“We know,” Duncan said.
“You know I’m a shapeshifter.”
“You prefer that term to familiar?” Duncan asked.
“I do. Familiar sounds like somebody’s pet.”
“I know, I don’t like it either, Duncan said. “But other than a Dia, Fáide or Angeal, there isn’t anybody who can touch us.”
“You think I should let Aaron know.”
“That you’re a shifter?” Finn asked.
Ed nodded.
“No. Absolutely not. Always keep your powers to yourself, and you’ll have the advantage. Except to us, of course. So, once again, what’ve you got?” Finn asked.
Ed laughed, partly at the comment, and partly because he was getting a little drunk.
“Basics, I guess; levitation, elements and I really like spells. Padraig gave me some books when I was leaving last summer. I seem to have a flair for it.”
“No shit,” Duncan said, “That was outstanding.”
“Not at my opening,” Finn said.
“I blocked the view,” Ed said.
“All right, no harm done,” Finn said.
“That, along with your being a shifter, makes you formidable,” Duncan said. “Have you tried to transport?”
“No, not yet.”
“Nothing to it. Just think about where you want to be, and you’ll be there. But remember, you can’t go through walls.”
“I know. I know. I’ll try it at some point.”
“Soon,” Duncan said firmly. “You need to get up to speed, fast. Now that you’re confirmed, other Buidseach can sense you, and as you well know, some of us are dangerous. Find out what you’ve got and use it or be inept at it.” Changing the subject, Duncan asked, “Any good cases going on?”
“If this is going to be a cop convention, I might as well go back to work,” Finn said.
“I do, but we can talk about that another time. My biggest problem is when and when not to use my powers.”
“Well, to some extent, I can help you with that. What do you say we get together and work on your powers? You do have to be careful when you use them, but you also have to be comfortable enough to use them when you should.”
“Let’s do that next week,” Ed said.
As they were speaking, a very attractive woman of about thirty walked over to the bar and sat in the seat next to Duncan. Finn and Ed, both cognizant of their masculine appeal, expected to be the object of her attention.
“I’m over here on a bit of a dare,” she said to Duncan, “My friends think I need to socialize more.”
“We’ll give you some cover,” Duncan said. “Just sit here for a while, that’ll get them off your back.”
“Well, I didn’t really mind coming over. I’m a sucker for accents, and I’d heard yours earlier. It’s really cool.”
A look passed between Ed and Finn as they were being totally ignored.
“I guess now would be a good time to practice transporting,” Ed said to Finn.
“You transport, I’ll get back to work. We’re clearly not needed here.”
The two men left a much more modest but, still confident, Duncan Stewart to enjoy his feminine companion.
Chapter Nine
The ringing of Duncan’s cellphone at six a.m. was an unwelcome alarm. He was both tired, and a little hung over. Glancing at the screen, he saw a number that, over the past months, had become familiar to him.
“What do you want, Sinclair?” was his less than cheery greeting to his friend.
“I want to tell you that Aaron is, once again, on the loose.”
“Well, that was to be expected.”
“Are you still planning to tail him?” Ed asked.
“I am. Kind of looking forward to it. You know where he is?”
“No. He gave a fake address when he was arrested. I know how to dowse, though.”
“You can’t dowse for him; he’s cloaked.”
“Oh, right,” Ed said.
“Not to worry, I’ll handle it,” Duncan said.
“How?”
“I’ve got a workaround. I’ll teach you. You want to come along when I find him?”
“Maybe. Call me if you find him. I’m going in to meet my partner. We’ve still got one unsolved murder, and we need to call the other vic’s parents to let them know that we’ve arrested their son’s killer.”
“Working on a Saturday. I’m impressed.”
“Just find Aaron, and never mind being such a smart ass.”
“I’ll call you,” Duncan said.
Duncan had come to Boston for Finn’s opening and because he thought Ed needed some mentoring, but now he was as happy as Ed had been when he visited Scotland, to be in the familiar role of investigator.
