Meta Marshal Service 2

by B N Miles

  She laughed and pushed his hand away, squirming away from him. “That’s not my intention,” she said. “Just rewarding you for a long day’s work.”

  He laughed and watched her. “Rewarding me, huh?”

  “Don’t get used to it.”

  “Oh, that’s a shame. I thought I’d come home to you wearing some new sexy dress every day from now on.”

  “You’d go bankrupt.”

  “Might be worth it.”

  She laughed and shook her head then disappeared into the kitchen. Jared took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew Cassie loved to tease him, and he couldn’t take the bait, not yet at least.

  He knew that dress would end up on the floor of his bedroom soon enough.

  “I told her not to do it.”

  Jared looked over and spotted Jessalene standing on the steps. She wore a tank top and shorts, her usual sporty outfit. Her dark hair was up in a bun, and her pale skin with that very slight greenish cast looked smooth and beautiful. Her laptop was tucked under one arm.

  “She didn’t listen,” he said.

  She laughed. “When does she ever?” She walked over and kissed him on the lips. “How was your first day?”

  “Good,” he said. “How’s the clan doing? And your mom?”

  “You know them. Fine as always. Mom’s been on edge lately, apparently things are happening.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” Jared winced as he heard some banging in the kitchen.

  Jessalene pulled out a chair and sat at the long, rectangular kitchen table. It was new, bought just in the last week. The eight chairs were covered in light brown cloth and the table itself was a smooth, polished oak, stained a darker tan, the color of old leather. Jessalene put her computer out and flipped open the screen. “She’s been going insane, you know.”

  “Really?” Jared sat down across from her.

  “Hates being cooped up in here. I think the dress is her way of punishing you.”

  Jared laughed. “An amazing punishment.”

  Jessalene looked up and grinned. “I know, right? She kept trying to get me to wear it inside.”

  He raised an eyebrow and his eyes moved to her body. “You could pull it off.”

  “I know.” She grinned and looked back at her screen. “But you know Cassie.”

  “What’s she doing back there?” Jared frowned at the kitchen.

  “Cooking.” Jessa let out a breath. “Something elaborate. Don’t get used to it.”

  “I won’t.”

  They lapsed into silence. Jessa typed at her computer while Jared crossed his arms and watched the kitchen for any sign of life.

  After Jared got out of the hospital, Cassie moved in right away. She had nowhere else to go, and Jared didn’t mind, so it was natural for her to take one of his spare rooms. Jessalene had been going back and forth between Jared’s house in the city and her own house back on her Dryad clan’s land, but she’d been staying in another spare room for the past three days and didn’t show any sign of leaving.

  They hadn’t talked about their living arrangement, not officially at least. Jared didn’t think the conversation was necessary. Jessalene and Cassie were welcome to live with him as long as they wanted. As far as he was cornered, they were his girlfriends, and he wanted them around.

  Cassie seemed to be in for that, head over heels. Jessalene was a little hesitant, especially at first.

  But more than a few sweaty, blissful nights with all three of them in Jared’s bed had helped her uncertainty.

  “Are you two ready for this?” Cassie asked, appearing in the kitchen doorway. She had an apron on over her dress.

  “I’m not sure,” Jared admitted. “Are we?”

  “We’re ready,” Jessalene said. “And it smells good.”

  Jared grinned at her and nodded. “Smells amazing.”

  Cassie beamed. “All right, then. Ten more minutes.” She disappeared again and Jared watched the spot she’d just been standing in for a long moment.

  He had no clue what he’d done to deserve any of this. Two girls. Two beautiful, intelligent girls. They were a lot to deal with, but he loved it, loved every moment of it.

  “I think I have a lead,” Jessalene said softly.

  And Jared was pulled back into the real world again.

  2

  “Come take a look at this.”

  Jared pulled a chair over next to Jessalene and sat down. He leaned in close against her and looked at the computer screen.

