by Skye Knizley
"Depends," she replied. "There are definitely more wounds, some even inflicted after he was dead. The powder we found on the others is present on his chest and in his hair and his head was removed with a single blow from a large weapon. Other than that, he's another Bob Doe."
"His clothes have to be around here," Raven said. "That's part of this nutjob's MO."
"No one has seen them," Aspen replied. "I have my guys searching the area."
Raven looked around herself and saw the other techs doing a grid search of the area. She also spotted a snow-covered Honda sitting at the curb not thirty feet away. She handed the piece of metal she'd found to Aspen and continued over to the car. She wiped some snow from the windshield and gasped when she saw a woman slumped in the driver's seat, her eyes milky and white. The man's clothes, a suit and silk shirt, were balled up and stuffed in her lap.
* * *
An hour later they had the woman out of the car and placed on a gurney. The woman, dressed for a night out in black leather pants, heels and a gold sweater, was tall and slender with waist-length black hair. She would have been pretty of it weren't for the white-eyed blank stare. Her body was ice cold, understandable after a night spent in a car during Chicago winter, but to Raven it felt different, like the three victims already in the morgue.
Her identification said her name had been Isabelle Giotti and it only took Raven a few minutes to release who the headless man was.
"Armino Giotti," she said to Aspen.
The forensic specialist gave her a blank look. "Who?"
"The other victim. His name is Armino Giotti," Raven said. "I guarantee you he did three years for Thirst possession and was recently paroled. This is his wife. They were married just before he got sent away."
"How do you know that?" Levac asked, watching the team go through the car for any clues.
Raven looked at the corpse now lying on a gurney and being prepared for transport. "Because I was the detective that put him there. All of the male victims were people I made deals with to get at bigger fish in the DiFronzo outfit. I wanted the ones behind the operation, not these guys."
"That explains the connection to Riscassi and DeGrey," Levac said. "Maybe the outfit is after you and going about it in a particularly gruesome way."
Raven shook her head. "No. If he wanted to take me out he wouldn't do all this. He'd send someone after me to put a bullet in my brainpan. Besides, it doesn't explain why we have their relatives in the freezer along with the victims. That's a strict no-no unless the Outfit wants to send you a message. This message is meant for me…so killing the relatives of these guys makes no sense."
"The Outfit wouldn't use two different methods, either," Aspen chimed in. "I've worked a few suspected hits. All the victims were killed the same way, usually a subsonic 22 behind the left ear."
"Aspen, let me know if you find anything else," Raven said. "Check Isabelle for any injury or blood under her right ear. I don't think you'll find any, but run the test anyway."
"You got it, Ray," Aspen replied.
She and her team took what evidence and potential evidence they'd found and began to leave the scene. Raven watched them go and felt the subtle change once again as Old Town went from busy to deathly quiet. She didn't think she would ever get used to that. The supernatural creatures that lived and worked in the area just seemed to suck the life out of everything; the district only came back to life when it was crowded with people.
"Raven?" Levac asked, leaning against the fence.
"Yeah?" Raven answered, not turning her head.
"Ray, look at me."
Raven turned, her eyes finding Levac's. "What, Levac?"
Levac looked hurt. He stepped forward and hesitantly put his hands on Raven's shoulders. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to upset or insult you. It took me by surprise. You said you weren't a vampire. I thought that meant…no blood."
Raven shook her head and looked down, but didn't pull away. "No, Rupe. It means most of the time I can survive without feeding on fresh blood. Vampires must feed the same way humans need to eat. If they don't, they wither and go into something they call torpor, or the dead sleep. I can live day to day on normal food, but when I use my abilities my body starts to feed on itself. To keep from dying I need to drink claret…blood. It isn't something I enjoy or want to do, but it's better than dying."
Levac raised her chin and Raven looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Raven. I didn't understand and I'm sorry about the way I reacted."
