Souls of the Reaper

by Markie Madden

  Further conversation was cut short, as they pulled up into the dusty parking lot of a run-down country-western bar. Several decades ago, it had been a bustling nighttime hot spot, a place where the younger crowd could meet for drinks and dancing. Now, it was sadly abandoned, frequented by only the most die-hard of customers. Lacey counted twelve cars parked in the lot.

  “Can’t be much of a brawl,” Colton commented.

  “You know what they say about assuming.” She put a trace of caution in her voice. “Haven’t you ever seen how many Mexicans can fit into a compact car?” The steel fence erected at America’s southern border a hundred years ago had little effect on the number of immigrants sneaking into the country each month, and Dallas had its fair share of a Hispanic population.

  One side of his mouth crooked upward. “Ha, I hear that, Little Sister.”

  She skidded to a stop next to three tan and white cruisers and cut the siren. “Well, let’s go see what there is to see.”

  “All right, I got your back.”

  She locked the car, and they moved to the door as a single unit. Lacey reached for the handle first, drawing her weapon from its shoulder harness in a smooth movement. Her partner mirrored her, and she pulled the door open and stepped inside.

  10

  One crime has to be concealed by another. ~~Seneca

  The scene inside the decrepit bar was calm, though there was evidence of a raucous brawl all around them. Six uniformed officers had a line of customers sitting on a long, bench-like booth near the dance floor. Lacey saw tables and chairs overturned, spills and broken glass littering the floor, and three of the seated men held emergency ice packs to their faces. The bartender, a tall, imposing man stood behind the bar, hands balled on his hips. She noticed a white bar towel poking out of one massive fist.

  Lacey pulled her badge. “Lieutenant Anderson.” She looked at the bartender. “What happened here?”

  “Donny Janosik.” He placed the towel on the bar top and approached them. “I own the place, and work it during the morning hours. These guys were here watching a rerun of the Stars’ game. Some of ‘em don’t have cable, so they always come over here the next day to watch it.”

  Lacey slid her eyes to Colton, a subtle signal for him to take over. They might talk to him more than me, she thought. Let him do the whole male bonding over sports crap. He hesitated ever so briefly before stepping forward, letting her know that he was a bit unsure of himself. She nodded to indicate that she would back him up or steer him in the right direction if need be. So he flashed his badge at Donny. “Detective Scarber. They were watching the game, you say? Then what happened?”

  “Gee, I don’t exactly know, man. I was over here putting glasses into the washer, so I didn’t see it start. All of a sudden, they were screaming and hollering at the screen, something about a penalty that should have been called, so I’m like, ‘whatever’, you know?” Donny grabbed the towel again and began wiping his hands as if they were still wet from the dishwater. “Next thing I know, tables and chairs are flying around and them guys are flat out pounding on one another. No way in hell I was breaking that up by myself!”

  Though she was still listening to the owner’s story, Lacey turned and glared at the twelve men who were grumbling at one another under the watchful stares of the other cops. They were all disheveled, some already sporting black eyes or small cuts to the face that were starting to scab over. One man held a chemical ice pack to his nose, which appeared to be broken, one was crinkling the plastic in his hands instead of keeping it on the lump on his head, while the third one held the compress to his lower jaw. She returned her attention to her partner’s questioning of the bar owner.

  “So you called the police,” Colton was saying. “Then what?”

  “Well, like I said, there were too many of them for me to handle alone. I shouted at them, but it didn’t seem to faze them. All I could do was watch them tear my place up. They broke a window over there, and I want them to pay for the damages.” He indicated the shattered glass over his shoulder. “But, I do have to say your boys here responded pretty quick.” Donny glanced over at the officers.

  “Thanks.” Colton looked at Lacey. “Let’s go see what they have to say for themselves.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Interviewing the suspects was a long and arduous process, especially since they seemed to want nothing more than to talk all at once, argue with each statement the others made, and cause general chaos. None of the men acted as if they had done anything wrong, and tried to pass the blame away from themselves and onto the others. Lacey shook her head after the last one was secured into the prisoner transport van Colton called since they didn’t have enough cars to safely move them.