  “A landscaping company,” Jared said.

  Jessalene nodded. The website was for a company called Big Roots Landscapers. It looked like any other local business website Jared had ever seen, just passably designed with basic information, generic marketing language, and a few pictures of the crew. The color scheme was green and red, with a contact form at the bottom and some generic information about their services in the middle of the page.

  The pictures jumped out at Jared. He turned the screen toward him and stared for a long moment before looking back at Jessa.

  “Are those Goblins?” he asked.

  “They sure are.” She grinned at him. “Goblin landscapers. Kind of funny.”

  “Where did you find this?”

  “Well, I’ve been going back and forth between here and home lately,” she said. “You know, talking to people from the clan. The council isn’t helpful, my mother doesn’t know anything, and everyone I talk to either pretends like they don’t know what I’m talking about, or they genuinely have no clue.”

  “So they’re stonewalling you,” Jared said.

  “Right, or at least it feels that way.”

  “I don’t get it.” He frowned at her. “Why would your clan impede this investigation? I mean, you’re trying to help them.”

  “I’ve been wondering the same thing. I have some theories.”

  “What’s the big one?”

  She met his gaze and shrugged. “They just really have no clue what happened to Wen Bet. They can’t help because they have no way to help.”

  Jared nodded. “Okay, that’s plausible, I’ll admit.”

  “The other theories are a little out there. Like the council is secretly working with the Medlar.”

  “Is that possible?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. No matter what, the council would never let our land fall into Magi hands. It’s just… it goes against everything we believe.”

  “Okay.” Jared turned back to the computer screen. The picture at the bottom of the page was of three guys wearing Big Roots Landscaping branded t-shirts. They were all small, with shaved heads, pale skin, dark eyes, and the telltale spikey teeth. Goblins looked like short bald men for the most part, but they all had sharpened, spiked teeth that gave them away whenever they smiled. They tended to move in packs, groups of up to twenty or so, but smaller groups of Goblins sometimes hung around together. “So what does a bunch of Goblins have to do with any of this?”

  “Well, I was back home yesterday, and I saw some kids riding their bikes near Wen Bet’s place.”

  “How many kids does your clan have?” Jared asked.

  She shrugged. “A lot. We all take turns watching them. But anyway, I stopped them and asked if they had seen the Elf lately. They all knew what I was talking about. It’s like a right of passage to prank the Elf.”

  “Prank the Elf?” Cassie came out of the kitchen, her head cocked. She looked adorable as hell in her apron, and it took some considerable willpower for Jared not to get up and jump her right then and there. She came over and pulled up another chair next to Jessalene. “Are those Goblins? Why do their shirts have a really bad dick joke on them?”

  Jessalene laughed and shook her head. “Yes, those are Goblins. And we’re talking about Wen Bet.”

  “Got it. Go on.”

  “Anyway, kids would do stupid crap to Wen Bet’s house. I remember I used to ring his bell and run away
all the time. Dumb stuff, you know? We all knew he was there and we were afraid of him, but almost everyone messed with him at some point.”

  “So the kids are familiar with his place,” Jared said.

  “Exactly. I was talking to them, asking them questions, and this little girl named Maddie said she saw a truck parked outside of Wen Bet’s house a while back.”

  “Let me guess,” Jared said. “Big Roots Landscaping.”

  “Bingo.”

  “God, what a bad name,” Cassie muttered. “Goblins are so gross.”

  “Don’t be racist. Speciesist? Metaist?” Jared made a face. “I’m not sure what the right term is.”

  “It’s not racist,” Cassie protested. “Goblins are gross. It’s part of what they are. They live in filth and feed on fear.”

  “She has a point,” Jessalene said. “I think most Goblins would be proud to be called gross.”

  “Fine, fair enough. My question is: why would an Elf living on Dryad land ever need a landscaping business?”

  Jessalene grinned, leaned over, and kissed Jared on the lips. “Exactly,” she said.

