“You can thank Jenny; she did most of the work. He called and said he’d be in around noon. Is there anywhere we can set up an interrogation room? We won’t be able to do it at the station. We’ll have to take him publically in town, and don’t you be getting too excited.” The agent said, pointing at Del. “You can’t be there when he gets arrested. You’ll have to wait until we question him.”
“I’ll have to ask Raelin. There’s no way she’d let you use the house.”
“You know anywhere there’s a good place?” the detective asked Jenny.
Jenny thought about that for a moment. Getting up from the table, she stared at the Agent for a moment before she smiled. “There’s an empty store next to Jasper’s place that would be perfect. That way you could just go out one back door and in through the other.”
Kasey gave Jenny a wide smile. “That’s perfect. My only concern is leaving you and Raelin here alone. I know Del will want to have words with the Chief.”
“I can stay here if I have to. Protecting our girls is way more important than stringing the Chief up by his unmentionables.” Del smiled at Kasey’s blush. “You need to work on that. You’re supposed to be a tough smooth talking Fed.”
Kasey glared at the detective, knowing her face was only getting redder.
“You go Del. You need to help whoever you can. Jenny and I will be fine,” Raelin said quietly from the doorway.
“As long as you’re sure. Your breakfast is being kept warm in the oven if you want it.” Del didn’t mention Raelin’s disappearance, knowing the woman would talk to her later if she wanted.
Nodding her head, Raelin went over to the oven to remove her food and came to sit at the table. “Thanks for breakfast Jenny. This looks great.”
Going over to the fridge Jenny got out the orange juice and poured her friend a glass. “It’s not a problem, after all that you’ve done for me; I should paint your house.”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” joked Del. She noticed Rori hopping onto his bench and she unthinkingly got up to make him something to eat. “Salmon or chicken Boss?” she asked him.
“Chicken if you please...time for a change.” Rori licked his paw and washed his face.
“As you wish, good sir,” Del chuckled as she prepared a small chicken breast in his bowl.
Kasey watched the conversation with interest. “So, does she always talk to the cat like that? I noticed it the other day too when she sent him into the woods. He seems like he’s way too smart for a normal household pet.”
“You are correct Agent Spaulding. Rori, is not an ordinary housecat. He is my familiar. He’s been my closest friend since he showed up on my doorstep when I was five. He serves as a guide and mentor to me both personally and magically. We grew up together, and as such, our bond is very strong. When you see one of us talking to Rori, you can be sure it’s not one sided. He can communicate through our link, and until recently, I was the only one he could do that with. It seems Del can now also hear him when he chooses. Del however, hasn’t quite got the think talking part down yet,” she chuckled, watching as Del sat his dish down on the bench and joined them at the table.
Kasey gave the witch an odd look. “So he can talk to you in your mind? That’s actually quite interesting. Wait, if he found you when you were five, according to your file that makes him at least twenty-five. He doesn’t look any more than three or four.”
Del laughed at that. “I’ve read that file and it also says Raelin’s just an ordinary townie. You shouldn’t see things in such simple terms. He’s a magical creature by nature, I’m just guessing here, but I would imagine that gives him some leeway. He’s like his witch, looks good for his age, yes?”
“My file...that’s the second time that you’ve said that. I thought that the first time, that I misheard you. What file are you talking about?” Raelin put down her fork and leaned back.
“Just a profile. We have one on all of the townies. Jasper gave them to me. Saved me a lot of time researching. Pretty standard procedure,” Del explained casually, sipping at her orange juice.
“Oh really, so exactly what did my file say Delaney?” Rae didn’t move.
“Not as much as the others. Just that you lived alone, and lead a pretty quiet life. A Bachelor of Science in the pre-med program with a concentration in genetics. Pretty impressive. I’m surprised you didn’t pursue grad school, said you had a pretty good GPA,” Del replied, not catching the dangerous tone in Raelin’s voice.
“Momma wanted me to come home, and it wasn’t like I had a job waiting for me when I graduated. So what else do you know about me.”
