Dirty Magic

by Jaye Wells

  “What can we do for you?” Eldritch said.

  “My son has some footage in his possession I think you’ll be very interested in seeing. Hieronymus?”

  Harry retrieved a paper sleeve containing a CD from his pocket. “You just need to put this in your computer to watch it.”

  I crossed my arms and laughed. “Sure, and download a virus that allows you to hack into the BPD servers? Not fucking likely, Harry.”

  He gritted his teeth at my use of his nickname. “The name’s Hieronymus.” The “bitch” was silent.

  “We assumed you would be suspicious,” Bane said. “Harry also brought a laptop.”

  Harry turned a tight smile on Eldritch. “May I?”

  Eldritch glanced back at me, obviously, like me, he suspected Harry might be trying to get close enough to potion us. I nodded quickly, curious to see what the Banes were up to. Harry placed the laptop on the desk, slipped in the disc, and hit Play.

  The video that came up on-screen was grainy, as if it had been taken with a security camera. There was no sound, either. I squinted at the screen, trying to figure out what exactly I was seeing. “What is—”

  “Shh,” Harry said. “It’s coming.”

  A few tense seconds later, Ferris Harkins ran into the frame. I realized then that we were looking at the entrance to the Arteries. Harkins scrambled up the gate, and a split second later, I appeared and jumped at Harkins.

  “What the—”

  “Quiet, Prospero,” Eldritch snapped. I realized then this was the first chance he’d had to see a broader view of what happened the night before instead of just the grainy, chaotic footage from my vest cam. I already knew how the scene was going to play out, so I stopped watching and focused instead on figuring out Bane’s angle. Maybe something appeared damning in the footage. Or maybe they’d manipulated the video. I sighed and focused back on the screen. Harkins and I were grappling on the ground now. I was reaching for the gun. The fear and pain on my face made me look away.

  I knew the moment the big climax happened on-screen because Eldritch stiffened. Harry stepped in and hit a couple of keys and when I looked back the image was frozen on my bloody face screaming toward the officers who were in the background, running toward the murder scene.

  Eldritch’s chair squeaked as he leaned back. He didn’t say anything. Either he was processing or he wanted to force Bane to explain himself.

  “I installed cameras at all the tunnel entrances a couple of years back,” Ramses Bane said. “I hoped the added security would help cut down on the crime in the tunnels.”

  I rolled my eyes. Bane thrived on the crimes in those tunnels. He’d probably installed the cameras so he could see police raids before they arrived.

  “It was hard to miss the crews outside our front door last night so I looked at the tapes to see what had transpired. Once I realized what occurred I thought it best to step forward rather than force the BPD to get a subpoena. Especially since it’s clear from the footage that Officer Prospero was acting in self-defense.”

  I squinted at the phone. Why in the hell would Ramses Bane be interested in defending my innocence? Something stunk here and it wasn’t just the aftershave Harry doused all over himself.

  Eldritch cleared his throat. “I appreciate you coming forward with this. It will be helpful.”

  Harry nodded with an air of false modesty, even though he was nothing more than an errand boy. Bane leaned forward, filling the screen with his round face. “I consider it my civic duty to help the police in protecting the city from this dangerous new potion.”

  “We’ll take this footage into consideration, sir,” Eldritch said. “If there’s anything else you think of, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.”

  “My son is leaving my personal cell number as well as his own.” He blinked at the camera with what I guess he considered an earnest smile. Instead, he looked awkwardly feral with his lips curled back to reveal white gums too large for his tiny, gray teeth. “We’d be happy to aid this investigation in any way possible.”

  “Mr. Bane—”

  “Ramses, please,” the bald man purred.

  “Yes, sure,” Eldritch said. “Pardon me for being suspicious when you’ve gone out of your way, but why the sudden urge to aid the BPD?”

  Bane smiled silkily into the camera. “Let’s just say that it’s in all of our interests to see the responsible party arrested as soon as possible.”

