Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Franklin
Can you come home soon?
I stared at Boone’s text. Taken at face value, there was nothing inflammatory or concerning. They were just typed words on an unfeeling electrical device. And yet somehow, those words screamed at me.
“Something wrong?” Dr. Stowe asked. I was down in the morgue, going through our latest findings. She’d gotten dental records on all the male and female victims and had officially identified them, backing up Boone’s necromancy with proven facts.
“I’m not sure.” I fiddled with my phone. I had a lot of work to do but… “Give me a minute?”
“Of course. It’ll give me a chance to get a snack and suck down half a can of soda.”
“Thanks, Doc.” I walked a small distance away and texted back, Is something wrong?
I watched those three little dots flicker until Boone’s response finally came through. We’ll discuss it when you get home. Please make that soon. Love you.
Love you too. I’ll be there as soon as possible. It was the best I could offer.
Text before you leave?
I often did, but not always. Will do.
Boone placed a heart emoji over my last text. I stared at that final message a few moments longer before turning my attention back to Dr. Stowe. The sooner we wrapped this up, the sooner I could get home to Boone.
Dr. Stowe was finishing up her last cheese cracker when I stepped up to her desk.
I waited for her to finish chewing and then wash it down with what was left in her soda.
“I wouldn’t have complained if you’d taken more time,” Dr. Stowe said before opening a paper folder filled with information on our twelve victims.
“Sorry. I’ll try and drag it out longer next time.” I sat heavily in the seat opposite Dr. Stowe. She still looked like twenty-four hours of straight sleep wouldn’t be enough to reenergize her.
“You’re good people, O’Hare.”
I didn’t know about that but figured we were both too tired to argue. “Got anything else besides positive IDs?”
Dr. Stowe gave a hesitant nod. “A little, but I’d wager it’s not what you’re looking for.
I can forensically back up the victims’ statements regarding how they died—at least with our male victims. Their deaths left more evidence.
As for the ladies… All I can say is that I can’t contradict how they said they died. ”
“Suffocated.”
Dr. Stowe nodded. “I can tell you that none of them have broken hyoid bones, so I doubt it was strangulation.”
“Our female victims didn’t make it sound like they were strangled.”
“Agreed. Unfortunately, with only the bones to go from…” Dr. Stowe held up her hands in a what can you do about it? manner. Resting her elbow on her desk, Dr. Stowe’s gaze drifted over the different sets of bones. “There should have been more than skeletal remains.”
I’d been tapping a pen on her desk, and my tapping stopped. “All of them?”
She shrugged. “Maybe not all. The first victims… Maybe it would have been long enough, but not the more recent ones. We should have had a lot more to work with. There should have been…something. It’s almost as if…
But there are no tool marks, nothing that I can find that indicates the flesh was carved away.
” Dr. Stowe flinched before she shot me an apologetic smile.
“Sorry. I know how gruesome that sounded.”
I shook my head. “No more gruesome than my thoughts. Now that we’ve got their identities sorted, I need to start researching ways to remove flesh from bones without damaging the bones themselves.”
“Warlock? The magic they twist is destructive in nature. Seems more fitting than witch.”
“Sounds possible, but I can’t rule out other magical beings.
” I swallowed hard. “I hate to even think it but seems like something a fairy might be able to do. They’ve got different affinities.
I’ve never heard of something like this, but I hardly think an affinity like this is something Fairy would broadcast. Maybe back in times of war, but not now. ”
Dr. Stowe shrugged. “I can’t say that I’ve ever even met a fairy. It’s fair to say I’m no expert. It’s also fair to say that never having met one doesn’t bother me one iota.”
I smirked. “No argument here.” I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “Just so happens I know a necromancer who’s met one or two.” Phlox and Leon too. “I’m not sure if I can track down any information that way, but it might be worth a try.”
Eyebrows shooting skyward, Dr. Stowe blew out a whistling breath. “I’d say that’s your funeral, but I really hope that’s not the case.”
“You and me both.” I considered the other species. “A brownie might be able to do it, but I don’t see that happening.” Brownies were as powerful as fairies. They were also a hella lot more peaceful. Brownies were known pacifists. Then again, every tree had a bad apple or two.
“Zombies?” Dr. Stowe threw out. “They’re typically well leashed to a priest or priestess, but maybe we’ve got a rogue practitioner on our hands.”
“That might explain the missing brains but not the rest. Also, I’ve never known zombies to be terribly polite when obtaining their meals. They generally crack the skull open to get to the juicy middle.”
