Witness Enchantment (The Federal Witch Book 4)

by T S Paul

  "Hold on Marvin." I hit the gas and matched speed with the large truck. The local police cars were closing in and almost had me in sight. Timing would have to be perfect. Focusing what little power I still had, I said a prayer to Artemis and served right like I was attempting to pass the truck on the shoulder. Just as we reached the next overpass, I released my spell and slammed on the brakes.

  "Aaaaah!" Marvin screamed as the SUV almost flipped over, the back tires actually leaving the ground. The spell I used was the one I created so long ago with Jack for the RV. My camouflage spell hid the car from the highway patrol cars that went screaming past us oblivious to our presence.

  Smoke and the smell of burnt rubber mixed with the smell of charred pork as I panted in pain. My wrist and lower arm were in utter agony. I could feel blood rolling down my arm, dripping on my black jeans. Blood doesn't show well on black. One good reason to wear it.

  My spell kit was in the back seat where I threw it. "Marvin snap out of it. We lived."

  "I. You. We. Killed. Why. How. I. I. Help?" He was shaking so hard I could feel it on my side of the car.

  "Behind my seat is a red bag with funny shaped letters in it. Can you reach it?" I felt around with my right arm, but my seat was too far forward. Sucks to be short.

  Marvin continued to shake and stutter. Two more police cars went screaming past us. There has to be at least one BOLO on us already. Carefully I pulled my jacket and shirt sleeve away from my skin. Faint wisps of green smoke still rose as the green fire ate its way into my arm. "Marvin! Snap out of it. I need your help."

  "What?" Marvin looked in my direction and gasped. "You're hurt!"

  "Yes. Can you reach the red bag behind me? Please?" I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.

  "You should go to the doctor. I can look for a hospital for you." He continued to stare at my arm.

  "Bag. Please. Do you want those men to come back? No hospitals."

  Marvin unbuckled and leaned to his left peeking behind my seat. He reached down and handed over my salvation.

  "What's with this agent?" He peered at me as I dug down into it.

  "You know I'm a Witch, right?" The bag was the size of an oversize make-up bag.

  "Yes. Who else would have a talking unicorn? Where is Fergus, did he get left behind?" Marvin spun around in his seat looking up and down for the little terror.

  I gently patted my shirt pocket. "He's right here, Marvin. One of his jobs is to act as my Familiar. I can draw energy from him."

  Frustrated, I started taking everything out of the bag and lining it up on the dashboard. Feathers. Crystals. Willow wand. Charms and herbs bag. Bombs.

  I muttered under my breath. "What are those doing in there?" Those I generally kept separate. What I needed was of course, at the very bottom.

  "This is a salve my Grandmother makes. It can help to cure almost any external hurt." The pain in my arm was now the worst yet. Ripping the top off the cream, I dipped in and liberally spread it over the burned spots on my arm. Instantly I felt both comfort and pain.

  I gritted my teeth against the pain. What is this stuff? The green fire actually caused the salve to boil in my wounds! Instead of helping, the pain was ten times worse. Ignoring the blood, I clutched my arm to my chest rocking forward. I tried to think back to class and what this might be.

  The bracelet came to my rescue. A very faint voice reached past my pain induced haze saying two words. "Fire. Metal."

  White phosphorus was the only fire metal I could think of, but this was green. Called 'Willie Pete' by members of the military, white phosphorus explosions were a nasty way to die. The metal would burn straight through a person only stopping when it ran out of oxygen or material to burn. Could this be similar?

  The only spell that came to mind that would drown out flame was a childhood game I played with Grandmother. We would cast a water spell that would coat our feet and legs. Most wouldn't see the clear water enabling us to walk across the fire and hot coals. It was a party trick she once taught me. Focusing I cast the spell, feeling the water coat my arm completely. That was my last thought as the pain took me and I passed out.

  ~~~~~~~

  "Did we ever follow up on Hagin, Marvin Loman's remaining boss?" Cat looked up from her records search.

  "Chuck and I did. Agatha was pretty insistent about it." Anastasia paused in her typing to hit a couple of buttons. The main screen flashed with documents.

  "The local FBI investigated and discovered the entire office gone. Lock, stock, and filing cabinets. Someone took it all. Hagin was found hanging from the second-floor railing. All the evidence points to suicide, but that doesn't explain the missing office. A canvas of the neighborhood turned up a homeless guy who said quote, 'a big ass truck' showed up at midnight and loaded up the office. As the only witness, he was placed in protective custody."

  "And?" Cat glanced at her.

  Anastasia nodded. "They got to him too. He and his handlers were found dead shortly after he gave his statement."

  "Damn it. How do we get to these people?" Bill threw up his hands.

  Cat nodded her head. "She was right."

  "Who was right?" Chuck looked up from his work.

  Cat replied. "Agatha was right. She wouldn't have been able to protect Loman and us. These people are relentless."

  "Speaking of Agatha? I think I know where she is. Or at least was."

  Cat turned. "Where? I thought you said she was off the grid?"

  Anastasia pointed to the screen. "Local Virginia police are responding to a 10-35M. Magickal Crime in progress. The report was of someone fighting others with fireballs and lots of explosions. The suspect fled the scene in a dark blue SUV. Local LEOs are in pursuit."

  "Where in Virginia?" Cat barely got that out of her mouth before Ana put it up on the screen.

  "It's a hotel on Route 666. The report has changed to a request for an ambulance as well as a bus for three dead persons."

  "Dead?" Cat spun around again.

  "I'm only relaying what comes up on the screen. We have the authority to ask for more information. Do you want me too?" Anastasia arched her eyebrow.

  Cat ran her hand through her hair and let out a breath. "No. Monitor the situation, but don't get directly involved unless they ask for us. We have to trust that Agatha knows what she's doing. Concentrate on the Hagin connection and King, they are our best leads. Where are we with the King investigation?"

  "Stalled. I've got the file collated and ready but who do we give it to?" Bill held up a digital drive.

  "Good question. Let me try calling Director Mills. She's Agatha's contact and knows she split the team. She might not like this hot potato, but she's the only person I can think of that can help. I have one other contact, but even he would freak if I give him this." Cat stepped over and took the USB drive from Bill.

