by Jaye Wells
I didn’t flinch. Just smiled politely as if the shiner was nothing of consequence. “All in a day’s work, Mr. Volos.”
His lips twitched like he knew I was doing it on purpose to keep distance. He didn’t say anything else. Just watched me, perhaps thinking if he stared long enough he could see through my skin and into the shadowy parts where all my secrets were hidden.
“If you can spare the time,” Gardner cut in, “Agent Morales and I would like to speak to you about our case.”
Volos’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I thought we were talking, Special Agent.”
Gardner, God love her, simply stared Volos down. He flicked a glance at the redhead. She stepped forward. “I’m afraid Mr. Volos has a tight schedule this afternoon.”
Gardner tilted her head and smiled tightly. “Perhaps he’ll be able to squeeze us in once we secure a search warrant.”
The assistant, or whatever she was, leaned in and whispered something to Volos. His jaw hardened but he let out a resigned sigh. “As it happens, I have a few minutes now.”
The one-eighty happened so fast I had to blink.
“Excellent—” Gardner began.
“On one condition,” he cut in.
“You can name it,” Gardner shot back.
“I’d like Detective Prospero present.”
Almost automatically I corrected him. “Officer Prospero.” And then the rest of his request sank in. “Wait, what?”
Gardner ignored my shocked reaction. “That wouldn’t be appropriate, all things considered.”
“She has insight into my background and personality that could only benefit you, correct?”
Gardner hesitated and shot Eldritch a look. The captain, clearly enjoying himself, merely smiled back serenely instead of supporting her. “That explains why we’d want her in there,” she continued, “but not why you do, Mr. Volos.”
Everyone’s eyes ping-ponged as the pair played verbal chess. For the rest of them it was merely a spectator sport, but I felt like a rope tugged between two bulldogs. Part of me wanted to attend the meeting, but now that John had specifically requested my presence I was wary as hell.
“My motivations are my own business, Special Agent.” He said it too casually to be casual. “Suffice it to say, as requests go it’s a minor thing, is it not? Considering none of us here believes that I am not a suspect in this case you’re investigating and I am well within my rights to refuse an interview until such time as you are ready to charge me with an actual crime.”
Gardner’s jaw clenched. “Your office then?”
Volos’s clipped nod was the only response.
“Mr. Volos—” Eldritch stammered.
“You’re here to solve a murder, Captain. I suggest you get back to work.” With that Volos turned his back on the veteran cop and walked away. Eldritch looked at a loss for a moment and then shot me a look that promised retribution, like he held me personally responsible for the rebuff.
Gardner marched off with Volos, as if she expected him to renege if she didn’t stay next to him every step to his office.
“Well?” Morales said. I spun to look at him, but I felt totally disconnected from myself. As if I’d just watched some other woman get shanghaied into a situation she wanted no part of. I opened my mouth but no words came out.
“When this is all done, we’re going to go grab a beer so you can explain to me why our Big Bad Wolf just looked at you like you were Little Red Riding Hood.”
I grimaced. “Make it a couple of shots of tequila and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He didn’t crack a smile. “You’re turning out to be a real pain in the ass, Cupcake.”
Chapter Fifteen
As it turned out, Volos, Gardner, and the redhead hadn’t bothered to wait for us. We grabbed the next elevator and popped out on the top floor of the tower. The outer offices of Volos Real Estate Development were designed with lots of bamboo and black-lacquered wood with touches of bloodred. A large wooden panel behind the front desk depicted a scene of two samurai warriors hacking away at each other with swords. The Asian-inspired motif wasn’t surprising since John had always had a fondness for the Eastern alchemical traditions.
The redhead stood in the center of the room to greet us. Her hair was again pulled back into a professional chignon. That day she wore a black skirt and an expensive-looking pink silk blouse, which managed to look both feminine and dominatrix-y at the same time. Especially when paired with the skyscraper black stilettos.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have the opportunity to introduce myself earlier.” She came forward with her perfectly manicured hand extended. “I’m Jade Turner.”
Morales shook her hand first. “Special Agent Drew Morales,” he said with enough baritone to make my eyes want to roll. “And this is my colleague, Officer Kate Prospero.”
She flicked her cat eyes toward me with a fake smile. “A pleasure.”
I tipped my chin in greeting. “You’re Mr. Volos’s secretary?”
Her smile froze. “Attorney.”
Morales cleared his throat to remind me to shut up.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, not really meaning it.
“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Volos and Special Agent Gardner are waiting,” she said in a permafrost tone. She sashayed away. My eyes went immediately to her legs, which were a mile long and featured those back seams that made pulp novel detectives wax poetic. I sneered inwardly and glanced at Morales. His eyes were on her legs, too, but his expression wasn’t judgmental so much as downright predatory.
I shot him a disgusted look.
He just waggled his brows and smirked. Then he nudged me to follow the Frost Queen into the office.
Volos was ensconced behind a large bamboo desk. Behind him a massive window offered a panoramic view of the river and the skyline of downtown Babylon in the distance. I couldn’t help but feel I’d just walked into the nest of a bird of prey.
