by Skye Knizley
Raven took the phone and kissed Aspen’s cheek. “You are amazing.”
“I know.”
*
Riscassi and Levine Building, Chicago, IL
The lobby of Riscassi and Levine changed decoration like clockwork. This time, it was done in a 60s motif with bright colors mixed with psychedelic patterns, lava lamps and bright orange furniture. Raven wasn’t sure if it was retro chic or the worse style she had ever seen. She stopped at the circular reception desk and smiled at the receptionist, who was young, blonde and wearing a lime green dress with a white collar.
“Good morning and welcome to Riscassi and Levine, can I help you?” the receptionist asked. A name plate said her name was Chi-Chi.
“Good morning, Chi-Chi, does Twiggy know you raid her closet?” Raven asked.
Chi-Chi looked blank. “I beg your pardon?”
Levac held up his badge. “Nothing, ma’am, my partner is making a little joke. Agents Levac and Storm here to see Mr. Riscassi, please.”
Chi-Chi began flipping through a book on her desk. “Do you have an appointment? I don’t see a Levac on the list…”
“No, we have badges. Is he in today?” Raven asked.
“Yes, ma’am, he came in about twenty minutes ago, but if you don’t have an appointment I can’t let you up.”
Chi-Chi pressed a button on her desk and two guards stepped out from behind an orange glass divider. Raven ignored them.
“Call upstairs and tell him Raven Storm wants to talk to him about his account at the Bank of Chicago. I’m sure he will want to see us.”
Chi-Chi looked uncertain. Levac leaned closer and gave her a smile. “It’s important. Can you help us out, ma’am?”
Chi-Chi returned his smile. “I’ll try.”
She picked up her phone, which was styled to look like it fell out of a 60s sitcom, and pressed a button. “Heya Nikki, can you tell Mr. Riscassi that there is an Agent Storm here who wants to chat about his Bank of Chicago account? Yes, I’ll hold.”
Raven tapped on the desk and watched the two guards while she waited. They weren’t Riscassi’s usual bruisers, these were leaner and looked as if they actually knew how to use both the stun-sticks and Berettas they carried.
“Thank you, Nikki. See you at lunch!”
Chi-Chi hung up the phone. “Mr. Riscassi says go on up. Do you know−”
Raven was already walking. “We know the way.” She nodded in passing to the guards and said, “See you in a few. You might want to be ready, I usually upset him.”
She stepped into an open elevator, where Levac joined her. She mashed the floor button with her thumb and, as the door closed, she drew her weapon.
Levac stepped away. “What are you doing?”
Raven jerked her chin at the speaker in the wall. “If that thing plays Girl from Ipanema, I’m going to shoot it.”
Levac chuckled and leaned against the wall. “It gets stuck in your head once and suddenly you’re hostile.”
Raven holstered the pistol. “More than once, I was humming it in the shower this morning.”
“Maybe we can find you a Girl from Ipanema support group.”
“Not helping, Rupe.”
The doors opened and the stepped out into the lobby of Riscassi and Levine. The sitting area was decorated in shades of red and blue, with an art-deco rug, two matching sofas and a plasma television displaying Chicago weather for the week. An older man with greying hair and a walrus mustache sat behind the reception desk. He was wearing a yellow cardigan and made Raven think of an evil Mr. Rogers.
“Are you Nikki?” Levac asked.
Mr. Rogers smiled. “No, Detective Levac−”
“Agent,” Levac said. “It’s Agent now, sir. Have we met?”
“My apologies, Agent. No, we haven’t met, but you and your partner are required reading to be on Mr. Riscassi’s personal staff. You may call me Joshua, Nikki has been sent away for the duration of your meeting with Mr. Riscassi.”
Raven looked at him again. Behind the evil Mr. Rogers façade, there was an edge to him and a pair of pistols under his sweater.
“You should have your sweater cut by a tailor, it shows your weapons. Is Rocco in?”
Joshua waved a hand at the second door behind Raven. “He is waiting for you. But please, behave yourselves.”
“I will if he will.”
The door opened into an office that was bigger than a lot of Chicago apartments. The floor was covered in royal blue carpet while the walls were of carved wood that looked like it belonged in an eighteenth century mansion. A fireplace crackled merrily in the outer wall and Rocco Riscassi sat beside it in a comfortable-looking leather chair. He had a cigar clenched between two fingers and a glass of what smelled like Scotch in a glass beside him.
“Good morning, Agents. What can I do for you?”
Rocco looked nothing like the uncle whose name her carried. He was shorter, with pale skin and a shock of black hair pulled back in a man-bun. The black suit he was wearing was well-tailored, but not so well done it hid the weapon under his unbuttoned jacket. It was a mini-uzi, if Raven was any judge.
“You can tell us about an alternative reality game called Night and your account at the Bank of Chicago,” Raven said.
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Riscassi said.
“Which is why you’re drinking twenty year old Scotch at nine in the morning,” Levac said. “It’s in your best interest to help us out, sir.”
Riscassi picked up his Scotch and took a long sip. “I’m a night person, this is my nightcap. I really can’t help you, Rupert. Can I call you Rupert?”