Raven swallowed and said words she rarely let past her lips. "I'm sorry too, Rupe. I shouldn't have taken off like that. I should have talked to you, explained…"
She was cut off as Levac lowered his mouth to hers in the most loving, tender kiss she'd ever experienced. She returned the kiss, gently at first and then with more eagerness, her lips and tongue devouring his, her body pressed close. When she came up for air, she gasped, "You're forgiven," in perfect unison with Levac. They both burst out laughing and sagged against the fence in a tight hug.
"So now what?" Levac asked when they'd caught their breath.
Raven let go of Levac and put her sunglasses on against the rising glare. "We find out who started a grudge match against me and make them tap out."
Levac put his own shades on and looked into the distance like he hoped the wind would ruffle his coat. Raven knew he was trying to be cool and she thought it was adorable.
"That sounds like a plan. Where do we start?" he asked.
"At the beginning," Raven replied. "Witchcraft."
"Witchcraft?"
"Witchcraft."
* * *
The wind had risen enough that the lake was driving surfable waves into the shore by the time Raven and Levac arrived at Belmont Harbor. They made their way past dozens of yachts wrapped in plastic for the winter before reaching Witchcraft Charters. The sloop Witchcraft floated at anchor about fifty yards into the lake, bobbing like an angry mermaid in the heavy wind and waves. Her sales were furled and Raven could see two sailors battening hatches and covering them with tarps as protection against the oncoming storm. Raven and Levac watched them for a few minutes before entering the office. Captain Kyle, owner and captain of Witchcraft sat behind a desk that hid most of his bulk, leaving only his cherub-like face and captain's hat visible.
"No charters today," he said. "The wind's too high and we have a storm coming in."
"You have no idea," Raven said. "It's good to see you, Captain. Can we have a few minutes of your time?"
Kyle looked up with a smile that faded like the setting sun. "Good morning, detectives. What can I do for you?"
"Just a few questions, sir," Levac said, searching his pockets for his notepad. When he found it he continued. "Ah, where was I? Oh, yes! A few questions about Witchcraft. I understand you had a crewman named Shevlin working for you?"
Kyle shook his head. "Not crewman. Bartender. He was a terrible sailor, but one of the best swill slingers I've ever seen. I heard he'd passed away, a damn shame. He was really bringing in the dollars."
"I see sir," Levac said, making notes.
"Did you make port in Canada in the last few weeks?" Raven asked.
Kyle nodded and pulled out Witchcraft's log. "Yes, three weeks ago Friday. Maria Riscassi chartered her and we made berth up north for a few days. She paid the whole trip in cash."
"There's a surprise. Was Shevlin onboard?" Raven asked.
"Yes, any time I had a charter I tried to get Zackie onboard," Kyle replied. "Like I said, he brought in the dollars."
Raven nodded, raised her glasses and leaned against the desk. "Did she ask to go to Canada before she booked the charter or after she'd been onboard a while?"
Kyle rubbed his chin in thought for a moment then said, "It was after they had been on a while. The other one, um…Ms. DeGrey asked if we could head to Canada for a couple days. We had no other charters and they dropped twenty grand on me so we headed north. Didn't make any difference to me or any of the
crew."
"Did they come back from Canada with anyone?" Levac asked, still scribbling in his grubby notepad.
Kyle nodded. "Yeah, they came back with Ms. DeGrey's niece. Their family resemblance was uncanny. Some dye and she could have been DeGrey's twin."
"Niece my ass," Raven muttered.
Levac smiled his Columbo smile and said, "Thank you, sir, just one more thing if you don't mind, did you happen to overhear any conversations while they were onboard? Anything that might help us out?"
"Not that I remember," Kyle said.
His response was too quick for Raven who asked, "Are you sure? I know how big that sloop is. Or rather how big it isn't."
Kyle gave in and help up a hand in surrender. "Isn't there some kind of Captain-Passenger privilege? Yeah, I heard them talking, they mentioned some plan they had and that 'someone was finally going to get theirs.'"
"I think that's all we needed, Captain, thank you for your time," Levac said.
