by Patti Larsen
“What’s with her, huh?” Jackson’s casual attitude spun Gerri around, a snarl on her face.
“Call it in,” she said, teeth grinding together. “And keep your stupid fucking mouth shut.”
Ten minutes later and Curtis was on the bus, the paramedics taking him to the morgue. Ray went with them, refusing to look at Gerri, leaving Kinsey behind to reassure their friend.
“She’ll be okay,” she said, blue eyes huge behind her glasses. “She just needs to see this through.”
“She’s not the only one.” Gerri spun on her heel. “Go home, Kins. I have something I need to do and you don’t need to be part of it.” She didn’t bother to see if Kinsey left or not. Gerri’s attention was on her partner and his damned rotten attitude.
“Where the hell were you?” She’d called him well before she made it to the city. He was supposed to be here ahead of her.
“I got held up.” And that was it, no further explanation. Gerri ground her teeth together before turning her back on him and striding away.
***
INT. – 9th PRECINCT to REVEREND STERLING’S MANSION - EVENING
Gerri didn’t pause, didn’t let herself think. There was nothing to think about. She bypassed the gathering crowd, ignoring their questions, their stares. They didn’t matter. She had her killer.
And was about to take down his maker if it meant giving up her badge to do it.
She made it to her car without exploding. Slammed the door and drove far too fast to the precinct. Stomped up every single step to the bullpen at the 9th and through the captain’s door.
He was still there, working in front of his glowing computer screen. He didn’t seem surprised to see her.
“I heard,” he said, voice low. “But, even if the kid was alive, we have no case.” He pushed a folder toward her. Gerri didn’t bother flipping it open, waiting, vibrating, for an explanation. “The second body and all evidence is gone. We’re to pretend these are missing persons.”
“Says who?” Gerri bit her tongue, drew a breath past her rage. “Sir.”
“Says someone so fucking high above my pay grade I bent over.” His words crackled in the air between them. “You drop it. Understood, Officer?” The threat was clear. Bring this up again and her badge was at risk.
“There’s another matter. Sir.” Gerri stuffed her hands in her pockets to keep from slamming both fists down on his desk. She’d never felt such anger before, and that alone reined her in. She felt as though she could literally tear this entire room apart with her bare hands. “The bartender.”
“Curtis Alexander.” He nodded, looked away. “Attacked a police officer with a knife. Good shoot.” Again he fixed her with his black eyes. “End of story.”
“Not quite.” She felt need uncoil in her gut, begging her to get this right. “He’s also a victim.”
That caught the captain’s attention. “Of what?”
When she told him what she suspected, what she feared went on in that mansion in the suburbs, the captain sank back into his chair with a terrible expression she feared meant the end of her career. But she didn’t care.
For Ray. For Curtis. And Aisling and Roxy and every other freak show out there. She had to try.
“Meyers.” He stopped, lowered his head. Then looked up with an evil gleam in his eye. “Get a warrant. And put that bastard out of business.”
An hour later, after banging on a sympathetic judge’s door for a signature, Gerri stood on the front steps of the reverend’s mansion. Her SWAT team already cut the security to the front gate as well as the house, making short work of the iron doors with their battering ram. All while she breathed a little too hard inside the snug fit of her bullet proof vest. Everything hinged on her being right. She was right, she was sure of it.
And yet…
No. She had to trust her gut. Police work got her this far. But her instincts refused to let her go.
The upper floors were empty. Didn’t matter when the basement gave her all the proof she needed. They tried to stop her, the three towering bikers with their tattoos and guns, but SWAT made short work of them. Fast enough she caught the half-naked reverend hard at work over the writhing body of a boy. The kid couldn’t have been more than fifteen, skin marred with scars, branded with the six symbols she knew now all too well.
Sterling’s eyes held his own madness, Mary crouched in one corner, weeping, back turned to the room of horrors with its whips and chains and knives. The slab to which the boy was strapped. The selfsame scars Curtis bore shining on Sterling’s gleaming skin.