Del finally noticed Raelin’s irritation and knew that honesty was the only way she would survive this. “Just that you were raised by your mother, father is unknown. It said she passed away a few years ago and that you and your family were not well liked by the townies. It also mentioned you had no known romantic attachments and that you didn’t often interact with the people in town.”
Kasey just sat next to Jenny silent, as bad as she was with people sometimes; even she’d caught the sharpness in Raelin’s voice.
Del took a breath and continued, “You’re 5’7”, brown eyes, medium brown hair that lightens in the summer. You jog two miles every day at dawn, one mile into town and one-mile back. Every other day you jog to the lake instead. Your only known close friends are Jenny and your mother until she died. That’s all I know.”
“Oh, that’s pretty good.” Raelin nodded her head. “Yup, pretty good. And it just made me realize that I know nothing about you. Maybe Rori was right. Maybe I moved too fast. You wanna tell me something about yourself now?”
Del reached out to touch Raelin, looking hurt when the witch brushed her off. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Raelin, I read that file before we got serious. It wasn’t personal; I wasn’t trying to spy on you. I do the same with everyone involved in any investigation I do. I’m not trying to hide anything.”
“So you read the file before our first kiss...really?” Raelin stood up. “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself then?”
“No, that’s not what I meant Raelin. I read it the next morning after I met up with Jasper.” Del stood up as well, not liking the way Raelin towered over her. “I’m from Darnell Louisiana; my mother died giving birth to me. I was raised mostly by my grandmother and father until she was killed in a car accident when I was ten. A car accident that left me in a week long coma and this nice scar as a reminder,” she snapped pointing to the scar running up her left forearm.
Delaney’s voice steadily rose in pitch until she was just short of yelling. “I moved to New Orleans when I started at Tulane University. I graduated with a degree in physics, and I specialize in ballistics. I stayed in New Orleans to escape the tight leash of my father because he was always so scared he’d lose me too. I became a P.I. because I couldn’t be a cop and I wanted to help people. My father recently admitted he was an alcoholic and expects me to try and take care of him all the time when he’s too drunk to get himself home,” the blonde ended by bellowing and Rae thought that she saw her left ear quiver just a bit. “Anything else you want to know? Date of birth? Blood type? Jesus, I wasn’t trying to keep things from you.”
“Hey, hey, hey! Let’s calm things down a bit.” Jenny got between the two women. “Rae, look at me, and take a deep breath. You must know that Del wasn’t trying to take advantage of you. You know that deep in your heart that all of this is from what happened yesterday. Your body is really out of whack and you need time to get everything back in alignment.”
Closing her eyes, Raelin knew that her friend was right, and she shook her head. Bowing her head, she took a deep breath before she looked at Delaney. “I’m sorry. Jenny’s right. I’m taking this out on you. Forgive me. I’m going to take a short walk. I’ll stay in sight of the house.” Then she turned and walked outside, followed by Rori.
Del watched her walk away before she slumped into a chair, her head in her hands. “What the
hell just happened?”
“You have just seen a witch who spent way too much energy yesterday and is paying for it today. I’ve only seen this happen once when I was a kid and it was just before she graduated high school, and Chief Brito was being an ass.”
“The famous high school incident! Do I dare asked what she put him through? If it’s anything like what I just got dished, I think I might actually feel bad for him?” Del sighed running her hands through her hair.
“Well, when I was in elementary school, there was another kid there that was really slow. He wasn’t retarded or anything, he just learned a bit slower than the rest of us. Anyway, Brito corners Rafe and I and was teasing us about not having a dad, and for being slow, then Raelin walked by. This was really the first time that I had ever really met Rae. My momma had always told me to stay away from her, but anyway, Rae came around the corner and saw what he was doing and she went off. She pulled at the lines and if you think that she was scary the other day with Sumners, you should have seen her then. Her eyes went black and red and it was like she had lightening all over her hands and it sparked out about a foot. Rafe had already closed his eyes because he thought that Brito was going to hit him, but I watched it all. Finally, someone was standing up to Bully Brito, and it was a girl, no less.”
