“That’s impossible,” cried Amber. “When did she say this happened? And why?”
“Yesterday evening. There are photos and a physical exam that show she has extensive bruising, a cracked rib, and other injuries consistent with a vicious beating.”
It was Amber’s turn to pause. Only this morning Karl had been celebrating the effectiveness of his karate attack on the dream wolves. He’d gloated, describing the bruises he hoped decorated the bitch queen’s face. She couldn’t explain this to Thalia. It would take too long and there were police moving through the building and none of them would hesitate to listen to a private conversation. Right now it wouldn’t help Karl’s case to have her discussing magic.
The other problem was that Karl had inflicted the injuries, but he’d done it in a dream world while Gloria had been a wolf. If they made him do something like a lie detector, the police would suspect him. A lie detector test would be a bad idea.
She settled for facts she could prove.
“It’s impossible for Karl to have done that. Last night we were in a hotel in Albany. The receipts are in my wallet, in my computer bag. We drove down here today. It’s a long trip and we were together the whole way.”
Thalia made several notes in her file.
“Where’s your computer bag?”
“The police have it. Karl was carrying it when they took him in. I asked for it back, because it has all my money in it, but they say it was in his possession when they arrested him so I have no right to it until the matter is settled.”
Thalia made another note.
“I’ll see if I can get access to that. I can’t have them hanging onto evidence of his innocence. It might get lost.”
“Oh. We can get records. I paid with my credit card. The bank will have the transaction. And the hotel will have its copy.”
Thalia’s face fell.
“Your card. Not Karl’s?”
“No. No. I paid for last night’s hotel. And the night before. Karl paid for today’s.”
“How? I understood that you hadn’t booked in yet. Sandy said you were both still in the lobby when the police took you.”
“He made the reservation online. Guaranteed it with his credit card. I did the same thing for last night’s hotel.”
Thalia tapped her pen against the table gazing intently into Amber’s eyes.
“Did Karl pay for anything? Anything with his card yesterday? Dinner receipt, something like that? Whose name was the room in?”
Amber thought for a moment, trying to remember.
“My name. We had room service so it went on my card. Everything else he paid cash.”
“That means, at the moment, you can’t prove that he was with you. There’s no paper trail.”
Amber flushed. “People saw us together.”
“Unfortunately it is going to take time to gather witness testimony. Considering that the complainant is … well, would like to consider herself a high profile political mover and shaker the police were able to get a warrant with minimal investigation. A friendly prosecutor, a friendly judge, and all sorts of things can get done quickly in Washington.” Thalia dropped her voice. “Actually most of the people on the hill do not take the senator and his campaign seriously, but Gloria Simmons can make noise to the papers. For some reason this campaign is popular with the press. With all that to think about the police are highly motivated to keep her happy. Her lawyer is here already. I heard he has been waiting all afternoon for the police to bring Karl in. Which is odd and I’m going to look into that.” Thalia frowned down at the files and made another small note. “The lawyer is making all sorts of noises and demands, and I don’t know if you’ve had anything to do with police before, but they prefer a quiet life. No disrespect intended, but they want a solution as soon as possible.”
Chapter Sixteen
Amber’s head dropped back into her hands and she closed her eyes tight trying to remember the last few days.
“I can’t believe that I stopped Karl from paying for things. How could I have been so dumb? I was just …”
Sandy patted her arm.
“Overcompensating, just a little?”
“Yeah,” Amber sighed, “Just a little. A witch hurt him and well, I feel sort of guilty for everything that’s happened to him.”
“It wasn’t your magic. Stop trying to take all the burdens of the world on your shoulders. It will burn you out faster than any number of spells.”
“I guess.”
An hour after Thalia disappeared into the detective area, Amber still hadn’t heard anything about Karl. As they still had her computer, her money and plastic, Amber couldn’t go anywhere even if she wanted.
Amber walked over to the coffee machine and searched through her pockets. She was five cents short for coffee and fifteen cents short for hot chocolate. Sandy was asleep with her head resting against the wall. Yawning, Amber resumed her seat on the hard chair and avoided making eye contact with the officer watching the door. There had been a time in her life when she had thought waiting for dentist appointments was the worst way to pass time; now she knew there was a different level of painful anticipation. Waiting helplessly for something bad to happen to someone she loved.
She didn’t actually love Karl. She liked him; that was all. When he wasn’t being a pain in the buttocks, he was kind and funny. She worried about him. Considering what she knew about the power drains and Madam Gloria – may she get poison ivy on an intimate area of her anatomy forever – anyone who cared about Karl would worry. The fact that Amber wanted Karl beside her right now and for always so that she could keep watch over him, comfort and tease him, was not love. Amber bit her lip and chewed lightly.
It was … interesting, though. Her heart ached that he was somewhere that she was not. She needed to see him, to be comforted by his presence. When he was out of sight she watched for him and when she learned something new her first thought was to tell him. Except for the secrets she kept for the sake of his memory, she amended guiltily. But she would tell him everything one day. One day when they were both safe.
