Death's Intern (The Intern Diaries Book 1)

by D. C. Gomez

  “We’ll do a comm check when you get out of the building. Be careful, now.” Bartholomew sounded more like my big brother, if I’d had one.

  “Isis, don’t get killed now. We kind of like you.” Constantine was back in teacher mode.

  “Well, thank you. I kind of like you two as well. OK, I’m off. Wish me luck.” This was getting way too sappy. I needed to get going before I missed the biker gang of evil witches.

  Chapter 21

  I wasn’t much of a drinker, so sports bars were not my thing. I also didn’t care too much for watching sports on TV, regardless how big the screen was. With all that said, it shouldn’t have been a big shock that I had never been to Shooters. I had passed it plenty of times on my way to the VA. They both sat on Frontage Road, parallel to Highway 30. The easiest way to get there was to take 30 to the state line exit and then stay on the service road. Normally the drive would be less than ten minutes, but I was dragging my feet.

  For a Wednesday night, this place was pretty packed. Shooters sat in the middle of the lot, with parking spaces all around. I parked in the last row closest to the road. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. The plan was simple—find the witches and, hopefully, follow them to the victims. I wasn’t happy about being there, but we didn’t have that many options. I turned Bumblebee off and slowly climbed out. Keys, my license, and cash were in my front pocket. My cell was in my back one. The fewer things in my hands, the better.

  I made my way slowly to the front of the building. From my right side, I saw a figure coming my way. My pulse increased, and I considered running back to Bumblebee. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie, with the hood over his head.

  “Looking good, Isis.”

  I exhaled slowly. “Why are you hiding in the dark, Angelito? Hasn’t anyone told you how shady you look?” What was wrong with this boy?

  “Hey, I’m not supposed to be helping you. So pretend you don’t know me.” Angelito bent over to tie his right shoe or whatever he was pretending to do.

  I pulled my cell phone out. “That’s not that hard to do. You look creepy. But what do you mean, you’re not supposed to be helping me?” I was trying not to look so obvious and to blend in.

  “Look, my girl is friends with the chicks who jumped you. She’s not like them, but they’re still friends. I figured you might want some payback. That was pretty shitty, what they did to you.” He switched legs and started working on his left. “Be careful, Isis. They’re crazy. They’re hanging out by the pool tables.”

  Without another word, Angelito got up and headed inside. That was all I’d gotten—I got, crazy girls by the pool tables. Angelito was in over his head. I doubt his little girlfriend was as innocent as he believed. I didn’t have time to worry about Angelito’s love life right now. Somehow I needed to figure out where the pool tables were located in this place. Since nothing else was holding me back, I made my way toward the door.

  A very tall and very muscular bouncer stood at the door. I smiled at him, but he just nodded back. The man was focused. Inside the door there were girls standing behind a desk checking IDs. I walked to the right and handed one of the girls cash and my ID. I hadn’t realized they had a cover charge. I paid and made my way inside.

  Shooters was divided into two sections. To the left they had a stage area, with a dance floor and tables around it. To the right they had pool tables. No wonder Angelito’s instructions were vague. You couldn’t miss the pool tables. There were at least seven on that side of the room. The two areas were separated by a bar in the middle. That way the bartenders could serve both sides without missing a beat. I liked the layout.

  The witches were on the right side, by the far wall—at least five of them. They were flirting with a group of guys. I made my way in the opposite direction. I found a space by the bar that would provide enough cover and concealment for this weird expedition. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri from the bartender. He even added whipped cream. I couldn’t complain too much; the daiquiri was pretty good. I could see the witches from across the bar but not very clearly.

  On the stage, a couple of girls were singing karaoke. I hoped that was their intent. They had had too much to drink, and they were completely out of tune. I’ve never understood the obsession with going onstage to make a fool of yourself. That poor Katy Perry song was getting destroyed. I gave the stage one last look and turned to face the bar. Across the room, the biker witches were having a great time. I didn’t recognize any of them. I needed to get closer. Unfortunately, there was no way for me to blend in on that side of the room.

