Insight

by Jennis Slaughter

  “Del...what about waiting just one day? You can rest tonight and go after him tomorrow,” Raelin suggested.

  “But Raelin, we need to get him quickly. We can’t waste time just because I have a few boo boos,” she whined, leaning her head back to rest on Raelin’s thigh.

  Kasey snorted back a laugh. “Boo boos? I haven’t heard that since third grade. Some big bad detective you are. Need me to get you a blankie?”

  Del just glared and turned to bury her face in Raelin’s thigh.

  Jenny slapped at Kasey’s arm. “Hun, stop. She’s hurting right now. You can tease her tomorrow.”

  Jasper looked at the two youngest, quirking an eyebrow. “Hun? Am I the only one without a good woman?” he asked jokingly.

  Raelin laughed, and then she groaned, her hand going to her throat and she winced. “Remind me not to do that for a while.”

  Del turned a concerned eye to Raelin. “You okay? Do you need to see a doctor or anything?”

  “Del, stay still please,” Kasey sighed, putting the final touches on the dressing on her shoulder.

  Shaking her head, the witch whispered, “I’ll be fine. I’ll get up in a bit and fix something that will help me. You be good for Kasey and maybe she’ll let you go with her tomorrow.”

  “You play dirty Darlin’. I guess it’s probably a good thing. I feel really tired all of a sudden and my head feels like it was hit with a sledge hammer.”

  “It might as well have been,” Kasey quipped, turning Del’s head so she could look at the gash above her temple. She gave it a quick once over and was relieved to discover that it wasn’t too deep. She pulled a small pen light out of her bag and took Del’s chin between her fingers, shining the light in her eyes, leaning forward to observe any change in her pupils.

  “You know, you really pretty and all, but you’re really not my type,” Del remarked as Kasey leaned in close to check her eyes.

  “No, but you’re mine so let her check you out,” Raelin rasped out. She let her finger gently run her fingers over Del’s neck, touching her lightly.

  Del sighed and leaned into the touch, closing her eyes as her body relaxed.

  “None of that Del,” said Kasey giving her cheek a soft pat as she leaned back. “I’d say a mild concussion at best. It explains the headache, need for sleep and out of character shenanigans. You can have short naps of only a couple hours, but I’ll want to wake you up every so often to check on you,” she explained, starting to clean the cut on her head.

  “Jasper, would you mind helping Kasey get Del upstairs, and Jenny, I need for you to get some ingredients together for me in a drink,” Raelin quietly asked.

  “No Raelin, I’ll stay here with you. I’m fine. Kasey’s just being, well Kasey,” Del pouted.

  Jasper nodded to Kasey and stood to help her get the detective to bed.

  “Del, go upstairs and get cleaned up. I trust Kasey to help you. I’ll be up in a bit, I promise,” Raelin asked as she sat up and motioned to Jenny to come and help her stand.

  Jenny helped her friend into the kitchen and sat her at the table. Raelin directed her to get items out of the pantry, the fridge and cabinets, and she soon had a tea that soothed her throat and gave a boost to her energy.

  “Thank you for your help, but do you think that you can help me up the stairs?”

  Jenny readily agreed and they were soon walking past Jasper who was leaning outside the master bedroom door and went inside.

  Del sat on a stool in the bathroom, her head hanging over the edge of the tub as Kasey washed her hair. “Kasey, can’t we just forget this part? I just want to go to sleep!”

  “I’m almost done. I have to get the blood out of your hair, then I’ll let you nap for a bit. Just give me a few more minutes,” she said softly, her hands running through Del’s hair.

  Raelin motioned to the young woman to let her finish and they switched places and the witch almost groaned as she felt the aches and pains of her lover. She couldn’t stop herself as she pushed a tiny bit of energy to the affected areas as she finished washing Del’s hair.

  “Raelin, you’re being bad. No magic,” Del breathed, nearly melting under the witch’s hands.

  The witch whispered back, “Just a little bad. Let’s get you clean and in bed okay?”

