by Rebecca Wolf
“Ok, lets go.” I decided, feeling like there was nothing to lose at this point. “But only if you take off the steel sheet from my window.”
“Only if you promise not to go anywhere without your guard,” he countered.
“Only if YOU promise they will let me go where I please.”
“Only if YOU promise to stay at my house. Your going to be living there with me in a month anyhow, why not just move in now?"
“My autonomy is important to me, stop trying to take it away!” I said vehemently.
Aiden fell into step beside me, “ok,” he said simply.
“Ok what?” I asked, confused by his sudden capitulation.
“Ok, lets go,” he said, which clarified nothing.
We walked out together, somehow ending up taking his car instead of mine.
He knew the way without me giving him the address, or plugging it in to GPS, which I found extremely suspicious. We pulled up to a nice middle-class house on the edge of an elite neighborhood. Close enough to get into their public schools, far enough away to be considered an outsider.
It must suck to be Jerry, never quite fitting in with the haves or have nots. I would have felt sorry for him if he wasn’t such a sellout. The only reason he was in this limbo state to begin with, was because he sacrificed the lives of his lower-class brethren to climb his way up to his middle-class position. I knew Jerry when he was just a snotty nosed preschooler in ripped overalls. He had been one of us, before his greed got the better of him.
We got out of the car and walked up the steps. The light in the living room was on, so we suspected he was home. After giving Aiden a warning glance, I pounded on the door. No one answered. I pounded again. Still no response. I put my hand to the door and pushed out with my air element. The door burst open with a bang. “Jerry?!” I called out.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. I covered my nose and mouth with my shirtfront and tried not to retch. “Don’t look Zephyr,” Aiden said firmly, trying to turn me around, but it was too late. I had already seen him. Jerry was sitting in the lazyboy, or at least his burnt remains were. His face was the only part of him that was recognizable. From the neck down it looked like someone had barbequed him, and from the look of abject terror on his face he had still been alive while they did it.
I ran out of the house and threw up. I didn’t like Jerry, but he didn’t deserve to die like this. Strong hands came and supported me until I had finished emptying my stomach. He turned me around to pull me close but I pushed him away angrily wiping tears from my eyes.
“He was BURNT Aiden, your a fire elemental, I don’t need to be a genius to do the math here.”
“Zephyr, COME ON! I didn’t do this. Do you think I would have agreed to take you here if I had burnt him to a crisp??”
“Maybe you’re trying to throw me off your trail. Maybe you brought me here to further your agenda, to make me feel weak and vulnerable. I DON’T KNOW. I GIVE UP TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOUR TWISTED MIND WORKS.”
“It was a setup,” Aiden pleaded, “Sweetheart, give me a chance to clear myself of the blame. I promise I was not involved.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“I don’t trust you.” I was still sickened by everything I had just seen.
“I know.” He said, “but you don’t have to trust me. We’ll investigate this together. I promise.”
I thought about it. I didn’t have to trust him if I was there looking over the information with him.
“Full disclosure?”
“Yes. full disclosure,”
“Ok.” I said then hesitated, “we should call this in.”
Aiden whipped out his cell phone and dialed.
“Kathy? Yes, there’s been a bit of a situation. We’ve discovered a dead body. Yes, I am aware that right now it is five in the morning. We are currently at the scene of the crime, have him meet us.” He hung up, “it’s taken care of.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” He smiled and nudged my shoulder, “it’s going to be ok.”
Tell that to Jerry, I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud.
We sat on Jerry’s front steps and waited. Ten minutes later Stevens pulled up together with two enforcer cars and a nondescript white van. Stevens got out of the car and headed towards us. “Is this a cover up, or a legitimate investigation?” He asked Aiden. Aiden sighed, “this is a real investigation.”
