by Rik Hunik
So I hadn't caught them tonight but at least now I knew how the kidnappers were moving their victims without being seen.
I rejoined Lars and the girl, who were walking toward me. He still had his hand pressed to his side. "Let me take a look at that wound," I said. It was a shallow gash along a rib, painful and bloody but not too serious. "You better get that tended to. I'll take the young lady home."
He agreed. We exited the alley and split up. About half a block later the girl recovered from her shock and started gushing.
"Oh thank you so much. You saved my life. When they grabbed me I thought for sure I was done for. You were both so brave."
"Yeah, right." Sure we had saved her, but I'd have to say there was more luck than intelligence or bravery involved. Considering how drunk we were, and how poorly executed our plan had been, we were lucky to have escaped with one minor wound.
I delivered her to her home. She thanked me profusely and gave me a big kiss and invited me inside. If I had been drunker and less somber I might have accepted her offer, but the casual lust I felt for her young body was nothing compared to my feelings for Tiona. I just wanted to go home and crawl into my own bed.
When I unlocked my office door for business the next morning I looked out through the little round window and saw a man standing outside, clutching a piece of pasteboard and looking at my number. As I opened the door it was like he was swept in by the draft.
He seized my hand and pumped it. "Berk, I'm so glad I found you," he said, stowing the card.
I liked him a lot but I wasn't so sure I was glad to see him because I recognized him as the father of Jayna, the woman I had rescued a week and a half ago. I couldn't think of a good reason for him to be here.
Sure enough he said, "It's Jayna. She didn't come home last night."
I winced. "I'll see what I can do." I asked him a few questions but, as I feared, the answers didn't help much. Just like the other cases I was working on, nobody had seen anything. They just disappeared. When I explained that I needed a personal item that was close to her he insisted we take a cab back to his place.
During the ride I counted clients in my head, then said, "I've had a five mothers and a newlywed husband come to me in the last couple of weeks but why are you the first father?"
He answered right away. "Rich fathers will spend whatever it takes to get their girls back, but it's the poor girls who have been disappearing so no one has noticed. Desperate mothers will try anything."
I nodded in satisfaction at that explanation, but I was troubled by the thought of all those mothers out there with missing daughters and no one to turn to for help.
He paid me for a whole day to start with, but it only took me a couple of hours to come up blank like I had with the others. Last night I had saved one girl, but somewhere else the same night they took another woman I'd saved before. It wasn't fair. I swore at the futility of it all and kicked at a chunk of old mortar that had fallen from a building. It skittered across the cobblestones and shattered against a brick wall.
Chapter 32
When a woman came into my office soon after I opened for the day I could tell at a glance, before she spoke a single word, that she was another distraught mother, but even though the story was familiar this woman paid me up front for the whole day, and she must have talked to a previous client because she already had an earring from her daughter, Mangena. As soon as she put it in my hand I felt a connection, and a sense of urgency.
I stood up. "I have to go now." I grabbed her by the arm and hustled her to the door.
"What are you doing?" she asked, but she put up only a token resistance.
"I'm going to find your daughter." I knew I was being impolite, and I thought once again that it might be worth getting a receptionist, but I didn't have time for any of that right now. "My talent tells me your daughter is still alive, and if I move fast enough now I might be able to save her."
She blinked at me without full comprehension, but she stepped outside and let me lock the door behind me. "Do you know where she is?"
"Not exactly, but this earring will guide me to her." I left her standing by my office door and ran down to Knife Avenue, where I waved frantically with both arms to flag a cab, leaping onto the seat beside the driver while he was still braking.
"Hey, buddy, this isn't legal, you know."
"Just go," I told him, "and I'll pay you enough to make it worth your while to hurry." I flashed him some bills to let him know I could back it up.
"You got it buddy. Where do you want to get to so fast?"
"I'm not sure." The look he gave me made me realize how crazy that sounded. I still had Mangena's earring in my hand so the direction remained clear to me. "That way." I pointed a bit to the west of south.
It was impractical and unsafe to travel as fast as I wanted on the crowded streets but the cabby made pretty good time. There were a few places where I felt like I could have made better time walking but the sense of urgency hadn't increased so I let the cabby control the pace to avoid hitting something or somebody.
I spotted the house in a stretch of narrow, two-story houses, so close together they were almost touching. I had never seen it before but as soon as we drove past it my talent pointed back. I alerted the cabby and he pulled to the curb a few houses down from my target. I put the girl's earring in my pocket because I didn't need it anymore, and paid the cabby enough to make him happy.
The old house still looked solid but the stucco was streaked and cracked, the tiny front yard barely accommodated the flight of eight steps that led up to the front door, and there was just enough space between neighboring buildings for a narrow path on each side.
Now that I was here I realized I had concentrated so hard on finding the place that I hadn't thought about what to do when I got here. I paused on the sidewalk in bright sunlight, running options through my head, trying to come up with a better plan than knocking on the door and asking for Mangena.
