Nightraven

by Skye Knizley

  “That’s odd,” Raven said. “Any thoughts as to why that would be?”

  Aspen took the tablet back. “They are supposed to be a prayer for the dying soul. Maybe he didn’t care what happened to her?”

  Raven sipped her coffee. “Maybe he didn’t have to. What if he killed her, but she wasn’t a bad person?”

  “I thought he only killed people that had some sort of criminal past.”

  “It is a working theory, but doesn’t mean we’re right,” Raven said. “Any idea what happened to her things?”

  Aspen’s fingers moved around the tablet. “It doesn’t look like she had a will or any next of kin. Most of her things were seized and sold at an estate auction to pay back taxes and last expenses.”

  She worked more and smiled when she found what she was looking for. “Lot twenty-four included an antique mirror.”

  Raven looked at the photo, which showed a pile of items that looked to be worth about five dollars. An old typewriter, baseball and bat, an old wooden wine box, an empty coffee crate and a mirror. The mirror was the most interesting item in the lot, a fact that wasn’t lost on whoever had organized the photo. It was placed front and center, drawing attention to the ornate silver frame carved with images of roses and the sign of the cross.

  “I guess that’s Muldoon’s Mirror. Does it say who bought the lot?”

  Aspen shook her head. “It was a private, cash only auction, but they kept a list of buyers by number. We can call and find out.”

  “Good job, Asp,” Raven said.

  “Thanks, lover, it’s good to know I still have my magic touch,” Aspen said.

  Raven leaned sideways and kissed her. “You have many magic touches, love.”

  Aspen giggled and Raven started sorting through the pile of takeout menus on the table. She found one for Mexican and held it up. Aspen nodded her agreement and Raven started putting an order together. Sometimes, you just needed nachos. She was about to call it in when the phone started to ring with Levac’s tone.

  “Hey Rupe, what’s up?”

  “I’ve got a line on Lino Tong. Paco checked in and said, ‘Yo, I heard you was looking for Lino Tong. Word on the street is he’s holed up at Momma Murphy’s place, he’s hiding out, Holmes.’”

  Raven blinked. “You sounded just like him.”

  “It’s a talent. Want me to swing by and pick you up?”

  Raven looked at Aspen who mouthed “go” and made shooing motions with her hands.

  “Give me about half an hour, Aspen and I are finishing dinner,” Raven said.

  “Gotcha, boss. See you in the lobby in about thirty-five minutes.”

  Levac ended the call and Raven looked at Aspen. “Microwave pizza?”

  Aspen smiled and stepped close so she could wrap her arms around Raven. “Sounds delicious.”

  *

  887 Pershing Road, Bronzeville, Chicago, IL

  Forty minutes later, Raven was watching the city go by outside the window of Levac’s FBI-issued sedan. In many ways it was a step up from the Metro, which he still had in storage. It had heat that worked, for one, and a stereo that occasionally played decent music, but it also screamed “cop” and had about as much character as a half-brick lying in the street. Over the last months, Levac had made the car his own, complete with a collection of soy sauce, ketchup and mustard packets in the cup holders and spread across the dashboard between the lights.

  Momma Murphy’s was a hostel and old time restaurant that sat at the edge of Bronzeville and catered to anyone who was down on their luck or needed a safe place to hole up. The only rule was you couldn’t bring violence to her house and every criminal in the city abided by that rule. Crossing Louise Murphy was a bad move that could end in a watery grave. Levac pulled to the curb in front of the three story brick building and looked at the trio of salty-looking men standing around a brazier made from an old oil drum. Raven followed his gaze and wondered, not for the first time, if all street thugs were cast from the same mold. They always had a similar body type, wore similar clothes and had a sort of look that said ‘I will kill you for sixty cents.’

  “Quite the welcoming committee,” Raven said.

  Levac opened his door. “I’m sure they’re just watching Momma’s interests. Besides, someone is playing the Humpty Dance. Nothing can go wrong with the Humpty Dance.”