“YOU DARE ENTER THE HOUSE OF THE HOLY!” Sterling lunged at her with a knife in his hand. But she wasn’t about to let him die, oh no. He had far too much to answer for.
SWAT handled him, a beanbag taking him full in the chest. He fell back with a whoof of exhale, landing hard against the wall. Gerri turned her back, eyes falling on Mary who looked up at her with fear at war with self-righteousness.
“He’s dead,” Gerri said, voice dead, heart, too, for the time being. “Curtis. And this,” she waved around herself at the room. “This makes it your fault.”
Gerri left to the sound of Mary wailing, leaving the rest of the officers behind, ignoring the judging look on Jackson’s face, the way they all avoided her. She didn’t stop until she stood in the fresh air, on the grass beside the driveway, looking up at the moon and breathing in great gulps of Silver City night time.
Where she stayed for a long time, trying to convince herself she wanted to keep her badge after all.
***
INT. – GERRI’S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Kinsey knocked on the apartment door, holding up a bottle of red wine when Gerri pulled it open.
“For that,” the detective said in a weary voice, “you can have my first born.”
Ray shuffled in after her, a bag of groceries in her hands. Gerri didn’t say anything as the brunette helped herself to her kitchen and started to cook. Kinsey poured, handing off full glasses to each of the girls before sampling the vintage herself.
Cheap and potent. Perfect.
Silence held them as Ray puttered, the smell of garlic and onions mixed with something spicy soon filling the small space. Gerri’s apartment wasn’t her ideal, but she fell in love with the view and the small balcony the moment she set foot inside. She could deal with the water stain on the ceiling in the bathroom and the questionable wiring as long as she could sit outside at night and watch the city go on without her.
When Gerri finally broke the silence, she saw both of her guests jump a little. “Shitty day,” she said. The wine burned the back of her tongue, making her mouth feel tight.
Kinsey clinked glasses with her as Ray turned around. Gerri’s worry her friend’s gaze would hold anger was unfounded. Instead, her hazel eyes were thoughtful.
“Shitty all around.” She joined them in their salute. “I heard they arrested the reverend.”
Gerri took another drink. “I have a feeling Sterling is having a far shittier night than we are at this point. And things will only go downhill for him.” While she held out little hope he might actually pay for his crimes—this case’s far-too-convenient cover up had made her cynical—he might, at least, suffer some indignities in lockup. Especially considering she made sure the other cons knew what he’d done.
Life was a bitch, sometimes.
“What’s wrong with people?” Kinsey stared down into her glass. “He was torturing gay boys, for what?”
Ray’s bitter laughter hurt. “He’s not the first, or the last,” she said. Gerri’s guilt grew in a swelling crescendo she’d been unable to save Curtis and, maybe, the boy she’d found with Sterling. Surely he was ruined, too. But, when Ray met her eyes, her anguish was gone. So there was that. “Thank you,” she said. “For not letting them get away with it.”
Gerri almost said it was her job. But that was a lie. And she was tired of lies.
Ray dished out three plates of gnocchi. Gerri didn’t comment,
though she really was craving beef after the last few days. The spiced Alfredo chicken sauce wasn’t going to cut it. Still, it tasted delicious. She carried her plate out to the balcony, perching on the low bench at the far end, leaving the two tiny chairs at the small table she’d squeezed into the narrow space for the girls.
“We really need to talk about this.” Kinsey set down her plate and glass, head down, the sounds of the city traveling upward to muffle her words. Gerri paused mid-chew, stomach clenching around the food she’d already eaten. She knew what “this” meant.
“We do.” Ray met Gerri’s eyes. “About the weird, Gerri.”
