Desolate Mantle

by L. K. Hill

  Gaap, it turned out, was the name of a minor goetic demon who supposedly incited love, provided medical care for women, transformed them or made them infertile, and ruled legions of other demons. Other abilities listed included stealing familiars, making others invisible, making men stupid—whatever that meant—necromancy, and transporting people between kingdoms.

  With a sigh of annoyance, Gabe went back to the search engine. The necromancy sounded about right, but the rest was completely the opposite. He didn’t provide medical care. He harmed these women. Gabe supposed their injuries might be a transformation of sorts, but they were just a means to an end. A means to murder the women. The transformation itself wasn’t the emphasis.

  Three pages later, Gabe gave up and closed the search engine. It was all gods and angels and demonology. If that was the only reference for Gaap, it had to be the right one. So what did it mean?

  His cell phone buzzed against the top of his desk, making him jump. He didn’t recognize the number, but glad for the distraction, he answered it.

  “Nichols.”

  “Gabe? It’s Kyra.”

  Gabe sat up straighter in his chair. Her voice held strained urgency. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. But…I’ve found something.

  ***

  Forty-five minutes later, Gabe arrived at the warehouse on the Eastern border of the city. This part of the Slip Mire was dangerous enough that he had to go through the right channels, get Shaun involved, and call plenty of uniforms out to secure the scene. Tyke came with him, though Gabe suspected it was more because Tyke wanted a break from the mountain of paperwork adorning his desk, than that he actually wanted to help.

  Gabe got out of his car and swept his eyes over the street. Three small warehouses were the only real buildings. Across from them, washed-out apartment complexes looked like nothing more than condemned shacks. The eye passed right over them. As his did, movement in the alley across from the warehouses caught his eye. Kyra stepped out into the light long enough for him to register her, then stepped back, disappearing entirely into the shadows.

  He turned, opening his mouth to call out to Tyke, only to find his friend right at his elbow, staring into the alley. “Why don’t you head in,” Gabe said quietly. “I’ll be right there.”

  Tyke nodded. “See if you can get her to come in and talk to us. Show us where she entered, where she stood. There’s no one here to see her except us and the unies.”

  Gabe nodded, already moving toward the alley. As he got closer, her form materialized under the overhang. She didn’t move away, or try to lead him farther in. She simply watched him approach with wide, steady eyes.

  “You okay?” Gabe asked.

  She nodded.

  “Why don’t you come in with me?” He motioned toward the warehouse.

  Her face didn’t change, but her eyes shifted across the street, then back to him, obviously reluctant.

  “There’s no crowd, yet. Too late—or early—for many to be out.”

  “There’s not much time until dawn, though,” she said calmly. “People will come as they wake up. Once I’m in, if a crowd gathers, I won’t be able to get out without being seen.”

  “It won’t take long,” he said. “We’ll have you in and out quickly. And if anyone comes in the meantime, we can always give you a police hat and vest and pretend you’re one of ours. No one out here will know the difference.”

  Her face softened as she considered that. She nodded and stepped forward. He followed her across the street, staying right at her shoulder, fighting the urge to take her elbow or put a hand on her arm. She kept her face toward the ground as she went, but he saw her glance up, trying to take in her surroundings. When they made it inside, Gabe got his first look at the crime scene: the palettes at one side, the body behind the fork lift. Tyke and Shaun stood over the body, pointing at things and conferring quietly. They quieted as Gabe and Kyra approached.

  Both of them nodded to Kyra.

  “Hello again,” Shaun said.

  Gabe realized he probably should have introduced them. Shaun met Kyra before as Tanya Roberts. He’d never seen her Supra guise. Too late now. Shaun studied Kyra’s face with the expert eyes of a man with twenty years on the job. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded.

  “Tell us what happened, please.”

  She quickly related a story about seeing a man running away, following the path he’d come from, and seeing the door to the warehouse standing open. Gabe immediately had to repress irritation. She’d gone looking for whatever spooked the guy? No wonder she was privy to so much depravity in the Slip Mire.

