Shadow's Blade, page 25
“I need to know.”
“I’m not ready to talk about this.”
“We’re running out of time.”
Her gaze met mine. “But we’re not out yet. What else did you want to ask me?”
I shook my head. “I’m not letting you off that easy. What do you intend to do with it?”
“I’ve already told you—”
“We are talking about this now!” I shouted it at her, without regard for who might hear me. I didn’t care if Emmy and Zach never spoke to me again because I was mean to their mom. I didn’t care if Billie thought me a bully for speaking to Gracie this way. I’d had enough. “I have risked jail for you. I’ve put my life on the line. I’ve endured an attack from Saorla that nearly made my brain explode. And I’ve been willing to do it because I don’t want any harm to come to those kids. But you will answer these questions.”
She opened her mouth, and I stopped her with a raised finger that made her flinch.
“I swear to God, if you tell me that you didn’t ask for my help, I’m leaving you here in the middle of fucking nowhere and taking your kids back to your parents.”
I wasn’t sure I could follow through on the threat—Gracie was as powerful a weremyste as I, maybe more.
It seemed, though, that the threat was enough.
“I promise you it’s safe,” she said, her voice low.
“Where?”
“I won’t tell you that.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
She squinted up at that sun. “I don’t know. Honestly.”
“How did you get it?”
Her cheeks blazed red. “I won’t tell you that either.”
A thought came to me, but for now I kept it to myself. “It should be destroyed,” I said instead.
“A few days ago I would have said you were crazy for even thinking it. Something that old, that powerful? Destroying it . . .” She shook her head again. “I couldn’t have even imagined it.”
“And now?”
“And now I’m starting to think you might be right. I’m not there yet, but I don’t think Saorla and her bunch should ever have it. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life running away from them, trying to hold on to it.”
“I can help you with it,” I said. “Together, we can destroy it.” I thought of Namid. “Or maybe we can give it to someone who can keep it safe.”
“I’ll think about it. Really.”
She wasn’t ready to give in, and I didn’t have the time to convince her. “All right,” I said, sighing the words. I took a step back toward where we’d parked. “We should probably get going.”
Gracie didn’t move. “You already have helped. I know I’m a pain in the ass. But you’ve helped a lot, and I’m grateful.”
“Thanks.”
We walked back to where Billie was waiting.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s get going.”
Gracie rounded up the kids and lured them into the car with a promise of snacks once we were back on the main road.
As we drove, Billie complained again about the abuse of her struts. I tried to tell her that the car would be fine.
“Yeah right,” she said. “There’s no way you would have done this in your car.”
“Well, no. But that’s different. The Z-ster is almost forty years old. It’s vintage.” Only as I said the words, did I remember my father saying much the same thing about his truck. His beloved truck, which was still sitting in Sonoran Desert National Monument. I hoped.
“I’m sorry,” Gracie said from the back seat. “The Z-ster?”
I twisted in my seat to look at her. “That’s my car. It’s a 1977 280Z.”
“The Z-ster,” she said again. “That has got to be the stupidest name for a car I’ve ever heard.”
“Thank you!” Billie said, in a way that made it sound like she’d been thinking the same thing forever.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
“Sorry, Fearsson, but she’s right. It’s a dumb name.”
“It is not!”
“Yeah,” Gracie said, “it really is. Why not name it something normal that starts with ‘Z’? Like . . . Zelda.”
Billie nodded. “I like that.”
“I don’t.”
“Zana is nice,” Billie said. I think she was pretending she hadn’t heard me.
“Zoë,” Emmy said. “That’s a friend of mine’s name.”
“Zeeber!” Zach said, lifting his zebra and grinning ear to ear.
Even I had to laugh at that. I had a feeling that before the day was out, the Z-ster would have a new name.
We found an RV campground outside of Gila Bend that also allowed tent camping. It wasn’t too expensive, the bathrooms were reasonably clean and included showers, and the tent sites were some distance away from the RV spaces. I would have preferred to be back in Organ Pipe, or somewhere in the Superstition Wilderness, but all things considered, it wasn’t too bad a spot. And I liked the idea of staying in a mix of motels and campsites. Anything to keep Saorla and her friends guessing.
Still, as an added precaution, I decided to cast that glamour again, this time on Gracie and the kids. It had worked for Billie, and I hoped it might work for them, too. The complicating factors were Gracie’s magic and Emmy’s potential, which, to a being like Saorla, must have been like beacons on a dark night. I didn’t know if any spell I cast would be enough to hide them. I had to try, though. I told Billie and Gracie as much.
“You’re going to cast it on yourself, as well, right?” Billie asked.
“Actually, I’m not.”
“Fearsson—”
“Why not?” Gracie’s question cut across whatever objections Billie had intended to raise.
“Because the spell as I cast it on Billie would keep you from being seen not only by Saorla, but also by Fitzwater and other weremancers.” I paused searching for the right words, trying to keep what I had to say as vague as I could. “And it’s possible that I’ll need to speak with a few of them to get the information I need. They have to be able to see me.”
I watched Gracie for her reaction to this, but she seemed to have moved on already, which was fine with me.
