by Tom Keller
I didn't like this. First, I didn't have enough information about the other victims or even the Mages for that matter. Of course, at this point I doubted anybody else did, either. Second, the victims had to be Fae, or something like it, and now that I was part of that world that was something I needed to learn more about. Not that it helped that I'd already gotten myself in the mix by defending Milagre and taking out two of the bad guys. And third, both my kids and even Ray were more involved than I liked, way too involved. How do I protect them? Could I even protect them? I didn't have a clue. Well, never let it be said I ran from a fight. I'd just have to play the hand I was dealt. I'd think of something. I finished my cup and left the restaurant.
I decided I'd stop by Mal's on the way back to my office.
He was puttering behind a computer when I walked in the back door of his place. He looked up when I walked in, and then he frowned.
"Where in the hell did you get this shit?" he asked as he stood up.
"Like I said, a client," I answered, knowing that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Did you find something?"
"Did I find something?" Mal answered, walking to another computer. "It's what I didn't find. Nothing you gave me makes any sense. The CD is written to but blank; the memory stick is burned out in a way that makes absolutely no sense; and the drive, well, the drive is fried in ways that I would have told you were impossible if I hadn't seen it myself." He turned the monitor so that I could see the screen.
On it was an image of a disc platter - a part of a disassembled hard drive where information was stored, I could see what appeared like damage on its surface. "That's unusual," I said, pointing to the platter's picture.
"Unusual? That's not unusual, it's, it's, hell, I don't know what it is," he answered, looking frustrated.
"What is it exactly that you found?"
"OK, look here," he pointed to the damaged section of the drive as he clicked a few keys and magnified the image. "These areas are totally obliterated. I found these blank sections all over the drive. There's no magnetic material on them. No magnetic properties left to the surface, well, at least as far as I can tell. Whatever was written on them is gone and it can't be recovered. They're not just wiped, Rob, something systematically erased those areas but left other parts intact." He stood up and picked up a piece of the hard drive case that I had given him. "It's like something went over every bit of this drive and removed stuff, at the bit level. The microscopic level, Rob, and there's roughly 100 gigabits per square inch here. I don't know anything that can do that."
"Do you have any theories?"
"Yeah, nanobots, if they existed," he answered, shaking his head. "No, I don't have any clue, but whatever did it, I want one! Can you tell me where you got this from yet?"
"Not yet, can you hold out for a few more days?" I asked, waiting to see if he was going to punch me. I could see it was driving him crazy that he couldn't figure it out, but he probably would slug me if I told him the truth.
"You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" he said, pulling out a chair and straddling it. "Rob, this isn't just a new program, damn it! This is way beyond anything I've seen before. Where the hell did you get this? Can't you tell me anything?"
"I got the stick from a client but he isn't the computer type," I answered, knowing I had to tell him something. "I've gotta meet him again so let me see what I can dig up. But we have to keep this quiet, ok?"
"Quiet, yeah, no problem, I don't want men in black suits kicking my door down at 3:00 a.m.," he answered as he stood up. "Damn, Rob, this is hot stuff." Then he twirled and looked at me, a nervous expression on his face. "Rob, I need to know...do I have to worry about men in black suits? Not that I care mind you but it pays to be prepared just in case they might be coming."
"Relax, Mal. No one knows I brought it to you. Hell, no one even knows I have it except one person and he's my client. He's not gonna say anything as long as it doesn't get out."
Ok, so it was only partially the truth, but I had to have Mal keep a lid on it and I certainly couldn't tell him everything. Although if bad shit kept happening, I was gonna need friends like him on my side. Still, he didn't look satisfied. I thought he was going to lecture me some more but then he picked up the hard drive parts and walked over to where I knew he kept his safe.
"I'm putting this shit into the safe and wiping my drives for now. But I still want some answers."
"Alright, I gotta get to the office myself." I walked towards the doorway. "I'll find out for you what I can." I had no idea yet what I was going to tell him down the road. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, how's the database coming?"
