Staying on Top

by Elizabeth Corrigan

  Kadin unfastened her seatbelt. “Everyone who doesn’t get their case solved because they don’t have the best detectives on the case.”

  “The best detectives being you?” Olivan hopped out of the car, and Kadin followed suit.

  “I don’t know, Ollie. It’s just wrong.” She pointed at a window on the side of the brick building, where she had a good view of the doctor and suspected murderer sitting behind his desk. “Okay, you can see Tell’s office through that window. Keep an eye on what’s happening, and call for help if anything goes wrong.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out Xanidova.

  Olivan’s eyes bugged. “Is that a ject? Since when do you carry a ject?”

  “It’s a magic ject.” Kadin considered for a moment then handed the weapon to Olivan. “Xanidova, meet Ollie. He doesn’t believe in magic.”

  “Well, isn’t that just bully for him,” said Xanidova.

  Olivan fumbled the ject, nearly dropping her. “Unholy hellstones!”

  “You’re leaving me in the hands of this imbecile. Why?” asked Xanidova.

  “Because I need to go in there and arrest someone,” Kadin pointed to Tell’s window.

  “Would it be the blue mage behind the desk?” asked Xanidova. “I recommend just shooting him from here.

  Olivan’s face turned as white as Kadin imagined her own did. “He is a blue mage?” she asked.

  “Of course,” said Xanidova.

  Kadin nodded. She had suspected as much, but knowing for sure made her all the more nervous. How can I stop a mage? Maybe Xanidova’s right. Maybe I should just shoot him from here. She straightened her shoulders. No, I have to give him a chance to surrender to custody. It’s the right thing to do.

  “Ollie, keep an eye on anything going in there. If something looks fishy—”

  “Shoot him,” said Xanidova.

  “Get help,” finished Kadin. She gave her gun one last glower before entering the building. Olivan still seemed stunned. She would have to hope he came to his senses if she needed backup. She didn’t want to wait outside the window all day, in case Tell saw them.

  This time, the receptionist showed her right back.

  “Miss Stone,” Tell greeted her. “How may I help you? I was under the impression Miss Crest’s murder had been solved.”

  “New developments have arisen.” Kadin breathed an internal sigh of relief that her voice did not waver. “You are wanted for questioning. I would appreciate it if you would come back with me to my office.”

  Tell leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. If this is about the alleged abortion Miss Crest had, I can assure you, I did not perform it.”

  “No. This is about her murder, which you did ‘perform.’”

  Tell chuckled. “Miss Stone, the world knows that her abusive stepfather killed her. I wouldn’t look too much harder than that were I you.”

  Kadin pressed on. “You lied about the birth control pills. And you were present at the scene of the crime. Besides, who better than a doctor to kill someone without leaving a trace?”

  A maniacal laugh escaped Tell. “A doctor? Is that what you think I am?”

  No, thought Kadin, but she didn’t say it aloud. She didn’t think the Society of Mages would be pleased if they suspected she knew any of their secrets.

  “I don’t need to touch someone to kill them,” Tell continued. “As you are about to find out.”

  As a general rule, Kadin didn’t pay attention to her own heartbeat. She didn’t even think she was aware of its subtle presence in the background of her life.

  She noticed when it stopped.

  She clutched at the sudden pain in her chest and fell to the ground.

  Tell closed in on her. “How does it feel to know you are powerless, Miss Stone?”

  She tried to think back to how she had stopped Herrick Strand’s attack. I told it to stop.

  But how could she tell her own heart to stop stopping?

  She couldn’t.

  She was powerless, exactly as he said.

  She was aware only of the pain in her chest then a loud bang and the shattering of glass then nothing.

  Chapter 17

  Kadin awoke to the sensation of warm lips pressing against hers and a rusty scent filling the air. Is it true love’s kiss, saving my life?

  Her hazy mind could almost make out an image of whom her true love might be when she came to enough to realize she was coughing and lying on the floor.

  “Oh, thank goodness, Miss Stone,” said her rescuer, a woman with a matronly voice.

  Definitely not my true love, then. She turned to gaze at Dr. Tell’s receptionist through bleary eyes.

  “I heard Dr. Tell say he killed Coelis Crest, and that he was going to kill you! I had no idea he was such a horrible man.”

  Kadin pushed herself to a seated position. “Ordinarily, I would say it’s rude to eavesdrop,” she said, her voice hoarse. “But in this case, I think I’m going to say, ‘Thank you.’ Where is Dr. Tell?”

  Kadin followed the receptionist’s gaze to where Dr. Tell lay in a pool of his own blood. That explains the smell.

  “Someone shot him,” said the receptionist. “He’s dead. I don’t understand—”

  As if on cue, Olivan came running into the room. “Kay! Are you all right?”

  “Now I am.” She tried to rise to her feet, but apparently, being technically dead, even for a few minutes, took a lot out of her. “Thank you. If you hadn’t shot him, I’d certainly be dead right now.”

  “Xanidova said—” Olivan cut off his words when Kadin shook her head and nodded to the receptionist. “Right, of course. I just—” He cut himself off as his gaze fell upon the puddle of blood on the floor and Tell’s dead eyes. “Oh, Deity.” Olivan looked sick. “Oh, Deity. I killed someone. I really actually killed someone.”

  “You had to,” said Kadin. “He was killing me.”

  “I know. I know. I… He wasn’t even touching you, but you fell. I had to do something.” Olivan swallowed. “Was it really m—?”