  ~~~~~~~~

  "I still say just poke her to find out."

  "You poke her. She's your boss."

  "Well, sort of. She just feeds me and uses my magick sometimes."

  "That's not what I meant. You have a horn already. Just stick her and see if she's still alive."

  It was the voices and the argument that woke me up. I was having the most beautiful dream of playing in the Garden at home.

  Opening my eyes, I stared right into Fergus's. "If anyone pokes me, they will regret it."

  "Agatha! You're alive!" Fergus was on the dashboard in front of me. Looking to my right I could see Marvin smiling at me.

  "Of course, I'm alive. Are we still invisible to everyone?" Mentally I scolded myself. It was my spell I could check myself.

  "We think so. A car stopped over there but didn't see us." Marvin pointed toward the other side of the highway.

  "How long was I out?" Checking my watch wouldn't help me. I had no idea what time it was when I passed out.

  "A couple of hours. Fergus and I have been trading favorite foods."

  "That's his favorite subject." My arm was still throbbing, but the fire
was out. The water spell seemed to have dissipated on its own. I didn't remember putting in a timer for the spell. I would have to investigate that. Rolling back my sleeve, I stared in shock at my arm.

  "Ouch. That looks really painful." Marvin leaned over to look at my arm.

  Half a dozen small holes and one big one peppered my forearm. The big one was almost to the bone. Grandmother's salve coupled with the heat the fires produced scorched the inside of the wounds. I had scar tissue on top of scar tissue. I could actually stick my finger into the hole in my arm!

  "That's freaky Agatha. Did you pack my food? I'm hungry." Fergus stared at me.

  I grabbed the salve jar and rubbed a fresh glob of it on my arm. Dabbing liberally, I filled in the holes. It would help my skin recover, but only the Coven's healers could heal me. Or at least try to. I might have this scarring forever.

  "I'll feed you later. You're fine." I grabbed the keys and started the SUV up. We needed to get moving. Looking both ways down the highway, I dropped the glamor and headed for the next location on my list.

  Chapter 11

  "What do you mean they got away?" Ysabel snarled, crushing the cup she was about to drink out of. Glass fragments shattered across the table.

  Don Tomasso winced as he saw blood running down her hand. "The Missionaries tracked them down to that hotel in Virginia. Once they battered through the shield, they attacked in force. Somehow they killed three of the Missionaries and severally wounded the fourth. Local law enforcement is searching, but the Witch and the accountant are in the wind."

  Raising her hand to her mouth, Ysabel licked the blood off her hand and glared at the now trembling Don. "Did she identify herself as FBI?"

  "Uh. Uh. No. She didn't." The Don closed his eyes to not see her suck on the wound.

  Her mouth bloody, the Strega leader spit out a chunk of glass. She watched the Don through the slits of her eyes. Interesting about the Witch. "Open your eyes and look at me. Now!" Her voice was whipcord sharp.

  "Yes,?" Don Tomasso swallowed.

  "Send the word to all our government contacts. Magical Crime is now all we care about. I want everything they have on them, and I do mean everything! Nobody kills our people and lives. We cannot allow anyone associated with this to survive. See to it." Green sparks arced around her eyes as she formed green fireballs in her hands.