  Once again, I hated to admit it, but Constantine was right. My previous outfit would have been a horrible choice for this place. I barely looked as if I belonged now. There was a special attitude most of the girls in this bar had—they knew they belonged there. I screamed, “Angry girl—get the hell away!” Not the best vibe when you were trying to fit in. As I considered my options, two of the witches headed to the door. This was my only chance.

  The witches went out and took a right. I didn’t want to be suspicious, any more than I already was, so I headed straight. I walked around the parking lot, trying not to draw too much attention. They took another right and headed toward the rear of the building. This was such a bad idea, but I was out of good ones. I followed at a distance.

  By the time I reached the back lot, the witches were gone. It wasn’t as if they were moving that fast. On top of that, I didn’t hear a car moving. I walked a little farther down, toward the apartment complex. At the last row of cars, I saw a body on the ground. A smart person would have turned around and called for help. Crazy intern went alone to investigate. I found a young man lying on the ground facedown. I rushed to his side.

  “Oh, please tell me you are not that dumb.” The female voice was over me, and I knew the hard cylinder on my head was a gun without even looking.

  “What can I say? A girl can pray for a little luck.” I needed a lot more than luck.

  The guy rolled over and smiled at me. Dark-brown hair with big brown eyes, probably in his twenties. He moved with a grace I hadn’t seen in many guys my age. He jumped up and joined the girl behind me.

  “Thank you, sweetie. I can take it from here,” the girl with the gun purred to the guy.

  “My pleasure, baby.”

  I wasn’t sure who gave whom the kiss, since I was still on my knees facing the pavement. I heard footsteps leaving. I was going to kill Angelito.

  “Raise your hands nice and slow. I would hate to accidentally shoot you.”

  Accidentally my ass. I raised my hands. “Now, do I just sit here and wait for further instructions, or what? If I don’t make it home soon, my guardian will be really mad.” I really was hoping Bartholomew and Constantine were listening. I had no other way to use the panic word “guardian” without sounding crazy.

  “Oh, you poor little thing. No, you can stay right there. You’re starting to be a real pain in the ass.” I heard another set of footsteps.

  “The van is on its way,” another female voice said from behind me.

  “Good. We can tie this little girl up and throw her in the river. Pump her up with meth, and nobody will ever question a thing.” Wow, the first girl was ruthless. She was going to drug and drown me. Wasn’t that overkill?

  “You’re going to do all that just for me? You shouldn’t have.” I was terrified. My voice sounded a little shaky, so I knew she wasn’t fooled.

  “Isis, hold on. Backup should be there in twenty seconds.” I almost screamed when Constantine’s voice came through my little earpiece. I really hoped I had twenty seconds.

  “Are you at least going to tell me why you’re doing this? How much did you pay Angelito to set me up?”

  “Child, you watch too much TV. We are not going to tell you shit. If you haven’t figured it out by now, you’re not very good at your job,” the first girl said very arrogantly. If only she knew this was only my third day on the job, and I sucked
at it. “Besides, poor Angelito is too much in love to know what’s going on. I was surprised he had any sense left to even tell you.”

  “At least tell me why Texarkana.” I needed only a few more seconds. I could ramble with the best of them.

  “Border towns are so much fun. What’s that noise?”

  Oh Lord, I was praying Constantine was sending me a squad of Navy SEALs or special forces. At this point, I would have settled for dangerously armed Boy Scouts.

  I heard scraping all around me, but it was too dark to see anything. My arms were getting tired, and the rocks were digging into my knees. A loud hiss came from my left, and then another from my right. I wasn’t sure if a tiger was on the loose or a rattlesnake.

  “What’s that sound?” The second girl sounded scared. Oh, good. At least I knew they could be spooked.

  “Probably some straight. Keep an eye out for the van. We need to get out of here.” The first girl was not worried at all. “Don’t get any strange ideas now, little girl.” She shoved the gun at my head to make sure I was paying attention.

  My arms were going into muscle failure. I was ready to drop them when something flew over my head.

