by Wilson, Maer
Thulu’s expression was as earnest as I’d ever seen it. His gaze never once left my own. “I think deep down, if you’ll admit it to yourself, that you’ve suspected all along, love. I think you just pretended you didn’t.”
Maybe he was right. About all of it. I sighed heavily. I so did not want to have that conversation at that particular moment, but my sense of betrayal flared up. I tried to keep my voice even.
“I don’t want to spend my life as a lab rat.”
“That won’t happen, love.”
His fingers traced a line down my cheek from forehead to chin. I pulled away and stood up to pace.
“The thing that bothers me most is that you didn’t tell me. Even if I suspected, I sure as hell didn’t know I suspected, Thulu. Otherwise, you would have simply mentioned it. But you didn’t mention it, did you? And just because we didn’t discuss it and just because you think I may have somehow known doesn’t mean I did know. You can’t assume that means I was okay with it. I’m not okay with it. You went behind my back, Thulu. How is that okay?”
I stared at him from where I had stopped by the fireplace. I felt tears threaten and was determined I wouldn’t cry. He watched me carefully, a frown creasing his forehead, his own eyes troubled. I shook my head.
“It isn’t okay, Fi. You’re right.” He paused. “But I knew where those kids were every time. How could I allow them to not be found when I knew where they were? Was I supposed to let your paranoia be an excuse for a child’s death?”
“No, Thulu, you were supposed to be honest with me and tell me you knew. You were supposed to tell me you were going to the police and let me deal with it in the open. Instead you betrayed my trust.” I rubbed my head where it was beginning to hurt.
“I’m sorry you see it that way, Fi.” His voice was flat and my heart dropped to my stomach. “Do you really think I would ever have allowed someone to die when I could save them? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You’re right, and that was wrong of me. But I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for saving a life. I love you and always will, but if it’s your paranoia against a life, then you know what I’ll have to do.”
I looked into his warm eyes and knew this man loved me and respected my opinion and wishes. His voice softened. “Please be on board with this, love. We’ll liaise only with Jeremy. And if anyone finds out that we don’t want to know, well then we’ll turn Jones loose on them to wipe their memories.”
I rolled my eyes. Thulu knew I strongly disapproved when Jones wiped memories, but even I had to admit there were times it had been helpful and healthier for the person being “adjusted.” I was certainly all for it for Reo’s shooter. But of course that was different, I told myself.
Thulu really wanted me to agree to helping when we could. Besides, what alternative was there with the cat out of the bag, and since I knew he would continue to give info to Jeremy?
My frustration was that he’d hidden his actions from me. And truth to tell, I probably had suspected all along, even if I refused to admit it. So, he had kept things from me, and I had lied to myself about it. Was it worth continuing to be hurt? I’d said he’d betrayed my trust, but was that even really true? Had I really stopped trusting my husband? Of course, the answer to that was “no.” I trusted him with everything. I always had and always would. I could continue to let this eat at me or we could move on. I didn’t like being at odds with him. It was foreign to me, and I was just going to have to admit we had both been wrong and move on.
I didn’t speak for a long time, staring into the empty fireplace. Still on the sofa, Thulu waited quietly. I nodded, slowly, and he gave a sigh of relief as he got up and quickly crossed to me and drew me in for a tight hug.
I pulled back to look at him. “No more secrets, Thulu. Not those kind anyway, okay?”
“Agreed, love. And you could maybe ease up a little?”
I looked into his eyes and nodded ruefully. “Besides, we’ve already brought Jeremy into the fold and he knows what we can do. I suppose it’s not a very big step to actually give him information.” I spoke slowly, thinking about what I said. “But he must always abide by the rules, the first of which is to never, ever divulge our names without our permission.”
“He knows that, but we will make it clear anyway.” He kissed my forehead and held me tight once more. The unspoken strain of the last few weeks eased between us, and I let out my own sigh as I listened to Thulu’s heartbeat.
There was a knock at the door, and we looked at each other. I knew things were going to be okay again. Thulu planted a kiss on my forehead and went to the front door.
He returned with Special Agent Brown. I tried to smile, but inside I just wanted him to go away. I knew he wanted to know what was going on. I still wondered how he had figured out that Thulu was Lassiter’s CI.
I invited him to sit down and offered him something to drink, which he declined, as he settled in one of the easy chairs. I moved to the sofa and sat in my usual spot.
“You’ve been gone on a trip.” It wasn’t a question.
Thulu sat next to me and took my hand. We both nodded in tandem.
“You were correct in saying that things had settled down.”
We looked at each other and back at Brown and nodded again. He looked at us impassively then changed tactics.
“I’m guessing that the two of you have something to do with the missing person’s case that suddenly has moved up Lassiter’s priority list. Interesting that no one was concerned about it until he started pushing.”
I squeezed Thulu’s hand slightly and he squeezed back. I watched Brown carefully. Neither of us answered, though.
Brown sighed. “What do I have to do to earn your trust? I’m not trying to hurt either of you. But I need to have information if I’m going to be able to investigate cases. The case where your family was attacked is still open.”
