Conviction

by Jennifer Blackstream

  I rose my voice and went on, “Shortly after Gloria’s murder, Fortuna’s shut down. The racino closed. The team needed not just a new leader, but a new business. And Siobhan was ready. She approached Anton Winters with the idea for a new racetrack—one out in the middle of Lake Erie. She managed to sell him on the venture, and Turning Tides was born.”

  I tilted my head. “Siobhan, were you always the representative to meet with Mr. Winters? Or did he speak with another authority figure at Turning Tides?”

  Siobhan stuck out her chin. “I was always Mr. Winter’s contact point. Turning Tides is mine, I make the decisions.”

  I pointed to Puck’s Folly. “Puck. Did you or did you not tell me that Raichel met with Anton Winters last week?”

  Puck seemed surprised to be called out. He looked to Siobhan. Her mouth flattened into a thin line, but she nodded. They couldn’t afford to hesitate or appear to be hiding something. Mac Tyre was too sharp.

  “I did,” he said carefully.

  “Raichel met with Anton Winters, behind Siobhan’s back, and less than a week later she was dead. You told me that was too much of a coincidence. Tell Mac Tyre why you thought that.”

  “I don’t recall my exact thoughts at the time,” Puck hedged.

  “Did you or did you not also say ‘Everyone was whispering that Raichel was being groomed to take over’ during our conversation?”

  Siobhan was glowering at Puck now. For the first time, I wondered if Puck’s taunting that had gotten me into Siobhan’s office hadn’t been part of her plan. Perhaps Puck had decided to do a little improv for his own amusement.

  Very interesting.

  “I did,” Puck conceded. “But that doesn’t change the facts, does it?”

  Mac Tyre listened to everything with rapt attention, but his face didn’t give away even a hint to his thoughts. I kept going.

  “So Gloria is the head of the team, then she’s murdered. Siobhan is head of the team, rumors start going around that Raichel is going to take over, and Raichel is murdered.”

  “I guess I’m just lucky.” Siobhan shrugged. “People who get in my way end up dead.” She looked over my shoulder at Andy. “Perhaps there’s a lesson there.”

  “Oh, there’s a lesson there,” I agreed. “Rowyn, what happened to the man that killed Gloria?”

  “Rumor has it that Siobhan ate him,” Rowyn answered. He gave the answer quick enough, but the question had caught him off guard. Not so off guard that he didn’t remember to phrase it as a rumor. No sense admitting to the Vanguard that Siobhan had killed a human, when she was trying so hard to earn the right to kill another one legally. His gaze bounced from me to Mac Tyre, then to Siobhan. “Why?”

  “Like so many statements that come from the lips of the fey, that wasn’t a lie,” I explained. “But it was grossly misleading.” I smiled at Siobhan. “She only ate a finger.”

  I glanced behind me toward where Evelyn had parked when she’d arrived ten minutes ago after having retrieved our corrupted friend from New Moon. Gordon Larkin looked less than pleased, and I wondered if he’d tried to give the justiciar any trouble on the way over.

  I pitied him if he had.

  The blood drained from Siobhan’s face. Shadow of Death scowled and shot her a glare, as if she’d really blundered. Puck looked uneasy. Charlotte’s mouth quirked up at the corner.

  “This is Gordon Larkin. The man who killed Gloria with an iron scythe. And as you can see, he’s very much alive.”

  “I’m not on trial here,” Siobhan countered. “This isn’t about Gloria, this is about Raichel, and we have a video that you confirmed as legitimate that proves Agent Bradford killed her!” She swiveled to Mac Tyre. “I made my case. I want the human handed over.” She shot me a cruel smile. “If he is still human, of course.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not done.”

  “Then make your point, Mother Renard,” Mac Tyre prompted.

  Ice slid down my spine. Peasblossom crawled onto my shoulder, striking a Wonder Woman pose of defiance as she glared around the crowd. “You’ve got this,” she said under her breath.

  I looked at Rowyn. “When did Siobhan start going to Something Fishy? Specifically, was it before or after Andy had a fight with the other kelpies, that night in August?”

  “She started going there in early September,” Rowyn reported.

