by T S Paul
"Why? Challenges are a matter of life for Weres." Cat knew more about this than I did.
"The old man wasn't one to stick with one mate. He often bragged about his sexual prowess. Dan has plenty of brothers and sisters in all the packs. Stephan Petrov is actually his half-brother and his father's favorite. It was Stephan who had convinced Darius to seek treatment and find a possible cure for his malady."
"Geri, what was wrong with him?" Grandmother had taught me a bit about Weres. Most were completely immune to disease.
"Darius always claimed it was something he caught overseas during that mess in Indochina in the 1950s. The Medical Examiner said the tests he ran came back as an aggressive form of Myasthenia Gravis."
"What does it do to the body?" Health and medicine are one of the functions of an herb Witch, so I was always interested in this.
"I really don't know. The Doc explained it to me, but most of it went over my head." The Sheriff scratched his head.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Ana.
"What can I do for you Agent?" The formal tone from Ana told me she had eyes on her.
"The Sheriff say that Darius Jaeger was dying of a rare disease. Can you check on this for me? Myasthenia Gravis or at least that is what the Coroner said."
"I don't have to ask him about that one. You never had dogs, did you?" Anastasia's voice was dark and mysterious sounding.
"No. Just Fergus. Grandmother has a huge cat named Zeus."
"Nope. Not the same thing. Canine Myasthenia Gravis is a very rare canine disease. It interferes with the acetylcholine in the body. What happens is the brain sends a message to move say your finger and acetylcholine is like a messenger service between the nerves and the skeleton. The message is sent, but never gets there or gets there too late. This makes those that suffer from it shaky and jerky in their movements. Humans can get it, but again it is a rare condition. It is believed to be a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease, and the exact cause has not been identified. This is the first I've heard of Weres catching it."
I looked out the window of the station as she explained the disease to me. "Is it contagious?"
"Among dogs, the answer is no. Weres or humans? I have no idea. It would be very obvious if it were. I'll send out a few feelers about this to some colleagues of mine and check with the locals to be sure. Just the sort of information we as scientists like to know. Thank you, Agent Blackmore."
I turned back to the Sheriff. "That was Anastasia, our forensic technical adviser. According to her what Darius had was the canine disease. Not contagious according to her. So, Daniel killed his father and took over. What have the other Alphas done?"
"Stephan refuses to work with Daniel in all things. He holds fifty percent of the town's assets in his name alone. This has prevented any improvements or infrastructure work to go through. Darius intended for the brothers to work together, but that part is shot to hell. He's only been causing trouble on the City Council so far. Joshua Pepin is the one to watch. He controls the utility companies around here. If you want water and power, you have to talk to him about it."
"Such a nice mess you have here. Any idea if the Packs are involved with the slavers?" Very slowly the Sheriff was coming around.
"Uh." He shut up for a moment and stared at me with a funky grin on his face. "You are too tricky."
I pressed my hand to my chest. "Me? Tricky? No way. I have no idea what you are talking about Sheriff."
He shook his head and smiled at me. "Sure, you don't. They are aware of the trade. It was my predecessor's opinion they get their troops from them."
"What troops?" Cat moved closer and joined the conversation again.
Sheriff Geri turned in her direction. "Enforcers and bully boys. They have to come from somewhere. I've lived my entire life in this county, and half of Jaeger's men aren't from around here. Don't get me wrong. They blend in like they're a neighbor, but no one has ever seen them before. Take those big boys from earlier. Bob and Tod Broehain is what they go by. Daniel volunteered them as officers here. They follow orders to the letter."
"Their last name is Broehain?" Bill started to chuckle.
"Yes, why? What's so funny?"
"Not really laughing at you Sheriff but Broehain is a Scottish word for broken."
"Interesting. Is there anything else in here that I should know?" I thumped the large folder I had been given.
"Be careful. Lots of money is coming from somewhere around here. They won't give it up easily." Geri sat at his desk.
"Are you going to be safe here alone?"
"Thanks for worrying Agent, but it's my bed. Time I sleep in it. I doubt they are stupid enough to do something while you're still in town. Where are you staying by-the-way?"
"Bill?" I looked to my facilitator.
"Billie Jean's Fish Camp and Sushi bar is where our reservation is set. I meant to ask if the bar part is real."
"You'll like Billie. She avoids the Jaegers like the plague. Daniel tried to date her in high school, and she kicked him in the beans and franks. She's good people. Her son Billy was stationed in Hawaii and learned to make Sushi. He does a good avocado roll, but his local snapper roll is an acquired taste."
"They are both named Billy?" Cat smiled at the names.
"Yup. I have a ton of paperwork to do as well as contact the State Police. I'm going to send them as much as I can remember of this conversation as well as the camera footage. If something goes down, they might need evidence of my death." He pointed at the camera in the corner.
"Always good to be prepared." Looking at the office with fresh eyes, Bill noticed all the cameras.
