AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  Still, when I powered down our tablet, I put it into a case that blocked all transmissions in and out so that if our superiors wanted to jump on and listen to our conversations, they wouldn't be able to. It was a gift from Logan and I figured it was better to be on the safe side. A little paranoia could be healthy.

  "Does Margaret need us to take care of anything while we're in town?" Logan asked.

  "No, Gran's out with Dee Dee today. I think they're shopping."

  "Want to head out to the Sanctuary and check in on the fairies anyway?"

  "Hmm," I said, trying to buy some time. I looked at my partner who was smiling and humming under his breath while he waited for my answer. Elven smiles were practically a contagion. "Yeah, we can go there." He was using the fairies as an excuse to ride the horses. That was usually the case.

  Logan started singing an old cowboy song under his breath and changed directions to the Sanctuary. I didn't have to hear the words to know that the song was about cowboys. It was always about cowboys.

  My phone rang and Ethan's name popped up on my caller ID. I smiled but hesitated to take the call in front of Logan. Logan was on good terms with Ethan, but they weren't friends.

  "Go ahead and take the call from your lawman," Logan said.

  I grinned and hit the talk button.

  "Hi, Cassie," his voice sounded strained.

  My smile sank. "What's up?"

  "Look, I, uh, know we don't talk about your job." He stopped, and I heard him cover the phone up and begin speaking to someone else. "Sorry about that," he said when he got back to me.

  "What’s going on?"

  Logan stopped humming.

  "I might have a case that I need your help with, or at least your opinion on." Ethan didn't sound happy about the prospect.

  "Sure, where do you need us?" I asked.

  He told me the address. "Sorry about this, Cassie."

  "It's no problem."

  "You might not say the same thing once you get here."

  After we hung up, I typed the address into our GPS. "Do you mind if we swing around?" I asked Logan.

  "We could do that. Seems awful strange for the local law to drag in outsiders," Logan said.

  "It does."

  The thought of working with Ethan wasn't a comfortable one. He didn't know who I worked for beyond the Department of Treasury. Our first meeting a few months ago hadn't started out well, but it ended with him asking me on a date. Technically, we hadn't worked a case together, which made it easier for the confidential information to stay out of our relationship.

  "Does he know about you?" Logan asked, keeping his voice casual.

  "My abilities? No way. I'll leave that out for as long as I can." My last serious boyfriend, fiancé really, tried to have me committed when I told him about my abilities. I'm not one of the Lost, but I'm not your ordinary human either. Everything leaves a trace as it moves through this world, and as a Reader, I see the trails that are left behind.

  I was thankful that Logan let the subject drop.

  "Lots of construction going up around here," Logan said.

  "It seems like there's construction everywhere around town now," I said.

  "Looks like we've found our address," Logan said, stopping on the side of the road.

  Apartment buildings were being erected all around us. We couldn't go any further due to the sheer number of police vehicles. Since we were visiting Lost today, we were in a regular car instead of our usual SWAT-style truck.

  We approached the crime scene tape and we were immediately stopped by an officer.

  "This is a crime scene. Please return to your vehicle and leave the area." The scorn in his voice was palpable.

  "We're federal agents. Lieutenant Ethan Parker contacted us," I said.

  "You're an agent?" the man snorted. "Likely story. Move along."

  Logan tensed beside me. People's first reaction to me was never a pleasant one, just one of the many side effects of a damaged soul. Once people got used to me, they got over it, but Logan always took those first reactions personally.

  When I went to get my ID out of my back pocket, the officer put his hand on his gun. Moving much slower, I took out the ID and handed it over.

  "This looks like it came from a cereal box," the guy said, tossing it back at me, "move along."

  Sometimes, I hated being me. Usually, I could take the rudeness with a grain of salt. Having a shattered soul made me stronger than I had ever been in the past, so I let the downsides slide off, but being at my boyfriend's civilian crime scene had me anxious already.

