Spring's Calling (A Season of Magic Urban Fantasy Novel)

by Sarah Biglow

  That didn’t sound like Tricia. Sure, she didn’t like people honing in on her playground, but to completely ice out the Feds seemed dangerous from a career standpoint. Pushing my doubts to the side, I said, “I’ll meet you there. Just give me a half hour.”

  “See you there, partner.”

  The casual way she ended the call, as if nothing had happened, seemed odd. But if I was back in her good graces, then I’d take it. As I dressed and clipped my badge and service weapon to my hip, excitement rose in my chest. We actually had a tangible lead after nearly a week of dead bodies and nothing concrete to go on.

  Traffic seemed to bend to my buoyant mood because I made it to the morgue in record time, leaning against the hood of my car when Jacquie pulled in.

  “Care to fill me in on what I missed?” I asked. I had to pretend I didn’t know about the latest victim.

  “We had another body drop yesterday. And I hate to say it, but even with the FBI’s help, we’re still no closer to finding a link between our victims. Not that lack of evidence is stopping Agent Taggart.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I pressed as we went inside, flashing our badges at the front desk.

  “I heard rumblings he was planning a press conference for this morning. I’ve got no idea what he’s going to tell the public. So far, we’ve been lucky to avoid the murders ending up in the news cycle. I worry it’s just going to cause panic. Right now, it’s contained.”

  I agreed with her sentiment that it seemed foolish to hold a conference now when we really had nothing of substance to share with the public. The fact that people were dying was enough to set people on edge and take matters into their own hands. Fear ignited people’s prejudices and prejudice only led to rash decisions and horrible consequences. “What does the captain say about all of this?”

  “I think she’s as frustrated as the rest of us. She knows we’re doing what we can with the little information we’ve got. We’ve had uniforms out canvassing all of the scenes, but no one is coming forward as a witness.”

  “What if it’s not about the people but the place itself?” I could nudge them in the right direction without coming out and saying magic was involved or, in fact, was the root motive for the killings.

  We stopped at the door separating the autopsy suite from the in-house lab and I studied my partner’s face. The normally smooth contours around her lips and eyes were wrinkled as if she’d been deep in thought. “I’m not sure what you mean. They’re all public places, but nothing about them seems connected.”

  Not in the present anyway. “It was just a thought,” I said, trying to play my suspicions off, pushing the swinging door inward.

  Tricia jumped to her feet as soon as we walked in. Machines around the room blinked and beeped as they processed samples and did whatever else they were programmed for. I never was the best with science. I noted the dark circles under my friend’s eyes and the frantic energy with which she flitted around the lab.

  “We’re here. What’s so important you couldn’t tell us over the phone?” Jacquie asked.

  “You don’t have the Feds with you, right?” Anxiety modulated her voice up a few steps, making it high and breathy.

  “No. Just like you asked,” I said.

  “Good. Because what I’ve got is going to sound crazy.’ Tricia picked up a tablet and flicked her fingertip across the screen. “Just so you know, I ran the samples three times to be sure.”

  “Just show us what you found,” Jacquie insisted.

  Tricia turned the tablet to show us a missing person’s photo from nearly five years ago. The notation at the top of the photo indicated the case remained unsolved. Then-twenty-four-year-old Kevin Ellery had gone missing in November, never to be seen again. “What does a missing person have to do with our case?”

  “His fingerprints and DNA were on all four bodies. It took me a while because the fingerprint scan was missing from the electronic file so I had to go digging through cold case storage for the physical file.”

  “What’s the crazy part that you didn’t want to bring to the FBI?” I glanced up from the photo.

  “The skin cells I managed to pull the DNA match from were the stone dust. I can’t explain it. It’s like this guy was turned to stone and he left residue behind.”

  I didn’t blame her for not wanting to bring this to the FBI. To a normal person it would sound insane. But it sparked something in the back of my memory. Something I’d once read about how magic can affect some people. Abuse it too much and it could literally change you at a molecular level. Like Whisperers but worse.

