“Jerry Borneheart?” I confirmed and he nodded. “Do you know why you were brought in?”
“I have a feeling it has something to do with that haunted house, ma’am.” He drew out his words, laying on the southern accent thicker than when we had been on the phone. I knew that people’s accents could come out when they were nervous or stressed, but I had a feeling he was going for more of a good ol’ boy charm. Officer Denar and I sat down across from him.
“I’m Agent Collins, and yes, you’re right, it has to do with the haunted house that we talked about earlier. This is Officer Denar, she’s here to observe our interview.”
“Do they not trust a witch with a human?” He met my gaze. “Or is it me they don’t trust?”
“Neither, simply protocol.” Denar said, keeping her voice even.
I nodded. “The records for the house show that you sealed up a basement while you owned the property.”
He didn’t respond or even bat his eyes at me. No denial or confirmation.
“We were able to locate the entrance to that basement and what we found down there was a shrine of drawings and dresses in a bedroom meant for a young woman. You and I had talked about a ghost in that house. The drawings matched that ghost.”
“Just like the one that was on file that led you to me. Is being obsessed with a dead person a crime?” His accent dropped a little bit. “The woman had been dead for a hundred years, there was no body to desecrate, I built a shrine to her out of my love.”
“In love with a ghost? A bit…unrealistic, don’t you think?”
His fingers tightened. “She had been the nicest person to me in my life. I moved into the house at the time that my employer was horrible, my new wife had just left me for another man, and I felt like I was at rock bottom.”
“Do you have the sixth sense?” I met his gaze. “It takes energy for a ghost to show themselves, and if you had a conversation or interaction with her, you must have the sixth sense.”
He snarled at me. “I’m not some freak.”
“That doesn’t make you a freak. Please Mr. Borneheart. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this case. I can’t do that unless you help me out.” It was a bit of a different approach than I had originally expected to take, but if I started accusing him of things he was just going to close up, his response to the sixth sense question told me that.
“Okay, so I can talk to dead people.” His hands loosened a bit and his shoulders slouched. “She was the only one in the house, despite the voices I heard. The tommy knocker-like ones.”
“Was there anyone else that had access to that house? At any point?”
He thought for a moment. “No.” His gaze flickered away and it made me think he was lying. “I was the only living person in that house.”
“Why seal up the basement when the house was foreclosed on?”
His gaze flickered again. “Because I wanted to leave my shrine for her, so she had some place to hide that was people free.”
“Were you aware that there was a hidden wall in that room?” I leaned back, but kept my eyes trained on his face.
He paled a little bit and it took him a moment to answer. “No, why would I have known? It wasn’t disclosed when I bought the house.” He tried to meet my gaze, but his eyes kept wandering away.
Without a doubt he was lying. “Those voices you heard, did they sound like people in pain?”
A small bead of sweat formed on his head. “No…no they just sounded like whispers, and knocks.”
The people in that other basement would have been screaming or at the very least moaning. Depending on if they were drugged up or not. Jason hadn’t mentioned any type of gag. I tried to shake the image from my head again. He was lying, I could call him on it, and he could get angry and refuse to answer any other questions, or I could use magic.
I pulled my bag to me and pulled out a piece of chalk. I felt Denar flinch next to me. I didn’t know if she thought I was going for a gun or what, but that wasn’t my problem right now.
Jerry raised a brow. “A piece of chalk?”
I didn’t answer him as I draw a small circle and rune on the table. It was a truth spell, kind of a gray area in the real world, but in the interrogation room I could get away with it. I’d used a similar spell to tell me when someone was lying, but this one meant that he could only tell the truth.
I motioned to the chalk. “Truth spell. Just have to ask you a few questions, and now you’ll only be able to tell me the truth.”
“I have to touch it first.” He laughed.
So he did have some knowledge of magic. “For not knowing a lot about witches, you caught on to that quickly.”
“You can’t outsmart me, Abigail.” He leaned forward, his hands flat on the table, his pinky half an inch away from my rune. “You maybe be able to tell I’m lying, but everything I said…that’s my story and there’s nothing you can do or say to make me change my words.”
I glanced at Denar and she shrugged. I grabbed Jerry’s wrist and moved his hand over the rune. The magic flared over us both and I was well aware that I was now trapped in the spell as well, but I knew the ins and outs, and how to watch my words when I spoke. I would have no choice but to answer a direct question, but because of the situation, there was an answer I could use that wasn’t a lie.
“Jerry Borneheart, were you aware that there were fifteen living creatures in a hidden room below your house?”
He glared at me, ripping his hand away. “Yes.”
Got him. “What was going on in that room?”
“I don’t know. I was just told to keep anyone from finding out about it. That’s why I sealed up the basement when the house was foreclosed on.”
I eased back in my chair. “You had no idea what was going on in that room?”
“Look, the guy offered to get the loan for me, I was down on my luck, as I told you, all that’s true. So he got the loan for me in the agreement that he could use the basements as he saw fit. So he sealed up the separate entrance, put the tunnel in, and I just left it at that. He said he didn’t need that other room so do what I wanted with it.”
