“And the other thing?” Zander asked, meaning Sawyer.
“Will have to wait, but…” Vincent sighed. “I hate you, but I’m in. Maybe if I team up, I have half a chance in hell at becoming something more than just a Castello to her. We’ll just completely back off until the case is done, is that clear? You drop the attitude with everyone, though.”
“Roger that,” Zander chuckled. He could do that, now that he knew he had Vincent on his side and not as his competition. “We should have talked about all of this before something happened.”
“We should have,” Jasper agreed, “but with all three of us on the same page, no more fighting. And you’re outnumbered now, Zander. You need to slow down and stop pushing her.”
Zander agreed with a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them.
He would never stop trying to make Sawyer realize he cared for her.
Everything changed the next morning, when Vincent got a phone call from Abilene Police Department. Zander was woken up by banging on his door and an echo in his head.
“Everyone up! We have bodies in Abilene! My room, ASAP!”
Zander jumped out of bed and only slowed to pull up a pair of pants. Jasper was a bit slower, getting on his prosthetic, but he wasn’t much slower. Zander got into Vincent’s room and watched Sawyer go straight through a wall and dresser to get in from hers. He was impressed that she could phase through something that solid. Jasper might have been able to get through a wall but not the dresser, too .
“Bodies?” Sawyer groaned. “We’ve been here less than twenty-four hours.”
“The killer might not know we’re here yet, so they didn’t think it would draw attention,” Vincent said promptly. “And it’s definitely a killer. A couple in their forties don’t have simultaneous heart attacks on the same night when they were both completely fine the day before.”
“Jesus fuck.” Zander gasped, sitting down slowly on the edge of the bed. “Two?”
“Yes,” Vincent said as Quinn and Jasper finally got into the room. “Did you two hear that? Two bodies, Abilene. We just got a call.”
“From who? We haven’t told anybody except the sheriff we’re in town, and he wouldn’t be privy to a murder in Abilene.” Jasper frowned and Zander made space for him to sit down.
“James, actually. Abilene called the IMPO for someone to come look into it, since they know about the two bodies out here. They find it fishy, as well.”
“Victims are Magi?” Sawyer asked, leaning against the dresser she had walked through. Zander noticed that she had made sure to get completely dressed before walking over. The fact that she was already armed to the teeth terrified and aroused him. He might have been an ass on the plane but damn, she was something else dressed in all black with too many pointy things on her.
“Yes, but get this,” Elijah said. “No one knew they were Magi until the bodies were found and evidence pointed to it.”
“Meaning they had like Magi weekly or some such.” Sawyer murmured, crossing her arms.
“No, they were both retired IMAS soldiers, but funny. Magi Weekly, I like that.” Elijah told her. Zander brought his eyebrows together. “Their paperwork was found in their home office. Pension, retirement, ribbons and medals they acquired, all tucked away in a lockbox.”
“Someone good enough to kill not one, but two retired IMAS soldiers?” Zander asked, half to himself. “What the hell is going on out here… and why?”
“I’m more interested in why, and how no one knew this couple were Magi. And why they are now victims along with two others.” Vincent grabbed a pencil and began writing stuff down in his notepad. “We can put off the sheriff for another day, we’re getting Abilene and looking over these bodies. They haven’t been moved, and no other Magi have been allowed near the area except the person who found them.”
Zander looked over to Sawyer and wondered how she was about to handle her first murder scene. He didn’t like the stone set of her face, the lack of emotion in her eyes. He wondered where she was in that moment. It didn’t look like it was anywhere good as the thump of Shade jumping into the room made her jump.
Once they were all loaded up, they made plans about what would be handled by whom. Zander called Vincent and put it on speaker so Quinn and Jasper could follow along.
