“Do you want to tell me about the scene you just left?”
Not really, but I had to test my theory out on someone. “There’s been someone killed from the local coven. So that means a wolf victim and a witch.”
“It would have been two witches had they managed to kill you.” He pointed out and I nodded.
“I don’t think I was on their list.”
“You think it’s like a hit man?”
I watched as the traffic slowed and I slowed with it. I hated the highway at this time of day, but it was the most direct route. “Something like that. The information I have says that the Cult of Ra feels that it is their responsibility to cleanse the world of those who have strayed from the path of the craft. I have a feeling they have a list.”
“Werewolves don’t normally practice witchcraft, so that doesn’t fit into your theory.”
I hadn’t thought of that. I clicked my tongue against my teeth. “Then I’m at a loss. Why would they be here?”
“I don’t know, maybe they are using the Cult as a red herring? Maybe it’s not actually them?”
I frowned and thought about the difference in the runes from the note and from crime scene. “You could be right.”
“Oh looky there, the werewolf is right.” He chided and I turned the car onto the exit that I needed.
So why, then? How did they know about the Cult? It seemed that people went through great lengths to bury any information on them. “Yes, you were right. Hopefully I can get some answers soon, because this is starting to get complicated.”
“Stressed out, are we?” He asked.
I nodded. “Just a little bit. It’s rare that a case this big comes along. Especially one that has something to do with my past. Levi has also given me a mission.”
“Oh? And what might that be? I hope dating me. I’ve been trying to get him to demand that of you for a long time.” He laughed, but I had a feeling he wasn’t joking.
The thought should have bothered me more than it did. I shook my head. “Nope, apparently there’s a vampire downtown selling thrills.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure.” I seemed to have been saying that a lot in the last few days.
“Sounds like a drug deal. I guess that you’re supposed to talk him out of it?” Simon asked and I pulled into a parking spot.
“Sure, we’ll go with talking.”
He sighed. “Does Levi realize that you could lose your job if you’re caught killing for him?”
“Levi doesn’t really care.” I shrugged.
Simon sighed. “Right. That vampire is going to be the death of you.”
“Well, he has threatened to turn me a few times.” I winked and got out of the car.
Simon followed and I clicked the button on the fob and the car beeped at me. I checked him in at the reception desk. Unlike the morgue, our receptionist was attentive and she carried a firearm. Sadly I’ve seen her have to use it before. We see a lot of strange stuff here and she handled the raging vampire like a pro. I honestly thought maybe she moonlighted as an assassin.
I walked Simon to the elevator and took it to the fifth floor. My office was all the way at the end of the hall. I pulled out my badge and waved it over the sensor. It beeped and the little light turned green, allowing me to get in. Simon walked in behind me and looked around. “This is nice...bare, but nice.”
The windows look out at the mountain and took up the far wall. The other three walls were white and made the overly large room look huge. I could have probably fit a few more desks in it. My desk faced the door and was just a plain wood top desk with two drawers on each side of where I sat. Two stationary leather chairs sat in front of my desk for those rare occasions when people came in.
“Occasionally, people see the inside of my office. It’s not a wise idea to have pictures of friends or family because they can be used against you.” I shrugged and sat in my leather chair. It wasn’t like I had pictures to put up anyways. I kept an old fading one in my drawer of my parents, but that was more to remind myself why I had taken this job. I hated my office, some days I hated my job, but I loved being able to use my magic to help people.
Simon looked out the wide windows. “A nice view of the mountains.”
“You can sit if you want. I promise the chair isn’t cursed or magically charmed.” I smiled and hit ctrl, alt and delete on my computer to bring up the unlock screen. I typed in the password and navigated the mouse to the program I needed.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the note with the name on it. I typed it in and took a look at what came up. Nothing at all. I frowned. That wasn’t right. We normally had at least an address for someone, unless it was an alias. I tapped my fingers on the desk in frustration. Something, anything needed to pop up.
Putting the note aside I typed in Matthew Drops and relaxed when files started to pull up on him. I scanned through them and looked at Simon. “You sure you don’t know anything about Matthew Drops?”
He nodded. “Yeah, should I?”
“Apparently he’s the next in line for Alpha in the pack on the western slope.”
Simon frowned. “That can’t be possible. The Second in that pack is James.”
I looked at my screen. “No, according to this, James is the alpha now.”
“How do you guys even have that on record?”
“You know, I’m not really sure. Someone builds these databases for us, I just assume it’s someone who is paid really, really well.” I tapped on the arrow key to move the screen down. “That doesn’t explain why Matthew was over here.”
“Or why his wife filed a report with our police department.” Simon pointed out. “So something else is up.”
I nodded. “I’ll call the wife and see if I can’t meet with her.”
Simon leaned back in the chair. “I want to come with you. I’ll be able to smell if he’s been there recently.”
“Just don’t go sniffing like a dog, then you can come.” I grinned when he rolled his eyes. “One last thing to do.” I pulled out the photo and put it through the portable scanner. It popped up on the screen with all three people visible.
