by T. G. Ayer
The whole afternoon had passed—evidenced by the weaker light outside, and by the low insistent throbbing in Vee’s wing where the wound was slowly healing. Deciding it was time she reported into her boss anyway, Vee turned to Monroe. “Keep me posted?”
Monroe nodded, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. She turned away to make her call.
Vee left without another word, pausing at the door to rip off the bootees and gloves and shove them into a waiting rubbish bag.
She had a few things she needed to get done today, and the day was already over. Funny she could get magical weapons from the gods and not extra hours in the day.
Be careful what you wish for.
Chapter 14
Inside the elevator, Vee placed a call to her boss.
“So, was it a solid lead?” was his first question.
“Yes, sir.”
“What species are we talking?”
“Pey. Same as this morning.”
“Coincidence?”
“Likely not. But this one is a little different. I’m sending some images through. Monroe’s got a bunch of evidence on hand. I’ve requested priority access, and she’s assured me I’ll have them, but Brent can do his thing already.”
“Debrief?” asked Rossi.
“Victim is a female, single from what I gathered. Booked into the hotel yesterday at 4.37pm. Ordered a meal at 5.03pm then relaxed. Meal arrived 6.12 pm. Intruder arrived during the meal at around 6.30pm. He watched and waited until the victim took a bath at 7.10pm. Intruder entered the bathroom at 7.40pm and proceeded to attack her. She put up a fight, so I think we’ll get DNA from her fingernails. Time of death 7.59pm. Body was unusually devoid of blood, so the Pey suits the MO.”
“Good. I’ll wait for your report then?”
“That’s not all, sir.”
“Oh?”
“There was another victim.”
“He killed two people?” Rossi’s voice rose. “But the report was one body discovered.”
“That’s because he didn’t kill the second woman. He took her with him.”
“So we have a missing person too.”
“Yes. And it gets worse. The woman is pregnant.”
“I see. I’ll have the team put an APB out on her. Do you have a description?”
“Short in stature, slight build. Pregnant.”
“That’s all you got?”
“Unfortunately, yes. For the moment. Monroe’s doing a background on Susie and everyone she associates with.”
“Good. So, Monroe is still on the team?”
“As long as the turf war is resolved and falls on her side. We can’t afford evidence going missing, and I wouldn’t put it past those two detectives to mess with the evidence just to show us a point.” The elevator dinged as she reached the first floor.
“Right. Keep me posted.”
Rossi assured Vee that he would pull a few strings to ensure the case fell into Monroe’s lap—if it happened that the crime scene landed in Gianni and Hasif’s jurisdiction.
Vee rang off and tucked her phone back into her pocket as she headed outside.
The last thing she needed was to cross paths with those two creeps again.
Vee smiled at the doorman and headed to the edge of the sidewalk. She waved a cab down and sighed with relief that one was actually coming her way on the first try.
What she didn’t expect was for the cab to speed up as he made a beeline for her. Instinct told her to use her wings, but she knew she couldn’t do that without jeopardizing everything, not only what she was but also the existence of the supernatural worlds.
But she didn’t need to make any decisions.
Someone slammed right into her, so hard that she and her attacker/savior went rolling over and over onto the sidewalk. As they went, Vee heard the cab’s tires screech as he tried to redirect his aim and follow Vee where she now lay on the ground, a little dazed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the cab swerve, attempting to avoid a delivery truck that was parked in front of the hotel. The cab-driver failed and slammed into the rear fender of the truck, the loud pop of the airbag filling the street.
Vee grunted and looked up, curious who she had to thank for her life.
Her stomach swirled as she stared into Gianni’s eyes. He was smiling as he lay there on top of Vee, pressing against her chest and stomach and compressing her lungs, not to mention forcing her back against the irregular-shaped contents of her satchel on which she’d landed.
She lifted her head and shoved at his shoulders. “I need to breathe.”
The push got him to roll off her chest, and Vee sat up and took a deep breath, flinching as her cheek smarted. Just one more injury to add to her current list.
“That’s the thanks I get?” He stood, his cheeks red as he tugged at the waistband of his pants.
Vee shook her head. “I’ll thank you when I get to breathe. You were pressing all the air out of my lungs,” she snapped.
Vee boosted herself to her feet, shifting her messenger bag to her side. Around her, people were rushing about, someone yelled for the ambulance, while another voice called for the cops.
“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll check on the driver and be back in a second,” Gianni instructed. Moments later he yelled, “Where the fuck did he go?”
Vee frowned and walked closer to the damaged vehicle, and watched Gianni as he stared around the street, his skin blotchy with anger. She couldn’t tell him that with the driver’s seat empty, the chances were high her attacker had been a demon and would have merely vanished from the seat. Or turned himself invisible to then crawl out from the open door.
“Asshole thinks he can run down a lawman?” The detective stalked about like a frenzied rooster until another cop walked up to him and spoke into his ear.
Gianni nodded to the man then stalked away from the cab and came to stand by Vee’s side. She’d been tempted to leave, annoyed that he’d left her standing on the sidewalk as if she needed to remain out of harm’s way like a helpless female.
