by Livia Quinn
"Besides cigarette smoke?"
"Cigarettes, weed, probably Meth…" He tossed the water onto the grass and whipped a plastic bag out of his pocket, carefully placing the cup inside. "But what I detected most of all was big fat lies."
Chapter 5
Jack
9:25 pm Lord Sheriff of the "Rings"
* * *
I walked her to her truck, the shadows shielding us from view. I glanced at the house. Crain had closed his blinds and turned the light out in the front room. "Looks like Mr. Crain decided he wants privacy all of a sudden."
I placed my fingertip under her chin and tilted her face where I could her eyes in the moonlight. "Good job, Deputy. We've got our first real lead." It was habit to scan the street, searching for anything out of place. But tonight it was more of an attempt to keep from answering a silent call, the pull I felt between us. Her eyes had that sparkling meteor shower thing going on in them. I was never sure what caused it. Emotion? Anger? Desire? Or was another storm brewing in that pretty head?
"Was that you making the earth move in there?" I asked. I was mesmerized by those eyes. When her mouth opened and she seemed to be at a loss for words, I couldn't help myself. I knew I shouldn't scratch that itch, but I wanted to taste her again. I could call it curiosity, but it was more than that. Desire for her would not let me go until I had just one taste.
I told myself just one more kiss and I'd get the urge out of my system but… when my mouth closed over hers there was a soft exhalation, a sigh of satisfaction—mine, or hers? She wasn't indifferent, grabbing my hair with her hands and turning the kiss into more than I'd intended. Her tongue dueled with mine and as I pressed my body into hers, her hips pressed against me. God, she tasted sweet and I realized my curiosity wasn't about to be tamed with this limited exploration. How had I forgotten where we were? I ended the kiss and heard another little moan of need escape her.
I backed away not knowing quite what to say. My thoughts were all tangled up with a gut feeling I couldn't nail. It was something essential. Still, this was definitely not the place and with everything going on, it wasn't the time. We had another question and answer session to get to, and I wasn't at all sure how that would go.
She frowned, "What is it?"
I shook my head and cast a glance over at the house. "Why don't you head over to Aurora's? I'll be along after I check with dispatch."
She nodded and I waited while she got in her truck. "Where's your dog?"
"I'm not sure, and I told you he's not mine." She shrugged. "I'll see you at Aurora's," she said but didn't pull away, instead waiting, perhaps trying to figure out what I was thinking.
Finally she gave up, and as she drove away I was still standing there, trying to figure it out myself.
* * *
I'd never felt more conflicted in my life.
Thinking back to the first day when I met Tempe, I'd used words like trouble magnet, flake, liar, thief—and more. Then I learned that she was crazy with concern for her brother; stressed over her work situation and my accusations. In addition to that, her mother had gone AWOL.
A few days later, she heard I was investigating a body that had been discovered down near Amity. She'd been fearful that it might have been River and had tried to get information from her ex-lover, the Postal Inspector who'd taken advantage of her vulnerability. I'd gone straight from the scene to tell her the good news and found her and Diablo in a lip lock—that's how I'd thought of McGuinness back then since he'd reminded me of a dangerous gunslinger in a cheesy western.
She'd stormed off… appropriate… and I recognized my feelings as jealousy. I followed her to her mother's house to apologize and found her emotionally and physically drained. It was probably the low point of her life—until the next day, when I slammed her with the news about her father being alive. Oh, I'd been so cocksure I was getting somewhere with that strategy. Now, I watch her reaction over and over in my head and feel an ache in my chest—regret, guilt? There was a great deal I didn't know.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tempe being… what did she call it… well, being notnormal—I hated to use the "A" word but it's how I'd come to look at life since Georgeanne. It was probably time to start accepting the fact that I wasn't going to find Normal, USA. And wasn't normal just another word for boring?
