by Gary Starta
“I’d like to thank you again for the assistance.”
“Don’t mention it, Caitlin. I’m just not convinced I’ve really helped you.” She paused her writing and raised her gaze to meet mine. Her lips pursed as if mimicking my own. “If none of these demon species have a prior criminal background, how can you possibly hope to locate them?”
I couldn’t even begin to theorize. For the love of Briana’s goddess, how would I narrow down my search? With Briana’s magic? I didn’t know. I hadn’t been in this world long enough. Justin Manners was another keeper of my secret. As far as I could empathically feel, I didn’t believe Sandy was privy to my origins. I hoped this world’s Agent Diggs might be just as perplexed when it came to categorizing demons. I also had to hope Sandy had come to the same conclusion. But damn she was savvy. I guess it was how she kept her male clientele coming back; although in my old world the union between a man and a succubus resulted in death. Nonetheless, socialization skills couldn’t explain it all. That’s when I began to wonder if Sandy might be telepathic as well. She seemed to offer an explanation on cue.
“You know what I really hate about this crime? It’s going to set us back further. I am living proof that humans and demons can coexist. I have never harmed a human soul despite what you may think of me, Caitlin.”
“I really don’t know, Sandy. I don’t feel threatened by you. It’s just that you drain your clients.”
“Of their money? Yes. Of their lives and souls? No.” She smiled despite my offense. “I return the power to them at the end of our sessions. It’s all cyclical, all in tune with nature. Picture green leaves losing their chlorophyll but for only an instant of time. In a glimpse, they are no longer brown and withered but possibly even revitalized in vibrant green.”
I stammered. “I didn’t know that to be possible. You can give their life force back?” I was sure my face was beet red.
“Live and learn, Caitlin. This all may be new to you, for now. But you’ll get a handle on all this yet.”
In another minute I found myself shuffled out the door with a list in my hand. She hadn’t been very cryptic about her choice of words. This all may be new to you. She had to know I wasn’t from her world. I didn’t know if reprimanding Justin was warranted. I didn’t believe he would cross me. He seemed to walk on egg shells when around me. I credited that to my hand in deconstructing the evil genetically engineered soul stealer. Justin witnessed the feat along with Briana and a few other friends I had made in this world. Would Sandy be included in my permanent friend base? I wasn’t about to get all Face Time and send an electronic invite so I would allow time to tell. But as for another new friend, there was no time like the present.
* * * *
Chuck made a meal fit for a king and his queen—glazed chicken, lemon almond string beans, roasted potatoes and a yummy desert consisting of cranberries with some kind of unidentified topping. Don’t be alarmed by the unidentified topping. I am ignorant when it comes to food preparation. That didn’t make the unidentified concoction any less appetizing visually. Comparatively, the fact I didn’t know every detail of Assistant Director Chuck Grant’s makeup made him no less appealing to my sapphire eyes. You probably guessed I’ve rationalized in this manner to mask my guilt. If I don’t know everything about Chuck Grant, he doesn’t necessarily have to know everything about me. True, my secrets would stand taller if they were buildings in a city constructed upon deceit. At least I hoped they would. I doubted Chuck harbored any dark secrets concerning his persona. But if he did, I am sure he had good cause. Just like me. I have assumed the identity of this world’s Agent Diggs to continue her quest. She died helping me. I must remain here to repay the debt. It’s also due to my makeup. I resigned from the FBI in my world. But I’ve found I can no more leave the Bureau than cut off my hand. This is my calling. And if the mysterious crystal in my world continues to transform me for this task I might be able to prove that fate really exists. Sorry about the rambling. I’m getting a little light-headed. Chuck offered me wine and I accepted. I needed to take some edge off the pressure. Tomorrow, not only Bureau heads, but the entire world, will demand I produce a suspect in the president’s murder. I’m quite confident I will not be able to do so.
