5th Pentagram: The sequel to the #1 Hard Boiled Mystery, 9th Circle (Book 3 of the Darc Murders Trilogy) (Book 3 of the Darc Murder Series)

by Hopkin, Ben

  “There is also the danger of vibrio vulnificus, streptococci, Esherichia coli and fecal coliform if proper care is not taken by the chefs,” Darc elaborated. “Although this establishment appears clean, so that is most likely not as great a risk.”

  Darc, seriously, stop. This time it was Maggie. Her reduced state of intoxication made her a more reliable source, but he was not convinced.

  As Mala pushed her plate away, a slim Caucasian man in a suit approached their table. He appeared to be a manager. That was fortuitous. Darc would be able to discuss with him the freezing processes used before transporting and preparing their fish.

  “Excuse me,” the manager said. “I am so sorry, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave the restaurant.”

  “What on earth for?” Mala asked, her eyebrows lifting.

  “Another customer has accused your date of threatening his life in the restroom.”

  Mala looked from Darc to the manager and then back to Darc.

  Darc was uncertain, but this did not seem to be a positive development in their date.

  * * *

  Mala was pretty sure that this had been the most painful date of her life. There had been moments, right up front, where she had thought that maybe, maybe, there was a chance that this was going to work.

  All of those ideas had quickly fled with the one-two punch of having her meal spoiled by graphic depictions of biological terrorism committed in sushi restaurants and then being expelled forcibly from that very establishment. She had to admit, it had been memorable if nothing else.

  “Darc, I think it’s just time for me—” Mala began, when her cell phone rang. It was Pyper, her supposed marijuana-using babysitter. Mala answered the call, her hands trembling. Getting a call from the babysitter didn’t seem like it could possibly be a good thing.

  That suspicion was confirmed by Pyper’s frantic tone. “Dr. Charan! I went in to check on Janey and she wasn’t there.” It sounded like she was doing all that she could not to cry. “I looked everywhere in the apartment, but I couldn’t find her.”

  “All right,” Mala replied, her mind racing. “I’m going to give you three places to check, and then I want you to go down to the security desk on the first floor and see if they’ve seen her. Check in the closet in my bedroom, the one in the hallway and under the sink.” Those were several of the places that Janey liked to hide with her bear when she wanted some alone time. It was possible she had just gotten overwhelmed with the idea of being there with a babysitter.

  But even as she thought it, Mala was sure that wasn’t the case.

  “Okay. Okay. Dr. Charan, I’m so sorry,” Pyper sobbed, giving way to her tears. “This has never happened to me before.”

  “Pyper, it’s all right. Take a deep breath and try to calm yourself. You won’t be able to help if you’re panicked.”

  “You’re right. You’re right.” The babysitter took a moment, and then responded with a more normal tone. “I’ll call you once I’ve checked those places.”

  Mala hung up the phone, fighting the rising fear that arose from her gut. “Darc, Janey’s gone missing. We need—”

  Before she’d finished, Darc had grabbed her by the arm and was sprinting toward the car. He seemed to be speaking into the air in front of him, the words making no sense whatsoever to Mala.

  “You heard? You are not in a state to drive. Wait five minutes, then call the station. Use whatever personal leverage you can to escalate this beyond regulations.”

  The words might make not sense, but the focus and intensity that radiated off of the bald detective as a palpable force, that she understood. It was something she’d seen before, and it almost always related to Janey.

  Mala had forgotten how hot it was.

  “Whom are you talking to?” Mala demanded. Nothing here seemed even close to sane or rational. It was like the world exploded with the call from Pyper.

  “I am conversing with Trey. We are connected via a Bluetooth device stuck in my ear canal.” He pressed the button on his keychain fob to unlock the car as he sprinted around to the driver’s side. “Oh, and Maggie is present as well.”

  “What?” Mala asked, her mind imploding. “You’ve been talking to Trey and Maggie while we were on a date?”

