The District

by Carol Ericson

  She folded her hands and pinned them between her knees. “If you ever really had any doubts about your father’s innocence, this should blast them to bits. Members of Los Brujos de Invierno kidnapped you to threaten your father. Joseph Brody had nothing to do with your kidnapping and nothing to do with those murders.”

  Eric smacked his stack of papers on the floor where they fanned out in perfect symmetry. “Then why did he kill himself? Why did he jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?”

  Christina fell to her knees in front of him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her head against his thudding heart. “I don’t know, Eric. I wish I could help you, but I just don’t know.”

  He pressed his cheek against the top of her head, and stroked her hair. “How could a man do that to his family? I would never... I could never...”

  She cupped his chin with one hand and looked deep into his eyes. “I know that.”

  He took possession of her lips in a fierce kiss that nearly tumbled them both to the floor. How could he ever give up on this woman? She understood him as no one ever had before. And he understood her.

  A pair of heavy footsteps split them apart, and Eric jerked his head up in time to see Marie poke her head around the end of the shelf.

  “Are you two almost done? It’s five o’clock, and I draw the line at working overtime—even for a Brody. You can always come back tomorrow, Eric.”

  “I think we have what we need, Marie.” He gestured at the papers scattered on the floor. “We’ll clean up.”

  “I have a few things to do up front.” She backed out of the aisle as if suddenly becoming aware of Christina’s disheveled appearance on the floor between his knees.

  He blew out a breath when he heard her pull shut the cage window, and then he knelt beside Christina to scoop up the papers on the floor. “You have the interviews with the witnesses?”

  She waved a sheath of papers at him. “I took them out of the file already.”

  “How big is your handbag?”

  “Big enough.” She rolled them into a tube and stuffed them into her purse.

  He reassembled the case file and dropped it into the box. He tipped the box up onto the shelf and shoved it the rest of the way with his knee.

  “Look, I know we didn’t do much to advance our own case today, but I owe it to my brothers and...and my dad to investigate this further.”

  “I agree, and I’m glad to help. You always accused me of being obsessed with this case. Now it’s paying off.” She winked at him in that ridiculous way she had of screwing up the entire side of her face.

  “Thanks.” He patted her handbag. “Now we can see what lies Liz Fielding told the police.”

  She slipped her heels back on and preceded him down the row.

  “Wait.” He grabbed her shoulder and ran his hand down the length of her jacket, which ended halfway across her derriere.

  She jumped. “I know you’re kinky, but do you really want to finish what we started right here among the dusty boxes of not-quite-cold cases?”

  “I was brushing some dirt from your suit jacket.”

  “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

  He pinched her waist and propelled her ahead of him. When they got to the front of the cage, he gave Marie a hug. “Thanks a million.”

  She made shooing motions with her hands. “You two get on out of here, and I’ll follow you in ten minutes.”

  Eric started to smile but noticed the crease between Marie’s eyebrows. “You’re serious.”

  “Look what happened to Dr. Patrick the last time I let a Brody in here to look at evidence.”

  “What are you implying, Marie?”

  “Little old me? Not a thing.” She made a zipping motion across her pursed lips.

  When they got into the elevator, Christina raised her brows. “What was all that about?”

  “I don’t know. At first with all the business about not signing the evidence roster, I just thought she was protecting me. You know, didn’t want me getting into trouble for nosing around the evidence locker.”

  “Maybe she’s just superstitious after what happened to Dr. Patrick.”

  “Maybe.”

  They made their way up to the office that they’d claimed as their own. Eric swung his laptop case onto the chair and tapped a key on his keyboard to wake up his computer. Two of his desktop folders were open.

  “Hello.”

  Christina swung her own bag over her shoulder. “What?”

  “There are two folders open on my desktop that I did not open.”

  “Are you sure?” She stood behind him and peered over his shoulder.

  “Right here.” He ran the cursor across the tool tray at the bottom of the screen. “They were opened and then minimized.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t do it?”

  “I usually close out everything when I’m done working.”

  “But you don’t password protect your laptop? Isn’t that standard FBI protocol?”

  “Shh.” He held his finger to his lips.

  “Anything important in those two folders?”

  “Not really. The report I wrote on the case, a few notes. Nothing classified.”

  She shrugged. “You probably minimized them yourself and then thought they were closed when you left.”

  “Probably.” He shut down the laptop and snapped the lid closed before sliding it into its case.

  On their way through the squad room, Rita waved. “Have a good night.”

  Eric saluted and Christina waved back. “You, too.”

  Eric ducked his head and whispered in Christina’s ear. “I’m going to put in a good word for her with my brother.”

  “She deserves it.”

  Christina got behind the wheel and Eric slammed his door. “Dinner tonight? You must be starving after that pathetic lunch of a few bites of lettuce you had today.”

  “I am starving.” She wheeled out of the parking garage, focusing on the road ahead. “Did you mean dinner together or another solitary meal like last night?”

