by Skye Knizley
“What’s up, Chris?” Storm asked.
“We caught a break,” Frost replied. “Balthazar Blight was just arrested on the Metro. They’re bringing him in now.”
“Bringing him in? What for?” Storm asked.
Frost consulted his clipboard. “Assault with a deadly weapon. He stabbed someone in front of three witnesses. This is our chance to grill him about the ’84 murders.”
“Let me say goodbye to Raven.”
Storm ran across the few feet separating the stands from the field and spoke to the coach, who was kind enough to signal a time out. When the team came in, Raven went straight to Storm’s side.
“You’re leaving.”
It wasn’t a question. The kid knew.
“I have to, Raven. A murder suspect has just been arrested.”
Raven sighed. “Can’t it wait just a couple more innings?”
Storm felt guilty as hell. It was the third time in a row he’d left her. “I’m sorry, pumpkin, it can’t. This is important.”
“It always is,” Raven replied. “I’m only important when I’m in trouble or embarrassing Mother.”
She turned away. Storm caught her shoulder and tried to turn her back. “Don’t be like that, Raven. I’ll make it up to you. Dinner with you and Mom later, okay?”
“Mom will have claret and you already smell like a cheeseburger. Forget it.”
Raven shrugged him off and walked back onto the field to await the rest of her team.
“That went well,” Frost said.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry, partner,” Frost said. “She’ll forgive you. She knows how big this case is.”
“Yeah. I just hope I’m still here to see it. Come on, let’s roll.”
LINCOLN HIGHWAY, MERRILLVILLE
PRESENT DAY
RAVEN SAT ON THE BLEACHERS staring off into space, a cup of coffee in her hand. A light snow was falling and she could hear thunder in the distance. More thunder snow.
Pirates Field hadn’t changed much since she’d last played softball back in 1999. The backstop was new and they’d installed a pair of dugouts; it was otherwise the same. Somehow she didn’t think it had the right to be the same when she wasn’t.
She sighed and sipped her coffee. The last time she’d played for the Pirates she’d been angry at her father for leaving the game. She went on to hit seven home runs and put a girl in the hospital before the game was over that night. Dominique had picked her up at the hospital where they’d taken her after the fight, but her wounds were long healed by the time Dominique had arrived. Her father hadn’t shown up until the next day and he’d gone straight to bed without saying a word. She’d never forgiven him for leaving. Until now. Now she understood how hard it was to let go of the job, no matter how much you wanted to.
She sat and watched the snow fall until it had covered the Shelby and the chill had crept into her bones.
“You look like a statue,” Aspen said.
Raven smiled and turned her head. Aspen was dressed in a white coat and scarf that hid everything but her eyes and shock of purple hair.
“I was just thinking,” Raven said.
Aspen climbed the bleachers and sat next to Raven. “I heard what you did to Frost. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Raven said. “It was a long time coming, but what’s done is done. When I joined homicide he was a great boss. Hard, sure, but I always felt he was mainly trying to keep me out of trouble. Now, I’m not so sure.”
Aspen huddled in her coat. “You aren’t the only one who thinks he’s been acting weird. Murtaugh said the same thing a few days ago.”
“Did you get anything on the Kryptorium fire?” Raven asked.
“Yeah. You were right, no files of any kind were found,” Aspen said. “Everything was toast.”
“I thought so. Which begs the question, where did Frost get a surveillance photo of me?”
Aspen shrugged. “I have no idea, but I know he didn’t get it from what was left of the security system. What they found would fit in a shoe box without taking the shoes out first.”
Raven leaned back and brushed snow off her legs. “Then I need to have another chat with Frost. He knows more than he’s letting on, maybe that’s why he’s behaving so strangely.”
“That isn’t all, Ray.”
“Good news or bad?”
Aspen gave Raven a lopsided grin. “Goodish? The fire marshal’s report included the name of the Kryptorium owner. Quentin Swales.”
Raven frowned. “I know that name.”
“Your father mentioned him in his notes a few times,” Aspen said. “He had something to do with Church, whoever that is.”
“Do we have an address on him?”
Aspen shook her head. “Rupert is looking into that, now. The man seems to have become a ghost back in 1999.”
“He isn’t the only wraith from that year.”
Raven stood and started down the bleachers.
“Where are you going?” Aspen asked.
“To talk to Chris,” Raven replied. “He has some explaining to do.”
Aspen followed and joined Raven on her way to the parked Shelby. “You’re suspended, Ray.”
“It’s only temporary, I assure you,” a new voice said.
Raven turned in surprise. Very few people could sneak up on her, but there stood an elderly man holding a cane, his hat covered in snow.
“Who are you?” Raven asked.
“No one of consequence,” the man replied. “You do not know me, though I knew your father quite well. I doubt you will remember, but I stood behind you at his funeral.”
Raven stepped toward the older man. It took her a moment to remember. What was throwing her off is that he hadn’t changed much over the years. But she’d seen him twice before, once at her father’s funeral. “I remember. Mr. King, right?”
“That is one of many names, yes,” the man replied.
“You found me last night. Outside the antiques shop.”