  “This seems to be an inopportune moment to discuss it, but yes. They were helping me with the social aspects of our communication. Unsuccessfully.” That last word seemed to be directed more at the two linked to them by the wireless device.

  Mala shook her head, trying to refocus on the task at hand. “You’re right. We’ll talk about this later. We have to find Janey.”

  “Trey, our excursion tonight may have to wait.” He paused, then nodded at something Trey must have said. “You are correct. That would be easier.” Turning to Mala, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pushed a series of buttons. “I’m turning this to speaker.”

  Trey’s voice echoed from the cell in the confines of the car. “Mala, I’m so sorry. I mean, about Janey. Well, about the other too, but that’s not important right now.” His speech wasn’t as precise as normal, which helped Mala to understand Darc’s earlier comment about Trey not being in a state to drive.

  “If Pyper can’t find her in the apartment, I’m not sure where to go next,” Mala confessed. There were so many options, but then also so few, especially when it came to a six-year-old girl. It’s not like she could go far. Unless…

  Darc seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “We have to acknowledge the possibility that Janey has been taken.”

  Once again, Mala was struck by how attracted to Darc she was in this moment, no matter how inopportune the timing was. This was the relationship that Mala cherished. The mutual respect and sympatico that existed between the two of them in moments of crisis. Even her perception of his face had changed. The sharp lines of his cheekbones and jaw, which could be off-putting, were strong and determined now. It was as if he were lit from within by his sense of purpose.

  Shaking off her attraction, Mala thought the whole scenario of Janey getting taken through. “I have no idea how that could have happened. I put her to bed, Pyper came and I left with you. When…?” She stopped herself. “The shower. Someone could have come in while I was taking a shower.”

  “Trey,” Darc said. “You heard that, correct?”

  “Yeah, buddy.”

  “There was a window of opportunity. With the current cases clearly linked with the others, those close to the other investigations could be targeted.”

  Mala felt her heart constrict. “Is that what you think is going on?”

  “It is unlikely, but knowing Janey, so are the other options. We need to view it as a viable scenario.”

  This was the worst of nightmare situations for Mala. She couldn’t fully process what was happening right now. She was scrolling through vision after horrific vision of what could be happening to the little girl, when she felt a tug on her arm.

  She let out a small scream, leaping up in her seat and then twisting around to see what had pulled at her. As if this night hadn’t been bad enough.

  But when her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the back seat, she could make out a form huddled in the back seat. Two forms.

  It was Janey. And her bear.

  * * *

  She knew when it was time to stop hiding.

  Janey thought that she would probably get in trouble, but it had been worth it. Even the part where she had to stay in the car for so long with her neck getting all cramped up. Oh, and with Popeye griping the whole time. That hadn’t been fun at all. He hadn’t stopped complaining since they first hid. Actually, he hadn’t stopped complaining since they’d left the apartment.

  But when Mala and Darc saw her, Darc pulled off to the side of the road right away. Janey jumped over the back seat right into Darc’s lap and he just held her for a minute. It was almost like it had been when Daddy had found her that one time she’d gotten lost in the forest. Except that Darc didn�
��t smell like her daddy. Or talk as much.

  Mala watched them for a minute, a weird look on her face. Popeye said she must still be hungry because she’d had Japanese food that didn’t ever fill you up. That was silly.

  And then Mala was hugging her too. Popeye kept saying that he was getting cramped, but Janey knew he liked it. He couldn’t fool her.

  Then the hug was over and Mala was talking to her. “Janey, don’t ever do that again. I’ve never been so scared.”

  Janey knew that it had been bad to make Mala afraid like that. But she had needed to see Darc. She had drawn Mala a picture while she was waiting in the car, and she pulled it out and handed it over.

  Mala took it and started to cry.

  It was a picture of a badge, with Mala and Janey and Popeye and Trey and Maggie all inside of it. They were all holding hands.

  Janey thought it was a happy picture. She didn’t understand why Mala was crying.

  “I believe her drawing represents--” Darc began.

  “I know what it means, Darc,” Mala answered in between her crying. “I know.” She leaned in to hug Janey again, and she whispered something in her ear.