The two detectives stepped back out into the wind. Raven took a few pictures of Witchcraft for potential use and the pair returned to the Bass to get out of the wind.
"So they hatched their plan onboard the sloop?" Levac asked.
"I don't think so," Raven replied, starting the engine and cranking the heat. "I think they had the plan and knew where the girl was. Shevlin was an accidental catalyst."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Levac said.
"They must have recognized him from my arrest records," she said. "A lot of my cases show up in the police blotter. When they saw him free and clear, it set their plan in motion."
Raven backed the Bass out of the lot and they were soon heading back toward the city.
Levac leaned back in his seat and flipped through his notepad. "So…they're using people who squealed on the Outfit to send you a message?"
"I think so," she said. "It's a good plan, get rid of some traitors and me at the same time. They could kill two birds with one stone."
"Okay, that actually makes sense, but what was the point to the DeGrey clone?" Levac asked.
Raven shook her head. "I'm not sure. My first guess is she was an insurance policy. They had to know I would come looking once I knew Thirst was involved. If DeGrey was running their Thirst operation then having the dupe in place would keep DeGrey out of prison. Kyle would probably take her to Canada no questions asked."
Levac looked at Raven. "But that isn't what your instincts tell you, is it?"
Raven turned her head and smiled. "No, it isn't. She had some other purpose."
"Like what?" Levac asked.
Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure yet."
Levac opened his mouth to say something when the radio suddenly squawked.
"211 in progress, LaSalle and West Adams street. Officers in the vicinity respond."
"That's four blocks from here," Raven said, flicking on the lights and siren.
Levac picked up the microphone. "Seven Baker Eleven responding."
There was a pause as Raven drifted the Bass through an intersection and then the dispatcher came back on. "Levac? You and Storm are responding?"
"Affirmative," Levac responded. "I've got twenty that says none of them get away."
Raven grinned at her partner and barely paid attention as she turned the next corner and brought the 770 to a stop behind the patrol cars that had set up a perimeter around the wireless store.
"What's the story?" Levac asked, buckling on body armor as they joined the patrolmen taking cover behind their vehicles.
"Six men with eight hostages," one of the officers replied. "AR's and a couple shotguns."
"Have the shitheads made any demands yet?" Raven asked.
"They want us to clear the area for ten blocks and let them go," the officer replied.
Raven lowered her glasses. "Seriously? Are they new to this city?"
The officer chuckled, "They must not read the news or they'd know about 'Le Storm'."
Raven put her glasses back in place and picked up the bullhorn the officer had been using.
"Attention inside the wireless store, can you hear me now?" Raven asked, unable to resist the jibe.
A hooded man leaned out the door with a woman in one arm and a Remington shotgun in the other. "I can hear you, Bacon, why aren't you backing off? You and the rest of your sandwich get the hell out of here before I splatter this woman's head all over the wall, you get me?"
"Yeah, I get you," Raven replied. "My partner and I need to come in and make sure all the hostages are okay before we agree to your terms. We've already heard gunfire."
"All right, Puta. You and your partner put your pieces on that car and then walk this way real slow."
Raven put down the bullhorn and drew her back-up piece from her purse, a 45 caliber AMT Hardballer. She placed both her purse and the gun on the car. Levac followed suit, laying his 93R on the hood. The two then put their hands up and began walking toward the store. From where they were they could see it was a typical cell phone store, with several rows of cellular phones and other wireless devices all wrapped up in pink and black. The colors reminded Raven of a cartoon she'd watched as a child and she smiled slightly.
When they were a few yards from the door the perp said, "Turn around walk backwards to me!"
Raven shrugged and they both turned around, walking backwards until they reached the door. The man pushed the woman inside so he could grab Raven and that is when she made her move. Her elbow shot back like a piston, catching the thief in the ribs. She felt them crack and the man groaned in surprise and pain, giving her precious more time. She yanked the shotgun from his hand and hit him in the face with the butt, dropping him like a ton of bricks.