Mal had been slowly buying up public data from various governmental agencies as part of a plan to sell information online. Tax data, revenue sources, all public data that could be sold to real estate agents, mailing companies, salesman and the like who needed that sort of data as part of their business operations.
"Why, you making a mailing list?" he asked, sarcastically, as he closed the safe door. He was upset with me but what could I do
"Nah, just trying to find someone," I replied. "I'm hoping they made some tax payments or maybe got a license or permit."
He pulled a card out of the pocket of his shirt and wrote something down. Here," he responded, handing me the card. "It's not public yet but that'll get you in. It's still slow until I index it all but you can enter your queries and it'll email you when it's done."
"Thanks."
****
My office was quiet when I got there. Hailey was on the phone as usual and I grabbed a cup of coffee and just nodded a hello. I went through my inbox as the desktop booted up and then checked my email.
Once that was done I accessed Mal's database web page and entered in queries for a Deborah Medea. Just to play it safe I added the Diantha and Kent names. It was a longshot but it was worth a try. The database contained records from several Nevada counties including Clark and Washoe and their surrounding areas. That would perform a search anywhere within a hundred miles or so of Las Vegas and Reno. After that I closed my computer down and left the office.
Chapter 13
I got home and did a little last minute cleaning and then kicked back to wait for the kids to arrive. It felt weird, but I also had a chat with Charlie and Lucinda to try and act like regular dogs and cats. Then I told the cat I was calling her Lucy. I'm not sure she liked that.
Nikki made it to the house first with Jay following about a half hour later. We spent the best part of the next several hours rehashing old times, enjoying dinner (steak and shrimp on the barbecue) and just catching up. Jay played ball with Charlie and Nikki fell in love with Lucy. It was such a nice time; I almost forgot what my life had turned into...almost. After the dishes were all put away I fired up the outdoor fireplace and we sat down, cocktails in hand.
"So Jay, tell me about your new case. I hear it's the same as Nikki's body in the desert."
"Actually, I'm glad you brought it up, Dad," he said, shuffling in his chair. "It's a bizarre one although you know we aren't really having this conversation." He always said that when we talked about work.
"Bizarre?" I asked. "What's so strange about it?"
"It's the autopsy results," Nikki chimed in. "They don't make any sense."
"In what way?"
"Well, there's no argument that the guy was electrocuted. There's clear evidence of that," she answered. "But the wound pattern and tissue damage are not consistent with normal electrocution injuries."
"What do you mean?"
Jay sat forward and answered. "Ok, Dad, it means it's really friggin weird." Then he stood up and moved in front of us. "You see, electrocution injuries follow similar patterns."
"Yeah, they're supposed to follow established scientific rules," Nikki added.
"Hey, are you telling this or am I?"
"Sorry little brother, I just wanted to make sure Dad understood."
I took a drink and said, "Whoa, guys, slow down. Jay, please go on."
&
nbsp; "Alright, Dad," Jay continued, "it's like this. If you get electrocuted there are certain things that usually happen. Body parts are supposed to react in certain ways. There can be exit and entry wounds, such as burns at the point of contact. High water content parts, like nerves and blood vessels, are good conductors of energy so they offer low resistance and move current. Bones aren't so they usually heat up...Now, if it's a lightning strike, you can have..."
"I think I'm getting lost here," I said, getting up to refill my glass.
Jay just grinned. "Sorry, next time I'll leave the science discussion for Nikki. Anyway, the point is that there are certain anomalies in the examinations that aren't consistent with established rules of science and that's got people worried."
"Ok, what are the anomalies?" I asked, sitting back down.
"Nik, you want to explain?" he queried, plopping back down in his chair.
She took a drink and then put the glass down. "Well, without getting all scientific, it boils down to this," she answered. "The tissue and other body damage are inconsistent with known electrical injuries. That means we are dealing with an unknown source and type of energy, something new. No one seems to be able to identify what it is but we know it's different."
