A Barrel of Whiskey - (An Urban Fantasy Whiskey Witches Novel)

by S. M. Blooding

  Henry turned to Paige, a look of question on his face.

  “How do you feel about us taking other than homicide cases?” she asked.

  “No one’s dead?”

  “Not yet.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “She was stabbed, though. Someone attacked her at the gas station outside of their town.”

  “They have a town of their own?”

  “It’s not on a map,” Chuck said. “But, yes.”

  “And why would this fall into our lap?” Henry asked, steepling his fingers. “I don’t want to be an ass, but we don’t need to take every case out there just because it deals with paranormals, or something other than the ordinary.”

  Chuck nodded. “I understand. We could use your assistance, though. We’ve received several threats lately.”

  “By anyone in particular?”

  “There’s a group, but we have been unable to identify them. Ruby said her attacker told her and her kind to leave and never come back.”

  “So whoever this was knew she was a shifter.” Henry pursed his lips. “I assume she’s a shifter if you’re the area alpha and you’re coming to me.”

  “You are correct.”

  Henry tipped back in his chair and put his hands on top of his head, staring at the ceiling. “Is this a rival pack thing?”

  “No, sir.” Chuck leaned back, imitating Henry’s position. “There are no rival packs in the area.”

  “You’re sure.”

  Dexx cleared his throat. “Trust me. They have a greeting ceremony that’s pretty effective. He would know.”

  Henry nodded, but didn’t say anything. He tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “We’ll do what we can. I assume Whiskey and Colt have the location of the incident and any other pertinent details?”

  Chuck nodded.

  “Your shifter. How is she?”

  “Stabilized.”

  “Is she a threat inside the hospital?”

  “Shouldn’t be. Her spirit animal will keep her safe.”

  “So, I have no need to worry. No need to have you pull her out and have her taken somewhere she can be patched up by your kind?”

  Chuck shook his head.

  “There’s nothing I’m going to have to cover up? Evidence? Claws? Reports of fangs?”

  “Ruby is an owl, sir.”

  “Okay.” Henry’s eyebrows shot up. “So, feathers and a beak, then?”

  “No.”

  Paige had to hand it to Henry. He was dealing with all of this much better than she had.

  Henry nodded. “Okay. Do what you have to do, but remember something.”

  “Yeah, boss?” Paige asked.

  “You’re not a detective anymore. You’re the head of the department.”

  She knew that, but didn’t comprehend exactly what that meant.

  “It means you don’t do the leg work anymore. You delegate. And,” he continued, turning his attention back to the files on his desk, “I’ll be showing you the glorious amount of paperwork you get to complete while they’re doing the legwork.”

  Crap. “Awesome.”

  He jerked his head to the door. “Go. You’re not officially on duty today, so do it your way. Just don’t get used to it.”

  “Yes, boss.” Paige got up and turned to leave.

  “And, Paige.”

  She turned back toward Henry. “Yeah?”

  “At least consider staying longer than two months. Okay? We could use you.”

  “How about we take these two months to figure out if that’s really the case.” She gave him a tight smile.

  Henry shooed her out.

  She headed toward her department. She snorted to herself. Her department. It felt weird. Really weird. She’d just been fired. Did she hide that? Flaunt it? Mention it? Bring it into the conversation gently? Ignore it?

  She’d ignore it and if anyone mentioned it, she’d discuss it then. Bridge. Cross it later.

  Gomez was camped out on the sofa, several files spread out in front of her on the coffee table. She was perched, her lithe legs wide, one booted foot propped up on the table, her arm flung over it with a sheet of paper in her hand. She glanced up when they arrived, frowned, and went back to her case.

  Parris—Light Eyes—stared at the blank wall behind him.

  Paige could have given him a hard time, but she knew the look on his face. He was deep in his own internal notes. There were times when putting paper on a wall didn’t even come close to giving you the perspective needed to properly review a case.