  I raised a brow. “Does that mean you have a theory as to who put Gray Wolf on the streets?”

  Bane chuckled. “Naturally, but I’ll keep my theories to myself for now. Suffice it to say, I pray the responsible party will be caught and punished harshly.”

  Eldritch stood as though he’d heard enough. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Bane. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”

  “As you wish,” Bane said. “Say good-bye, Harry.”

  “Good-bye,” the younger Bane parroted. Then he closed the phone, gathered the laptop, and nodded before exiting. Eldritch and I stood in silence, watching the white-haired wizard make his way back through the station. Finally, once he’d disappeared, Eldritch whistled low.

  “What the hell do you think that was about?”

  I chewed on my lip. “My best guess? He either believes or knows one of his enemies is behind this. Ramses Bane doesn’t help anyone unless there’s something in it for himself.”

  Eldritch sighed and nodded. “I’ll call Gardner and let her know what just happened.”

  I glanced over at him. “What are you going to do with the footage from last night?”

  “Relax, Prospero. I plan on handing it over to the shoot team. It might still take some time to wrap up the red tape, but you’ll be cleared.” He turned and looked me in the eyes. “Not that I ever doubted,” he added quickly.

  “Thanks, sir.”

  He nodded, all magnanimous. “Just remember to keep me in the loop on the MEA’s progress.”

  It hit me then. Eldritch didn’t go to bat for me because he thought I was the right candidate. He did it because he knew how much I wanted the job, and he was betting that my gratitude would ensure I’d keep him in the loop on the MEA’s movements. Looked like Bane wasn’t the only one who only did favors because he expected to reap personal gain.

  I sighed. “Sir, I don’t exactly love the idea of being a double agent.”

  He waved away my concern. “Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as—helping out the BPD team.”

  That was the problem, I thought, whose team was I on now, exactly? Eldritch wanted to use me, and Gardner didn’t seem too psyched to be saddled with me.

  “The team,” I said. “Right.”

  Chapter Seven

  That night, Pen leaned back in the peeling Adirondack chair and took a swig of her beer. “You did what now?”

  I shrugged and crossed my ankle over my knee. Danny’s light was still on. The throbbing bass line of his music seeped out from the shitty insulation around the basement window. Soon I’d have to go in there and tell him to turn off the music and get to sleep since it was a school night. But for the moment I didn’t have that excuse to avoid the interrogation by my best friend. She knew the perfect places to apply pressure until I cried mercy and spilled all the details she wanted to hear.

  “I killed a guy and then talked my way onto a task force that’s taking on the most powerful wizards in the Cauldron,” I said, keeping my tone nonchalant. When I put it that way, I kind of understood the worry creasing her brows. Good thing I hadn’t mentioned my little field trip to Volos’s office. No doubt she would have put that under the category of psycho-ex-girlfriend behavior, instead of the strategic surveillance I’d convinced myself it was.

  She blinked at me.

  “What?” I looked away from the anticipation on her face, the one that always preceded a nice, long, tough-love therapy session.

  “How did you feel after you shot him?”

  I almost rolle
d my eyes. The problem with having a psychologist for a best friend was she always wanted to know about stupid things … like emotions. “Um,” I said, stalling, “I felt … shitty.”

  It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Jesus, Katie. Way to use your big-girl words.”

  I sighed and surrendered. The sooner I got this part over with, the sooner we could start gossiping about fun stuff like getting a pelvic exam or a root canal. “At first I was just scared—worried he’d kill me before I could stop him. But then, once it was over, I felt kind of relieved and … numb. I guess.” At the last second, I added in a small voice, “Maybe a little proud.”

  She perked up. “Proud?”

  I sighed and leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. “You didn’t see the woman he killed, Pen. Savaged is more like it. Killing him doesn’t bring her back, but it means he can’t ever do that to anyone else. I did what needed to be done and I’d do it again.”

  She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to see lies embedded in my pores. I met her stare with a neutral expression. Finally, she blew out a breath. “Well, damn. You actually sound kind of healthy about it.”

