Darkness Shifting: Tides of Darkness Book One

by Sarah Blair

  “Mitch—” She was about to tell him to stop when the theme song from Scooby Doo started playing. “Shit. That’s Williams.”

  “He can wait.”

  Sidney reached back to the counter behind the sink, but only managed to knock her phone onto the floor on the other side. She didn’t really want to talk to him, but it was a good excuse to extricate herself from Mitch’s grasp without having to explain herself.

  It wasn’t until Mitch’s phone rang and both tones were going that he gave up. He checked the caller ID and answered.

  “Morning, Banks . . . no, I was just making breakfast.”

  Sidney used the distraction to slip out of his grasp and went around to get her own phone. Her knees weren’t as strong as they should be so she sank down onto one of the barstools and dialed Williams back.

  “Top o’ the morning, Lake,” he answered.

  He was buttering her up, but after recalling his words from the night before, she wasn’t in the mood. Why couldn’t the real world just go away and leave her and Mitch naked in bed?

  “What’s going on?” She realized her words sounded irritable, and she didn’t care.

  “Stopped by your place this morning to give you a ride and you weren’t there. Thought maybe you were already at work, but nope. Chief’s not here either. Matter-of-fact, I’m the only one at the office. It’s like the Twilight Zone or something. Where is everybody?”

  “We were up late. I crashed with the chief.” In more ways than one. Lucky for her, it wasn’t that unusual for them to be up late working. She also frequented the guest room at the Williams house.

  “So, um did you find out any good news from Dimitrius?”

  That was the last name she needed to hear at the moment. She was trying to figure out how to answer when Mitch ended his call and came around the bar.

  “Get dressed, we’ve got another body.”

  “Did he say, ‘get dressed?’” Williams said.

  “Yeah, you moron, I’m standing here in the chief’s apartment, naked.” She went heavy on the sarcasm and hoped he wouldn’t believe her.

  Mitch turned around and gave her a funny look. “Tell him to meet us at the office.”

  “He’s already there.”

  “Who’s there?” Williams asked.

  “You.” Sidney rolled her eyes. “There’s another body. Stay put. We’ll meet you at the office.”

  She hung up before he could say anything else.

  The wind from the East River cut straight through Sidney’s gray wool blazer. There was no sun today, only an overcast sky, heavy with the threat of rain. The sunny mood she’d woken up in had faded with the phone calls, and now her emotions were churning and dark just like the river. They were huddled in a little park on the riverfront, directly below the underpass for FDR Drive. The office was only a few blocks away, so the body was practically in their own backyard.

  The victim was a match to the previous body found in the subway. The only difference was this one had soggy fur and his limbs remained intact.

  “He didn’t drown.” Banks wrote on his clipboard as he spoke.

  “How can you tell?” Sidney asked. She recalled a case they’d had of a homicidal mermaid who enjoyed dragging people into the Hudson. Tom had to get all the bodies back to the morgue and check the lungs to confirm drowning as the cause of death. She swallowed back a knot in her throat when she thought about Tom, stretched out on one of those cold trays back at the morgue instead of alive and well, and doing his job.

  Banks pushed hair away from the victim’s forehead, revealing a neat little hole. He glanced up at them.

  “Oh,” Sidney said. The wind picked up and she tucked her arms across her chest and gritted her teeth to keep them from clattering together inside her head.

  “What else can you determine?” the chief asked.

  “He was in the river awhile, but I need to get him to the lab to figure out a time frame. The gases from the decay would have brought the body to the surface,” Banks explained. “Jogger spotted it this morning.”

  Williams bounced on the balls of his feet next to her. His nervous energy was rubbing off on her, adding to the irritation she already felt about what he’d said to her the night before in the morgue. She could understand his being afraid, but he didn’t have to question her humanity like that. He also didn’t have to keep glancing back and forth between her and the body like he was expecting her to change any second.

  Sidney stared straight forward. “I swear, Williams, if you make a wet dog joke I might have to punch you in the balls.”

  “What? I wasn’t even—”

  “I know what you were thinking.”

  “All right, listen,” he leaned in behind her and spoke under his breath, “I shouldn’t have said what I said last night. It was out of line.”

  Sidney dug at the leg of a bench with the tip of her boot. She wanted to let go of her anger towards Williams, but the truth was, it felt a lot easier to be mad at him than afraid of everything else going on.

  “It’s just . . . it freaked me out. I’m sorry, partner.” Williams nudged her with his elbow. His earnest face melted her a little. He really was sorry, and she couldn’t stay mad when he was looking at her like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

  “Yeah, okay. Forget about it.” She elbowed him back. “It’s cool.”

  Sidney tuned back in to what Banks was explaining.

  “. . . small caliber.” Banks smoothed the patchy fur out over the sternum. There were two more holes. “Clean. Straight through the heart.”

  “Execution?” the chief asked.

  “A definite possibility. But why?”

  She studied the elongated hands with the claws in place of fingernails. The feet were the same as the victim from the subway. The worst of it was the head; it was nearly human. She could see the man the thing used to be. Aside from the long canines protruding from behind his lips, and the fact that he was a corpse, he might have even been good looking.