Jenny leaned forward. “Then her voice seemed to fill the room. ‘Brito, you have bullied your last child. Someone needs to teach you how it feels.’ She surrounded him with the lightening and actually lifted him off the ground. It was great. He was about two feet off the ground and pissing in his pants and crying like a baby. She told me to get Rafe out and that we wouldn’t be bothered again. I did so I don’t know what happened after I left, but he didn’t bother anyone else for a while after that.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Raelin,” Del chuckled, but then sobered up. “God, the last person she blew up at like this she ended up hating. I probably should have told her I read the file. That was unfair of me.”
“Nah, she hated Brito before that. Everyone did. He only got elected because Regina Kingsley backed him. No one would go against her, and now we know why,” Jenny tried to reassure her new friend. “Anyway, I waited for the longest time afterwards for her to come out after Brito ran out really embarrassed with wet pants and when she didn’t I went in there and found her on the floor. She was so weak that she couldn’t walk without help. I stayed with her until she was stronger and made sure that she made it to her truck and then she took me home, and we’ve been friends ever since.”
“Sounds like a certain detective I know,” Kasey piped up from her spot at the table.
“I agree,” Jenny joked. “I think that it’s like the pot calling the kettle black. And oh by the way, you look damn good in black. You might want to do that more often.”
Del’s eyebrow rose at that. “I didn’t know you had a thing for blondes,” she laughed, watching Kasey out of the corner of her eye. “I thought you were more into the dorky secret spy types.”
“I don’t know about dorky, but I was watching Rae before all this started, and she couldn’t take her eyes off you. Trust me on the black clothes.” Jenny got up to put her arms around Kasey’s neck.
Kasey flustered at the open show of affection. “I’m not dorky; dorky lends itself more to acting stupid and foolish as opposed to just flustered and shy. Also, I’m not a secret spy. I’m a Federal Investigator. The F.B.I. is primarily a law enforcement agency, collecting intelligence related to domestic security and performing crime investigation. Secret spies as you call them are more likely to come out of the CIA, an international intelligence agency. The primary difference between the two can be illustrated in their names: the F.B.I. investigates crimes, and the CIA gathers intelligence,” Kasey babbled, while Delaney just stared wide-eyed.
“You always do that to her with just a touch?” the Detective asked a giggling Jenny.
“Don’t think that was me. I think that’s what she does when she gets flustered, but I do like it.” Jenny leaned down and kissed Kasey’s cheek.
“Agent Spaulding, would you care to explain why our protective detail is hanging off you like she’s an old friend?” came the disdainful voice of Agent Sumners.
“Care to explain why you thought it was okay to barge in here without knocking?” growled Delaney rising from her chair.
Jenny backed off when she heard the man’s voice. “Um...I was just giving her a hug.”
“Miss LeBlanc, might I remind you that she’s an F.B.I. agent, not your best friend. Spaulding, you know better than that,” he scolded, tracking dirt across the clean floor, and taking a seat at the table as he pulled out a chair to put his muddy boots on.
“Yes sir,” replied Kasey pulling completely away from Jenny, falling into her work persona. “I take it you got Mrs. LeBlanc into custody just fine?”
Del had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. Seeing the man reach over and grab one of the pieces of toast left on Raelin’s plate, she couldn’t take it anymore, “That is not your breakfast, and get your filthy boots off that chair.”
Sumners just stared at the blonde while he took another bite of the toast. “Listen here. You just got lucky that you stumbled upon Agent Wilkins, and had him ask you to help him. He’s an old man that evidently shouldn’t be in the field anymore. I’m not going to have some cop wannabe thinking she can order me around.” He gave Del a crooked sneer. “This toast is pretty good. Stick around here detective and you might learn how a real lady acts.”
