A.I.R. Shattered Soul

by Amanda Booloodian

  “What about you, Cassie?” Logan asked.

  “I’m not sure yet.” In secret, I wanted to be Super Girl, wearing a short skirt, tight shirt, and knee high red boots. I’d freeze my ass off, but it would be worth it. To pull that off, I would probably need to lay off the sugar and ditch about ten pounds. It was hard to think about that when I felt so discontent.

  Logan stood. “What do you have on the agenda for today, Margaret?”

  “Oh, Dee Dee and I are gonna get our hair done and scope out the seniors walking the mall,” Gran said. Dee Dee had been friends with Gran through both husbands. “Dee Dee has an eye on one of the hotties who’s a regular.”

  Snatching a forgotten pear, I looked over at Logan. He and I both grinned at the thought of Gran scoping out guys at the mall.

  “We’re going to get a flat tire on the way out of the mall,” she added.

  We both took this in stride. “Do you want us to swing by?” I asked.

  “Don’t even think it.” Gran patted her gray curls. “Dee Dee’s little hottie will be around to call triple A for us.”

  “Give us a call if you change your mind,” Logan said.

  “Anything for us?” I asked, inspecting my pear.

  “Be nice to Cassie’s guest.”

  That was a little puzzling, but once again, we took it in stride.

  Out of habit, I reached for my phone, only to find it missing. I forgot it had suffered a watery death. With a wave, we left the house.

  The truck cab was stuffy when I slid into the passenger seat, but rolling the windows down proved to be a cure.

  Heading toward the office made me feel better. Throwing myself into work would help me avoid thoughts of Vincent. It might also help to fill the hollow feeling that seemed to be ready to swallow me from the inside.

  I thought over the case. Who would hurt a fairy? Who would even know about them? Dozens of questions threatened to swarm. Most were ones I probably should have asked ages ago, but being thrown in to a job like this wasn’t easy. Frequently, I learned as I went along.

  I cleared my throat. “Who knows about the Lost besides AIR?”

  “There are a few other organizations that know. MyTH, in St. Louis is a non-profit organization that watches out for civil rights of the Lost. Most governments have organizations like ours. The Lost have been in the world longer than most countries have been around. Some say there are non-government organizations that are older, but if there are, they keep quiet. Besides that, you’ve got Native American societies.”

  “That’s it? I would think more people would have noticed.”

  “Most folk think they’ll be labeled as crackpots if they say what they’ve seen. Or they deny that they saw it in the first place.”

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Late in college, I had a boyfriend, Zander. We were close and had even discussed marriage. I had thought I could bring him in on my secret. Let him know that the world was larger than he knew. He refused to see the truth. He loved me, but thought I was crazy. It went so far that he tried to have me committed. Mom and Gran had to step in.

  I pushed Zander from my mind. Logan sang an old Western song under his breath again. For a few minutes, I listened to my partner sing old trail songs about cowboys long dead.

  “We’ve done relocations and integrations of the Lost, but I haven’t seen a murder. Is this type of case normal for AIR agents?” I asked.

  “It’s not your usual case, but they pop up from time to time.”

  “I’m not exactly ready for this.”

  “You’ve had training.”

  It was true that before starting in the field, I went through six months of intensive training. Since then, I had been training when not in the field. Learning about the Lost and working with them was one thing, but forensics and investigation was another beast all together.

  “Training yes,” I said. “Experience, no. Any tips?”

  Logan thought it over for a moment. “Use your skill and follow my lead. We’ve been told that Darla’s being brought in.”

  “Darla Clance?” I couldn’t hide my awe.

  “Yep, the human lie detector herself.”

  “Hasn’t she been retired for years?”

  “She has. Barry brought her in to root out the fiend,” Logan said.

  “Wow, she’s a legend! Have you worked with her before?”

  “She was in the office when I started years ago. That woman is something else. Made interviewing suspects a lot easier.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  “She can size a person up and tell you if they’re lying within a second. Doesn’t matter if you’re Lost or human, she knows. She’ll make short work of the investigation. I never thought I’d see her back in the office again. Hope she has a go at the Walker while she’s here.”

  I practically bounced in my seat by the time we pulled into the office. The restless feeling loosened its grip as we walked in, replaced by anticipation. Darla is one of those rare humans, like Clancy and me who have a gift. Stories of her reached my ears the first week in the office. She could close more cases than any three agents could together.

  Everyone talked in hushed tones when we entered control central. There were a few people queued up outside one of the conference rooms. I watched as an agent left and another employee entered. The people in line looked anxious, and those who left looked relieved. No one stayed in the conference room for more than a minute.

  “I’ve got your times set up,” Hank said as we approached his desk. “You’ve got about an hour before you go in. Don’t be late.”

  “Anything come in about the case?” I asked.

  “No fiend has been discovered so far,” Hank replied as he shifted folders on his desk. “Agent Pironis’s office confirmed his assignment.”

  “I meant the fairies case,” I said.

  “Oh.” Hank sat back in his chair. “Agent Pironis has everyone in the office scared of their own shadow.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Logan.