  “So?” Siobhan scoffed.

  I pointed at Andy. “After Morgan told you there were kelpies at Something Fishy, did you go there every night?”

  Andy folded his arms. “Not every night. But most. For a while.”

  “When did you stop going almost every night?”

  Andy stared down Siobhan. “When I overheard Siobhan tell a group of kids that the kelpies went on Thursday nights. She invited them to come visit them on their boat. I showed up to Something Fishy to make sure she didn’t abduct them or kill them. From that point on, I was only there every Thursday night.”

  “So Siobhan could easily predict that you would be there the night of the murder.”

  Siobhan growled. “And did he ever kill any of us? Was that part of his Thursday ritual? Could I have predicted that too?”

  “I’ll get to that,” I said coldly. “According to the jockey at Turning Tides named Mickey V, you specifically ordered him to be there that night. Is that correct?”

  The kelpie team leader hesitated.

  “We could always ask Mr. Winters to bring him over,” I pressed. “Maybe I should. I’m sure he—”

  “Yes, I told him to be there. But—”

  “You also gave him instructions not to go inside and not to look inside the bar. You told him to wait out front and not make eye contact with anyone but you?”

  Siobhan glared at me as if she could set me on fire by force of will alone. “Yes.”

  “So you told Mickey to wait outside, knowing he would be dressed in his street clothes because he knew not to don his racing silks until just before an event, with specific instructions not to look inside the bar. All because you wanted Andy to think he was a kid.” I raised my voice. “You stressed to Mickey how important it was that he be there, making sure he understood that you would be angry if he failed you.”

  “So what if I did?”

  I pressed on, “You told Raichel to go there glamoured as you because you knew Mickey would see through her glamour, the way he had before at the track. You knew he’d know she wasn’t who she was claiming to be, that he’d be suspicious, and that he’d fight not to go with her. And you counted on that being the scene that played out in front of Andy. A kid fighting not to be dragged away by a kelpie he knew had a history of kidnapping kids.”

  Rowyn sneered at me. “Your little theory of incitement only makes sense if you’re admitting that your FBI partner is so full of hatred for our kind, that even after he saw Mickey was no defenseless underage brat and in no immediate real danger, he was still guaranteed to shoot Raichel.”

  Siobhan jumped in, “Is that what you’re saying? That Bradford is a loaded gun, ready to go off at any kelpie who gets in his way? So much so that if I but put my rival in his path I could predict with certainty he would murder her?”

  “Why not?” I asked calmly. “That’s how you killed Gloria.”

  The three racers behind Siobhan tensed. Puck looked like a child who’d just figured out he’d been giving away his teeth to fey who may or may not be collecting them for nefarious purposes. Shadow of Death was angry, grinding his jaw so hard that if he hadn’t had flat teeth before, he would have now. And Charlotte’s Web had an anticipatory gleam in his eye that almost looked like hunger.

  Even Rowyn was staring at her now, his brow furrowed. I blinked. So Rowyn hadn’t known about Siobhan’s part in Gloria’s murder?

  “A human killed Gloria, not me!” Siobhan snarled.

  I pointed at the corrupted human standing beside Evelyn. “Gordon Larkin was a gambler at Fortuna’s. Siobhan sent a demon called Lorelei after him—Evelyn can attest to L
orelei’s statement, as well as its validity, since she cannot leave her prison.”

  Evelyn looked at Mac Tyre. “That’s correct. Lorelei refused to give up this information without getting something in return. I believe it is the truth. She corrupted Gordon Larkin at Siobhan’s request.”

  I nodded. “Under Siobhan’s orders, Lorelei gave Gordon tips about races, let him have a fantastic winning streak. Then she abandoned him—but not before she corrupted him. Gordon started losing, and his addiction drove him to wager more and more.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the man himself nodding along, face red.

  “Finally,” I resumed, “when he was on the edge, Siobhan approached him disguised as Gloria and pretended to give him a tip. Told him to bet big, that this was the only time she’d make such an allowance. Gordon had no reason to believe Gloria’s word wasn’t good. He bet everything, and he lost. Siobhan, knowing he was corrupted, knowing he was unstable, gave him one more nudge. She told him Gloria had joked about giving some poor chump a bad tip, that she was laughing about him losing everything and glad to be rid of him. And that’s when Gordon killed her.”

