Chapter Ten.
Amy
Willow Michaelson wasn’t what I expected an FBI ASAC to look like.
She was certainly beautiful, but boasted tattoos and a couple of piercings.
When Willow arrived, she was dressed in jeans, a tee, and sneakers, not a cheap suit in sight.
She greeted Inglorious with a big hug, then Nanci, before heading over to our table.
“How are you doing, Amy?” Willow asked.
“Coping, I think, is the best answer.”
“It takes time, I know,” Willow said, and for a moment wore a distant look. I recognised that emptiness. Willow had lost someone she loved, too.
“Hey, are you alright?” Nanci murmured, leaning over and checking.
“Yeah, fine.” Willow forced a smile to her lips. “Okay, what do you know?”
“Fuck all. The feds aren’t telling us anything. But Monroe and Sully had Amy trying to ID some guy this morning,” Vortex replied.
“Damn assholes, I don’t understand why the JTTF has to act like this.
Right, the NTSB has ruled there was nothing wrong with the zeppelin.
The fire suppression systems kicked in, but the inferno couldn’t be controlled.
They discovered flash marks on the steel girders.
ATF has agreed that there was one large bomb and then several smaller ones.
That’s why the Titanic of the Skies blew as she did. ”
I drew a deep breath. Someone had planted bombs. Natasha’s death hadn’t been because of an accident but had been murder. Somebody had deliberately killed her.
“Amy?” Vortex murmured, concerned.
“Carry on,” I forced out.
“We’ve identified all the bodies, but a member of staff was missing, Justin Havers.
It took the JTTF a week to realise this.
They tracked down Justin and found him at home.
He’d been dead for at least a fortnight.
An autopsy is being carried out now. Justin’s family stated that he was on one of the sister ships, the Kalani of the Skies, not the Titanic.
“However, the company has proved he requested a transfer six weeks ago to the Titanic. Justin’s parents also mentioned they believed he’d met somebody, as he’s been really upbeat the last time they’d spoken.”
“Was he involved?” Vortex asked.
“No. Someone took his place and killed him. They got photos of the guy who pretended to be Justin Havers; those are what Monroe and Sully would have shown you. His identity remains unknown, like his motives. He is our main suspect right now, and we’re missing a body.
It could be that he jumped from the zeppelin before it crashed, or he parachuted out during the explosions.
We don’t know yet.” Willow ran a hand through her hair.
“Shit,” Inglorious ground out.
“That’s an understatement, my friend,” Willow replied.
“What’s with the two dead survivors? There’s something suspicious about their deaths,” Vortex said, and I jolted.
“Nathan Coleman hanged himself, but there was a wound on the back of his head, and the coroner discovered finger marks around his neck. Coleman was hit, strangled, and then hung when he couldn’t defend himself.
His family insists the suicide note isn’t his writing.
They’re adamant he wouldn’t have done this because he’d not even buried his wife and child yet. ”
“Oh God,” I exclaimed as my hand covered my mouth.
“Nicole Tomson was another murder staged to look like a suicide. She had two broken legs, and yet we’re meant to believe she dragged herself out to the car and gassed herself. It didn’t happen,” Willow said empathically.
“What is this? The perp tying up loose ends, or someone making this a real-life version of those movies?” Inglorious asked.
“We’ve no idea. JTTF are supposed to be working with me, but they keep creating barriers. I’m finding out things later than I should,” Willow replied.
“Because they know you’ll feed back to us,” Vortex said, and Willow nodded.
“What now? We’re opening in a few days, should we go ahead? Customers have booked the rooms the Feds are staying in. They need to leave,” Inglorious stated.
“They’ll fight that,” Willow responded, and Inglorious scowled. “Are both hotels full?”
“Yes. We heavily promoted the winter sports and events; we have no openings for the next five months.”
“Move the agents into the houses. They’re not all derelict. If we get a team on them, they can smarten them up and do any repairs. The Feds can have them,” Vortex suggested.
Inglorious sat back and chewed on the idea. “Furniture?”
“Won’t cost much for some basic stuff. Beds, sofa, table, chairs, and some kitchen shit. If they want more, they can buy it,” Vortex said.
Willow began nodding. “That would probably work. You don’t want them invoking eminent domain. Go straight to their boss; I’ll get you the number. Tell them you have some houses that they can have as you’ve paying customers arriving.”
“I’ll contact Apache. He was working in one of the shops, but I’ll ask him to move the team over. Use the houses behind the hotel side of Main Street. Away from us,” Vortex said. He squeezed my shoulder as he rose and walked away to make a call.