"I try to be. Are you taking the Russian with you or do I keep him?" The Sheriff hooked a finger at Ivan.
"We'll take him. Thanks again." We collected Ivan and went outside.
"People never learn, do they, Agatha?" Cat stood by the front door leaning up against a post.
I passed Ivan to her and asked why.
"Over there." She pointed at our RV. A small crowd had formed around the side where our door was. They appeared to be shouting and laughing at something.
Moving closer we could see at least three people very close to the vehicle.
"Excuse us. Make way please." Carefully we pushed our way through the crowd. Once the locals realized who we were, they moved back.
It was all I could do not to laugh. Ivan, our new prisoner, shook his head and muttered "Tupyye idioty" at the spectacle.
"What did he just say?" Cat looked over at me. She could only say either yes or no in Russian.
"He said stupid fools, and I agree." Agent Maxwell stared and shook his head.
Bill's ability to speak Russian wasn't in his file. Interesting.
Bob, Tod, and Daniel were stuck. Bob and Tod both were in the action of trying to open compartments on the RV. Daniel was worse. He had a crowbar in his hands and was trying to pry open the main door of the RV. As Weres their great strength should have made it easy to break in. Not through my Ward, though.
"Should I add B and E to the charges you are building up Mr. Jaeger?" Cat pulled out her phone and began taking pictures of the three men.
"Let us go!" Daniel started to yell.
I looked around. This must have been too much for his lawyer. Tuck Braddock was nowhere to be seen.
Waving a hand, I released the men who promptly fell to the ground. "Never and I do never mean, try to steal from a Witch, Mr. Jaeger. Be glad I'm not arresting you at this time."
His muttered "bitch" wasn't unheard as Cat frowned at him.
"Leave it. We have too much work to do." I dropped the rest of the ward and opened up the RV.
"That, Agatha, was pretty cool. Do you lock all your vehicles that way?" Bill sat Ivan down at the table and unlocked his handcuffs.
Cat closed the door and started running through the checklist. We never deployed, so a walk around wasn't needed. Just in case, I cast a quick shield spell over our new guest.
Ivan looked
at me with wide eyes as my spell settled around him. He plucked at the shield with his finger and shook his head.
"It won't come loose so stop trying."
"Not necessary. I will cooperate." Ivan kept trying to pull the shield off of his skin.
"Our safety, not yours, is why I cast it, Ivan. Now, how did you end up in Jaeger's employ?" Ivan shivered at the name.
"Just a job. I answered advertisement and lawyer hired me."
"Lawyer? Tuck Braddock? That lawyer?" Bill sat down next to Ivan.
"Da. Yes. He said... needed magic support for boss. Spells to frighten ignorant and ward house is what told." Ivan looked around like a wounded animal.
"He won't be coming after you. I promise. What else did you do for him? I know you speak better English so stop with the accent."
Ivan flinched at my words and let out a big sigh. "I warded his property and scared his employees. They are too stupid to realize that pretty lights and furniture moving is just a bunch of tricks. Compared to you, I'm an amateur."
Cat and Bill's mouths dropped open at Ivan's use of almost perfect English. I chuckled at the look on their faces.
Bill pointed. "How did you know?"
"Think about where you are Bill. You and I get looks with our New England accents. Imagine if you cannot speak English or with a strong accent in Arkansas. It cannot be done. He would have starved to death by now. It reminds me of a restaurant we have back home." I thought about Grandmother's friend Frank and the Oriental Gardens.
"Oh?"
"We have a place called Oriental Gardens back in Briarwood. All the employees are of Asian descent. Many speak perfect English. But if you eat there, they pretend they don't. It's a ploy to get bigger tips. For some reason, tourists believe that if a person doesn't speak English well, they are poor. I didn't believe her until she introduced me to Frank. He was a delivery driver who came to the house a lot. Whenever I answered the door, he would nod and jibber jabber at me in a strange language. One day Grams answered the door with me and told him to 'knock it off.' He laughed at her and proceeded to speak perfectly after that. He told me he was Hawaiian. The owners of the Gardens were Chinese, but most of the employees were Korean or Japanese. The language he used was baby talk in Polynesian."
Bill laughed. "Always expect the unexpected. With this unit, I can believe it. Great story."
"Let's go find that fish camp of yours and get set up. Be sure to send the directions to Chuck and Ana." I climbed behind the wheel and started the engine.
Chapter 11
Billie Jean's Fish Camp and Sushi Bar had a huge sign right off the highway. It was pretty hard to miss with the words 'World Famous Snapping Turtle Sushi' in three-foot-high lit up letters. I see what the Sheriff meant about the snapper rolls. I'm not sure I've ever eaten turtle on purpose.
"Cat, have you ever eaten turtle?"
She cocked her head to one side and focused on a distant point. It was the look she got while communicating with her other self. "Crunchy. Sort of like those peanut-butter pretzels you like so much. Too much work for a meal."
