Blood Brothers: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 22)

by R. L. King

  “Well, that was fun,” Jason said sourly as they drove back to his and Amber’s place.

  “You can’t really expect them to be ecstatic about it,” Stone pointed out. “They’re probably feeling a bit out of sorts that you found something they didn’t.”

  “That, and most cops take a pretty dim view of evidence from psychics,” Amber said. “You can see that.”

  “I wish Blum was involved,” Jason said. “At least we don’t have to dance around the truth with him.”

  “Probably not a bad idea to give him a call anyway.” Stone leaned against the window in the back seat, still trying to come up with ideas about why a mage, or someone with magical capabilities, would want to kidnap a random thirteen-year-old boy, hold him in a rental house for two days, and then take him through a portal. It didn’t make sense.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Maybe he can keep us up to date on what’s going on, at least.”

  “I assume you’re still planning to pursue this case.”

  “Hell, yeah. I’m intrigued now. And I’ll bet my next paycheck you are too.”

  “You’d have a difficult time keeping me away at this point, honestly.”

  They reached Stone’s place, and Jason pulled up in front of the gate. “Anything else we need to talk about before we head out?”

  “No, not tonight. I think we all need a bit of time to process this. We’re not going to get anywhere tracking the boy tonight, I’m afraid.” Stone got out of the car, then stopped before he closed the door. “I wonder, though…”

  “What?”

  “Do you think there’s any chance I could have a brief chat with his mother?”

  Both Jason and Amber looked at him, frowning. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. Just wanted to ask a few questions about him. I’m still trying to work out any reason why he might have been the target.”

  The two exchanged glances. “Maybe. I expect this whole thing is going to be all over the news tomorrow, as soon as they get hold of the new developments. It might be tough to get near her.”

  “Well, do your best. I’ll keep mulling it over, and perhaps I’ll have a brainwave. In the meantime, you know where to find me.”

  6

  Stone couldn’t sleep when he got home, so he tried to spend some time working on the portal to get his mind off the odd case. He couldn’t do it, though. His thoughts kept returning to speculation about what the mysterious mage would want with Tyler Ellerman. His failure to come up with anything prevented him from focusing on anything else. Finally, he went back upstairs and dropped off to sleep on the sofa with Raider snuggled on his lap.

  Jason called around noon, after he’d barely woke up and was contemplating heading upstairs for a shower. “Hey, Al. Come up with anything?”

  “Unfortunately not. Did you?”

  “No, but I was right about the media. Have you seen the news yet?”

  “I just woke up.”

  “Well, take a look. They’ve got a manhunt out for the guy now, though of course they’re never going to find him.”

  “Not likely,” Stone agreed. “Did they get anything from the car or the house? Can I talk to the mum?”

  “Can you come by the agency when you’re awake? Got a lot to tell you, actually. They don’t know who the guy is, but they did find something we missed in the house.”

  That was enough to spur Stone to action. He dumped Raider off his lap, filled the cat’s food and water bowls, and twenty minutes later he was on the road.

  As he drove, he listened to the news on the radio. Jason was right: the discovery of the car and the house was a top story. The police weren’t releasing much information to the general public yet, but this represented their first real lead that Tyler Ellerman had been kidnapped and not merely run away on his own. The spokeswoman said the police were adding more resources to the case and were confident they would find the suspect.

  Stone wasn’t so confident about that.

  Jason and Amber were waiting for him when he arrived at the agency, a small office on First Street in San Jose. Gina Rodriguez, Jason’s receptionist-slash-computer whiz, was there too, deeply intent on her screen. She glanced up, waved a perfunctory greeting to Stone, and went back to work.

  “Come on.” Jason nodded toward the tiny conference room in the back. “We’ll talk back there. I already have coffee on, in case you’re not awake yet, and I picked up some sandwiches from Togo’s.”