“It’s not just the stuff we’ve seen.” Kinsey drew a breath. “There are some things from that Bible I should tell you about. I don’t think Sterling meant for us to see it. For someone like me to see it.” Gerri was certain of that, read the concern in the man’s eyes when she asked him about it. Fear. He’d been afraid to find out Roxy had the book, now in police lockup. “But, there’s more than that, too.” Gerri wished she could turn away, run away. She was absolutely certain she did not want to hear what Kinsey had to say, but was trapped , mouth full of pasta that tasted of bile as the blonde went on.
“I can influence people.” She said it in a rush. Like it was some dirty secret. Gerri almost sighed in relief. So could she. With her gun. But Kinsey wasn’t done. “Make them bend to what I want. With my… with my mind.”
Gerri choked on her gnocchi, gulped a huge drink of wine to keep herself from asphyxiating. “You can what?”
Ray’s eyes looked wild, as though she was as ready to bolt as Gerri. “I can see what’s wrong with people.” She covered her mouth with both hands after blurting that particular tidbit. “Oh my god, Kinsey. I gave up being a doctor because I knew what was killing patients and I couldn’t save them.”
They both turned to stare at Gerri. To watch her with their needy eyes and their hopeful expressions. And Gerri’s gut whispered.
Tell them.
She surged to her feet, plate rattling on the small table. “You two,” she said, “are fucking lunatics.” No. Way. She was not a freak.
Not.
Kinsey looked away, down, but Ray refused to release Gerri from her gaze. “We’re not,” she said, heated, sharp with hurt. “There’s nothing wrong with us, Gerri.”
Gerri sank down again, jerking herself under control. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Jesus. Just… this is crazy, you know that. We’re talking about shit that only happens in the movies.”
Kinsey nodded, clearly miserable. Gerri felt like crap for being so cruel. But she just couldn’t bring herself to say a word. Because she was normal. Not like them.
Not like them at all.
“Something is going on,” Ray said. “And we are the only ones we can count on. We can’t trust anyone else. But we have to figure this out. Before another body goes missing.”
Gerri didn’t argue. Neither did Kinsey. Appetite gone, she sat there with the girls, the humidity of the California night breaking as a storm rumbled over the ocean, rain coming to wash the city clean.
***
INT. – MARGOT’S CAR – NIGHT
Margot’s wrinkled fingers tapped an irritated beat on the arm rest of the limo as she waited, entire body tensed, in anticipation of her visitor. Rain pattered a steady beat to match her tension on the roof of the car, washing the windows with streaks that threw reflections of light over her face.
There was too much at stake to risk pushing Kinsey further than she had just yet. The phone call was a mistake, and so was dinner. Margot heard Kinsey’s reluctance in her voice, recognized her understanding. The moment when her granddaughter felt Margot’s influence. Which meant she’d been using her own, on purpose, with purpose. She sighed, light catching the giant diamond of her middle finger ring, anxiety increasing by the moment. It had been hard enough to take over Kinsey’s upbringing after Ahnet left, suddenly, abandoning the family and her only daughter. And Margot was well aware she’d likely done the girl a disservice over the years. She shrugged inside her jacket, lips pursing, sending thin lines of lipstick into the wrinkles around her mouth, staring out at the streetlights in the distance. She’d done her best. Hoped this day wouldn’t come for Kinsey. Did everything she could to prevent it.
So much for her best laid plans.
The passenger side door opened, his tall, broad shouldered body blocking the light as he slipped inside. The car barely moved despite his large size. His head bowed as he turned to greet her.
“Mistress Nightshade,” he said.
“Where have you been?” Margot didn’t mean to be short with Benedict. But, her fears for Kinsey made her testy. If only she’d been able to tell her granddaughter everything. To explain her heritage. Maybe their relationship would have been more amiable. Water under a very old bridge, one not built by her, but by generations of DanAllarts.
“Watching her.” His black eyes blinked slowly, pale skin flawless. There were times Margot envied him his immortality, the perfection of his beauty, the lushness his race granted him. But, to be a Nightshade, she must remain human. And not even the lure of vampirism was enough to deter her from her destiny.