Chuck cupped his hand over mine while I chewed string beans. Real smooth, Diggs… A giggle startled me. It was coming from me. It had to be. I mean, I recognized my own voice. But I was just chewing food and feeling guilty over the investigation…
“Do my beans amuse you?” Chuck asked. Fortunately, his gaze was on his plate. He hadn’t recognized the alien giggle. Maybe he never heard it because it emanated from my conscious. I wore a crazed smile—the reflection in a spoon proved it. So Chuck was somehow feeling my smile. Why did I suddenly feel as if everyone around me were mirroring my paranormal gifts? I tried to recall the sound of the giggle. I had to conclude it was the same voice I heard in the FBI conference room. I so didn’t need another anomaly to solve right now. I would confide in Briana tomorrow, time allowing. If this was another new ability forming shape, I couldn’t fathom what it was. Ultimately, I didn’t need it. I was quite certain words of peace and silly laughter would not aid in my investigation.
I didn’t know if I could blame the alien voice or lack of sleep for the way I bungled my first day on the case. Yes, I did recognize the surveillance video to be a ruse. But I could have immediately deduced this conclusion from the fact that the suspect hadn’t affected the surveillance equipment upon his arrival. If the suspect didn’t arrive via teleportation, human employees of the White House could have assisted. I just didn’t get any feeling this was the case. Not a single person or demon appeared in my brief vision. My gut kept whispering the same words to me—genetic alteration. Yet if I were to run with this theory, I might be allowing emotion to cloud my judgment. I’d defeated a genetically engineered soul stealer when I first entered this world. Would I investigate every case as if it were a witch hunt? Would I see genetic abominations pop out from every closet?”
Chuck offered to take my plate. “Don’t look so sad, Caitlin. I’m just making room for dessert.”
I produced a genuine laugh from my diaphragm. “Guilty as charged. I always loved sweets.”
“Caitlin, I know Briana is watching out for you. But I can’t understand why she’s always pushing you to purify yourself.” In my world, we could call purification, detoxification.
“She has her own good reasons. She’s more than a partner, Chuck. She’s a sister.”
He tapped my hand. “Ah, I know. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t like seeing you deprive yourself.”
I raised a hand. “If this conversation is heading toward the bedroom, you can be sure I haven’t been depriving myself the last few months.”
“Oh, so you mean the wild woman of my fantasies won’t be emerging?”
I cleared my throat. “She already has, you sex machine.”
“Men are just plagued with the rampant imaginations. What can I say? We’re never afraid to raise the bar.”
I could only hope that to be true. What would happen on the day I announced I wasn’t his Caitlin? Would that fulfill his fantasy—bedding a woman from an alternate universe—or would he immediately confiscate my badge and weapon and send me to prison? I knew male lust is strong, but so is male pride. He probably wouldn’t take kindly to being duped. It’s his job to sift through lies, to make sure betrayers pay for their sins. I couldn’t allow myself to imagine what he would do if he found a betrayer seated at his kitchen table, no matter the reasoning. “I could use a refill.” I raised my empty wine glass.
“Coming right up.” As Chuck poured more wine, I could see his lips twitch. They always wiggled when the job required he ask me a question he knew I wouldn’t be happy to answer.
“You want to know if I have a suspect, don’t you? I mean, Seals wants to know?”
Chuck laughed and took his seat.
“I’m consulting outside the Bureau to find one.
” It felt as if I was saying it on a dare. I didn’t intend to. But anytime Seals comes up in conversation so do my hackles.
“I’m not challenging you, honey. Just a question…”
I interrupted. “No. I’m on the biggest case the Preternatural Division has ever handled. It’s not just a question, Chuck. Don’t patronize me. You know damned well when a president is murdered people expect an outcome, even if that outcome isn’t necessarily the truth.”
“Whoa. Hold on. I would never talk down to you. And I don’t have a problem with you consulting. The Bureau’s short-staffed and data-challenged when it comes to demons. Do whatever you need to do—within reason. But don’t ever accuse me of talking to you like Seals does. I would never do that.”
I blinked in rapid succession. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” I took a breath and began detailing the first day of the investigation.