"Wow, seems like you two have got your work cut out then," I answered, trying to decide how I should continue. "So, Jay, what do you think it means?" I asked, remembering what Ray had said. "Has someone developed a real working ray gun, like in Star Wars?"
"Honestly Dad, I'm not sure. I have to continue on the premise that it's some new form of energy but whether it's purely a weapon or someone's just using it as one, I just don't know."
"Well, with several people dead, it seems like more than a weapon than just a source of energy," I pointed out, shaking my head.
"You would think so," he answered. "But if someone had developed a new energy source there'd be a ton of money in it. I know they assigned me due to the terrorist angle, but think about it. If you were going to develop a terrorist weapon, why would you use it on rich people individually and then try to hide it? I mean that's not the actions of a terrorist. You'd want to strike fear in large groups of people. These are individual deaths and they've been too quiet, something just doesn't add up."
"Tell him about the spooks," Nikki interrupted.
"Spooks?" I repeated. "What, is the CIA involved, too?"
"Who knows who they work for?" Jay retorted. "But get this, I get a call from DC this morning that these two suits wanted to observe the autopsy. I sent a car to pick them up from the airbase and take them to the coroner's office."
Nikki gestured wildly. "Dad, these guys were absolutely spooky! Real Men in Black types, like the kind you hear about investigating stuff from Area 51!"
"She's not kidding," Jay continued. "They stayed for the autopsy and then we had to take them back to the base. They never said more than a few words the entire time, just stood there watching and taking notes."
"They were beyond weird, Dad, I mean they looked like a couple of ghouls," Nikki added.
"So you don't know what agency they were with?" I asked, wondering what their significance was. Could there be a government agency that dealt with non-mortals? That was a scary thought.
"Hell no, DC didn't tell me and I didn't ask," he answered. "Really friggin weird. Whoever they are, they had full military access and clearances I didn't even know existed and I was told to give them whatever they wanted."
"I thought this was like the fifth body," I noted. "Were they at the other autopsies?"
"No, not that I know of. But they didn't call my team in until they found the third body so my reports wouldn't have hit DC till last week."
"Hmm, beats me," I said.
Nikki leaned forward. "Dad, I know you still have a lot of contacts, see if you can find out who they were?" she whispered as if someone else may be listening.
That was my girl. She still believed that I could find out anything. Of course, in this case, she might be right. "Well, that sounds like it's more up Jay's alley," I said, chuckling.
"Not me," he replied. "I've learned not to ask too many questions when it comes to anything out of Washington. Those DC guys would classify the morning paper as secret, you know what I mean?"
We all laughed. Jay wasn't saying anything I hadn't said in the past when it came to dealing with Feds, even if he was one himself.
I turned back to him. "So, tell me about the victims. You mentioned that they were wealthy. I mean, if you can't talk about them, I understand."
"Oh crap, Dad, I've already said enough to get me suspended," he said as he laughed. "Anyway, I still don't have all the info yet, but it's not just the money. It's that they dealt in a lot of cash. Two of them were in the entertainment business, movies and video distribution, I think. One guy was connected to the adult entertainment industry; him we have a file on. The fourth was a rancher/farmer." He turned to Nikki. "I haven't seen the final on today's guy, did you hear anything else after I left?"
"Other than he was a regular Vegas player? No, your guys were with our detectives, but that's the last I heard," she shrugged.
"Ok," Jay said. "Metro identified him as a high roller. I'll find out what else they have in the morning. But the point is they all seem to have had access to large amounts of hard cash."
I didn't think of a rancher or farmer as having access to large amounts of cash, so I asked him about it.
"Yeah, multi property payroll services, believe it or not. Migrant workers, farm hands, all paid in cash. That one caught me off guard as well."
