“Shouldn’t one of us have noticed a fiend?” I asked.
“Maybe, but we’re not in the office that much.”
“That’s true,” I said, trying to hide a yawn. “Listen, Logan, about Vincent.” I stopped, not knowing how to continue.
“Walkers are an odd type. They walk between worlds, and don’t need a portal to go through, or to drag others through. No one trusts them. They can do whatever they want and slip away. I don’t like that he’s some sort of a hit man, even if he is supposed to be on our team. He’s dangerous.”
An uneasy feeling crept over me at the thought of sending Vincent away. “Do you think there will be any side effects to what he did? Something that he could fix?”
“I hope there’s nothing. If he broke something, maybe we should keep him around until it’s fixed.”
“If he’s right and we have a fiend in the office, will we lead the investigation?”
“One of his agents was nearly killed. Barry will head this one. We’ve got our hands full now. Let’s go check in with Hank again. It’s been hours. Maybe something new has come across the desk.”
“You go ahead,” I said. “I’m going to wait here.”
I could see Logan’s frown from the corner of my eye.
“I’ll stay until he’s transferred to a cell,” I said.
Logan nodded. “Don’t go in the room with him.”
I agreed. Logan left and I went back to watching Vincent.
What am I doing? I thought. There was something about Vincent. Something that wasn’t there when I first met him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Without thinking, I reached for the Path. My breath caught as a flood of color and light swamped my senses. I gripped the back of a chair. Blinded by the Path, I didn’t dare move.
What the hell?
I thought I was back to full strength, but my legs started wobbling after a few moments. I struggled against the river of information. Using what little strength I had, I pushed it back. The light faded and the dim world returned. I fell into the chair and slumped forward, breathing heavily. I wanted to believe that some outside force caused this. Maybe a portal was open. My powers often worked oddly around open portals.
This was different though. This was new.
I fumbled for the microphone to the interrogation room.
“How long will the side effects last?” I stared into the room.
Vincent paled. His mask of indifference fell away.
“Are you okay?” Vincent asked.
“Answer the question.” Panic filled my voice. What if I could no longer read the Path?
Vincent must have heard the panic. “Do you need a doctor?” He came to the mirrored window as if he could peer in. He leaned against the glass with his hands cuffed behind him. “I thought things would have settled by now.”
“Mostly they have. But…” I didn’t want to go any further. I couldn’t tell a homicidal stranger that my power was impaired.
Somehow, though, he didn’t seem like a stranger to me.
“Have we met before?” I asked.
Vincent sighed and leaned away from the mirror.
“No, we’ve never met.” He paused. “You should know, however, that I know you.”
“That sounds creepy.” He was a stranger, a stranger who tried to kill me. When I looked at him though, there wasn’t any fear.
“I took in your essence, Cassie, so I know a great deal about you now.”
“That sounds creepier.”
“That was not my intention. I’m sorry for what happened.”
“I don’t understand. How do I fix this?”
Vincent shook his head and returned to his chair. His emotions were stripping themselves from his face once more.
“I will do whatever I can to make this right,” Vincent said, “but I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.”
Chapter 5
From the moment I left the office, my mood went downhill. It felt like I left something behind, but I couldn’t think of what it was. Maybe because I didn’t have a phone? The disquiet rose and Logan started to look worried. I let him know that I was tired and in real need of sleep. That wasn’t a lie. I felt like I could sleep for days.
Fragmented dreams where I searched for something left me feeling worse in the morning. I was itchy in my own skin. Something was missing.
When I dragged myself downstairs, Gran was in the kitchen. After her second husband died, I had been worried about her rattling around her house all alone. I convinced her it was worth a try living together. It took some adjustments, but after living together for five months, we were starting to get comfortable with our routines and with each other.
“Mornin’, Sugar,” Gran said.
“Morning, Gran.” I took in the state of the kitchen. Gran liked to cook, but with the amount of food strewn across the counters, it looked as if she was preparing for a feast. “What’s with all the food?”
“You’re going to have a guest for dinner tonight.”
I made a face and joined her at the counter. “It’s not Mom, is it?”
“Not sure who it is, but I don’t think it’s your mother.”
“So an uninvited guest?” I asked.
“You’ll invite them by the end of the day. I thought I’d whip you two up a meal, but I’m not sure what’s suitable.”
Seeing the mixture of materials, it was easy to tell she wasn’t sure what to cook.
“Maybe by the end of the day I’ll have things narrowed down,” Gran said.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about a visitor right now. We had a dead fairy and someone had tried to kill me. My hands were already full. All that was nothing compared to the feeling that a large hole was being drilled through my chest.
Gran’s hulking gray cat swaggered into the room as I flipped on the coffee pot. He took one look at me and hissed. A guttural growl built up as his long hair started to stand on end.
“You know, Cassie, you silly thing,” Gran said.
The cat looked at Gran and then back to me. In one quick motion, he turned himself around, lifted his tail straight up, and then marched out of the room.