I stumbled over the fact that I didn’t question how the suspect entered the White House from the beginning. “I don’t know why I didn’t question how the perpetrator entered the White House in the first place. An energy disruption would have had to occur at that moment. Why did it only occur upon his exit? My source tells me it is unlikely a demon could teleport without causing a disturbance. I then have to consider if White House employees are accomplices. And even if I can eliminate them, I have a host of demon suspects to wade through…” I paused to run my hand through my hair.
“Hold on, Caitlin. You just said a demon might be an unlikely suspect. Why would you need to sort through billions of unlikely suspects?”
“So, you’re okay with that assumption. That we might not be dealing with a demon? What will Seals make of this? I was called into this case as a member of the Preternatural Division, Chuck. If I should rule out demons, will I be taken off the case?”
“Not if you come up with a theory supporting otherwise. You might not have a suspect, but you do have a theory, Caitlin. Don’t you?” He swished the wine around in his goblet.
“I’m not sure you’re going to like it. The type of being I might suspect for this crime is generally revered by humans. They have worked with human supremacy groups to eradicate…”
Chuck raised a hand. “You don’t need to go further. You suspect a genetically engineered assassin.”
“And if so, it was probably created by a scientist for such a specific purpose.”
“You mean like your soul stealer, Mollini?”
I nodded to dismiss his presumption. “Mollini wasn’t intended to be a soul stealer. He was supposed to destroy demons. Anyway, he manufactured his own wormhole to hop planets.”
The planet he hopped from was mine and he took me along for the ride in the wormhole’s wake. So not ready to tell Chuck this.
“If he could open a wormhole, might not another genetically created creature be able to teleport without leaving a trace? And if so, the exit teleportation probably mimicked a demon’s for the sole purpose of misdirection.”
“A ruse does make sense, Caitlin. Make the perp look like a demon in an effort to further crucify the non-human populace.”
I nearly smiled. I liked how Chuck spoke, politically correct.
“Chuck, if it does turn out to be a demon, I just don’t believe the evidence will ever give him up.” I explained teleportation would not leave a biological trace of the demon.
“Caitlin, we’ve discussed this, remember? About a year ago, you asked the Bureau to fund research into this technology. I hate to say at this juncture we’re still in the R&D phase.”
Of course, I never participated in that conversation.
“So what you’re saying is that our lab can only determine if a teleportation occurred? If that’s the case, we need to test every square inch of the White House. Determine if an entrance teleportation did indeed take place. If you ask me, you’re not going to find that. Because this all doesn’t add up, there should be surveillance of the suspect leaving the oval office after serving the drink. Are we supposed to believe he socialized with the president while she drank her beverage? Presidents and staffers generally aren’t Best Friends Forever. Where is the footage showing the suspect disabling the cameras? It should be on file if it’s prior to the exit teleportation. Chuck, do you see where I’m going with this? It’s like some kind of magic was used, not only pertaining to a mysterious unauthorized access but how the security detail somehow never found the lack of surveillance footage suspicious? My stars, I am tired. I don’t think the wine was such a good choice…”
Chuck sat across from me, hands clasped. “Okay, Caitlin. Let’s say you’re right about everything you’ve just theorized. But we do have evidence of an exit via teleportation. We need to exploit that evidence.”
“Chuck, you just confirmed it won’t produce a biological trace.”
“But thanks to your Wiccan partner, we have options.”
I smiled. “You mean like a psychic imprint? I know your assistant director of the Preternatural Division, and I mean no disrespect, but I never got the feeling you believed in magic as an investigation tool.”
“I believe in anything when it can help our side. I also believe in psychic imprints. I believe these projections are proof we have souls. In this case, I’m referring to a locator spell. If we can’t determine the who, we might be able to determine the where…where did they escape to?”
“Briana is going to need something physical. We’ve scoured the crime scene. We don’t have the murder weapon. I’m at a loss. All I know is that teleportation may leave a sulphuric smell.” I failed to add I’d experienced a few teleportations firsthand thanks to Justin Manners. Chuck’s sea green eyes grew greener by the second. I sensed he had the answer.