Same helpless female who’d almost been run down by a deranged cab-driver and who’d been saved by the very man who’d appeared to be concerned for her safety.
Vee gritted her teeth and waited for Gianni to reach her side, she folded her arms.
“Know anyone who’d have wanted to kill you?” Gianni asked looking Vee up and down.
She raised an eyebrow. “Know anyone who’d have wanted to kill you?”
Gianni paused. “Yeah. Good point. Then again, I guess an FBI agent would probably have more people out to kill him. Or her,” he tacked on giving her a wary look, as though she’d have been offended by his reference to the FBI agent as male.
She rolled her eyes. “Did you get anything?” Vee asked, following the act of someone who’d almost gotten run over. “How could you lose him?” Vee asked, feeling a little guilty. But the question needed to be asked or else he’d wonder.
Gianna glared at Vee. But she recognized his flushed coloring as anger and embarrassment for having lost the guy. “Not sure how he got away. I wonder if they had it on autopilot.”
Vee nodded. “Could be. Especially if there was no sign of a driver.” Vee agreed with him in the hopes that it would help end the conversation faster. But she doubted the auto-pilot reasoning more because of how fast the cab had tried to swerve from an impact with the truck. Autopilot would not have cared what was in the way. And even remote-jacking wouldn’t have encouraged avoiding the truck. Only a living being would want to avoid killing himself.
And, just because the demon could have jumped before the crash didn’t mean he wouldn’t have instinctively swerved. Not all demons were that skilled and it was likely she’d been attacked by an amateur.
Vee jerked her chin at the cab, indicating she wanted to have a look. Gianni looked like he was about to say Vee couldn’t look at the car, but then caught himself. Perhaps he suddenly realized who he was speaking to.
He waved he
r onward, following close behind as she headed to the car.
She bent over and scanned the interior through the broken passenger window. Her vision shifted briefly as she studied the auras within the cab. And sure enough, Vee recognized the combination of shimmering lines and ragged patterns that made up the aura of a rakshasa demon. She hated being right sometimes, especially when it raised the possibility that the two demons who had attacked her this morning may not have been there looking for the bhayakara demon. They could have been after Vee herself.
Vee focused her thoughts and straightened, then inspected the exterior and circled the cab more to get a better idea of speed and impact. She didn’t need the information, rather was merely going through the motions in order to not look suspicious.
Still, at the end of the day, she had to find out who was it that wanted to kill her.
It could be anyone ranging from a cop on the force, all the way to the demonic underbelly of New York City. Perhaps a visit with Cressida Lane was called for. Not that Vee wanted to, considering the woman gave her the creeps.
Gianni was speaking, and Vee had to force herself to pay attention. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the bastard who did this. We’ll check all the footage from the traffic cams around the block. I think we should get you a couple security guys. Keep an eye on you in case something else happens?”
Vee smiled. “Now tell me how that will look, Gianni? An FBI agent with a security detail of local law enforcement?” Vee shook her head, suspicious now that perhaps Gianni had orchestrated the whole thing, in order to justify having Vee watched twenty-four-seven. What better way to get info on her activities than to be the one to ‘keep an eye’ on her safety? “Don’t worry Gianni. I’ll have the FBI look after my safety, thanks. My boss will be onto it the moment I tell him.”
“Better do it quick ‘cos I’ve already called it in.”
Vee gritted her teeth and walked a few yards away. What were these guys up to? Were they taking advantage of the incident and hoping to put her ability to do the job in question with the threat of her safety being an issue? Were they hoping a security detail would hamper her investigation? Or hoping to ingratiate themselves with her, save her life, give her a security team, and maybe she’d allow them access to the crime scene?
Or had it really been a demonic attempt on her life and all Gianni and his team were doing was protecting her?
Vee retrieved her phone from her pocket and rang Rossi who sounded surprised that she’d called him again so soon.
She proceeded to give him a rundown of her near-death experience.
“Do you really believe that your life could be in danger?” he asked, his tone filled with concern.
“I don’t know sir. I don’t see how. But I don’t doubt that it is odd that the cab-driver happened to be a demon—species I am not particularly familiar with—who disappeared before anyone could question him.” Vee kept her voice low as she watched Gianni approach her.
“Demonic? They can disappear right?” asked Rossi.
“Yes, sir. That’s possible. But I don’t believe a cab would be the kind of transportation they would use.”
Gianni now stood at her side, and Vee had to remind herself to give less away as she spoke.
“Right. I’ll get Brent onto the traffic and security cams to get us more details.”
“Thank you, sir, but I believe that would be a dead end.”
Rossi paused. “Very well. Do you need security?”
“Not at this time, sir.”
Rossi chuckled. “Why did I suspect that would be your answer?” Vee laughed and Rossi rang off seconds later.
She turned to Gianni. “See,” she waved her phone at him, “My boss is organizing an FBI security detail for me.”
Gianni looked a little disappointed, making Vee more suspicious now.
Vee smiled. “Thanks, Gianni. You saved my hide. I’ll keep you posted on my security detail.”
“Happy to save that hide, Shankar,” Gianni said giving Vee a lascivious look up and down. “And just let us know if there is anything we can do.”