“Ugh… Why did I apologize earlier for being crude?”
“No idea,” I teased. “You’re right. This is grim talk.”
“But necessary.” Dr. Stowe hooked a thumb toward the skeletal remains. “Something happened to the flesh. Insects just don’t decompose a body that quickly, even in our southern climes and especially coming out of winter.”
I nodded, checking the time on my watch. Dr. Stowe took notice. “Get out of here, O’Hare. There’s nothing else you or I are going to do tonight.”
“I’m glad you included yourself in that category.”
“Damn right I did. Assuming nothing more comes in, I’ll reach out to a few colleagues tomorrow, see if I can pick their brains regarding our current fleshless situation.”
“Thanks, Dr. Stowe.”
She sighed. “I don’t suppose it will do any good to tell you to call me Evelyn again.”
I grinned. “Probably not.”
“Then I’ll stop wasting my breath.”
“Good night, Dr. Stowe.”
“Good night, Detective O’Hare.”
I walked out of the morgue and through the darkened hall. One of the overhead lights flickered, in need of replacement. The effect was eerie and cast uncertain shadows on the walls. I remembered what Boone told me Ajita said. Where Huxley was concerned, I was better off in a pitch-black room.
A longer shadow loomed ahead where the hall came to a T. I stopped, heart racing and breath quickening. Huxley meant me harm. I’d already suspicioned that was true but given what we guessed was happening with Holland’s wards, I figured we’d moved past the realm of maybe.
The shadow lengthened, and I braced myself for… Hell, I had no idea what. The patter of feet grew louder right before Detective Bethany Harrison turned the corner, nearly running me down.
The air trapped in my lungs escaped in a loud exhale. “Detective Harrison. It’s good to see you.” Harrison eyed me skeptically at the relief flooding my voice.
“O’Hare. You okay?”
“Fine. Getting ready to head out for the night.”
Harrison’s features relaxed. “Glad to hear it. I don’t know how you keep getting stuck with these crazy cases. Did you do something in an earlier life to royally piss Karma off?”
“I have no idea. But if I did, I’d like to officially apologize for any former offensive actions I might have made.”
Harrison laughed good-naturedly before swatting me on the shoulder with the folder in her hand. “Get out of here, O’Hare, and get some sleep. God knows you’ve earned it. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Harrison offered as she walked away.
I watched her go for a few seconds before turning and hotfooting it to the stairwell.
I might have pissed Karma off in a past life regarding my work life, but I couldn’t be the least bit miffed with her regarding my personal life.
No matter what came from this shit with Huxley, I’d never regret falling in love with Boone.
Ihad no idea where to start with the information dump Boone and Phlox released when I’d barely walked through the door.
Boone had given up speaking and allowed Phlox to take over.
Leon leaned against the couch as Phlox pixie-paced, flying back and forth while his arms flailed this way and that.
Phlox was definitely one of those individuals that talked as much with his hands as his mouth.
The fluffy tail twitching back and forth as he flew was more than a little distracting.
“My beloved sometimes loses control of his other form when he is upset,” Leon explained when he caught me staring.
“Sorry.” I scratched the back of my neck. “I didn’t mean to stare, but…”
“It is fine,” Leon reassured. We’d spoken low, and Phlox was so busy ranting he didn’t notice our conversation.
By the time he was done, I felt like my emotions had been sent on the mother of all roller coasters. “I think I need to sit for a minute.” Or maybe an hour. Maybe two.
Boone’s hand never left my forearm as I heavily sat on the couch. My exhausted brain tried keeping up, but I was admittedly struggling. In all the confusion, I latched on to the one thing that made some type of odd sense. “Aurelia has a scuttlebutt?”
“For better or worse,” Boone answered with a flinch.
“And its name is…? I couldn’t have heard that part right.”
“Oh, you did,” Boone reassured me. “Fuzzy Britches.”
“Dear God, who names these things? Did Aurelia come up with that?”
Boone shook his head “Peaches said the scuttlebutt came with the name.”
Leon said, “I would suspect the Master of Beasts named the scuttlebutt.”
I considered purchasing a book of baby names and asking Phlox and Leon if they could get it to the fairy they knew and if he in turn could get it to this Master of Beasts. There had to be better names in there.
“Stupidly named scuttlebutts aren’t the problem here!” Phlox darted toward me. I jerked back when I saw his eyes had also shifted, now a lovely golden hue that spoke of future pain.