  What did you do, Kevin?

  “Even with the … weirdness, you’re certain this evidence is conclusive?” Jacquie interjected.

  “Yes. Whether it holds up in court is another story. Any halfway decent defense attorney will rip apart the DNA evidence and claim it was corrupted somehow in the lab. If I didn’t know my lab was pristine, I’d be inclined to agree with them.”

  I stepped away from the pair of them and studied Kevin’s electronic casefile. He’d been reported missing around Thanksgiving by his mother. There’d been very few leads to go on. A girlfriend who hadn’t seen him in weeks and a job that assumed he’d abandoned employment because he hadn’t shown up in days. Because he wasn’t a “newsworthy” victim—read not under eighteen and female—the police assigned to the case appeared to have given up pretty quickly. I scrolled through to find his mother’s address.

  Hoping she hadn’t moved from Jamaica Plain in five years, I copied the address into my phone. “Thanks for this, Tricia.” To Jacquie I said, “Let’s take a ride and pay Mrs. Ellery a visit.”

  Jacquie started for the door. I was about to fall in step when Tricia called, “Ezri, one second.”

  I gestured for my partner to go on ahead and stayed put until it was just Tricia and me in the room. “What’s up?”

  “That … thing you asked me to do. I got results.”

  My heart hammered against my ribs and excitement began to build. “And?”

  “There were two sets of fingerprints. One was yours.”

  “Shit, I should have warned you about that.”

  “Considering you asked me to run it, I assumed I could exclude you.”

  “The other set?”

  “I don’t have a match in the system, but they matched the blood on the blade.”

  “Wait … what are you saying?”

  “The only other person to touch the knife was your mother. I’m sorry, I’m sure this wasn’t what you were hoping for.”

  “Thanks for trying anyway.” I left the lab in a daze, trying to process the new information. Had whoever killed my mother made her do it herself? Had they worn gloves?

  I found Jacquie waiting outside by my car. She gestured to the driver seat and started for the passenger side.

  “It seems you’ve got a feeling about this,” she said as we buckled in.

  I pushed the new questions about my mother’s death to the back burner and climbed in. “What would make a missing person resurface in the same city he was last seen in five years later and start killing random strangers?” I questioned.

  “Maybe if we can figure out why he went missing in the first place, we’ll get some answers about now.”

  I hoped she was right. If we found Kevin, I was certain he’d lead us to his accomplice. And maybe then I’d be able to stop the evil from rising in only five days’ time.

  Sixteen

  My mind raced the entire drive through the city. What had Kevin done that would turn his DNA to stone? How long had he been using his magic? Was he on the Authority’s radar or had he been aligned with the Order? Where had he been the last five years? My brain kept jumping back to the question of motive. What would lead a seemingly normal guy to kill four people in the middle of a crowded city street?

  A headache thrummed behind my eyes by the time I pulled into the driveway of the two-story row house. The wooden wraparound porch was in dire need
of a new paint job and I noted a few missing shingles from the roof. I took the rickety steps two at a time and rang the buzzer by the door, waiting for a response.

  One minute. No answer.

  I tried again, this time adding a knock to the beige-coated door.

  Movement from the bay window to the right caught my attention. The flutter of a curtain falling back into place and a face disappearing from view. I pulled my ID from my pocket, ready to present to whoever came to the door. Finally, the hinges squeaked. The door swung inward just enough for that same face—a haggard looking woman—to be visible.

  “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.”

  “Are you Mrs. Ellery?” I asked.

  “Who are you?” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  “I’m Detective Trenton.” I showed her my badge. “This is my partner, Detective DeWitt. We’d like to talk to you about your son, Kevin.”

  “He’s been gone five years and no one gave a damn about him. Why do you care now?”

  Jacquie cleared her throat and moved so that she placed herself closer to Mrs. Ellery. “We have reason to believe your son may have been seen in the city recently. It would really help us if we could speak with you.”