“We don’t have much time.” He waved us into the chairs across the desk from him. “I have a meeting in thirty minutes.”
Gardner and Morales took the chairs since they were leading the interview. I settled for leaning against a black-lacquered credenza set on the wall behind them. Volos noticed the seating arrangements with a clenched jaw. What the hell was he playing at?
After she sat, Gardner looked at the attorney. “May I have some water?”
Jade froze. Clearly being thought of as Volos’s assistant was a sore spot.
“Please,” Gardner added with a fuck-you smile.
The attorney glanced at Volos, clearly expecting him to countermand the request. Instead, he nodded. “I’ll take one, too.”
As she walked out, Jade’s movements were stiff and her hands clasped at her side. Someone was silently cursing everyone in the room.
When I turned from watching her go, I caught Gardner and Morales exchanging a quick victorious glance. Their gamble to get rid of the attorney paid off, but I had to wonder about Volos’s easy compliance. Either he wasn’t concerned about being questioned without an attorney present or he merely wanted us to think he was.
“So?” Volos prompted.
Gardner cleared her throat and sat forward. “Three nights ago, a suspect murdered a woman in an alley off Canal. He was drinking her blood when Officer Prospero arrived on the scene.”
Volos shot me a speculative glance. “And you think he’s the one who killed the gentleman downstairs?”
Gardner shook her head. “No.”
When he dragged his gaze from me back to Gardner, I felt visceral relief. “How can you be certain it isn’t the same perpetrator?” he asked her.
Morales glanced back at me. “Prospero was forced to shoot the suspect when he attacked her.”
Volos stared at me. I met his searching gaze without flinching. He opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. He cleared his throat and looked back at Morales. “So what’s the connection to this murder?”
“The man
Prospero killed was freaking on a new potion,” Morales said. “Yesterday, we questioned the dead man downstairs about it.”
“And what did he say?”
I stiffened. Were they going to show all our cards?
Morales rested back in his chair like a man without a care in the world, but then he wasn’t the one about to be accused of federal Arcane and homicide charges. “He said it was your potion.”
Volos didn’t flinch. “So you figure I had him killed.”
“That’s for the BPD’s homicide detectives to determine,” Gardner said. “It’s quite a coincidence, though, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps. Luckily for me the courts haven’t suddenly started accepting coincidences as proof of guilt,” he said. “But as it happens, my attorney, pilot, and business associates can attest I was at a meeting in Toronto last night. I only found out about the murder when I got off the plane this morning and I headed right over.”
Gardner didn’t argue that it would have been easy enough for him to communicate with his people here to make the kill order. “Did you know the deceased?” she asked instead.
“I was told he hadn’t been identified yet.”
“His name was Marvin Brown,” Morales offered. “On the streets he was known as Picasso.”
Volos frowned. “I knew him back when Abe was still in power. He was young then. As I recall he was always doodling on stuff.”
“He was arrested a couple of times for vandalism. Graffiti,” Morales supplied. “It’s believed that the Votary Coven used him as a Herald.”
Volos raised his hands. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. It’s a shame, though. He was pretty young, yes?”
“Twenty,” I said, looking at him. “Older than a lot of coven kids get to be these days.”
“Sadly true,” he said, shaking his head. “What’s the potion you’re investigating?”
“It’s a strange formula,” Morales began. “Blood magic—”
“You’re on the wrong side of town, then,” Volos interrupted. “You need to be having this conversation with the albino.”
Technically Ramses Bane was not an albino, but since he spent all of his time underground, he was somewhat melanin-challenged. “You didn’t let me finish,” Morales said. “There are some minor characteristics of blood magic, but the main components are definitely alchemical. That’s your specialty, yes?”
“One of them,” Volos said, smooth as an elegantly extended middle finger.
Morales sighed heavily at the other man’s obvious obtuseness. “Are you familiar with the Gray Wolf?”
He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “It’s another name for the purifier, the king.”
“Huh?” Morales said.
“Antimony,” I explained. “The king is an alchemical symbol for gold. Antimony dissolves all metals except gold so it is often added to molten gold to destroy any impurities.”
Volos nodded to confirm what I said. “It’s used in the calcinatio phase of classical alchemy—baptism by fire.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Gardner said, losing her patience. “What do you know about a potion by the name of Gray Wolf?”
Volos smiled. He was enjoying this. “More than I want to know, but less than you want to hear.”
“Humor us.”
“It’s exceedingly dangerous. Both to the user and anyone who crosses their path.” He held up his hands. “But you already know that. My guess is whoever is behind it has a motive beyond profit. Otherwise, why put so much of their customer base in danger?” He leaned forward. “Obviously, Kate has told you that my specialty is alchemy and that’s true. But before you decide to pursue me as a suspect I’d ask you to consider what possible motive I’d have. For the last several years I’ve worked to improve the Cauldron and haven’t had so much as a speeding ticket. You ask me, the wizard behind this potion left that body here as a message.”