  “So no new information,” Logan pressed.

  “Nothing new. This mess should be over with today. It would be good to have you two on hand to take a guard shift. After you’ve been cleared, of course,” Hank said.

  “Are agents guarding Darla?” I asked.

  “If she marks someone as a demon, I doubt she’d make it out of the room without guards. She’s a formidable old lady, but I don’t think she’d stand a chance,” Hank said.

  I blushed. Of course, she would have a guard. What the hell was I thinking?

  “Is she interviewing Vincent?” I asked.

  Hank sighed and frowned at me. “He’s slated in at the end of the day. Since his office confirmed the orders, we’re checking all the employees first.”

  Pulling together paperwork took some time. With a relocation, things seemed much easier. Integrations were a little more difficult, but most of the Lost that needed to be mingled in with normal society had already learned plenty about our world. Paperwork for a murder seemed more complicated. It also felt heavier. It might be the same amount of paper, but it seemed to weigh more all the same.

  Logan let me learn by doing. This meant that I had to go and ask Hank questions five times instead of once. I was not sure if the joke was on Hank or me. Hank wasn’t in the mood for the interruptions. I had never seen the man as terse as he was acting today. It didn’t help that I hadn’t learned anything new, and that nagging feeling I had lost or misplaced something seemed to take up permanent residence between my shoulder blades.

  We queued up well before our time to meet with Darla. People came and went like clockwork. I felt a tight roll of anxiety before walking in the door. I kept wondering what she would ask and say.

  When I walked into the room, I was met with a night shift team guarding Darla. The woman was taller than I was with gray hair and dark skin. She was muscular in a way I never expected of an older lady. She was probably about the same age as Gran.

  “Are you
a demon?” She asked.

  “No,” I said.

  She nodded and that was it. All that tension over one question.

  I started for the door.

  “Wait,” she said.

  I stopped.

  “Are you the girl that was attacked yesterday?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  Do I have to keep to yes/no answers? I thought.

  “That must be why you feel so off. Good on you, girl. You took on a Walker and lived to tell the tale.”

  “I wouldn’t say I took him on—” I started.

  “You survived! That’s enough for me. Good on you.”

  I grinned and she waved in Logan. After he was cleared, we went over some paperwork and checked in with Clancy, who couldn’t add anything to our investigation yet. In the afternoon, Logan and I stood guard for Darla.

  We set in for a few hours of mind numbing guard duty. Everyone was asked the same question. Everyone gave the same answer. Some employees cast dirty looks in my direction. I figured they must blame me for having to go through this ordeal.

  Toward the end of the day, Hank was helping track down the last few agents that needed to see Darla. Darla was less than patient.

  “I ain’t got all the time in the world for this. Let’s go see that Walker.”

  She strode out of the room and down the hall with purpose. She knew exactly where she was going. Someone was a few steps ahead of us and Vincent was already waiting in the interrogation room. I hesitated at the door. My stomach doing flip-flops pushed out the feeling of something missing that I had carried around all morning. Darla shooed me into the room in front of her. Logan stuck with us as well.

  It was the first time Vincent and I had been face to face since the incident.

  Vincent’s eyes widened subtly when he saw me; the rest of his face was as blank as ever. He looked tired, though. He needed a shave and his wrists were red. He’d probably been cuffed and re-cuffed several times in the past day. He saw me looking at his wrists and lowered his hands below the table.

  I should hate him, but I didn’t. Something about him pulled at me, but I couldn’t peg down the feeling. It was confusing the hell out of me.

  “Do you know who I am?” Darla asked as she sat down. I took the vacant chair beside her.

  “I do not,” Vincent replied.

  “My name is Darla. They pulled me out of retirement for you. I’ve got a special set of skills to set this mess straight.”

  Vincent nodded.

  “Tell me why you’re here,” Darla said.

  Vincent relayed his story from the day before.

  Darla nodded, satisfied with the story. “Okay, girl,” she said to me, “ask him your questions.”

  I blinked in surprise. I had never questioned someone before.

  I decided to go with the obvious. “Do you want me dead?”

  Vincent put his cuffed hands back on the table and leaned forward slightly.

  “I do not want you dead.” He looked straight at me, his eyes never wavering.

  I didn’t need Darla here. I believed him.

  “Are you okay?” Vincent asked.

  “We’re doing the questioning,” Logan said.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “It leads me to my next question. You said my soul wasn’t whole anymore. What exactly does that mean for me?”

  Creases formed ever so slightly around Vincent’s eyes. “I’m not certain yet. We have embarked into new territory. Please understand that I will do everything in my power to correct this mistake.”

  “Mistake?” Logan said. “You read a name in a file and my partner ends up almost dead. That’s more than a mistake, it’s criminal.”

  “I know you don’t really believe that,” Darla said. “Have you put yourself in the boy’s shoes?”

  “No,” Logan said.

  “Liar,” Darla said.

  “I understand Logan’s concerns,” Vincent said. “If Cassie had died—”

  “But I didn’t.” I stood up. “I don’t have any more questions.”