Stevens motioned with his hand, and the enforcers left their vehicle. They looked tired and overworked. In contrast, out of the van popped a short pixie like woman with a halo of brown curls. She grinned a little too enthusiastically as she bounced over gleefully. “OOOH this is SO exciting!” She gushed to no one in particular, as she dashed around us to get into the house. I looked at Aiden and raised my eyebrows. “Is she one of yours?” I asked, he shrugged, looking as dumbfounded as I did.
The enforcers came over and asked us questions about our connection to the victim, all while Stevens hovered close nearby. They were too respectful and deferential. If Aiden had really done it, the enforcers would never prove it using their current techniques.
The little pixie turned out to be the medical examiner. Her name was Darcy. She flitted out of the house as gleefully as when she went in. Skipping right up to Aiden, Stephens, and myself she said breathlessly.
“So full disclosure, right guys?? Right? I get to tell you everything?”
“Yes, Darcy,” Stephens said, with a patronizing smile.
“Well, it’s just the last time I saw you, you said-”
“Everything about the current crime scene,” reiterated Stephens, coughing uncomfortably.
“Right yes ok, so the victim is a male likely between the ages of thirty to thirty-five.
The linear wounds to the trapezius muscles ,as well as in the adductor longus, and magnus muscles, indicate that he was likely pinned to the chair via sharp flat implements, such as knives, prior to death. This could be indicative of some form of questioning occurring pre-mortem.
In addition, I found metallic fragments of a bullet within the cranium as well as the cervical canal. The bullet entered via the occipital bone and had a downward trajectory that fractured the fourth cervical vertebrae before exiting the victim. I believe this was done so that the victim would be easily identifiable upon discovery.
The clearly identifiable facial features leads me to conclude that a DNA sampling is unnecessary at this time. However, if there is a concern that perhaps a face plant procedure has been done to hide more evidence, I will be happy to complete one upon request.
The advanced thermal destruction of tissue and bone charring in very specific areas of the body, indicate a very precise blast which had a lot of potential energy behind it, however, evidence of explosive materials such as C4, or a chemical accelerant were not detected at the site.
This leads me to believe that there was an elementalist component involved in the post-mortem staging of the corpse.”
She took a deep breath at the end of that and looked at us eagerly to see our reactions. Unfortunately, I think everyone looked as confused as I felt by her assessment. After a pause Stephens said, “Can you please summarize your findings in two sentences or less, Darcy?”
Darcy scrunched up her face as she tried to dumb it down.
“Stabbed to pin down while questioned. Shot in the top of the head, so the face is easy to identify. Burnt likely by an elementalist after death.”
Aiden’s face shut down, his mouth set in a firm line. I raised my eyebrows at him.
“I didn’t do it,” he said.
"OK, well if you didn’t do it then that leaves one other Fire Elementalist family with no motivation to kill Jerry. He was their eyes and ears in the no-go zone. Why would they sever that?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Aiden answered, setting his jaw.
He drove me back to my house at around seven-thirty, giving a curt nod as I stepped out of the
car. One of the guards at the entrance to the house nodded back, then watched me walk up to the front door, holding it open for me as I stepped inside. If I had enough money, I would have rented a hotel room. But I didn’t. I sighed and trudged upstairs to my room. The stupid steel plate was still there soldered to my window. There was no way I could sleep in a room without an alternate exit. I grabbed my pillow and blanket, and headed towards Penny’s room. Penny was sound asleep in her full-sized bed. I climbed in and pulled close to her, needing the comfort of another living person. Putting my arms around her waist, I snuggled up and fell fast asleep.
Chapter 18
Two weeks of investigating passed. There was a frustrating lack of evidence regarding the other Fire Elementalist household. In addition, the bar was having less and less customers show up, and we had no idea why.
That afternoon, at two pm, as I was waking myself up slowly with a nice cup of coffee, I got a call from Lucy, Aiden’s mother.
“Darling! Are you aware that we only have one month to find you the perfect dress?”
“Oh!” I said, caught off guard, “I actually have one already.”
“What’s this now?” She said, “don’t move, I’m stopping by to see it.”