  “What’s this?” Sidney leaned in for a closer view of the right shoulder. There was a darkened spot on the skin but it was mostly obscured by the hair grown out over the area.

  The men moved in to study what she’d found. Banks used his gloved finger to part the hair.

  “Tattoo, I think. These are letters.”

  The chief squinted as he read the letters out loud. “United States—”

  “Army,” Banks finished.

  “He was in the Army?” Williams asked.

  “What about the others?” Mitch asked.

  “The two who reverted to human form didn’t have any body art,” Banks said. “Our Subway Doe had an Army tattoo, but I’ll have to double check for similarities.”

  “Go ahead and get this body back. Let us know what you find out,” the chief said. “Williams, see if the design shows up in any database. This might be our connection.”

  “Lake.” The chief nodded his chin in the direction of the office. “Go see what your friend wants.”

  Sidney turned around. Renny stood on the corner watching them with his hands tucked up inside the sleeves of that grubby track suit.

  Williams crossed the street with her, and Renny backed up.

  “Hey, Renny. What’s up?” Sidney asked.

  “Not him. Only you.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Williams continued on up the street toward the office.

  “How about we get something warm to drink?” Sidney asked.

  “That will be good.”

  She led him to the coffee shop on the next corner. The space hadn’t changed much at all from when the European trading ships brought in fish and spices to the historic Fulton Fish Market at the end of the street. The original cobblestone paving was still intact at the back of the building, only now there were cars parked there instead of wagons. The smell of aged oak, sawdust, and roasted coffee made Sidney feel like she was walking through a time-warp whenever she set foot through the door.


  The barista glanced up from polishing the original oak counter. “Anywhere you want.”

  “Go ahead, Renny,” Sidney said.

  The informant took his time, studying the room in his usual anxious manner, even though the place was completely empty.

  “Here is good.” Renny chose a table smack in the middle of the room.

  “Sure you wouldn’t like the corner better?” Sidney knew how he liked the cozier, private spots.

  Renny stepped wide around the chair before he sat down. “No. Is too crowded.”

  Sidney didn’t quite know how to interpret that statement. Renny was so odd she chose to ignore it and sat down.

  “Coffee?” The barista plunked down two beverage napkins on the table.

  “With milk please,” Sidney said.

  “I like strong,” Renny said.

  “You want it Irish?” she asked.

  “What is this, Irish?”

  “Do you want whiskey in it?” Sidney explained.

  “Vodka.”

  The barista laughed. “Hardcore.”

  She went in the back to make their drinks.

  Renny continued gazing wildly around the room as if he were watching a basketball game only he could see.

  “Renny?” Sidney spoke softly, hoping not to startle him. “What’s up?”

  “I came to tell you—” He cut himself off as he leaned to his side.

  “You okay?”

  “Sorry. Yes.” He kept his eyes focused in the corner of the room behind Sidney.

  “You came to see me for something?”

  “Is important.”

  She glanced behind her, fully expecting to see someone in the corner, but it was completely empty.

  “What are you looking at? Do you see something over there?”

  He lowered his chin to his chest so that only the top of his greasy black hair was visible.

  “You can tell me. It’s okay.”

  “No one believes me. It makes them afraid of me. My mother, she was afraid. I tell no one in America.”

  “Renny, do you see ghosts?” She doubted Renny would know what a spectral apparition was. Besides, now was not the time to be politically correct.

  He lifted his head. His nod was so slight, she almost missed it.

  “It’s all right. A lot of people can see them. Do they speak to you?”

  “Sometimes,” he whispered.

  His eyes were more watery than usual. No wonder the poor guy was always so nervous. Sidney had a hard enough time with her own nightmares. She couldn’t imagine how startling it must be to wake up in the night and see random spirits hanging around, watching her sleep.

  “Is that why you don’t like being around Williams?”

  “There is mean old woman with him. Always yelling at him. Wants me to tell him he’s not good enough for her niece.”

  Sidney had to stare down at her lap to hide her smile. She’d never met Megan’s aunt Rose, but she’d heard stories about the famous concert pianist. Rose Whitmer had been labeled the female Liberace. Williams always joked that the term female Liberace was redundant. It didn’t surprise her that the woman didn’t approve of him.

  “It’s okay, Renny. I know some people you could talk to. People who understand what it’s like.”

  The barista brought in heavy mugs and set them on the table. She went back behind the counter and picked up a worn out paperback of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility.

  “I am not a freak?”

  “No. You’re just really sensitive. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

  He sat there a moment and sipped his drink. She could see him struggling with this new idea. Then he shook his head and focused his black eyes on her. “We must discuss this some other time. Mr. Dimitrius sent me.”

  Sidney almost choked. It was the last name she’d expected to hear in this conversation.

  “I work for him like I work for you. You buy me sandwich or coffee, I give you information.”

  “What does he give you?”