When I chose a career in the Navy, I hadn't been interested in simply moving one foot in front of the other, plodding through the minutia of life, or the service. No, I'd squeezed every facet of life, every iota of danger, every thrill from my experiences, including those things that were new and strange to me, especially the ones that were strange. Where had that side of my personality gone? What had I become? I might be experiencing PTSD, but the post traumatic stress wasn't from the service. It had happened because of my marriage to Jordie's mother and what she'd put us through.
One thing you could say about Destiny, and Tempe Pomeroy, there was never a dull moment. AND YET, DESPITE THE CRAZINESS, THIS PLACE HAD CARVED A PLACE IN MY HEART. You don't become a Navy pilot if you enjoy being bored. But remember Jack, this wasn't about you. No, my reasons for choosing Destiny had all been about my daughter, making sure she would be safe.
I turned into the S.O. thinking about Jordie. She felt at home in Destiny. She and Tempe had really hit it off, and she had yet to meet any supernatural creatures. Yet. Maybe she wouldn't have to. Hmm, notice I hadn't called Tempe a creature. McGuinness… I shivered… now, there was a creature.
Peggy was working long hours. She handed me a note from Ryan when I walked through the door and followed me into my office.
"You had a call from Del Burke over in Larue. She said it was important."
I stretched my legs out under my desk and dialed the Larue police officer.
"Burke," came a crisp female voice.
"Jack Lang here, from Destiny. I understand you have some info for me."
"Yes, I saw your inquiry come across my desk about Will Crain. He was a resident here for about six months, two years ago. The contract on the apartment showed two lessees, his name and a Paige Whyte."
Burke spelled it P-a-y-g-e W-a-y-t-t. I smiled. Gotcha. "I can't tell you how glad I am you paid attention, Burke. That's the break I was waiting for."
"Glad I could help. I'll fax over a copy of the lease. We've added some volunteers, mail carriers mostly, that we've assigned to check abandoned dwellings. I'll keep you updated." She hung up.
"We got him, Peggy. He was on a lease with Paige last year in Larue. Get a warrant to search Crain's place. We'll do it in the morning while he's in New Orleans with the sketch artist. I don't want him to get wind of our interest and run before he can lead us to Paige."
"Yes, sir."
I got Ryan on the phone and advised him of the latest. "Sit on him, and be real careful not to be seen. We can't afford to spook him until we find River's whereabouts. I'll have a warrant by morning."
"So you think River's been kidnapped?" Ryan asked. I'd almost forgotten he wasn't in on all the… insider details. I'd have to play this by ear.
"Yeah, I'll fill you in later. What did you find out from the warden?"
"That was weird. He says he doesn't remember anyone incarcerated there by the name of Dutch Pomeroy. We checked the computers—nothing. What would be the likelihood that he was there under an assumed name?"
I thought about that. If he was there to keep his enemies from finding him, it was highly possible. Or everything could have been erased. "I don't know. Peggy talked to the warden. She saw the records showing his name. Forget that for now. Our priority is to find River, and keep Tempe from suffering the same fate. She and McGuinness think whoever has River may be planning on eliminating him soon."
Or take his power, I thought. I shook my head. Dylan had called the beings like him and the Pomeroys 'people of power". Hmm, P.O.P, I like it. POP made it sound less like I was living in the next "Rings" movie.
Chapter 6
Tempe
10pm Do
not call me any of those ridiculous 'P' names!
* * *
Aurora's special tea sat untouched in front of me.
A coded sequence of knocks on the rear door announced the arrival of Dylan followed a few minutes later by Jack. Aurora placed cups of her special concoction in front of each of them.
Jack looked at his suspiciously while Dylan slugged his down.
Something had been bothering me ever since the scene at the clubhouse. "Did you know about Dutch?" I asked Aurora.
"You mean where he was? Of course. Your mother contacted me before she left town. Nigel and Sam," she saw my frown, "the other two protectors, didn't give her a choice about leaving." She glanced over at Dylan, passed the baton.
Dylan uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. "This is a power play, Tempe. The more distant the targets are from each other right now, the better. Yours and River's safety is our number one priority." He went quiet frowning at me.