At this moment she wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight just so she could feel his heart beating reassuringly near hers. Amber had never felt so confused and driven in her entire life. And the only way she believed she could be centered and balanced would be side by side with Karl. If she could just get into the room where he was she would feel safer. Calmer. Complete.
Amber shifted restlessly in her chair, bumping into Sandy. The older woman came reluctantly upright, her makeshift pillow falling loudly to the floor.
“I’m sorry, Sandy. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay.” Sandy ran her tongue over her lips and reached down to take a bottle of water out of her bag. “We have time, if you want to talk.”
“What about?” Amber’s thoughts were still on Karl, but she could use the interruption.
Sandy sipped water for a moment, “I spent the day thinking about what you said about your problem. What do you know about psychic vampires?”
The detectives were polite as they escorted Thalia back to the interrogation rooms to meet with Karl.
“Have you questioned him?” asked Thalia, her voice light and friendly.
“No,” said Forth. “His girlfriend primed him. He invoked the right to remain silent and we just put him in here to wait for you.”
“Fine.”
They opened the heavy door and stepped into a grey painted room. There was one flat bare table in the middle of the room, four stiff back chairs, and one window covered in old metal mesh.
And Karl seated facing the door.
Thalia stopped, blocking the entrance, then turned to gape at the detectives.
“You think this guy attacked a woman? Who did he go after? Whistler’s Grandmother?”
The three of them turned to look at Karl. They took in his white hair, haggard, exhausted face, and the tremors that passed through his body every few minutes.
“I don’t believe it,” continued Thalia. “This man is obviously too ill to be dangerous. To inflict,” she glanced down at her notes, “broken ribs! Facial bruising and dislocated teeth.”
The detectives said nothing.
“Karl,” commanded Thalia. “Hold out your hands.”
Karl extended both hands straight out at shoulder height. Immediately his hands, his whole arm started to tremble.
“Try to stop that,” added Thalia.
“I can’t,” said Karl, closing his hands into fists and dropping them to the table. “It gets worse.”
“You have Parkinson’s?” demanded Detective Forth.
“No.” Karl sighed. “They don’t know what to think. I have some sort of … wasting condition. I had a heart attack two … no, three days ago. If you check my jacket pockets you’ll find the discharge instructions.”
The detective pulled a folder out from under his arm and shuffled through papers. He pulled out a colored sheet of hospital letterhead and held it out.
“This it?”
“Looks like,” said Karl before Thalia could stop him.
Both the lawyer and the detective read the sheet then studied Karl.
“You had a heart attack?” demanded Detective Forth. “How old are you?”
“Thirty.”
The staring continued for another few minutes.
“You really want to dance the dance with me?” asked Thalia. “You take this man in front of a judge and accuse him of assault of a presumably healthy woman who claims that he is an expert in karate and you will be laughed at.”
The detectives sighed.
It felt like hours later when a middle aged man in a suit far too tight for his abdomen emerged from the detective’s office area. The desk officer gave him a quick once over, identified him as lawyer and therefore scum, spotted his ID tag, and ignored him. Amber continued to watch the man’s movements on the grounds that he was the only creature stirring and she was trying to stay awake. Minutes passed and the lawyer’s agitation increased. Finally the elevator opened and two people emerged.
Amber straightened in her chair before forcing herself to relax and pretend only a casual interest in the newcomers. She recognized the woman immediately as the unpleasant Gloria, all grown up. She’d come a long way from the teenager shown in her college photographs as a skinny Goth wearing enough silver totem animal jewelry to equal the mineral wealth of a small nation. Now she was slender, dignified, and sporting a truly impressive black eye.
Amber winced. When it came to sympathetic victims, looking like she’d taken a beating would definitely get the police on her side. The man following a few steps behind her looked like hammered beefcake, solid, dependable, and emotionless.
Amber glanced at their auras. The lawyer was linked into the web as a recipient not a donor, but his personal energy was low and flickering. The bodyguard was not attached to the web as either donor or recipient, which probably indicated Madam Gloria was sensible enough not to mess with her hired muscle.
The twitchy lawyer plucked nervously at his clothes and tie as Gloria walked across the room. Amber could not hear his words, but Gloria’s reply echoed.
“If the police have questions, give them the answers they want to hear. Why’d you send for me at this obscene hour?”
The lawyer made pacifying motions as he trailed along in Gloria’s wake. Amber watched as Gloria tried three times to activate a spell she’d attached to her clothing. Each time the energy sparked and failed to catch. Amber grinned and pressed further back against the wall. The chaotic bundle of power Amber had returned to Gloria that morning … no, early yesterday morning was still interfering with Gloria’s magic. The damaged spells tangled in Gloria’s hands and hair, striking sparks and filling the ears of anyone with talent with a high pitched buzzing. Amber reached into her pocket for her fan, and opening it with a practiced flick, waved it gently before her face. With each twitch of the empowered woods she summoned, caught, and dismissed the debris of each failed spell’s residual energy hanging in the air behind Gloria. Amber couldn’t leave all that magical debris hanging around this room for weeks and weeks, annoying people who carried guns for a living. Who knew what might happen?