I used the program to frame the face of the strange man in the background. I copied it over to the face recognition program and hit scan. I leaned back and twisted in my chair as it searched.
“What are you doing now?” He asked and pulled out his phone.
“I’m searching for someone who showed up in a picture.” I sighed. “Personal stuff. Digging into the past to see if I can figure out anything about this stupid Cult of Ra.”
Zero matches. What the hell? A nameless face and a faceless name. I wondered what the chance of them matching up would be. In my world, with my luck, they wouldn’t. I growled and put the photo and the paper back in my bag. I went back to Matthew Drops. A middle-aged man with a military haircut, no scars that I could see on the photo and only his wife listed as a relation. Interesting. We normally had something on birth parents or adoptive parents.
“You look like someone ran over your puppy.” He smirked. “Fancy computer program failing you?”
I didn’t want to admit to it, but it was. “Looks like I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Which I didn’t want to, but oh well.” I stood and grabbed my bag. “I’m going to go take a look—“ My phone buzzed and I growled. Pulling it out I glanced at the screen before answering. “Detective, please don’t tell me we have another dead body.”
“We don’t, but we have something else at the library, want to come and take a look?”
I smiled. “I was planning on heading there, going to bring a consultant.”
“Abby, those don’t normally end well.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t bring him in, just let him wander the library grounds. Trust me on this.”
The horrid look on Simon’s face made me grin.
“Don’t let him screw anything up. Okay? Just get down h
ere.”
“Got it. Oh, is Stephanie still there?”
He laughed and disconnected the call. Great. That meant she probably was. I rolled my eyes and Simon put his hands on his hips.
“Abby, I’m not going to sniff around the grounds. I’m not a tracking dog.”
I nodded. “I know, I just need you to tell me if you smell someone not in your pack. I don’t need you to track him.”
“Why would he have been there?” He grabbed his coat and then threw me mine.
I shrugged my jacket on and zipped it up. “Because, he was in the woods, he was at our first crime scene.” I grabbed my bag. “I need to know if he was at this one.”
CHAPTER SIX
I pulled up to the library and cursed when I saw Stephanie sitting by the front door. Her long legs crossed at the ankles and tucked at an angle I wasn’t even sure I could manage.
“Oh man, I know that lady.” Simon shook his head. “I’m not talking to her.”
“Yeah, me neither.” I grumbled. “I suggest you go around the back to avoid her.”
He got out of the car and her head shot up. Simon sighed. “I think it might be too late.”
“Nope, just outrun her, she’s on stilettos.” I got out of the car and bent down to tie my tennis shoes. Simon came around the car and looked at me.
“What on earth are you going to try and do?” He raised a brow.
I laughed. “Outrun her. She can’t go past the crime tape, which means all I have to do is get to the stairwell without her.”
Simon grinned. “You’re crazy, witch.”
“I don’t want to end up in the tabloids again. Trust me, the run is worth avoiding Levi on a rampage.” I stood up and glanced at him. “Wanna see which one she goes after?”
He smirked and it tugged something inside me. “Loser buys drinks.”
It was a game of chance and we both knew it. I got down into a runners pose and saw Stephanie stand up. “Ready? Set?”
“Go!” Simon shouted and we were off. He went to the left, and I went straightforward.
Stephanie started to go towards Simon and then saw me coming towards her. She stood her ground and I was wondering what the charges would be if I just ran her over, but that wasn’t an option. Nope, and the door wasn’t my goal.
She underestimated my absolute determination to not talk to her. To her left was a window a mere leap from the banister. I grinned and picked up my speed. I was trained to chase after supernatural creatures, avoiding a human was easy. I got almost right in front of her and then jumped up on the railing. Two, three steps without slowing down and I leapt.
My heart skipped a beat as I realized it was longer than I thought, but my feet hit the concrete with a solid thump and I pushed my weight forward so I’d fall into the building. I could hear Stephanie curse as I continued to run through the library and towards the stairs. I only stopped once I was under the crime tape. I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths to calm my heart.
My adrenaline was pumping and I realized it’d been too long since I’d actually done any type of parkour to keep myself in shape for chasing people who liked crazy escape routes. I made a mental note to get back to it and then started down the stairs. I found Mason standing near a metal cabinet, much like the ones I remembered from school.
From the look of it the hazmat team had already been there. I assumed that Mason got all the evidence he needed before they took the blood away. He had the door open and I sighed, wondering what I was going to find in there.
I walked in and looked down at a photograph that was gripped in a hand.
A fucking hand. In the cabinet. Not even the whole arm. This hand had very carefully manicured fingernails, not one was broken which told me there had been no struggle. What caught me off guard were the two people in the picture, my father and Michele. My stomach churned and my breath caught. Dread made my heart drop. Luckily for me, I didn’t think Mason knew my father on sight. I had two options here, neither one I liked.
I could tell him who the man was in the picture and risk being pulled off the case since it became personal at that point. Or I could withhold the information and risk my job later down the line when the truth came to light.