She’s WHAT? I thought to myself, panicking. I wasn’t really awake yet, and having my future mother-in-law over was not on my agenda for today. Was my room even clean enough? I hadn’t really stepped foot in there since Aiden had put up the steel plate. Instead, I had been cuddling up with Penny at night, much to the chagrin of Aiden’s guards. Aiden wasn’t really present in my house, and if they had informed him of my sleeping situation he didn’t let on.
I ran up to my bedroom, and started shoveling dirty clothes into the hamper. The room desperately needed to be aired out, but I couldn’t do anything about the stuffiness because of the damn steel plate. I opened the door and sprayed Febreze everywhere. Then I frantically shoved through the clothes in my closet, looking for my white sundress. Thank God it was still there, near the back of my closet.
“Zephyr?” Aiden’s mother called. The guards must have let her inside. “Can I come up?”
Oh my God, I thought, as I looked down at myself in horror, I’m still in my pajamas. I threw on the first dress I found, which turned out to be a smock dress that I had last worn when we were painting my bedroom. There was paint splattered all over it, but there was no time to change again.
“Come on up Lucy,” I called, in a voice I hoped sounded chipper. Lucy marched up the stairs and paused in the hallway when she saw me. “Oh!” She cried in surprised delight, “Aiden never mentioned that you were an artist too.”
“Oh no, I’m not an artist-” I began.
“Pshaw, darling, why is it that artists never admit to being artists? Really, your all so secretive about your work.” she peered nosily into my room, as though I would have half-finished canvases lining the walls. “Well,” she sighed, “whenever you feel like you can share your work with me I would love to see it.” She came into my room and sat on my bed before looking over at the window.
“What is that ghastly monstrosity?!” she demanded upon seeing it. “Really darling why are you still living in this… quaint little place? I have at least one extra house you could easily move to that would be much more comfortable for someone befitting your station.”
I looked over at the plate, then back at Lucy. “THAT monstrosity is Aiden’s idea of a security feature,” I said dryly. She paused as she thought about it, then patted the bed next to her, indicating that I should sit. I hesitantly sat down. “It must be hard to move away from everything that you have known your whole life. I’m sure you find the prospect of leaving here to be jarring and perhaps even unnecessary.” I was surprised by her empathy, even if she didn’t understand the whole picture. “I view you as my own child now, Zephyr. As such, my job is to make your life together with my son as happy and wonderful as possible. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help ease this transition.” She took my hand in hers and her hand was surprisingly strong and warm. Must be a fire elementalist thing, I thought distractedly.
“Now” she said, letting go of my hand and clapping hers together. “Lets see this dress you have picked out.” I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go over very well. I took it out and held it up. She was silent for a bit and I was scared to meet her eyes. “Well.” She said finally, “that’s not quite what I was expecting.” I looked up and found her smiling ruefully. “That is a lovely dress,” she said.
I looked up, startled and surprised that she wasn’t looking down her nose at the simple cut, and unidentifiable brand name. “My only concern is that we have already booked the venue, and I’m afraid they have more… extravagant standards for the bride’s attire.” She paused, “it would be a shame to make you pay twice for a wedding dress. As your mother, I insist on buying you the next one. Especially since I should have told you sooner of the required formal dress wear.”
She pulled out her phone and dialed before I could protest. “Don’t worry, I know the perfect person to handle this situation,” she said to me. “Hello, Yasmine? This is Lucinda Ember. Yes, do you have an opening today? It’s quite urgent.” She winked at me conspiratorially. “Sure, we’re available now. Yes, we’ll see you in twenty.” She hung up, dropped her phone in her handbag, and started towards the door. She looked at me over her shoulder on her way out. I was still sitting on the bed in slight confusion. Had I agreed to this? “Zephyr darling chip-chop. Yasmine is a miracle worker, but we must leave now.”
I found myself walking towards the door. This was not what I had in mind when I had woken up this morning. The chauffeur opened the door, and we slid inside. Lucinda offered me champagne, and when I declined, she handed me a lemonade instead. She poured herself a snifter of brandy and relaxed into the seats.