I interrupted, “Why? We told you who killed them. We told you that the killer was also dead.”
“And we have not one shred of evidence to back that up. All we know is a family was attacked and some of them killed. We can extrapolate through the crime scene evidence that the killer was extremely big, but that’s all. You claim that Gabriel himself is dead. Fine. Let me see his body.”
Thulu and I exchanged a glance. “We can’t do that, Special Agent Brown,” said Thulu. “His body no longer exists, except as glittering dust in the warehouse where he died. I don’t know if the dust is there or not. If it is, I have no idea if DNA can be gotten from it to help you identify that it is indeed not human and not of our world.”
“No, Mr. Thulukan, we already have the dust from the one who was killed at your parent’s house. That did indeed confirm the existence of something not of Earth. However, the lab was unable to confirm anything more than that it was organic.”
“Oh, right, I’d forgotten about that one. Well, then you know that their bodies collapse when they die.”
“We don’t know that. We know we have organic material. Not who or what it might be from, other than nothing from here.”
“I’m sorry, Special Agent Brown,” Thulu said. “I know you want to close the case, but you must understand that from where we sit, it is closed. What else can we do to convince you of that?”
Brown ran his hand through his short hair. I felt sorry for him. He’d followed his path based on something he thought I could do. Even though I wasn’t psychic, I did have an ability that would confirm his suspicions. And now, he was almost vindicated, but the very people who could offer him that vindication wouldn’t speak. The problem as I saw it was that I doubted that he’d accept any explanation.
“You see, Agent Brown,” I said, as I leaned forward. “I think you want proof of something, but what proof can we offer you? Magic doesn’t work like that, and we are dealing with magical beings. The supernatural, by its very nature, is almost impossible to prove, unless you witness it first-hand.
“I can’t prove to you that the pile of dust you found wa
s once a Light One. It was, but I can’t prove it. My family all gave statements that it was. Yet, you seem to be teetering on the edge between science and the supernatural and they aren’t always compatible. The science proves that dust is organic. I wish I had DNA from a Light One, but I suspect that any scraping would immediately turn to dust. So, we can’t help you close the case if you can’t accept the reports and statements you’ve already been given.”
I paused, but dove ahead. “The thing is, with the beings of magic back among us, there are going to be many unexplained things happening. You will either accept them or have one hell of a lot of open cases. If I were you, I’d stop trying to solve cases that are already solved and spend your efforts saving those who can be saved.”
I leaned back, as Brown watched me, processing what I’d said.
Thulu spoke up. “Like that kidnapping case you mentioned.”
Brown leaned forward. “I never said it was a kidnapping case. I said it was a missing person’s case.”
“Ah, my mistake. One assumes that if the police are involved in an adult woman’s disappearance that kidnapping is suspected. Since she made the news, we figured you must think she’s still alive. I guess kidnapping was the logical assumption. If you thought she was having margaritas in Acapulco, I doubt the police would be working so diligently on the case.” Smooth. My husband was smooth.
“I ask you again, Special Agent Brown, what is it you think my wife and I can do for you?”
The agent’s shoulders slumped and he sat back in the chair. “I don’t know. Confirmation maybe. Something that would prove that there are things beyond our understanding.”
“But, Agent Brown, you already know this,” I said gently. “I could tell you I sprout wings and fly,” he looked up and I quickly added, “I can’t, but even if I did. Even if I showed you. What would it really mean? At the end of the day, not much. You wouldn’t be able to fly yourself.”
“Does it bother you that all these magical people can do these things and we can’t?” Brown asked.
“Nope. Oh sure, we’d all love to fly and do amazing things, but we are what we are.” I explained about the Light Ones and how thousands of years hadn’t gained them any more wisdom in some areas than humans had achieved in a much shorter time span.
“I tell you what, Agent Brown, let me see if some of our magical friends will meet you. That’s the best we can do, I’m afraid.” Thulu’s offer was kind, and I honestly thought Brown was looking for the kind of validation we couldn’t give him, but if it got him off trying to prove we could do things, then maybe it was worthwhile.
Brown thought that over for a few seconds. “Is it possible to get some of those who witnessed what happened at the barbeque?”
“Yeah, I think it is, Agent Brown. In fact, I’ll see if Aela is available. I’m not sure how much good it will do to know this, but fairies can’t lie. They are universally respected for this. So, that might help set your mind at ease some.” It was probably the best I could do, but he seemed a bit happier anyway, I wasn’t sure what sort of crisis he was in, but he seemed sad. I’d bring Sloane in, too. Have him do some perking up vibes.
Brown left shortly after and Carter was coming down the stairs from his nap as we closed the door and locked it. I looked at the clock and realized it was time for Carter’s learning games. Thulu and I spent an hour on those and the rest of the afternoon outside helping Carter build a castle in his sandbox. Sculpting walls and turrets was relaxing, and the afternoon passed uneventfully. I couldn’t help the twinges of impatience that cropped up.
