by A.M. Burns
16
Between the warm water of the hot tub and Dusty's strong skilled hands, my back and legs slowly started to come back to life. We soaked for almost an hour as we worked out each other’s kinks. Most of Dusty's bruises repaired as he shifted back to human form after the fight with the troll. Unfortunately I don't mend quite so fast, but Dusty helped a lot.
The cleanup crew arrived at the apartment complex right on schedule just as we finished getting the police tape around the area to keep the curious away from the troll’s body. The police were surprisingly susceptible to a little telepathic suggestion and the troll quickly became a razorback boar that had wandered into the complex from the nearby creek bottom and had been shot before it hurt anyone. As the cleanup crew took care of everyone else, making sure that their memories reflected the razorback, Paul, Dusty and I headed off down the path the troll had created.
Sure enough, the circle from which it had been called was long deserted. We searched the best we could but there were no signs that told us anything more about who or what called the troll. The circle area, which was on the banks of a creek under a small bridge, was much like area where the werejaguar had been found, stamped flat. We couldn’t determine if it was by the troll or the summoner. The only path leading away from the site was the troll’s, but that could just have meant that the summoner was crafty enough to cover his or her own exit by taking the same path as the troll until it reached the street. Whoever called the troll had chosen the location due to its proximity to Madeline Fort's house. But the troll wasn’t the only thing that had been called from that circle. It had just been the first thing. Looking around with a knowledgeable eye revealed several sets of tiny footprints, the shock troupe for the stealth operator that came through right afterwards. The other OD’s job revealed itself with a call from the cleanup crew. They found Madeline Fort dead in her apartment, torn apart by her dogs. That left only Brianna and Byron Supunski as the leaders of the get-together group and there’d been an attempt on Brianna's life earlier.
“Well there’s some good news,” Tiffany said as she came out into the back yard. “I just got off the phone with the various wer leaders around town and no one’s missing any people as of today. It seems that whoever’s behind this has decided to focus on the human element of the equation for a while.”
She carried a small tray with sandwiches and bottled water. “I realized that you two haven’t eaten anything in a few hours, so here is something quick to hold you over until after the séance. Then you can run over, get a steak and give a report to Coyote.” She set the tray down in the spot on the side of the hot tub designed for trays.
“So what else have you found out today while we have been running around battling trolls and elementals?” I asked, grabbing a sandwich. I didn’t realize I was hungry, until I saw the food. It’s not always a good idea to eat a big meal before doing magic. In fact, a lot of people will fast for up to twenty-four hours before, saying it clears their system. I've always felt it helps with hallucinations, so I avoid it if at all possible. But a little sandwich, basically meat, bread and a little cheese, is a good idea as long as it’s something that will not upset your stomach is a good idea. It’s the same idea as eating carbs before working out and then having a big meal afterwards.
“Well not a whole lot,” Tiffany replied. “I spent most of the day trying to track down members of the get-together group. Even using the data we got out of Magee's computer, it hasn’t been the easiest job in the world. After the troll, I rescheduled your other appointments from tonight, other than the Barry and Coyote. I’ve got another slate of interviews for you tomorrow, starting around ten a.m. with Xan Landron. He sounds really flaky and is ‘totally ready to help in any way,’ his quote. He's clean other than he shows up on every pagan email list, every gay dating service and has tried to contact the Council several times. They ignore him. His correspondence with Magee bordered on the obsessive. He was trying to get into her coven, but per her notes, she put him off hoping he’d just go away.”
“That matches what we’re hearing about him and the impression we got from him at the get together last night,” I replied between bites.
“After that, you get to go see Lenny Pentelli and Katie Crackles. He's the one that goes by DMNFRND and claims to be a high magician. No one in the Texas magician’s guild has heard from him. I have feelers out on both coasts and in Europe, waiting to see what comes back. He seems clean, almost too clean, not even a parking ticket. It's almost like he’s a made-up person. On the other hand, Katie Crackles has a record. She’s only steps away from being locked up on a long-term basis. She assaulted a police officer on a routine stop a couple of years back. Since then, she’s had several run ins with the local law enforcement including assault and battery to her last boyfriend. She’s not as strong as Alexia. He escaped her beating with a lead pipe with only major contusions, but no fatal blows. She now spends part of each day in an anger management group and probably will for the next few years.”
Dusty grinned around bites of his third sandwich “Wow sounds like she needs their perf..”
I clamped my hand over his mouth, almost choking him with his sandwich. “Don't say those words.”
He laughed as I released him. “You know I love and trust you perfectly.” He kissed me and jumped to the other side of the hot tub.
I stared at him for a second then turned my attention back to Tiffany. She was smiling too. “So anyway,” I prompted her to continue.
“I also heard back from the pixie rehab lady and she said the pixie’s responding well to treatment. Hopefully you’ll be able to stop by and question him tomorrow afternoon if we need to do that. Carmine is fascinated with the alligator remains and photos. She says it’s one of the most complex high-magic spells she’s ever seen. She agrees that the elemental must have been in the body of the alligator for some time. She also ran the id of the troll you guys killed tonight. It’s one Brusier Blendari. He was legally registered to cross over several years ago, but had his license revoked after he attacked a summoner in Canada last year. The council sent him back and hoped never to see him again. Carmine’s been communicating with the troll ambassador to the council. He’s not too happy that one of his citizens happened to end up dead by a Council agent on Terran soil.”
“Great, just what we need, mad trolls coming at us from every bridge in town.” I could just imagine what a mess it would be if the trolls decided to declare this a major incident. Like I had tried to explain to Madeline earlier, trolls aren’t something you can negotiate with. It’s only because they were one of the fae that they had any real rights on the Council at all. Under normal circumstances, they’d have to go through the Fae Consortium before engaging the Council, but since I’m sure that Carmine had gone to him first, it gave him the option to bypass the Consortium and deal straight with the Council.
“Well Carmine’s fairly sure she can get something worked out with the trolls before that happens. But right now it sounds like they are still in the shouting part of the negotiations and she’s trying to keep him from getting her goat,” Tiffany chuckled.
“Yeah that would be bbbbbaaaaaaadd.” Dusty laughed as he came up behind me and gave me a big hug.
I turned around in his arms and gave him a big wet kiss. “Don't make me get gruff on you,” I grumbled playfully.
“If you two have had enough time to relax after fighting the troll, then you have about thirty minutes before people show up for the spirit calling. Knowing Daphnia, they'll be early,” Tiffany said in that way of hers that was a cross between motherly and something you expect from a psycho dominatrix nun. Sometimes the woman scared me, but she’s the best right hand a PI could have.