  Don Tomasso ran from the room. He could hear crashing sounds and small explosions but he never once looked back.

  ~~~~~~

  "You should have called me sooner Agent Moore. I told Agatha to give you my number and instructions." Director Mills practically growled into the phone.

  "Sorry, Ma'am, but we thought we would investigate and see what we could find on our own."

  "What you found was a keg of dynamite that could destroy the Bureau as we know it. A direct relative of the Commission holds one of the highest offices in the FBI? How could you not think this wasn't important enough to call me right away? I know we trained you better than that, Cat. And now this. The locals in Virginia called the FBI when they realized they had a magical event. Local agents responded first."

  "Do you want us to meet with them?" Cat signaled Chuck with her hand.

  "Not at this time. Only the dead ones were still there. Witnesses reported that one man was picked up by a large black SUV that fled the scene. There is video taken by the hotel manager of Agatha going toe-to-toe with four assassins. She only just got away. This is just gotten worse." The Director sounded beyond stressed.

  "Agatha is tough, she can take care of herself." Cat started to defend her friend and boss.

  "That I can believe. But that is not the issue. Virginia police and our local office ran the prints and identified the assailants. One was former French DGSE! The General Directorate for External Security is France's equivalent of the OSS! Another is supposed to have been killed in the Sudan over twenty years ago. The OSS is still investigating the third man. One thing the two we know about had in common was a little-known group called the Missionaries of Death. They were known, associates."

  "Who are they? It sounds like a rock group." Cat said writing the name on a pad and passing it to Chuck to run.

  "Bad news is what they are. Someone is pushing all the buttons in Washington. The Missionaries of Death are assassins. They can trace their lineage all the way back to Persia. A survivor of the cult of the Hashshashin assassins founded the new group. He was an Adept who twisted his training and taught it to the undeserving. The new cult spread across the land as the tool of Princes and Kings. They claim to have been the ones to poison Napoleon in his sleep."

  "Director? I thought he was killed by cancer. Or at least that is what I remember from history class." Cat wrote 'Napoleon' on her tablet with a question mark.

  "We aren't sure. Different studies say different things. Much of the medicine at the time contained arsenic so who knows. These days, they work more with large companies and industrial sabotage than with straight out assassination. My bosses tell me that even elements of our own government have hired them in the past. Because of that fact they don't want them eliminated. Stop the Strega, but leave the Missionaries alone. This comes from the highest level, Agent Moore."

  "How the hell do we do that? Defend ourselves, but don't kill the assassins? Director, that's impossible!" Cat pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in shock with Were hearing she didn't miss anything.

  "I'm just relaying what came from the OSS. You have to respect the chain of command here Catherine. Do you wish to step down as temporary Agent in charge? I'm sure Agent Maxwell can do the job. He is one to respect the chain of command."

  "No. I've got this. Thank you, Director. We will do as you ask. Can you tell me any of what you planned out with Agatha?"

  "On an open line? Forget it, Cat. Do your jobs, and this will all work out." Director Mills hung up the phone.

  Cat looked at the phone in her hand. "I assume you all heard that?"

  "Heard what?" Bill looked at Cat confused.

  "Sorry, Bill I forgot. Everyone here except you could hear the whole conversation." Cat quickly relayed what they talked about.

  "That doesn't make any sense. I've been given a lot of crazy orders in my life, but that one really takes the cake. Defend ourselves if necessary, but don't hurt the bad guys? What the hell is the OSS thinking here?" Bill said shaking his head.

  Cat cocked her head and turned to stare at Anastasia. "That we work for them. Ana pull up the FBI command structure. Do you have it?"

  "Already ahead of you." The Vampire's fingers flew across her keyboard with lightning fast precision. "There."

  The main screen lit up to the ranking structure that every FBI trainee had pounded into them.

  "I was right. What do you see?" Cat pointed to the list.

  "Where are you going with this?" Bill looked at the screen.

  Anastasia perked up from behind her computer. "Does it say 'OSS' anywhere on there? She was trying to tell us it wasn't a real order. At least not from the FBI. The OSS isn't in our chain of command. We don't have to listen to them."

  "Interesting. Why didn't Director Mills just say that then?" Bill traced the command structure in his head.

  "As she said, on an open line? Someone is putting pressure on Washington." Cat acknowledged.

  Bill shook his head. "It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. You're in charge Catherine. We follow your orders. What's it going to be?"

  "Nice cover there Bill. Business as usual. We ignore what the OSS wants. They can deal with FBI command. Let's get back to work. Ana, can you access the local FBI's information on the dead assassins?"

  ~~~~~~~~~

  The throbbing in my arm slowed to a deep ache that I could feel every bump and turn off the car. I dumped the extremely hot SUV at the first used car lot I could find. I hated zapping the salesman on duty, but it was necessary. The FBI and I assumed WITSEC would make it right when this was all over. With luck, they wouldn't notice with
the BOLO out on it. Chuckling to myself I remembered the look on the guy's face when we pulled up.

  "That's a nice one you got there. Good transmission, mileage, and speed just what you need in an SUV. What can I do for you today?" The salesman at Merlin's Magical Cars was a tall, lanky looking man in a cowboy hat.

  "We need a new car," I replied as I stepped out of the car.