  “As long as you join me. I was really hoping for a shower, but I’m not sure I could stay standing long enough. I felt fine up until a few minutes ago. How are you making out? Your throat any better?”

  “Yeah, I can help you with the shower.” Looking out into the bedroom, Raelin caught Kasey’s eye. “Can you get me two shirts out of the second drawer on the right and a couple pairs of drawstring pants out of the opposite drawer and bring them in here?”

  The young woman quickly got what was requested and left them on the vanity. “I’m gonna help her with a shower, but if you could wait just in case that would be great.”

  “Yeah sure. I’ll hang out here if that’s okay?” the young agent asked.

  “I’ll wait downstairs. Keep an eye out for our backup,” Jasper said before he turned and headed for the stairs.

  Raelin waited until Kasey closed the door before she helped the younger woman stand. “Come on Darlin’, lean against the vanity just for a minute to let me get the water started.”

  Del leaned against the vanity watching as Raelin moved about the room. “I’m sorry I was too late to protect you again.”

  “You were right on time. I’m still here.” Making sure that there was a soft cloth in the shower, she quickly undressed and then went over to her lover to help her out of the rest of her clothes. “I’m gonna unbutton your pants and then we’ll get in the shower okay? Are you with me?”

  “Always. I’m really mostly okay you know,” Del smiled; eyes slightly unfocused. “But you really should stand still so I can take advantage of your state of undress.”

  Quickly disrobing her lover, Raelin carefully led her into the shower and sat her on a stool that she had brought in. Taking the shower massage off its hook, she let the water play over her lover’s body, smiling at the groans that slid from between Del’s lips.

  “You have no idea how good this feels. Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry I keep being so stubborn,” the detective said softly, leaning her head back to let the water beat down on her face.

  Holding the cloth over the cut on Del’s forehead, Raelin let the tears fall. Love wasn’t supposed to be this hard right off the bat was it? Moving the water around, the witch stood behind the detective, letting that water hit her back.

  “I know what you’re thinking. It’s the same thing I did when I saw his hands on you, and when I saw you stumbling through the woods, and when I saw you laying in the bed, bruised and beaten. That paralyzing fear when you realize just how close we came to losing what we have, how easily it could have been ripped away,” she replied, leaning slightly forward to take in more of the hot water.

  “You’re a mind reader now?” Raelin whispered. “Maybe we can start an act.”

  “I can’t read your mind. I can feel your emotions. It seems like the more time we spend together; the easier it is for me to feel your emotions. I’m not sure I can explain it exactly,” Del said, hissing in pain when she furrowed her brow and it pulled on the cut.

  “Quit doing that, and it won’t hurt.” Raelin turned off the water, got out of the shower and came back in to dry the blonde off.

  Del hummed as Raelin ran the towel gently over her body. “Only if you agree to stop cheating and using magic. I can tell every time you do it, you know.”

  Standing in front of the blonde, Raelin smiled. “Oh really, and how exactly do you know when I am using? Do I start to glow or something?” the witch joked.

  “You always glow to me,” the detective flirted, a sly grin on her face. “But usually I just get a really weird tingling between my eyes, and the humming in the back of my head gets louder. Does it always feel like that for you?”

  “No.” The brunette s
hook her head. “It tingles when I do something like I did today with Sumners, but with little things, not so much.”

  “So it’s like you’ve built up a tolerance then. The little things don’t faze you as much.” Del let Raelin dress her, helping her step into the pants before pulling the shirt over her head. Del pulled the collar up over her chin burrowing into the fabric. “Mmm, smells like you.”

  “I hope that is a good thing. Stay right there while I dry off, get dressed, and then we’ll go to bed and cuddle. Did you want me to ask Kasey if she could get you some juice or something else to drink?” Raelin was drying off as she was speaking, then she pulled on her pajamas.

  “Very good thing. Smells good.” Del watched Raelin towel off not even trying to be subtle. “Juice would be nice. You know, I think I like this whole concussion thing. Two, sometimes three naked witches are much better than one.”

  Tying off the pants, Raelin shook her head. “Oh, so you think that you can hand three witches? You can’t even handle me and one cat. What makes you think you can handle three of me?”