  I had Gordon’s testimony about Siobhan telling him Gloria had laughed at him, but I was guessing about her impersonating Gloria based on what I knew of her tactics. But the kelpie didn’t know that.

  “Coincidence,” Siobhan dismissed.

  I shook my head without taking my eyes from Siobhan’s. “That’s not all Lorelei told me. She also said it was you that told her to corrupt Agent Andrew Bradford back in April. You knew about his past, his struggles with his temper. You taunted him by bringing kids around, knowing he’d be here, knowing he was watching.”

  Suddenly I remembered something Siobhan had told me during one of our previous meetings.

  “I’ve made a new friend. A human cop.”

  “Did your human cop friend tell you Andy was suspended for hitting a suspect?”

  Normally I wouldn’t ask a question like that when I didn’t know the answer, but in this case, it paid off. Siobhan scowled. “So?”

  “So you kept pushing Andy, you found out he was starting to lose control of his temper, and you saw your chance.”

  Siobhan shook her head. “If I were going to set all that up as you say,” she said in a low voice, “I wouldn’t leave anything to chance. That entire plan relies on too many pieces coming together, it’s sloppy. What if Mickey had looked inside, what if Bradford didn’t notice his so-called plight, or if he stayed home sick that night? What if Raichel just told Mickey who she was? Or if Andy confronted her as me but didn’t shoot her, and she realized I’d set her up?”

  She looked at Mac Tyre. “I wouldn’t take that chance. I wouldn’t move against a rival in a way that might cost me the support of the Winters. Not even if it were only a slim chance.”

  “No. You wouldn’t. Which is why you gave Mickey a gun.” I opened my waist pouch. “Bizbee, could you give me the file, please?”

  I took the file from the grig and handed it to Mac Tyre. “Those are formal statements from Mickey V and another jockey, Deacon, that I got tonight, less than an hour ago. Both of them attest that Siobhan gave Mickey an unregistered gun, and he was carrying it that night. Mickey confessed to giving Rowyn the gun after the shooting.”

  Rowyn shuffled back, then stopped himself. Mac Tyre’s gaze locked on him. “Is this true?”

  “It is,” the kelpie conceded. “But Mickey didn’t fire that gun. It doesn’t change anything.”

  I gestured at the paper. “In his statement, Mickey admits that if Siobhan had ordered him to shoot Raichel if Agent Bradford failed to do so, then he would have shot her. He was afraid his boss would do something to end his career at Turning Tides if he didn’t cooperate with her scheme.”

  “Wouldn’t ending his career risk alienating Turning Tides’ original investor, Mr. Winters?” Mac Tyre asked doubtfully.

  “Accidents can happen, with adrenaline running high for the crowd and the race participants, can’t they?” I stared at Siobhan, and this time, I let the satisfaction show in my eyes, in the smile on my face. “Mickey was your plan B.” I turned to Mac Tyre. “Agent Bradford isn’t the murderer. He’s only the murder weapon.”

  Mac Tyre nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off the documents in front of him. After reading through both statements, he closed the file and turned to Siobhan. “In light of this new evidence, I’m inclined to reject your request to take custody of Andrew Bradford and punish him. If you still want to argue your case, you have that choice. But be aware, if you do so, you will need to answer for these…similarities between Raichel’s death and Gloria’s. And I’m sure your own people will have an interest in hearing that testimony.”

  Siobhan looked ready to spit horseshoes, but she held her head high. “No need. I’m dropping the charges.”

  Mac Tyre closed the file, but didn’t give it back to me. “Then this proceeding is finished.” He faced me and gestured at my waist pouch. “I’ll need the rest of the file for my records.”

  I should have felt relieved, but something was wrong. Siobhan had put a lot of work into framing Andy, but she didn’t even look mad. I chalked part of that up to her need to appear unemotional, just so her team didn’t see her sweat over my revelations relating to Gloria. But I’d expected fireworks. A tantrum.

