Diggin up crones, p.59
Diggin' Up Crones, page 59
“Does that mean it was quick?” Tawny asked.
“It would have been very quick,” Graham confirmed.
Tawny, fighting off a sob, exhaled heavily. “How many people are we talking about?”
“We don’t know yet, Tawny.” Graham held out his hands to show his helplessness.
“Were they armed? How else would they keep that many people from rushing them?”
“That is certainly a possibility.”
“If they saw knives, they would have fought back. It had to be a gun.”
“None were shot, so we can’t confirm that.”
“I want to know what you can confirm,” Tawny spat. “I want to know why you haven’t announced any arrests. Do you even have any leads?”
“We’re working on it.” Graham was much calmer than I would have been under the same circumstances. I understood Tawny was grieving but I had very little patience for people demanding things of me.
“That’s not enough,” Tawny fired back. “My uncle is dead. Other people are dead.” Her voice cracked at the end and she looked around the bar, her eyes finally falling on me. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“She has experience analyzing crime scenes,” Graham replied. “She spent years working in Detroit.”
“What do you think?” Tawny demanded of me. “In your motorcycle-riding, Gunner-dating estimation, what do you think happened?”
“I think there were several people involved,” I replied. “It would have been helpful if there were cameras here, or neighbors. Graham’s men have canvassed the houses up and down this highway. No one claims to have seen anything.”
“So you have nothing,” she assumed.
“We’re trying to figure it out,” I replied. “That’s why we’re back.”
“Yeah, you have nothing.” Tawny’s hands were fisted on her hips when she swiveled back to Graham. “Is the community in danger? If there’s a gang of murderous fiends killing innocent people, shouldn’t you be warning the residents?”
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with,” Graham replied, becoming more animated. “If we warn everyone in town to be on the lookout for murderers the townsfolk will see them at every turn. More innocent people could die that way.”
“More could die if these monsters aren’t finished,” Tawny fired back. “I expect you to do something.”
“I am,” Graham assured her. “I’m investigating.”
“You should bring in the Feds. This is too big for you.”
I was offended on Graham’s behalf but said nothing. My greatest fear was that I would somehow make things worse for him.
“I’ve already spoken to the FBI,” he assured her. “They’ve assigned an agent.”
He meant Landon, who hadn’t technically been assigned by his bosses. That news alone should make some of the residents feel better, even if Tawny wasn’t one of them.
“Well, I guess that’s something.” Tawny didn’t look happy at the news. Of course, there was nothing that was going to make her happy at present. “I need to grab my uncle’s ledger, the photos from his office, and the jewelry box in his safe.”
Safe? Now she had my attention. “I can take her to the safe,” I offered.
Graham shot me an odd look but didn’t argue. “Sure. Take her to the office.”
I kept my expression flat — only a deranged individual would smile under these circumstances — and walked with her to the office. I flicked on the light and waited next to the door as she walked to the safe. Unlike the one at Edna’s house, this one hadn’t been tampered with.
“You don’t have to watch me,” Tawny said in a sullen voice as she started turning the dial.
“We have to log anything that is taken,” I said.
She gave me a dirty look. “I don’t understand why you’re part of this investigation.”
“It’s too much to explain,” I lied.
“Whatever.” She grabbed a jewelry box and ledger from the safe. She also took a stack of cash. “He keeps two-grand in here for emergencies.” She shot me a challenging look. “Want to count it?”
I shook my head. These people weren’t killed for cash.
“This is family jewelry.” She opened the jewelry box for me. “My grandmother’s pearls. My grandfather’s watch.” She picked up each piece. “A pair of diamond earrings from my great-grandmother.”
There was nothing that stood out regarding the jewelry. “What about that?” I pointed to the last thing in the safe.
“What?” Tawny’s eyebrows moved toward one another.
“Looks like a bracelet.” It was made of leather and beads, with a weird symbol burned into the bracelet. It sort of looked like a Y with two slashes through it.
Tawny made a face. “I have no idea what that is. One of the customers must have made that for Uncle Hank.”
“Do you want to leave it?”
She nodded. “I can’t see anyone stealing that.” She didn’t say anything else as she strode out the door with her haul.
I glanced down at the bracelet. There was something odd about it. Why would Hank have stored this in the safe? I shoved it in my pocket. Tawny wasn’t interested in it. I wanted to see if I could find a meaning for the symbol and then I would bring it back.
With a final look around the office, I turned off the light and walked back into the bar. When I stopped in the doorway, I recognized the symbol from the bracelet again. It was burned into the stained glass of the west side window.
“What’s wrong?” Graham asked when he’d escorted Tawny out and found me standing in the same spot.
I pulled out the bracelet and showed it to him. “Do you know what this symbol means?”
His face was blank. “Should I?”
“This was in the safe. It’s on that window too.”
“It could be from one of the local packs.”
“Or maybe it’s the symbol of the kishi.”