  Wrick—Mr. Frump—frowned at his computer, his nose appearing to be only an inch from it. Had to be perspective. At least Paige hoped so. That close? Wow. But the light from his screen reflected off his face quickly, so maybe he wasn’t going as slow as Paige would have. From the flashes of light, he had to be looking at a video.

  King sat perched on the edge of the desk behind Wrick, watching his screen. She looked up. “Thought you weren’t coming in until Monday.”

  “Wasn’t going to.” Shit. How was she supposed to pick who to choose to help with this case? They were usually assigned to a team of two detectives and she didn’t know any of them. “What are you two working on?”

  “Dude kills two people while holding up a bank,” Wrick said. The flashes of light stopped and he settled back in his chair, blinking rapidly. “But the suspects escaped after locking themselves into the vault.”

  Awkward. “Any leads?”

  “None.”

  “Okay. I’ll take a look at that later with you, if you like.”

  King’s blonde brow twitched and the corner of her lips turned down minutely.

  Wrick shrugged, shifting his crooked tie. “Sure. Extra set of eyes? Always appreciated.”

  Yeah. He should probably talk to his teammate before accepting help next time. Paige turned to Gomez and Parris. “What are you two working on?”

  “Serial killer case.”

  Shit. “Details?”

  Gomez dropped the piece of paper out of her one hand and used it to gesture with as she talked. “Man. Mid to late forties. White. Wears a baseball cap. Kidnaps people and then kills them a week later.”

  “How’d we land this case?”

  “His victims. They’re not all the same body type. He’s not choosing them because of a vendetta against his mother.”

  Typically, it really wasn’t that simple, but, okay.

  “He’s picking them because they’re paranormal.”

  Uh-oh. “Shifters?”

  Gomez shook her head.

  Parris turned, his pale blue eyes unfocused. “Two vampires. A nymph.”

  “A nymph?” Dexx stopped himself and cleared his throat. “Impressive. Huh.”

  “A skinwalker and a dryad.”

  “Ah.” Chuck had said that the man had told Ruby to get her people out of town. If their guy was targeting paranormals, it wasn’t a big leap to connect the two cases. However, dryad? “Anyone you know?”

  Gomez nodded. “We grew up together.”

  “Was she in your grove?”

  “Yeah,” the detective said quietly.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” But it also meant that, maybe, the two cases weren’t linked. The ash dryad’s number one enemy were the djinn. That didn’t mean the djinn were the only people to target the dryads, but…they did know a djinni was in town. Heather’s killer.

  “We’re also working your friend’s murder.” Gomez dropped her gaze. “We’re tracking down a couple of leads.”

  Paige nodded. “Keep me informed, but I have to stay out of that case.”

  “Understood, sir.” Gomez shook her head. “Ma’am.”

  Paige turned to King and Parris. “I have another case for you, then.”

  Parris perked up.

  King frowned.

  That was something Paige was going to have to deal with sooner rather than later. “How good are you with retrieving video surveillance?”

  “I
t depends.” Wrick folded his hands over his abdomen and smiled. “Has the right paperwork been filed? Is it old school or cloud?”

  She knew what he was saying, but she didn’t know the answer. “The Sunmart.”

  “Oh. New school. All the way.” He leaned forward, his keys clacking. “Let me just see what I can find. What are we looking for?”

  “Chuck is the local regional high-alpha.”

  King raised her blonde brows and leaned to the side to get a better view of the man. “Shifter?”

  Paige nodded. “One of his pack was attacked earlier and stabbed. She’s stabilized and should be fine, but we need to find who did this. He’s been threatening the pack.”

  I’m a Gummy Bear filled the room with its loud and obnoxious lyrics.

  Paige closed her eyes and took in a breath. She needed to fix that ring tone. “Chuck can fill you in on the rest of the details. I need to take this.”

  King smiled and pulled out a chair without getting off the desk. “Have a seat and tell me what’s going on.”

  Dexx found a perch on the other desk, clasping his hands between his legs. He looked as uncomfortable being there as Paige did leading them. She had no idea what she was doing.

