Dirty Magic (15 page)

When I reached the top of the stairs, I found the team huddled around Gardner’s open office door. Male shouting came from inside the small room. Tension filled the air like smog.

“What’s up?” I whispered to the others. Shadi made a pained grimace and shook her head. Mez, whose dreads had turned an inexplicable blue overnight, looked disgusted by the outburst, and Morales leaned against the ring with a smirk that said he was enjoying the fireworks.

Captain Eldritch’s back was to the open door. The way his hands were flapping he was capable of taking flight any second. Standing across from him at her desk, Gardner looked cool and calm, like she was used to having police captains chew her ass out before breakfast.

Closer now, I could make out the captain’s words. “—explain to me why I got the mayor’s office breathing down my fucking neck?”

I slowly slid down into a seat. “I brought bagels,” I whispered.

The other three perked up and dug into the box like a bunch of hyenas. Shadi and Mez retreated to their listening posts to enjoy the refreshments while they watched the show. Morales stayed near me. “He stormed through about five minutes before you got here.”

I nodded and took a sip from my coffee, suddenly wishing it were bourbon instead.

“Can’t say that I do,” Gardner replied in a calm tone. “But I’m guessing you have an idea.”

“Seems a good friend of the mayor’s is being harassed by this task force.”

“Who?”

“John Volos.”

I cringed. Had Volos seen me the other day outside his building?

“Shit,” Morales said under his breath. “I thought we were more careful.”

I relaxed instantly. I’d forgotten that Gardner had him and Shadi tail Volos the day before.

Gardner shot a quick, hard glance in Morales’s direction. “Harassed?” she said. “I highly doubt that, Captain. My agents know better.”

“According to Mr. Volos, members of this task force followed him for four hours yesterday and then sat outside a fund-raiser at the mayor’s own campaign manager’s house last night.”

“Maybe you should remind the mayor that his biggest backer was and probably still is a major player in the Cauldron’s potion trade.”

“I’d be happy to if you can hand me one piece of evidence that backs up that accusation.”

“As it happens, Agent Pruitt found some manifests from Volos Transport’s freighters yesterday. Mr. Volos has been receiving shipments of alchemical materials from Canada for the last five weeks.”

He laughed. “As an Adept, he’s allowed to use alchemical materials for his own purposes.”

“What do you suppose a solitary practitioner would need barrels full of oil of rose quartz for, Captain?” Mez challenged.

“It’s well known Mr. Volos does consulting work for Sortilege, Inc. Maybe it’s for a project with them.” Eldritch crossed his arms. “So far I have only heard conjecture.”

“We’re working on it,” Gardner snapped.

Eldritch’s mustache twitched. “John Volos isn’t just bankrolling for the mayor, he’s also a goddamned hero in this city. If you’re going to go after him, you better be sure you can back up your accusations with evidence that’s more watertight than a frog’s ass.”

“I’m sorry the mayor’s on your case,” she said. “But Mr. Volos is involved in this investigation whether any of us like it. How are we supposed to do our job properly if all the mayor’s cronies are off-limits?”

“Gee, Gardner, I don’t know. Maybe with police work? Finding hard evidence, instead of guesswork? Or does the MEA only know how to harass city leaders and get informants killed?”

His comment lay on the ground between them like a tossed gauntlet. Gardner’s jaw tightened.

“I can promise you that my team”—she shot a weighted look at Morales and Shadi—“will be more careful moving forward.”

Message heard loud and clear if the stiff postures of my teammates were any indication.

“However, I’m not here to play politics,” she continued. “I’m here to catch the criminal whose handiwork has already gotten two people killed and potentially more wounded. The evidence you respect so much is telling me Volos is involved somehow, so he will continue to be monitored.”

“Good luck with that.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I’m meeting with the mayor later to discuss options.” He crossed his arms. “He’s considering pulling the plug on this case altogether.”

“Shit,” I breathed and shared a worried look with Morales.

Gardner grew very still. “You’re going to tell him not to, right? Because there will be more violence, guaranteed. A spike in violent crimes won’t look too good to the voters right before the election.”

“Not so sure it’s the wrong move. We only have one confirmed crime connected to this potion.”

“I found five in the files that could be tied as well,” I said quietly.

“Then we’ll raid the Arteries and any known potion houses. The BPD can handle that without the MEA’s assistance.”

“Unacceptable,” Gardner said. “We simply need more time. Regardless of who is responsible for this potion, we’re looking at federal charges and I won’t let cronyism prevent us from doing our job.”

“If you can show me one piece of solid evidence tying Volos to Gray Wolf, I’ll go to bat for you with Mayor Owens.”

Gardner and Morales shared a weighted look. Finally, my partner shook his head a fraction to either side.

“That’s what I thought,” Eldritch said.

“Imagine what it will do for the mayor’s reelection if we can bring down one of the biggest coven leaders in the city. Imagine how grateful he’ll be to you for making it possible.”

He sucked on his teeth for a moment. Finally, he said, “I’ll see what I can do to buy you some time, but you need to watch your ass around Volos.”

Morales and I shared relieved glances. Gardner smiled at the captain. “You made the right choice.”

“We’ll see,” he said. He turned to me and raised his brows. “Prospero? A word?”

I glanced at Gardner. She tipped her chin down, but shot Eldritch a warning look. He looked offended that I’d even silently asked my new boss for the go-ahead. Jesus, this was getting more complicated every second.

He stormed back down the stairs without waiting to see if I’d follow. I dragged myself after him. As I descended the stairs, I heard Gardner talking rapidly to the team. No doubt they were hatching some sort of Hail Mary play.

Eldritch was waiting for me on the sidewalk. The instant the door shut behind me, he started in. “I didn’t get you a place on this team so you could betray your entire unit, Prospero.”