  I shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t exactly a party, you know?”

  She nodded.

  “But in a way, I guess it has a silver lining because if it hadn’t happened I never would have gotten a chance to be on this task force.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  I eased back in the seat to give myself time to gather my thoughts. “Don’t know much yet. They’re looking for the wizard who’s behind this new potion. Guess I’ll find out more tomorrow.”

  “Wonder if there will be any fine-ass MEA agents on your team.” Now a different kind of instinct drove Pen. Not the need of a therapist to analyze behavior, but that of a best friend hot on the trail of juicy drama.

  I frowned at her. “Trust me, even if there are I’m not interested. This is my big chance to prove myself and no ass is fine enough to wreck this opportunity.”

  “Hmm.”

  I rose to get another beer from the six-pack sitting on the table. The yard was already covered in a light blanket of fall leaves. Soon it would be too chilly to sit out here for our weekly Bitch ’n’ Beer sessions. I sighed and handed another cold one to Pen. “But I’m never opposed to a little eye candy.”

  She tapped her can to mine. “Here’s to fine asses and eye candy.” She barely made it through the toast before the laughter began.

  Pen had one of those laughs that came straight from her soul. She never tittered politely. She always opened up her whole being and shouted her amusement at the world. It got embarrassing in small restaurants, but on that night, with the first of autumn’s smoky chill surrounding us and the moon overhead sharing the joke, I grabbed onto the sound of my best friend’s laughter like a buoy.

  No doubt about it, this case wasn’t going to be an easy one. It’s one thing to collar street-level potion cookers. You take a batch away and there are always a dozen more waiting in the wings. It’s something else entirely to go after the head of the beast. Coven leaders didn’t just play to win—they played to punish.

  A heavy weight settled into my stomach. Just guessing, but I think it was the realization that I’d jumped into the deep end of shark-infested waters. “Shit, Pen. What have I gotten myself into?”

  She pressed her lips together and watched me for a few seconds, as if she was trying to decide how much honesty I could handle. Finally, she gave a little nod as she made her decision. “You could walk away.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What do you mean?”

  “Back off the team and take the suspension.” She shrugged too innocently for this to be a spontaneous suggestion. “I can lend you some cash and maybe you can pick up some part-time work to keep things afloat.”

  I sat back heavily in my seat. “That’s crazy.”

  “Is it?” She raised a brow. “You’ve been going zero-to-sixty for the last few years. You’ve barely had any vacation besides a few days you took off when Danny got an ear infection or something. Maybe taking the suspension will give you time to figure out what you really want.”

  “You think I don’t know what I want?”

  “I think you thought you knew.” She leaned forward and put a hand on my knee to soften the emotional gut punch. “But I sometimes wonder if you actually want what you got. Arresting wizards won’t bring your mother back, Kate.”

  “Jesus, don’t pull that shrink shit on me,” I said, my voice rising in a combination of anger and panic. “I worked too hard to get where I am—”

  “Just because you worked hard to get here doesn’t mean this is where you belong.”

  My stomach dropped. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  She held up her hands. “Settle down, Katie. I’m not attacking you.”

  “You just told me you think I’m some sort of fraud.”

  “Is that what I said?” She tilted her head. “Or is that what you heard?”

  My mouth snapped shut. Time to regroup before I gave her any further ammunition for the commitment hearing. “Look, I’m not saying things are perfect. You know I’ve been struggling to get promoted off the beat for a while now with no luck. There’s never enough money unless I sign up for a lot of overtime, but then I never see Danny.” Saying all that aloud made me short of breath, as if a tide were rising around me. “But if I can prove myself on this task force, everything will be easier. The pay will be better. The schedule a little more flexible so I can be here more.”

  “He’s practically a man now, Katie.”

  “I know,” I snapped. My eyes strayed to the light coming from his bedroom. “Anyway,” I continued in a less combative tone, “I know life isn’t perfect. But I still love the work and this task force is everything I’ve been working toward. Plus, if I had to sit around here in my bathrobe while they finish the investigation I’d go batshit.”