11
ELEVEN
Gunner and I went to The Cauldron. Rick, Andrea, Rooster, Whistler, Marissa, and Doc were inside, talking about plans for the day. Rooster’s eyes went immediately to me.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Do you have an update?” he challenged.
“Kind of.” I hopped up on one of the stools at the end of the bar closest to the door. Gunner sat next to me. “We have a few things to discuss.” I played with the bracelet in my pocket.
“Would you like to share with the class?” Rooster didn’t sound angry as much as impatient.
“Give her a break,” Gunner ordered. “She had a rough night.”
“So your rather terse text informed me.” Rooster crossed his arms over his chest. “I can see she’s okay, but I would like more information.”
“You texted them?” That hadn’t even occurred to me.
Gunner nodded. “I thought it prudent in case you never woke up.” There was a warning in the sharp gaze he sent me. He wasn’t over it yet.
“Rooster texted us to let us know what was going on,” Rick noted. His expression was carefully neutral. “The text was appreciated.”
Gunner turned to stare at Rick — were they going to fight? — and then sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have called you.”
“We need a rundown,” Rooster insisted. “We don’t know anything and we can’t plan for the day without information.”
Marissa, who had apparently cleaned up some from the previous day, shot her hand into the air. “I don’t want to be involved with this one. I’m just making my opinion known in case anybody is wondering.”
“Nobody was,” Gunner fired back. “As for what happened last night, I’ll let Scout fill you in.”
All eyes turned to me. I hated the burst of guilt that rolled through me, but they deserved to know. “Where should I start?” I asked. “How much do you guys know?”
“Only bits and pieces,” Whistler replied. “People in town are worked up. They’re saying there was a massacre at the Old Mill Tavern.”
“That is essentially true,” I confirmed. I laid things out for them, realizing we’d dropped the ball in not keeping them informed the previous day. Everybody listened with rapt attention. When I got to the part about finding Bonnie surrounded by a pack of devil dogs, nobody was breathing, let alone talking.
“She went after you?” Andrea asked, taking a step forward.
“No. It seems the devil dogs, which aren’t really devil dogs but kishi, were there for her. They fought against me because they didn’t want me beating her.”
“Who provided that information?” Rick asked. He was not happy. Was he angry with me or Bonnie?
I blurted out, “Hecate.”
“Of course.” Rooster rubbed his forehead. He looked tired. His job had only grown more difficult since I’d joined his team. “What did she say?”
“I’m going to nutshell it because we have to do our own research on the kishi.” I cast Doc a significant look. “You have to earn your keep.”
Doc simply nodded.
“The kishi are a specific group of hyena shifters who don’t play well with others,” I started. “Their leader is named Makishi, and he called the clatter after himself.”
“Cackle,” Gunner corrected. “They’re called a cackle because they sound like they’re laughing.”
“That’s what I said.” I poked his side but he didn’t smile. I didn’t much feel like smiling either so I let it go. “They don’t usually leave Africa, but they’re here, probably because they know Bonnie is unstable and they want her powers.”
“Bonnie is no longer unstable,” Rooster argued. “That’s why she absorbed Emma’s powers, to balance her own.”
“Yes, but she’s not on top of her game.” I told them about how weak she is thanks to her trip back. “If I’d understood what was happening last night, I might have been able to kill her and the hyena people. I thought they were working together and I expended so much magic erecting a shield that I passed out,” I replied. “Had I been more thoughtful in my approach this might already be over.”
The sigh Rooster let loose was long and drawn out. “Scout, you cannot take all of this on yourself. You did what you thought was necessary given the circumstances.”
“He’s right,” Rick agreed. “Of course you thought the hyenas were with Bonnie. Why wouldn’t you? Out there, in the middle of nowhere, why would you believe it was anything other than that?”
“Hecate delayed Bonnie’s reentry and directed her toward me,” I said. “Her goal was for me to take out Bonnie last night. The kishi surprised her, and she doesn’t seem happy about it.”
“No one is happy about those things.” Rooster’s expression was dark. “We’re assuming they’re the ones who carried out the massacre?”
“They’re our only suspects,” I confirmed. “Gunner mentioned a weird scent at the bar in the immediate aftermath of the body discovery.”
“It smelled like a paranormal, but I couldn’t pin down the scent,” Gunner explained. “That’s to be expected because I’ve never crossed paths with a hyena shifter.”
Rooster speared all five fingers on his right hand through his hair. “What do we know about the kishi?”
“Just that they likely want Bonnie’s powers and their goal last night was not to help her but stop me from killing her,” I replied. “They didn’t want me getting her powers.”
“What was the plan?” Rick asked. “If you killed Bonnie, what would have happened?”
Sheepishly, my shoulders hopped. “It’s already been pointed out to me that nothing good would have come of taking her out,” I assured him. “We need to figure that situation out, which means getting a lamia here for the intended transfer. We don’t know when the big battle is happening, but we can’t keep letting Bonnie go because we’re not ready.”
“I agree.” Rooster was grave. “I’m going to have the home office get someone.”
I balked, vehemently shaking my head.