  “Leave orders that I want them all evaluated by Dr. Dilorenzo. Or, one of the other profilers, but make sure that Dr. Dilorenzo supervises and signs off on their reports before they go into the system. No exceptions.” Lacey’s tone of voice made it clear she would take no arguments, either from the officers driving the van or from the doctor himself. “If the doctor has a problem with it, you can tell him to call me. I’ll clear it.”

  “All right, Lieutenant, whatever you say, you’re the boss.” The driver rolled up his window as the van pulled away.

  Lacey looked at Colton. He shrugged his shoulders. “Did any of that seem odd to you?” He gave a crooked grin.

  “Like, what part?”

  “All of it.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, it seemed off. Like our assault suspect. I think Dr. Matthews’ theory is sounding more and more likely with each new call we get.”

  “I hear that!” He chuckled. “So, what’s the next step?”

  “Honestly? No fucking clue. We need to go to the commander.” She saw his grimace. “What?”

  He glanced down at his boots as they crossed the parking lot to her car, a sign she knew meant he was uncomfortable admitting to something. “I just don’t like briefing him, that’s all. It makes me jumpy.”

  She understood his unspoken meaning; male Werewolves all wanted to be Alphas, and were almost hard-wired to resist authority. Though Colton had learned over the last few months to accept being under her command, but she was a woman. “We need more help than we have on this one.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  She climbed into the car and fastened her safety belt, then started the engine with a throaty sound. “Well, I think we need to bring in an expert consultant.”

  “It’s not uncommon to seek consultants, even civilian ones.”

  “True.” She punched the gas pedal, guiding the car onto the highway. “But to bring in a civilian, I have to have the commander’s approval.”

  “So, you’re going to ask Dr. Matthews to consult?”

  “He’s as good as anyone. And he’ll have more hard facts to bring to the case. He can help us slog through all the lore and stories and get down to the truth. At least a lot easier than we can ourselves.”

  “That’s a good idea. I mean, we’ve got a pretty decent theory of what’s going on, but no starting place to find the who behind it.”

  “Yes, an interesting point. How can we find the perpetrator of the crime when we don’t even have victims of the crime or have a way to find the victims? Maybe Dr. Matthews can give us some insight.” She slipped the car into the outer lane, around another vehicle, and back to the right side of the road. “Assuming we can get the commander to approve it.”

  “I don’t see why you don’t have the power to make that call.” His voice sounded like he was complaining.

  “None of the department heads do.” She answered even though it hadn’t exactly been a question. “Anything requiring funds above our normal budgets has to be approved.”

  He grabbed the ‘chicken stick’ as she prepared to swing down an off-ramp. “God, I see a trip to ‘the office’ in our future.” Colton did air quotes as he spoke.

  “You guessed it.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
/>
  Lacey strode into the commander’s outer office, greeting his secretary, a middle-aged woman named Sharon.

  “Hi, Lieutenant, Detective. What can I do for you?”

  “Is the commander available?” Lacey tightened her shoulders, an unconscious habit each time she was getting ready to brief a senior officer. Though she never served in the military, her commander had, and she knew he expected his police unit to run as smooth as a military company.

  “Let me check. Want to have a seat?” Sharon indicated the short row of chairs by the door.

  Colton gave Lacey a questioning glance, but she shook her head. “We’re fine.”

  Sharon picked up the phone and dialed an extension. “Sir, Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Scarber are here. Do you have a moment to see them?” She tipped her head as she listened to his response. “Okay, no problem. Thank you, sir.” She looked up at them as she hung up the phone. “He can see you. Go on in, I’ll bring you some coffee.” Sharon nodded at Colton. “And tea for you.” She glanced at Lacey.

  “Thank you.”