“More or less,” King replied. “I wasn’t looking for you, I was following the man who shot you. He eluded me long enough to find you and I lost him afterwards. I apologize for that. You look well for a woman who was just shot in the heart.”
“Thank you. How did you call for help?” Raven asked.
King paused and leaned on his cane. “I didn’t. You did. You were already calling for help when I found you. I waited with you until your partner arrived.”
“You could have taken her to a hospital,” Aspen snapped.
“Miss Kincaid, that was the last thing I could do,” King said. “They would have seen Ms. Storm’s body healing itself and they would have had a field day with her. It’s the same reason Mr. Levac didn’t take her to the emergency room.”
“What do you want, Mr. King?”
“To help you,” King replied. “You are on a case that your father, Christian Frost and I tried to solve for thirty years and I believe you are capable of bringing it to a close.”
“The ’84 case,” Raven said. “That’s why you were at Dad’s funeral.”
“He was helping me, though in truth I was more helping him toward the end,” King replied. “He was an excellent detective.”
“So help me with the case and tell me what I’m missing.” Raven said. “I’m not my father.”
King shook his head, dislodging more snow. “I have been away for quite some time, the case was becoming too personal for me. I only came back when I heard that the murders had started again. By now you know far more than I, all I can tell you is you must find Church.”
“We have nine pictures of different people all labeled Church,” Aspen said. “Who is he?”
“A man of great evil and many faces,” King said. “When you find him, you will find your killer and put a stop to these murders.”
“How am I supposed to find someone who has no record, no face and leaves nothing behind? The man doesn’t exist.”
King turned away. “He does. Follow y
our instincts, they have never let you down before.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home. I have work to do,” King said. “You will see me again before this is over.”
“Just a damn minute,” Raven growled. “You show up out of nowhere and spout cryptic nonsense and think you can vanish the same way? If you know me and my father then you know we hate supernatural drama. Just who are you, Mr. King? And why shouldn’t I drag your ass to jail right now?”
King kept walking. “I told you, I am no one of consequence. And you cannot arrest me, you seem to have misplaced your badge. Fair eve, to you, Ms. Storm, and good luck.”
“Are you going to stop him?” Aspen asked.
“I want to,” Raven said. “But he’s right. Frost has my badge and I have nothing to hold King on. Annoying me isn’t against the law. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The two women returned to where the Shelby was parked. Aspen had parked her purple Jeep nearby. Raven started toward her car, but was stopped by Aspen’s gentle hand on her arm.
“Wait… Ray are we going to talk about, you know?”
Raven looked over her shoulder. “What’s there to talk about, Asp?”
Tear’s formed in Aspen’s eyes. “What? I mean…well nothing I guess. I just thought…dammit, Ray! You know what I thought and I need you to talk to me!”
Raven stepped closer and pulled Aspen’s scarf away so she could see her face. “I know what you thought, honey. And I’m not arguing. I’m not good at this relationship stuff and I’m terrified of hurting you or you getting hurt again because of me. But if you want to try and make something of our feelings, so do I.”
Aspen smiled and hugged Raven around the waist. “I do, Ray. I just…well I do.”
Raven kissed Aspen softly. “Then we try, okay? But we have a bad guy to catch.”
Aspen smiled and let Raven go. “We catch the bad guy then we have an actual dinner that doesn’t have ‘burger’ in the name. Deal?”
Raven laughed. “Deal. I’m going to catch up with Rupe and go have some words with Frost. He knows more than he’s telling and I’m sick of playing by rules I don’t know.”
“What are you going to do?”
Raven let her vampire show in her eyes. “I’m going to play by my own rules.”
NORTH OAK AVENUE, WILLOW SPRINGS
PRESENT DAY
CHRISTIAN FROST LIVED IN A beige ranch house set back from the street on a corner lot in the Chicago suburb of Willow Springs. The sun was down and it was full dark when Raven parked her Shelby at the end of the wide snow-filled driveway. Snow was falling in sheets as thick as lead and the lightning was almost continuous. Both had brought the temperature well below freezing and the radio station Raven listened to had made jokes about hell freezing over.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Levac asked.
“No,” Raven replied. “But I don’t know what other option we have. Lupeski is in a coma, Balthazar Blight doesn’t exist and every other lead is a dead end. Chris is acting stranger than usual and I want to know why.”
“He doesn’t like you very much, what makes you think he’s going to cooperate?”
Raven smirked. “My winning personality.”
She stepped out into the snow and hurried down the walkway to the front porch which was covered by an awning that dated back to the 1950s. Raven rang the doorbell and turned to see Levac picking through the mail. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. He had turned up enough clues with his snooping that she wasn’t about to complain.
He caught up with her while she was still waiting.
“Anything?”
Levac shrugged. “It looks like a stack of mail from his wife and kids, postmarked in Florida.”
“If they’re sending letters they must have been gone a while,” Raven said.
Levac shuffled through the stack and whistled through his teeth. “Yeah, it looks like few months judging by the postmarks, maybe even longer.”
Raven turned away and rang the doorbell again. She could hear someone inside, but it didn’t sound as if they were coming to the door. It sounded more like they were choking.
