“I like Chicago,” I said.
“It’s not a fun trip. It’s for work.”
I shoved him a little with my elbow. “And why we can’t we have some fun at work? You’ve got to remove that stick that’s up your ass.”
“You’re awfully chirpy now that you’ve got something to chew into.”
He was right; I was in a good mood. While Smith wasn’t much of a suspect, this Perry Fisher appeared promising. “Come on, Special Agent Bryan. We’ve got to get a move on.”
He groaned but followed me. He drove, and I checked out Perry Fisher on Google. The pictures showed a thin man with watery, blue eyes. Not impressive. He was a small time stage show artist. Not only did he do hypnotism but also gave talks, mostly to community colleges. He wasn’t big league.
That elevated him high up in my list of suspects.
Perhaps he’d bigger dreams and ambitions but never achieved what he wanted.
Was he trying to prove himself by exercising control over the victims?
Perhaps he…
I couldn’t think of a good, sane reason why a hypnotist would mess with a werewolf and a mage?
Made no sense.
We headed for the address we found on the net. Turned out it was a bar. Hmm. Not a good start. After sauntering inside, I hooked my fingers in my pocket. Was Perry Fisher living here? Or was this a fake address? The music wasn’t loud, but then it was middle of the morning. There were few patrons. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bunch of huge guys who sat in the back of the room, drinking beer. They could cause trouble, especially if they had nothing to do and were drinking since morning.
I swaggered up to the barman. Being aggressive in a bar was better as it tended to avoid confrontations. Tall, dark, he was quietly polishing the glasses but I could see that he was alert.
“Hey, know anyone by the name of Perry Fisher?”
“Perry?” He frowned. “Haven’t seen that guy for a week. Why?”
I gazed at him. His eyes were too widely dilated. Not a good sign. Man. He wasn’t alert, he was hyper active on drugs, but we weren’t drug busters. “Got a job for him,” I said. “Maybe you could give us a contact number. I really need to get this done.”
“What’s the job?”
I put my elbows on the table. “Are you his agent?”
“Nah. I barely know the guy.”
“Well, then, the job is confidential. I’ll tell him when I see him.” I dropped a card on the counter. It contained my name and cell number. “Tell him to call me if he is interested in making some dough.” I turned and ran into a wide chest. Wow. The smell really made me faint. “Woo. Dude, take a shower.”
“What did you say?”
The guy was huge. His muscles rippled on his arms as he smashed his hands together. His nose must have been broken once. There was a mean look in his eyes. A fighter he was. Wrinkling my nose in distaste, I took a step back. Not that I didn’t like a good fight any day, but right now we were in a kind of hurry. “Never mind.” I tried to get past him but he stepped right in front of me. And smack. My head connected with his chest once more. “Now you’re annoying me.”
“Hey, little lady. You’re annoying me.” When he bent down and peeled back his lips to glare at me, I could see that his teeth were yellow and stained. Plus his breath stank. “Now what do you want to see Perry for?”
“Why? Are you Perry?”
“No, but he is my buddy.”
Interesting. Perry Fisher had friends, strong ones too. This guy could go head to head with a werewolf. He shouldn’t have survived, but then that’s where the hypnosis would come in. My lips pursed in a thin line as I surveyed him. Was it possible that Perry Fisher wasn’t acting alone? Could it be a group of people who were going against the magical creatures?
Maybe some kind of a vigilante group?
It was known to happen before.
It was possible.
The thought made me pause.
Maybe it made the guy think I was scared. “So what have you got on him?”
“Nothing as yet. As I said, we have a job. If you can lead us to him, great, otherwise quit wasting our time.”
Bryan tapped the guy on the shoulder. “Hi, man. Maybe you want to talk to me?”
The guy’s punch smacked straight into Bryan’s head. He wheeled back, hit a chair, and stumbled. Alright, so the gloves were off. My knee jerked up and hit the guy square between the legs. I didn’t believe in taking prisoners. The look on his face was priceless. He staggered. Not one to waste an opportunity, I delivered a swift kick to his knee which brought him down. He crashed on the floor. The silence in the bar was deafening.