None of the night shift police or detectives seemed to recognize Gloria, which may have accounted for the disgruntled expression on her face. Gloria stormed up and started shouting at a randomly selected police officer. Police, as far as Amber knew from fiction, spent their entire professional lives not believing a word that was said to them. From the look on the officer’s face, he didn’t feel like changing that attitude for Gloria.
“Who’s in charge of my case?” Gloria demanded. “My lawyer tells me that the man who attacked me is here, but has not been arrested. He says you’re going to let him go. What the hell sort of police department is this?”
Amber’s heart missed a beat and she nudged the stirring Sandy further awake.
“They’re going to let him go!” Amber whispered and they shared a grin.
Amber struggled to restrain herself from hugging the nearest officer. Something was going right and she didn’t know what.
Detective Forth emerged from the corridor and took a moment to shuffle some paperwork in his hands before striding over to Gloria.
“Ms. Simmons. I’m Detective Forth. Your lawyer is correct. We aren’t arresting Karl Benn. We don’t believe he’s the person who attacked you.”
Gloria gasped. Amber watched her try and pull in power from the room, but it tangled in the chaotic spell residual surrounding her and twisted out of her grip.
“Are you crazy? Do you think I didn’t recognize the guy who did this to me?” Gloria gestured at her damaged face. “He and I lived together for years. I know it’s him. And my lawyer says you have him. I demand you arrest him.”
The detective continued past Gloria and sat at one of the desks. He waved at the nearest chair with his bundle of papers.
“Take a seat, Ms. Simmons, and take another look at what you told my colleagues on day shift. Is everything they wrote down correct? Do you have anything to add or change?”
Gloria remained standing, glaring down at the unperturbed detective.
“I gave my statement. I don’t want to change any part of it, except to add my frustration and anger at your inconsiderate behavior. I’m the victim in this case.”
“You don’t want to change any part of your report?” Forth’s voice remained calm as he made a notation. “Would you please sign this confirming your statement is accurate?”
Gloria snatched up the page and scanned it. Across the room Amber clung to Sandy’s arm barely daring to breathe. Gloria took a pen from the nearest table. Before she could sign the detective put his hand over the page.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Your lawyer should advise you about the penalties associated with making false reports, Ms. Simmons.”
Color drained from Gloria’s face then came rushing back. Her eyes glittered. Her lawyer stepped forward to whisper in her ear, but retreated rapidly when she turned her head to glare.
“How dare you imply I’m lying.”
Gloria pushed Forth’s hand off the page and scrawled her signature.
“Thank you, Ms. Simmons.”
Detective Forth’s face was impassive as he tucked the page into a folder and ignored the woman vibrating with barely controlled rage at his shoulder.
Out of the corner of her eye Amber saw Thalia emerging from the side corridor followed by Karl. He looked pale. Exhausted. From his posture Amber could tell that only stubbornness was keeping him up and moving. Amber leapt off her chair to rush across the room and hug him. He clung to her desperately, trembling as he ran his hand over her hair.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. “Thalia has fixed everything.”
Amber loosened her grip to get a better look at him. The tremors that wracked his body days ago were back. He walked slowly, back bent and fingers fluttering. His face was drawn
with fatigue. Not since she found him unconscious in the front of his car had she seen him so drained. So bone deep tired. Amber’s head came up sharply and she prepared to snarl at the detective who had been questioning Karl, but the detective was not looking at her. He was staring across the room, watching Gloria. Amber glanced over her shoulder. Gloria was gazing idly in their direction, her face blank and indifferent. Karl and Amber were clearly visible to her, the only civilians standing in the middle of the room and she did not react. Seconds slipped past and Gloria’s eyes widened slowly in shock and recognition and she started to come to her feet, her mouth hanging open. Detective Craig patted Karl once on the shoulder and started stalking toward the suddenly pale Gloria.
Thalia touched Amber’s sleeve and guided the two of them to chairs near another empty desk. A broad grin lit her face.
“Usually we would go through wasted hours of lineups and other nonsense,” said Thalia. “But I was able to convince the detectives that it wasn’t necessary.”
Thalia wiggled her nose. Amber was confused for a moment and then laughed. Why had she thought that the coven’s lawyer wouldn’t be a member of the coven?
“It helped, of course, that the description Ms. Simmons made was so detailed, and so wrong,” continued Thalia, “Right down to the color of the car that they dragged into impound. Ms. Simmons swore it was white. The police impound documentation said it was red. So I asked for her to be brought in to ‘clarify’ her description.”
“The car was white,” whispered Amber, “but the color changed five, no four days ago. I’m so tired I can’t keep my days straight.”
“As soon as I walked into the room and saw Karl I knew I could get him off,” said Thalia. “I mean, they showed me this complaint about a tall man with black hair who beat the living bejezzus out of an equally tall, fit woman using advanced karate techniques. The next thing I know I’m looking at this skinny guy whose hair is completely white and who looked like he was suffering from early onset Parkinson’s. I just had to point out that little detail to the detectives. They were embarrassed when I did. They’re supposed to notice little things like that.”
First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) Page 33