Levac took out his notepad. “No, sir, I don’t think you can. Last time I was here, your cousin Antonio tried to kill me.”
He tore a sheet out of his pad and handed it to Riscassi. “That’s your account number, does that jog your memory, sir?”
Riscassi didn’t touch it. “No, I don’t have an account at the Bank of Chicago.”
Raven shook her head. “You’re a terrible liar. That account is receiving laundered money from a bank in the Cayman Islands. A bank that is receiving money from credit card fraud and identity theft through a game called Night. Three players are dead, maybe more. Tell us what you know and maybe you won’t be charge as an accessory.”
Riscassi shrugged. “I’m sorry, Agent Storm, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Raven rolled her eyes and turned away so she didn’t pick him up and smash him into the wall by his face.
“Sir, you can answer truthfully or we can take you downtown and make things much more complicated for you,” Levac tried. “We know the account is yours, we have your license and signature on file. It has two million dollars stashed in it, which makes what you’ve done a felony with a fifteen year sentence if the judge is feeling generous.”
Riscassi smiled and it was the twisted rictus of a predator. Raven saw it reflected in the mirror across from her and almost drew her weapon.
“Agent Levac, you have nothing. Your witness is dead, killed by the same man who kidnapped your partner, the lovely Agent Storm. You have an account number you back traced, but no proof I opened the account or had any knowledge of it which I have said I did not. You have a circumstantial pile of shit,” Riscassi said.
Raven turned. “Except you knew who it was who gave us your information, Riscassi. Our witness is hardly the only woman to die in the last few days and we never mentioned her. Circumstantial or not, I can make your life a living hell. You aren’t smart enough to be behind this, you just bankrolled it. Who is running the game and why is he killing your marks?”
Riscassi’s smile faded from his eyes, but he still shook his head. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. Joshua, remove the agents, if you would.”
Joshua
entered and held the door open. “This meeting is adjourned, Agents.”
Levac looked at Raven, and she shook her head. He looked back at Riscassi and extended a hand. “I’m sorry we couldn’t come to an understanding.”
Riscassi shook his hand. “I’m not. Good day to you, Agent Levac.”
He started out the door and Raven followed, but she stopped and looked back. “One more thing, Mr. Riscassi. What was your relationship with Ms. Aitken?”
She heard his heartbeat increase and detected the aroma of sweat, but his face remained as placid as a frozen pond. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Raven rubbed her lip, a gesture she learned from Levac. “I see, my mistake. But you know Sawyer Frost?”
Again the jump in heartbeat.
“Not at all.”
Raven frowned and crossed to the pictures beside the mirror. “Are you sure?”
She took down a framed photograph of Antonio Riscassi, Rayne DeGrey, Rocco Riscassi and Sawyer Frost sitting at a club that looked suspiciously like the old Club Purgatory.
“Isn’t this you with him at Club Purgatory?”
Riscassi took the photo and put it back. “If you mean Gabriel, he was a friend of Rayne’s, may she rest in peace. Get out!”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
*
In the elevator, Levac pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and began to unwrap it with his usual care. “What do you think?”
Raven chambered a round in her Automag and held it in her right hand. “He knew Aitken and Frost.”
“You think he’s behind the attack at Club Purgatory?”
Raven shook her head. “No, he smelled like booze and fear. He’s a mouthpiece for someone else.”
Levac took a bite of chocolate and chewed slowly. “Who? Antonio is in jail, Rayne is dead and you said Frost wasn’t smart enough to run the show, so who’s left?”
“Just because Antonio is in jail doesn’t mean he isn’t still pulling strings. I’m more concerned by why they’re bankrolling a fake Van Helsing. Aitken was a target of opportunity, Frost was there for us and saw her talking to us,” Raven said.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Raven raised her pistol and placed the barrel against the forehead of the guard standing outside waiting for them. He blinked in surprise and dropped his Glock, which clattered off the marble.
Raven still hadn’t looked at him. “These guys really need to come up with a new plan.”
She turned her head. “You’re lucky I have too much on my plate to care about a weapon violation but I’m sending some of Chicago’s finest down to do a permit check. You might not want to be here. In fact, I think you should find a new employer.”
The guard raised his hands. “Yes’ ma’am.”
“Good boy. Step back.”
The guard complied and Raven stepped out of the elevator. Levac finished his chocolate and handed the wrapper to the other guard, who was staring open-mouthed at Raven.
“Here, make yourself useful and put this somewhere.”
“S…sure,” he said.
Levac patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, she does that a lot, you get used to it.”
Raven made a face. “Can we go now?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Riscassi Mansion, West Grand Place, Chicago, IL
“We’re here why?” Levac asked.
The Riscassi Mansion sat in the middle of West Grand Place. It didn’t look like much from the outside, just three floors of brick that could have just as easily passed for a small office building and probably once had if Raven cared enough about the building’s history to look it up. It technically belonged to Antonio Riscassi, but it had been empty for the last year, ever since Antonio ended up in prison for tax evasion.
Raven looked at the wrought iron gate that opened into the courtyard behind the house. “Because anything tying Riscassi to my family is probably here.”