“And you never questioned? You moron.” I bit my lip. “Sorry, the truth spell brings out the rude part of me.”
“The dude was paying my rent and all other bills. I only saw him on the property a few times, and then the noises. But really, would you question it?”
Oh damn. “Depending on who the person was, but you bet, as soon as I heard noises I would have. Especially anything that sounded human. So what happened after that? Why did the foreclosure come?”
“Dude stopped paying the loan. I had no idea until the notices came. I sealed up the basement because I wanted to keep the shrine to her and because I told the person I’d keep it hidden.”
I’d heard of people doing odd things when their house was foreclosed, but that had to be one of the oddest by far. “It sat vacant after that for three years.” Which might have been enough time for the bodies to mummify and the smell to go away. The basement had been sealed pretty damn well. “Do you have a name or anything on that person?”
“Should be on the paperwork, right? I can’t remember it, something foreign and odd sounding. He only came around at night.”
Vampire. “It should be on the paperwork. I’ll make sure to check with the bank.” I wiped my hand across the rune to erase it from the table. “Thank you, that’s all I needed from you for now.” Though I was disappointed that he wasn’t able to tell me exactly who the vampire was.
“Were there really fifteen people in that other room?”
I nodded. “All dead now, all part of some really disturbing scene. And that’s all I’m able to tell you.” I stood and walked out.
Denar followed me out. “You used magic during an interrogation.”
“I’m allowed to, I’m a PIB agent. If there was a problem with it, they wouldn’t hire witches or let us do interrogations.” I met her gaze. “Did it bother you?”
I smiled. “Some of us are more comfortable with our magic than others. I can only get so far without it. I try not to rely on it, but we weren’t getting anywhere with Jerry.”
“You put yourself at risk too by touching it.”
“That I did, but lucky for me, he didn’t ask any devastating questions.” I slung my bag on my shoulder. “Go ahead and release him. There’s nothing more he can tell us right now.”
“Of course, have a good evening, Agent Collins.”
“You too, Officer Denar.” I walked through the rows of desks to get out of the office. Something wasn’t sitting right with me. There was no doubt that the truth spell worked, Jerry’s demeanor changed the moment he started telling the truth, but what I couldn’t figure out was the vampire involved. It was almost too perfect a set up. I looked at the clock and realized it’d be an hour before Levi could leave the house. Perfect.
I texted him and only told him to meet me at my house. Nothing more. Nothing to give away that I was going to ask him about the case or the vampires. I knew Mario would tag along so I could at least pick both of their brains.
I struggled with the lock on the front door, cursing as it stuck while my key refused to turn in the right direction. I grumbled, pulled, and pushed the door to get it to work. It finally gave way and I got it opened. Noise in the living room made me pause. The sound of the news anchor reporting about bodies found on an old property.
I cursed and wondered how the local news had gotten ahold of the story, I hadn’t even seen a tabloid reporter at the scenes. I should have been more concerned about how my television was turned on and gotten local stations when I hadn’t gotten a converter box. I heard Levi’s voice after the reporter.
“This must be the case Abigail is on.”
I walked into the living room and whistled at the new shiny flat screen television that replaced the old one. “It is and that’s what I need to talk to you about.”
I motioned to the couch. “Please sit, Mario, I know you’re going to stay either way, so I’m not going to argue against that.”
The two vampires sat. I turned the television off so I could have the full attention of everyone. “There were fifteen corpses in a second basement at that house. The other problem we have is that Detective Mason has contained a small horde of blood-starved vampires on a property nearby.”
They both gave me blank masks as a response.
“The corpses were kept in a basement like prison, fed from by vampires.” I wasn’t going to reveal the part about the blood transfusions.
“A century ago that practice was…common among vampires.” Mario spoke after a few moments of silence. “It wasn’t pretty and there were laws in our community about it, but it did happen.”
“These corpses were only ten years old—“
“Bullshit.” Levi stood. “There’s no way someone could cover that up in my territory.”
It was the most emotion I’d seen from him in years. “So you had no idea that this was happening?”
“I’m saying your data must be wrong. There’s no way that it could have happened in the last ten years.” Levi shook his head. “Run the tests again, use magic to confirm it. Something.”
I glanced at Mario. He pressed his lips together and had a hand on his chin as if he was thinking.
“I didn’t run the tests, and I don’t think there is a magic that can help me with that. If I can find someone to help me, I might be able to do a trace spell that shows the final hours to me, but I’m not strong enough for that.”
“I don’t want another witch near this.” Mario spoke up. “There’s a possibility I know who it was that did this.”
“The man in the picture. The one you both lied to me about and said you didn’t know.” I crossed my arms and glared at them. “If you are withholding information that can help me with my case, I need to know it. And if you don’t want to give it to me, I’ll have Nick bring you in for questioning by him.”
“You wouldn’t dare have Levi arrested.” Mario chuckled.
Levi held a hand up. “Don’t test her. It could be him, but he wasn’t supposed to be in the territory. My guards had said they killed him.”
“Guards?”