  “Ahhh, what the hell?” The girl with the gun was screaming. I glanced over my shoulder, and I was speechless. She was being attacked by a cat. Before she could rip the cat off, two more jumped at her and her friend.

  “Isis, run. Now.”

  I didn’t need Constantine’s instructions. I was on my feet and running straight back to the apartment area.

  “No! Get that bitch!” The first girl fired the gun at the same time she was screaming. I wasn’t sure where they were coming from, but more cats kept appearing.

  “Constantine, cats! Really! They’re going to get hurt.”

  “Isis, on such short notice, just be thankful. They’re as stealthy as they get. Besides, they have to catch them first to hurt them. Get to the street, and hurry.” Constantine was right. They were stealthy, and they moved faster than anything I had ever seen.

  Between the screams of the witches, the hissing of the cats, and the gunshots, the parking lot of Shooters had become a battle zone. I kept low among the cars, trying to avoid attention.

  “She’s over there. Get her.” Too loud to avoid attention, the girl with the gun yelled orders in my direction. That evil van had made it around the corner and was heading straight at me. I was going to get run over. I was too far from Bumblebee to get away.

  I ran between cars, heading to the service road. The passenger in the van was halfway out the window. She threw something at me. Fortunately I slipped, and it went over my head. Whatever it was, it hit the Ford F-150 on the side and left a huge hole. I struggled to my feet and started running again. I was so dead.

  The two witches from the back had joined the chase. I was out of breath. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and almost got run over by a dirt bike. I stopped dead in my tracks. The driver lifted his shield. “Isis, hop on. Now.” I was hallucinating. I had to be. There was no way Bartholomew was driving a dirt bike.

  “Isis, hurry!” he screamed at me.

  I hopped on the bike. I had no idea where he had learned to drive, but Bartholomew was handling the bike like a pro.

  “Package recovered,” I heard Bartholomew say through my earpiece.

  “Nicely done. Bring her home.” Constantine sounded relieved, and I was exhausted.

  Bartholomew did a U-turn and headed up the street going the wrong way. I heard the witches scream. I closed my eyes and let Bartholomew take us home.

  Chapter 22

  After an hour of tossing around in my bed, I decided to get up. It wasn’t even six in the morning, and I had had less than five hours of sleep again. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t shut my mind off, either. We had less than two days, and we knew nothing besides the fact that these witches were tough and arrogant. Not a lot of information. Bob was still missing. People were still disappearing, and I kept getting beaten up. After last night, I was overwhelmed and lost. I got dressed and headed to the training area. Maybe I could take some of my aggression out on the punching bags.

  I guessed I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. Constantine and Bartholomew were already on the first floor. Unfortunately, they were not alone. I had forgotten Sexy-Butt was coming over. A large practice mat was set up in the middle of the floor. It looked like a martial arts ring. Bartholomew was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and no shoes, and he was facing Sexy-Butt in the center of the ring. Sexy-Butt, on the other hand, had loose sweats on with a long-sleeve workout shirt. Constantine was sitting on a chair on the outside of the ring. They all stopped when I approached.

  “I was planning to let you rest through Bartholomew’s session before calling you up.” Constantine was being nice. Now I was worried.

  “Couldn’t sleep. I can come back if you’d like.” I guessed I could always go back upstairs and watch TV.

  “Don’t be silly. You’re here; let’s get busy. I assume you both have met, based on the number of warnings.” Constantine looked between Officer Sexy-Butt and me.

  “Yeah, I guess.” That was a way to put it.

  “Good. We can skip the introductions. Eric is our resident martial arts expert and local wizard.” Great. He was a martial arts expert on top of being a wizard.

  “Wait. Why can’t you stop those lunatics?” I was pissed. All this time I had been running around, and he had been doing nothing.

  “First, I’m a police officer above all. I cannot act on behalf of the order and be a cop. Those two things should never cross. And since nobody has made a public report about those psychos, I can’t even enforce the law. So thank you!” He was actually mad at me. As if this were my fault.