  Stone barely concealed his impatience. “What did they find out? And what did they find at the house?” He accepted a cup of coffee, but ignored the sandwiches.

  Jason dropped a folder on the table and opened it, scanning a series of scrawled notes. “Okay, so Amber was right: the car was a rental, rented by a Thomas Mahoney of Cupertino.”

  “Who doesn’t exist, I’m guessing.”

  “Oh, he exists, but he’s not our guy. He’s a seventy-year-old retired engineer. They found him at his house, and he had no idea he’d supposedly rented a car.”

  “Not unexpected. I assume he has no connection with the boy’s family.”

  “Nope, and a solid alibi for the time of the kidnapping. I think he’s a dead end.”

  “Did they find any prints in it?”

  “Only some smudged partials. Nothing they can match to anything. They questioned everybody at the restaurant last night, but Ravi and Isabella couldn’t remember anything else. They only got a glimpse of the guy. Just a middle-aged white dude with gray hair and a blue jacket. Still not much to go on.”

  “What about the house? You said they found something we missed.” It didn’t surprise him, since they’d barely spent any time there.

  Jason looked through his papers and pulled out a pair of photos. “I’m not really supposed to have these, but I talked to Leo Blum this morning and he was able to shoot me copies. I told him about how you suspect there’s magic involved with the case.” He shoved them across the table toward Stone.

  They were color printouts; the first showed the inside of a standard suburban garbage can, and the second the same contents spread out on a tarp. Along with the typical garbage were several unburned candles and pieces of chalk.

  “Ritual materials,” Stone said.

  “Yeah, that’s our thought too.”

  “But if he’d done a ritual,” Amber said, “why didn’t you notice? You checked the area with magical sight, right?”

  Stone pointed at the photo. “Ritual materials, yes. But notice the candles aren’t burned? I think he might have been planning to do a ritual, but hadn’t started it yet. Perhaps he binned the materials because he didn’t want to get caught with them.”

  “So…” Jason ventured, “you mean maybe we did startle him with that tracking ritual?”

  “It’s certainly looking that way. But I didn’t find any traces of magic around the house.”

  “Is there any way he could have had something up and you missed it?”

  “Possibly. We didn’t have time to take a thorough look. Some forms of subtle alarm wards don’t leave traces for longer than a few minutes after they’re deactivated.”

  “What kind of ritual do you think he was going to do?” Amber asked. “Can you tell from the materials?”

  Stone examined the photos again. “I don’t see anything unusual here, which means he either took it with him or there wasn’t anything.”

  “So let’s say he didn’t take it with him,” Jason said. “What can you tell from these? You don’t think he was planning to…sacrifice the kid or something, do you?”

  “Not with this ritual. Those kinds of things take a long time to set up, and require a lot more complex materials than this.” He glanced up, remembering something. “Were you able to get me a chance to talk to Tyler’s mum?”

  “Yeah, but it’ll be a little tricky. There are some reporters sniffing around her house, and it won’t be good if they spot us. Plus, she’s understandably pretty worked up about the latest ne
ws.”

  “Don’t worry about the reporters. I can get us past them without being noticed.”

  “It would be easier if you talked to her on the phone.”

  “Easier in some ways, but not in others. I need to read her aura, and I can’t do that remotely.”

  “What do you expect to find out?” Amber asked. “I’m sure the cops have questioned her extensively.”

  “Not the way we can, though.” He shoved the images back to Jason. “As I said before, I think the key to this case is figuring out why someone magical would be interested in Tyler Ellerman. Once we know the why, that will go a long way toward pointing us at the who.”

  Jason called Sylvia Ellerman and set up a meeting for later that afternoon.

  “She didn’t want to,” he told Stone when he emerged from his office. “In fact, both she and the dad were thinking about letting us go now that they know it’s a kidnapping and the cops are on it. I convinced her to let us go a little further, and that I had a friend who helped find the car and the house. Keep it mellow, Al. I don’t think she’s ready for psychic brainwaves right now.”

