I nodded to Agent Grace when I walked in to the holding room. She looked as she always did, her blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun, keeping any of the strands away from her slim face. She sat across from Tomes. His hair was more gray than I remembered, and there might have been one or more wrinkles by his eyes.
“What is she doing here?” He jerked his chin at me. It took me a moment to realize it was because his hands were cuffed to the table. Because he was a warlock, I knew that the cuffs were bespelled to block his magic.
“I came to talk to you about the blood-starved vampires.” I sat down next to Agent Grace. “Last night my partner and I found a horde of them outside a murder scene.”
He chuckled and leaned back in his chair the best that his bonds would let him. “I thought I told you that I wasn’t the only one working with them.”
No, he hadn’t told me that. My mind went back to Mario and how he was in town to follow up on the problem, he had a theory that Tomes had a partner. I glanced at Agent Grace, but her face remained carefully blank, and it reminded me that she’d been an agent longer than I had. Just about ten years she’d said, making her one of the first official PIB agents.
Tomes laughed. “No, not Melody.”
That was a relief at least, I didn’t know how to deal with more than one rogue PIB agent. Assuming he was telling the truth. “You care to enlighten us on who?”
He shook his head. “Why? From what I understand I’m basically awaiting trial to be executed. Even if I give you one name, that won’t end it. It won’t end until the Vampire King is brought down and anarchy reigns through the supernatural world.”
“That’s a pretty lofty goal. You plan on doing that through blood-starved vampires, from here in prison?” I shook my head. “No, you’re a pawn in this. You like to pretend that you’re powerful and that you can control this outcome, but you can’t. You couldn’t even take me down.”
He snarled and jerked his chains. Grace flinched next to me, but I held Tomes’ gaze. “You can’t scare me. You’re behind bars while whoever is pulling your strings is free. So why don’t you just fill me in on what is going on.”
“Fuck you, Collins.”
This wasn’t getting me anywhere. I stood. “That’s fine. I’ll figure it out myself. Thank you, Agent Grace, for meeting with me here on such short notice.” I bowed my head and turned my back to Tomes. “Enjoy your time awaiting trial.”
“You don’t want to go down that path, Abigail.”
I paused as the familiar words came from Tomes. “There’s nothing but death waiting for you. If you think I was the only one with the idea of taking your life, think again.”
I looked over my shoulder. “If you think that a death threat will scare me, you’re wrong. You learned nothing about me while we worked together.”
Agent Grace stood and joined me as I walked out of the room. “He’s just trying to egg you on.”
“I know.” Though his warning was far too close to Grayson’s warning about the case. “I figured this was going to lead to a dead end, but I had to try.”
“If you want some help on the case, let me know. Maybe a third agent will be helpful? I heard you and Nick caught a doozy of a case.”
I nodded. “Actually, there might be something that you can help me with. We have ten thumbs that are close to ten years old.”
“Gross.” She scrunched her face up.
“They had letters scratched into them that spelled out ‘Too Late PIB”. Do you recall any unsolved cases around then? I know you would have been just a rookie and that PIB was just officially getting its start…” I let the thought trail off.
She thought for a moment. “I’d have to go through old case files. There’s nothing that sticks out to me, but let’s get back to the office and I’ll take a look.”
I smiled. “Thanks.” We walked out together. “I’m supposed to meet Nick at our haunted house, so call me if something shows up?”
She nodded. “You have fun playing with the ghosts. Play nice with Nick. We should get together once this case is over.”
“We should. I could use a beer buddy.” Of course, I’d have to go out since according to Levi I shouldn’t have any visitors in the house.
She waved at me as she climbed into her car. I leaned against the Hummer and texted Nick a quick update and my ETA for the house. Tomes’ warning was too close to Grayson’s to make me comfortable. I got in the Hummer and started it up. One thing at a time, solve the case, worry about conspiracy later.
I pulled up to the house, parking behind Nick’s Charger. Mason was working out in the field with a few other officers, Jason and his crew were combing through the front yard marking little things here and there. I got out and waved as I went to the house. Nick walked out on the porch, a pair of goggles and a sledge hammer in his hand. “Talked to the families this morning. They were relieved to have remains to bury and only one of them demanded justice.”
“Anything to link them together?” I held my hand out and he handed me the goggles. I pulled them on over my ponytail, wiggling them until they fit over my eyes somewhat comfortably.
“Nothing of value.” He shook his head. “Let’s get this wall knocked down and see what we’ll find.”
I nodded and stepped in the house. I waited a moment, my heart skipping a beat here or there as my gaze darted around. No furniture moved, nothing came after me and I followed Nick further into the house.
“When I got in here all the furniture was moved away from the wall in question.” He motioned to the wall. “She likes you better, so you knock first.”
I twisted my grip on the sledge hammer and swung. The drywall gave easily under the weight of the hammer. The dust settled and I looked through the hole I created. I couldn’t see much yet, but that didn’t mean anything. I continued to break the wall down until there was a visible door way. Nick handed me his MAG light. “Ready to go down?”
