Chapter 4
FOUR
“As usual, you’re right. I’ll try to do better.”
Crystal Lake Reservoir
Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming
While Erik disliked taking days off work, in light of the manifestation of hundreds of ghosts in the Fringe, his bosses felt it wise we visit Portica’s place of death and make certain she would truly rest in peace.
Should she decide to haunt someone, she would be difficult to exorcise and vengeful at best.
As such, armed with a bouquet of chrysanthemums, we went to Crystal Lake Reservoir, where her body had been discovered a few days after her death.
Time had changed the place, although I recognized some of the larger boulders, more worn since Portica’s suicide.
While tossing the flowers into the water might do the trick, I handed off everything fragile to Erik and decided to take the direct approach.
I would wade in to the point I couldn’t go any farther without swimming, and then I would release the blooms.
That way, if the woman lingered, she would know I understood the truth of her death.
It wouldn’t change anything, but unlike in Miami, I would be able to claim a little closure for myself.
Nothing would change the circumstances of the woman’s death and the murder of her baby, but I would reassemble the puzzle that was the past, lay as many people to rest as I could, and put an end to the madness inflicting the mercury dragons.
Garnet and Citrine followed me as wisps, and Tourmaline stuck close to Erik, clicking and otherwise protesting my plan to go anywhere near the water.
“It’ll be okay, baby,” I promised, tossing my sneakers to the side and exchanging them for a pair of water shoes.
The last thing I needed was a rogue fishing hook up the foot.
“I’m with Tourmaline on this one,” Erik complained. “What if there’s something in the water?”
“Like what? A dragon?”
“Yes, a dragon. Dragons are dangerous, don’t you know?”
I laughed at him. “Yes, Erik, there will be a dragon in the water. Me. I’m the dragon.
Just be glad we don’t have any parental dragons breathing down our necks and that we don’t have to go home until tomorrow.
I don’t know what you told your bosses, but I appreciate that we don’t have to leave until tomorrow night.
We even have a room at a nice little bed and breakfast, and I’m going to enjoy the bed tonight. ”
“That’s assuming you don’t get eaten by a dragon.”
Once certain my water shoes were secure, I got to my feet and regarded him with a leer. “And I’m going to be disappointed if I’m not.”
He scowled.
I smiled, gathered the flowers, and tested the water, which would leave my teeth chattering within moments of entering.
“I wanted you to see where Portica had gone in her final moments, Erik. She walked all the way here from that empty grave in her grief. I figure we all get a little closure this way. Nothing will bring any of them back, but at least if she does still linger in any form, she’ll see we cared enough to show up.
She waited a long time for someone to remember her and her broken family. ”
Erik sighed. “When you put it that way, I really can’t argue with you about it. But still. Do you have to go into the water? What if she haunts you and tries to take you to your grave?”
“Why would she? I’m trying to make certain her family gets justice. And we’re still short on clues about the possibly living victims of that madwoman.”
“They’re probably still alive but involved with a trafficking ring.
That’s the only reason I can think of for Madam Merorie to care if you were working in a brothel.
If she’s supplying a sex trafficking ring with women, and she was harvesting energy using necromancy, she gets paid to traffic the women and the traffickers don’t at all mind the recovery period; it gives them time to move the victims while they’re still docile.
” Erik made a rather disgruntled sound. “We should have Madam Merorie’s financials the day after tomorrow.
I’ve been asked to bring you to work with me. ”
Ah. I understood the source of Erik’s dismay.
He wanted me to be his partner rather than a private investigator, and I hadn’t applied to join the force, thus forcing him to accept he’d have to stay partnered with his current co-worker, who, from last I heard, had wanted to move to a different ward to be closer to his family.
“Captains don’t have partners in Dragon Heights.
Your father already told me that. Any partnership would be dissolved upon your promotion.
I don’t see what you’re complaining about.
You have dibs when I’m working with the force and I’m anywhere near your ward.
You’ll survive. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll kiss it all better after work. ”
“It might help a little. But only a little.”
I shook my head, braced for the water’s bite, and stepped in, careful to keep the flowers dry until I was ready to let them go.