  Renny stuck out his foot and showed off a pair of brand new Converse high tops. It was the first time she’d ever seen him smile, let alone grin. “Is nice, eh?”

  “Yeah, real nice. So why did he send you?”

  “Mr. Dimitrius is very impressed by you.”

  “Impressed. I’m sure.” Sidney let out a bitter laugh. “What does he want from me?”

  “To talk.”

  Sidney remembered that hungry look in his eyes, the way he’d pressed his rock hard body against hers. That earthy bitter smell. It made her squirm in her seat. “Well, I have no desire to talk to him. Ever.”

  “You do not understand. He wants to do the talking to you.”

  “Thanks for passing along the message, Renny.” Sidney shook her head. “I’m not interested in doing any listening.”

  “This is not smart. Mr. Dimitrius does not like to be told no.”

  “Yeah? Well he’s going to have to get used to hearing it. At least from me.”

  “You are making big mistake.”

  Sidney decided to change the subject. “Renny, the other day you mentioned that there was something the monsters are afraid of. Do you know what it is?”

  The man shook his head, but his wide eyes betrayed him. There was something he wasn’t saying.

  “I need to know. It’s important.”

  “No one knows. Some have gone missing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Some creatures, poof! Gone.” He glanced around. “If I say too much, maybe I will poof away too.”

  “If you know something important you have to tell me.” Sidney took out a card with her number on it and slid it across the table. “We can help. It’s our job to protect you.”

  “Talk to Mr. Dimitrius. I know nothing.”

  Renny slid the card into his pocket and walked out before he’d even finished half of his coffee. Sidney stayed and sipped from her mug since she hadn’t actually had a chance to drink what Mitch made at his place. It was the first moment she’d had to herself in days, so she would savor it.

  Her phone rang and the moment was over. She answered and got up to leave when she saw it was the chief.

  “What did Renny have to say?” he asked.

  “He said monsters have gone missing lately. He was really spooked about it. Did you know he’s a Medium?” She chose to omit the way Renny had begged her to go see Dimitrius. She knew Mitch would tell her to go, and she didn’t want to explain why she’d rather avoid him.

  “I’ll be damned. That explains a lot,” he said. “Listen, I want you to go back to the morgue with Banks. It’s still his first week. With Tom gone, somebody needs to stick with him, show him the ropes, and you’re the one who spent the most time with Tom.”

  A gust of wind hit her as she stepped outside, throwing her hair into her eyes, and she barely dodged a guy with the red hood of his jacket pulled up over his head. Usually, she jumped at the chance to go to the morgue, but after everything that happened the thought of walking into that room again made her legs feel as squishy as those fish guts she’d rolled in.

  “No problem,” she said.

  “Be careful.” His voice was low and rough, reminding her of some of the sounds he’d made the night before. It set things on fire low in her belly and she had to remind herself to take in a breath.

  “Aren’t I always?” She smiled, hoping he would be able to hear it in her voice, then hung up.

  Eighteen

  Sidney headed down to the waterfront to catch a ride with Banks. It would take a while for Renny to get back to Dimitrius with her thoughts on meeting with him. He hadn’t been able to give any definitive answers on what these creatures were. Maybe they weren’t the Saxon-wolves, but some kind of hybrid? She hoped that picking Banks’ brain on the actual scientific evidence they had would help come up with something more definitive.

  Her phone buzzed again and she answered without checking the caller ID.

  “What�
�d you forget?” she asked, thinking it was the chief again.

  “Hello, Sidney.”

  If she’d just walked through the spectral apparition of Megan’s aunt, she wouldn’t have felt more shocked and cold than she did at that moment. The voice on the other end of the line was the very last she expected to hear.

  “Grandfather.”

  The surprise of it all made the word stick in her throat and she had to pull in a few breaths of chilled air before she could speak again. “If you’re calling to wish me a happy birthday it’s not until next week. However, something tells me that’s not it, seeing as how you’ve skipped the last . . . all of them.”

  Sidney crossed the road and went back to where Banks crouched. She waved to get his attention and pointed to the phone and a nearby bench to show him she’d be talking while she waited for him to finish up.

  “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? Resentment because I didn’t send you a birthday card?”

  Sidney envisioned her grandfather sitting behind the sleek black desk in his office overlooking Battery Park and the busy waterway at the lower tip of Manhattan. Or maybe he was at his tailor’s getting fitted for a brand new handmade suit. Alexander Lake never bought anything from the rack.

  “Me? Avoid you? Funny, I thought it was the other way around.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “You are too much like your mother.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Sidney resented him bringing her mother into things. He never had cared for her bold, independent streak, just as he had never cared for Sidney’s. “Why are you calling?”

  “I heard you were in the hospital.”

  Alexander Lake had a long reach, but he didn’t have spies watching her, did he? Instinctively, she narrowed her eyes and scanned her surroundings. There was no one around except that red hoodie loitering up the street, hands tucked deep in the front pockets of his jacket. She decided it would be best to put her childhood issues aside and focus on the conversation they were having now. She chose her words very carefully.

  “How exactly did you hear that?”