I looked at the stairs covered in dust that led into the darkness. My mind conjured up images of dead bodies and screaming faces. “How about you go down first?”
Nick clicked on his flash light. “Alright, but if I scream, no judging me.”
“After the week we’ve had, I will not.” I promised.
He took a few steps down, hesitating as the stairs creaked underneath him. I waited for the wood to splinter around his foot, but it never did.
“When was the basement sealed up?” Nick asked over his shoulder.
“Ninety-eight,” I paused. “Back when Jerry bought it.” I hadn’t even thought to talk to him about it when I talked to him about the ghosts.
“Hopefully everything was up to code then.” The light bounced off the walls as we continued down.
I took a deep breath and looked around when we got to the bottom. Charcoal drawings covered the walls. A female figure dancing in all of them. The ghost. I went up closer to one of them. “This is her.”
“It’s like a shrine.” Nick’s voice came from behind me. “There are a ton of drawings.”
I turned away from the wall and my light swept over the room. A modern bed with a few dresses laid out on it caught my attention. “Well, that’s a bit creepy, isn’t it?”
“Do we have pictures to compare this room to?” Nick asked.
“I might have some with the file at PIB.” I touched the fabric. “Why would he build a shrine to a ghost?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea, maybe he fell in love with her. Stranger things have happened.”
“I don’t think this is a crime, so we can’t arrest him.” I shook my head. “Creepy, but not illegal since she’s dead.”
Nick made a noise of agreement. “We still need to bring Jerry in and talk to him.”
“Let’s get back upstairs and have a team put lights down here so we can start collecting stuff.” I turned back to the stairs and paused as I felt something tug on my shirt. I looked over my shoulder and saw something whisk through the air. Nick had his back turned. I
followed the white wisp across the room. It disappeared into a wall on the far side of the room. I frowned and put my hand against the wall, the only place bare of drawings. My fingers felt along the seam of the wall and a breeze danced along my skin.
I pried at the seam until the wall started to move. It squeaked on hinges as I pulled and I looked over my shoulder at Nick. “Down the rabbit hole?”
He looked over me. “At least there’s a light at the end of this tunnel.”
He was right. Something that looked like a stream of daylight shone at the end of the pathway. I stepped forward and flashed my light on the edge of the hall. Nothing unusual from a regular hall, except for the peeling wallpaper and the smell of mold. The walk down the hall led to the hidden basement that I had found. My stomach churned at the sight. Disintegrating beds lined the walls, bucket next to them, and chains leading from the beds. Nick wasn’t kidding, it was an inhuman prison of some sort.
I stepped up to one of the beds and saw the dark stains on the sheets. I didn’t need a test kit to tell me it was blood.
“Abby?” Nick asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know what happened here, but I don’t like it. Why didn’t you guys check out the hall the other day?”
“There wasn’t an opening.” He muttered. “She must be moving objects again.”
I nodded and climbed up the ladder that someone had placed in the basement to climb out of the hole. Nick climbed up after me and we both stared at each other. “So did Jerry know?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.” I glanced at Mason canvasing the fields. “Are we sure on the age of the corpses down there?”
“We won’t know until Jason’s labs are done, why?” Nick’s gaze followed mine and then he turned back to the pit. “You don’t think…”
“I don’t know. Fifteen vampire victims and a horde of blood-starved vampires? Seems to be a connection to me.”
“Yeah, but they were well hidden.” Nick shook his head. “I’m betting coincidence.”
I smirked. “Betting, eh? What’s on the line?”
“I win this bet, you owe me a week of coffee.” He crossed his arms.
“And if I’m right and there is a connection, I want a week worth of coffee and you to start letting me drive.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Your cars always blow up.”
“Not true. This last one was taken out by a rogue blanket of poltergeists.” I crossed my arms. “When I talked to Tomes, he said that there were others. That he’s not the only one. Which makes me wonder how far back this goes.”
“Do you think it goes back as far as the first owner of the house?” Nick motioned to the field. “Like maybe there’s a cave out there he could have kept starving vampires in?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea, Nick.” I seemed to be saying that a lot. “You go talk to Mason, I want to talk to Jason and give him an idea of the info we’ll be needing.”
“What do you want me to talk to Mason about?” I didn’t miss the scowl in Nick’s voice.
I gave him a droll look. “Really Nick? Put on your big boy panties and see if he found anything out there. I’ll be there to join you in a few minutes.”
“How about I talk to Jason? I know what we need.” He motioned to Detective Mason. “He doesn’t like me and is more likely to give you information.”
I couldn’t argue with that fact, I didn’t have to like it, but I couldn’t argue with it. “Okay fine, you talk to Jason.” I resisted throwing my hands in the air and headed towards Mason.
I walked up next to Mason and stared off into the distance with him. The property reminded me of where my parents’ house stood. Quiet, peaceful, no neighbors for at least a couple city blocks. “What are you looking at?”
He motioned to the ground and then forward. “You tell me.”
I didn’t always appreciate when he didn’t give me a direct answer, but it was his way of allowing me to form my own opinion. I looked down at where we were standing. “Foot steps.” I continued to track the deep seeded heel prints, spread over different distances and strides. “Lots of footprints.”
