"Rider." I'm not sure what he heard in my voice, but he was next to me faster than I expected. "We have a new case. Take statements from the gnomes. Get Taylor and Sable to help."
He looked me over before setting to work.
"Nord," I called out. The gnome arrived, and Taylor came up beside me. I crouched down, getting closer to gnome level. "We are going to look into Am's death. If it was unnatural, we'll find out."
"Something came," Nord said, repeating his earlier statement.
"We're going to look into this," I said, "and the doctor might be able to find some clues."
Nord knew what I was asking, and he looked sad. "You will search and find. Am stays here."
Taylor squatted down to talk with Nord. "I'm far too big to be able to see over Am here. You've been to our office before. I could take her there and be back tomorrow."
Shuffling his feet, Nord looked at the ground.
"We know it is important for Am to connect with the ground. Could we take a part of the earth with us?" I asked.
Taylor looked momentarily taken aback by the suggestion, but with a glance at Nord, he knew that this was the opening he needed. "I would ensure that she never lost contact with the ground."
"You will wait here." There was some distress in the voice before he disappeared.
"What do you think of this death?" Taylor asked.
"There's definitely something odd going on here. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to call the office." I stepped away without waiting for a response.
Hank, our handler and voice at the office, answered the phone. After relaying the information, I asked him a few procedural questions involving MyTH. Not only did Sable and Taylor have clearance, but they also had more training than I did, not that that's saying much.
No wonder Taylor had been watching me so closely. I'd probably screwed something up along the way.
Once I was sure Hank had our location and status logged, he transferred me to Dr. Yelton. The doctor assured me that Taylor's samples would be sufficient, but he would go to Taylor's lab to oversee the autopsy.
When the statements were wrapped up, Nord appeared. Eight gnomes carrying a large piece of tree bark followed behind him. Am lay on top of the dirt that covered the bark.
"You will have her back tomorrow," Nord said.
Taylor looked reverent. "You have my word."
The gnomes sat down their burden, and then each one patted the bark reverently. After that, they disappeared.
Nord was the last to go. "Tomorrow, before the sun goes from the sky."
Taylor agreed, and Nord was gone. With extreme carefulness, Taylor lifted the bark, and we left the gnome hole.
Gnomes don't have the best hearing, so we didn't have to walk long before we figured it was safe enough to talk without being overheard.
"We'd like to be involved in this case," Sable said.
"You are involved," I said. "Taylor has Am and the samples, Dr. Yelton, the AIR doctor, will meet you all at Taylor's lab to work with you."
"The investigation part happened on MyTH property. Our benefactor will want to know what happened,” Sable said.
MyTH was a private organization that helped acclimate the Lost when they entered this dimension. They helped the Lost find jobs, heard complaints, and helped the interdimensional community in a way that a government facility couldn't keep up with.
"We're all on the same side," I said. "Since the city is closer to this location than the Farm, it's likely we'll work together." AIR and MyTH had worked together for some issues, especially in the city. With the gnomes being on MyTH property, I doubted they would be too far out of the loop on this case.
That didn't mean they'd have a front row seat in the case. They were civilians after all.
Sable looked relieved. Taylor was bleeding anxiety, which ratcheted up a notch when I agreed to bring them into things. Even with the Path closed, I could feel his emotions pressing into me. I kept a close eye on him and noticed that Rider was already doing the same.
"Would you like to join us at the office?" Taylor asked. His anxiety hadn't died out, but he didn't let it slip into his voice.
"We need to get back to the Farm. Here's my card." I took one from my back pocket. It was a little bent, but it almost passed as professional. "Let us know if you all hear anything."
Rider and I walked back to the truck. Well, we called it a truck, but it was more like a SWAT vehicle. It had two rows of seats up front to hold a team, and the back was comfortable and strong enough to transfer the Lost. Relocation was the biggest part of our job. Fairies, gnomes, trolls, centaurs, and countless others are all real. Either Portals opened to other dimensions naturally, or someone would open one on purpose, and the Lost would find their way into our dimension. Most of the mythological legends around the world came from people spotting someone from another dimension. Sometimes, the Lost wanted to stay in our world, and at other times, there was no way to get them home. If they stayed, we located them where they were likely to go unnoticed. With the human population on the rise, it was getting harder and harder to find out of the way places for the Lost to live, but so far, we managed.
When we reached the truck, I sighed. After spending so much time in the Path, I felt bleary eyed, but I still slid into the driver's seat. I had let Rider drive once, and I never wanted to repeat the experience. He was fine in a car, but get him into a larger vehicle, and he swerved through traffic appearing to expect other cars to jump out of the way.
He had far more fun than someone should have while driving.
"What did you think of Sable and Taylor?" I asked, as I drove us towards the interstate.
"They are interesting."
"Do you know what Taylor is?" I asked.
"You mean, he is not human?" Rider asked.
Chapter 3
"When are you going to learn to use contractions?" I asked. "No, he's not human."
"His smell was a little off, but I thought he was human," Rider replied. "He was a bit twitchy, though."
"Twitchy?"
"Yeah, like he had a bug under his tail."