Beside her, Levac had drawn his Automag. He jumped over the first perp's body and grabbed his hostage, pulling her to the floor as shots rang out, turning cell-phones into so much plastic junk.
Raven followed him, her own Automag seeking out targets. She spotted the first perp one row over from where Levac was crouching. He was holding a terrified young man in one arm, using him as a shield. Raven narrowed her gaze and squeezed the trigger. The Automag boomed and the bullet flew straight and true, grazing the young man's hair before punching through the perp's left eye. He dropped and the young man screamed, dropping to the ground next to the corpse.
Another of the perps panicked and pushed his hostage, a smartly dressed young woman, away so he could use both hands to open up on Raven. Automatic fire destroyed phones where she'd been standing and brass from the rifle tinkled on the ground like metallic rain.
"Die, pigs!" the man screamed, his weapon chewing up the row of electronics like they were so much paper.
"Surrender, you are under arrest," Levac yelled back. Raven looked at him like he'd lost his mind and he gave a shrug that said ‘it's in the manual’.
"I'll distract him," Raven said "You just fucking shoot him!"
She stood and vaulted the display they'd been hiding behind, firing two shots from her pistol, one at another perp who was trying to sneak up on them and the other at the clown with the fully automatic AR-15. The one with the shotgun screamed and grabbed his hand that now had a quarter-sized hole through it and Raven landed and crouched behind the next display. She smiled comfortingly at the cowering young woman kneeling there and waited. As she expected, the perp with the AR opened up on her position. A split second later she heard the thunder of Levac's Automag and the AR chatter stopped.
"I swear if you don't throw down your weapons and come out I'm going to kill these two bitches!" a new voice called. Raven blinked and pinpointed him with her vampiric sight; there were three heartbeats at the back of the store, which left one more scumbag lurking with an AR-15. She rolled backwards and located the one with two hostages. He was standing behind them, but he'd made the classic mistake of standing between the two hostages rather than using one to cover his whole body. Raven fired, the bullet passing between the two women and catching the perp in the elbow where he held the AR. The jo
int shattered and the gun dropped, firing into the floor. The two women scattered like frightened sheep and Raven's second shot punched through the perp's forehead, scrambling his brains and putting him out of service for good.
She was turning to locate the last gunman when she heard Levac's weapon bark three times followed by a man's scream and an AR-15 blowing holes in the store's ceiling before the man dropped. Levac straightened from where he'd been crouching and smiled at Raven.
"See? A 211 and I'm still here," he said.
Raven nodded and then pointed at the black mark in Levac's bullet-proof vest. "If that had been an AR instead of a shotgun, you wouldn't be.
Levac looked down at the shotgun damage in surprise then winced as the adrenaline faded and the pain kicked in. He pulled the trauma plate out of his vest and confirmed there were no holes, just a dozen or so tiny dents.
"Still here," he said, his voice weaker.
Raven smiled and walked out the door to sound the all clear. The patrolmen rushed in to arrest the live ones while a meat wagon stood by to take away the deceased.
"Frost should be happy," she said when Levac joined her outside.
Levac was rubbing under his vest and wincing. "How's that?"
"I took back-up on a 211 and we didn't kill all of them," she replied. "Sounds like a win-win to me."
Levac laughed and then winced at the pain in his chest.
"Come on, big guy," Raven said. "I've got some wild yam at the house that will make that all better."
"Oh it’s fine," Levac replied. "I don't like wild yam."
"Would you rather a special ointment made from a monk's urine?" Raven asked.
"What?"
"Forget it. Don't worry about the wild yam. You don't eat it," Raven said.
Levac opened the passenger side door of the Bass. "What do you do with it?"
Raven grinned. "I rub it on you."
Levac blushed, but did not object as Raven put the car in gear and headed out of the city.
* * *
It was an hour later. Raven had lit candles around her room and convinced Levac to remove his shirt. The bruise from the shotgun blast was deep, but it would heal and she knew she could help it along.