I tried not to laugh at the expression on her face. "All you had to say was yes. They apparently eat them here. I just wondered what it tasted like."
"Oh. Fishy."
Now I did laugh. "Only you Cat. Only you." There was another sign pointing to a small one lane gravel road.
"If you hear banjos you'll tell me, right?"
"Banjos? Should I ask?" Cat looked at me strangely.
"It was a movie I saw once. Don't worry about it." I squinted ahead through the dimming light. The day was fading fast. I shook my head. Why am I squinting when I have magic? Muttering a spell my vision problems went away. Glancing at Cat, I could see she had her phone out searching.
"Look under 1970s movies."
"Oh, I found it. I was just trying to see if they have rapids around here and if I could get Chuck some bicycle pants." Cat smiled at me.
"Just don't squeal at me and we'll be great." It wasn't all that great of a movie, but Grams had a thing for the lead actor. She drove like him too.
"Hey look! The others are already here." Cat gestured to where Chuck was setting up the other RV. He was outside hooking up the nasty sewer connector. He pointed to the pad to the right of him, so I pulled in. Bill tooted his horn as he drove past us in the 'stink mobile.' Chuck's name for the old Suburban was starting to stick. I assumed he would take care of checking us in.
"This is a pretty neat place Bill found for us." Chuck leaned into my window smiling.
"Glad you like it. How was the County Morgue?"
Chuck screwed up his face into a scowl. "Stinky. I don't think they believe in bleach around here. Anastasia told me to tell you that the evidence is gone. Someone broke in and made off with the dog blanket and all the physical evidence except the body."
"How? I thought it was supposed to be under lock and key?" I looked at him in disbelief.
"The State police are pissed! They use the same evidence lockers for their open cases. They were crawling all over the place when we left. According to their Captain, they're missing a Barrett rifle and thirty pounds of street product one of their officers confiscated last week on the highway.
"That sucks! I guess our blanket and clothing is a low priority for them then?"
"Pretty much. Sorry, Agatha. We tried. Ana did find a few things on the body but without the other evidence..." Chuck made a mournful face.
"...we have no chance of proving who did it." I finished his sentence for him.
"Is your RV all hooked up?" Opening the door, I climbed out.
"I still have to put the jacks down, but Ana can do that. Do you need me?" Chuck stepped back as my door opened.
"The sewer connections? I always do it wrong the first time." Last time I ruined a really good pair of shoes. Yuck!
"Gotcha. Can I open the port doors without being frozen?" Smiling, I waved at the wards.
"Fixed. You have access now."
I watched him open the first compartment to be sure, then walked around to Ana's door. Before I could touch it to knock, the door opened by itself. Smiling up into the camera I stepped inside.
"Ana? Thanks for letting me in." As usual, the interior was dimly lit. My eyes were still jazzed up from my earlier spell so I could see her sitting by her rear door.
"How else can we talk? Chuck told you about the Morgue?" I nodded.
"That place reminded me of China about a hundred years ago. Have they ever heard of cleaning supplies or sanitation? It was bad. I'm surprised the CDC hasn't shut it down yet as a germ factory. If the zombies ever rise, it will be in Arkansas."
I shuddered at the thought of zombies.
Vampires miss very little of what they see. "What?"
"I know you are old, but you don't know? About zombies?" She was kidding, right?
"Know what?" Ana looked at my face, and her smile dropped. "They aren't a figment of modern culture are they?"
"No. The Witches Council has had to stamp out at least five cases of zombies in the last three hundred years. They are very real as are necromancers."
"Can you tell me when? Dates?"
I let out the breath I had been holding. "The first two cases were in Haiti in 1791. A Houngan named Boukman either rediscovered the secret or was given it. It sparked a slave revolt tearing the French colony apart. The Council captured and killed the rogue, but not before his spell book was taken by an apprentice. Despite searches and auguries, they never located him. He surfaced ten years later, again in Haiti. Over twenty-thousand French soldiers were killed trying to put the second uprising down. History records it as an outbreak of malaria and yellow fever. The spellbook was recovered but not turned over to the local council."
"Why not? Something like that was the same as a nuclear bomb at that time! Where did it go?"
"The local Council was based out of Cuba and was Spanish. Haiti was French. Even though at the time Spain was part of Napoleon's empire, they didn't trus
t each other. The book was sent to France." Even though I love history this part of it was hard to tell. Necromantic texts were one of the most forbidden by the Council. Too much death and destruction are associated with it.
"I'm not going to like the rest of this story am I?" Ana looked at me in horror.
"No. 1808 was when it resurfaced. Just in time for Napoleon to invade Russia. Someone used the knowledge just outside of Moscow. Russian volkhvy intervened during the battle and stopped the caster. The book was lost again. Rumors floated across Europe for years about the walking dead, but the Councils never found anything."