  Raven got out of the car and looked at him over the roof. “What decade are you from again?”

  Levac leaned on the roof and waved a finger. “No age jokes. With age comes experience−”

  “And lousy taste in music,” Raven finished.

  She crossed the sidewalk and entered Momma’s. The door opened into a wide foyer that was old, but so clean the elderly tile floor almost gleamed. A hallway extended from the front to back of the building while an archway led into the dining room and a staircase climbed into a well-lit second floor. Raven passed the stairs and stepped into the dining room where half a dozen people were enjoying a meal. It was all the same food, Momma’s wasn’t the sort of place you went for variety, it’s where you went for a decent meal you could afford. One or two people looked up when she entered, then went back to their conversations. Everyone was welcome until Momma said you weren’t.

  At the back of the room was a long, scarred wooden counter with three large tureens warmed by cans of liquid fuel, a cooler of tea and a stack of chipped but clean plates. At the other end was a girl of about sixteen. She was doing homework while handling the cash register. Raven approached and held up her badge.

  “Hi, I’m Agent Storm, I’m looking for Momma?”

  The girl looked at the badge, then at Raven. “It’s been a while since the Feds came by. Is Momma in trouble?”

  Levac shook his head. “Not at all, we’re looking for someone and think she might know where he is.”

  “What’s he done?”

  Raven turned to see a large woman standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. She had on an old-fashioned shift dress with a stained apron tied over it. Her short hair was pulled back into ponytail and she wore reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.

  “Ms. Murphy?” Raven asked.

  The woman slung a dish towel over her shoulder and approached. “Everyone calls me Momma. What can I do for you?”

  Levac held up a picture of Tong. “We’re looking for this man, have you seen him?”

  Momma took the phone and examined the picture at arm’s length. “Yes, he’s got a room on the third floor, said he needed someplace to hide from some people looking to shake him down.”

  “He might be hiding from murder,” Raven said. “He’s wanted for question in relation to three homicides this week.”

  Momma’s face darkened. “That boy don’t look like no murderer. He’s a weasel, but no murderer.”

  Levac took his phone back. “That may be, but a body was found in his apartment. Might we go up and talk to him?”

  “Be my guest, he’s in room two. But listen here, no violence in this building. Take it outside.”

  Raven nodded. “Thank you.”

  On the stairs, Levac took her elbow. “You heard her, Ray. Play nice, I have a feeling that Momma is serious about no violence on her property.”

  “Rupert, you know perfectly well I never start trouble,” Raven said.

  Levac let go. “No, you finish it with Mason’s cannon.”

  Raven stopped on the landing. “You don’t trust me?”

  Levac looked hurt. “Of course I trust you, Raven. I’ve trusted you with my life for almost four years. But we’ve both got something to lose now, and I don’t want Sloan to get that four in the morning call.”

  Raven’s face softened. “Rupe, I won’t let anything happen to you. I don’t want to lose you or have to tell Sloan you’re gone, either.”

  Levac looked shee
pish. “I know. It’s just…”

  He trailed off and Raven looked at him. “What? What’s wrong, Rupe?”

  He raised his head and Raven could see he had a shy smile. “Nothing is wrong, Ray. It’s fantastic! Sloan is pregnant!”

  Raven gaped at him. “When? How, I mean−”

  “The usual way, Raven, we had sex.”

  Raven threw her arms up. “That’s not what I meant, oh hell, I don’t know what I meant!”

  She pulled Levac close and hugged him. “Congratulations, partner. She’s the perfect girl and you’re going to be an amazing dad.”

  Levac hugged her back. “Thanks, Ray. I want you to be her Godmother, protector, you know?”

  Raven let go. “Of course, Rupe. Your baby is family, I have her back always, just like I have yours.”

  She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and Levac blushed. “I never thought I’d see that.”

  Raven cocked her head. “See what?”

  “The legendary Raven Storm shed a tear.”

  Raven punched him in the arm. “I have feelings, Rupe. Come on, let’s go find our suspect then I’ll buy you a coffee.”