“What are you thinking, Agent Collins?”
Judging by the tone in his voice, I knew he already knew the truth. He rarely used my full title any more. “That’s my father and an old colleague of his. Her name is Michele, I don’t have a last name because I just met her the first time the other night.” I locked my jaw. I didn’t want to admit that this could be the same people who had tried to kill me.
“Where?”
“She’s a new priestess of the local coven, she helped save my life by removing the hex from me.” I closed my eyes. “I swear I had no idea that this was personal.”
“I don’t think it was. I think someone left the picture as a clue.”
I opened my eyes and met his gaze. “What do you mean?”
“Look at the way the hand is holding it. It’s not natural, so I don’t think they were clinging to it.”
I bent down to look closer. He was right there wasn’t any creasing in the photo, meaning that the photo had just been placed there. Our victim hadn’t been clutching it. So what was the clue they were trying to give us? “The victim knew my father or Michele.”
“Have you contacted her about this yet? You mentioned earlier that you were going to talk to the coven.” He asked and I stood back up and started digging in my bag. “Abby?”
“No, not yet, I spent a bit of time in the office, but I hadn’t called her. I wanted to come back here.” I rolled my eyes when I realized what I was looking for was around my neck. I pulled the pentagram off and pushed it against the skin of the arm.
No burning.
“Abby?”
“I wanted to come back here because I saw the three legged wolf at the other site, he was at our first crime scene so I wanted to know if he was here.” I put my pentagram back on. “The person this arm belong to was not a werewolf.” Which was good news to the local pack, but didn’t explain why it was here.
“I’ll get it back to the lab. Let me know if you need it for anything.”
I nodded. “Let me know when you figure out or if you figure out who it belonged to. I want a copy of the photo too, please.”
“Go ahead and take a picture of it, I’ll have to give it to forensics before I can make a copy.”
I pulled out my phone and took a photo of it and then stuck the phone in my bag. “Thank you. I’m going to go look for my werewolf evidence.”
“Who did you bring to help with that?” Mason asked.
He had caught on, I didn’t really expect him to put the two together. “Simon, from the local pack. Don’t worry, I haven’t let him in on everything, just enough to get him to help me.”
“You do realize the more you involve them the more you’re going to get dragged into their world.” There was a tone in his voice that I couldn’t place.
I turned around and met his gaze. “Detective, I was raised by a vampire, I don’t think I can get anymore dragged into it than that.”
He didn’t respond and I turned and went back up the stairs. I looked around to see if Stephanie was there. Nope. Maybe she was butt hurt and decided that I wasn’t going to have the information she wanted or wasn’t worth waiting around for.
Even the stoop of the library was empty and I got to use the front door. Simon was sitting in the grass picking at something. I plopped down next to him.
“Any luck?”
He nodded. “There’s a male scent all over the other side, but I can’t tell you if it’s the same. I can tell you it’s not from my pack and it is werewolf.”
“Anything else?” I asked and nudged him. “I appreciate you helping me with all of this.”
He nodded. “I could still smell a lot of blood. It was magical, and it’s one I’ve smelt before.”
I turned to him. “Do you know where
or who?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I wish I did.” He wrapped an arm around me. “I’m worried about you, Abby.”
I sighed. “I’m fine, this case just hits a little close to home. That’s all.”
“I can tell it’s taking a toll on you. You’re more serious about this case, not that you aren’t serious about all your cases, but you’re putting in double time on this one.”
He was right, I was doing a lot more legwork. “Because they tried to kill me. The only way I’m going to stay ahead of them is if I figure out who they are.” I did something I rarely did. I put my head on his shoulder and allowed him to comfort me. “I need to talk to Michele, but I promised you a drink first.”
“A drink on the clock?” He asked with a wink. “Why Ms. Abby, you bad, bad woman.”
I snorted. “I think I need one. I’ve seen more dismembered body parts this week than I have in my life. Gross.”
“Take it they found another one.” He stood and then helped me up.
I dusted the grass off my pants and nodded. “Yep, but best not to talk here. Let’s go get a drink and then maybe we’ll talk.” I didn’t like talking out in the open. Sometimes the best place was a crowded, loud, place full of drunken people. Yep, a bar was a great place to spill secrets. Why? Because when people start a sentence with “I overheard at the bar”,” and ends it with “An arm was found.” People are going to wonder exactly how drunk the person was.
Simon carried our drinks to the table and sat down. This time of evening the bars were just starting to open and not drawing a crowd. We’d ended up a little hole in the wall not far from the crime scene. “I have to admit that when I wanted us to get a drink together I didn’t think we were going to be talking about murder.”
I shrugged. “Welcome to my life, I don’t have much else to really talk about.” I sipped the Tequila Sunrise and smiled. “So they found a hand.”
He cringed. “Gross, what is wrong with these people?”
“A lot. It was female, well-groomed, and holding a picture. It was of my dad and Michele.” I sighed. “So I guess it is getting personal.”
He frowned and sipped his beer. “Are they going to take you off the case?”
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