  “You came in through this door?” Shaun pointed. The door still stood open, a group of unies clearly visible outside, and Gabe caught sight of a CSU van pulling up.

  “Yes.”

  “Then what?” Shaun asked. “Show us exactly?”

  She moved around the room for the next five minutes, showing them where she stood and what she saw. How she was about to leave when she noticed the victim’s foot sticking out from behind the fork lift.

  “Anything else we need to know?” Shaun asked.

  She glanced around again, then shrugged. “Not that I can think of.” Her eyes fell on the body, and a sadness Gabe understood all too well entered them. “Do you know how she was killed yet?”

  Tyke answered. “No. We don’t see any wounds, but we aren’t allowed to touch the body until the ME releases it. Speaking of which, I saw the CSU van. I’m gonna go talk to Bailey. Get an ETA on the ME.”

  Gabe nodded and Tyke strode through the open door. Shaun’s cell phone rang and he answered it, walking a few feet away to talk. Kyra glanced at the open door and backed away from it, obviously still worried about being seen. She straightened, though, her face going blank, when she saw Gabe watching her.

  “Can I go yet?”

  Gabe glanced at his boss. “Let’s make sure Shaun doesn’t need anything else, first.”

  She pressed her lips together, but didn’t answer.

  “Are you okay?” Gabe asked, taking a step toward her. “You seem…more tense than usual.”

  She shrugged her shoulders around, looking uncomfortable. “I’m fine. I just…feel weird about this whole situation.”

  “Is there some reason why? Uh…other than the obvious? Something you want to tell me?”

  After a hesitation, she shook her head. “No. It’s just…unsettling.”

  “Finding a corpse can have that affect,” he said gently.

  “Maybe that’s it,” she agreed, though she sounded doubtful.

  Shaun’s muttering voice reached Gabe’s ears. “Hang on, you keep cutting out. I’ll go outside. Hopefully get better reception.” Shaun headed for the door. Kyra opened her mouth when he passed her. Seeing him still on the call, shut it again, throwing another worried glance at the door.

  “Shaun?” Gabe called out, and Shaun turned with a raised eyebrow, phone still pressed to his ear. “Can you shut the door on your way out?”

  With a nod, Shaun disappeared and the door swung shut behind him. Kyra gave Gabe a grateful look. Gabe walked around the interior of the warehouse, making notes and observations. The space was large and open. Above it, half the ceiling was obscured by a loft of some kind. It stretched half the length of the room, and Gabe could see up into it, though not far. He didn’t see any way to climb up to it in the loft, which meant access must be outside the building somewhere. When he’d done all he could do until Bailey came to interpret evidence on the body for him, neither Tyke nor Shaun had returned. Kyra watched him from where she had fallen into a squat near the stacked pallets. He walked over to stand by her.

  “So. Had any progress with the gang?”

  Kyra blew out a blustery, obviously annoyed breath.

  “Sorry.” Gabe said. “Touchy subject?”

  She corkscrewed her lips in that way she did when she was thinking. “It’s not your fault. It’s just…going less than smoothly.
”

  He merely gazed at her, and after a minute, she shrugged.

  “Jo—the guy I want to work for? He gave me job. A test, if you will. If I pass, I get a job. If not, back to square one.”

  “Is it a hard job? Or just one you don’t want to do?” Gabe asked.

  “Neither. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. He wants me to find information on someone.”

  “You’re good at collecting information.”

  “Exactly. But I can’t seem to find any information on this guy.”

  “What guy? Who?”

  “The name I was given is Jerome Dellaire. Does that ring a bell for you?”

  Gabe turned the name over in his head, but came up empty. “No. Should it?”

  Kyra shrugged. “I was told he’s a staple of the Mire. That plenty of people know who he is. I haven’t talked to anyone who’s shown the faintest spark of recognition at the name.”

  “Maybe it’s a lie,” Gabe said.