  “You saved my life.” Kadin turned to the receptionist, interrupting Olivan before he could complete his thought. “What’s your name?”

  “Oh, I’m Bettany Lance,” the receptionist said. “And I’m just happy I paid attention in those required resuscitation lessons!”

  “I’m afraid it’s not over,” said Kadin. “We’re going to need you to testify that Olivan shot Dr. Tell in defense of my life.”

  “Oh, that won’t be a problem,” said Bettany. “I’m always happy to do what’s right.”

  On impulse, Kadin reached over and hugged Bettany. “Thank you.”

  The dust took a few days to settle, but with Kadin and Bettany’s testimony, as well as some evidence from Jace regarding Kadin’s health status, Tell’s family decided against pressing charges. His sister even told Kadin Tell had always been a bit creepy, and she wasn’t surprised by this chain of events.

  On Tuesday morning, Kadin came in to find a dozen white roses, already arranged in a lovely glass vase, sitting on her desk. She sighed as she picked up the card and was unsurprised to see Baurus’s signature at the bottom. The note read “I’m sorry if I upset you. Ralvin says I shouldn’t contact you, but I thought I’d give you a way to contact me.” Underneath his signature was a telephone number.

  Kadin didn’t call. A large part of her wanted to, but her broken arm reminded her she was better off without both Dahran and Baurus for the time being.

  During the next few days, Kadin looked back on her past cases with Fellows. In the six months she had been with him, they had shared jurisdiction with CrimeSolve on seven cases. In five of these, Fellows had specifically instructed her to work on other cases instead, and in all seven, CrimeSolve had been the one to collar the criminal. She didn’t
know how long Fellows’s relationship with CrimeSolve had existed, but she knew she had to do something about it.

  On Thursday morning, she took hesitant steps toward Fellows’s office and knocked on the doorframe. “Sir, do you have a minute?”

  “What is it, Miss Stone?”

  “I know.”

  “You know what, Miss Stone?”

  Kadin gulped. “I know that you take money from CrimeSolve to stay off cases where we’re both called in.”

  Fellows glowered at her. “I don’t know what you think you know—”

  “I have evidence.” Her voice grew stronger. “I haven’t gone to Inspector Warring with it, but I will, unless…”

  Kadin expected Fellows to deny it, to roar at her, to fire her. Instead, he sat there with a resigned expression, as if he had awaited this day. “Unless?”

  “Unless you retire. You’re old enough. You’ll get a good pension from the company if you leave in good standing. I won’t tell anyone, and you can leave with dignity. You can still do the right thing.”

  Fellows raised an eyebrow. “You realize you’re putting your own career in jeopardy with your threats. There’s no guarantee anyone else will take you on as an aide if I leave.”

  Kadin held up her head. “I know.”

  “Is that all, Miss Stone?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then you are dismissed.” Fellows turned back to the papers on his desk.

  Later that day, Olivan came in and plopped himself down on the chair in front of Kadin’s desk. “I decided I’ve been wasting my life.”

  “Pardon?” Kadin had expected him to demand answers from her about Xanidova and magic, not announce he was moving to Ruathala or some such.

  “All right, maybe not.” Olivan gave her a smile that was still dimmer than usual. He pretended it didn’t, but killing a man bothered him, even if he had done it to save a friend’s life. “I mean, is there any nobler calling than reading up on Imperials?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  “Not really, no.” Olivan took a deep breath. “The thing is, following you around on the case for the past couple of weeks felt like I was doing something with my life. I liked that feeling. I mean, I took that course on being a detective’s aide mostly as a resume booster, but now I realize it qualifies me for a job.”

  “What job would that be?” Please don’t say mine.

  Olivan grinned. “You’re looking at the new detective’s aide for Robbery.”

  “Leslina’s job?”

  “Mine now!”

  Kadin reached out to shake his hand. “Congrats, Ollie! Welcome to the club!” For however much longer I’m in it.

  Olivan took her hand and gave it an exaggerated shake. “Now, you’re coming clubbing, and celebratory drinks are on you!”

  Friday morning when Kadin got into the office, a message that Inspector Blaik Warring wanted to see her sat on her desk.

  This is it. I’m going to get fired.

  “Stone,” the ruddy-faced man said when she arrived at his office. “Sit.”

  She did so. “How can I help you, sir?”

  Warring put his hands on his desk. “Fellows is retiring.”

  “Is he?”

  Warring raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know anything about this?”

  “I… may have heard rumors, sir.”

  “Hm.” Warring eyed her but not in the lascivious way many men did. “I suspect there’s a story there. I didn’t think the old dog was going to retire for years yet. But I don’t need to know the details.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “This leaves me in a bit of a pickle. I need to hire a new detective. This new detective would definitely not get an aide immediately and would have to do a lot of work on her own.”

  “Yes, sir… Wait, on her own?”

  “Do you want the job or not, Stone?”

  “I mean, I… Yes, sir! Of course I want the job. I just—”

  “Look, Stone. I didn’t get this position by being an idiot. You solve crimes, and I need people on my team who can do that. The way I see it, even if you run off and marry your duke tomorrow, I’ve got one day of a competent detective I wouldn’t have otherwise had.”

  “Thank you, sir!”

  “You’ll have to work with White.” Warring’s voice held a warning tone.

  Internally, Kadin cringed, but she kept on a brave face. “I can handle that, sir.”

  “Well, then.” Warring held out his hand. “Welcome to the team, Detective Stone.”