  “Ooh, are we doing that now?” Cassie asked. “I’m all ready. Did you see my dress?”

  “Yes, Cass, I saw your dress. I helped you pick it out. And try on the other fifty. Remember?”

  “Oh yeah.” She grinned. “That was fun. Don’t act like you didn’t love watching me dress up.”

  Jessalene blushed. “Shut up. So look, the whole point is, these Goblins might be involved in Wen Bet’s disappearance. The timeline matches, at least according to Maddie. She saw the truck about a week or two before the Medlar started buying land up.”

  “You think the Goblins took him,” Jared said.

  “It’s possible. Or they have something to do with it.” She shook her head. “It’s all I have to go on.”

  Jared leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Cassie kissed Jessalene on the cheek and hopped to her feet.

  “Dinner in five,” she announced. “Wrap this up. I don’t want to talk about work while we eat.”

  Jessalene nodded while Jared frowned at the computer. Cassie turned and headed back into the kitchen.

  “Okay,” he said. “It’s a decent lead. It’s something, at least.”

  “Really?” She perked up. “So we can follow it?”

  “Not yet.”

  She deflated for a moment before anger swept through. “Why not?”

  “Look, the warrant for Wen Bet brought some unnecessary attention down on my boss,” Jared said. “I’m not assigned to that case yet either. I can’t just skip out on work and run down this fugitive if it’s not my assignment.”

  “So get assigned. Or I’ll just do it.”

  He hesitated. “Jessa,” he said softly. “We need to think about Cassie here.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Cassie is a Worldhopper with a temporary visa. Her existence in this world is precarious enough as it is. If we chase down this Elf that may or may not be related to the Medlar’s plans, then we might jeopardize her staying. Wyatt already chewed me out over her visa form earlier.”

  “He did?”

  “Her status is linked to the Meta Marshal Service. She’s listed as an important asset, which is why she’s allowed to stay at all. I guess Lumi thought it was the best way to make sure it went through.”

  Jessalene sighed. “Okay. I can see why that would piss off your boss.”

  “So if we chase after this Elf that we don’t even know—”

  She interrupted him. “First of all, Wen Bet is involved,” she said. “And second, you know the last thing I want is for Cassie to get kicked out.”

  “I know that.”

  “But I can’t sit back and let the Medlar steal my clan’s land out from under us, not if I had some kind of lead on it.”

  “I know that, too.”

  “So what do you want me to do?”

  Jared shook his head and didn’t reply.

  There was no simple answer here. He wished he could tell her everything would be fine, that they’d figure it all out and nobody would get deported back to their own world. But he knew that might not be possible.

  He wanted to find out what the Medlar were up to. Buying Dryad land seemed out of character for a Magi family. They worked so hard not to get involved with Metas whenever possible these days, mostly because they used to slaughter them indiscriminately for hundreds of years. Now, the Magi family let the Meta Department handle Metas, while the Magi did whatever else they want.

  Then again, the MetaDept is controlled by the Magi, but nobody talks about that.

  Cassie came out of the kitchen again with two plates, her apron missing. She looked even better in just the dress, Jared decided, as she put one plate in front of him and another in front of Jessalene. She shut the computer and moved it aside before going into the kitchen and returning with her own meal.

  The three of them sat at the table together.

  “This looks amazing,” Jared said. It was a pasta dish with a light white wine sauce, shrimp, and lumps of crabmeat. It smelled incredible.

  “Thanks, Cass,” Jessalene said.

  Cassie nodded and held up her water glass. “To Jared returning to work. And to us solving the mystery of the missing Elf.”

  Jared sighed. “It’s not a Nancy Drew book, you know.”

  “Who?” Cassie frowned at him.

  Jessalene laughed, clinked her glass against theirs, and drank her water. Cassie launched into a story about choosing just the right dress, and the mood lightened a bit.