  She raised a brow.

  “Well, bat shittier.”

  She finally cracked a smile. “Just watch your ass.” My best friend raised her bottle and clinked it with mine. “I’d hate to have to kick it if you got hurt.”

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, I woke up with a little extra zing in my veins. I’m not usually one for all that today-is-the-first-day-of-the-rest-of-your-life crap, but for the first time in a long time I felt like I might actually make a difference. Not just on the Cauldron’s streets, but in our lives—mine and Danny’s. My new sense of purpose and pride lasted about as long as it took me to walk into the kitchen.

  “What are you wearing that for?” Danny’s mouth was screwed up as though his toaster pastry had gone rancid.

  My lips pressed into a grimace. Guess I didn’t have to ask him how I looked. “Got a meeting this morning.”

  “At a funeral home?”

  I shot him a look but didn’t argue. The last time I’d worn the black suit was at my mother’s funeral ten years earlier. When I’d pulled it out of the back of my closet that morning, it had been hard to miss that the hem was drooping and the color faded with time. But Gardner had said dress for the job, and I imagined MEA types only wore suits.

  Turning to grab the coffee from the cupboard, I reminded myself that I wouldn’t be wearing the frumpy suit for long. The minute that sweet MEA overtime kicked in I’d be able to afford some new duds.

  I glanced at the holes in the knees of Danny’s jeans. Make that new duds for both of us.

  “Seriously, though,” Danny said, “what kind of meeting?” He paused, his face going squinty and suspicious. “Wait—did Principal Anderson call you?”

  “No,” I said dragging out the word. “Why would your principal be calling me?”

  He forced a laugh and fidgeted with the cord of his headphones. “No reason.”

  I shot him my best interrogator’s glare, but he didn’t break. “Anyway, it’s about a new assignment.”

  “Oh.” With that he
put his headphones back on and tuned me out. So much for that sibling-bonding moment. I shrugged it off for two reasons. First, I wasn’t too keen on telling Danny I might be involved in a potentially dangerous assignment. And second, I wasn’t sure I’d actually get a permanent spot on the team, so why waste the breath?

  I leaned against the counter and eyed the back of Danny’s head. His hair was in the style his peers favored—meticulous messiness. I swear the kid took half an hour applying goo to his hair so it could look exactly like it had when he rolled out of bed. Shaking my head, I realized I sounded a lot like a mom. Or what I assumed normal moms sounded like.

  A car horn interrupted my ruminations. I went to the door and waved to Pen with the hand not cradling my coffee. She leaned out. “Looking hot!”

  “Thanks!” I appreciated the compliment even though we both knew it was a lie.

  “Give ’em hell today, okay?”

  I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up even though my stomach was churning with nerves. The clock over the stove beeped the half hour. Shit, if I didn’t hurry, I’d be late for my first day on the job. I grabbed a snack cake for the road and hopped in Sybil to go meet my destiny.

  Unfortunately, destiny had other plans. I stuck the cake in my mouth and the key in the ignition. Sybil made a sound somewhere between a cat coughing up a fur ball and a congested demon. “Thit!” I cursed through my mouthful of carbs.

  I considered trying to get under the hood and figure out what was going on, but traffic getting into the city was always horrible this time of morning. Any delay on my part would mean being late.

  Decision made, I gulped down the mouthful of food, hit a couple of buttons on the cell phone, and ordered up a taxi. Looked like destiny had just decided what I’d be using my first MEA paycheck to cover.

  * * *

  The address Gardner had given me led to a decrepit building on the outskirts of the Cauldron. Abandoned train tracks—relics of Babylon’s steel empire—lay behind it like rusty veins, and in the distance Lake Erie glowed in the smog-dulled morning sun. The scents of dead fish and a faint chemical odor warred with the acrid exhaust from the freeway a few blocks over.