  Mrs. Ellery studied us in silence. The corners of her mouth worked as if she wanted to accept Jacquie’s statement and the sliver of hope it promised.

  “Mrs. Ellery, we know the investigation into Kevin’s disappearance went cold. But we have a chance to find him. Please, help us,” I pleaded.

  She blinked, her eyes welling with tears. She pulled the door open wide enough for us to pass through, leading us into the living room to the right. The interior of the house was in similar disrepair as the outside. The wallpaper in the short foyer was faded and dated. The furniture in the living room could have come straight out of a second-hand store. To my surprise, the mantle held photos of Kevin—based on the photo from his missing person file—and only him. No smiling portraits or candid family shots. Mrs. Ellery gestured toward the worn loveseat tucked beneath the bay window. Jacquie and I sat side by side and I pulled out my notebook.

  “What can you tell us about the last time you saw your son?” I began.

  She fidgeted with her hands, twisting her fingers together so tight I was surprised the joints didn’t snap and pop from the exertion. “That was five years ago and I told the police everything back then.”

  “Well, we’d like to hear it from you now,” I pressed.

  “It was a few days before Thanksgiving. Kevin had been talking for weeks about coming to spend the holiday with us. He’d been spending it with his girlfriend and her family the last few years … since he graduated college. But then he called and said it would just be him. They’d had some sort of fight. But then Thanksgiving came and he didn’t show up. I called the police the next day because I knew something was wrong.”

  “Did you reach out to his girlfriend at all?”

  She shook her head. “I suppose the police did, but I got the impression they’d broken up. If I’m honest, I never really cared for her so I wasn’t too upset that they’d ended things.”

  “Could he have gone to be with other family? His father perhaps?” Jacquie interjected.

  I tried to hide my confusion at my partner’s question. I made a show of jotting down notes to check the original case file and follow up on the girlfriend.

  “We were still together then. We don’t have any other relatives in the area. So, no, he wouldn’t have gone anywhere else for the holiday. You said Kevin’s been seen? Where? When?”

  Time to tell her the truth. “Actually, Mrs. Ellery, Kevin’s been linked to some current crimes we’re investigating. Have you had any contact with your son recently?”

  She blinked in silence, her mouth agape. “No.”

  “No hang-up phone calls or emails from addresses you don’t recognize? No sign that he might be reaching out to you?”

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “What about his ex-girlfriend? Has she been in touch?”

  “No one’s been in touch with me. And why would my son be involved in crimes?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. We know he’s in the city now. Was there anywhere he liked to go to maybe clear his head?”

  “He liked the water. He’d go for walks a lot by the river. I don’t know exactly where.”

  “Near the Esplanade?” Jacquie probed.

  “Maybe.”

  “Did he ever spend any time downtown near Chinatown? Did he maybe have friends there?” Jacquie was on the edge of the loveseat, pen poised over her notepad.

  “He could have. He didn’t really tell me where people lived.”

  “What about the Public Gardens?”

  “He liked the Swan boats. When he was younger, he always told me that he thought they were romantic.” Tears trickled down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to wipe them away. “What are you going to do if you find Kevin?”

  “If he’s involved in the crimes we’re investigating, we’re going to have to bring him in,” Jacquie said. She produced a business card and set it on the end table to her left. “If you can think of anything else, please call. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else or have more questions.”

  That was my cue to stand up and pocket my notepad. I had one other question I needed to ask but it wasn’t for mixed company. I turned to Mrs. Ellery and asked, “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

  “Sure. I’ll show you.”

  Jacquie arched a brow at me as if to say, “What are you up to?” I discreetly held up one hand to wave her off and followed Mrs. Ellery out of the living room and upstairs to the second floor. We stopped outside a door and she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You’re more than just a police officer, aren’t you?” Her tone carried a hint of accusation.

  Feigning ignorance, I said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  She jutted her chin in the direction of my necklaces. “I know magical items when I see them.”