  But Jared knew this was temporary. He couldn’t delay Jessalene forever. She’d go after Wen Bet on her own sooner or later, no matter what he did.

  And he wasn’t about to let her go off alone.

  3

  The office was silent early the next morning. Jared liked to get in around seven, before anyone else showed up. He got his bad coffee, sat down in his squeaky chair, and logged into his slow computer. He leaned back and smiled up at the fluorescent lights, buzzing up in the ceiling like stars.

  This was heaven. Really, when he died, he hoped that heaven would be an office building in downtown Philadelphia. He could spend forever in the overly padded carpeting, the sounds hushed to almost nothing, the overhead lights buzzing away in a tired semi-drone.

  The office slowly filled up over the next hour as Jared dove headfirst into his paperwork. He hit that perfect trance, filling out forms, typing up reports, dropping into a beautiful, flowing state as the monotony of routine took him over.

  Around eight-thirty, when he knew it was safe, he got up out of his chair and stretched. Harold looked up over the divider between their desks. “Morning, Marshal,” he said.

  “Marshal,” Jared said, nodding.

  “Gotta say, it’s nice to hear you typing away again,” Harold said. “It was a little too quiet around here.”

  “I doubt that. Not with you talking away.”

  He laughed. “Fair enough.”

  Jared grinned and walked into the little throughway between desks. He took it down to the end and walked along the outer wall until he reached Wyatt’s office. He hesitated but knocked on the open door.

  Wyatt looked up from his desk and sighed, “Come on in, Marshal,” he said. “I was just talking about you.”

  “Were you, sir?” Jared entered and sat down in a chair.

  “That’s right. Some senior department Magi was complaining about all the reconstruction they have to do up in Kensington. You know, from that Magi battle you were a part of?”

  “I can see how that might be annoying, sir.”

  “Right, well, I told him to find you and thank you personally.”

  Jared grinned. “I always love it when someone appreciates my work.”

  Wyatt laughed and put his palms down flat on his desk. “All right, son. What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to ask you about the status of the warrant out for Wen
Bet.”

  He hesitated. “The Elf?”

  “That’s right.”

  He turned to his computer and started typing. “Standard warrant. It’s listed as… forging documents, cashing checks across state lines, a few other petty crimes like that.”

  “Who’s working it?”

  “Harold.”

  Jared tried not to let his dismay show. Harold had never, not a single time since Jared knew him, brought in a fugitive. He just didn’t do it. Whenever there was a fugitive nobody cared about, Harold got that job.

  Which meant they might be trying to bury this.

  “I want to work it.”

  Wyatt frowned. “Really now?” He leaned back in his chair. “And is that because you’re involved with Jessalene Dorvahn?”

  “Yes,” Jared said, deciding on honesty. “I’m involved with her and with the case. I know more about what’s happening here than anyone else. Harold will never bring that Elf in.”

  “True,” Wyatt said. “He definitely won’t. And I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t the one who assigned him.”

  Jared sighed. “Let me guess. That came from up high.”

  “Bingo.” Wyatt studied Jared. “Someone doesn’t want that Elf found.”

  “You can reassign the case, you know.”

  “True. I can do that.” He tilted his head. “But why would I?”

  “Because I’m asking for it.”

  “I have to be honest with you, Jared. I’m getting a little tired of doing you favors. I liked it better when you kept your head down and did paperwork all day.”

  Jared laughed. “You and me both, sir.”

  “Listen, I could give you the case. I’m already dealing with shit from up above. It couldn’t hurt to pile it on.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “But.” He held up his hands. “You need to know something first.”

  “Okay.” Jared frowned and shifted in his seat.

  “Your friend Lumi Medlar. I heard she’s been punished.”

  His frown deepened. “Punished?”

  “Over the warrant. I don’t know the specifics. Reassigned, sent somewhere far away, something like that. The warrant’s in the system now, so it can’t just disappear, but assigning Harold is the next best thing. If I give it to you, there will be trouble.”