We were both too distracted to cook, so we decided it was a pizza night and ordered in. We had another glass of wine with dinner and that helped some. I kept my phone with me, checking to see if I’d missed a call, even though there’d been no singing ringtone. Thulu finally pulled it out of my hands and set in on the coffee table when I checked it twice within five minutes.
Carter was in bed, Thulu was in the kitchen and I was at my computer in the study when it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Parker or Jenna all day. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any of our other dead that day. The dead did that at times. Going into some zone that they couldn’t explain, but time passed very quickly for them. I called for Parker and Jenna.
They popped in quickly, with Sophie in tow.
“You guys all right?” I asked.
“Yeah, La Fi. Is everything okay here?” answered Parker.
“A lot going on, but mostly yeah.” I looked at Jenna. “Hey, Jenna, could you stay upstairs with Carter for me a few moments? I want to talk to Parker a sec.”
She gave me her sweet smile and nodded as she popped out.
I smiled at Parker. “Hey, sweetie, is everything okay with you?” No sense beating around the bush.
Parker tilted his head to one side as he looked at me thoughtfully. “Yeah, La Fi, why?”
I shrugged. “You seem - preoccupied? Something, anyway. I was worried about you. Did you remember anything about your death? Is there something else going on you want to share with me?” I paused, not wanting to ask the next question but knowing I had to. “Are you getting ready to go into the light?”
Parker shook his head emphatically. “No way! And miss all this stuff that’s going on?”
“Okay, but then what?”
He ducked his head and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his scent became a big stronger with a touch of vinegar. He opened his mouth to answer, but shook his head and gave me a sheepish smile. “I’m fine, honest, La Fi. I’d give you a hug if I could. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Worrying about my dead kids had become second nature though, and I frowned at Parker, who grinned at me.
“Really, I don’t have anything definite to share, La Fi. I will tell you when I know something more, though. I promise.” He tilted his head to one side and smiled. “Thanks for caring, La Fi.”
“Of course, sweetie.”
“So what happened with that lady?” he asked as Thulu joined us.
I filled him in on Lilia and her missing sister.
“You know, I could do a house to house. So could the rest of the dead.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. It was a great idea, and we called in all the rest of our dead family and friends. Nana Fae, Mama Deb and Evan thought it was an awesome idea. Thulu pulled the map of the city from a drawer in his desk.
We all moved into the family room where he could lay the map out on the coffee table. Former clients Emily and Devon showed up, as well as Jane and her grandson Robin. Before long they had rounded up others I had never seen before and a few I recognized, but who had never been clients. We had a pretty good posse of the dead in our family room. They were very polite and kept their scents in check. It could get overpowering for me and Thulu when they let their emotions run free or when there was a large group of them.
We divided the map up into areas and gave each ghost a section to search, starting out on the fringes and working their way in.
Thulu worked quickly in marking off the areas. Each ghost materialized his or her own copy and made sure their area corresponded to Thulu’s map.
Before they left, Thulu gave them a detailed description of the room. They were to report back here if they found Daria. He also gave them a description of the man who shot Reo. There was some anger when they heard about the shooting, and we let them know that we thought there was a possibility that the two cases were connected.
“Please use caution because we also think these people have at least one supe with them. We have no idea what kind of abilities he has, but he recognized an elf through a disguise. If you see them, just come to us, okay? And check every room in every building. I wish I could give you a better idea of location, but I think the supe is blocking me.” Thulu added. He filled them in on what Reo and Sloane had seen.
Because I loved the idea, I made sure we gave credit to Parker for thinking of it. The other dead were suitably impressed. With that we released
them out into the night. Our own little detective force.
Thulu sat down with a self -satisfied air and sipped his wine. “For the first time, I feel we aren’t running as fast as we can to stay behind this guy.”
“Even the dead will take a while to make the search, but this is much better than feeling like we contribute nothing,” I said, some of the weight lifting off me.
They hadn’t been gone long when we heard a knock at the back door. The enclosed porch was usually the spot for supernatural guests who could teleport in and not be seen by neighbors. Thulu got up to see who it was and returned with Sloane.
“We have historians going through the archives,” he said, after accepting a glass of wine. “I didn’t get a look at him and can only go by the way the creature made me feel.”
“Creature? As in animal and not intelligent being?”
“Creature as in cold, cruel and without remorse,” he replied. “Aurelia and Belus also felt the barrier Reo and I encountered and they could not pass it either. They felt the same thing I did, and we are investigating.” He smiled mirthlessly. “We do not like having beings around that we are unfamiliar with. Especially on a world we are fond of and feel protective of.”
Well, that was comforting anyway.
“Does Jones have any ideas?” he asked.
“We haven’t heard back from him, yet,” I answered, somewhat piqued. “I guess he’s back on Phaete.”
Sloane took another sip of his wine. “That I might be able to do something about. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” He rose and popped out.
Thulu and I looked at each other and laughed.
“Well,” he said, “at least our lives aren’t boring.”