"Excuse me, sir, but you can't go in there."
I whirled around at the sound of the voice, certain that I was busted, and sure enough I saw the brown and red tunic of the police, but when I saw who it was I let out a laugh of relief. "Acastus, Tiona, you just scared a year off my life. Where on earth did you come from?"
They both smiled but neither laughed. Acastus, keeping his voice low, said, "We were questioning the neighbors when we saw you arrive. Why do you want to go in there anyhow?"
"Why do you care if I do?"
The last trace of smile vanished from his face and he lowered his voice even more. "Because it will interfere with our investigation. We're tracking a serial killer and we think he's in this house."
"Oh." After that exclamation I kept my voice down too. "That doesn't sound good for my client. So why aren't you going in?"
"We still aren't certain and we've just now gathered enough information to get a search warrant. I was about to leave Tiona on stakeout while I went back to take care of the paperwork."
"Fine, go ahead and do that, or you can both wait here until I come out, but I'm going in now. Either help me, ignore me, or try to arrest me."
Tiona laid her hand on my arm to soothe me. "What's wrong?"
I hadn't realized I needed soothing. "A woman came to me about half an hour ago, another mother with a missing daughter. When she gave me one of the girl's earrings I felt a connection right away and followed it here. She's in this house right now, and if you think he's a serial killer you probably know more about what he's doing to her than I do, but I'm pretty sure it isn't good."
Tiona nodded to me and looked to Acastus, who shrugged. "I'll tell him we just want to ask him a few questions. We don't need a warrant if he invites us in, and if I hear someone call for help I have to investigate."
We ascended the steps to the front door. Acastus knocked. About a minute later the door opened and Acastus flashed his badge. An extremely handsome man glanced at the badge, then I watched his eyes travel up and down the
length of Tiona. He barely even noticed me standing behind them, which was just as well. This was one of those times when it paid to be invisible.
Acastus said, "There have been some suspicious activities going on around here at night and we're questioning everybody in the neighborhood. Do you mind if we come in for a few minutes?"
He invited us in like any normal, law-abiding citizen would do, and with considerably more grace than I would have mustered. The man looked so totally innocent that if it wasn't for my talent telling me the missing girl was somewhere in the back of his house I would have believed him when he said there was nobody else in the house.
While Acastus kept him talking and Tiona distracted him, I casually worked my way behind him and slipped away. When I reached into my pocket and touched the girl's earring I could place her exactly with reference to myself, but I had to use doors to get through the walls.
I went into what looked like a spare bedroom and my talent led me to the back wall of the closet. Because I knew it had to be there it took me less than a minute to find the catch. A narrow door swung away from me and the smell of stale sweat and sex poured out. Enough light spilled in past me to show a nude, young woman, tightly gagged, with her wrists and ankles securely tied to the corners of the narrow cot she lay on. Her bright eyes fastened on me and she whimpered and squirmed.
"It's okay, Mangena," I said, "I'm here to rescue you." She relaxed when I mentioned her name and she saw that I wasn't her tormentor.
She was covered with bruises. I pulled out my knife, went down on one knee beside her and cut the cloth strips binding her hands. While I cut her feet loose she pulled with clumsy fingers at the gag in her mouth and asked in a dry whisper, "Are you a cop?"
"No, but there are two of them talking to the guy at the front door. Let's go see them."
She pulled the blanket off the cot to wrap herself in but I yanked a clean one from the bed in the outer room and gave it to her instead.
"What about Colon?"
I assumed she meant the guy who owned the house. "What about him? We outnumber him four to one and he's not expecting you to come out, but we better hurry."
She didn't have much feeling or strength in her legs so I had to support her as we walked to the front of the house. Colon's voice rose and I heard him say, "Don't give me any more crap, I know you cops are up to something. Where is that other guy?"
"I went to get a drink," I said as I stepped into the room. He whirled around and fixed me with a glare, which died like a snuffed candle the instant the girl stepped into view.
He spun around and the back of his fist smashed into the side of Acastus's face, sending him staggering back a couple of steps while Colon made to dash past him to the door. Tiona managed to snag his shirt and slow him down, but the shirt started to tear so she punched him in the kidneys and he turned around to fight her but she was ready. She blocked a couple of his clumsy punches, then kicked him in the balls, kneed him in the face, and punched him in the solar plexus, dropping him like a sack of shit, with not even enough breath left in him to moan.
Tiona pinned his face to the floor with a knee across the back of his neck while she tied his hands together behind his back.
We had saved the girl from a horrifying experience but now that it was over I realized I hadn't even waited long enough to find out her mother's name. She had a big refund coming to her, but I had no idea who she was or where to find her. Oh well, she knew how to get in touch with me.
And I could appreciate the irony; of all the women who had come to my office begging me to find their daughters, she was the only one who actually had enough money to hire me for a full day, but I found her daughter in less than two hours.