  She continued up the stairs, her mind racing. She was happy and excited by Levac’s news, but there were other feelings. The first was, of course, that she’d missed an opportunity. It was no secret she and Levac had shared feelings, both Sloan and Aspen knew, but they’d agreed to be partners. No doubt, Sloan was awesome and Aspen was the most amazing girlfriend anyone could hope for, but she still felt an odd pang of jealousy. Then there was the worry about something happening to Levac. She’d always worried, but now he was going to be a husband and father and the stakes were higher.

  I can hear you thinking, Levac said in her head. Relax, Ray. I know you have my back and I have yours.

  Sorry. I’ll close you off, Raven said.

  Don’t you dare.

  Raven reached the top floor and saw there were only two rooms on the third floor. She padded down the hallway and knocked on the door to room two. The rusted brass door number rattled under her hand and she could feel the layers and decades of paint, almost like padding between her knuckles and the wood. Lino Tong opened the door and peered out through the crack. Raven recognized him immediately. She held up her badge and tried to look non-threatening.

  “Lino? Agent’s Storm and Levac, we would like to talk to you, please.”

  Lino’s eyes widened in recognition. “Yeah, sure, one sec.”

  The door closed and Raven looked at Levac, who shook his head back and forth once. Raven sighed and kicked the door near the lock. Wood splintered and the door flew open, followed by a screech from below, Momma calling out about the noise. Across the room, Lino was already halfway out the window. He looked up in fear and vanished into the night.

  “He’s running, cut him off!” Raven yelled.

  She crossed the room in two quick strides and leaned out the window. She could see Lino on the fire escape below, almost to the ground. She stepped out onto the metal landing and vaulted the railing to land almost right in front of him. He skidded to a stop and turned to run the other way. Raven watched him and shook her head. Why did crooks always run? Did that ever work?

  She heard Lino cry out and the sound of flesh smacking on pavement. She jogged in that direction and found Levac holding Lino’s arm behind him in a lock.

  “Look what I caught,” he said.

  The thugs at the brazier spread out. “Let him go.”

  Raven pulled her coat back to show her badge. “FBI business, go back to…whatever that was you were doing.”

  The leader of the small group raised his hands. “No problem, baby, don’t want no trouble. You know, Rocky Riscassi looking for homeboy, though. He’ll pay better than the government.”

  Levac jerked Lino to his feet. “Is he, now? That’s interesting, Lino. Why would Rocky Riscassi be looking for you?”

  “I don’t know nothing!” Lino said.

  “You probably know quite a bit, you just aren’t sharing. You have the right to remain silent, but since your boyfriend got his face cut off, you might want to talk,” Levac said.

  Lino twisted in Levac’s grip. “Brandon? What happened to Brandon?”

  Raven stepped away from the men at the brazier and focused on Lino. “I’m sorry, Lino, he’s dead. Someone killed him in your apartment.”

  Tears rolled down Lino’s face. “Riscassi? I’ll fucking kill him! It’s just money, man!”

  “It wasn’t Riscassi. Why is he looking for you?”

  “The game, man! Look, get me someplace safe and I’ll tell you everything,” Lino said.

  Levac opened the back door of the sedan. “Get in, watch your head.”

  One of the crew by the brazier stepped forward. “We can’t let you do that, man, he’s worth a lot of bread.”

  Raven turned and rested her hand on her pistol. “Is he worth bleeding out in the cold for? Because that’s what will happen if you take another step.”

  He raised his hands. “Chill, no violence.” He pointed his finger at Lino. “Be seeing you later, believe that.”

  Raven waited until Levac was inside then opened her own door and joined him. “Let’s go, Rupe.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  District One Station House, Chicago, IL

  Another late night, another booked thug. Raven sat at her old desk in Homicide with her head in her arms. It had taken two hours to get Lino processed and sort through all the warrants with his name on them. It was no wonder he was living under an alias, five states and six districts wanted him on a variety of small crimes. Even if they added them all together, he’d never get more than five years. Raven wasn’t sure they were even bothering when rapists were walking away with six months.