  Del’s nose wrinkled as she thought of the implications of trying to keep up with three Raelin’s’. “You know, you’re right. I can barely survive one of you, God help me.”

  “I thought I said that,” Raelin muttered to herself. Putting her arm around the blonde’s waist, the witch opened the bathroom door and led her out, finding Kasey and Jenny sitting on the bed, waiting for them.

  Del looked at the two girls sitting closely together on the bed. “You all better not be sullying my bed with your googly eyed sappiness,” she turned her head to Raelin. “Kids these days.”

  Shaking her head, Raelin just ignored the blonde. “Thanks for staying. How often will you be waking her up?”

  “Every three hours or so. Hopefully she’ll get back to her old self soon enough. It’s possible she may suffer short-term amnesia. We’ll have to keep an eye on her for a few days. Sometimes it doesn’t manifest until hours even days later. She may forget the events immediately before or after the injury,” Kasey explained as she helped Raelin settle the blonde on the bed. “Is there anything I can get you guys?”

  Helping her detective into bed, Raelin asked. “If you could bring up some juice and leave it on the night stand that would be great? Also, I need you wake me also and make sure that I don’t drain her of her energy. If you feel that I am, I need you to be honest enough to tell me so I can go the spare bedroom. Do you understand what I am saying?”

  “I’ll wake you, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to tell if you are draining her. All of this magic is a bit beyond me,” Kasey replied sadly. “I’m afraid you’re the first contact with magic like this I’ve ever had.”

  “Raelin, I’m not going to have you sleeping in the spare room of your own house. This bed is too big for me and I don’t want to be in it alone. I’ll be fine; I just need a cat nap,” Del said, pulling on Raelin’s shirtsleeve as she stood.

  “Lay down Delaney...I’m not going anywhere right now, and you need to rest.” Turning back to the Agent, she instructed, “If she is loopier or weaker than she is right now, tell me. That’s all I’m asking okay?”

  “I’ll do my best. I’ll bring the juice up and then leave you both to rest. We’ll be downstairs if you need us. Otherwise I’ll be back in three hours to check on you both,” Kasey replied, watching as Del already started to drift off. “She’s going to have one hell of a headache when she wakes up, so you might want to keep the drapes closed.”

  Smiling down at her lover, Raelin turned back to the Agent and reached out to place her hand on Kasey’s arm. “Thank you for being here and taking care of us, and I don’t mean just Del and I. I also mean Jenny. I can see how much you care for her, and she you. You protected her in the kitchen when I went all witchy on Sumners, even though you had no idea what you were up against. You’re a good person and I thank you.”

  Kasey looked down where Raelin's fingers rested on her forearm feeling a mild tingle spread from the site. “It tingles. How interesting,” she mused almost to herself. She watched Raelin's hand a moment longer before she looked back up. “You're welcome. I'll do whatever I can to protect you all. Including Jenny, I care a great deal for her. I'll try to live up to what you imagine for her.”

  Raelin waited until the Agent had left the room before she closed her eyes and muttered a few words. Using some of the magic that was in the house, she cast a recognition spell, then a protection spell on all inhabitants and the house.

  Kasey came in as the witch was finishing up and placed a tray with an iced pitcher of orange juice and glasses on the nightstand. “Call out if you need anything, but if not, I’ll see you in three hours.”

  The brunette nodded as she crawled into bed with Delaney as the Agent turned off the light and closed the door, leaving the room in shadows. Because she was afraid of draining her lover, Raelin ran her fingers through the still damp hair, and that was enough to soothe her into a light sleep.

  j

  Kasey sat at Jenny’s feet on the living room floor, hunched over her laptop. She’d decided to see what she could dig up on Sumners, but was coming up short. Between bureau red tape and her limited security clearance, she was getting frustrated. She looked up when Jasper came into the room, three agents in tow. She stood abruptly to greet them.

  “Agent Ryerson, Agent Fielding, good to see you both well,” she greeted to the two young men with a handshake. Turning to the older woman next to them, she offered a nod. ”Director, I’m surprised to see you here ma’am.”