  “Together.” He’d planned to take it slow with her, but that kiss in the evidence locker had heated things up. If he wanted slow and easy with Christina Sandoval, he’d have to stop being alone with her. He hadn’t yet forgiven her for keeping Kendall from him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting her in his bed.

  * * *

  CHRISTINA LEANED INTO the mirror and brushed on a little makeup. Then she smiled at herself—like the cat who’d swallowed the canary. She and Eric had a moment in the evidence locker. He needed her just as much as she needed him. And Kendall needed both of her parents.

  She slipped into a pair of flats, black to match her skinny jeans. They were going casual tonight, walking to a place just off Union Square, but casual could come with a hint of sexy, especially if she hoped to get her man back. With that in mind she pulled on a low-cut sweater.

  Eric rapped on the door, and she invited him in. He shoved his hands in his back pockets. “Am I underdressed?”

  “These are just jeans.”

  “No, these are just jeans.” He dipped his chin toward the slightly faded, totally worn-in denim that hugged his powerful thighs.

  “Those are guy jeans, and these are girl jeans.”

  “I’ll say.”

  Her phone on the nightstand rang. “Sorry, have to get that, just in case.”

  “Do you want me to step out?”

  “I have nothing to hide from you, Eric.”

  “Anymore.”

  She glanced at the display—blocked number. She punched the button to answer. “Hello?”

  “Christina, it’s Vivi.”

  “Everything settle down for you?” She mouthed Vivi’s name to E
ric.

  “Are you okay, Christina?”

  “I’m fine. What’s up?”

  “I got some news from D-Dad today.”

  “Is he okay?” Christina’s voice sharpened despite her differences with her father. She put the phone on speaker.

  “I’m not really his. I’m not really your sister, Chrissy.”

  “What?” She turned to Eric and shrugged.

  “My mother was one of those women who wanted a child with a powerful brujo, and she was so desperate to make it so she lied to our...your father about her pregnancy.”

  Christina winced and dropped her gaze from Eric’s. “Are you sure, Vivi? You’re more Dad’s daughter than I am in so many ways.”

  “But not the most important way—blood.”

  The word caused a chill to run through Christina’s body. “It doesn’t matter, Vivi. Does Dad know?”

  “He knows. He’s always known.”

  “Then it really doesn’t matter. He’s accepted you as his own. You’ll always be my sister.”

  “But it does matter, Chrissy. It matters to you.”

  “Not a bit.”

  “Chrissy, you don’t get it. You’re—legacy.”

  Christina clutched the phone and sank to the bed.

  “Do you know what that means?” Vivi practically shouted the words over the phone.

  “I’m an only child of a brujo.”

  “A very powerful brujo.” Vivi sobbed. “Listen to me, Christina. I know who’s taking the blood from those others. It all makes sense now.”

  “Nothing makes sense. You know who the killer is? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “I just figured it out. When Dad told me today that I wasn’t his biological daughter, it all fell into place.”

  “Tell me.”

  “He’d been so interested in me, and then it all just stopped. He must’ve known. He must’ve found out I didn’t have Dad’s powerful legacy running through me.”

  Christina’s legacy blood ran cold through her veins. “Are you talking about...?”

  “Darius. I’m afraid it’s Darius.”

  Christina dropped the phone and covered her mouth. Through a haze she could hear Vivi’s voice squawking at her and feel Eric’s arm snake around her shoulders.

  “What’s wrong, Christina? This is good news. This is a lead.” He swept the phone from the floor.

  Her nails dug into his arm and she choked. “No. No. Didn’t you hear my mother? Darius is in San Miguel. He’s after Kendall.”

  Eric’s heart slammed against his rib cage. “Wait.”

  “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Vivi’s hysterical voice pierced the air.

  Eric spoke into the phone. “Christina’s mom saw Darius in San...”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Vivi started to wail.

  “Call her, call Linda right now.”

  Christina was already on the room phone. “I’m calling her now, Vivi.”

  Eric took a measured breath. Someone had to keep calm here, and although he felt far from it, the job fell to him. “Is there any other reason for Darius to be in San Miguel?”

  “None. He just came along with me. Did Christina reach Linda yet?”

  Christina dropped the receiver in its cradle. “She’s not answering. I just left a message. Vivi, Mom mentioned something about Darius having friends in San Miguel. C-could that be why he’s there? Why are you so sure he’s the killer?”

  “It just makes sense, Chrissy. He was hanging around me in Santa Cruz, but was always going into the city. He’s a minor brujo but wants so much more. He wanted to meet Dad, but you know how Dad feels about mentoring.”

  “That’s purely speculation, Vivi.” Eric smoothed his hand across Christina’s thigh. Her breathing had returned to normal and she seemed to be putting Vivi’s claims into perspective.

  “He knows so much about Los Brujos de Invierno. He knew, he found out I wasn’t really Dad’s daughter. It’s why he dropped me. It’s why he came to the city to meet you. The fact that you’re an FBI agent must’ve scared him off, or maybe your friend scared him off.”