“I thought we were getting along,” I said to the retreating back of the cat.
“Somethin’s off today. You feelin’ all right?”
“I feel fine.” To myself I added, unsettled and hollow, but I can move past this.
“Okay, dear,” Gran said. She was peering at me.
I didn’t want to talk about yesterday. In fact, I wanted to forget the entire incident with Vincent.
“I’m going to grab my bag,” I left Gran’s protruding gaze.
Mostly, Gran’s exactly how I wanted to be when I got older: a crazy old psychic lady who kept a cat in the house, a fairy in the garden, and spent her days baking sweets for the elves down the street. Sounded like the perfect way to spend my golden years.
Having the same person as a roommate, especially when you wanted to hide something, wasn’t the ideal situation.
I took my time grabbing my bag and getting the rest of the way ready for work. It took time to convince myself that I wasn’t forgetting anything and that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. When I found myself looking through all my bedroom drawers, and not knowing what I was looking for, I knew I’d need more than a few minutes to persuade myself that all was normal.
When I made it back to the kitchen, sun glinted through the window in the back door. Grabbing a travel tumbler, I filled it with coffee, milk, and sugar. Logan knocked on the back door and entered. He had helped Gran and I find our house. Several agency members lived in the neighborhood.
“Morning,” Logan said. “Feeling all right?”
“Sure,” I said taking a quick gulp of coffee.
“She’ll feel less shaky once she gets to the office,” Gran said.
“Nothing out of the-” Logan started.
“It’s summer, but Halloween is around the corner,” Gran said, giving m
e a quick hug. If she psychically knew what had happened yesterday, she didn’t say anything. She knew I didn’t want to talk about it though.
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing the subject, “my favorite holiday.”
“Morgan and I are gettin’ together this Saturday,” Gran said, “to start on our costumes. He said he has some ideas.”
Morgan Renner was one of the Lost. Even though he came to this world on purpose, as a refugee, the term Lost was still applicable. He was a troll that AIR set up with a little house in the country. He visited one day and met Gran. She wasn’t even surprised when a troll knocked on our door. She served cookies with tea and settled in to get to know Morgan, just as she would anyone else. They had been friends ever since.
Like me, Morgan’s favorite holiday was Halloween. For him, it was the ability to walk around downtown surrounded by people, and being able to blend in seamlessly. For me, it was more about dressing up.
“He say what any of those ideas are?” asked Logan.
“Now, you know it’s a surprise,” Gran said shaking a finger at Logan. “How about you? What are you dressin’ up as?”
“I’m thinking Doc Holiday this year.”
“That’ll be great.” I knew that this would fuel his cowboy fascination.
“Gerald has already decided to be a Roman Centurion,” Logan said.
Logan’s youngest son was twelve years older than I was. As an elf though, he was mentally much younger. He studied art at a local college. I’m betting he studied Roman art. He was probably as wrapped up in that as Logan was with the Old West.
“What about you, Cassie?” Logan asked.
“I’m not sure yet.” In secret, I wanted to be Super Girl, wearing a short skirt, tight shirt, and knee high red boots. I’d freeze my ass off, but it would be worth it. To pull that off, I would probably need to lay off the sugar and ditch about ten pounds. It was hard to think about that when I felt so discontent.
Logan stood. “What do you have on the agenda for today, Margaret?”
“Oh, Dee Dee and I are gonna get our hair done and scope out the seniors walking the mall,” Gran said. Dee Dee had been friends with Gran through both husbands. “Dee Dee has an eye on one of the hotties who’s a regular.”
Snatching a forgotten pear, I looked over at Logan. He and I both grinned at the thought of Gran scoping out guys at the mall.
“We’re going to get a flat tire on the way out of the mall,” she added.
We both took this in stride. “Do you want us to swing by?” I asked.
“Don’t even think it.” Gran patted her gray curls. “Dee Dee’s little hottie will be around to call triple A for us.”
“Give us a call if you change your mind,” Logan said.
“Anything for us?” I asked, inspecting my pear.
“Be nice to Cassie’s guest.”
That was a little puzzling, but once again, we took it in stride.
Out of habit, I reached for my phone, only to find it missing. I forgot it had suffered a watery death. With a wave, we left the house.
The truck cab was stuffy when I slid into the passenger seat, but rolling the windows down proved to be a cure.
Heading toward the office made me feel better. Throwing myself into work would help me avoid thoughts of Vincent. It might also help to fill the hollow feeling that seemed to be ready to swallow me from the inside.
I thought over the case. Who would hurt a fairy? Who would even know about them? Dozens of questions threatened to swarm. Most were ones I probably should have asked ages ago, but being thrown in to a job like this wasn’t easy. Frequently, I learned as I went along.
I cleared my throat. “Who knows about the Lost besides AIR?”
“There are a few other organizations that know. MyTH, in St. Louis is a non-profit organization that watches out for civil rights of the Lost. Most governments have organizations like ours. The Lost have been in the world longer than most countries have been around. Some say there are non-government organizations that are older, but if there are, they keep quiet. Besides that, you’ve got Native American societies.”