“The exit teleportation would then leave not only a sulphuric smell, but a sulphuric residue; something which might be extracted from carpet fibers to give Briana a tangible resource.” Chuck was out of his chair and dialing before I could respond.
“There, the lab’s going to working on this overnight. Briana should be able to work her magic tomorrow with any affected fibers.”
It seemed Chuck was sharing my thought. What will Seals make of our magically assisted investigation?
He attempted to hide a smile behind his napkin. He failed. I felt a little bit closer to Chuck at that moment. He surprised me by not jumping on the demon-hater bandwagon, but mostly because of his openness to accept unexplained possibilities. He believed a psychic imprint proved we had souls. I would have to reconsider my evaluation of the situation. I could possibly trust Assistant Director Chuck Grant to keep my secret from the Bureau. If so, I could relieve some of my burden and tell him who I really was. I might even have to because it’s inevitable that someday they’ll catch me on my lie. When you’re working with investigators who make their living exposing lies, keeping a secret is akin to sitting on a ticking time bomb. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bureau might not employ some psychic investigator to trace my psychic imprints one day. My imprint would expose me as an imposter, albeit a well-intentioned one. And it would probably all happen thanks to a new security protocol necessitated by—you guessed it—Seals. Or, I could bide my time and hope that psychic imprint detectors might be a long way off. I continued to consider this quandary over long goodnight kisses with the man who was both my boss and lover.
Chapter 4
Bubble Trouble
The Agent Diggs from this universe had lived quite comfortably in a two-story house surrounded by a generous portion of land. Because I posed as her the last few months, I consequently enjoyed all the same luxuries and creature comforts Manassas, Virginia had to offer.
When I say “creature” comforts I’m speaking quite literally. The late agent left behind a platinum mink Tonkinese cat she’d called Bast—after the Egyptian Cat Goddess Bastet. The adorable blue-eyed gal was an exact replica of my pet, Celeste. Watching Bast furniture-hop has given me great comfort during the separation from my world. Because the incubus named Manners can teleport between bot
h worlds, I know my sister Tara and Celeste are doing just fine. If not for Manners, Tara would believe me to be dead. The soul-stealer Mollini carried Diggs’ dead body to her doorstep. Manners convinced her of the body switch. I’m grateful to Manners for his gift of telecommunication, yet still find myself troubled as to why I don’t feel one hundred percent comfortable around him. I considered my interview with Sandy, how she appeared so human to me. Bast meowed. I scolded myself. “Sorry Bast, wrong choice of words. I should have remarked how warm she made me feel.” Serves me right for talking to a cat…
I found Bast’s continued mewling troubling. She wasn’t offended by my language. She was standing tiptoe on her hind legs, her front paws resting on the sill of the living room’s picture window. Something outside had captured her fancy.
A second later I found myself behind her, wearing the same stupefied expression. With jaws open, we observed, not quite able to believe how the transformation had taken place. Our side garden was always fruitful thanks to the property’s nutrient-rich soil, but what it bore now was akin to a miracle—for any universe.
The Egyptian Star Cluster plant or Pentas lanceolata, as my master gardener friends would call it, reigned supreme, dominating not only the soil beds but spilling out onto my lawn. Pink star-shaped flowers seemed to propel themselves skyward like fireworks from bases consisting of lush-veined leaves. Row upon row of them crisscrossed, west meeting east, north meeting south. I gasped. “My entire yard’s been engulfed. The master gardeners will never believe this.”
Bast cocked her head sideways toward me as if to suggest I wasn’t entirely responsible.
“No, of course, I couldn’t have done this alone. The goddess assisted.”
I had said it as a quip. But by the time I made inspection around my entire property I wasn’t in a laughing mood. It was all quite wondrous and decadent but it was also equally odd and caused the investigator inside me to scream intrusion because the flowers grew everywhere and they were all Egyptian Star Clusters.
