Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
The chief of police wasn’t in his office, but the captains who were at the station had gathered in a conference room on the fifth floor.
Nick recognized them on sight—Tate was there for Paranormal Crimes, Owens was the Major Crimes captain, Falk had transferred from the LAPD to replace the previous CGPD captain, and Rios was the Traffic and Emergency Services captain, although word was he had his eye on the deputy chief position.
He’d been present at the battle for San Amaro, but like most people who were there, he pretended he didn’t know what he knew.
When Nick and Parker entered, he saw both Avila and Zahide hesitate at the door before coming in behind them. Keating showed no such hesitation, striding in and taking a seat at the table. Tate’s brows twitched, and the other captains shared looks.
Rios cleared his throat. “Alright, we talked to Murtola, and he said that you knew something was going on before the incident in the break room.”
Nick was suddenly aware of every eye on him, and his posture straightened, hands going behind his back. He opened his mouth, but Parker cleared his throat, muttering, “Lawyer.”
Tensing, Nick glanced at Keating, who nodded once, twitching the fingers of one hand to indicate he could answer.
“When Parker was being interviewed, I looked at the crime scene photos and saw that there were circles carved on the bones that had survived.” Nick frowned. “If I could see the entire circle, I might be able to determine what the circle did or if it was related to the explosion.”
Owens looked around the table, his gaze falling to Tate. The implied question was answered immediately.
“He’s one of my best detectives,” Tate said. “And he’s done more than enough to make him trustworthy in my eyes. Anyone who was here during the battle for San Amaro would agree.”
“You just so happened to see these photos while your husband was being interviewed for murder?” Falk said, leaning back in his chair, lazily swinging back and forth. “Convenient.”
“My understanding is that Major Crimes intended to show me the photos in order to rattle me or see if I was going to give them any evidence against Parker.” Nick made sure his expression was nothing more than mildly curious when he looked at Owens, the Major Crimes captain.
Beside him, Parker shifted but managed to bite down on whatever he was going to say.
When Nick glanced at him, Parker had an expression that reminded Nick of when they’d tried playing Pictionary at Christmas, and Sugar had drawn something that looked like a dildo, and everyone had been struggling not to say it because there was no way that had been in the deck, and then it turned out she’d been drawing a tree.
(“These are roots, guys!” “Sugar, I know you’ve seen enough dicks that you know that looks like pubic hair. ”)
“Is that true?” Tate asked Owens. “You were trying to get him to incriminate his own husband?”
“You were the one who said that he was one of your best,” Owens said, shrugging. “We were making use of his knowledge.”
Tate leaned forward, his hands clasped on the table in front of him, and Owens straightened, both of them glaring at each other.
“Based on what Murtola said, we had Rictor take full photos of the circles,” Rios interrupted.
He slid a tablet across the table. “This is what he sent. And these are the photos the crime scene techs in the building took from Buford—the CSI who just exploded. Does it have to do with the explosions, and is it contagious?”
Nick picked up the tablet, swiping through the photos quickly. He frowned when he saw the writing. It should make sense—it had all the correct elements—but it wasn’t right. He knew that the same way he knew how to breathe, how to walk.
“Zahide?” He needed a second opinion. There was no way he wanted to make a mistake when the captain had put his political weight behind Nick.
She took a step forward, her eyes narrowed on the photos. “This is—”
“Nonsense,” Nick said, but he drew out the word because all the elements were right, but still…
“So the circles have nothing to do with the explosions?” Rios said, his mouth going tight. “Alright. We’ve called in the CDC; they’re going to be checking everyone out. We’re treating this as an emergency situation. Everyone needs to check their department for emergency supplies.”
“That still leaves a question,” Parker said.
When everyone turned to him, he didn’t flinch under the attention.
His posture might have even gotten worse, a slouch worthy of a high school slacker.
Nick couldn’t help but wish he had that assurance, that when he was confronted with authority, he didn’t react with the training of all of his parents’ disappointments.
“And what is that?” Rios didn’t seem angry, and Nick hoped he did get a position higher up. He deserved it.
“How did the circles get on the bones?” Parker asked. “If they didn’t cause the explosion, were they a side effect? A signature? Punishment? This isn’t some temporary tattoo—someone wanted these carved into the bone.”
“You’re suggesting they’re a message,” Falk said. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “So, if you did it, what would you be saying?”
Keating held out her hand. “Neither of my clients are going to make any guesses about the intentions of an unknown criminal.”
“Oh, come on,” Falk said, waving a hand. He glared at Nick. “You brought a lawyer in to a meeting with your boss?”
“I’m King’s boss,” Tate said sharply. “And I don’t like your tone, Falk.”
“Gentlemen,” Rios said. “I agree, it’s not in our interest to make any guesses, not when we have the lives of everyone in this building on the line.”
Nick knew he should pay attention to the politics. It was his job, after all, but he found himself focusing on what Parker had said. If the circles weren’t the cause of the explosion, maybe they pointed to a clue.