Once I was all the way up to my chest, I unwrapped the plastic and foil from the bouquet, made certain there was nothing that might hurt the environment left, and released the blooms.
As I had no interest in freezing to death, I bid the woman a peaceful rest and waded for shore. “See, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
Erik sighed and pointed at the water.
I turned to discover Portica had manifested again, and she stood on the water, bending down to gather the flowers. When she rose, she cradled the ghostly bouquet, buried her face into them, smiled, and disappeared.
“It seems you were right.” Erik joined me at the shore and hovered until I stood beside him, shivering and dripping. “Had I known you were going to go into the water, I would have brought a towel.”
“I’ll be all right. Hopefully, she’s resting with her family now. Today, we’ll relax. Tomorrow, we’ll see what we can dig up about anyone else who went missing around the same time Portica and Ajax died. I doubt we’ll find anything, but we might.”
“That sounds like a plan, and once you get your hands on the financials, maybe we’ll actually start getting somewhere.
If there are living victims, I want to get to them before they run out of time.
” Erik’s expression darkened. “And while that woman isn’t alive to face justice, the possible traffickers are, and I have no problem with making them pay for her crimes. ”
After uncovering so many bones, I understood his feelings.
“If they were ignorant of the killings, they will pay for the crimes they committed. If they knew what she did, and they worked with her regardless, then yes, we will make them pay. But we will not turn ourselves into monsters. There are too many monsters in the world as it is without us adding to their numbers. It’s okay to be angry, Erik.
It’s not okay to take it any further than that. ”
“As usual, you’re right. I’ll try to do better.”
“I’m sure you’ll be reminding me of the same soon enough,” I admitted, allowing myself a pained sigh. “And if any of the mercury dragons responsible for so much suffering still lives, you’re going to have to restrain me. I will make what your mother did to that one seem tame in comparison.”
“I’ll restrain you,” he promised. “But I can promise you that if there are any involved dragons left, they will face justice in Dragon Heights—and justice in Dragon Heights is as brutal as it is merciful. If they’re fortunate, they’re already dead.
If not, well, you’ll find out the real reason behind the name Death Mile. ”
I eyed Erik with interest. “I can’t tell if you’re yanking my chain.”
“I’m not. Ask Enzo the next time you see him. I’m sure he’ll tell you about the dark past of that section of Dragon Heights. He was there when it earned its name.”
“And on that unnerving note, why don’t we get out of here? I need a change of clothes, and after that, we should go find some new rocks for our babies.”
While nothing we did could erase the pain of everything we’d witnessed, perhaps chasing a few moments of joy might dull the edges a little. Tomorrow, the hunt would resume, and I would chase after the tiniest clue for even a chance of rescuing Madam Merorie’s victims.
* * *
Sunday, May 17, 2167
The Diamond Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
We found nothing of use in Cheyenne, and by the time that morning rolled around and we piled into Erik’s cruiser to head to the station, I wanted nothing more than to bash mercury dragon heads together.
I spent most of the drive reminding myself that not all mercury dragons went mad from their element.
Some took great care to keep from following in Madam Merorie’s footsteps.
The rest had come to a swift demise or had fled Dragon Heights.
Due to the circumstances, nobody knew if any mercury dragons had escaped from the manor.
The remaining dragons, all belonging to different clans, had cooperated with law enforcement, but they knew little about Madam Merorie’s operations.
They believed the woman suffered from grief, something that could take hundreds of years for dragons to recover from.
Once in the station, Erik’s partner dragged him and Citrine away, as there was a call they were needed for, leaving me with Captain Quentin Andretti, a yellow dragon with orange tendencies, or so he claimed.
“I can’t tell if I should apologize for Erik or not,” the captain confessed, gesturing for me to follow him.
“On one hand, I appreciate the pep in his step, especially since he reunited with you. On the other hand, he’s very much a stereotypical yellow hatchling, and yellow hatchlings are always troublesome for the first few months.
Still, it’s better to get him through this stage while he’s still ranked where he is at. ”
“Maybe I should be the one apologizing for him?” I considered Garnet, who perched on my shoulder and observed the station with interest. “Bringing Garnet and Tourmaline isn’t a problem, right?”