Del growled as she rounded the table. “You listen here you self-righteous ass. You are a guest in this house, and you will respect that. Furthermore, that old man you are talking about has worked his ass off trying to figure this town out. A lot of my work was done for me because of what Wilkins managed to find. He’s a senior agent and you will show him the proper respect.” With that, Del kicked the chair under the agent's feet, the chair he'd been leaning back in falling back to all four feet.
Without rising from his chair, Sumners reached out and grabbed Del’s collar, pulling her face down a mere inch from his own. Reaching out with his free hand, he ran his fingers through the ends of the long blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “You’re a beautiful woman, seems like such a waste. Now you’ll keep your mouth shut and stay out of my way. Are we clear?”
“You do not come into my home and manhandle my lover. You were warned twice. No more.”
Raelin stood in the doorway, her eyes were black, and her hair was floating around her shoulders like there was an invisible wind in the room.
Del took advantage of Sumner's distraction to rip herself away, taking several steps back.
“What in God’s name is wrong with your eyes?” he asked, moving to his gun, but not drawing it. “Have you gone mad, or has the devil finally taken over?”
Del’s own hand automatically went to her own holster fully prepared to defend Raelin if needed. She watched in satisfaction as Kasey stepped subtly in front of Jenny, watching her partner and Raelin closely.
“You don’t learn your lessons well, do you Agent Sumners. Well, I think that I’m going to be a great teacher.” Taking a step forward, she held her hand out to the reclining agent. The same ball of energy that she used a few days before came out and surrounded the man, and when she lifted her hand, he and the chair that he was in came off the floor.
Sumners yelled in panic and drew his gun aiming at Raelin. “Stop this immediately, I can have you arrested for this. I’m a Federal Agent!”
Del ran to Raelin, trying to touch her and calm her somewhat, but jumped back from a jolt of energy. “Raelin please, you shouldn’t be using magic right now. Please, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
Meanwhile Kasey had drawn her gun out of a habitual reaction and was aiming back and forth between Raelin and her partner, unsure of what to do.
Raelin flicked her other hand as Sumner's gun flew out of his hand, followed by the man’s yelp and hovered in front of Delaney. “How are you going
to write your report agent Sumners? Are you going to tell everyone that you lost your gun? And I have witnesses that you came in uninvited, and don’t think that I don’t know that you searched my home without a warrant. I wonder what your superiors will say about that. Hmm, what do you have to say now?”
The agent watched furious as the detective grabbed it and quickly emptied it of its clip, rendering it useless. “Fine, fine, put me the hell down, you nut!”
Del had finished with the gun and was now pleading with Raelin again. “Raelin, please stop this. I know this isn’t you, this isn’t my Rae. My Rae wouldn’t use magic like this, and she wouldn’t risk her own health to prove a point to some jackass. My Raelin is the type of woman that helps people who treat her like garbage because she would never stoop to that level.” This time, despite the energy that jolted painfully through her, she managed to grab Raelin’s wrist and hold on.
“Let go Delaney. He hasn’t learned his lesson yet. He thinks that since he has a badge that he can do anything he wants. He’s no better than Chief Brito, the man that he’s about to arrest. No, I don’t think so.” Raelin lifted her hand higher, but then it dropped a little, jarring the Agent.
“No! I’ve learned my lesson, I promise. Just put me down already. Please,” the agent asked, doing his best to sound convincing. “I’m sorry I was so rude.”
Delaney refused to let go, tightening her hold on the woman she loved. “Raelin, please. Stop this, you’re only hurting yourself. I can feel the drain on you, the anger, and it’s killing me. We have other ways of fixing this. Please...for me,” she pleaded.
“You need to let go...I can’t release him while you’re holding me.” Raelin never took her eyes off the Agent. “Agent Sumners, the next time you disrespect my friends or my home, I will not stop. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”
“Yes Ms. Montrose. Perfectly, just put me back down please,” he said, trying to be polite.
Delaney reluctantly let go of the witch, moaning as she felt the jolts of energy receding. She stepped only half a pace back, making sure she was close enough in case something happened.
Insight Page 31