She gripped the gate just above the lock and pulled. Metal squealed and the lock popped out of the mechanism and tinkled to the sidewalk. Raven kicked it into the bushes with the toe of her boot and caught Levac’s look. He had a pained expression and his fingers in his ear.
“What’s wrong?”
Levac lowered his hands. “What happened to subtlety?”
Raven shrugged. “With any luck someone will find this open and rob his ass blind.”
The courtyard was small, by mansion standards, but big enough for an in-ground pool and a half dozen sun chairs beside a built-in barbecue. Beyond the barbecue were French doors that led into the house.
“That’s mean, Ray,” Levac said, sotto voice.
“His family has been hunting mine for over thirty years, he’s been a drain on the city and destroyed innocent lives. It isn’t close to enough payback,” Raven said.
She knelt beside the French doors and checked the lock. It was a basic tumbler she could pick with a bobby pin if she had to. But the security system was more serious, with magnetic sensors and motion detectors. She studied the wires for a few seconds then followed them around the corner to a shed made of brick. It was intended to house the garbage and recycling receptacles, but also appeared to be where the alarm was connected. Raven moved the garbage cans and looked up at the panel, which was mounted in the corner of the small room.
“What are you doing?” Levac asked from the door.
“Turning off the alarm so I don’t have to explain to King or Mauser why I was breaking and entering instead of getting a warrant,” Raven replied.
“Ray, I have a really bad feeling about this,” Levac said.
Raven cocked her head and looked more closely at the alarm box. “Yeah, me too.”
She drew her pistol and started back across the courtyard.
Levac drew his own weapon. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone already blew the alarm, the plastic box is melted like it was burned from the inside,” Raven said. She reached the door and snapped the lock with a twist of the handle.
The doors opened into a large sitting room decorated in a post-modern style with grey sofas, green chairs and a plush white rug. A gas fireplace filled one corner while a studio-quality stereo took up the entire far wall. A corridor led away to the right, and Raven continued in that direction, her weapon held in front of her in a cup and saucer stance. She checked through another sitting room arranged like a cocktail lounge around an antique bar then walked into a formal dining room that still had places set for four. The kitchen was kept separate by an eat in bar topped with half a dozen copper pots that swayed as if someone had just passed by. Raven glanced at Levac and he moved to the right while she moved to the left. The bar passed between them and they entered the kitchen, which was big enough for two ovens, two sinks and a walk-in freezer more appropriate for a busy restaurant. There was no sign anyone had been there for some time.
Levac stopped by the freezer and looked back at Raven.
I heard movement.
Raven raised her weapon. Open it.
Levac gripped the handle and jerked the door open in a smooth motion. Ice-cold air filled the kitchen and condensed on the pots and pans hanging from the ceiling rack and Raven peered through roiling cloud. She could see what looked like two slabs of beef hanging within and she stepped closer, waving the fog away from her face.
“We found half a cow, are you hungry?”
Levac looked around the door. “Meatsicles? Not really my snack of choice.”
Something clattered from somewhere deeper inside the house, like metal on metal. Raven hurried toward the noise with Levac close behind. They slowed at the end of the hall and looked into an open, airy stairwell that climbed to the second and third floor. A metal garbage can, the kind used for small offices and bathrooms, lay on the landing rocking back and forth.
Raven took the steps two at a time and stepped onto the second floor. A teal-painted hallway stretched left and right while an open archway led into a room with a massive television and theater-style seating. Raven motioned for Levac to go to the right while she proceeded to the left.
The left hand corridor passed a large bathroom decorated in shades of grey and emptied into a bedroom clearly set aside for guests. The linens were gender neutral as was the queen-sized bed, desk and bedstands.
Raven turned a slow circle and moved to the room’s only door. She jerked it open, not surprised it was just an empty closet. Coat hangers rocked back and forth making a squeak-squeak noise on the metal support.
Motion in the mirror over the desk caught her attention and she spun to look down the corridor, but there was nothing. She looked back at the mirror and saw only the room and her own reflection. She glared at it a moment longer then returned to the stairwell where Levac was waiting.
“All clear,” he said in a soft voice.
“Me, too. Let’s check upstairs.”
The second flight of stairs emptied into a single corridor that was painted a muted brown color. A square mirror was the only decoration and Raven wondered why there were so many in a house occupied by a notorious bachelor. Antonio rivaled Levac for stains on his shirt and had never seemed particularly vain.
She continued down the hallway past a large master bedroom with a king bed, black lacquer furniture and yet more mirrors, though these were above the bed rather than on the walls.
“Remember our first case? The dead guy’s round bed and porn collection?” Levac asked.
Raven glanced at him then back down the hallway, which ended at a door and yet another mirror. “How can I forget?”
Levac gave her a lopsided grin. “I bet Riscassi’s is worse, and he’s not dead.”
Raven snorted and sidestepped down the hallway.
“Never mess with a dead man’s porn,” Levac quoted. “Where did you get that, anyway?”
“Now? You’re asking now?”
Levac shrugged. “There’s no one here, Ray.”