He called room service and, in addition to coffee, Duncan requested a paper map of Massachusetts. The Liberty being quite the high-end hotel, Duncan had barely hung up the phone when there was a knock on his door, and the requested items were in his hand.
After taking a few innocuous Buidseach essentials from his luggage, and performing a simple spell, Duncan dowsed, not for Aaron, but his passport. Drawing about a twenty-mile radius on the map, Duncan said, “Show passports from Scotland within my circle.”
He was amused, and not at all discouraged, to see about thirty lights appear on the map because he had a way to narrow the field.
“Show me their faces,” and as he spoke each light turned to a misty passport photo. Glancing over his map, and waving them off, one by one, Duncan finally came to the object of his search.
“Ahh, there you are,” Duncan said looking at Aaron’s rather sullen photograph.
He now knew where Aaron’s passport was, but, of course, he didn’t know if Aaron was in the same place.
An hour later, he found himself at a slightly seedy motel, in Boston’s Back Bay Area.
“Jesus,” Duncan said aloud, “Sinclair works, he couldn’t have found someplace a little nicer?”
Sitting in his car outside the motel, he called and asked to speak with him. His call was put through, and Aaron answered. Duncan could have hung up; after all, he really just wanted to know that Aaron was there but decided to take a more direct approach.
“It’s Duncan Stewart. I was wondering if you wanted to get together later.”
“Why?”
“Well for one reason, we’re both here in Boston on holiday, and for another, I want to talk to you about this thing you have going with your cousin.”
“No. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s up to you, but it seems like a whole lot of drama over the fact that you’re jealous of him.”
“I’m not jealous of him. I, I just want a shot at Faith.”
“Wanting what he has, is the definition of being jealous.” Duncan wanted to tag, ‘you moron,’ on to the end of that sentence but since he was actually trying to diffuse the situation, thought better of it. “Come on, Aaron, let’s have lunch together. We can meet at Tori’s Pub at noon. I had lunch there yesterday. You’ll like it.”
“All right, sounds okay.”
“Good, I’ll see at noon,” Duncan said.
Duncan felt good about that, but he had no intention of leaving his post, which paid off, because, in about an hour, Aaron drove up the ramp of the motel’s parking garage and down Huntington Avenue.
“Now where are you off to?” Duncan wondered, as he pulled out behind him and followed along. To Duncan’s surprise, Aaron pulled into another parking garage a short distance down the road. He was wondering why Aaron hadn’t just walked but followed him into the garage and found a parking space a discreet distance away. Duncan not only didn’t want to be seen, he didn’t want Aaron to sense him. Duncan, after all, was not cloaked. He was fascinated as Aaron stayed in his car. So fascinated, that he half wanted to walk over, tap on Aaron’s window, and ask what the hell was up. He, however, stayed put and his patience paid off as a car pulled up blocking Aaron in. Two rather large and imposing men
got out of their car, and Aaron followed suit.
All that Duncan knew for sure was that, unless they were cloaked, the men were not Buidseach. He wondered if Aaron was in some trouble, and, although he didn’t think Aaron had an abundance of powers, he figured he had enough to handle two non-magical people, or as they were known to the Buidseach, daoine. There was not, however, to be any trouble as Aaron handed the men an envelope, they checked it and after a very brief conversation drove off. As for Aaron, he got back into his car and drove over to Bay State Road. What Duncan did not know, at the time, was that this was the home of one Faith Ferguson, and Aaron was about to attempt a visit.
Aaron rang Faith’s buzzer, but there was no answer and no chance for him to try and woo her. Failing at that, Aaron went back to his motel where he stayed for the rest of the morning, emerging only when it was time to meet Duncan for lunch.
Seeing Aaron pull out of the garage, Duncan took an alternate route to the pub and was sitting in a booth when the subject of his surveillance arrived. He waved him over, and the men shook hands.
“So, how’d you spend your morning?” Duncan asked, curi0us about the trip to Bay State road.