I had enough to think about so I let the conversation drift off to other things. Nikki, who had to go to work early, soon left. Jay went to get ready for bed and I cleaned up the mess. I had just closed the dishwasher door when Jay came back down. He had his cell phone in his hand and was taking it down from his ear.
"Sorry, Dad, that was the office. It looks like I have to head back earlier than I had hoped. We'll have to postpone fishing," he said, putting his cell phone in his pocket. "I'm really sorry."
"I know how it goes, maybe next time."
"Well, as soon as we get this one wrapped up they'll owe me some vacation time." He reached in the cabinet for a glass.
"There's cold bottled water in the fridge," I said, assuming that's what he wanted.
"Great," he replied, pulling his hand away. "Hey Dad, you know the suits we were talking about?"
"The not-CIA spooks?" I asked.
"Yeah," he continued, "remember when you did that work on quirky religions and black magic stuff?"
"Sure, what about it?" I wondered what brought that up.
"Well, I just got off the phone with Darrell; he was the agent that played driver for them."
"Ok."
"He just told me that when he was getting ready to drive them back to the base he overheard them talking about some kind of black magic mumbo jumbo."
"Black magic?" Now I was getting interested. "What did they say?"
"Well, he said one guy made some kind of comment about Necromancers and blood wands but he stopped as soon as he caught Darrell listening. What do you think that was about?"
"Maybe they were just bs'ing." My guts clenched.
"I don't know, these guys didn't seem the chatty type and Darrell said they gave him the creeps." He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottled water and then turned back to me. "Ok, humor me for a second. Let's say the government has a special section, like the old project Blue Book. Only this time, it's not about aliens, but voodoo and sorcery stuff. Is that too crazy?"
"It sounds a little farfetched to me but who knows where the government is concerned. I can tell you that there are a lotta folk out there who believe in that stuff." Shit, he'd probably hit it right on the nose. I wondered if they knew about me.
"Yeah," he replied, "but governments do weird stuff all the time, believe me, I know. Even the Germans did that in WW II, looking for old relics that were supposed to be magical."
> "Look, Jay, is there something you know that you aren't, or can't, tell me?" I asked, trying to get to the heart of the matter.
"That I know, not really," he said. "I didn't want to mention it in front of Nikki but there are rumors about other teams getting observed by these kinds of guys on weird cases. So I was just wondering if you ever got that when you were working that stuff."
I took a moment before answering. It had been 20 or so years since I'd worked black magic and witchcraft cases. I'd even written a paper on the subject for the Department way back when. I tried to decide what information I could give him that would help. I mean, how do you tell your son that you just found out that you're a magical being?
"Well, I do still have a few contacts in the Wicca and witchcraft world and they do believe in magic. I guess my only advice to you is to never discount anything. I mean, even if you don't believe, their beliefs are real to them. Besides, it's like I always said about Christmas."
Jay started to laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I remember...even if your friends don't believe in Santa Claus you have to give him the benefit of the doubt because there are always a few presents under the tree that you have no idea where they came from. Thanks Dad, and good night. I'll see you in the morning." He turned and started to go upstairs.
"Listen, Jay, I know you can't ask too many questions," I said.
He paused at the foot of the stairs.
"But like I said, I still know a few people. I'll keep my ears open and see what I can find out. Just let me know if you run into them again or if anything really weird happens, ok?"
"I will, Dad, I know it sounds a little crazy, but thanks."
I walked up the few steps and gave him a hug. "Nothing in this business would surprise me, you know that. I'll let you know what I can find out. But you stay safe, there are a lot of crazies out there and you're in the thick of them."
"I will, Dad, and good night," he headed up the stairs.
Later, as I lay in bed, I promised myself that I would do whatever I could to protect them from the world I had been thrown into. Although I admitted to myself that sooner or later I was going to have to find some way to tell them. I just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Although their safety was my prime concern, I had enough going on at the moment to be worrying about what their reaction to my new found situation would be.