  “Don’t worry. This is something I’m good at.”

  “Yeah, I know, and you’re gonna need to be. She’s a mess.”

  They left Gina at the office trying to trace any other information about the house and the car rental, and reluctantly decided to go without Amber. Even though her heightened senses would be an advantage, Jason didn’t think Sylvia Ellerman would be comfortable with three people grilling her for information.

  “We’ll meet up after and compare notes,” he told her.

  “I think I’ll head back out to the house, then, and see if I can pick up anything without pissing off the police. They won’t let me inside, of course, but maybe we missed something in the vicinity.”

  Tyler Ellerman’s mother lived in a neat tract house in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Cupertino. “She must make pretty good money as a real estate agent,” Jason said as they drove past several other houses and parked half a block away. “This area’s not cheap. Anyway, I hope you have a plan.” He pointed at several other cars parked near the Ellerman place. “I don’t know how many of those are reporters, but I’ll bet at least a couple of them are.”

  “Call her, please, and ask her to be ready to let us in through the back door.”

  Jason did, and Stone could hear by his end of the conversation that she was having second thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ellerman,” Jason said ruefully. “We really can’t do this later. It’s pretty important that we talk to you.” He paused. “Okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Thanks.”

  Less than five minutes later, they were standing on the deck in the Ellermans’ spacious back yard. “That is a nice trick,” Jason said as he knocked softly on the sliding glass door. “I have to admit, I’ve pretty much gotten over my magic envy by now, but that would be really useful in my line of work.”

  “It’s actually three tricks.” Stone glanced around to make sure nobody had spotted them. “A bit of illusion, a bit of levitation, and a bit of invisibility there at the end.”

  “Well, whatever it is, I hope she gets here soon.”

  A figure appeared on the other side of the door, and then it slid open. “How did you get in the backyard?” the woman asked. “The gate was locked.”

  “We…uh…climbed over,” Jason said. “Don’t worry—nobody spotted us.”

  Sylvia Ellerman was in her early forties, and Stone could tell she was the type who normally didn’t allow herself to be seen at anything less than her best. Even though she looked tired, with puffy eyes suggesting she’d been crying, her ash-blond hair was neatly coiffed and her clothes were simple but stylish. “I think this was a bad idea,” she said. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done, but I really think the police should take over now.”

  “The police are doing everything they can, I’m sure. But you’ve still got a few days on the retainer you paid us. Let us earn that. I still think we can help.”

  She glanced at Stone. “Who is this man? Does he work for your agency too?”

  “I’m…sort of a consultant.” Stone kept his voice pleasant and respectful. “My name is Alastair Stone.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Stone.” Sylvia seemed distracted, her gaze roaming around the room as if she expected to spot her son coming in through the doorway.

  “It’s Dr. Stone, actually,” Jason told her. “He’s a professor at Stanford. Remember before when I asked you for some things of Tyler’s?”

  Her eyes widened and she looked at Stone in a new light. “You’re the psychic?”

  Stone shrugged, with a faint smile. “I’m not exactly a psychic. But I’ve been known to get…insights occasionally.”

  “Including this time,” Jason said. “He’s the one who led us to the house where we think Tyler was held.”

  Her confused interest turned to suspicion. “How did you do that?”

  “I told you,” Stone said. “I sometimes get insights when presented with objects important to the person in question. It’s called psychometry. Don’t worry,” he added, “I’m not a nutter, and you needn’t suspect me of anything. Jason and I are longtime associates. I’ve consulted with the police departments in San Jose and San Francisco on other cases.” Sometimes, it was best to get the bona fides out in the open, and a quick aura read on Sylvia Ellerman told Stone she was a person who valued facts and rationality.

  Something flickered across her face, and then she looked down at her hands. “I can’t believe someone took Ty. That’s…I just don’t know. I mean…he’s the world to me, of course, but there’s nothing about him that would make him interesting to a kidnapper. His father and I both make good livings, but we’re not wealthy. We’re not famous or important in any way.”