“She’s safe?” Margot’s body unwound. Of course she was. Benedict would die before he allowed anything to happen to Kinsey. It was his duty to protect her as much as it was Margot’s to shield her from the truth until the time was right.
He shrugged, a small smile on his face. Not enough to show the tiny fangs of his retracted canines. But enough she knew he humored her.
“For now,” he said. “But things are moving faster than expected.”
“Things aren’t supposed to happen this way.” Margot fretted, hands wringing together. She could be weak around him. He would never judge her. He’d known her far too long for that. Since her mother died and he was left to tell her, as he’d told generations of her family, just who and what she was.
“There are those who disagree with you,” he said, sitting back, shadows darkening his face. “Who would choose to hasten the arrival of awareness. To this generation.”
The Nightshade League planned fifty more years before humanity was to know about paranormals. Five decades to soften them through popular literature, through Hollywood blockbusters. Slow and steady introduction, as was intended all along. Not in bursts of reveal that hit tabloids, growing in violence and obviousness.
They might be able to hide the truth a little while longer. But with powers working against them… Margot had to talk to the others. It might be time to prepare the girls for what was coming, no matter the cost.
“We may not like it,” Benedict said in his low, deep voice, “but if we want to protect them, we need to tell them what they are.” He paused. “And stop stealing bodies from the morgue.”
“You know what’s at stake.” Her hands tightened in her lap, squeezing into fists. “The damned incubus and his heartless body. Who knew they could suffer from transsexualism?” Margot sighed. “It’s paranormals like the dancer Aisling who put all of us in jeopardy. We both know if the boy hadn’t killed her, a hunter would have tracked her for illegal feeding and killed her before long.”
Benedict didn’t comment on that. “I don’t understand why the second body,” he said. “The s/he was human.”
“I know Geraldine,” Margot said. “Dog with a bone, that one.” With good reason. But Margot wasn’t focused on the detective’s heritage just then. Her main fear was, as always, for her granddaughter. “Best to remove everything from sight for now.”
“Regardless,” he said, “the deed is done. Now what?”
Margot nodded sharply, mind made up. While she might disapprove of the actions of those who pushed the original agenda, she trusted her granddaughter and her friends were up to the task. They had what they needed. They just needed the rest of their ability awakened.
“Go, watch over her.” Kinsey was most important of all, but Rachel and Geraldine were vital, as well. “A
ll of them, if your family can manage it.”
“We can. Of course.” Benedict paused, reaching for the door handle. Light caught on the ring he wore, the symbol etched in the silver, swirling edges and sharp “V” indentation marking him as one of the blessed undead. “One more thing,” he said. “Simone and Julian are here.”
Margot almost swore out loud, preferring to curse in her head instead. Her power rippled inside her, snarling fury. She suppressed it with old experience. The magic of the Nightshades didn’t like to be challenged and neither did she.
“Of course they are,” she snapped. “Because we need more complications. Go. And keep me informed.”
Benedict left in a flow of fluid motion, his weight not even registering this time as he departed. She waited a moment, brow furrowed, lost in thought, before tapping the intercom button beside her.
“Take us home,” she said. “I have work to do.”
Only the tall form of the vampire standing with preternatural stillness, soaked by the rain, saw her go.
(CUT TO BLACK)
###
Next time on The Nightshade Cases…
When a young woman collapses at a popular new nightclub, the girls are on the case…
Episode #2: Exotica, is now live!
***
Wondering what’s next for The Nightshade Cases?
Check out the schedule and stay tuned for each case as it appears…
Exotica
Stolen
Shelter
Exorcized
Try Dying
Booty Call
Death Song
Zoology101
Teacher’s Pet
Panic Room
Bad Shoot
Sicko
Federali
Witness
The Hit
Mimic
The Maze