  Lacey stepped to the door of the inner office and knocked once as Colton added, “Sugar and cream for me, please.”

  “Come in.” The commander’s stern voice could be heard clearly.

  Lacey opened the door and gestured to Colton, and they entered the room. Their commander was sitting behind his desk, a short stack of papers at his right. He pushed his laptop away and folded his hands on the blotter. “Lieutenant, Detective, come on in. Have a seat.”

  Though Lacey preferred to stand, she obeyed the command. “Sir.”

  “What have you got going on?”

  She fell into briefing mode. She began with her observations from La Femme, the egging of Colton’s truck, and their first call to the car accident scene. She summarized their conversation with Dr. Matthews, and how their visit to the department’s psychologist further corroborated the doctor’s theory. Then Lacey instructed Colton to outline the results of his research into Reapers.

  “It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not,” he began, looking at the floor. “I’m not sure if either of you are aware, but my wife was a mythology teacher, among other things, before she took time off to have our kids. Anyway, I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I kind of asked her for her opinion.” Lacey looked at him sharply. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her any specifics of the case.” The words rushed out. “I mentioned that I had a reason to be checking into Reapers as a species, and how difficult it was to know what was truth and fiction.”

  “Excellent, tapping an outside resource.” George’s tone of voice made it clear to Lacey that Colton’s choice was acceptable. “Go on.”

  “So basically, what my wife said was that most of the world’s mythology stemmed from what people saw and knew. She told me, writers write what they know, painters paint what they see.”

  “Makes sense to me.” Lacey interjected. “Even fiction is often based on reality, even if it’s set on another planet or in another time frame.”

  “Right.” Colton seemed to be warming up to the topic. “So, the ‘Grim Reaper’ image didn’t actually come into being until sometime in the 15th century. Before that, people still worried about what came after death, but there’s not much lore about a person or being who was responsible for that.”

  “Okay, so how do you think the Reapers came to be?” Lacey asked.

  “That’s not clear yet.” His frustration was clear to Lacey. “We need a better source.”

  “And that leads me to why we’re here, Commander.” She leaned forward as she spoke. “We need an expert consultant.”

  “Oh, I see. You’re here to request a release form.”

  “Yes, sir. I’d like to bring Doctor Matthews in. After all, it was his theory in the first place, and he is a Reaper, so he can give us firsthand knowledge. I think it’s the only way to get accurate information.”

  “All right, I’ll approve it.” He pulled his laptop closer to him and hit a few keys. “If what you say is true, we’re going to have a massive problem.”

  “Yes, sir, that’s for sure.” Lacey agreed with him. “How do we hunt down a suspect when there may be thousands of Reapers living in the city? And because of the way Reapers work to harvest souls, it doesn’t even have to be one here in Dallas. Even if we find the right one, how can we prove that he’s the one doing it?”

  “Yes, I think we definitely need more experience here. Continue consulting with Doctor Dilorenzo, and bring Doctor Matthews in for a full briefing. Assuming he’ll accept the department’s conditions.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lacey recognized his tone of dismissal and stood. Colton followed suit. With a small nod of respect to her commander, Lacey turned and left the office.

  Back in the Major Crimes Unit, Colton gave a sigh of relief. “Wow, I’m glad that’s over.” He tugged at his shirt collar as if it was somehow restricting. “It always feels like being called to the principal’s office.”

  She grinned at him. “Happen to you often, then?”

  “Almost weekly.” He snorted. “But it wasn’t all my fault.”

  “Oh, I bet you always said that.”

  “Of course! Because it was true.”

  “Sure it was.” She said it with a teasing tone.

  “Whatever, Little Sister.”

  She stepped in her office. “I’m going to give Doctor Matthews a call, see if he wants to be a civilian consultant. Keep at your research in the meantime.”

  “Great, more busy work.”

  “Damn right, Big Brother.” She closed the door, sat at the desk, and reached for the phone.