  “I’m sorry, Janey.”

  Janey felt something swell up inside her belly and then she was crying too. She didn’t even know why. Darc looked at her, and Janey could tell he didn’t understand either. She just shrugged at him and kept hugging Mala back.

  This had been the best night ever.

  * * *

  Trey stood in the middle of Mala’s living room, sipping at his black coffee, doing what he could to sober up. The anxiety of Janey’s disappearance had left, but had now been replaced by the awkwardness of getting busted by Mala for the whole Bluetooth-in-the-ear bit.

  In retrospect, that may not have been one of his finest ideas.

  Janey was still wrapped up in the blanket that she had used to hide herself in the backseat of Darc’s car. Trey had to admit, the kid had showed a lot of creativity and sheer cojones in managing to hitch a ride without getting caught. Girl had skills.

  The babysitter was waiting to be picked up by her parents, Mala having decided that Pyper was too distraught to drive. The young woman’s eyes were red, Trey could only assume from a long bout of crying. He couldn’t even imagine what it must feel like to lose someone’s kid.

  It was getting later by the moment, and if there was any chance that Darc and he were going to be able to get on that ferry tonight, they had to get going soon. It was the only reason Trey had shown up, for crying out loud. Being in the same apartment as his coworker he had tried to pull a fast one on wasn’t the brightest idea. But bringing up the topic of leaving right at this point seemed a tad insensitive.

  Darc, however, seemed to have no such qualms.

  “We need to leave. The ferry will be departing within the half-hour,” he said.

  “What ferry? What’s going on?” Mala looked up from comforting Pyper. She’d been alternating between Janey and the babysitter since they arrived back at her apartment. Not that Janey seemed to need any comforting. She seemed perfectly content to hang out with Mala, Darc and Trey. Seemed that was her plan all along.

  “It’s the case we’re working on,” Trey answered. “Remember the one a couple of months ago, before the whole freaky real estate guy? The pentagrams? They’ve started back up.”

  “You mean the one that you wanted Janey to work on?” Mala clarified, her tone challenging.

  “Hey. Not me. Darc. Darc wanted Janey to work on it.” Trey had no problem throwing his partner under the bus right now, especially right after outing the whole Roxanne trick. Okay, there had been a pretty compelling reason for it, but still…

  “I wanted both of you. My reasoning for wanting you to come was sound,” Darc replied, his tone unruffled. Maybe part of the problem was that Darc didn’t recognize Mala’s mama bear tendencies. The way she went into defender mode the second anything came close to threatening Janey was spooky. Trey was just glad he wasn’t usually on the receiving end of it.

  But then Mala surprised him. “There’s part of me that thinks it might not be such a bad idea,” she said. “But with the DSHS all over us--”

  “We get it, Mala. Don’t stress it.” Trey assured her.

  “No, I do not get it,” Darc interjected. “My reasons for wanting you both involved in this case are still very much present. And the chances of Janey’s involvement becoming known are small.”

  “With this guy involved? I think you underestimate how much he seems to dislike me.”

  Trey once more felt like he was stuck in the middle between an immovable object and an irresistible force. When Darc wanted something, there were very few people who managed to stand in his way. Mala was one of them.

  But once again, Mala surprised him. “Well, there’s no way I’m going out there without her. And we’re both up anyway.” She sighed. “Are we going to a crime scene?”

  “No, we’re going to talk to Satanists.”

  Man, did Darc need to work on his revealing-big-news skills.

  CHAPTER 6

  Mala had spent most of her life dealing with men who were threatened by her, whether that was in her personal life or her professional one. In work settings, the threat seemed to revolve around the fact that Mala was smart, capable and feminine. The combination of those three qualities seemed to enrage certain masculine personality types. In fact, now that Mala was thinking about it, that might be the problem with Richard Templeton.

  When it came to dating, things were usually fine until the man learned how much money she made. Or how much schooling she had. Or how much she knew about so many diverse topics. Actually, there were so many different ways in which Mala could get tripped up in this area, it was shocking that she’d been on as many dates as she had in her life.

