“Well, this is cheery,” Tyler said. “I'll take a wild guess and say she's a part of the coven.”
Tyler's levity went unnoticed. None of them wanted to stay in the room. Evil lived there. It concentrated there. But they had no choice. They had hit the jackpot. Something in that room would lead to the coven.
“There’s more than one here but they are holding back,” Amanda said. Both Sebastian and Tyler knew what Amanda was referring to — demonic spirits, something she could sense and sometimes see in an area. Sebastian had looked into the unseen realm a handful of times. If people perceived what existed around them on a regular basis, they would lose their minds. Amanda had been gifted with a special measure of grace in order to deal with it on a limited degree. She didn’t see them all the time because she could turn it on and off. It was better to keep it off ninety-nine percent of the time. The things she'd seen even with her special grace ... she could only stand so much.
Sebastian drew his sword, the golden light from the words on the blade illuminating the room. He didn’t want to take any chances in case they attacked.
With slow, measured steps, they crept into the bowels of the room. The walls were lined with books in bookcases. Some of them were modern. Others appeared to be much older. There was a desk in the far right-hand corner of the room with a laptop.
“Tyler,” Sebastian said, nodding in the direction of the desk. He was already moving there.
Amanda searched through the titles on the spines of books on one of the bookshelves. “This is a den,” she declared. Tyler and Sebastian both looked at her. It was what they were thinking but didn’t say out loud. They had stepped into a witch’s hideaway.
The idea that witches were evil anymore had been assaulted in the public with vehemence for the past thirty years. Television, movies, and books portrayed them as an alternative. Different. Misunderstood. Even good. It was a myth being sold as the truth. The real truth was that there were no good witches. Not one.
Their problem was determining how many witches were in the coven. With the discovery of Belcher's apartment, it could give a sense of how large of a coven they were dealing with.
“Guys. I’m in.” Tyler said. “You need to look at this.”
Amanda and Sebastian walked over to where Tyler was sitting. He had already gotten into the laptop.
“That was quick.”
“Didn’t take much. She never changed the default password. Guess she figured that a locked door and a creepy room was enough to keep anyone away.”
“That’s why they are here.” Amanda said, the realization hitting her. “They’re here to protect the room and what’s in it. They’re restrained. He’s restraining them. If it was anyone else but us, they’d be dead by now.”
Tyler pointed to the computer screen.
“Look.”
Sebastian leaned down.
“What are we looking at?”
“Google Maps. She was searching for someplace. Check the address.”
Amanda turned to her uncle.
“Isn’t that…”
Sebastian’s face went somber.
“That’s our place.”
Part V - Hunger of the Hunch
Neff waited in the parking lot staring at the apartment door. It was out of character for him to go off book on an unofficial investigation and was not a path he felt comfortable walking. Yet, here he was waiting for Dr. Murchowski to come out of her apartment office so he could follow her to wherever she was going. He knew he was treading on thin ice. If she discovered he was following her, she could slap a restraining order on him and it could turn out far worse. Nothing happened yet. He could put the car and drive and head back downtown. It ran across his mind twice but each time he couldn't go through with it. Something was off. It would be irresponsible to ignore it. Dana Johansen's death may have been the symptom of something more sinister. He had to follow where it led, ride the connecting lines ... and tiptoe carefully.
He imagined what his wife Anita would say to him. Like always, she would trust him. She'd support the direction he was going. She might even say, “You've gotten this far in your career doing what you're doing and it hasn't failed you. So keep doing it.” It was the logical position to take. That's why he loved her so much. It was rare to find that kind of support in a spouse. At least in his case it was rare. A complete and different experience from his first marriage.
His first marriage was all about control. Who would control the other or who would control the relationship. That's not what he wanted, but it's how it ended up. She wanted to control him, his career, his likes and dislikes. It surprised him he didn't see it coming. He was a police officer, and it was his job to observe details. To discern the small things. He realized in hindsight, he was just too close to the situation. It was difficult for him to take a step back and interpret it with objectivity. He believed marriage to be a partnership. His turned into a battlefield for leadership.
It didn't help that his mom liked her and still had a relationship with her. Many of his impromptu visits home interrupted their phone conversations. Then his mom would ask, “Do you want to talk to Sharon?” He wanted to say it would be more satisfying cramming toothpicks in his ear. Instead, he ignored the remark and relinquished his presence from the room.
Since divorcing Sharon, there was a marked distance between him and his mother. The divorce disappointed his mom while her treatment of Anita offended him. She always got the short end of the stick from his mother, the victim little verbal jabs; what his ex-wife would do well and how his current wife wasn't doing it so well. Family gatherings became strained at times. It was all a hot mess. Divorce was never pretty and not a choice he wanted to make. He didn't like it but he had to live with it.