He nodded. “So tell me, our people haven’t been out this far in droves. Jason’s people have their range. PIB didn’t send a horde of agents. So what was out here?” He glanced at me. “You and Nick came out last night, according to the night guard.”
I nodded. “We did, Nick and I both couldn’t sleep, so after a cup of coffee we decided to come check out the scene at night.”
“Why?”
“Vampire related case. It made sense. Do you want to know what we saw out here last night, or you just going to keep asking me questions?” I bent down and touched one of the prints. Deep, round, and looked like the back of a tennis shoe based on the slanted threads.
Mason grunted and I took it as a yes.
“We saw a line of vampires. We assumed blood-starved because of how jerky their movements were.” I shook my head. “We didn’t get close enough to see how many, or to confirm they were blood starved.”
He snorted. “You and Nick didn’t want to cause a fire fight.”
“One we would have lost, more specifically.” I nodded. “Care to take a walk, Detective? Maybe we can figure out where they went come daylight.”
“And what are we going to do when we find them?” He raised a brow. “Two of us against a horde of blood-starved?”
I touched the butt of my gun. “If we’re lucky, they’ll all be sleeping, but maybe we can find out who is behind creating them.”
“Abby, how do you expect to do that?” He sounded exasperated, as if I was expecting the impossible.
I took a deep breath. “Chances are he’ll be strong enough to be awake during the day.”
“Which means what?”
“We’re dealing with someone about as powerful as Levi.” I didn’t want to admit it out loud and part of me knew that I had been avoiding that thought. I didn’t know how powerful Mario was, because I hadn’t seen him in action, but I knew I’d be visiting Levi tonight. Or at the very least calling him.
Mason followed me. “Has the thought of back up occurred to you?”
“Nope, not really.” I didn’t look behind me. “I’m beyond waiting for other people and things to fall into place right now.”
He said nothing as we followed the steps. I stopped on occasion and checked the depth of the prints and direction. Last time I was on a hike like this I had a broken rib and I was following magic. It’d been a long time since I’d tracked without it. “If we could find just one thing. One simple scrap of clothing or blood or something. Nick and I could do a tracking spell and this would be a lot easier.”
“Then maybe we should look for that instead of following the trail. If you think it’d be easier.” I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but I wasn’t going to slow down to find out.
“I don’t think it’ll be easier to find it.” I muttered and looked up. “There’s an old house up ahead.”
“Can’t vampires just transport themselves? Why would they leave trails?” Mason stepped up next to me.
I closed my eyes as memories assaulted me from my encounter with the blood-starved vampires. “They don’t have the energy or the concentration to transport like a well-fed vampire. I know it’s a skill that young vampires struggle with, so no, walking is the only thing that would make sense. The ones we dealt with at the press conference barely managed to get me to the van. Which is why they needed a mode of transportation.” I motioned to the house. “Let’s take a look.”
We walked side by side up to the building. The wood siding clung to the frame, torn by years of wear and tear with no maintenance. Spider web cracks climbed through the two windows up front and only a frame remained where the door should have been. Mason motioned and I stepped up onto the porch. Wood splintered around my boot with my first step. Freezing, I waited for something to rush out of the house to attack. My heart pounded, but nothing came after me.
I pulled m
y foot out of the hole and stepped again, this time finding solid wood. I took cautious steps until I reached the door. The sun shone through the two front windows, casting shadows from tree branches over a standing figure. I pulled my gun and raised my arm. “Stop.”
The figure looked up, meeting my gaze. I knew the face and relaxed a little bit.
“Merick, I should shoot your ass.” I hissed.
He held his hands up. “Please don’t, I rather like it lead free. Detective Mason.” He bowed his head. “Abby, you can put the gun away.”
“Merick, nice to see you again.”
I put my gun away and turned to Mason. “You two know each other?”
“Merick recently came onto the force as a consultant in linguistics. He speaks five languages and specializes in written text.”
I raised a brow. “I had no idea you were so versed in other languages.”
“You never asked, Abigail.” Merick didn’t miss a beat. “I followed the trail, same as you did.”
“Why are you even on this crime scene?” I turned my flashlight on and looked around the room. The beam moved over about twenty corpses…no, not corpses, sleeping vampires. My heart dropped.
Merick met my gaze. “I was here examining the runes in the other house, I thought I heard something out in the yard and ended up here after following the trail.”
It made sense. He was trying to find a way to help me, though as much as I appreciated it, I didn’t know how I felt about him being this close to the case. “Any sign of their maker?”
He shook his head. “Just a bunch of sleeping babies.”
Who were probably blood-starved. The bodies had parted, as if by instinct, to avoid the sun beams. All the other windows were still boarded up making the sunlight exposure minimal. “We need a containment team out here and I need to contact Levi.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Mason put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll call the team, you get back to Nick, take Merick with you. You guys finish working the haunted house.”
I glanced at Merick who nodded and motioned to the door, “Ladies first.”
The Trouble with Ghosts (Here Witchy Witchy Book 3) Page 12