“My people, the ones I send out to take care of the dirty jobs, as you refer to them.”
Ah, his killers. “What makes you think this could be him?”
“Other than the picture you found from the first victim?” Levi questioned and I held my tongue. “He’d been caught in several territories for setting up…experiments with humans. Prisons to keep them in and test…I don’t even know on them.”
The blood transfusions. Mario stood. “It’s thought that they were trying to create vampires without draining all the blood, but by mixing blood. This should be vampire business now, I’ll talk to the detective in charge to take the case and get a vampire PIB agent on it.”
“Like hell you’re taking my case.” My fingers found their way to the butt of my gun. “Mason isn’t very trusting of vampires. He’s not likely to give the case over.”
Levi nodded. “She’s right. He’ll feel like something suspicious was up.”
I already felt that way, but I wasn’t going to mention it. Mario shook his head. “If they get away—“
“You keep saying they. He’s not working alone then? Can I at least have a name?” I put my hands on my hips.
“No.” Mario said.
“Yes,” Levi said at the same time.
This was going to be interesting when I had one willing to work with me, but not the other. Mario turned to Levi, his jaw locked. “If he gets away and she screws this up it jeopardizes everything.”
“Seems to me that everything is in jeopardy.” Levi snapped back. “Abigail knows what she is doing. She won’t screw it up.”
The vote of confidence lacked the tone needed. I let it be for the moment. I really didn’t know what I was doing in this case, but I at least had more to go on now, and at least one vampire willing to work with me.
“Are you sure you want her that close to the starving vampires?” Mario looked at me and then Levi. “Are you willing to risk that?”
I had a feeling there was something I was missing in this conversation. I cleared my throat. “The day I turned eighteen Levi left me in charge of my own life. It’s how I ended up working with PIB.”
Levi nodded towards me as if agreeing. “I will give Abby the info she needs to solve this case. With the understanding that she lets you and I handle the starving vampires.”
“If the cases connect, I can’t make that promise.”
“I meant that part of the case. I’ll go in and talk to the vampires, you’ll stay away from them.”
“Mason wanted to contact you about them anyways. You can handle them with the understanding that you share all information with me.”
“Understood.” Levi leaned back on the couch.
“Are we done here then?” Mario didn’t sit, his body didn’t relax an inch, if anything, I think he scooted closer to Levi.
I kept any sharp comments I had to myself. “Yes, thanks for your input, Levi.” I purposely left Mario out of the gratefulness.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Levi held a hand up. “Let it go. Abigail, I’ll go speak with Mason tonight and see what I can do about the vampires. Is there anything else that you’re not telling me?”
“I visited Tomes, he said that there were others out there, but he didn’t give me names. I also have a human that worked with a vampire, but he has nothing to do with the humans that were found.”
“How are you so sure of that?” Mario spoke over Levi’s outrage of me visiting Tomes.
“Agent Grace was with me, so I wasn’t alone. And Mario, I’m a witch, magic.”
Levi cleared his throat. “Abigail, attitude, please.”
“When he starts being nicer to me, I’ll consider curbing my attitude.”
Mario’s jaw dropped and he took a step towards me. I put my hand on my gun. “I’d think carefully about your next movements.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said something like that tonight. I really don’t think you understand what I’ll do and what I won’t.” I wouldn’t shoot to kill him, probably because he’d move too fast, but it’d at least hurt him.
“I think we’ve had enough discussion for one night.” Levi put a hand over mine. “The case has you stressed. I’ll send you the name and from there you can work from your end.”
“Thank you.” I bowed my head and moved my hand away from my gun. “I also request that you follow your own rule about other people being in the house.” I jerked my head towards Mario. “I know that he’s stuck to you like glue, but next time he needs to stay home.”
Levi smirked. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Much appreciated.”
The two of them left without another word. I sat on the couch and wished that I had gotten a beer or a glass of wine before sitting down. I’d hoped Levi hadn’t gone into the basement to see what I was working on, but again, there had been no reason for him to. Now Mario, that vampire was being a bit special tonight. I was hoping he wouldn’t throw off our investigation simply because he didn’t want me on the case.
Osiris came out of the hallway and meowed at me. “Yeah, buddy, they’re gone now.” I scratched his ear and smiled as Levi’s text tone came across my phone. I knew that the name of the vampire would be there and that I had won over Mario’s desire to keep me in the dark.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I waltzed into the office the next morning, carrying two cups of coffee. I sat one down on Nick’s desk and went right to the computer to pull up the system. The vampire’s photo had brought up classified information, but I was hoping with a name there would be some info that I would have access to.
“You seem awfully happy this morning.” Nick looked at his coffee and then to me. “I’m not sure it’s safe to drink this.”
“I didn’t drug it or anything. It’s just how you like it. I’m happy because I got a name for our vampire in the photo. Apparently, he was a vampire known for keeping people in feeding prison-like conditions.” I sat down in my chair. Tapping on the keys, I brought up the search program and put the name into the system.
The Trouble with Ghosts (Here Witchy Witchy Book 3) Page 14