A young girl pulled up in a silver Oldsmobile. She exited the car with a bag of groceries in her hands as she tried to shuffle off two kids through the apartment entrance. She had more groceries in the car but needed to get the kids together. He would have helped but then it would've looked awkward for him to be there after leaving Murchowski's office if she came out. Knowing old Murphy, that's when she'd show up. So, he stayed put.
He let out a heavy sigh, making himself more comfortable, leaning back in the front seat. The whole feel of the meeting between him and Murchowski was reminiscent of discussions he had with his first wife. The difference was this had been turned up to eleven.
Was that the reason he was doing this? Was it because she reminded him of his first wife and he just didn't like her? He would be lying if he said it had no influence on his decision at all. The divorce with Sharon had ended with two bloodied egos and demolished emotions. Something warned him in his subconscious which is why they had no children. He knew that now, but he didn't know it then. It was a touchy subject and one that began many arguments. Besides the sinking feeling of having to deal with her for the rest of his life if they had children, it would have added fresh new problems. Sanity was a precious commodity he wasn't willing to surrender. Now, being married to Anita, he had a couple stepchildren which wasn't the same but it was peaceful.
Having that kind of animosity towards an ex-wife was paradoxical. Was this not the woman he said “I do” to? Was this not the woman he had pledged to be in sickness and in health till death do they part? It was. He wanted that. But something changed. She wasn't the woman she presented herself to be. The marriage turned into a prison. As a police officer that's where he put criminals. As a husband that's where he lived. He couldn't do it anymore. So it ended.
Murchowski was Sharon on steroids. He knew the type. The woman had a tangible disdain for Neff which he was sure translated to all men. She had a male secretary. That was about dominance, not political correctness. He didn't know what her issue was, but that meeting was a failed attempt to exert her dominion over him. There's a difference between a strong woman and a hateful one. It couldn't have been a personal thing. He didn't know the woman. It had to be something else before he came into the pictu
re. What had happened in her life to bring her to that place?
He looked up and there she was, walking out of the apartment building. He sat up in the driver's seat at attention. She walked to her black Mercedes. Neff turned the key in his ignition and waited for her to make her move. She had looked in his direction and appeared to be in a hurry. His instincts told him it had something to do with his visit.
She pulled out of the apartment complex parking lot and made a right. She drove down Shoreland Drive and continued past Suder Avenue. Neff followed at a safe distance. She continued straight until she got to Alexis Road and then took a left. At the next light she took a right onto Benore Avenue. He wondered where she was going.
They drove until Benore Road ended which is when she took a left. After going over a set of railroad tracks, she turned right. The street ran behind a shopping center complex in the north area of town. On the opposite side were offices, a car dealership, and an apartment complex. She pulled into one of the office driveways and parked her car. Neff drove by and parked in the next parking lot over, keeping her in view, writing details in his small notebook. He was old school. It didn't mean he didn't know how to work his smartphone. He'd use it to take pictures. The notebook was more reliable. It never failed him and there was no reason to fix what wasn't broke.
She stayed approximately five minutes and stopped by other trivial places — a fast food restaurant and gas station — before she made her way onto Route 75 South. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to a condo establishment on Toledo'd south side. Neff parked down the street. He didn't think she had seen him which was good. To execute an effective tail could be tricky. He would ride this out all the way until the end.
* * * * *
Murchowski walked up to Tawny Belcher's front door. The day had not been going well and didn't end well with her a visit from detective Neff. There were many things she could've done in response to his visit. She could've put a plan together to get rid of him like she did Dana Johansen. He was smug and arrogant like Johansen. His presence in her office making her skin crawl. She was the high priestess of the Ladies of Lunar. To have to hide her position and station set like bile in her throat. It was an unspoken reality that Murchowski was in the inferior position when Neff had walked into her office by virtue he was a police officer. She wanted to show without reservations that didn't matter.
All men were alike. Animals who didn't have the requisite intelligence of a woman. They were the ones who were inferior but for centuries it was women who were treated like cattle, second rate citizens if citizens at all. Men were a hindrance, a virus that needed extermination. They were a necessary evil created by biology. The more annoying ones she dealt with in ... creative ways. But now she may have shown her hand to this detective. It never occurred to her there could be an investigation beyond what the crime scene suggested. Why would there? It was a suicide.
More shocking was the wife was initiating all of it. She had done that woman a favor by getting rid of her conceited, self absorbed neanderthal of a husband. Why in the world would she care about why he was dead?
She rang the doorbell shaking her head. She didn't understand. Debbie Johansen needed to understand who she was as a woman. She was in the superior position. She did not need Dana in her life. He had served his purpose and proven his disloyalty. She never understood why so many women failed to understand. You had to take your power as a woman. You couldn't wait for it to fall into your lap. It had to be seized.
She realized Tawny wasn't home. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her number.
“Where are you?”
“I'm in a place you'd least expect. I'm retrieving our property.”
“What do you mean?” Murchowski asked.
“I found the location of the E Stone. I'm searching for it now.”
Murchowski smiled. Fate was turning things her way.