“Chris? Chris are you in there? It’s Raven and Levac.”
There was still no answer. Raven looked at Levac and he nodded. A beat later he drew his pistol. Raven followed suit and kicked the door. It crashed open, destroying the frame and bending the deadbolt into a perfect U.
Inside was a foyer dimly lit by an overhead fixture. A snow shovel leaned up against the wall next to a bag of salt, both ready to combat the winter storm raging outside. Beyond was a large living area decorated in 80s contemporary complete with a spatter-pattern sofa and glass tables. Christian Frost lay on the floor next to the sofa, a bottle of Scotch beside him and his service revolver in his hand. Raven squatted next to him and pulled the pistol out of his unresisting grip.
“Can you hear me, Chris?”
Frost opened bloodshot eyes and stared up at Raven. It took him a few tries to focus, when he did his mouth fell open.
“You. What are you doing here?” His voice was slurred. but the question was unmistakable. “You’re onna suspension!”
Levac picked up the empty bottle of Scotch and put it in the table. “We know she’s suspended. Come on, let’s get you up.”
Raven helped him move Frost to the sofa, hindered only for a moment by the lieutenant’s need to loudly vomit a portion of the liquor he’d drunk.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Frost said when he could talk again.
“I need to know what you’re hiding,” Raven said. “Where did you get that surveillance photo of me?”
“I told you,” Frost said. “From the fire marshal.”
“That was a lie,” Levac said. “Talk to us, sir, we know the marshal didn’t find anything in the rubble, so where did the photo come from?”
Frost rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up. “I can’t tell you. He’ll kill my daughter if I tell you. He’ll kill Alex and of he doesn’t she will. She’s insane.”
“Who will and where is he?” Raven asked. “Come on, Chris, more people are going to die if we don’t stop him.”
“Church. I don’t know where he is, I don’t know who he is, he just shows up, a different person every time,” Frost said. “It’s a different person, but the same man.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, how do you know?” Raven asked.
“Mace. Your father figured it out years ago. Church isn’t human and he isn’t like you. He’s something else and he can move from person to person,” Frost said. “He gave me the picture and told me to discredit you. To break you or he would kill Alex.”
“Where is Alex, now?”
Frost lay back against the sofa. “Away at college. He knows where she is, I don’t know how, but he knows. I can’t protect her, no one can.”
“If you help me find Church you won’t have to protect her,” Raven said.
Frost stood. “I can’t, Storm! I don’t even know what the man looks like.”
“There has to be something, Lieutenant,” Levac said. “Think!”
“No, there isn’t and if you don’t get out of here he’s going to kill Alex! Raven, you know her, she’s only a little younger than you,” Frost said. “If you don’t let this go he’s going to tear her heart out like all the others!”
“I won’t let that happen, Chris, but you have to help me catch him before it’s too late,” Raven said. “No one is completely invisible.”
Frost turned away, shaking his head. “No, no. Nothing.”
He opened the bar and took out another bottle of Talisker Scotch. Raven watched in the mirror above the bar as he uncorked it. He started to pour a shot and his eyes caught hers in the mirror. He stared at her for a beat and his eyes widened.
“His eyes!”
“What?” Raven asked.
“His eyes, his eyes,” Frost repeated.
He turned around and leaned against the bar. �
�Church always has these crazy blue eyes that can see right through you. No matter what he looks like he always has the eyes.”
“Lupeski,” Levac said.
“He had bright blue eyes,” Raven said. “Disturbing ones.”
Frost shook his head. “He’s in the hospital, remember? Took a header out of a sixth story window, thanks to you.”
“And was still breathing,” Raven said. “I thought he was fine until he started spitting blood.”
“What better way to hide than right under our noses. We think he’s dead and dying, meanwhile he has his pick of victims,” Levac said.
“Give me some of your rounds,” Raven said.
Levac shrugged and pulled two spare magazines out of his coat. “What for?”
Raven handed them to Frost. “Sober up and get to Alex. Cold shower, black coffee, whatever you have to do, but get to her. These should kill anything that comes after you.”
Levac turned for the door. “All you have to do is not miss.”
Raven was stopped at the door by Frost’s voice. “Good luck, Ray.”
“You too, Chris. I’ll call you when it’s over.”
MERCY HOSPITAL, MICHIGAN AVENUE
PRESENT DAY
THE SNOW WAS FALLING SO fast and so thick that Raven had to put the police light on and move at a crawl. Most of the city’s traffic had vanished in the building blizzard with only a handful of plows and police cars on the road. It took the better part of two hours to return to the city center and Mercy Hospital. Raven took the time to bring Levac up to speed on everything that had happened, including Aspen.
“So…what?” he asked after a while. “Are you two a couple, now?”
Raven could feel herself blushing. “I think so. We haven’t really talked about it much.”
There was another pause and Raven wondered what Levac was thinking. He was her best friend and she loved him. If they hadn’t been partners they might have become more. But that was water under the bridge. He had moved on, surely it was okay she did, as well.
When he looked back he was grinning from ear to ear. “I’m happy for you. You need someone to keep an eye on you when I’m not there and I don’t trust anyone more than her to do the job.”