Bryan stood. I grabbed his arm to keep him steady. Showing any weakness now would only result in greater trouble. “Anyone else has a problem with us?” I said.
No one moved. Bryan rubbed his nose. “Well done.”
I took a neat bow. “Thank you. Now, you…” I turned and pointed at the bartender.
“Perry might be at the pier this time. He goes there most days for fishing,” he yelled.
Great. I’d been about to tell him that he should contact us if Perry came. This was better. Bryan and I walked out. “How is the nose?”
“He nearly broke it. How much do you think that guy weighs?”
“Easily a hundred kg,” I said. “And most of it is muscle. That was a solid punch. Didn’t see it coming.” It was hard to smother my smile. “Are you sure the bone is not broken?”
He winced. “Don’t enjoy this so much.”
I laughed. “Come on. Be a sport. It was funny as hell.”
In front of the car, I stopped and turned to look at him. Gingerly, I touched his nose. It looked a little blue, but it sure as hell wasn’t broken. Good. I didn’t want to run him to the hospital. Now that we finally caught a break, I didn’t want to lose it. This Perry Fisher sure as hell could be our guy. He and that big hulk could be acting together. Ideally, I would have liked to take the hulk into custody, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t come easily without a warrant.
“It’s my turn to drive,” he said, taking the keys from my hand. “It will take my mind off this pain. Lesson 101: never go into a bar with you.”
“I didn’t start it.”
“You sure as hell finished it.” We got in the car. “What do you plan to do once we find Perry?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I love a solid plan,” he said with a poker face.
My lips stretched in a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes. Plan or not, once Perry was mine, I intended to wring the truth out of him. If he were the one who killed those people then he would suffer for it. They didn’t deserve to die, but he sure did. And I would make sure that I dragged him kicking and screaming, if that was what it took, to the gallows myself.
Oh yeah!
My mind was finally working in the right way, and it screamed for justice. I would deliver it, come hell or high water.
Chapter Nine
Perry was a huge-ass disappointment.
His picture was far better than the real deal. The pale, shifty eyes, the emaciated body, and the pink, watery nose made me immediately distrust him. He ran a hand over the dry, white skin of his forearm as he studied us. The fishing rod dipped in the water, but he remained oblivious to it. His grip on the rod wasn’t quite right, and even the way he stood didn’t match up to the image of a serious fisher. My dad used to fish, and once a year, he would take us for fishing expeditions. I hated them. My brother and sister used to love the trips.
Memories of those times slashed into my mind, and with an effort of will, I locked them up again.
Not today.
Reliving those times only brought pain.
I couldn’t afford to focus on anything else but this case for now.
“We need you to come with us.”
“Do you have a warrant?” he asked, not looking surprised or scared.
Clearly, he was used to trouble banging on his
door.
Hmm.
I would need a different tactic. A quick hit with a spell, stash him in the car, and whisk him before anyone could react; that might work.
My fingers flexed. “Hmm. Why don’t I just…”
Bryan grabbed my hand. The magic flared and then died. Fine. Fine. We would stick to the rules.
There were other ways to accomplish the same goal.
“We’ve a job. It’s a huge one, and we need to talk to you in private,” said Bryan.
Perry’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the job?”
“Can’t tell you here.”
He yawned and scratched his forearm again. The rod dipped lower. “Quit wasting my time.”
“Ten thousand dollars is a waste of your time?” I shrugged. “Alright, we’ll find someone else. Didn’t Jeremy say there was a woman up in…?”
“Wait a minute.” Perry nearly dropped the line in the sea as he pivoted. “Ten thousand…did I hear you right?”
It was my time to yawn. “As I said, it’s a big job, but I can’t disclose the details here. There is a need to keep it all hush hush for now.”
“It’s legal, this job?”
Since when did he worry about such things? If he was the one who killed these men, I doubt he had a conscience. “Of course, it’s legit. Are you coming?”