  "Listen here, you pompous—"

  "Officer!" Ethan barked from beside a large piece of yellow construction equipment with the letters CAT on the side. "Stop screwing around and let them through!"

  The officer looked surprised and stood aside. Logan lifted the tape and we walked onto the official crime scene.

  Ethan appeared glum when we approached. "Agent Seale," Ethan said, shaking Logan's hand. He hesitated when he turned to me. "Agent Heidrich." He gave me a handshake too.

  I guess that put us squarely in the professional category today. At least Ethan had the sense to appear uncomfortable using my last name. Still, I thought we were past the stage where he called me "agent."

  "Lieutenant," Logan said, "what do you have for us today?"

  Ethan took off his sunglasses and looked at us. "It's pretty muddy back here. I should have given you a heads up about that."

  Behind him, a large sheet had been pinned down to the ground to keep from blowing away.

  I frowned, knowing there was probably a body underneath. "We're good, lieutenant."

  He flinched slightly when I said lieutenant, but he was right. At a crime scene, business is business. Maybe it's best to keep it professional.

  "Right, we have one body. White male. He was found by a crewmember who arrived this morning.”

  "This morning?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Yeah, we're getting ready to move him now. I wanted to hold off till you got here. We, uh, initially held off to find the rest of him."

  "Pieces missing?" I asked, trying to keep myself from grimacing.

  Ethan nodded.

  "We'd better take a look," Logan said. "Everything around the body been processed?"

  "Yeah, you’re good to go. Listen, Cassie, maybe you shouldn't—"

  "Lieutenant," Logan interrupted, "we don't know each other well yet, but here’s a friendly warning. It might be a good idea to drop that train of thought before it goes any further."

  My face was already red. Ethan was going to suggest I stay away, not look, or something equally stupid. Lips pursed, I ignored both of them and stalked over to the cloth.

  A year ago, I would have flipped the covering over to prove I had no issues. I was a month shy of completing my first year in the field. Seeing that this scene covered a wide patch of ground, I knew better than to charge in. Instead, I walked to the edge of the cloth, knelt down, and waited for Logan to join me. This gave me a moment to ready myself.

  "Let's see what we've got," Logan said.

  I lifted the cloth.

  Red. There was a lot of red scattered over the ground. It wasn’t the bright red that you’d see on TV or in the movies. Instead, it was a ruddy color that covered the grass and soaked into the ground. The stench released from under the cloth made me swallow hard and use my jacket to cover my nose and mouth. It took me longer to identify pieces. My mind didn't want to focus. Closest to me, a pool of pale flesh puddled together. Skin and muscle littered the ground. Ragged strips of flesh looked torn and shapeless.

  "We're not sure what exactly happened here," Ethan said, keeping his voice low, "but the ME has looked things over and we've scoured the area. Tentatively, we're calling it an animal attack."

  Shaking my head, I lowered the cloth and as one, we moved away from the remains.

  "You think that's what it was?" Logan asked.

  "There's a lot of bone missing. Wh
at's left doesn't show any bite marks that we've seen yet, but I can't think of anything else that might be able to do this. In the case we worked together this spring... well, this seemed odd as well, so I thought you all may be able to give us more," Ethan said.

  "What do you say, Cassie?" Logan asked.

  "Weird is right up our alley," I mumbled. Louder, I added, "We can take a look, but I think we need Rider."

  "I'll call him in." Logan tapped his head. "Wait for me before you get started."

  He walked off to call our sometimes partner, Rider Wolfe. As a werewolf, he would be able to pick up smells that might help us identify things we might overlook. The head tap is the part that made me nervous. It was only natural that he would want me to read the Paths in the area. With a death that violent, I was afraid of what I might see.

  Then there was Ethan. Using my power meant that he'd see me wandering around following trails invisible to anyone but me, and that's if I was strong enough to control all the forces inside me. With the added difficulty of pieces of souls from various Lost swirling around, it made things volatile and unpredictable at the best of times.

