25. The Mystery Team
Chapter twenty-five
The Mystery Team
It took twenty damn minutes to get TT to steady her breathing. Color even returned to her cheeks.
The whole time, I kept my arm around her, feeling her small frame relax just a bit. She was still shaking, but the worst had passed.
Jesus Christ.
Lei knelt down beside us. “I’m sorry. TT, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you.”
TT shook her head, still catching her breath but determined to speak, “Why is it so many daggers?”
He gave her a sad smile. "I don’t know. Maybe, you can help me figure that out. The daggers are now yours.”
“N-no.” Her breaths picked back up and she started hyperventilating again. “M-museum. . .”
“Breathe, TT.” I gave her a firm look. “Just like we practiced.”
I could tell she was pissed with me and would have rather gotten more answers than breathed. But thankfully, she nodded and after a few more controlled breaths and a suck of her inhaler, she seemed to calm down enough to let go of the terror that had gripped her.
“Thank you.” I could feel the tension in my own body begin to release as well.
She was okay and that was all that mattered right now.
Above us, the noise of the helicopters was beginning to fade as Lei’s men had taken away the massive container.
Additionally, Duck and Thandi had left with Jo and Chloe to test out the new car in the parking lot behind Lotus Blossom, but I knew Jo better than that. She surely wasn’t just going to drive it a few feet and park it. She would convince them to take a detour, probably go for a quick cruise around the East in her new toy.
And Duck being Duck would be totally down for a quick adventure.
I just hoped Thandi would keep everyone in line.
Poor Thandi. Welcome to my sisters.
Anyway, we were just a small group now.
Rose was nearby with the little white cat curled in her arms, its eyes lazily observing the scene.
Lei, Chen, and Dima stood around TT and the trunk full of daggers.
I put my view on them.
But. . .I do get where TT is going with this. . .why are there so many of them?
Each wooden dagger was unique, almost as if they had been crafted by different hands or for different purposes.
Now calm and breathing steady, TT left me and went over to the trunk.
Suddenly, without asking, she just began pulling them out one by one and laying them on the ground.
I stood. “What are you doing, TT?”
She didn’t even respond. She just kept laying each one on the ground.
Fuck. Here we go. I’ll never get her to the cookout now. Or even to eat.
There, she was hyper focused as if she couldn’t see anything else, hear others, sense anything but the daggers.
I tensed, yet. . .I got why she was so intrigued.
As she pulled the daggers out and laid them on the ground, it became clear that these were no ordinary weapons.
The wood was worn and smooth in some places, rough and splintered in others, suggesting they had seen a great deal of time and perhaps even use.
But what struck me most was the sheer variety in their shapes and designs.
Some of the daggers were long and slender, tapering to a sharp point that looked like it could pierce through anything.
Others were short and thick, with broad, flat blades that seemed more suited for smashing than slicing.
Each dagger had a distinct personality, an individuality that set it apart from the rest.
Some of the blades were oddly shaped, with curves that defied logic, as if the wood had been twisted in ways that should have been impossible.
One dagger had a blade that zig-zagged from hilt to tip, each angle sharp and sudden, creating a jagged edge that looked almost dangerous despite being made of wood.
Another was curved in a way that mimicked a crescent moon, its surface smooth and polished, yet somehow menacing in its elegance.
I don’t understand.
TT spoke without looking at anyone. “Did you tell anyone else about these, Lei?”
He rose from the kneeling position and came closer. “Only a few of my men knew about the trunk of daggers.”
“Did the Bandit tell you to keep it a secret?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My mind just wasn’t focused on them.”
His mind was all on Chanel.
That pang of jealousy hit me.
I shoved it away.
Dima gestured to one of his men in yellow. “Take pictures of these.”
And then Dima directed his view to Lei. “Are you okay with that?”’
Lei nodded. “I am as long as whatever you figure out with all of this, you let TT and me know.”
I blinked.
Dima smiled. “Of course I will. We are now the Mystery Team .”
Lei shook his head. “Dima, no.”
“But this is clearly a case for the Mystery Team.”
“No.” Lei waved his hands. “Every time you declared that we would get in trouble trying to solve your so-called cases—”
“We’re adults now.” Dima kneeled by a few of the daggers on the ground. “No one can whip us anymore when we get in trouble.”
I gazed at Lei. “The Mystery Team?”
“It’s a thing Dima would declare when he thought there was some big case to solve. He started doing that when we were thirteen.”
“Eleven,” Dima corrected and picked up a dagger. “TT, did you notice that there are things written on the daggers? At least some of them.”