  “Yeah…” Jason said gently. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Do you mind if Dr. Stone asks you a few questions?”

  “The police have been over all that.” She sounded tired, like the last thing she wanted to do was rehash the information again. “Can’t you just get it from them?”

  “It would be better to have it in your own words.” Stone deliberately took on the calm, persuasive tone he used when trying to convince someone to do something for him. “Would you mind, Ms. Ellerman? I promise, we won’t take too much of your time.”

  The phone on the table rang. Sylvia glanced at the number on the display, then shook her head in disgust. “Another reporter, probably. They’ve been bothering me all morning.” She picked it up and pushed a button. “There. If the police need to reach me, they’ve got my cell number.”

  Stone waited patiently for her to settle herself.

  She let out a loud breath and spread her hands. “Okay, Dr. Stone. Go ahead. If there’s anything you can do to help find Ty, I guess I can answer a few questions.”

  Stone didn’t miss the cracking in her voice, and a quick look at her aura verified it: she was about two steps away from going to pieces. He’d better make this quick.

  “All right,” he said gently. “Can you tell me about the boy’s father?”

  “Marshall?” She looked startled, and then her eyes narrowed again. “Do you think he’s involved in this?”

  “It’s not my place to speculate about that sort of thing. I’m just gathering information.”

  She shrugged and snorted. “He’s an asshole. But I can’t say he doesn’t love Ty. I can’t imagine why he’d ever do anything to hurt him. And Ty loves him, too.”

  Stone picked up the bitterness in her words, and remembered what Jason had told him before. “I understand Ty wanted to live with him.”

  “Yeah.” Another snort. “Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he want to live with Dad, who buys him expensive presents and lets him do whatever the hell he wants, instead of Mom and all her rules and discipline?”

  Stone filed her words away, but kept his focus on his questions. “How long ago were you div
orced?”

  “About a year. I kept the house here, and Marshall moved to San Francisco to be closer to his work. Which he was more married to than he was to me.” Again, the bitterness came through.

  “You don’t have any other children, I assume.”

  She shook her head, and didn’t meet his gaze. “Just Ty. Like I said, he’s our world. I think both of us spoiled him more than we should, but…”

  “But?”

  She swallowed hard. “I guess nobody can blame us. We tried for a baby for years before we finally had him. Those fertility treatments were hell, but…ultimately they were worth it.” Her voice took on more of a shake, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. She looked up, first at Jason and then at Stone. “I’m sorry I’m getting so emotional, but…I still can’t believe someone kidnapped Ty. I’m so scared he’s dead somewhere…” That did it: her voice broke and the tears flowed freely.

  Jason and Stone exchanged glances. Stone spotted a box of tissues on a nearby table—obviously this wasn’t the first time Sylvia had cried today—and offered it to her. “Please, Ms. Ellerman,” he said softly. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t think Ty is dead.”

  She took a tissue, blew her nose, and blinked a few times. “Why…do you say that? Is this another psychic thing?”

  “I suppose it might be. This seems like a very unusual kidnapping to me, so what I’m focusing on is why someone might want to take him.”

  “I told you—I don’t know of any reason. The police asked me all this before.”

  “You’re sure his father couldn’t have—”

  She shook her head several times, back and forth. “No. Marshall’s an asshole, but he loves Ty.”

  “But if he wanted custody—”

  “He did want custody. He’d been trying through the courts ever since we split up. But Marshall’s a law-abiding man, and it’s not like I keep him from seeing Ty. He gets him every other weekend, half the holidays, and a month in the summer. He’s fine with that. He’s too busy at work to have full-time custody anyway.” She swallowed again. “And besides, he’s got an alibi for when Ty went missing, and he hasn’t left town or anything. Don’t you think if he was trying something like that, they’d leave the country or something?”