"What?"
"Didn't you know, in here," he tapped his chest, "that Dutch was alive? I've heard the way you described his 'leaving'. I've even heard you say that maybe he ran off and left Phoebe because… she was a 'flake'."
Dylan winced as the words crossed his lips. "Your parents are good friends of mine and the worst part for me was listening to people scorn your father and cast blame on Phoebe, especially you."
Aurora started to speak but Dylan held up his hand. "You know that's not true now, right? The whole ordeal was necessary. He reached across the table for my hand. "It was also unfair and… painful, I know." This was more emotion and honesty than I'd gotten from Dylan in my entire life.
And about damn time, I thought, looking at his hand like it was a poisonous viper. I slammed my cup down. "Well, I'd have known that, and I would have had a relationship with my mother like you both, and River, if I'd been told. Zeus' blazing balls!" I marched to the other side of the room—knew I was throwing a tantrum but I was just so…
"Duck!"
Dylan shoved Jack to the floor and Aurora dove behind the counter as electric blue arcs of fire lashed around me. I held my arms out in front of me as the zigzags of blue and white wavered along my limbs, like they were awaiting direction...
My hair flayed around my head like whips. I saw shock on Jack's face and immediately experienced shame at what he was witnessing.
The conversation with Aurora about letting go floated around me on a diaphanous cloud. The charged currents dispersed, as quickly as they'd soared, leaving only the slick floor and the pungent scent of burnt oxygen.
"You can get up now, Jack," I said, wishing I was anywhere else. Jack eased into his chair as Dylan and Aurora exchanged glances.
"What? Surely, you've seen a crazy, mad Paramortal child throw a temper tantrum."
"I thought you were finally going to do it, P…"
"Don't!" I glared at Dylan. "Just don't for whatever reason call me one of those ridiculous 'P' names."
Aurora was thoughtful. She shushed Dylan with a look. "Tempe, you've been fighting this for so long, I haven't a clue what is going to set menori loose. I'm a bit concerned that you won't be able to control it when it does."
Menori is what we in Tempesaerie land call the "breath of life". It… she found River's amphora in the locker, even though I'd told Jack I'd smelled it.
Even then, he didn't buy it.
Dylan made a motion with his hand like you'd use to tell a dog to stay. His bossy autocratic ways were starting to irritate me. Had he always been like that? "Sit down, Tempe, before you blow the windows out for no good reason."
Jack spoke impatiently, "If what you've said about Dutch is true, why did he choose now to get out of prison?"
* * *
Jack
What is Saturday, the pumpkin hour?
* * *
Dylan said, "He's coming for his family. He's uniquely qualified to help find River."
Tempe looked at Dylan, the expression on her face so hopeful, it made my chest hurt.
"Why is that?"
Tempe looked anxiously back at me. She put her hand on my arm, but I didn't respond. I needed to concentrate. Looking resigned, she let go and asked, "Do you remember I told you about River being a Djinni?"
"Yeah…"
"My father is Djinn as well."
"And very powerful," Dylan said.
"Are we talking genie… like the one on that old TV show? Granting wishes…like that?"
Tempe nodded. "Just like that."
"Well, not exactly," Dylan interjected. "River doesn't look nearly as cute in his Djinni outfit."
"Dylan!" Tempe punched him in the arm.
It was all starting to sink in. I'd known there was something off about the murder, and about the town, but I'd avoided the truth, because I didn't want to see it. Deluded myself into thinking it was what I'd wanted it to be, because—and this was the irony—it was where Jordie and I wanted to be. Despite its craziness, this place had carved a place in our hearts. Something shifted within me at that realization.
"Go on," I said, hoping they'd go into detail, because I had no clue what questions to ask.
Dylan crossed his arms and sat back. "You're aware now that River's amphora is critical to sustaining his life force. He would not be voluntarily separated from it and can't live much longer without being reunited with a proper vessel."