“That’s it? I would think more people would have noticed.”
“Most folk think they’ll be labeled as crackpots if they say what they’ve seen. Or they deny that they saw it in the first place.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Late in college, I had a boyfriend, Zander. We were close and had even discussed marriage. I had thought I could bring him in on my secret. Let him know that the world was larger than he knew. He refused to see the truth. He loved me, but thought I was crazy. It went so far that he tried to have me committed. Mom and Gran had to step in.
I pushed Zander from my mind. Logan sang an old Western song under his breath again. For a few minutes, I listened to my partner sing old trail songs about cowboys long dead.
“We’ve done relocations and integrations of the Lost, but I haven’t seen a murder. Is this type of case normal for AIR agents?” I asked.
“It’s not your usual case, but they pop up from time to time.”
“I’m not exactly ready for this.”
“You’ve had training.”
It was true that before starting in the field, I went through six months of intensive training. Since then, I had been training when not in the field. Learning about the Lost and working with them was one thing, but forensics and investigation was another beast all together.
“Training yes,” I said. “Experience, no. Any tips?”
Logan thought it over for a moment. “Use your skill and follow my lead. We’ve been told that Darla’s being brought in.”
“Darla Clance?” I couldn’t hide my awe.
“Yep, the human lie detector herself.”
“Hasn’t she been retired for years?”
“She has. Barry brought her in to root out the fiend,” Logan said.
“Wow, she’s a legend! Have you worked with her before?”
“She was in the office when I started years ago. That woman is something else. Made interviewing suspects a lot easier.”
“Tell me about her.”
“She can size a person up and tell you if they’re lying within a second. Doesn’t matter if you’re Lost or human, she knows. She’ll make short work of the investigation. I never thought I’d see her back in the office again. Hope she has a go at the Walker while she’s here.”
I practically bounced in my seat by the time we pulled into the office. The restless feeling loosened its grip as we walked in, replaced by anticipation. Darla is one of those rare humans, like Clancy and me who have a gift. Stories of her reached my ears the first week in the office. She could close more cases than any three agents could together.
Everyone talked in hushed tones when we entered control central. There were a few people queued up outside one of the conference rooms. I watched as an agent left and another employee entered. The people in line looked anxious, and those who left looked relieved. No one stayed in the conference room for more than a minute.
“I’ve got your times set up,” Hank said as we approached his desk. “You’ve got about an hour before you go in. Don’t be late.”
“Anything come in about the case?” I asked.
“No fiend has been discovered so far,” Hank replied as he shifted folders on his desk. “Agent Pironis’s office confirmed his assignment.”
“I meant the fairies case,” I said.
“Oh.” Hank sat back in his chair. “Agent Pironis has everyone in the office scared of their own shadow.”
I raised an eyebrow at Logan.
“So no new information,” Logan pressed.
“Nothing new. This mess should be over with today. It would be good to have you two on hand to take a guard shift. After you’ve been cleared, of course,” Hank said.
“Are agents guarding Darla?” I asked.
“If she marks someone as a demon, I doubt she’d make it out of the room without guards. She’s a formidable old lad
y, but I don’t think she’d stand a chance,” Hank said.
I blushed. Of course, she would have a guard. What the hell was I thinking?
“Is she interviewing Vincent?” I asked.
Hank sighed and frowned at me. “He’s slated in at the end of the day. Since his office confirmed the orders, we’re checking all the employees first.”
Pulling together paperwork took some time. With a relocation, things seemed much easier. Integrations were a little more difficult, but most of the Lost that needed to be mingled in with normal society had already learned plenty about our world. Paperwork for a murder seemed more complicated. It also felt heavier. It might be the same amount of paper, but it seemed to weigh more all the same.
Logan let me learn by doing. This meant that I had to go and ask Hank questions five times instead of once. I was not sure if the joke was on Hank or me. Hank wasn’t in the mood for the interruptions. I had never seen the man as terse as he was acting today. It didn’t help that I hadn’t learned anything new, and that nagging feeling I had lost or misplaced something seemed to take up permanent residence between my shoulder blades.
We queued up well before our time to meet with Darla. People came and went like clockwork. I felt a tight roll of anxiety before walking in the door. I kept wondering what she would ask and say.
When I walked into the room, I was met with a night shift team guarding Darla. The woman was taller than I was with gray hair and dark skin. She was muscular in a way I never expected of an older lady. She was probably about the same age as Gran.
“Are you a demon?” She asked.
“No,” I said.
She nodded and that was it. All that tension over one question.
I started for the door.
“Wait,” she said.
I stopped.
“Are you the girl that was attacked yesterday?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Do I have to keep to yes/no answers? I thought.
“That must be why you feel so off. Good on you, girl. You took on a Walker and lived to tell the tale.”
AIR Series Box Set Page 13