“Yes.” TT continued to bring out more and more. “Some have lines that are crisscross like a spider’s web.”
“Others have symbols like this.” Dima held it up to her. “Like hieroglyphs, but not. They’re. . .symbols that the Bandit knew the meaning of. I bet they represented things that only she knew about.”
TT widened her eyes. “Her men too. She told them everything.”
Dima tilted his head to the side. “How do you know that?”
“I’ve read a copy of the Bandit’s Gospel at least ten times. Banks wouldn’t let me bring it today because I was going to read it again. I knew the cookout would be boring.”
“Ten times?”
She went back to pulling out more daggers. “But I didn’t have to.”
Completely intrigued, Dima watched her. “Why not?”
She just took out daggers and placed them on the ground, probably not even hearing him anymore.
Dima looked to me.
I answered for her, “Her teacher and I think she has a photographic memory.”
Dima went still. “Really?”
TT was still pulling out the daggers, her focus so intense that it was like she was in another world. The daggers kept coming, each one more intricate and puzzling than the last.
Wow. . .how many are there?
Dima watched her with a fascination that was hard to ignore.
Suddenly, TT paused in her task for just a moment. “I don’t have a photographic memory.”
Dima didn’t take his eyes off her. “Why do you say that?”
She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the attention. “Because. . .I forget things. I don’t remember everything perfectly and sometimes. . .things get mixed up in my head.”
Dima rose and moved closer to her. “That doesn’t mean you don’t have a photographic memory. It just means your brain works in a unique way and. . .there’s nothing wrong with that.”
TT kept her eyes down on a dagger in her hand. “But people think it’s weird. They already think I’m weird, so. . .I don’t like when the teachers tell Moni stuff like that. And. . .I don’t have a photographic memory.”
My heart clenched at her words. TT had always been different and while I loved that about her, I knew it made her life harder. Kids could be cruel and I hated the thought of her feeling like she had to hide who she was to fit in.
Dima’s expression hardened. “Well then, TT. I can call you TT? Right?”
“Yes.”
“Let me give you a quick test to settle all of this.”
She looked up at him, her curiosity piqued despite her earlier discomfort. “A test?”
He nodded and raised that little notebook. “Yep.”
TT looked at me and then put her view back to him. “O-kay.”
“Let’s see.” He flipped his notebook open to a page filled with his tight, neat handwriting and placed it in front of her. “Take a look at this.”
TT glanced at the page and her eyes flicking over the words. She looked at it for barely two seconds before Dima quickly took it back.
Hey. That’s not fair. It wasn’t long enough.
He closed it. “Now, tell me, what did everything say?”
TT blinked, then without hesitation, she began to recite what she had seen. “You can call Monique, Moni, and you like that. Lei is in love with her and you think you are happy about it but you also have a question mark for what it could mean for him to be in love with her. Then, you put that Marcelo may use this all against Lei, but you are sure that Banks is only worried for his cousin and not thinking about Syndicate politics. And it goes on to say that Moni is the key to solving Diamond Syndicate issues when dealing with the South and East and that she could be used to maintain the peace. You write the word power five times. Then you put in big letters: BUT HOW? And under that, you wonder if the carousel is safe for Barbara Whiskers to ride on.”
My breath caught in my throat.
I hadn’t expected those notes.
Lei shifted beside me, but Dima just smiled. “That looks like a photographic memory to me. Although the official name is eidetic memory .”
He tapped the notebook against his leg. “It’s when a person can recall an image, a page of text, or a scene in vivid detail after only seeing it once for a brief period. Like a mental photograph that can be recalled with high accuracy.”
Showing no emotion, she returned to pulling out the daggers.
Yet, Dima continued, “Only a small percentage of children possess this ability.”
TT frowned. “Maybe I just remember things sometimes, so it’s not that special.”
Dima shook his head. “It’s more than that, TT. What you did just now—most people couldn’t do that, no matter how hard they tried. It’s a rare gift.”
She placed another dagger on the ground.
“What you have is special and it’s something you shouldn’t be afraid of. You shouldn’t hide it.”
I could see the doubt in TT’s eyes, the uncertainty that had been planted there by years of trying to fit in, of trying not to stand out too much.
It broke my heart to see her struggle like this, to see her question something that was so clearly a part of who she was. And even more, I didn’t know if I should stop this conversation since it was making her uncomfortable or if I should stay silent and let Dima talk to her.
Mom, how did you do this? And do it right?
Dima touched her chest. "You would be surprised, but people think I’m weird too.”