“That’s resolved, but what about Amy? I’m guessing she’s a target,” Inglorious asked. I paled as his words sank in.
“Oh God, someone wants to kill me,” I gasped.
“They’ll have to go through this MC first,” Inglorious promised. “There are cameras everywhere in town, Amy. This is one of the safest places for you to be, surrounded by the MC. Moon is great with computers; he can rig up some facial awareness programme.”
“You mean hack someone,” Willow replied dryly.
“Would I suggest anything of the sort?” Inglorious asked disingenuously.
“Yes. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.” Willow waggled a finger as she got to her feet. “Guys, I’ll stay in touch when I hear things. You want me to come through you or Vortex?”
“Me. Vortex has his hands full as it is,” Inglorious stated with a sly look at me.
A blush hit my cheeks, and Willow smiled. “Welcome to chaos, Amy. One thing’s for sure, you’ll never be alone again.”
“Thanks,” I said, unsure if that was a threat or a promise.
Vortex returned. “Apache’s getting on it, but wants you to meet him so you can choose the houses.”
“And my day goes to shit again.” Inglorious sighed and rose to his feet. “I’ll walk with you, Willow.”
“Stay safe, Amy. If your gut’s telling you something’s wrong, it probably is. Trust it.” With that, Willow left with Inglorious beside her.
“What a clusterfuck,” Vortex muttered, pulling me against his chest. He wasn’t far wrong.
Aurora-Victora
“Haybales are falling. She’s trapped below them and will be crushed,” I said, and Klutz glanced over at me.
“Is that it? That was short. Who is it?” he asked, sounding disbelieving.
“That’s it. I think it’s Amy. I couldn’t see her face, but I smelt smoke and burning around her. That’s how I’ve begun identifying her. Wow, that was a tiny vision.” I exclaimed.
“Anymore on that bigger one?” Klutz’s fingers flew over his phone.
“Nothing. That one’s a huge clusterfuck. Why can’t it just show me properly instead of these stupid images?” I snapped irately.
“You’re feeling guilty,” Klutz guessed.
“Yes, I am. Why am I shown this shit if I can’t stop it? Why are they so cryptic?” I kicked the wall in frustration.
Klutz’s eyes widened; he’d never seen me like this. “Babe, you’re human, you can only do what you can.”
“But the big disasters, the bridge collapsing, lava in the streets, this. Why can’t I see them as clearly as I did that little one?
People had died in the bridge collapse, and then the laccoliths erupted.
I mean, can you still believe we had volcanic lava running through Rapid City?
If the visions were clearer, I could save some lives. ”
“Maybe they were meant to die? And the ones you saved were supposed to live? Stop beating yourself up, Aurora-Victoria, that’s an order.”
Frustrated, I sighed and leaned against Klutz’s chest. None of it made sense; it never had. Sadly, I could only go with the flow. Although there were times I wanted to say fuck it and bury my head in the sand, I couldn’t. The visions wouldn’t let me.
Vortex
Frantic, I raced through the stables, which were the only place I knew had hay in an adjoining barn at the rear.
Both Inglorious and I had got Klutz’s message at the same time, and I’d not hesitated.
Those bales were stacked pretty high, and they’d crush Amy.
I bolted through the doors and rushed to the barn.
Amy turned to see me, surprised, as I caught sight of movement behind her.
A squeal left her lips as I kept moving and tackled her. We both hit the ground hard, Amy in my arms as a haystack fell where she’d been standing. Moments later, as we watched, several more landed on top of it.
“What the fuck,” Amy exclaimed softly.
“Damn. Aurora-Victoria was right.”
“Huh?” Amy asked as she pushed herself upright. Her eyes widened when she saw the ten or so haystacks that had fallen. “Those would have crushed me!”
“Aurora-Victoria got a vision of them falling and hurting you.” I refused to say the word ‘killing’. That might fuel Amy’s fear of being stalked by death.
“Somehow I think I’m living the worst few months of my life,” Amy murmured as I climbed to my feet and helped her up. She brushed her clothes down and blew out a puff of air.
“Things will get better. I promise,” I said, and Amy sent me an uncertain glance but nodded.
“Guess I should get changed.”
“Me too,” I griped, looking down at my jeans and wincing. I wasn’t fastidious, but I hated getting dirty.
Amy offered me a wobbly grin, and we walked out of the barn. What was next? A zombie attack?
◆◆◆
I shouldn’t have asked. I really shouldn’t have. Kyleah stood toe-to-toe with Nanci when Amy and I entered the clubhouse.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I exploded, my temper pushing beyond limits. Kyleah almost jumped out of her skin as I positioned myself in front of Amy to protect her from this bitch.