  "Cassie, I'm sorry to drag you into this," Ethan said.

  He had waited until Logan was out of normal earshot range. Ethan and I had never learned how to work together while seeing each other, and I had hoped we wouldn’t have to. Ethan looked so worn, though, that I knew it would be worth it to help if we could.

  Forcing a smile on my face, I said, "You're doing your job. If we can help, we will."

  "Yeah, but it's a hell of a thing to invite someone you see personally into something like this."

  "Rider's on his way," Logan said, returning, "and I called Hank to get us logged in.” He turned to Ethan. “Hope you don't mind, but I also let your officer know that we'd be expecting company."

  "That's good. Not sure what got into him earlier," Ethan said.

  "Did you all find anything else on site?" I asked, steering away from the officer. I didn't want anyone to get into trouble.

  "We're not too sure about that. Since we don't know what or who we're dealing with, it's hard to say," Ethan said.

  "You found something?" I asked.

  "Mostly the usual construction stuff, but there's something the work crew noticed. It's down this way."

  Ethan led us to the end of the new street where we stood around a hole dug for a walkout basement. It appeared that people were getting ready to pour concrete.

  "What are we looking at?" Logan asked.

  "The crew put down some rebar yesterday," Ethan said. Seeing the confusion on my face, he added, "The metal poles. They strengthen the concrete. They poured piers, which help with stability. You can see where the concrete is coming up out of the ground."

  "Sure." I nodded and let him continue.

  "The rebar they laid over here looks the way it should," Ethan said, "but over there, it has been moved around. That wouldn't be a big deal, because it's easy to move, but there's also a hole that wasn't there before."

  Logan's forehead wrinkled. "A hole?"

  "Yeah, we can circle around if you want, but it looks like someone dug a hole." Ethan shrugged. "It's out of place, so I'm not discounting it. It has already been photographed. We're getting ready to see how deep it is."

  "Let's go down and check it out," I said. It was better than going back to the body and it didn't add up. Why would Ethan think a hole was important?

  My boots were coated in mud by the time we made our way around the building site.

  "Any luck?" Ethan asked an officer nearby.

  "No, sir, it looks like it drops a few feet then slants back. We're having a hard time getting pictures since there is an angle in the space."

  "Thank you," Ethan said and turned to us. "Nothing much we can say. It could be nothing."

  "Do you wanna take a look?" Logan asked me.

  "Uh." I took a quick look at Ethan. "I can."

  Logan nodded. "Ethan, could you do us a favor and meet our colleagues and bring them down here."

  Ethan looked carefully at Logan, but nodded his head slowly. "We can do that. Officer," Ethan said without taking his eyes off Logan, "would you meet the feds and bring them this way?"

  "Sure thing." The officer walked away.

  Logan waited until the officer was out of hearing range. "You've got to tell him sometime."

  "Do I?" I meant for that to sound sarcastic instead of an actual question. Logan hadn’t left me much choice by saying that in front of Ethan.

  Logan shrugged.

  "You're right," I said. Apprehension dug into my stomach.

  "You need backup?" Logan asked.

  Ethan had his arms crossed. He didn't look upset, but alert.

  "No," I said, "but we could use a few minutes."

  Chapter 2

  Ethan looked at me expectantly.

  "I was really hoping to avoid this, or at least be somewhere," I gestured around at the construction site, "more private."

  Still, Ethan didn't say anything.

  I plunged in. "Right, you already know that my job can be out of the ordinary. What you don't know is that I am out of the ordinary."

  He smiled and started to say something.

  "No, that came out wrong," I said.

  "Whatever it is," Ethan said, moving closer and putting an arm around my waist, "you can tell me. If you want to give me the short version here, we can pick it up somewhere private later."

  I felt heat rush to my cheeks, but it was good to feel his arm around my waist. Comforting, even.