TT snickered as if she was absolutely sure people thought Dima was odd.
"When I was young, I was told I had an eidetic memory too. When I would show this off in class, not. . .understanding it was strange, kids would make fun of me.” Dima frowned. “But that was because they were little stupid imbeciles with pathetic brains—”
“Dima. . .” Rose muttered.
“The truth is the truth. I was better than those kids and they are adults now and I am even better—”
“Dima.” Rose frowned.
Dima shrugged. “TT, people will always find something to judge you for, no matter what you do. You have a superpower. The important thing is that you don’t let that stop you from being who you are. Don’t make yourself. . . small just because someone else can’t handle your light.”
TT stopped putting out the daggers and stared at him. “Have you killed people?”
I opened my mouth in shock.
Dima winked. “I’ve killed many.”
Tension gathered in my shoulders. “Alright. I think we need to put the daggers back in the trunk and get to the cookout. There’s the grill off and—”
"Please, Moni.” TT widened those eyes in fear. “Just give me ten more minutes to see something.”
I sighed. “Well. . .no more talking about killing people.”
Dramatically sighing just like Chloe would, TT picked up her pace with carefully putting out the daggers.
Dima gave her a supportive nod. “And if you ever need help figuring out your superpowers, I’m here for you.”
TT’s lips twitched into a small smile, but she remained quiet.
And then Dima jotted something down in his notebook. Next, Dima held the pen up from the page. “Now back to the daggers. Why so many and what are they used for?”
I put my view back on all of them.
There must have been now thirty daggers on the ground.
This is crazy.
And to think Lei had been outside Chanel’s place at night talking to ghosts and digging these up. I couldn’t truly wrap my mind around the insanity of it all.
I would never say this to Lei, but I could see why Leo would kill her. This sort of thing would be the direct opposite of his desires for Lei to focus on the East.
Letting out a long breath, I walked over to the daggers.
Hold on. That’s strange.
Some of the daggers had dots embedded into the wood and the dots were small and precise.
Others had lines drawn on them.
Dima wrote something else down. “There’s hidden meanings here, but what are they?”
Rubbing behind the cat’s ear, Rose looked up at Dima. “Would the Bandit and her rebels have fought with these daggers?”
Lei spoke for him, “I doubt it. I always took them as. . .ceremonial.”
Rose raised her eyebrows. “You mean like you think the daggers were meant for rituals or offerings rather than combat?”
“Perhaps.” Lei shrugged. “I just know they were not for battle.”
Chen chose that moment to speak, “I always thought that the blades were maybe good luck items for the rebels. Or maybe something that was given to a rebel once they joined. Something to remember their initiations.”
“Good thoughts,” Dima said. “But then why would the Bandit want Lei to have these, if they were just relics or ritual artifacts?”
Rose looked back at the daggers. “Could they be clues to something she wants Lei to solve?”
Chen adjusted his glasses. “I considered them clues too. . .when she talked to Lei, she always seemed like she wanted everyone to know something.”
Dima looked at him. “Know what?”
Chen shrugged. “She was too creepy to ask more and she never talked to me. Her focus was always on Lei.”
Everyone turned to Lei.
Dima tapped the pen against his notebook. “Where were most of the daggers, Lei?”
Lei glanced at TT who had finally finished putting them all on the ground. “I had to dig the daggers up from different spots around Dream Lake.”
Dima pressed on some more. “Just around the Jones Estate?”
Chen shook his head, answering before Lei could. “Some were much further away. I remember one night that damn ghost made us walk 15 minutes to an old grave to get one.”
"A grave?” Dima scribbled down notes, his curiosity clearly piqued. “And you could see the ghost too, Chen?”
“Not as well as Lei,” Chen admitted. “I got the feeling that she liked him more. But I could see hints of her from time-to-time and. . .like a shadow or projected movie on a screen going in and out. . .most of all, I could feel her.”
Chen shivered slightly. “It wasn’t a good feeling.”
Dima didn’t miss a beat. “What were you supposed to do with the daggers?”
Lei’s eyes were on TT as she closed the top of the trunk and just climbed on top of it. “The Bandit just kept saying that this was the key to freeing them.”
Rose jumped back in. “Them? Who? Was she talking about all the people that were brutally killed during the Week of Blood ?”
Lei furrowed his brows. “She never made it clear. She just kept saying each dagger was the key.”
Dima studied Lei. " Each dagger was the key?”
“Yes.”
“That’s it then.” TT bobbed her head over and over. “I’m starting to figure it out. . .I mean. It has to be.”
What has to be? What does she mean?