  “Yes, well I thought that I needed to get to the bottom of this. Would you mind briefing us on the situation to why Agent Sumners went off the deep in and tried to strangle a civilian?” the Director queried. She stood about five foot six, with short graying hair, green eyes, and wore a dark suit.

  Nodding, Kasey directed them to sit while she explained what she knew. ”I’m not sure what happened to cause Sumners to snap the way he did, but I can tell you he’s been hostile towards Ms. Montrose and Delacroix both since he got here. Ms. Montrose is a practicing Wiccan and you and I both know his views on anything other than Christian. As far as Ms. Delacroix goes, well, she’s an open lesbian and he disagreed pretty strongly with her investigative methods. He’s let his own beliefs cloud his judgment since he got here. He’s been hostile and argumentative with them. I knew it was wrong, but he was my superior and I was unsure what to do about it.”

  “The attack took place outside while I was in here watching Ms. LeBlanc and at the first gunshot, I ran out to see what was happening. I found Sumners on top of Ms. Delacroix and before I could stop him, he brought the butt of his service weapon down and struck her, knocking her out. Ms. Montrose had gotten a hold of Delacroix’s gun and fired a warning shot. I drew my own weapon and asked Sumners to drop his as he’d started to point it at Ms. Montrose.”

  “He would have shot her Director. I had no choice, when I saw him start to turn the weapon on me I fired, but I made sure to catch him in the shoulder. I then cuffed him and did any first aid I could when I saw that Ms. Delacroix had woken up. Jasper arrived at that time and after helping Ms. Montrose and Ms. Delacroix into the house we decided to lock Sumners in the car for everyone’s safety.”

  “Do you feel that either Agent Sumners or Ms. Delacroix has jeopardized this investigation with either of their beliefs or investigative methods?” The Director leaned forward, very interested in the Agent’s response.

  “I believe what Sumners did was totally irrelevant to the case. He attacked someone who has had nothing to do with the case aside from providing some basic information that any normal investigating would have turned up. I feel Ms. Delacroix has done everything by the book so far, and from talking with her and working with her I don’t believe she would do anything to jeopardize this investigation or anyone’s safety either.”

  “Both of them are resting upstairs and I need to wake Ms. Delacroix in a few minutes to check on her an
yway. She sustained a mild concussion in the struggle. If you want, I can see how she feels and see if she’d be willing to talk to you, as long as you let her rest for a while longer.”

  Kasey had been keeping an eye on everyone in the room out of habit, and she saw Jenny glancing at the clock. That had reminded her of her promise to wake Del and Rae. She’d also caught Ryerson’s subtle observation of her girlfriend and knowing his reputation as a ladies man, made a note to warn Jenny later on. She was a little interested in finally seeing the young man finally shot down.

  Nodding her head, Director Jacobs leaned back. “Yes, I am very interested in hearing from the both of them. In regards to Agent Sumners, are you aware of any crimes that he may have committed during this or any other investigation that we should be aware of? Should we be concerned about lawsuits or negative press coming our way?”

  “No lawsuits, Del and Rae aren’t those kinds of people. Negative press? That will be hard to avoid, but I don’t think Del or Rae would be hard pressed to keep it quiet if you wanted. I get the impression that neither of them enjoys having too much attention on themselves. Aside from the aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of attempted murder on this case, I don’t think there is. He’s always gotten a little fanatical at times, but it’s never gone past a misguided word, or insult or two.”

  “I think it would be best if we looked into his psych evals. It’s obvious that he was unstable so I think how the office shrink passed him for work bears some looking into. Just before you came in I was trying to pull up all of his old cases, but I don’t have the clearance for it. If you will allow me, I’ll go through them and look for anything suspicious.”

  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go wake up Delaney. I don’t think either of them will want to be woken by one of our medics. They aren’t too trusting of strangers,” Kasey finished. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d slipped back to first names when she talked about Delaney and Raelin and missed the odd look the Director gave her when she noticed the young agents slip.