“I’ve never used a glamour like this on a person,” she said. “If it works, the kids and I will be invisible to Saorla and the rest, like Billie was on the trail?”
“That’s the idea. The effect won’t last forever; this isn’t a permanent solution. I’m one weremyste, and a limited one at that. Saorla will find a way past my crafting eventually. But for right now it does seem to be working.”
“All right. But you should cast it on all of us, not just the kids and me. Or better yet, teach me to cast it and I’ll do it myself.” She grinned, dark eyes dancing. “It could be a handy spell to know.”
“Billie’s already protected, and like I said, I don’t want to be. At least not yet. And I think I have to be the one to cast it. My dad put a glamour on me, and I put an even stronger one on Billie. They both worked. I’m not as convinced that I could cast the spell on myself and have it be as effective.”
“But you don’t know that for certain.”
“No. I’m guessing, and this isn’t the time to test alternate theories. I need to get going. I won’t cast the spell without your permission, but I’d like to do it.”
Gracie shrugged, nodded. “Yeah, sure. Go ahead.”
She called the kids over and I cast the spell, reciting the elements to myself exactly as I had when I crafted Billie’s warding, so that Gracie and the kids would be completely concealed. It took less than a minute. When I had finished, the kids ran off to play once more, and Gracie moved away, perhaps sensing that Billie and I wanted time alone.
“I wish you’d let Gracie put that same spell on you,” Billie said, wrapping her arms around me, and putting her head to my chest.
“I can’t.”
“So you said. But you were keeping something from us.”
“Only from her,” I said, dropping my voice. “I’m going to see her husband, and I need to be able to question him. The problem is, I don’t know if he’s working for Saorla, so I can’t make myself invisible to her servants.”
CHAPTER 18
I helped Billie set up our tent, then left to drive back into the city. I had only been away from Phoenix for a couple of days, but it felt much longer. Already I had grown accustomed to life without smog and bumper-to-bumper traffic. The car was too quiet. I missed the kids’ chatter, which was as ridiculous as it was true. I’d grown attached to them; I’d have given my life to keep them safe. After two days. It made me a bit more understanding of Gracie’s combativeness. If they were mine, I’d have behaved exactly the same way.
I was driving against the worst of the early rush-hour traffic and reached downtown Phoenix before the mass exodus from business and office buildings began in earnest. I parked a couple of blocks from 620, and walked to the building, keeping an eye out for weres and unnaturally good-looking weremancers. I didn’t go inside, but dialed Kona’s number while standing out front.
“Hey, stranger,” she said. “Where are you?”
“Downstairs. Let’s talk.”
She told me she’d come right down and ended the call. Minutes later, she and Kevin emerged from the building. Kona spotted me right away, but she didn’t raise a hand in greeting or call my name. Instead, she and Kevin walked away from me, and at the nearest corner turned, vanishing from view. I followed.
They were waiting for me halfway down the side street.
“I feel like I’m in a bad movie,” I said.
Kona’s expression didn’t change. “Yeah, well, this is your fault, not mine.”
“What did I do?”
“Where’s Gracie Davett?”
When I didn’t answer, she nodded. “That’s what you did. You’re harboring a fugitive, Justis. You’re an accessory after the fact. I should take you in now.”
“If all that’s true, you should. But since you can’t prove a damn thing, we both know you’re not going to. And since you believe as I do that she was acting to protect herself and her kids, you’re just as glad. So cut the shit, Kona.”
She pursed her lips, staring down at the sidewalk. “Are they safe?”
“Who’s asking? You or the PPD?”
“We’re asking,” Kevin said. “Off the record.”
“Yeah, they’re safe. We had a run in with the silver-haired gentleman who killed Merilee Guilford and Burt Kendall. We were lucky to get away. And earlier today we had to fight off Saorla and a couple of her werepets.”
“Saorla?” Kona said. “You mean that crazy woman who destroyed your father’s trailer last summer?”
“One and the same. You’re not the only ones trying to track down Gracie and her kids. By the way, the vampire’s name is Lionel Fitzwater. At least that’s the name he gave me. It could be an alias.”
“Well, it’s more than we had. Man’s like a ghost; there’s no record of him anywhere. So, thanks.”
“What about the husband?”
She lifted a shoulder. “What about him? He’s still anxious to have his kids back, and we still have no clear evidence to support a domestic violence charge.”
“You won’t. I was wrong about that.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Kevin, make a note of the time and day; Justis has admitted to being wrong about something.”
I looked away, grinning. “Gracie is a were,” I said. “I’d bet good money that her injuries have coincided with the full moon. The change takes a toll, and running wild through the desert brush will leave some cuts and scrapes.”
“Again, thank you. This why you came in today? To help us with our investigation?”
I met her gaze again. “I came in to tell you that I don’t like us being on opposite sides of a case, and yes, to give you what little information I have.”
“I don’t like it either. But at some point I have to pick up my badge again and be your former partner instead of just your friend. She might have killed in self-defense, but you and I don’t get to decide that. Judges and juries make those determinations. And in the meantime, you’re helping a woman who’s wanted for a double homicide.”