  Now that she’d admitted to knowing about its existence, I launched in. “I know Kevin has magic. We didn’t just find his DNA at our crime scenes. His magical signature was present too. If you have any idea what happened to your son, if it’s magic-related, you need to tell me.”

  “I suspected he was practicing … testing out his gifts. I gave up using my magic a long time ago, when I got married and Kevin was born. Back then, my family was enough to satisfy me and I just wanted to fit in. It had been so long since I’d even thought about my abilities, I didn’t even consider Kevin had inherited them.”

  Two thoughts occurred to me simultaneously: magic passed down maternal lines so she had to know he’d get magic and how in the hell had she gotten off the Authority’s radar for twenty something years?

  Mrs. Ellery took a breath, her armed relaxed to her sides and she met my gaze head on. “There’s something you should see.”

  Her hand trembled as she reached for the closed door beside us. After a moment to steady her nerves, she pushed it inward, revealing a neatly kept bedroom done up in green hues. The bed was partially unmade and, without asking, I understood. A part of her wanted to keep it exactly as her son had left it with the hope that one day he’d return.

  “I can go in myself,” I said in a hushed tone.

  She nodded and pointed to the desk nestled beneath a window. “The photo in the silver frame.”

  I crossed the threshold and picked up the photo of Kevin and a girl I assumed was his ex-girlfriend. At first blush, it was an ordinary photograph of a happy couple. But I didn’t need Mrs. Ellery to point out what was so telling. The girl wore a sleeveless dress and tattooed prominently on her left shoulder was a triple spiral with a scythe.

  I turned to face Mrs. Ellery, photograph in hand. “She was a member of the Order?”

  “I can’t be sure. I mean sometimes kids when they’re young see something they like, not knowing what it means, but if she wa
s a willing participant… Oh God, could they have hurt my son?”

  I set the picture down and left the room, pulling the door shut behind me. “I promise, I’m going to do what I can to find your son.”

  “Please don’t hurt him. He was a good boy.”

  “I can’t make that promise. I’m sorry. He’s mixed up in some pretty serious crimes that he’s going to have to answer for.”

  I started back down the stairs to rejoin Jacquie in the car and stopped midway down. “Was Kevin ever involved with the Authority?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure he even knew what he was doing with his magic. Like I said, I gave that up when he came along and I never talked about it with him. And they left me alone.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be in touch.” I made a mental note to check in with Desmond to see if the Authority had any record of Kevin.

  “What was that about?” Jacquie asked before I closed the driver-side door.

  “I had to go to the bathroom,” I lied. The engine roared to life and I pulled out of the driveway and into the street. “Do we have a last known on the ex-girlfriend?”

  Before she could answer, both of our phones beeped. Jacquie swiped her screen and looked over at me. “The ex-girlfriend is going to have to wait.”

  “Why?” I didn’t bother to check my phone.

  “We just got an alert. Taggart is going live on NBC right now with a press conference.”

  I pulled a U-turn in the street and headed back the way we’d come until I found an empty parking spot and pulled in. Jacquie pulled the live stream up on her phone and we sat watching. Even on the small screen I could see the cameras flashing as reporters hung on every word. Taggart walked out to stand at a podium perched on the front steps of the State House, the gold dome glistening and reflecting the noon-day light overhead. He looked smug as he stood there, surveying his audience. Maybe it was just the look he always had, but it still made my fist itch to plant one right on his beak-like nose.

  “Thank you all for coming. Together with the Boston Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, the FBI has been investigating a series of homicides throughout the greater Boston area. Due to our combined efforts, at this time, we have identified a suspect, twenty-nine-year-old Kevin Ellery.” The photo from Kevin’s missing person’s file flashed on the screen. “Anyone with information on Mr. Ellery’s whereabouts is asked to contact the police tip line on the number below. We are urging the public to exercise extreme caution at this time. If you observe the suspect, contact police immediately. Do not approach him. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Thank you.”