“Elijah, you handle any witnesses. Talk to people who knew the couple, the person who found them. Jasper, look around their home for documents that might tell us anything about what the couple was into to. Quinn, case the surrounding area, anything you find interesting, let one of us know. I’ll be talking to the local law enforcement about what we can do together to stop or deter future murders. This is obviously targeted against Magi citizens, there’s no doubt but I’m hoping since they were comfortable enough to call us, they are not corrupted by Anti-Magi rhetoric.” Vincent was rattling off tasks, and Zander waited for his name there at the end. “Zander, you know you have body duty.”
“Yup,” Zander replied, sighing. He hated body duty. He always had it. His healing ability would allow him to examine the body for cause of death or any other anomalies at the time of death. “When were the bodies found?”
“About 4 hours ago,” Vincent answered him.
“What about me?” Sawyer called out and Zander sighed. Yeah, Vincent hadn’t given her a task.
“I want you to just stay out of trouble,” Vincent told her with a bit of humor. “Actually, I want you handy in case something happens. Keep sharp.”
“I’m muscle?” Sawyer laughed. “I love it.”
“You’ve done it, now, Vincent.” Elijah laughed. “You’ve given her free rein.”
“Lord have mercy on me,” Vincent chuckled. “Zander, you all good to go?”
“We are,” Zander responded. “See you there.”
They both hung up at the same time, and Zander looked over to Jasper and then back to Quinn.
“You’re both clear on what’s going on?” he asked, looking all the way back to the wolves just in case.
“Standard protocol for us,” Jasper answered. “We’ll be fine.”
“I know what to do,” Quinn added. “No worries. I’ll keep these two close to me as well. We’ll be in a populated area, so I’ll stay in human form and let them do the sniffing.”
“Good call,” Jasper said carefully. There had been one boondocks town they went to, Zander remembered, that the locals thought they would be cute and take shots at Quinn, Shade, and Scout. They knew Quinn was a Magi in wolf form, so Zander didn’t feel bad for what Quinn did to them. It had been a load of paperwork to deal with afterward, but none of them regretted it. It had been cruel and uncalled for, since those locals weren’t even part of the case the team had been working. They were just passing through, chasing down another serial killer, who was on the run, looking for his next victim.
They arrived after Elijah, Vincent, and Sawyer. It was a small house just outside of city limits in an unnamed neighborhood. The grass everywhere was yellow, matching what he had seen everywhere else in the state. He wondered, for a moment, if it would green up if there was some rain. Zander hopped out and moved to straight inside the small house towards the bodies. He found an officer standing guard and pulled out his badge.
“Special Agent Zander Wade with the IMPO,” he told the officer quickly.
“I was told you were coming to look over them.” The police officer mumbled, stepping aside. “It’s weird. They look fine.”
“Could be poison,” Zander answered quietly. “I’ll find out though.”
“Really? You don’t need an autopsy or anything? Tox screen?” The officer watched Zander kneel, and Zander just shook his head.
“Those are nice if we are called in later on, but I can examine a body pretty quickly on my own. It’s just gross because I have to touch the dead.” Zander gave a humorless laugh. He hated this part of being a healer. It was the most common thing he did on these missions. How did so and so die? It was disgusting and morbid, but it was his
job.
He laid a hand on the woman, looking peaceful, and focused on her body. He ignored whatever the police officer was saying as he concentrated. This was more difficult than just flooding a body with magic to heal it. He need to use his magic to hunt down specific things.
He was lucky he did have some medical knowledge. It was something he studied privately, to expand his knowledge of the human and animal bodies, so he could do better work. He just didn’t want to do the college thing, which seemed to make everyone think he was a dumb punching bag that was always looking for a fight.
He didn’t find any foreign substances in her bloodstream, which was becoming thick and congealed. He didn’t find anything unusual.
Her heart had just stopped. That caused oxygen deprivation for the brain. Then she died. He felt just a bit of magic around her heart, just a tiny amount, and it wasn’t from a Magi he recognized.
Zander yanked his hand back and pushed away from the body. His stomach rolled.
“No fucking way,” he muttered. “You can’t do that.” He whispered it to himself, but he was directing it at the killer. He looked up to the police officer as his stomach continued to move in an uncomfortable fashion. “Go get any of my teammates, please.” He sounded like he was about to faint.