I accompanied Tiona and Acastus to the police station. Mangena was taken away for comforting, clothing and questioning. After Acastus signed all the forms I said, "Let's go and get a beer."
"Never mind the beer," Tiona said, "let's get some brandy. I know a fancy place where you probably don't hang out very often." She nudged me with an elbow.
"If it's anywhere near here, chances are you're right. Are you joining us Acastus?"
"I would love to but we're leaving tomorrow afternoon and I have a deskful of paperwork to take care of today." He looked sternly at Tiona. "Don't get drunk, and make sure you're back within the hour."
The place looked expensive from a block away, with white marble statues and columns, but it could afford to be, this close to the police station. Curtains and hanging plants made it cool and pleasant inside.
"What was that Acastus said about you two leaving tomorrow? You didn't mention anything to me." We had both known the day was coming but why did it have to be so soon?
"I just found out myself." She looked up to meet my eyes. "We've done just about all we can in Agrippina so local forces will have to take over when we're gone. There are other cities in the Republic that need us worse."
"Yeah." I knew she was right but I didn't have to like it. I had not forgotten her during the years we were apart, but I had learned to live without her, and now I would have to learn that all over again, but it would be a lot harder this time. I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back even harder.
To avoid the painful subject we talked about recent cases, new forensic techniques, and happy school memories.
Tiona picked up her brandy glass and threw the last few drops down her throat, then followed it with a drink of water. "It's getting late. I better get going."
I walked her back to the police station, where she stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned to face me. Cops passed by with only casual glances at us.
She was tough and sexy, and she loved me, but she was committed to her life as a cop and a Wizard. I realized we had been staring into each other's eyes for nearly a minute, with the sexual tension increasing every second. With a jerk she turned away.
"I have to go now."
"Me too. We should get together again before you leave town."
She smiled and her eyes were full of promise. "Count on it."
I felt like grabbing her and kissing her right there but we were in the wrong place to start that. "I better go now." It took me another second or two before I could turn and walk away. When I looked back she smiled and waved at me, then started up the steps.
Mangena's mother showed up that afternoon to thank me and settle her account. I waited all evening but Tiona didn't show up.
Chapter 33
The next morning I got a note from Tiona. "I'm sorry about last night but I had to put in a double shift. I dropped this note off on the way to work because I'll be busy all morning, but I started early so I could have one last lunch with you. I don't think we'll have time to eat much."
I grinned to myself. It didn't take much to read between those lines. I cleaned up my apartment and lit a scented candle, did some paperwork, puttered around the office, and it was still more than an hour before noon. Maybe she would be early.
I heard the door opening and looked up in anticipation but it was my mother who entered. She scowled when she read the disappointment on my face, marched across the room and stood in front of my desk without saying anything. I'm sure she was sending me a message mentally but I wasn't getting it, so I fell back on the old standby. "What did you lose this time?"
She rolled her eyes and flicked her earlobe with her forefinger.
She lost an earring, I thought, and then I remembered. "Your diamond earrings. Yes, yes, I found the missing one the same morning you came in, but I forgot all about them until now."
Finally she spoke. "Well I kind of forgot about them too, until this morning, when I decided I wanted to wear them tonight when I go out."
I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember where they were. "Upstairs, somewhere in my apartment."
She snickered. "You didn't lose them, did you?"
I laughed with her. "No, I just need to remember where I put them when I took them out of my pocket that day.
Or maybe it was the next day. Excuse me for a few minutes." I headed for the stairs and she sat down in my chair.
Apparently my talent thought I should know where the earrings were and refused to help me. The few minutes stretched out to more like a quarter of an hour. When I finally made my way downstairs I heard voices, and back in my office I found Tiona talking to my mother, but neither of them noticed me because Tiona was right in my mother's face.
"Why don't you back off. Berk swore to me he would never tell anybody what he did for me but I didn't, so I'm telling you now, but only because you've forced me to, and you better not spread it around either."
My mother took a step back. "What in the name of Gaia are you talking about?"
Tiona took a deep breath and when she continued she had her emotions almost under control. "You're always getting on his case because he didn't become a Wizard. So what if he didn't? He's still a Certified Magician, with a natural talent that puts some wizards to shame. You're always putting him down because you think he wasn't good enough, but you're wrong. He did make the grade but he relinquished his position for me because I missed by one."
Tiona saw me then and her eyes dared me to defy her.
My mother saw Tiona's gaze shift and also turned to me, her face pinched, her eyes intense. "Is that true?"
I met her gaze and my heart beat faster and my palms got sweaty but I managed to keep my voice casual. "Mostly. I mean, I did do it, but I did it mostly for myself. When Tiona told me she would only be elevated if someone died or dropped out it made my decision easier, but I did it because it's what I wanted to do."
"But you threw your future away."
I laughed aloud at that. "No, I just chose a different future. And I don't regret it."
"But you could have become a Master."
I shrugged.
"You could've had a big fat government salary instead of eking out a living in this puny office."