  "First off, I'm not crazy." I looked at him and tentatively waited for a response.

  "Not crazy. Got it." It looked like he understood the seriousness of the statement.

  "But the thing is, I can see things that other humans can't. It's a skill that comes in handy with my job." I looked away from him and tried not to throw out the words as fast as I could. "I can see things that others can't see. Traces of where people or things were in the past, or what someone’s feeling."

  He was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure I understand."

  "Everything leaves a Path in this world. I can follow those Paths and get information from them, even if what or who left the traces is no longer there."

  "That sounds pretty useful."

  I blinked at him, completely taken off guard by his reaction. "I see things that aren't there. Well, they are there, but no one else can see them."

  "I'm not going to pretend I understand what it is you're saying, not completely, but I understand your sincerity, and I can see by those around you," Ethan nodded towards Logan, "that they know about this."

  "They do," I said uncertainly.

  "I don't know what your job entails, but it seems to me you wouldn't have gotten to where you are if your partner thought you were crazy. At least not in law enforcement of any type."

  "That's true," I said. I wasn't sure how this turned into Ethan assuring me that I wasn't crazy, instead of me convincing him.

  "It sounds like a useful tool."

  "It can be," I looked away, worried about how much to tell him, "but things have happened in the past year that have made it unpredictable. That's why Logan thought it would be best for me to tell you. A year ago, I could probably have gone by completely unnoticed, but now it's hard to say."

  He tugged me closer to him. "Maybe we can get together sometime soon and you can fill me in." It hadn’t been a hug, but more than I thought I’d see on a job site with everyone around.

  I looked up at him. "You're really not put off by this?"

  Ethan chuckled. "I'm still not really sure what this is, but I believe you, if that's what you mean."

  My tension started to fall away, and I smiled at him. "I'm really glad I said yes to that date a few months ago."

  "So am I."

  At that moment, I really wished we were alone. I wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, but with the crime scene not too far away, it wasn't the best time.
>
  "I guess we should get to work." Regret filled my voice.

  Ethan moved his arm and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, then stepped aside.

  "We're ready, Logan." I didn't bother raising my voice. I knew Logan could hear everything we said. Elves had exceptional hearing, even when their ears were tucked away to look more human.

  Logan joined us, grinning ear to ear. "You're a good man, Ethan.” To me he added, “Feeling better now?"

  "Yeah. I think that will make things easier," I admitted. "Still, do you have a dart?"

  "You think it's a good idea for me to dart you here in front of your boyfriend?" Logan glanced from Ethan and back to me again, clearly unsure.

  I shrugged and looked at Ethan. "It may seem odd, but know that whatever my partner does, he does it for a reason and I trust him."

  Ethan looked more confused than ever, but nodded.

  Thinking that this was a lot of effort for one crime scene, I walked over to the large hole in the ground. Logan and Ethan were close behind. Closing my eyes, I dredged up thoughts of the known world and stretched my mind beyond. There was a short mental struggle where my mind didn't want to move past what it truly knew to be real.

  Usually, things were much simpler.

  Much faster too.

  Pushing myself further, I felt the familiar snap as my brain made the jump. I held back the raging flow of the Path before it became too much to handle and allowed only a trickle of the energy to come through. Blinking, I opened my eyes to a whole new world. Shimmering rivers of colors twisted through the landscape.

  Lots of light blue tones gave the impression of crewmembers going about their work, but in a bored, monotonous way. I caught the pluming gold colors of Logan out of the corner of my eye. I avoided looking at Ethan altogether, afraid of what it might show me after our conversation.

  Looking out over the site, I mostly saw what I expected, but there was a distinctive Path that stood out from the others. It was gray in color, but throughout it were fine threads weaving in and out, which were a multitude of vivid colors. Yellows danced outward and purple stretched. Each time they were engulfed once again by the larger gray Path. There was even a glimpse of a shining teal color, which I couldn't recall ever having seen before.