“Well. I’m not sure how you managed that, but you have exceeded my expectations. Excellent. Bring it to the warehouse when you find it. We'll start the ritual tonight.”
“Tonight?” Tawny said, surprised.
“Yes. We have a development that has forced us to speed up the timetable. Nothing to be alarmed about. Everything is still working out as we wanted. The only difference is that it's a little sooner. I'll see you when you get there.”
She hung up the phone with renewed vigor. It wouldn't be long before she would have them in fear, groveling at her knees.
* * * * *
Neff observed from down the street. She was on the phone. Whose ever house it was wasn't home. After a brief phone call, she pulled out and drove his way. He ducked down in the seat when his phone rang. He waited a few moments for the car to go by before sitting up and answering it.
“This is Neff.”
“Hey. You coming back to the office?” It was Allison.
He put the car in drive, trying to turn around to catch up.
“When I can. I got caught up in something. I'm not sure if it's turning into anything or not but if it does, I'll give you a call.”
There were moments he thought he had lost her but after tense minutes, he spotted her on the road and resumed his chase. She got on the highway again and drove down 75 south until she got off at the Buck Road exit. There she took a left and drove into the Ampoint Industrial Complex. She pulled into a warehouse lot and walked in.
Neff drove by to make it look as if he wasn't following her but knew where she was. He took a long drive around the block before finding a place to park where he could observe things. The area was open out there. He had to find a place where his car wouldn't be conspicuous. After that, he got out of the car, opened his trunk, and grabbed a pair of binoculars. It wasn't in his plans for the day to be on a stakeout but it looked like his plans were changing.
He pulled out his cell phone and made a call.
“Hey honey. It’s me. It’s going to be a minute before I come home tonight.”
Part VI - Intruders
How could they have been so stupid? How did he miss it? He should have kept it with them at all times but got overconfident. There was no reason to believe it wouldn't be safe until the retrieval team came to get it. All the while they were pursuing the coven, the coven had done a one-eighty and found them.
It was no mystery what they were after. The E-Stone was a powerful artifact, able to manifest the emotions of the user into a powerful force for good or evil. The object itself was neutral, its history an enigma. A century earlier, the Cabal had located it in Egypt and kept it for some years before losing it to a band of common thieves. Now that it had resurfaced, they could reacquire and keep it out of the wrong hands.
It wasn’t clear why the E-Stone existed. Those who had been owners were unaware how to tame the power within it, many of them being destroyed by it. Limited experiments were conducted but even that was dangerous to attempt. The best thing to do was to hide it away, research, and test it by some of their best and most gifted agents.
All of that would be moot if they didn’t get back to the house in time.
“I don’t get it,” Tyler said. “How did they find us?”
That was the $64,000 question. It nagged at Sebastian as they sped down the highway. The actions of field teams were classified. Their base of operations and mission details known only by a handful of people. That only brought him to a conclusion he was loath to admit but Tyler deduced earlier in frustration.
“Someone told them. Someone who knew where we were told them. That is the only way they would know anything.”
To hear it said out loud sent the cab of the SUV careening into a lake of uneasy silence. This had thrown in a new dynamic and direction. The implications were staggering. Someone in the Cabal was a traitor. Figuring out their next move would take more maneuvering. The one thing they were sure of was that it was not one of them. It was protocol for field team members to be in each other’s presence as much as possible when on missions. It insured everyone knew where ever
yone else was at all times. The system wasn't flawless system but worked out well enough. The added bonus for them were that they were family. It didn’t eliminate them altogether. They couold still be traitors. Sebastian hated to think like that but it was necessary.
They took the 23 North Freeway to route 475 before exiting at Secor Road. Making a left, they made a few more turns before ending up on Grantley Road where their home base was located. They noticed a car parked in front as soon as they hit the street. A green Honda. One that didn’t belong there.
“How are we going to play this?” Tyler said. Sebastian was already surveying the situation to see what the best plan of approach was.
“We’re getting ready to drop you off Tyler. You need to hold her there until me and Amanda finish in the house.”
Tyler nodded, slamming his laptop closed and sliding on the seat beside him. They pulled up next to the car, and he slid out and opened the passenger door to the Honda which surprised the young lady sitting in the driver’s seat.
“How you doing?” he said with a big smile. He pressed a button on his phone and kept looking at her. “Now, I know why you are here and I think we should have a little chat. If you want to try to alert your friend in the house, you can't. I’ve disabled all the electronic devices within a ten foot radius. That includes the car so why don’t we get to know each other?”
Amanda and Sebastian crept down the driveway. They glimpsed movement through the living room blinds. Somebody else was in the house; the driver's accomplice. They did not want to alert them to their presence.
Amanda slid the key out of the ignition as they exited the car, closing the doors with a soft click.
“I'll go in the back,” Sebastian said. “Stay near the front door to make sure nobody comes out.” Amanda nodded as he made his way to the back door.
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