“I went over to Faith’s, but she wasn’t home.”
“Where does she live?” Duncan asked without skipping a beat.
“You haven’t been there?”
“No, I just got into Boston yesterday. Have you?”
“No.”
“I followed her after a book signing last week.”
Aaron proceeded to pull a folded piece of newspaper out of his pocket, and said, “See, this was in the paper. She’s evidently a big deal. Sinclair had told me that she was a writer with a movie deal, but I didn’t really believe him. Guess it’s true.”
“Is that the appeal?”
“What?”
“Her fame and fortune.”
“No, told you, I didn’t even believe him. I’ve always wanted her.”
“Well, there are plenty of good-looking women in Scotland. I suggest that you go after one of them because Faith doesn’t want you.”
“I want – her. She’s Buidseach, and …”
“And she’s a Ferguson, right. You want the family money,” Duncan interjected.
“Yes, who wouldn’t, but I like Faith. I just like her more because of who her family is.”
“It’s not going to happen, mate. You need to accept that and save yourself a lot of grief.”
“We’ll see.”
“What have you got planned, and who were those two thugs I saw you with this morning.”
“You were following me?”
“Of course, you’re a renown eejit, I figured you’d try something stupid. But the thing is, I’m trying to help you, not hurt you.”
“Never mind who they were.”
“They weren’t contract killers, were they? Tell me that you’re not actually planning to take Ed out.”
“I can’t take him on now that he’s got his powers. All I’ve got is foresight and elements, and as you’ve probably figured out, I’m cloaked, so the two powers I have aren’t even at full strength.”
“How’s that foresight thing work, anyway?” Duncan asked. “Do you always know what’s going to happen?”
“Nah. Well, I don’t know about other people but, for me, it’s just right when something’s about to happen. Like right before Sinclair transported me, I knew what he was going to do, but, because of the cloaking, I wasn’t fast enough to do anything about it. It’s good in a fight, or when you’re driving to prevent an accident, but I can’t predict the future. Like I didn’t know that Faith was going to call the cops on me. So, what’s my cousin got? More, right?”
Ed did, of course, have significantly more powers, but Duncan wasn’t about to share.
Duncan’s silence caused Aaron to say, “Thought so.”
“Well,” Duncan said, “did you think of this? You have an obvious grudge against him. You’re here. Ed’s a Boston police detective, and you’ve got a harassment warrant out on you for bothering his girlfriend. You honestly think they wouldn’t connect the murder to you. Oh, and now I know about it, so …”
“You won’t turn me in. You’re Buidseach.”
“The hell I won’t. I’m a copper, and I’m their friend. Seriously, you’re an utter bampot. Oh, and I do have more abilities than you, so, don’t even think about it. Now get in touch with those goons and call it off. And for once in your life be smart, tell them they can keep the money. Where in hell did you find them, anyway?” Duncan asked with complete exasperation.
“There’s a website.”
“A website? That, mate, was a scam.”
At this point, their waitress came over and said, “Sorry for the wait, as you can see, we’re slammed today.”
“I’m leaving,” Aaron said, got up and walked out.
“I really am sorry,” the waitress said.
“It wasn’t the wait, he’s an eejit.”
“What’s that?”
“An idiot.”
“Great accent.”
“Thanks. Now, I’m having this,” he said, pointing at the menu. “Had it yesterday and it was great.”
“Oh, you’re becoming a regular.”
“Yes, I am,” Duncan said very much enjoying the new-found appeal of being a Scot in America.
After the waitress went on her way, however, Duncan called to warn Ed. He told him about Aaron’s big and bizarre plan to get Faith and gave him the license plate number that he’d jotted down for the would-be assassins.
“This is insane,” Ed said.
“I know, but Aaron is obsessed with the Ferguson clan.”
“Faith told me that he was all over her after I left last summer,” Ed said.
“Well, he hatched a plan and found hitmen on the dark web.”
“He found hitmen on the web?” Ed asked in disbelief.