  “I have one,” Logan said. “Does someone want my partner dead?”

  “It’s a possibility that we must consider,” Vincent said. “As long as I am here, it will not happen.”

  Darla shook her head. “You’ve got to tell the truth.”

  Vincent frowned almost unperceptively. “As long as I’m here, I’ll do what I can to stop anything from happening.”

  Darla nodded, but the frown never left Vincent’s face.

  Logan took a long look at Vincent. Finally, he nodded and left the room.

  “I’ve gotta go look over a few more agents,” Darla said.

  “I’m sure you’ll be out of those cuffs soon,” I said to Vincent.

  Once again, he put his hands under the table.

  “I’m right behind you, Darla,” I said.

  Hank waited outside the conference room again with two agents. Darla made quick work of them. By the end of the day, everyone had been cleared for duty.

  After delivering the news to Barry, we said our goodbyes to Darla.

  “Never thought I’d meet a Walker,” she said on her way out. “Never thought I’d meet someone who had survived a Walker. But still, this day was boring as shit.”

  I grinned. “It could have been worse. Someone could have said yes.”

  Barry cleared his throat and thanked Darla for her service. Once she was gone, he turned to Logan and me.

  “Vincent has been cleared.” Barry narrowed his eyes at me. “Cassie, you have the right to bring up formal charges against him.”

  I shook my head.

  “He has requested a temporary transfer to this office. If you two have any reservations, I need to hear them now.”

  My stomach tightened. Did I have any reservations about him? It had been an accident. Even without Darla, I was sure about that.

  I shrugged.

  Logan took more time to answer. “I guess I’m fine with it.”

  “Good to hear. He’s working with your team,” Barry said.

  “Having him in the building is one thing, but—” Logan started.

  “He’s a skilled investigator and he wants to keep an eye on the, ah, situation he has caused,” Barry said.

  Logan crossed his arms. “I’m an investigator, and we have plenty of others around.”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “And now you have another on your team.” Barry raised his voice. “Come in.”

  Chapter 6

  Hank popped his head into the office. “He’s here.”

  “Send him in,” Barry said.

  Vincent came into the room, for once without cuffs.

  Barry got straight down to business. “You’ll be working with Logan and Cassie. Let me be clear on this. Logan is the lead at all times. You will defer to him in everything.”

  “Agreed.” Vincent’s voice was impassive.

  “Don’t sound so damned excited about it,” Logan said.

  Barry ignored Logan. “We’ll see about arranging accommodations for you in the short term. Normally, I’d ask an agent to house you for a few weeks, but for now, we’ll set up a short term housing fix.”

  Vincent nodded without saying anything.

  “Logan, Cassie, get him caught up on the case.” Barry turned his attention to a file on his desk. “Hank will have information on accommodations.”

  Logan looked resigned when he walked out of the office. I followed behind Logan and the office door clicked shut behind Vincent.

  “Go talk to Hank,” Logan said. “We’ll meet you in the control room.”

  Vincent nodded and we watched him retreat down the hallway.

  Logan moved away from Barry’s door before talking. “If you don’t want to work with him, we can get him removed from the team.”

  My eyes were still on the hallway that Vincent had been in moments before. “Will he be able to help?”

  Logan shrugged. “Not if we don’t trust him.”
<
br />   “Do you trust him?” I asked.

  “He’s like a blank slate. You can never tell what he’s thinking.”

  I frowned and looked at Logan. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like he has the world’s best poker face, but he wears it all the time. By looking at him, you’d never be able to tell if he felt anything.”

  This didn’t mix with what I’d seen of Vincent. It was hard to tell what he might be feeling, but the slight movements he made seemed to speak volumes about what he was feeling.

  “You don’t get a feel for anything he’s thinking or feeling?” I asked.

  “The man’s a clean slate.”

  I cast my eyes back down the hall again. Usually it was Logan that caught way more than I did. Maybe I was seeing something that wasn’t really there.

  It wasn’t a comforting thought.

  “Maybe he’s that way because he doesn’t know us,” I suggested.

  “You’re okay with this arrangement?” Logan asked and started down the hall.

  Keeping step, I said, “If he can help, I think we should let him join.”

  “No one knows too much about Walkers,” Logan said. “Maybe we’ll get the chance to find out more.”

  Hank was across the control room reviewing the massive bank of computers with large display screens. Vincent stood nearby, also watching the screens.

  Something in me loosened as we approached. It was almost as if I had been holding my breath and had only now found that I could inhale again.

  “I’ve got an update for you,” Hank said. He pulled something up on the wall monitor. “We aren't sure if this is related to your case, but it's too damned coincidental. We have four Lost that haven’t been seen in the past week.”

  “Four missing?” I didn't mean it as a question, but it popped out that way.

  “Two gnomes, a fairy, and a pixie,” Hank said. “Not confirmed missing, they haven’t been seen. It’s not that rare with the Lost, especially these particular races. We didn't think it was related at first, but then we had a call from the Ozarks this afternoon.”

  “What's going on down there?” Logan asked.