

  “We’ll be crazy together, Danny.”

  ****

  Chapter 64

  August 30, 2013

  The yellow caution tape still surrounded the former home of Jamie Dzubenko, but Danny knew the police were long done with the scene. They had found little evidence linking Dzubenko to the fires, which had done nothing to help Danny’s case that his shooting of Dzubenko had been entirely justified. But he wasn’t surprised at that, as the police had no idea what to look for in terms of evidence. And if Tessa’s testimony and very real burns weren’t enough to absolve Danny, nothing would be. He didn’t care either way. He had no interest in rejoining the force even if they were able to prove Dzubenko had been the sole arsonist who had nearly turned Fairbanks into an inferno.

  He knew he should stay away from the home, but his curiosity got the better of him. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking of the book Frank Wainscott had seen Dzubenko holding as his home burned down. The book Constance Davenport had said was the spell book owned by her grandfather, the man who had tried to kill Aleksei Nechayev with the same magic his great-grandson had used for such destruction and terror. Danny had seen an old book on Dzubenko’s floor when he’d peered into the man’s window before Tessa had been captured. He knew the book he wanted was in the home and he wanted to see it for himself. And, he wanted to destroy it so its magic could never be used to harm anyone else.

  The door was unlocked, as Danny knew it would be. Dzubenko’s upstairs neighbor had briefly returned on the twenty-fourth to pack up his belongings and move out for good. The house was vacant.

  But not empty, as Danny discovered when he opened the door and walked inside.

  “Hello, Detective Fitzpatrick. What a surprise to see you here.”

  Danny stared wide-eyed at the figure of Aleksei Nechayev in front of him. He was sitting at Dzubenko’s kitchen table dressed in black jeans and a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A tea kettle and cup sat on the table in front of him. Fear overtook Danny and he stood rooted to the floor, frozen and unable to speak.

  Aleksei set down his tea and crossed his arms in front of him. He leaned back in his chair, looking at Danny with a puzzled expression. “You don’t need to be afraid of me. How many times must I tell you I don’t wish you dead?”

  “How did you get in this house?” Danny croaked. “And what the hell are you doing here?”

  “Which do you want me to answer first? Never mind, I’ll go in order. I got into the house because your erstwhile adversary Jamie Dzubenko is dead. I can’t enter a living person’s home without an invitation, but once that person is dead I’m home free. And as for what I’m doing here, it’s simple. I came for Jamie Dzubenko’s book. And now I’m waiting for the sun to set so I can leave here and be on my way.”

  Aleksei picked up his tea and took a long drink. “I certainly didn’t expect company, but I’m glad to see you all the same. I’ve read what a mess you’re in.”

  “I’m not in a mess.”

  “You’re not? You’re an unstable cop who emptied a weapon into an unarmed man and now you’ve been let go until you prove yourself mentally fit to return to the job. I’d call that a mess.”

  “I don’t want to return to the job.”

  “Really? That’s a shame. You’re good at it. I hate admitting that but you caught me so I have to believe you’re better than the average idiot who flashes a badge.” Aleksei gestured to the chair across the table from him. “Why don’t you join me? Have some tea? We can catch up.”

  Danny shook his head. “I told you if I ever saw you in this state again I’d kill you.”

  “Right. But how do you plan on doing that? Do you have a wooden stake with you this time?”

  “No but I’ve got a cigarette lighter.” Danny looked outside at the rays of the setting sun peering through the curtains. “Or I could push you out into the sun. It hasn’t set yet.”

  Aleksei laughed. “I’d like to see you try that. You really think you can push me? And as for the lighter, go ahead and give that a shot. I’ll rip your heart out of your chest before your thumb even touches the roller.”

  “Why do you want the book?” Danny asked. “I came here to destroy it.”

  “Not a bad idea, but I’d rather keep it myself.”

  “Why?” Danny asked again.

  “Because a man almost killed me with this book. If I hadn’t managed to outsmart him I would have been killed before my life as a vampire even had a chance to begin. I don’t want this heinous book to ever fall into the wrong hands again.”

  “So why not just let me destroy it?”

  Aleksei shrugged. “Who’s to say I might not find a use for it myself at some point?”

  “I thought you said only those born into witchcraft could do these spells?”

  “I did. And that’s true. But maybe I’ll meet a witch someday who wants to join up with me. Can you imagine what we could accomplish? We’d give a whole new meaning to the idea of a power couple.”

  “I’m not going to let you do that,” Danny said, hesitantly taking a step towards Aleksei. “I’m destroying that book.”

  Aleksei chuckled. “I admire your persistence. But I’ll say it one more time. You can’t stop me.” He fixed a penetrating gaze on Danny. “You can’t beat me.”

  “I can try. I don’t have a damn thing to lose.”

  Aleksei finished his tea and stood up from the table. “I see the sun is nearly set and I can get out of here. I’m leaving Fairbanks.”

  Danny blocked Aleksei’s path. “You’ll have to get through me first.”

  Aleksei sighed as if dealing with a petulant child. “Have it your way. As I’ve told you many, many times, I have no desire to harm you. But since you’ve forced my hand, I will.”

  Aleksei moved behind Danny with the speed of a cheetah and gripped Danny’s neck in his arms. “This feels like déjà vu, doesn’t it? We’ve been here before as I recall.”

  Danny struggled to break free as Aleksei tightened his grip and blocked the air from Danny’s windpipe. Spots decorated Danny’s line of vision before the room went black and he found himself enveloped in darkness.

  When he awoke, Aleksei was gone. But this time, Danny wasn’t tied up. He got shakily to his feet and noticed a note on the table next to Aleksei’s empty teacup.

  “I hope I’ve finally convinced you now that I have no interest in killing you. I doubt our paths will cross again as I also have no interest in returning to your hellish state. I’ve wanted to visit Scandinavia for a long time, and I’m looking forward to returning to a land of the polar night now that autumn is nearly upon us. In spite of your continued hostility towards me I once again wish you well, Detective. And you’re welcome for my help in stopping Jamie Dzubenko.”

  Aleksei had left the note unsigned. Danny picked it up and shoved the paper in his pocket. His neck ached and his throat felt raw, but otherwise he had come through his third meeting with the vampire unscathed.

  He rubbed his neck and searched for the reason he had come to Jamie Dzubenko’s home in the first place. But he knew it was a useless search. The book of magic was gone.

  Danny could only hope that there were no witches in Scandinavia.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

 
; Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64