That's what she'd been hiding from me early in the investigation. Well, naturally. She'd known I wasn't ready, might never be. "So…" my deductive reasoning was starting to function again, "…why would someone want River? And if he was in trouble, why did his mother take a hike?"
"My main regret in all of this is the way you humans have made Phoebe out to be some kind of monster," Dylan said with a growl. He scrubbed his face with long fingers and sighed before settling into his narrative.
"Okay, Lang, remember we talked about people of power? You know about the bad guys, or one faction of them—the variants. The good guys," he spread his hands out presumably to include himself, "are called Paramortals. Dutch, Phoebe and River are Paramortals, along with a few other folks in Destiny."
"You and Aurora?" I asked Dylan.
He nodded.
"And Montana and Katerina—" Tempe said.
I grunted. "I knew there was something strange about 0007. All right." I blew out a long breath. "What about these enemies you mentioned?"
Dylan said, "They take on many forms. Variants, fae, both corporeal and incorporeal. That's blooded and, er…not."
I twitched.
Dylan waved his hand, "Don't go there right now. Stay with me. Dutch and Phoebe knew when they had children they would have to part from each other and from their offspring—sorry—children in order to protect them, until they went through their Vyal K'allanti."
I raised my hand, but Dylan said, "Hold on, I'm getting to it. The Vyal K'allanti is the quickening of power in a new Paramortal, which River went through at fourteen. Tempe, Phoebe and I were there. He was presumably able to protect himself after that. Dutch went to prison because there, in that particular facility, behind iron bars, he was undetectable from our dark fae enemies."
He anticipated my next question, "Fae as in faerie, and not like in the movies."
My mind leaped to what Ryan had said. "Did it make him invisible as well?"
Dylan nodded. "Very good, Jack."
Tempe turned to Dylan, "So why now? Why did Dutch choose now to leave his refuge if I haven't changed?"
Changed? My heart started palpitating. I thought I could hear it squawking, Warning, meltdown. Just when I thought they couldn't dump more weird, queer and bizarre facts on me, the words, "you humans", had just been delivered to my brain. Meaning Dylan and Tempe… "Oh, sh—"
"I see you're getting the big picture, Jack." Dylan sat back rubbing his neck. His hand plopped down on the table, "Finally."
He turned to Tempe. "The reason I've always called you those ridiculous, albeit affectionate nicknames is because as a guardian I wasn't
supposed to address you by your real name and risk our enemies tracking you here through that connection. Think about how difficult that was for me for the last several years."
A typical McGuinness rationalization, I thought. And were we really concerned about how difficult things had been for him? I wanted to plant my fist in that clueless jaw of his.
Tempe spoke after absorbing his words. "I can't believe I didn't notice. You only called me by name to my face once—recently."
Dylan's eyebrow hiked, "The night I kissed you." He looked over her shoulder at me. "And we were rudely interrupted."
I said, "And that is what triggered Dutch's release, or escape, or whatever?" I leaned back balancing on two chair legs, tapping my middle finger on the arm of the chair and listening as everything added up.
"So it is my fault," Tempe said, "because I've been in denial about taking my power. That's right, isn't it, Dylan?"
Dylan looked down at the table.
"It's the reason River was taken and Phoebe was forced to leave," Tempe pressed.
"I blame myself," Dylan said. "I told you I was sorry about how we broke up, but I thought it was worth a try to shock you into your quickening. It didn't work, and then you stayed away from me so I had no influence with you. If anything, it just made you more… resistant to the change."
Everything they said went into my cop centrifuge and it spit out a conclusion I didn't like. "They're coming for her," I said, and somehow, I didn't think she'd be able to defend herself from the bad guys Dylan described with baby thunderstorms and mini lightning bolts.
Dylan said, "And for River, if we don't find him first. Alive, they would be of more use as leverage, but dead means, bottom line—fewer Paramortals to contend with." Tempe looked at me, then at Aurora.
Dropping the chair back onto the floor with a thump I addressed Tempe. "You were convinced Paige was involved in this."
"I still am," she said confidently.