  Put herself in his shoes. He probably didn’t, either.

  “Hey, Les,” Paige said, closing the door of her office behind her. “What’s up? Are the kids okay?”

  “Oh, sure. Yeah. Grandma took Leah and Mandy to the library because the two of them were about to drive us crazy and Grandma didn’t want baby duty.”

  “Ah, okay. I’m kind of at work.”

  “So, you did take the case.”

  “I did.”

  “And are ya plannin’ on stickin’ around or leavin’?” Why did Leslie’s accent get thicker every time she interrogated people?

  “I’m still planning on leaving. I’m just here for two months.”

  “You ain’t gonna fall in love with the job?”

  “I might.” She had to be serious with herself. “There aren’t too many director positions, especially of a unit like this. It was created for me. I’m not going to get this in Portland. I’m not going to get this anywhere.”

  “Even with all the paranormal activity out there?”

  Paige shrugged. “What’s going on?”

  Leslie didn’t answer immediately.

  Paige kept quiet, listening to King’s voice as she asked Chuck questions.

  Finally, Leslie blurted out, “I want out of here.”

  “Why?”

  “They kicked me off the goddamned parent’s committee.”

  “Um, huh?” Paige just couldn’t register what she was hearing. She had a serial killer case, a stabbing, and a robbery gone bad. And Leslie wanted to talk about being kicked off a parenting committee?

  “They said they didn’t want their group to be contaminated by my witchcraft.”

  “Contaminated—” Well, that certainly brought a new light to the situation. “Wow. Are the kids going to be safe even going back to that school?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been looking into home schooling options. It’s so complicated.”

  “Can’t be that complicated. People all over the country home school their kids. Like, one in three were homeschooled or something like that in Denver.”

  “We’re not in Denver.”

  “Oddly, Les, I did notice that.” Paige leaned back to view her computer. She turned it on, sitting down in the chair. A chair she couldn’t get used to. Two months. And then, hopefully, after those two months, she and Leah and Leslie and Mandy and Tyler and Tru and Kamden and Bobby and Alma and Dexx could all get the hell out of Texas. Thank goodness they didn’t have pets.

  “What am I supposed to do—shit. Got another call.”

  “Okay.”

  “Police. Shit. I’ll call you back.”

  Paige shook her head and set down her phone. “So, what am I supposed to do while I’m delegating all my work to other people?”

  She opened the drawers. Aside from a few pencils and an odd array of pens left behind by the person who’d had the desk before her—oh, and a ridiculous stack of napkins—it was empty and ready for her to move into. The shelves behind her were bare. What was she supposed to put up there? She didn’t have trophies.

  The phone rang again.

  Paige picked it up before the word “gummy” could even be uttered. “That was fast.”

  “I’m on the way to the hospital.” Leslie’s tone was urgent.

  “What happened?” Paige slammed the drawer shut and sat up straight.

  “Grandma and the girls were attacked at the library.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Grandma’s hurt. She was stabbed. They won’t tell me how she’s doing.”

  “The girls?”

  “I don’t know, Pea. Meet me there.”

  “Highland Park ER?”

  “You know of another one?”

  Paige wasn’t going to answer that with the flippant remark she had handy on the tip of her tongue. “I’ll meet you there.” She hung up and ran out the door, her heart hammering. “Dexx, I need your keys.”

  “Huh? No.” He stood. “What’s up?”

  Chuck rose from the couch.

  Paige stood close to Dexx and lowered her voice. “Grandma and the girls were attacked at the library just now. Grandma’s in the hospital.”

  “Library?” King asked, her eyes narrowed.

  What the fuck was she asking? “Highland’s Park Library.”

  King tapped Wrick’s shoulder.

  Oh. She’d been asking for a location. So, King wasn’t always a bitch. Awesome.

  Wrick was already typing.

  “How bad is Alma?” Dexx asked.

  “Don’t know. Heading to the hospital now.”

  Dexx nodded and pointed to King and Wrick. “You got this?”