“Yes, sir.”
He watched the police officer run off and glared back at the woman’s body. Sick. He reached for the male body and ran the same search. And got the same results. And felt even worse.
“What’s wrong, Zander?” Sawyer’s voice had him pulling his attention away. He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. If anyone knew if this was something possible, it would be her. This couldn’t be the only time this sort of thing would have happened. She might have known someone capable of this.
“Have you ever heard of healing being used to kill?” he asked softly. And watched her pale.
“Yes, but…” Sawyer shook her head. “In theory, it would work but I’ve never met anyone with healing willing to do it… Just stories, rumors of it.”
“Never thought to mention that?” he asked next.
“Didn’t think it was something you all cared to know. Not exactly something you bring up in fucking conversation,” Sawyer snapped. “Why?”
“I think that’s what happened here,” Zander mumbled bitterly. “Some sick mother fucker with healing is literally stopping their hearts, throwing them into a forced cardiac arrest and killing them. He’s perverting what healing is, using it to destroy the body instead of fixing it. It could also be a hard stop petrify but there’d be more signs of that. I would know. I’ve seen what a hard stop petrify can do to someone and this isn’t it.”
“Oh,” Sawyer gasped. He knew she must have been realizing what he knew now about the killer. “Oh my god. I’ll let the other guys know…”
“Thank you,” Zander sighed. “Fuck. This is disgusting.” He watched Sawyer leave and looked back to the police officer, who was just standing there, looking horrified. “Find out who their families are and contact them. I don’t need to know anymore.”
“Of course, sir,” the officer murmured, looking sick. Zander didn’t blame him. He walked carefully away from the bodies, his stomach still rolling and twisting.
He pushed out of the house into the bright morning sun and the heat. He was stumbling as he made it to the quiet shade around the side, ignoring anyone who asked to talk to him.
And he lost everything in his stomach.
Using healing magic for that required a truly sick mind. The fact that Sawyer had even heard rumors of someone trying it sickened him. The fact that the killer was probably doing it made him ill to the point that he couldn’t stop the dry heaving once his stomach was empty.
Whoever was doing this was fucked in the head. Completely, totally, and probably irreversibly. And he could kill them with a touch. A simple sweep of magic to the heart and they would be on their knees. This case just got a hell of a lot more dangerous.
“Zander,” Quinn called out. Zander looked over to him and took a deep breath. “Vincent sent out word that I need to come back around. What’s wrong?”
“A healer is our killer,” Zander explained to Quinn, looking back down to the yellow grass. “Any of us are vulnerable. Don’t let any Magi touch you from here on out.”
“Okay,” Quinn said. Zander felt Quinn begin to rub his back. It was awkward, but it was Quinn, and he was attempting to comfort Zander. It was something new from Quinn, but Zander didn’t have the time nor the energy to think about it. He was just thankful that someone was there for a moment. “Are you done with the bodies?”
“Yes,” Zander groaned out.
“I’ll stay here with you,” Quinn told him quietly, still rubbing his back. Zander felt his wilder friend grow easier. The rubbing grew more confident, and that led Zander to lean into it a bit.
“Thank you,” Zander whispered. “You’ve been here a lot for me these last couple of days.”
“We aren’t very close,” Quinn sighed, “but we’re pack mates and friends. I’ll be here whenever you need me.” Zander’s heart clenched. Coming from Quinn, that might as well have been a proclamation of undying love.
“I know,” Zander mumbled. “I’m here for you, too.”
“I know. Let’s take a walk and get you feeling better.” Quinn’s hand grabbed Zander’s forearm. Elijah was suddenly on Zander’s other side. “Thank you, Elijah.”