“Nick,” Parker said, voice soft. “How could we check for circles now, pre-liquidation? Is there a way for you to look inside someone? Could you light them up, do a magical X-ray?”
Narrowing his eyes, Nick considered. “Yeah, that would work.” Swallowing the bitter taste of panic, Nick said, “What if we can check for the circles?”
That interrupted the argument that the captains were in the middle of and refocused all the attention on Nick. Under the table, Parker found his hand, squeezing once.
“If the circles are being formed before the explosion, then we should be able to detect them.” Nick pulled out his alchemy pen, rubbing his thumb over the engraving on it.
“There are spells that reveal what’s inside of someone.
We could use one to determine if there are any circles already on the bones. ”
“If there aren’t, that should mean we’re clear?” Rios asked.
“Yes, if the circles form before an explosion. But I don’t see how it could have been after. I didn’t see any evidence of magic after the fact.” Nick pulled at the tablet again, the circles niggling at him. One was identical between Buford and Durkavic, but the rest were different.
“So, we light everyone up like a Christmas tree.” Parker raised both eyebrows. “We find out if anyone else has been infected. Maybe then we can figure out how it spreads.”
“We should work quickly,” Nick said. “There was a little less than twenty-four hours between the initial explosion and Buford. If someone else was infected at that crime scene…”
Rios leapt to his feet, pressing a button on the intercom in the center of the table. “Anyone who was at the Durkavic crime scene yesterday, immediately report to Conference Room A. I repeat, anyone at the Durkavic scene, report to Conference Room A.”
He pressed another button, and the phone rang for a moment before the desk sergeant answered. “Get me the CDC on the phone now. We need to track down everyone that was at the Durkavic scene. Lock down the morgue and anyone else that had contact with the remains.”
Raising an eyebrow, he said, “Go. Find out if any of them have the circles.”
Nick opened the door, heading into the adjoining conference room. It was slowly filling—officers, techs—and Nick recognized the cop at the door.
McArdle was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed. “We caught it, too?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Nick nodded his head at Zahide. “Mehmud Circle.”
“Lumens up to max,” she said. “Without blinding anyone.”
Nick had to hide his grin at how she said the last, as though it wouldn’t be a problem to leave every cop in the room without sight.
“What should I do?” Parker asked.
“I need to check you first,” Nick said.
“Test monkey, got it,” Parker said. He stood, arms out, as Nick drew a circle on his notepad.
He tried to keep it small, but he knew that it was going to get harder the more he did it.
The head count in the room was at least forty, meaning he’d have to do the spell more times than he was comfortable with to clear everyone.
And that didn’t even touch the rest of the people in the building.
Nick raised the circle, carefully pressing it against Parker’s shirt. It sank in, lighting him up, making his shirt invisible, skin and flesh reduced to a pink haze until Nick could see down to his bones, which… he exhaled. Parker’s bones were clear of marks.
Nick came close, staring hard, but other than a few healed breaks, there wasn’t anything unexpected on any of Parker’s bones.
“You aren’t going to be able to do everyone here,” Parker said.
Nick tightened his lips. Turning to Zahide, he said, “We’re going to have to figure out the minimum viability threshold. How small can we make this and still have it be effective?”
“Can you recycle it?” Parker asked. “Like… peel it off me and give it to the next guy?”
Nick’s eyes widened.
“I mean, isn’t that what all the posters say? Reuse, recycle, re… you know, I can’t remember the third one. Reincarnate? No, that can’t be it.”
Nick grinned and grabbed Parker’s shoulders. “That’s it.”
“Reincarnate? No, I’m almost positive it’s re… respond? No, that’s not it either.” When Parker saw Nick’s grin, he stopped, a matching one on his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Nick said. Reaching forward, Nick called the circle back to him, delicately making sure all the anchor points were intact, and then he turned and attached it to the next officer Avila shoved forward.
The man was clean, and Nick only had to refresh the magic once in ten people.
Zahide stopped when she saw what he was doing, narrowing her eyes and making sure she understood before she tried it herself.
As she did, she muttered under her breath in French, and Nick spoke just enough to know that most of it was complaining about how often he took his boyfriend’s suggestions over known practice.
He was beginning to feel confident—maybe they’d gotten lucky and only one person had been infected when he tested McArdle. The detective had been helping Avila keep the lines organized, but when her turn came up, she went easily, standing with her arms out.
Nick placed the circle on her chest, delicately refreshing one of the anchor points. It lit her up, and he was about to clear her when he caught sight of something dark on her left humerus.
“Parker,” he said quickly. Maybe his eyes were tired, maybe he’d been staring too long at bright lights. Maybe…
Parker swore. “Yeah, I see it.”
“See what?” McArdle asked, craning her neck.
“Don’t move,” Nick said to McArdle. He looked at Avila. “Clear the room! Now!”