The door opened and Jade returned with a tray bearing a few glasses and a bottle of some fancy sparkling water. “What did I miss?” Her tone was cheerful, but her posture was stiff. She set the tray down and handed glasses to Morales and Gardner. I shook my head when she offered me one and mulled over Volos’s words. He sounded genuinely pissed off. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was guilty and didn’t want to get caught, or if it was because he was innocent and angry about being dragged into the case.
Plus, I’d been wondering myself about the motives someone might have for putting Gray Wolf on the streets. No wizard looking for a quick buck would mess with such a dangerous potion. Not only was the market extremely small given the cost, but they also risked killing off potential customers. We had to be missing something. Question was, did Volos know what that something was?
“Mr. Volos was just about to tell us what kind of message the body downstairs is intended to convey,” Gardner said.
The executive across the desk took a sip of his water before answering. “I’m afraid I don’t have solid proof.”
“Did you tell them about the letters?” Jade asked.
“What letters?” Gardner asked.
“After plans to build a community center near the Arteries were announced, my client began receiving threats in the mail,” Jade said.
“Why didn’t you take them to the police?” Morales asked Volos.
“I knew the plan wouldn’t be popular among all the residents of the Cauldron,” Volos admitted, “so I wrote them off. Initially.”
Jade stepped in. “In the last couple of weeks, they’ve become more frequent and the tone has shifted from vague threats to specific warnings.”
Gardner leaned forward. “May we?”
Volos nodded at Jade, who handed a stack of photocopies to Gardner. She scanned them for a moment. After a couple of pages her posture went stiff and she muttered a curse. Without looking up, she passed the ones she read to Morales. I came forward and took the first one, which he waved at me over his shoulder.
I scanned them quickly. The first was a formal, typed letter stating the author was unhappy about the land development plan, but not overtly threatening. However, on the second page—dated the day before my run-in with Harkins—only one sentence had been written: “The Cauldron will run red with blood.”
“Jesus,” I whispered. When I looked up, Volos was watching me.
“Even after this one, you still didn’t feel it was worth going to the cops?” Morales demanded.
Volos leaned forward with his elbows on the desk. “I didn’t take them seriously until a body showed up on my property.”
“May we have photocopies of these?” Gardner asked Jade.
“We already gave a copy to Captain Eldritch.” Her tone bordered on insult. “Perhaps he’ll share.”
Bitch.
“What about surveillance from last night?” Morales asked.
“Also with Eldritch,” Jade said before Volos could talk. “Perhaps instead of taking up my client’s time issuing vague accusations, you should have a conversation with your colleagues.”
Morales nodded, sucking air in through his nostrils. “Who do you think sent these?”
“You asked for theories, Special Agent,” Volos said. “All you have to ask yourself is this: Who in the Cauldron would feel most threatened by the location of the community center?”
Gardner and Morales weren’t from the Cauldron, but I knew whom he meant immediately. “Ramses Bane.” The minute I said his name, my brain spun off in about ten directions. The most compelling of which was Bane’s little stunt at the precinct the other day.
Gardner, however, was playing catch-up. “Isn’t he the head of the Sanguinarian Coven?”
Volos nodded. “Bane considers the Arteries his kingdom. Not hard to imagine he would see my plans as a direct threat to his turf.”
“But you knew he’d see it that way when you proposed the project,” I countered. “Why risk it?”
Volos smiled. “The lot in question has been empty for years and I managed
to buy it at a steal because the owner was tired of the covens’ using it to peddle their wares. Now it will be a safe place for kids to go after school so they’ll stay off the streets. The benefits outweighed the risks, in my opinion.”
“I doubt Marvin Brown would agree with you,” I shot back.
His jaw tightened. “I will not be bullied into backing down by that anemic tunnel rat.”
“You’re conveniently forgetting that Gray Wolf is an alchemical potion. Bane’s into blood magic. He doesn’t have the chops to pull off that kind of alchemy.”
“I’m not forgetting anything, Kate.” The words conveyed a world of subtext I couldn’t begin to unravel. “It’s not my job to prove Bane is responsible. It’s yours.”
“No, Mr. Volos,” Gardner said. “Our job is to find the truth.” She rose. “Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch if we have more questions.”
For the first time Volos looked taken off guard, as if he couldn’t fathom why Gardner wasn’t taking his word for it. “The ground-breaking is in four days. I suggest you move fast before Bane does something more drastic, like unleash an entire pack of bloodthirsty beasts on the innocent citizens of this city.”
Morales held up his hands. “If you believe that’s possible, why not postpone the ceremony?”
Volos shot my partner a pitying look. “I assure you that’s not a possibility.”
“Why not?”
“Too much time and money have been invested to delay. If we haven’t broken ground by winter, we’ll have to wait until next year and that is not an option. The mayor wants the project well under way before the election.” He smiled coldly. “Besides, postponing would be surrender and I assure you that is not my style.”
“And if we don’t catch him before you break ground?” Gardner asked.
“I’ll convince the mayor to send the BPD in to clean out the tunnels and charge everyone they find with trespassing. That will give us the window we need to move forward.”