  “Hey, this is not my fault. What was I supposed to do? File a report that witches are taking people in Texarkana? I already filed one for Bob, and you see how well that turned out. Have you found my friend yet?” I was ready for a fight, and sexy little Eric made for a great target.

  “Enough, you two. This is childish. We all know these witches are dangerous and somehow are always ahead of us. Fighting each other is not going to solve this mess. Stop it.” Constantine didn’t raise his voice when he spoke. He looked like a king on his throne. “Now, let’s review what we know calmly. There are at least five witches in town and at least half a dozen missing people. What else?” Constantine had taken his teacher voice again.

  “They have a way of making men do whatever they want.” I was not happy about that.

  “Most women have that effect on men, Isis.” Constantine was not amused.

  “Not like that. It’s something different. The one holding the gun on me said she was surprised that Angelito had any sense left.” I walked over to the edge of the mat and sat down. Bartholomew started stretching in the middle of the mat while Sexy Eric did push-ups. I could hit him.

  “Could be a love potion or a mind-control spell.” How was he talking so normally in between push-ups? He wasn’t even winded. I refused to stare, but he was at twenty in less than thirty seconds.

  “We got mind control, kidnapped people, and a coven on the loose in town.” Constantine was talking out loud.

  “And very powerful. The last spell they threw left a hole the size of a basketball on a truck,” Bartholomew said, finally joining the conversation.

  “OK, I know nothing about witches and spells, but doesn’t it take time to become so powerful? These witches looked like they were in their teens or maybe early twenties.”

  Constantine and Sexy-Butt Eric stopped and looked at each other.

  “OK, what am I missing?”

  “Is it possible?” Eric asked Constantine, uncertain.

  “Is what possible? What’s going on?” Oh thank you, Bartholomew. At least I wasn’t the only lost one.

  “They’re stealing the years out of people.” Constantine looked devious when he said it.

  “Yeah, still lost. What does that mean?” It was way too earl
y for all this cryptic madness.

  “Oh, wow. That explains why the bodies we found did not match their ages when they died.” Even Bartholomew had figured this out. But it didn’t make sense. That wasn’t possible.

  “Please tell me you’re kidding. They’re not making themselves younger by stealing people’s souls. Are they?” My stomach was turning in knots. I wanted to throw up.

  “Not just younger. They’re making themselves immortal. Humankind’s greatest fear is death. They found a way to cheat Death and not age.” We all stood in silence, staring at Constantine. “Death is going to be mad when she finds out.”

  “Oh, great. Now what do we do?” My job really sucked.

  “We still need to find them before the equinox. Their powers will be greater on that day. With all the witches celebrating around the world, the energy will be easy to tap.” Thank you, Constantine, for stating the obvious. “Right now you need to train. You suck at hand-to-hand combat.”

  He was so evil. I groaned in protest. “Thank you for reminding me. I’m sorry about Bumblebee.” Before I could finish my sentence, I looked over my shoulder. Bumblebee was parked in its usual spot. “How did you get it back?”

  “I got people,” Constantine said very smoothly.

  “Do your people ever sleep?” When did they get it there?

  “Isis, dear, I can’t reveal all my secrets.” Of course not. There was no way Constantine was ever going to spill the beans.

  “Can we start now? I need to check some things out at work.” I had totally forgotten Sexy-Butt was always on duty. I wondered why he wasn’t a detective. Maybe that was against some witch code.

  “Yes, we’re wasting time. Bartholomew, start going through your drills with Eric. Isis, warm up on the rower and then the punching bags.” Constantine was back in drill-sergeant mode, so there was no way to argue.

  I was fully awake and decided to jump on the treadmill first. Five minutes of brisk walking had my blood pumping. My warm-up went fairly quickly. By the time Bartholomew was done with his drills, I had completed a full circuit of push-ups, pull-ups, and squats. I had been told it took the body less than two weeks to start toning. After years of conditioning, exercises were another form of muscle memory. I was slowly finding my rhythm again. It probably helped that I was drinking those weird shakes as well.