  “What does Dad say?”

  “I haven’t told him. How do you think he’d feel if I told him I led Darius right to his only granddaughter?”

  “Stay right where you are, Vivi, and tell Dad, or better yet, have him call me.”

  “There’s no phone where we are. He’s not going to come into town.”

  “Not even to save his granddaughter?”

  “I’ll talk to him, Chrissy. I’m so sorry.”

  “If Darius is who you say he is, he would’ve found Kendall on his own.”

  They ended the call and Christina covered her face with her hands. “I wish Mom would call me back. Where could she be?”

  “Out to dinner?”

  “My mom cooks. She doesn’t go out to dinner, especially not when she has Kendall.”

  “Did you try her cell phone?”

  “Yes. I left a message on her answering machine at home, and then her cell phone voice mail.”

  “I was talking to Vivi when you called your mom. What did you tell her?”

  “I just told her to watch out for Darius and not to leave Kendall alone for a second.”

  “Call her again. Maybe she didn’t pick up because she didn’t recognize the number.” Eric tossed her cell phone at her and crossed his arms, bunching his hands into his biceps.

  Christina tried again. “Mom, give me a call as soon as you can, and stay away from Vivi’s friend Darius if you see him. Vivi doesn’t trust him. I’m going to try your home phone again, too.”

  She placed the second call and left the same message on her mom’s machine. She cradled the phone in her palm, passing it back and forth. “I’m sorry, Eric. I can’t go out to dinner now.”

  “You have to eat something.” He reached for the plastic menu on the nightstand. “Let’s do room service again.”

  “Where could she be?”

  “We’ll give her another hour, and then we’ll call the San Miguel P.D. to check on her. Better yet, I’ll have my brother the chief call. I’m sure the chief of police for Crestview has some pull with the San Miguel P.D. I’ll call him right now.”

  He tried his cell first and left a message. Then he called the station.

  He listened to a recording about calling 911 for an emergency, and then a human voice came on the line. “Crestview Police Department, can I help you?”

  “Is Chief Brody in? This is his brother Eric.”

  “One moment, sir.” There was a thirty second pause, and then she came back on the line. “He’ll be right with you.”

  “Thanks.”

  He waited another few minutes before his brother’s voice came over the line. “Hey, Eric. What’s up?”

  “I need a favor, Ryan.”

  “No small talk? Must be important. What do you need?”

  “Christina’s mother lives in San Miguel and she hasn’t answered her phone in—hours. She’s elderly, and Christina’s worried about her.”

  “Christina? I thought...”

  “Don’t ask. Can you contact someone over in San Miguel to facilitate this?”

  “Sure. Does this mean you and Christina are getting back together?”

  “Don’t ask. Give the San Miguel P.D. my number and ask them to call me after they do a safety check.”

  “Sure and don’t be a stranger.”

  “Thanks.” He pocketed his phone. “Ryan’s on it.”

  She closed her eyes. “I’m worried. Remember when we met Darius? He wouldn’t shake my hand.”

  “He was pretty wound up that day.”

  “Maybe he didn’t want contact with me. Ma
ybe he was afraid I’d read him.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “Not really, but I’m sure Vivi filled his head with exaggerations of my power.”

  “So Vivi’s not really your sister.”

  “I guess not. I’m surprised that Dad knew all along and still mentored her. I mean, what would be the point?”

  “Maybe,” Eric replied as he traced a pattern on the window with his fingertip, “he thought she was his daughter at first and by the time he found out, the blood didn’t matter anymore.”

  “But the blood does matter—it matters to Darius Cole.” Christina chewed on a fingernail. “Eric, Libby must’ve known about me and Vivi. She told us she traced family trees. Darius got the information from her and then killed her when he thought she was going to tell us.”

  Eric shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them from pummeling the wall. “That must’ve been him at the coven meeting the other night. We were worried about him seeing us, but he must’ve been even more worried about us spotting him there.”

  “I was face-to-face with him. How could I not know?” She clasped her hands to her chest. “His cologne—I smelled it when I climbed the tree overlooking the site of Nora’s murder. It’s him. Vivi’s right.”

  Someone knocked on the door and called out, “Room service.”

  Christina dug her hands in her hair and took a spin around the room. “I can’t eat. Why hasn’t Mom called yet?”

  Eric opened the door and ushered in the waiter with the room service cart. After he signed off on the check, he lifted a silver dome from one of the plates, and the smell of roast chicken wafting from the tray didn’t make his mouth water.

  He clanged the lid back down and took a sip of water instead. “Sit down and eat, Christina.”

  She stopped her nervous pacing and skewered him with her dark gaze. “Can you?”

  He downed the rest of the water and wished for something stronger. When his cell phone buzzed in his pocket, he dropped the glass. He answered and tapped the speaker. “Agent Brody.”

  “Agent Brody, this is Chief Picard with the San Miguel P.D. Mrs. Sandoval is fine...”

  Christina released a noisy sigh and sagged against the credenza.