“Thanks. I will.”
Like hell, I will.
Chapter 15
Vee was hurrying down the sidewalk away from the hotel, when a black SUV pulled up. Her phone pinged with a message from Karan to say the SUV was his.
As she jumped in the back seat, she glanced over her shoulder and watched Gianni staring at her. She pretended not to notice and slide inside beside Karan who looked concerned.
“Don’t tell me you already know?”
Karan nodded. “We have our own intelligence grapevine.”
Vee grunted then said, “Better change your plates.”
“What?”
“The plates for the SUV. Gianni over there will be running them as we speak. Hopefully your identity is hidden, or he’s going to know who you are.”
Karan gave a cool nod. “What happened?”
“A cab came at me, clearly aiming to run me down. Gianni managed to throw me out of harm’s way. Cab crashed, but before anyone could go over to check, the driver—who also happened to be a demon—had disappeared.” Vee stared over at Karan waiting to see if his face would give something away. But nothing.
Instead, he sighed, studying her bruised cheek. “I do not like that your life is in danger.”
“And somehow you believe that it was not in danger in the past?”
Karan stared at her. “You’re not taking this seriously. I have had word that the Demon Horde Assembly is troubled by an uneasy political climate, which only increased the problems that result from infighting and struggles for control. The pey demons have split from the Assembly and are attempting to establish the strength of their own Core.” Karan sighed then shifted in the seat and was staring at Vee. “And now someone out there wants you dead?”
Vee wasn’t sure how to respond so she remained silent. She’d never seen Karan this worked up before.
He sighed again and looked away. “You’re important. More important than you know.”
“So you think I need to get myself protection? That I need to hide myself away?”
“I know you can take care of yourself, but that doesn’t mean you need to be reckless.”
“Trust me, I am far from reckless. Not too long ago, we dealt with demonic home invasions. Whoever these assholes are, they don’t scare me.”
Karan nodded and tapped his finger on the side of the leather folder that sat in his lap. “I hope you are right. We need you alive.”
Vee suppressed the desire to tell the man that she was capable of looking after herself. But instead, she forced herself to nod. Of course, he needed her to be alive.
To do his investigative work, that’s why.
Karan dropped Vee off at her home, assuring her that he’d glamored the vehicle for a large part of the trip so they would have lost anyone attempting to tail them.
Vee smiled in acceptance, aware still that such maneuvers would not stop anyone who’d decided to surveil her properly. She headed inside, watching the street just in case. After shutting the door, she studied the street again, accepting her nerves were on edge now and she may as well double-check.
Just as a precaution.
As she watched, she messaged Rossi, bringing him up to speed on Karan’s update on the Demon Horde Assembly’s internal upheaval. Rossi responded confirming he’d put the team on high alert.
At least he was taking it seriously.
The house was silent, and Vee took the opportunity to hide in her room for the rest of the evening. Even food wasn’t something she was interested in, especially after having spent her afternoon at the suffocatingly warm hotel room.
An hour of training, a shower and then bed.
Just what the doctor would order.
At the thought of the doctor, Vee’s mind drifted to Nivaan. He’d been in Europe for the last month on mahabidala business, and his absence had pointedly confirmed to Vee how much she cared about h
im. Long distance relationships sucked.
Good thing he’d be home tomorrow.
Vee fell asleep thinking about Nivaan’s cheeky smile.
Chapter 16
Denial can only last so long.
The next morning, Vee awakened after a restless sleep. She’d played the whole scene over and over in her head, wondering if she could have missed some small detail.
Someone had tried to kill her. She had to accept that and move on to step two: find out who they were and hopefully avoid a third attempt.
Third, because she was pretty sure the attack of the killer pey couple had also been a hit. Thankfully, so far Vee had managed to evade those attempts. Now she was left with wondering who they worked for and why they wanted her dead.
Vee forced herself into her training gear and headed down to the gym. After an hour of various weapons exercises—including the trishula—Vee figured it was time she stopped avoiding the inevitable.
She had to go see her Mom.
A strange feeling coiled in Vee’s gut as she stepped off the elevator. She’d been thinking about Karan and the last words he’d spoken before he’d dropped her off at home last night. His parting comment was something to the effect of a warning for Vee to take care of herself.
She was well aware that she was an important asset to him, but she still couldn’t understand why. What did Karan hope to gain from feeding Vee information regarding demonic crimes against the people of New York? Even Rossi had mentioned recently that although the enigmatic snitch was valuable and was helping their team fight supernatural crime, he too couldn’t understand where they were headed.
Though Vee had suggested cutting him loose, Rossi had disagreed, insisting they needed to see this through. Even if they were being used, they were cleaning up the demonic rogue element within the city. That in itself was enough of a reason to play nice with Karan.
But Karan wasn’t the only person whose strange behavior remained on Vee’s mind.
Radhima’s ghost, or rather Radhima herself, was present for a reason as well. As much as Vee wanted to keep ignoring the fact, she knew it was both unhealthy and irresponsible. Add to that she could be hurting her grandmother’s feelings by ignoring what was right in front of her own eyes.