The mental image gave me a good laugh.
Rider beamed. "It is good to hear you laugh. It has been a while."
My laughter died away as Rider's words sank in and sobered my mood.
"Sorry." Rider's whole face fell. "He took a part of you with him. I know that is difficult for you."
The ‘him’ was one of our partners; a Walker named Vincent Pironis. To save lives, he dragged a monster into the world between dimensions. This was part of a Walker's everyday skill set, so it shouldn't have taken more than a few days to return. That was more than five months ago.
"It's okay. He'll be back." I repeated the sentiment often, but I was beginning to accept the idea that things went wrong or that he came back, but he didn't make contact. "Let's go over the day."
Rider grabbed the laptop. "Are we going to the Farm?"
"Yeah, we need to get together with Hank, but it's pretty late in the day. If we finish the reports while we drive, it'll save time."
Knowing how painfully slow Rider was at typing, I almost wished he were behind the wheel. This made sense, since he came from another dimension, which meant he didn't have much experience with a computer, and he was translating from his own language as he went. He recounted the report aloud as he worked so that I could make suggestions and add details of my own.
The typing continued as we reached the outer gates of the Farm. I waved my ID over the scanner. The Mid-West office of AIR composed of more than one thousand acres of rolling hills, trees, and fields, with government buildings and housing clustered together in lumps. We housed and trained the Lost that were making our dimension their home, getting them ready to live among people.
The next gate held an empty guard post, but every time someone approached, surveillance cameras would narrow in on the car. Fences ran off in either direction, disappearing into the trees. They surrounded the Farm a
nd had security cameras and motion detectors, along with razor wire. Nothing could come in or go out without being detected.
At the guard post, I leaned out and let my eye be scanned. The surveillance cameras picked up my identification decal on the car, and off we went. The road snaked around trees before we turned into the parking lot of the main office, far out of sight from the road.
In the building, we went through more scanners and used our identification cards a few times to get to the command room. Technically, I had an office, but my mentor and usual partner, Logan, liked to be in the center of everything, so we rarely used the space.
Hank reigned in his usual spot next to a bank of large monitors on one side of the room. Logan leaned on the edge of Hank's desk, and as Rider and I approached, Logan tipped an imaginary hat in our direction.
"How was the tux fitting?" I asked.
Logan grinned. "I thought the woman doing the tailoring was going to cry. Gerald moved so much that he was repeatedly stabbed by needles. How were the gnomes?"
I glanced at Hank and raised an eyebrow, surprised that he didn't fill Logan in.
Hank cleared his throat. "We hadn't gotten as far as the case yet."
"It's a case now, is it?" Logan asked.
Worn out from a day of Reading the Path, I pulled up a chair and told Logan and Hank about Am.
Logan's face fell. "Sorry to hear that. Not natural?"
"We're not sure yet. It happened on MyTH property," I said.
"I've worked with a few people from MyTH through the years. Sable has a good head on her shoulders,” Logan said. "Another gal, though, her name was Angel, was a hellcat. Not literally, I'm pretty sure she was human. Maybe human plus, like you, but human all the same."
"It always struck me as odd that we work with an outside agency," I said.
"Most government agencies contract out at some point," Hank said. "It's cheaper to hire civilians."
"The main benefactor of MyTH used to be an AIR agent," Logan said. "He set up the whole thing."
"It's like an advocacy group for the Lost, right?" I asked.
"For the most part," Logan said, "but they also train much like we do, to help out in emergencies. Have you ever seen a domestic abuse situation with the minotaurs?"
I leaned back in my chair and blinked tired eyes against the harsh florescent lights. "It's good to know more about them since we'll probably be working with some of them on this case. Dr. Yelton is at MyTH working with Dr. Taylor now. They only have a day to find out all they can."
"No clues at the scene?" Logan asked.
"There were a few things that weren't quite right, but nothing that I could put my finger on." My eyes flicked to Hank. AIR wasn't exactly in-the-know about the extent of my powers now. My partners thought that was best kept under wraps. Thankfully, Hank's eyes were on his computer screen.
"I smelled no one in the area that was not accounted for," Rider said.
Logan looked thoughtful. "Could be natural then."
"According to the file, the gnomes were insistent that it wasn't natural," Hank said.
"It's possible either way. We'll see what the labs say." I looked around the room. The night crew was already settling in. "I'll finish up the report."
"I will take care of that," Rider said. Before I could argue, he added, "This will be good practice since this type of case does not often come along."
My brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"
"I am," Rider said.
"I'll be going home shortly," Logan said. "If you leave Rider the truck, I'll give you a ride."
"Sure." I stood and stretched before following Rider to a desk, giving Logan and Hank a chance to finish whatever Rider and I had interrupted.
It didn't take Logan long. After I made sure Rider didn't need anything else from me, Logan and I went home.
Logan had helped Gran and I find the perfect house. It was in a nice neighborhood, but well outside of our bustling town. It was about an hour drive to and from the office, which wasn't terrible. It was also directly behind Logan's house. He and his kids were regulars in our kitchen. I think that had more to do with the amount of baking that Gran did, than with Logan and me being partners.