“The minute she’s arrested, her kids lose the only chance they have of staying free. Gracie’s parents can’t protect them, and I’m not sure which side of this Neil Davett is on.”
“Then you might want to find out.”
I nodded. “I was already planning to. But before we get to that, let me tell you what I’ve learned about Burt’s murder.” I described for them my encounter with Lucas Quinn’s widow and granddaughter.
“What is it these people are after?” Kona asked.
“It’s an ancient stone knife.” I gave them a description of the Sgian-Bán, though I didn’t think there was much chance they’d ever find it. “It’s imbued with magic, and in my circles it’s about as powerful a weapon as you can imagine.”
“Do you have any idea where it is?”
“I don’t. But I’m sure Gracie knows, and maybe Neil, too. That’s one of the reasons Saorla and her bunch are after her.”
“One of them . . .”
“Gracie’s powerful, and her daughter shows signs of being something really special.”
“So you’re going to talk to the husband?”
“That’s my plan. Gracie’s parents, too. Do you happen to have an address for them?”
She twisted her mouth. “Am I on your payroll now?”
I said nothing. Since leaving the force, I’d done plenty of free work for the PPD on cases involving magic. Kona knew this.
She dug her notebook out of her blazer pocket, found the Trejos’ address and read it to me. It turned out Marisol and Eduardo lived in Chandler, not all that far from my place. I jotted the address down in my own notebook, so much like Kona’s it was scary, and started to walk away.
“Thanks, Kona. I’ll share with you anything more I find out about Burt, and about the rest of this as well. If you learn anything of note about Fitzwater, let me know, all right?”
“Officially? No way. Unofficially, of course I will.”
“I appreciate it. And stay away from him. He’s not someone you want to mess with.”
“Him and Saorla both, huh?”
“Welcome to my world, partner.”
I hurried back to Billie’s car, satisfied that Kona and I weren’t completely at odds. I knew that she couldn’t stop looking for Gracie, and she seemed to understand why I wasn’t ready to turn the woman in. We weren’t on the same side, but at least we weren’t working at cross purposes.
I drove down to Chandler and soon found the Trejos’ home, a modest ranch house in a solidly middle-class neighborhood. I put on the blinker and started to pull over to the curb, but as I did, all kinds of alarms went off in my head. I pulled away from the curb again and drove on, scanning the street more closely. It took me a few seconds to spot them, but once I did, I was amazed I had missed them in the first place.
The street was being watched by Jacinto Amaya’s men. How else could I explain the presence of three Lexus sedans on a single city block, in a part of town where the average homeowner made less in a year than each car cost?
I pulled over a block down, wondering what to try next. I had a feeling Amaya’s men wouldn’t let me anywhere near the house, but I wasn’t sure why they would be guarding the Trejos’ home in the first place. Did they think Marisol and Eduardo were in danger, too?
Or does Amaya think the Sgian Bán is here?
I got out of the car and walked back to their house, expecting at any moment to be accosted by Rolon and Paco, or some other pair of guys every bit as huge and menacing. But no one stopped me, which told me all I needed to know.
I approached the front door, wary, the back of my neck itching, and rang the bell. Marisol answered, the aroma of cooking onion, garlic, and cumin wafting out onto the front landing.
“Yes? Can I help—?”
She broke off, narrowing her eyes as she stared at me through the screen door.
“Jay Fearsson, Missus Trejo. The private detective Jacinto Amaya hired—”
“Have you found them?”
“I know they’re safe. I don’t wish to say more right now.”
“But why—”
“Please. You have to trust me. I’m sorry to show up unannounced, but I have a couple of questions for you.”
“Yes, of course.” She pushed open the screen. “Please come in.”
I stepped into the house and was enveloped by the aromas. My stomach growled, even though I wasn’t hungry. Or hadn’t been. “Whatever you’re making smells incredible.”
Her smile was forced, but still I saw Gracie’s face in hers. “Thank you. If you don’t mind speaking in the kitchen, I’m in the middle of making dinner.”
“That’ll be fine.”
I followed her through a small carpeted dining room to the kitchen, which was small as well, with red Formica counters, a stainless steel sink, and an oval table in the corner. A pot and several pans sat on the range.
She crossed to the stove and stirred whatever was in the pot. “Please tell me about my daughter,” she said, her back to me.
“As I said, she and the children are safe. I don’t know yet when they’ll be able to come home, but I hope you won’t have to wait too much longer.”
“You can’t tell me where they are?”
“I don’t think that would be wise.”
She glanced my way and nodded. There were tears in her eyes.
“Has Neil come by since last we spoke?”
“Neil? No, why would he? He knows how we feel about him.”
“Has anyone else come by? Have you heard from Jacinto Amaya, or from anyone who works for him? Have friends of Gracie’s come around asking for her?”
She shook her head, appearing truly perplexed by my questions. “No, no one. But Gracie only stayed with us for a short time before leaving. I don’t know if many of her friends knew she was living here.”
If this was an act, it was a damn fine one. I was betting she didn’t know Amaya’s men were watching the house.