We arrived in fifteen minutes and exited the vehicle onto an upscale avenue with little shops and boutiques. The shops had flowers in the window buckets and hand-painted signs. It was all very small town charm. The shop we entered did not have a sign, instead, there was a large metallic rendering of a chameleon above the door. A bell rang as we entered, and a woman dressed in a black and gold kimono with a matching turban stepped out to greet us.
“Lucinda! I’m so glad you called!” She said, in a throaty smoker’s growl. They gave each other light hugs and air kisses on each cheek. “Tea? Coffee?” “Yes that would be lovely,” said Lucy, as she made herself comfortable in one of the satin covered arm chairs nearby. She motioned for me to do the same. Yasmine sat as well, leaning against the backrest with an almost lackadaisical air, while crossing her legs one over the other as she did so. A store clerk appeared soon after, pushing a gold framed cart with plates of crumpets and scones, a pot of tea, a pot of coffee and all the usual accoutrements. In addition, there was a hookah on the cart as well. Yasmine took a deep drag from it, blowing out several smoke rings before saying, “Lucinda, tell me EVERYTHING!” in a dramatic tone.
“Well, as you might have heard, Aiden, my son, is getting married to this lovely lady before you.” said Lucy.
“Hello dear,” Yasmine said, while eyeing me like I was a new tasty morsel.
“Hello,” I said hesitantly, no longer really sure what I had stepped into. “Yes, we had a little mix up about the appropriate ensemble for the wedding.” Lucy continued, taking over the conversation. “Completely my fault I might add, and we are looking to revamp everything.” “Ooh,” said Yasmine, her eyebrows lifting as she assessed me from my feet to the top of my head. “Yes, I can see what you mean,” she said to Lucinda.
I felt like I had missed some secret exchange between the two of them. “Well, fear not my dear,’’ she said, turning to me, “I have the perfect combination for your big occasion. Between your mother and I, we have impeccable, and discerning taste.” I eyed her kimono, the turban, and the hookah doubtfully. she saw me looking and sighed deeply. “Really dear, it’s all about the persona.” Suddenly
her voice took on a business-like edge. She stood and shrugged out of the kimono, then slid the turban off her head. Underneath was a short fitted cocktail dress and her hair was in a neat bun at the top of her head. “Our clothes are just our first line of defense against the judgment of others. You choose the armor and their perceptions will turn malleable in your hands.” she paused and looked at me, scanning my face for understanding.
I felt like I was being yanked into some sort of alternate universe. She came to stand in front of me. “Before I was an artistic eccentric, unbothered by the plebeian ideas of classic beauty. Now I am a professional stylist, and I know what I am doing.” She moved in close towards me, easing the shoulder straps off of her shoulders, so that her dress was held up only by her cleavage. She slowly walked behind me trailing her finger on my chair. She released her hair from its constraints and leaned over so it flowed in dark waves inches from my face, giving us a curtain of privacy. “… And now I am a seductress and you are my victim,” she whispered into my ear, as she trailed a finger up my arm to my neck. Goosebumps broke out along my arms. “You see my dear?” She continued, as she stood and walked back around me. She looked straight into my eyes searchingly. “Yes. now I think you understand.” my future mother-in-law nodded at me as well. How had a simple task to get a wedding dress morphed into this?
Yasmine twisted her hair into a chignon and snapped her fingers. The salesclerk came out again, pushing a moveable clothing rack. “Let us begin,” she said. They pulled things off the rack one at a time. They started by fitting me with lingerie, explaining what each piece portrayed, then had me put it on and modeled it. It felt strange and uncomfortable to be modeling lingerie for my future mother-in-law, but they both acted like it was completely normal, and it didn’t want to make things more awkward by protesting. We moved on to eveningwear, and then to casual attire. Finally, the wedding dresses were brought out. “What would you like your dress to say?” asked Yasmine. “Say the first thing that comes to mind.”