He hesitated. My fingers itched. I could bind him with air, make him fall. It would look as if he fainted, and then we could carry him to the car. People would think we were helping him. It was a good idea, and Bryan would have no choice but to go along. Perry would talk when I had him exactly where I wanted him to be.
I glanced at the pier. It was nearly empty, except for two couples who sat at the end of the pier. A lone man stood at one side with a rod in his hand. He was fishing. I saw a few fishes in his bucket. This was a great place to meet interesting people. It was quiet, out of the way.
Not many people on the pier. We might just get away with it.
“I’ll come. We can talk in your car, but I am not going anywhere with you,” he said.
The man was paranoid. I would be too, if I used my hypnotic skills to murder people. Perhaps he thought he could control us in the car.
He didn’t know whom he was dealing with.
But wait a minute? If this guy targeted magical folks, then he clearly knew that there was a possibility that we could possess such powers too. Or perhaps he was confident that he could deal with anything.
He didn’t look like much of a threat.
And yet he managed to capture a mage and a werewolf.
I was cautious, wisely so. It wasn’t just me who was at risk, but Bryan too.
“That’s fine with us,” I agreed.
He gathered his rod and bucket, and we walked back to the parking lot. At the rental cabin, he handed in his stuff. “I never got around to buying my own.”
He wasn’t a fisherman. People who loved fishing bought their own stuff. They took pride in it. Perry’s hands shook as he opened the door. He sat in and so did we. Bryan took the front seat.
This could get intense, especially if he was the killer.
“What’s the job?”
I slid near him. If he tried something funny, I would just punch him. “Hypnosis, of course. That’s what you’re good at.”
He straightened up. “Is it a stage show? A private party?”
My magic enveloped, probed, and prodded him. Nothing tingled back at me. He didn’t have any magical ability. I dared not relax. This man, in cold blood, killed two people, and he wouldn’t hesitate to attack us if we threatened him in any way. Not that I was afraid of him, but it wasn’t wise to take unnecessary risks.
“First, we need to figure out if you’re the right man for the job.”
“You’re the one who sought me out. Obviously, you’re aware of what I can do.”
He wasn’t much to look at.
But he sure did have a high opinion of his abilities.
“We’ve specific requirements, and we need to confirm if you can fulfill them.”
He rolled his eyes. His gaze darted to the pier. “What are they?”
“Can you…hypnotize a person during an ordinary conversation?”
He leered. “Of course. Want me to try it on you?”
“That won’t be necessary.” He snickered. “Can you do it to someone who has…extraordinary abilities?”
“What do you mean by extraordinary abilities? Like someone super strong or something? Because that’s not a problem.” His hands shook a bit. He put them down on his lap, but the tremors didn’t seize. His tongue snaked out to lick his bottom lip. “I can hypnotize anyone.”
Really?
I just didn’t see him doing something like that. The greed in his eyes was all too palpable, as was the ambition; and the talent just wasn’t there. He wasn’t our man. I felt it in my gut as acutely as the punch of disappointment that hit me.
We had the wrong man – or perhaps we had the wrong theory.
Was it time to start from the basics?
If he wasn’t our guy then who was it?
The lady in Chicago, sure, but I just didn’t see it happening. People were dying here, and she was far away. I could ask Jeremy to check her travel history to see if she was anywhere around here when the murders happened but it didn’t seem like it. My instincts told me that the murderer was local, he or she knew the places, and he or she knew the victims. If not personally, the murderer was at least aware who and what they were, and they were special targets that he used for a specific purpose.
But what?
And why?
“So what is it?” asked Perry.
“Try and hypnotize me,” asked Bryan. Clearly, he was having the same misgivings as me. “We want to see your capability before we offer you the job.”
Perry hesitated, but then the lure of ten thousand dollars won. Turning slightly, he faced Bryan. Raising his hands, he stared at Bryan. My fingers itched as magic skimming around the tips. If he was up to anything nasty…
“Look into my eyes,” he said. “Deep and deep. I want you to focus on nothing my eyes.” Bryan stared at him, determined. I hid a smile. Oh dear. We were so on the wrong track. “Now you must relax. Relax your shoulders. Relax your arms. Relax your hands. Your neck is relax, as is your spine.”