“Sawyer told me and Vincent,” he said sadly. “We’re going to head out soon. There’s no security to look through here. These two were keeping their identities as Magi pretty low, and that probably made them more vulnerable to attack. Problem is, there are very few open Magi in the area. People come out here for the quiet life and keep to themselves, their magic included. None of the neighbors knew, no one in town. Other Magi aren’t coming forward to confirm if they knew because that would expose them…”
“A mess,” Zander muttered, finally feeling a bit better. He leaned against the house nearly twenty feet from where he vomited. “This is a mess.”
“Not the biggest or worst one we’ve ever had… but definitely not the easy starter case we wanted for Sawyer.” Elijah sighed. “Let’s get out of here. The locals can handle clean up. We need to figure out who all the Magi in this area are—either to protect them or make them suspects. We’ll talk more back at the motel, in privacy.”
Zander was excited to hear they were leaving. He wasn’t sure he could handle another minute with the bodies so close.
He forgot all about their personal problems. He was going to take this sick fuck down. If they were all left standing at the end of it, then he would talk to Elijah and Quinn about Sawyer. And he would tell Sawyer how he felt.
15
Elijah
“Four bodies, four ‘heart attacks’, an unknown number of Magi in the area, all protecting their own asses.” Elijah groaned. “This is bad, Vincent.”
Elijah wasn’t sure it could get much worse, and they didn’t know if anything else was playing into this, yet.
“It is bad,” Vincent agreed. “I think we should split up our efforts.”
“How so?” Jasper asked from his spot at Vincent’s desk in the corner of the motel room.
“Elijah, I want you to get nosy with the sheriff, still. He’s the only Magi we’ve found here. Find out why everyone is hiding, from whom or what, whether it be their pasts, the WMC, or an Anti-Magi group. If he stonewalls you, then we’ll send in Jasper and Sawyer.” Vincent pointed to Sawyer. “Steal anything from him you can get your hands on. Lists, strange documents-”
“Find out how dirty he is and take every shred of evidence I can find about it?” Sawyer laughed. “Really?”
“You have the experience,” Jasper reminded her. “A few of your jobs were-”
“Yeah, I just thought I would be doing… something else here, as an agent, alright?”
Sawyer mumbled, shaking her head. “I didn’t think…”
Elijah frowned a
t her. He would need to ask what was wrong later. He didn’t like the look on her face.
“You can do it?” Vincent asked her, frowning as well.
“Yeah,” Sawyer answered, with a deep breath. “It won’t be hard if he’s dirty. There’s two possibilities. He’ll either cover his tracks too well and be too clean, or he’ll be dirty as fuck. Normally, the good guys have a little dirt, accidents, helping a friend with a DUI. Things like that. The ones you look out for…” Sawyer shrugged, and Elijah nodded.
“Are the ones who make themselves look perfect,” Elijah finished for her. “We’ve run into it before.”
“Yeah.” Sawyer sighed. “I was hired once or twice to deal with corporate things. A squeaky-clean CEO who was so clean, no one realized he was embezzling millions, things like that. Principle still applies here. Let me know when, and I can find something on our sheriff.”
“We’re going to request his Registrar entry, too,” Jasper spoke up. “No reason to go in blind when we break in. Let’s hope we don’t need to.”
“I’ll bother the sheriff later today,” Elijah added. “Maybe I can learn a bit more about him. He should be helping.”
“These were obviously not normal heart attacks. That mother fucker knows something, I swear to god,” Zander snarled from the back of the room. Elijah nodded slowly. Zander was particularly upset, and everyone knew it. On the way back, none of them really knew what to say about it. To use healing to kill people? It was like having an animal bond and killing them. Some abilities just weren’t meant to do certain things… this case was set to go into the record books, already, and Elijah didn’t want it to.
“Go ahead and get to Sheriff Stevenson,” Vincent told him, and Elijah just kept nodding. He stood up slowly and stretched. Day two back in Texas, and he wasn’t having a good time. “I’ll give James a call about getting the sheriff’s entry. I’m hoping it can be rushed, since we’re out here in a dangerous position.” Vincent sighed. “Who do you want for backup?”
A Heart of Shame (The Redemption Saga Book 2) Page 19