  She sat up when Levac set a cup of coffee beside her arm. “He’s in interrogation, finally. Everyone in the state wants a little piece of this guy.”

  Raven sipped the rich, hot brew and sighed. “They can fight over him when I’m done.”

  “Do you really think he’s behind all this?”

  “No. He’s behind the game, but not the killing. I saw the look on his face, he had no idea Brandon was dead,” Raven said.

  Levac took a swig of his own coffee. “What then?”

  “We ask him questions because sometimes I don’t know what the hell I’m taking about.”

  Raven picked up her coffee and headed for the elevator.

  *

  It was colder in the hallway outside interrogation than it had been the day before, but Raven paid it no mind. The building was old and the heating system was questionable even on good days. She signed herself into interrogation and handed in her weapon while Levac did the same. Lino was waiting inside, handcuffed to the desk. Raven could tell he’d been crying and he looked so miserable she had an uncharacteristic urge to tell him it would be okay. She shook it off and sat opposite him while Levac took up station by the door.

  “Okay, Lino, you’re safe. Tell me about this game.”

  He wiped his eyes with one hand. “Yeah. It started as just a game idea, you know? A way to get legit. Brandon found casefiles, your casefiles, full of these really awesome investigations and scary villains. We thought it would be cool to set up a game that walked in yours and Levac’s footsteps. People could pretend to be Chicago’s most badass cops.”

  “I’m flattered. How did Riscassi get involved?” Levac asked.

  Lino scooched forward in his seat. “We needed seed money and Brandon said he knew this guy. The guy turned out to be Jo-Jo No-Nose. By the time I knew, Brandon already had the bread from Riscassi. His account, Joshua, handled everything in exchange for copies of your files.”

  “Do you know your players are being killed?”

  Raven opened the file and slid the photos of Arel and Carmichael out. Lino re
coiled and looked like he was going to cry again. “I knew some were, some were gone. I didn’t know anyone was dead until I got a message that Shysie was missing. That’s when I ran, I thought it was Riscassi.”

  “Why would Riscassi want you dead?” Raven asked.

  Tears began to flow down Lino’s cheeks. “We cut him off. Brandon and I, we shut down the thefts. We wanted to go legit, to make the game a real thing and not mostly scam. He asked me to marry him. His advisor Joshua called us faggots and said he would kill us if we didn’t keep the scam going. He even hit Brandon to prove the point.”

  He broke down sobbing and Raven looked at Levac. “Call Judge Crater. I want a warrant for Rocco Riscassi and I want it tonight.”

  Levac straightened. “He’s not going to like me bothering him this late. What do I say?”

  Raven stood. “Tell him he owes House Tempeste one less favor.”

  Levac nodded at the mirror. “Ray? Do you see that?”

  Raven turned and saw the mirror stretching toward Lino, almost like the silver surface was pulling away from the glass in a shiny sentient blob. Raven tossed Levac her handcuff key. “Get him out of here and don’t let anyone else in!”

  She didn’t wait to see if he listened, she stepped forward between the mirror and Lino. “He’s under my protection, whoever you are! Get back!”

  The blob slowly formed into the shape of the clown while Levac uncuffed Lino and dragged him to the door. “Bobby! Bobby, open the door!”

  The clown took a step and Raven saw he had a new knife, identical to the one he’d left in her bedroom rug.

  “You! You can’t protect anyone, not with the blood that is on your hands!”

  Raven rolled her eyes. “You really need some new material.”

  She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a bottle of holy water. “Want another bath, Bozo?”

  The clown snarled and made a grab for the flask. Raven stepped back and rolled over the table, putting it between herself and the clown. She uncorked the bottle and threw the contents over the clown’s head. His scalp began to bubble and boil, causing him to cry out in tremendous pain. He snarled again and faded away into the mirror, leaving Raven alone in the room.