This was boring.
“It’s not working,” said Bryan. “I can’t bloody relax just because you ask me.”
Perry grunted. “It’s not working because the environment isn’t right, man. I can do it. I tell you, I can.”
Bryan glanced at me. I raised an eyebrow. Somehow I just didn’t see this guy persuade a mage and a werewolf to follow him. He didn’t have it. “I think it’s better if we find someone else.”
“Hey, I am the man. That’s a lot of money, dude. I need it. If I can get it, I could…get away.”
My antenna for trouble vibrated. “Get away from whom?”
His tongue sprung out to lick his lips. He averted his gaze. “Nothing. None. You guys are fraud. Why are you wasting my time?” He opened the door. “Go to hell.”
Whom did he need to get away from?
I got out too. “Hey, listen…”
My gaze was drawn to the six men who strode with authority towards us. Leading them was the guy I flayed in the bar.
Trouble. Trouble. Trouble.
I gazed around. We were in a public space, and my magic was off limits. I couldn’t use it, not at the risk of blowing open the covers of magic. Quickly, I tried to get back in the car, but two of them whipped out a gun.
Shoot.
Now, we were really in trouble.
What the hell was going on?
Bryan got out of the car to stand beside me. The gun was in his hands. “FBI, freeze and drop your weapons.”
The first bullet whizzed past his head. He ducked and the second bullet shattered the window. I felt the sting as some shards of glass pierced my skin. Dropping to the ground, I covered my head. Bry
an shot too. He was good. One of them was hit on the leg. He screamed and fell. The other men reached Bryan before he could do more damage. Two of them jumped on him and wrestled the gun out of his hands. I kicked one of them, but the other pounced on me. His fist hit my right cheek, and for a moment I saw stars.
Magic frizzled at the tips of my fingers, but I couldn’t unleash it. Not if I wanted to protect my identity.
Damn the rules.
Sometimes they sucked.
The men twisted Bryan’s arms behind his back. The one who hit me put his arm around my neck and squeezed. My throat hurt, I couldn’t breathe.
“Get in the car,” ordered the big guy whom I’d battered in the bar. “Now.”
Letting go, the guy allowed me two seconds to pull in a breath. Yanking my hair, he pulled me up.
“I’ll walk,” I screamed before he could drag me.
“Be my guest, bitch,” he muttered.
They marched us to the road, guns pointed at us. Two of them carried the whimpering, injured guy. A dark, gray van stood, its door open, the driver in the seat. Good. When we were in the van and the door was closed, I would use my magic to whip them into a cocoon. I looked forward to the sight of them all tangled up. It wouldn’t take more than a few seconds. My magic probed each individual; they had no specific skills. They were not mages.
What they did want from us?
What the hell was going on?
We appeared to have fallen in the middle of something that wasn’t our domain.
Bad time to get screwed up.
Pain stabbed my shoulder as the man twisted it to shove me inside. Argh. This shouldn’t take long. I could neutralize them once we were safely inside, and then we would get some answers. As I stepped in, there was a sharp prick on my other arm. I shrieked and looked down as the white substance disappeared inside my flesh. My magic whipped in response, angry, hostile. But before I could bring it to bear against them, my eyes fluttered, my heart skipped a beat, and I slumped on the seat.
Talk about seriously misjudging a situation.
The bad just became worse.
As the drug pumped within me, fast and furious, my mind grappled with thoughts and ideas but I couldn’t do a damn thing. The van moved. Garbled voices reached me but I couldn’t make sense of anything. My limbs were heavy, unresponsive and my heartbeat was too fast. I closed my eyes and then opened them again. This time I was in a different place; there was a mattress under me and above me was a dirty ceiling. A groan escaped my lips.
01 Serial Killer (FBI Paranormal Casefiles) Page 8