  Wrick leaned forward. “I got it. I’m in. When did this happen?”

  “That was too fast,” Paige said, stepping up to his chair.

  King moved out of her way. “There are times you want to ask questions and other times when you don’t.”

  “Right.”

  Wrick hit rewind.

  “There, there,” Dexx said.

  All they saw was a flurry of shadows. Shadow people were attacking each other, but Paige couldn’t tell much more than that.

  “Any other angles?” Paige asked.

  Wrick tapped on his keyboard. “Yeah. But it’s going to take some time.”

  King looked up at Paige. “We’ve got this. You go see if your family’s okay.”

  Paige nodded. “Call me if you hear anything.”

  “Hey.” Gomez rose to her feet. “I’m coming with.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Your witchy grandmother was attacked and stabbed.” Gomez gave Paige a look that begged her to say something else stupid. “I’m just hanging out. Provide another set of eyes.”

  King raised her eyebrows, sliding into her chair and tapping on her keyboard.

  Paige released a tight breath. She hoped this was just some random attack.

  It probably wasn’t, though.

  Shit. Too close to home. Were they going to survive two months?

  Highland Park was a thirty-five minute drive in good traffic. The standstill traffic clogging I-20 wasn’t helping Paige’s nerves. She wanted to claw at something. Yell. Scream. Hell, she wanted to get out of the damned car and run.

  She turned to Dexx. “You could shift and run and get there faster than we’re driving right now.”

  “No,” Gomez said from the back. “The first rule of the supernatural community is that we don’t do that shit in public.”

  “But my daughter—”

  “If she’s been injured, she’s in the hospital and being taken care of.” Her phone chirped. “Trust me. We’ll get there when we get there.”

  Paige ground her teeth. “We should have taken a police car.”

  “Li
ghts and sirens?”

  She nodded.

  “Gomez,” she said from the back seat. “Yeah. What you got?”

  “I could get those installed,” Dexx offered. “It’s pretty easy.”

  Paige swallowed. She couldn’t concentrate on the conversation. She couldn’t concentrate on anything other than getting to her daughter. What did she have in her witchy bag of tricks that could help them? She could call up the wind? Clear them a path?

  Yeah. Fuck. She had nothing.

  “Shit,” Gomez said from the back seat. “Yeah. I’ll tell ‘em. Yeah. Thanks. See ya.”

  Dexx stopped with a sigh as everyone else on the highway did the same. “What happened?”

  “Your shifter case, my paranormal case, and your grandmother’s attack are all connected.”

  Fuck. Dread filled her mouth with saliva. “Yeah?”

  “My perp’s sister attacked your grandmother.”

  Paige practically saw red. She was trying to stop a war from erupting and they had this to worry about, too? “You’re serious?”

  “Yeah. Beth Galsbory. Sister to Dan Galsbory. Born here. Local. Stayed local. Beth owns a second-hand store in Highland Park.”

  Paige cleared her throat. What were the odds?

  “I know you want to go straight to the hospital,” Gomez said, “but I need to go to the crime scene.”

  “Which one?” Paige asked. The gas station was out of their way, as was the library. The second was less out of the way than the gas station by about fifteen minutes. In traffic that actually moved. Blessed Mother. She wanted to scream.

  “Library.”

  “Why?” Paige said through clenched teeth.

  “I could get a scent,” Dexx offered.

  “We have their names.” They had their names! “We can follow their trail.”

  “Trail’s cold,” Gomez said. “They don’t use credit cards. Their cell phone GPS is turned off and they’re not making any calls or even texting anyone.”

  “She owns a fucking store.” Paige clenched her teeth to gain control over her emotions. She’d just gotten Leah back. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

  “We can check on the store. This is the first time Beth’s done anything to get herself involved. But just in case, like Dexx said, I’d like to get their scent. I want more than just luck on our side.”

  “More than just luck?” Paige wanted to laugh, but her lip curled through the anger flaring in her chest. “You’re a tree.”