“No?” Rooster’s left eyebrow winged up. “You just said we needed an individual in place for when this goes down.”
“Listen, I agree we need to get someone here so we’re ready. I don’t want the lamia picking their representative, and we know that’s exactly what they will do if the home office is put in charge. They’ll contact the slither in Arizona and we’ll have a representative of their choosing here by the end of the day.”
Rooster appeared confused. “Why is that a bad thing?”
There was no hesitation when I answered, even though I knew it would likely make me look bad. “Because they’ll send a man.”
“Are we man haters now?” Whistler asked in a low voice.
“Scout is all about the girl power,” Marissa drawled. “Only if it’s a girl she approves of.”
“Take it down a notch,” I shot back. “You’re such a whiny Kardashian sometimes.”
“I happen to like the Kardashians,” Marissa snapped.
“You would.” I refused to let her derail this conversation. “The lamia is a patriarchy.”
“I get that you don’t like that,” Rooster said, “but that’s their business.”
I wasn’t about to play that game. “I happen to know that the lamia leaders play nasty games with their females. They’ve set things up so a man is always in the apex position. There’s no lore that says it’s supposed to be that way. The men just decided and the women have to take it.”
“I need more than that if you expect me to get on your side,” Rooster warned.
Fine. If he was going to be like that, I would give him both barrels. “The women are forced into arranged marriages,” I announced. “They’re not allowed to love who they want, live how they want, or, goddess forbid, work how they want. They’re treated like crap, and I don’t like it.”
Rooster touched his tongue to his top lip and it was all I needed to read his intentions. He was actually going to push back on this. “That all sounds terrible,” he hedged. “That’s still none of our business.”
“I don’t feel that way.”
“You don’t get to dictate what happens with the lamia,” Rooster argued. “We need someone who is not a psycho in that position.”
“We can do more than that.” I refused to meet his gaze and glanced around. “We should head out,” I said to Gunner. “There are some things I want to look into.”
“What things?” Rooster challenged.
I turned to get off my stool, but Rooster was in front of me when I swiveled.
“You listen here,” he said in a low voice when I finally met his eyes. “I get why you hate this patriarchy crap, and it is crap. We need someone here who can absorb that magic. If we don’t get someone, you’ll be forced into a position where you have to defeat Bonnie and there will be no one but you to absorb her powers. We all know what will happen under those circumstances.”
It would be too much for me and I would die. I wasn’t about to give in just because of that.
“I won’t let that happen,” I assured him. “I have a plan.”
“What plan?”
“I’m going to let Poet and Raven come up with a candidate.”
“Why do they get to decide?” Marissa challenged. “Your little loa buddy isn’t even a lamia, and you said that Raven chick left her own people. Why should she get a say in any of it?”
“She left because of their practices,” I replied. “Poet trusts her. That’s all I need to know. She’s coming up with a candidate. I have no doubt she’ll come through.”
“What happens then?” Rooster asked. “Do you think the lamia are going to accept an individual installed by an outsider?”
That was a fair question, loath as I was to admit it. “Maybe not, but once Bonnie is out and someone more rational is in, the plan is to let them hash out their own issues.”
“Why not get a jump on things and let them do it now?” Rooster asked.
“They’ll only go with the status quo. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place,” I growled. “I’m not letting them install a man.”
Rooster opened his mouth again but snapped it shut when I growled.
“End. Of. Discussion,” I gritted out.
He held my gaze and there was a question in his eyes. Ultimately, he must have seen something that he didn’t dare argue with.
“Fine,” Rooster said, holding up his hands. “You need to get in gear with this lamia candidate. Bonnie is back. Once she’s recovered, she’ll push the issue to the point of no return. Nobody here wants to lose you in whatever this process is going to look like.”
“That’s all well and good — and I appreciate it, I really do — but I can’t sacrifice all the lamia females to save myself.”
Rooster was the long-suffering dad with naughty daughters in a 1980s sitcom, and I was wearing him down. “We’ll talk about this again later,” he said. “We need to figure out what to do with the kishi.”
“We need research from Doc. We have some photos from the crime scenes. The kishi must have a weakness. There’s also this.”
I drew the bracelet from my pocket and held it up. “This was in Hank Jessup’s safe at the bar. His niece Tawny didn’t seem interested in it, but I am. This symbol, there’s something about it.”
Rooster took the bracelet from me and studied it. “Looks like a homemade piece,” he said.
“There’s magic in there, but I can’t pin down what type.”
“Leave it with me,” Doc suggested.
I shook my head. I couldn’t explain why I believed that was a bad idea but there was no way I was relinquishing the bracelet.
“Take photos,” I said. “I’m keeping the bracelet.”
Doc opened his mouth to argue but Rooster shut him down. “If Scout feels she needs to keep the bracelet, that’s it. Take some photos.” His eyes moved back to me. “What are you going to do?”
“There’s only one thing I can think to do: Locator spell. At the very least I might be able to find where the kishi are holed up. They must have a den of some sort. If we can find that, we can handle them and get back to Bonnie.”