I jerked my chin back as if he’d struck me. “First of all, sir,” I said with sarcastic emphasis, “you couldn’t get me out of your hair fast enough, so enough with the bullshit about doing me a favor.” He shrugged—as close to a “You’re right” as I was getting. “Furthermore, I don’t control Gardner. Neither does the mayor, for that matter. And as for Volos, you know damned well he’s probably playing the mayor to knock us off his scent.”

“Do you really think he’s behind this?”

I threw up my hands. “I don’t know. I hope not, but I do know that not investigating him because he threw some money at the mayor is a huge mistake.”

He crossed his arms and pierced me with the old laser eye. “I could revoke the exception I made to allow a suspended officer to consult on a federal investigation.”

“No offense, sir, but that’s not gonna happen. Gardner needs my insider knowledge of the Cauldron to make this case. Especially since my childhood friend John Volos looks to be the lead suspect.” This far I’d managed to avoid letting Eldritch know about the real nature of my relationship with Volos, but I wouldn’t be so lucky with Gardner, whom I’d have to tell before the day was out. I was gambling that she’d see the connection as an advantage.

“Don’t get cocky, girl. Gardner will only like you as long as you keep producing results. What happens when your luck runs out? Or if the MEA pulls this team out of the Cauldron? Where are you going to go then if you burn all your bridges with the BPD?”

I squinted up at him. “Haven’t you ever imagined what it would be like to shut all this down?” I motioned to the trash-strewn street, the broken-down buildings, and the disenfranchised junkies who scrambled through this part of the city like rats in a dead-end maze. “What if we could clean up these streets and run the wizards out of town?”

Eldritch laughed bitterly. “I was arresting potion cookers before you were born, Prospero. Have I imagined a world free of dirty magic? Shit, yeah. But then I grew up and realized that the minute you get rid of one asshole, another one takes its place. Usually worse than the last one. Face it: In order to get rid of dirty magic, you’d have to figure out how to rid all humans of their greed, vanity, and fear of pain.” He took a deep breath, as if resigning himself to something. “The best we can do is try to help the victims and minimize the impact of the dirty potion trade on innocent people. That means making it as tough as possible for the corner guys to ply their wares and chasing down the bad guys after they victimize the innocent to feed their habits. It’s good, honest work.”

“So you think the MEA’s wasting their time going after the covens?”

“I’m saying I’m terrified of what would take their place once they’re gone. Better the assholes you know, right?”

I shook my head at the jaded bastard. “I’m sorry you think I’m choosing sides, but I’m just trying to do my job.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Prospero.” His eye twinkled like he was in on some joke I didn’t catch. Finally, with a sigh, he said, “I’ll buy us some time with the mayor. But you tell Gardner that if you guys take Volos down, I want some camera time.” His phone started chirping during the middle of his speech. He ignored it until he was done and then pulled it out to check the screen.

I tried not to feel disillusioned. I’d been around the politics of policing long enough to understand how important face time was to the brass. Still, his opportunistic approach left the taste of bile heavy on the back of my tongue. “Understood, sir,” I forced out. “If that’s all, I need to head back inside.”

He nodded absently and read the screen on his phone. “Fuck me,” he whispered as I turned to go.

I stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked up slowly. “There’s been another murder. According to the responding officer, the body appears to have similar wounds to the Sprote woman from the other night.”

I stilled. “Another Gray Wolf murder?”

“Maybe,” he said. “But that’s not the bad news.”

I frowned at him. How could a mutilated body not be the bad news?

“She’s going to gloat now.” He looked like he’d been sucker punched.

“Sir?”

“Gardner,” he said. “She’s going to love this.” I continued to look at him with a confused expression. Finally, he shook himself and looked me in the eye. “You’re going to tell her.”

I shook my head. “Tell her what?”

“The body was found at Volos Towers.”

V
olos Towers loomed over the Steel River like a shiny hypodermic needle. Far below, the cul-de-sac and parking lot in front of the building were cordoned off with police tape. The rest of the scene was clogged with crime-scene investigators, cops, and the morbidly curious.

As Morales, Mez, and I made our way toward the crime scene, several looks were aimed our way—some merely curious, others downright hostile or smug. I guess word had spread through the station house that I was working with the MEA. I wasn’t a mind reader, but at that moment I could have given Carnac a run for his money. They were all thinking: Who’d she fuck to get that gig?

I ignored them and focused on looking as if I belonged with the MEA guys instead of with the uniformed cops who were dealing with less glamorous duties, like crowd control and traffic direction. It didn’t help that I was lugging one of Mez’s tackle boxes like a wizard’s apprentice. Meanwhile, he carried one of those old leather doctor’s bags and a special padded backpack containing all sorts of glass tubes and bottles filled with herbs and elixirs. Morales, naturally, didn’t offer to help carry any of the magical gear. Made sense considering he was already weighed down with that huge ego.

“Hey, Mez?” I said as we walked to distract myself from the stares.

“What’s up?” He raised a single brow, which, now that I was really looking, also sported a new hoop piercing I hadn’t seen the day before.

“Did you do something different with your hair today?” I asked with awkward diplomacy.

He chuckled. “I get bored a lot, so I like to change things up.”

“This is nothing,” Morales said. “Remember that day you tried the potion that turned your skin purple?”

“Hey, I liked that look.” To me, he said, “Anyway, if you ever want a makeover, I brew up vanity potions on the side.”

I shook my head. “Thanks but no thanks.” I was fine with my quarterly twenty-dollar trim from the Snip ’N Curl on Juniper Sreet.

“You sure? It’s clean magic, but I sell it to friends at a discount.”

Luckily we’d reached the crime scene then, so I didn’t have to get into the whole thing about how I avoided all magic, especially when it changed my skin color.