  Her eyebrows rose in acknowledgment. “I thought of that. But I’m not sure I believe that’s what it is. It doesn’t make sense for this guy I want to work for.”

  “Joe?” Gabe prodded.

  She clamped her mouth shut and set her jaw.

  Gabe sighed. “Fine. Why doesn’t it make sense for him to test you? If he’s going to hire you, he’ll want to see what you can do, right?”

  “Yes, but he doesn’t really work like that. He’s the kind of man who won’t hire someone unless he’s sure it will be profitable for him. He wouldn’t give me a test to prove I’m smart. When I met him, he looked me in the face and commented on how smart he thought I was. He wouldn’t bother to prove what he already believes. He’d want to know I’m capable of doing what he asks.”

  Gabe went to squat beside her, wondering why the idea of some gangster looking down into Kyra’s eyes and really seeing her made his fists clench. “So what do you think it’s all about, then?”

  She heaved a deep breath, studying the wall ahead of her, rather than looking at him. “I think the name is bogus. I think the guy he’s set me looking for is real, and he gave me a wrong name. He wants me to figure out who the guy really is. But I have nothing to go on. I don’t know where to start.”

  “An impossible task,” Gabe said quietly. “Doesn’t sound like he’s too keen to hire you.”

  “He’s not,” she gave a mirthless chuckle. “I have to convince him. Otherwise, I’m back at the beginning, searching for a way in.” She rubbed her forehead, and he wondered how she did that so often without disturbing her makeup. “I really don’t want to be back at the beginning.”

  Gabe tilted his head to the side, studying her. “It’s wearing on you, isn’t it? This way of life.”

  Another barked laugh. “There are nights…” she gestured vaguely toward the woman’s corpse. Then she turned and met his gaze for the first time. “How’s your week been?”

  He gave her a wry smile. It faded when his eyes fell on the corpse as well. “This is how my week has gone.” He dropped his voice to a murmur. “More women, dead on my watch.” When he turned back, he found her watching him speculatively.

  “Do you take all of them personally?”

  Gabe raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t a question he’d expected. “Yes.”

  Kyra’s eyes swung toward the corpse. “She’s different than the others, though. Doesn’t look like a prostitute.”

  “That doesn’t mean she isn’t one,” Gabe said quietly. “We don’t know either way, but it’s best not to make assumptions.”

  Kyra nodded. “Is it disrespectful, do you think? Having such a casual conversation so close to her body?”

  Another unexpected question. Before he could think of an answer, a noise at the door brought both their heads around. The door wiggled back and forth, but didn’t open. Muffled voices came from the other side of it. Kyra turned back to him with a questioning expression. “Is it stuck?”

  “I don’t know.” He straightened his legs, and his phone rang. He answered it while striding toward the door. “What’s going on, Tyke? Is that you at the door?”

  “Yeah, we can’t get in. You guys wedge a chair against it or something?”

  “No.” Gabe reached the door and pushed. Nothing happened. Cradling his phone between his shoulder and cheek, he put his shoulder against it and shoved with all his might. “It’s really jammed.”

  “How’d that happen?” There was scorn in Tyke’s voice.

  “You think I know?”

  Tyke sighed. “Maybe it’s a magnetic lock? Or something computerized?”

  “In this part of town?” Gabe said skeptically. “This place doesn’t seem high-tech enough for something like that.”

  “Well regardless, there’s a foreman who works here on his way. Maybe he’ll be able to get it open. Bailey and the ME are waiting out here, though. Think we could get them through a window?”

  Gabe glanced up. “Doubtful. I don’t think they open. They’re too high up for safety anyway.” He glanced up at the shadowy loft. “There’s an overhead loft in here. I don’t see an access ladder. Is there an outdoor staircase or something? Has anyone checked it out?”

  “Yeah. The unies that secured the scene found a door. It’s got a window and they see a metal staircase through it, but it was locked when they got here. We’d have to wait for the foreman anyway to open it. Besides, if there’s no access in there, what would we do? Have Bailey jump twenty feet into your arms?”