  Something.

  I handed my entire case files over to Mac Tyre, my nerves buzzing with awareness. I kept my attention on the equines, waiting for some sign of aggression, some hint that they were just waiting for the Vanguard to leave.

  But it wasn’t the equines who made the first move.

  “Wait,” Andy said.

  I whirled around to face him, ready to tell him now was not the time to raise any complications. We’d won, but it was precarious. He had to see that.

  But Andy was facing Mac Tyre with that set to his shoulders that meant he had a mission. And it looked official.

  “You have something to add?” Mac Tyre asked.

  “Not about my case, no.” He glanced at Siobhan, then met Mac Tyre’s eyes. “What if I want to bring charges against Siobhan?”

  My mouth fell open. “What?”

  Andy ignored me.

  Mac Tyre frowned. “What charges?”

  Andy looked back at Liam. For the first time, I noticed the werewolf’s expression somewhere between amused and impressed. The alpha went back to his truck and opened the backseat to draw out a large box.

  “Shade said the Vanguard doesn’t tend to investigate single deaths or disappearances in the human community,” Andy said. “Is that right?”

  Mac Tyre paused. “Not usually, no. The Vanguard steps in only in large-scale situations. City-wide safety issues, that sort of thing. Why?”

  “It’s my understanding that the smaller crimes you don’t investigate are left up to individual societies to handle,” Andy pressed on. “Specifically, the leader of a certain group or clan is responsible for keeping their people in line?”

  I had no idea where he was going with this.

  Neither did Mac Tyre. “I suppose,” he said slowly.

  “So, for example, if a vampire allowed the vampires they sired to run around murdering humans, that sire would be held responsible,” Andy clarified. “I would be within my right—as an official law enforcement officer responsible for the human population—to punish that leader for their failure to control their people. In effect, that leader is responsible for the murders committed by their people.”

  “All true.”

  “So, how would the humans in that situation get justice? How would I go about punishing the leader?”

  “If it was reported to the Vanguard, or discovered by one of our agents, we would send a team to confirm the facts and the leader would be dealt with.”

  “Dealt with?”

  Mac Tyre tilted his head. “Executed.”

  I figured it out a split second before Liam arrived at my side. He put down the box he’d been ca
rrying.

  “Bones,” Mac Tyre murmured. He looked up at Andy. “Whose bones?”

  “The bones of human victims.” Andy bent to take a file out of the box. “I’ve managed to identify the ones in this box. I have more that are as-yet unidentified. But according to a forensic scientist, these people were eaten. By equine animals. All within the last four months.”

  “How many?” Mac Tyre inquired.

  Andy leveled a steely look at Siobhan. “Fifty-eight, so far.”

  Siobhan retreated, backing right into Charlotte’s Web. The larger kelpie looked down at her with an odd expression. Something between censure and…anticipation.

  Mac Tyre studied the file, and the bones. “Are you turning over this evidence for my office to deal with her, Agent Bradford?”

  Andy shook his head. “I’d like to take care of it personally. I am an officer of the law. I believe under your customs that qualifies me to mete out justice?”

  Mac Tyre looked at Andy, and there was something new in his eyes.

  Respect.

  “You are correct,” he murmured. He glanced at me. “You, of course, are able to act on behalf of the Vanguard, as you have a history with us. And Detective Sergeant Osbourne serves as an officer of human law as well.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “I assume you’d like to give Siobhan the news?”

  “I would.” Andy faced Siobhan, seeming to relish the confusion on her face. They hadn’t heard Andy’s last exchange with Mac Tyre, and were probably wondering what the box of bones was for.

  I smiled, allowing myself to savor the moment I felt coming.

  “Siobhan,” Andy said, raising his voice. He reached behind him and drew out a pair of handcuffs. “You’re under arrest.”

  Chapter 27

  “Under arrest?” Siobhan scoffed. She stared after Mac Tyre as he got back into his SUV, blinking when Oksana waved at her before getting into the backseat and slamming the door shut behind her. Evelyn passed me a card, then patted my shoulder before turning away to get back in her own car—taking a silent, stewing Gordon Larkin with her.