“I know it’s absurd, but they did look like they might murder someone, or, at least, try. Anyway, from what I could tell, they were daoine. So, you can deal with them, but the question is, what to do about Aaron. I tried talking to him.”
“Did it do any good?”
“No. He’s obsessed. And, not only can we not bind his powers if it’s the Erebus thing, he can’t even uncloak himself to let us.”
“Does that mean we’ll have to kill him?” Ed asked.
“It does. He’s trying to kill you, and if his powers can’t be bound, the justice system can’t contain him.”
“Crap,” Ed said.
“Aye, crap, indeed.”
“We can go get him after you round up his hitmen,” Duncan said. “I’ll finish lunch, then I’ll go back and keep an eye on him.”
“After lunch? You’re having lunch first?” Ed asked.
“He doesn’t plan to kill you. He has hitmen. Those are the guys you need to find. Oh, and you might get facial recognition from the security tape at the Back Bay Garage that’s where they met.”
Leaving out a few crucial facts, Ed updated Paul about his friend, Scottish Inspector Duncan Stewart and the situation with Aaron.
“There’s a lot you didn’t tell me about your time in Scotland,” Paul said.
Only learning, now, that Ed had been involved in a murder investigation during his time in Scotland, added to Paul’s overall suspicion that Ed wasn’t being honest with him.
“Not so much,” Ed said. “It was a good vacation, but there was some trouble with Faith’s family.”
While unsatisfied with Ed’s answer, Paul let go of his concerns and allowed his default detective mode to take over. He began to work the case, tracing the license plate that Duncan had given Ed.
“We’ll need Stewart to make an official statement,” Paul said.
“No problem,” Ed said. “I’m sure he’ll be willing. He’s all about law and order.”
Once the trace produced a name and address, Paul set about getting an arrest warrant.
“Why don’t we pick up
Aaron first,” was Paul’s first, and very logical question.
“No, he’s not the real threat,” Ed said. “Let’s go get our hitmen. Then we’ll deal with Aaron Sinclair.”
******
Three hours had passed, and, dressed in tactical gear, the detectives and their backup found themselves standing at the doorway of one, Mr. Robert Winn. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be at home. Ed walked around the house, carefully looking in the windows. There was no sign of life. He gave the go-ahead, and the tactical team broke down the door.
The detectives and officers set about clearing the building. Upon entering the kitchen, they found Mr. Winn, deceased and slumped over his kitchen table, one bullet through his head. A thorough search of the house revealed little other evidence, but before leaving, they secured the scene and handed it off to the ME and forensic team.
First, however, Ed stepped away to call Duncan. Once again, he was doing something that was just a little off. For either Ed or Paul to be making private phone calls during an investigation was vastly more the exception than the rule.
Standing alone on the porch, Ed said, “We’re about to head back, where are you?”
“I’m here with Dr. Ferguson. I wanted to make sure that she was safe.”
“Is that, Ed?” Faith asked.
Duncan nodded.
“Put my other favorite sexist on speaker,” Faith said.
Duncan hit speaker and put his phone on the table between them.
“Faith the Fáidh, here. You two would do well to remember that there isn’t a single Buidseach who can take me on.”
“But even you, my girl, are not bulletproof, and Duncan and I are both cops.”
“Oh, God, I hate it when your right. Well, I do have one useful thing to offer.”
“What?” Ed asked.
“I took a quick trip to the Divine, and he uncloaked Aaron. There may be lesser gods, and demon gods, but there is only one God. So, Duncan and I are about to bind him now.”
“Can Finn talk to him like you do?” Ed asked.
Finn, who’d just come downstairs said, “No, I can travel to the other realm, but, other than when we’re being cloaked, a direct line to God is strictly a Fáidh thing.”
“Well thank God, and Faith, cause, Aaron’s an asshole, but I didn’t want to kill him,” Ed said.
The Power of Faith: Science Fiction Faith Ferguson Series Book 3 Page 14