  The image of he and Bailey crashing to the ground made Gabe smirk. “How far out is the foreman?”

  Muffled voices came through the phone as Tyke conferred with someone. “Ten minutes. Give or take.”

  Gabe let out an exasperated laugh. “That’s not very long, Tyke. How about we just wait until the guy gets here?”

  “Easy for you to say. You aren’t stuck out here with Bailey glaring at you for hustling her, then making her wait.”

  Gabe smiled. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, man.”

  “Yeah, you sound real broken up.”

  “Call me when the foreman arrives.”

  “Put your phone on walkie.”

  “Right.” Gabe glanced at Kyra. She scowled at the door. “Tyke, is it getting light out there yet? I can’t tell from in here.”

  “No, not yet. And the scent of rain is on the air. If anything, it’ll take longer than usual.”

  “Good. If it gets light before we get the door open, we’ll have to sneak my C.I. out. See if Bailey has an extra CSU hat, and find a police jacket to wrap around her, would you?”

  “Will do. Ten-four.”

  Gabe chuckled, shaking his head. He ended the call and opened the walkie app they often used while in the field. Tyke barely knew what ten-four meant. Just something random to say at the end of phone calls.

  He turned back to Kyra, spreading his hands. “I’m sorry. I promised to have you in and out. I didn’t count on the door getting stuck.”

  “I know you didn’t,” she said calmly, though the lines around her eyes showed strain. She wasn’t his biggest fan at the moment.

  He walked back to where she squatted and sat on the floor, crossing his legs. After a moment, she imitated him. He couldn’t think of anything to say, so they sat in silence for a few minutes. Gabe turned everything he’d learned about the incident tonight over in his head. It made him think of something. “Where were you coming from, when you saw the guy running away from here?”

  “The warehouse. The one I told you about in the Carmichael district.”

  Gabe’s head snapped up, irritation filling up his gut.

  She glanced over at him, and her eyes widened at his expression. “What?”

  “I thought we’d agreed you wouldn’t go back until I found some information. Do you enjoy deadly situations?”

  “I never said I wouldn’t go back. I said I’d be more careful.” When his face didn’t soften, her tone went from reasonable to defensive. “I just observed. I didn’t try to go in. No one
saw me.”

  That should have made him feel better. It didn’t. “You implied you wouldn’t go back there, Kyra. You let me believe that.”

  Her face darkened. “I told you I wouldn’t stop looking for my brother, Gabe. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

  He sighed, rubbing his temple with his fore and middle finger. Taking a deep breath, he moderated his tone. “Did you…see anything useful?”

  She shook her head. “I plan to find a better hiding spot; one where I can observe during the day without being seen. I really need to know what does on during daylight hours.”

  “Why? What do you think goes on?”

  It took her several seconds to answer, and he could practically see the gears turning in her head. “It’s not really a matter of what I think is going on, but what I hope is. I’ve seen lots of people go in there, Gabe. More last night. I never see anyone come out. Not before dawn, anyway.”

  “And you hope they’re coming out during the day.”

  “Yes. Otherwise we’re talking about a warehouse that eats people.”

  She said it with grim seriousness, and a chill whispered down his spine.

  “I put in a request for records on the place,” he offered. “I should have them in the next day or two.”

  She nodded. After a moment, she turned to look at him. “As long as we’re stuck in here for a few minutes, can I ask you something?”

  He got the feeling she was changing the subject, but he nodded.

  “When we talked at your place last week—”

  “You mean when you broke in?”

  She ignored him. “—You said something I haven’t stopped thinking about. When I said you couldn’t understand unless you’d lost a sibling yourself, you said I might be surprised. What did that mean?”

  Gabe took a deep breath. He didn’t mind telling her, and it surprised him. If anyone else asked him so directly, he probably would tell them to go to hell. Maybe it was her search for her brother that changed things, but he found himself wanting to tell her. “It means I lost a brother, too. A long time ago.”

  She scrutinized his face, though hers was unreadable. “To drugs?”

  “No. To something else.”