  She didn’t know the number for Medical City’s switchboard, so she looked it up. Lacey identified herself and asked the operator if Dr. Matthews was working. When the woman on the other end told her the doctor was off today, Lacey asked if she could get a message to him.

  “Certainly, Lieutenant. I’d give you his personal number, but...we’re not supposed to give it out to anyone.”

  “Sure, I understand. But I assume you can page him?”

  “What I can do is send him a text message. Is it urgent?”

  “Not as in an emergency, but I do need to talk to him right away. As in, today or tomorrow.”

  “Okay, I’ll let him know for sure.”

  Lacey gave the woman her cell phone number, as she wasn’t sure how long she’d be in the office. “He can call me anytime, no matter how late.”

  “Got it, Lieutenant. Thanks for calling Medical City.”

  She sighed as she hung up the phone, not expecting to hear from the doctor for a while. Not knowing what else to do, she logged into the computer. It pinged to alert her to a message. She saw it was a report from Colton, though addressed directly to her rather than being put into a particular case file. Lacey noted that it was the list of crime statistics she asked him to compile.

  It was neatly labeled, with green letters and numbers identifying a reduction of crime, and red used for an increase in calls. The report didn’t show a lot of green, which was no surprise to Lacey. What did surprise her was the amount of sudden increase in many different areas of crime. She saw that Colton had gone back a year, and calculated the average monthly growth percentages for each month. The first three or four months showed either a bit of increase or decrease, or a steady number of calls. But after that, all the numbers in the categories he’d looked up showed dramatic increases, and she scrutinized this information.

  What the department deemed petty crimes, shoplifting, graffiti, domestic disputes involving loud arguments but no assaults, parties, and loud music complaints had all skyrocketed. More serious crimes, such assaults, like their car accident case, or brawls in bars, road rage, and other assaults had risen by almost two hundred percent. And vice-related crimes, drugs, gambling, prostitution, and DWI cases, had gone up over four hundred percent!

  Lacey was stunned. Like any other cop who’d ever worked the streets, she knew that crime always went
up, no matter how good they were at their jobs. But Lacey also knew those numbers increased in small increments spaced out over years, not over the course of a few months. This was more troublesome evidence than she suspected. It warranted a call to her commander.

  Wilson seemed surprised that she was calling him, as she and Colton left his office less than half an hour ago. “Commander, I’m sorry to bother you again, sir, but there’s something you should take a look at.” As she spoke, her fingers flew across the keyboard, sending the report to him via an inter-office memo. “This is quite disturbing to me.”

  She heard the soft ping of the computer alert and then the sounds of his fingers on his keyboard as he pulled up the report. “Yes, indeed, Lieutenant. How did you come by this information?”

  “When we first heard Doctor Matthews’ theory, I asked Colton to compile a list of reported crime statistics for certain types of crimes, specifically those I thought would see a marked increase if people were, for lack of a better term, wandering around soulless. Like the vice crimes.”

  “Yes, I can see where you’re coming from. Excellent thinking, Lieutenant.”

  “So, you understand why I’m disturbed?”

  “Most definitely. You know I usually get reports similar to this every quarter, sometimes more often during an election year, but I’ve never seen crime spikes quite like this before. And I have a feeling this trend is going to continue. At least, until you can find this rogue Reaper, and stop him or her. This situation is extremely urgent.”

  “Agreed. We’re doing our best, sir.”

  “Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Lieutenant.”

  “You’re welcome, sir.” But Lacey was left to say it to a dial tone.

  11

  Crime generally punishes itself. ~~Oliver Goldsmith

  End of shift came with no word from Dr. Matthews, so Lacey called it a day and left the department, heading over to the SPCA to pick up Morgan. On the drive, she wondered what it would be like to have a dog around, another living being that she was responsible for. Before she was ‘Turned’, she was an adolescent, who hadn’t yet given thought to having a husband and children later in life. As it turned out, the Black Plague would forever prevent her from making that choice.