The Wizard of Sante Fe

by Simon Hawke

  The questions about "Michael Cornwall" had been resolved, as well, thanks to the help of Chief Inspector Michael Blood of Scotland Yard, who had explained to the agents over the phone that his "record" not being available was some sort of a computer glitch. He had then corrected his oversight by seeing to it that there was a record of an "Inspector Michael Cornwall" inserted in the Yard personnel files. Only any specific inquiries as to that particular officer would be met with the response that he was engaged in "special assignments of a sensitive nature" and no further information was available.

  Megan Leary, according to the report, had died gallantly in action, destroying the second demonic entity. Her shotgun wound was explained as a tragic accident, some panicked citizen—identity unknown—attempting to fire on the demon and hitting her, instead. As for the knight that Rosowitz and Stanley had seen fighting the demon in the plaza, Loomis made no mention of it and neither of them brought it up. What they thought, he did not know, but they were satisfied to accept things as they were and their careers would benefit.

  The one thing Loomis had held firm on, though he was willing to give the Bureau credit for everything else, including the idea of using the thaumagenes to help track down the necromancer, was giving Gomez credit for having killed the bastard. He didn't know why that seemed important to him, but it was. Gomez certainly didn't care, but Rhiannon had wasted little time in taking advantage of the publicity occasioned by her creation playing a key role in bringing the necromancer to justice. The media had been anxious to interview Gomez as well, but the cat had told them to bug off, which pleased Loomis no end. While Paul remained in the hospital, recovering from his temporary blindness, Loomis was taking care of Gomez and they had become fast friends. He hoped that Paul would let Gomez come for visits after he recovered.

  Loomis signed off on the report and sighed. There were still unanswered questions and he was looking forward to getting them resolved, for his own satisfaction. The ones who had the answers were back at Paul's house and after it was over, he had told them that he would stop by for enlightenment as soon as he had straightened out the whole thing with the Bureau people, went home and had about ten hours sleep, then made out his report. He had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask Modred, Billy, and Kira and he was looking forward to hearing the entire story.

  There was a knock and he looked up to see a young man standing in the open doorway of his office. It was a young man he had never seen before, with long, curly blond hair, a boyish-looking face, and a friendly smile. He was wearing a headband, faded jeans, worn sneakers, and a short, brown warlock's cassock. Must be one of Paul's students, Loomis thought.

  "Lt. Loomis?"

  "Yes? What can I do for you?"

  "Sir, I know you must be a very busy man, but I wonder if I could have a few minutes of your time? It concerns Professor Ramirez."

  "Come in," he said to the young man. "Have a seat."

  "Thank you," Wyrdrune said, entering the office and shutting the door behind him.

  "Would you like some coffee?" Loomis asked.

  "No, thank you," Wyrdrune said, catching his gaze and then holding it as his eyes began to glow softly. Loomis blinked several times and then a blank look came over his face.

  "Now listen to me carefully, Joe," said Wyrdrune, speaking softly. "You will forget . . ."