Logan dropped me off out front.
"Gran, I'm home." I made a beeline to the lit kitchen.
"Evenin'." Gran's voice, like herself, was all southern belle.
"Did you have a good day?" When I entered the kitchen, the microwave chimed. Gran's psychic powers had a direct line to my stomach.
"Quiet today, but Dee Dee and I are going shopping tomorrow. How are things at the office?"
Settling down at the table, I told Gran a little about my day.
"Does that mean you'll be spending a bit more time in the city?" Gran asked.
"It's possible," I said.
"Well, don't work yourself too hard. I've hardly seen you around here."
Instantly, the guilt set in. "I may not have to go too often with MyTH working that end."
"You have to go see the Palm Reader when you go back."
So much from Gran came out of left field, but this was new. "Palm Reader?" I prompted.
"No idea," Gran said, "only that you need to go see her when you’re back in the city."
If Gran said I had to go see a palm reader, I'd go see her. It was always best to follow Gran's advice. When I grew old, I wanted to be like her, a sweet old lady who took in strays and kept the elven neighbors stocked in sweets.
Not that I'd ever call Gran an old lady.
After dinner, I cleaned up and found a piece of cake in the fridge.
I grabbed a fork. "I've got some notes to go over."
"Your mom called today," Gran said.
I almost dropped my plate. Mom never called. Since I quit my normal, safe job as an accountant, and began using my powers on a regular basis, she broke almost all ties with me. She had suppressed her psychic abilities for years and thought I made a mistake by not doing the same. We saw each other at holidays and other special occasions, but mostly, Mom had her world, and I had mine.
"Mom called? Did something happen?"
"No," Gran said, "I think she was checking up on us."
"Is she coming over?" I asked.
"She mentioned this weekend, but I’m pretty sure she isn’t comin’ over." Gran winked at me. "If she ever does, we should keep her out of the back garden. She'd have a fit if she saw that we kept a fairy in the backyard. I don't think she'd like my cat much either, come to think on it."
"It'd be fine. Mom would put up with the fairies, cats, and elves, or she can stay home." I stopped. "We could go visit her, if you want." If Gran wanted to see her daughter, I'd tie Mom up in a bow and hand her over.
"And risk getting stuck talkin' to that dull husband of hers? I had enough of him at Christmas. We'll see her soon enough, though. Go take care of your notes and get a good night's sleep."
With my cake in hand, I went up to my room. There were files waiting for me to review on my tablet, and gnome research had to happen at some point. Tonight, I had other things on my mind, though. I ate the cake while I waited for the laptop to boot up. I could have checked my email through my phone, but I didn't want this email address on AIR equipment. In the past few months, I've been more careful about keeping my work separate from the rest of my life. Not that I had much of another life.
As expected, there was an email waiting for me from my friend, Quin. I didn't know much about her life, and she knew very little about my own. The shared aspect of our relationship was our talent. Quin was a Reader, like me. In fact, she was the only other Reader I had discovered. We had been sparse about personal facts, but I gathered that she was closer to Gran's age than my own. I was also sure she was lying about her name, but I didn't care. I used my middle name when talking to her. To have someone experience things similar to me was like finding a tiny spark of life on Mars. I hadn't known I was looking for the spark, but now that I'd found it, I coveted the shared experiences.
Dear Anala,
It was good to hear from you again. I tried your meditation methods this week. It brought a whole new perspective to my own practices. I'm happy you shared that one with me. Speaking of new perspectives, have you ever read the Path while it was raining? I'm stretching a bit more as a Reader since we've started talking, so I thought I would give it a try. It was amazing, the ripples of colors remained, but each ripple sparked its own rainbow. Words can't describe the sensation. Give it a try the next time it rains.
I saw a shadow of something on the Path while in the woods. Any ideas on what would cause a shadow?
I hope to hear from you soon,
Quin.
I replied immediately.
Dear Quin,
I haven't watched the Path in the rain, but now I'm looking forward to trying! It also makes me want to try going swimming and checking the Path underwater. Once summer hits, I will be adding that to my list of things to do.
I've seen a couple of shadows on the Path. The ones that I saw came from different things. Once it was where an old building had been torn down. The building stood for over one hundred years, so it left an odd shadow on the Path, even though it was long since gone. The other time, I was in the woods. It's hard to explain. There was an old tree by me. The tree was there, but when I entered the Path, I caught a glimpse of its future. At some point, the old tree was going to die and leave a shadow in its wake. Since you were in the woods, maybe something like that caused the shadow.
Speaking of seeing new things on the Path, have you ever seen a hole in the Path? Almost like a tiny blank spot where the Path didn't touch. It was an odd thing to see, but I have no idea what caused it.
I hope to hear from you soon. Can't wait for it to rain!
Sincerely,
Anala
Chapter 4
"You remember when we used to saunter into the Farm at nine o'clock? I miss those days," Logan said.
"There's no line of cars at the gates at seven,” I replied. "Besides, I have a report to check over and we need to spend time at the gun range today."
Broken Paths (AIR Book 2) Page 2