  Another point for Darc when it came to that. He didn’t seem threatened by her at all. The fact that he couldn’t carry a simple conversation with her without someone in his ear… well, that was a whole other issue that they’d have to address at some point.

  So men were complicated. But when it came to women, Mala found it relatively simple. There were those that were jealous of her professional success, and she supposed her looks as well, although that was always a bit of a surprise to her.

  But she had never, ever had the kind of responses from women that she was getting here tonight on the ferry. Every woman she encountered, including the Satanists, took one glance at Janey there at Mala’s side and the looks they directed back to Mala turned to acid.

  Mala had never felt so judged in all of her life.

  Little snippets of conversation drifted her way. “I can’t believe she has that little girl out so late” and “Some people are so irresponsible with their children” and even “This is why some people shouldn’t have kids.” It was more than a little devastating.

  She pulled Janey closer into her side, giving her a side squeeze. Janey looked up at her and smiled her radiant grin, and all of the nasty comments seeped away, washed clean by the pure love of this little girl. She was so happy right now.

  And it wasn’t like tomorrow was a school day. It was Saturday. Janey could sleep in as long as she needed to, and she would be completely caught up on her sleep by Monday. Completely.

  Mala tried to ignore the tiny voice in her head that was saying It’s impossible to catch up on sleep. You can only sleep the normal amount of time and gradually readjust.

  It might be true, but experiences were sometimes more important that an anal-retentive sleep schedule. And this was turning out to be one hell of an experience.

  The Satanists weren’t what Mala had expected. Well, some of them were. There were the goth-looking types, dressed in all black and eyeliner, pentagrams dangling from chains or tattooed onto foreheads. But there were others there that Mala would never have guessed were Satanists. Normal. Well dressed. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  To be honest, they were much more troubling to her.

&n
bsp; Darc and Trey had made the rounds of the group, trying to find some sort of a leader with whom to speak. That proved to be an almost impossible task. There was no centralized group. There were several different churches represented, The Church of Satan, the First Satanic Church, the Temple of Set and the Misanthropic Luciferian Order among them.

  They had finally stumbled upon one man who was respected, or even revered, by everyone who was there for the Satanic ritual. A High Priest of the Church of Satan. He was also one of the ones that was creeping Mala out the most.

  To all outward appearances, Edward Hoffman was nothing more than a normal businessman out late at night, taking a ride on the ferry. He was dressed in a striped red golf shirt, khaki slacks and dress shoes. His hair was neatly groomed, and there didn’t seem to be anything at all out of the ordinary about him.

  Looking a bit closer, Mala spotted what appeared to be a small pentagram tattooed on his inner left wrist, mostly covered by his watch. But if she hadn’t been looking for it specifically, she doubted she ever would have noticed.

  The man was leaning against the railing of the boat, meeting the gaze of Detective Darcmel with a look devoid of fear. This was someone who seemed to know and revel in his personal power and charisma. There was no awkwardness about him whatsoever.

  Moving in closer to hear the conversation, Mala kept Janey behind her on the opposite side of the man. Maybe Satanists were just like anyone else, but this one was giving her the screaming heebie-jeebies.

  “Took you two long enough,” the Satanist yawned.

  Trey pounced on that. “So you were expecting us?”

  Edward Hoffman leveled a withering look at the poor detective. “I read the news. I’ve heard about the murders. Doesn’t take a genius to take a look at a pentagram and leap straight to Satanists.”

  “Well, you have to admit, they totally look like something straight out of The Exorcist,” Trey responded.

  “Yeah. ‘Cause Hollywood never gets it wrong,” Edward said, his tone caustic. He turned his head and caught sight of Janey, who had moved out from behind Mala in spite of all of her efforts to keep the little girl behind her. “A little late for you, isn’t it, sweetheart?” He glanced at Mala and winked at her. “How very irresponsible of you. I’m impressed.”