Chapter 14 #3
Pascal snickered. “While we black dragons dislike lying, we can do it for a good cause. And yes, I’ve already sent a few texts warning my fellow blacks to pretend we know nothing of your courthouse union.
Nobody had problems with it when I mentioned it was to help Erik cope with anxiety.
I’m going to guess you remembered the curling iron case? ”
I sighed and nodded. “Also, thank you for making the recommendation that I attend some of her sessions. It really helped her.”
“It was unusual, but I was using my magic during my involvement, and she trusted you and truly needed someone she trusted at a few sessions so she could make forward progress. I’m just grateful that local law enforcement asked for some help with the case and I’d gotten sent over.
I don’t know how it would have worked out otherwise. ”
“Probably poorly,” I admitted. “I sometimes wonder how things would be different in Miami if they were a little more accepting of magic.”
“There’d be a lot more magical crime, but you would have had better resources for dealing with it.
In the FBI, it’s challenging working in Miami due to the prejudices, so people like me are needed because I’m good at tricking people into thinking I’m not a dragon.
It seems you have the same trait as well. ”
“Well, until I had to leave or be hung from the tallest tree they could find,” I muttered.
“There is that.” The black dragon leaned back in his chair. “What would you have done if things had been different in Miami?”
“I probably would have become the detective wife of a chief, and we would have just entered an endless cycle of homicide cases,” I replied, raising a brow at the question. “I wouldn’t have my carbunclo or my hummingbird, and that would be worse than a crime, Pascal.”
With a chuckle, he shook his head. “That wasn’t what I was aiming for. View Miami as a crossroads. Would you have truly been happy with the endless cycle of homicide cases? You are a dragon, and all dragons are alike: we always want more. How would you have obtained your more?”
“I’d still be a dragon-kin right now had I stayed in Miami, and if Miami was different, it’s unlikely my purple heritage would have grown much. I would have kept trying to keep it under wraps. Why are you asking?”
“When we work through this case, I want you asking those questions. What would be different if any of Madam Merorie’s plans had worked?
That is often where we need to look: at what could have been versus what was.
If we look for the hidden consequences of the end game goal, we might find the truth of this case.
So far, we’ve only been looking at the symptoms rather than the whole picture, which would be identifying the specific illness causing the symptoms. We know she was preparing for her son to rise from the dead.
But what would she have done when she accomplished her goals? ”
“And her husband,” I reminded him. “He was just as much a part of this as Adam was. If anything, I suspect her husband was the true end game goal. She wanted Adam back, yes, but she was practicing the art on her son so she could use the perfected form on her husband,” I pointed out.
“So, where is the husband’s body, and who has she kept or sacrificed in her hope of bringing him back from the dead?” Pascal stared into my eyes. “What do we actually know about her end game goal?”
“Not as much as I thought, apparently. How do we learn about him?”
“We start digging up graves,” he informed me in a solemn voice.
* * *
Sunday, May 24, 2167
The Tower Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
I needed to give law enforcement a great deal of credit; whoever had come up with the idea of having officers practice their firearm skills after a hard shift deserved a raise.
While improving my accuracy mattered, there was something relaxing and liberating about the session after work, and I returned home with a clearer head and in a better state of mind.
Fortunately for my flagging sanity, my parents were waiting for us with our kittens and my hummingbird, and I showered the trio with affection, cooing sweet nothings to the precious babies and promising all the pampering they desired.
Erik somehow kept from laughing at my antics.
“Please don’t mind her. She had a rough day today.
The financials, according to the cussing she was doing while practicing at the range, clearly won and were out to kill her.
Then she had to face facts. She’s working with Pascal on the case, and Pascal has a way of driving her right up the wall.
For the record, you will be ambushed by Pascal as soon as we text him, as he has questions, questions you will answer if you value your sanity.
You are a bone, and he wishes to gnaw upon your flesh. ”
My parents laughed at Erik’s ultimatum, and my mother nodded. “Sure, we can go see Pascal after we’re done here. I have his number, so I’ll text him for where he wants to meet.”
Once again, my parents amazed me, and I wondered who else they knew despite having raised me in Miami rather than haunting Dragon Heights.
“Pascal being a black dragon makes a great deal of sense in hindsight. Only a dragon could be that irritating and smug, especially in Miami. I swear, Miami is actually just a bunch of snide dragons hiding that they’re dragons and posturing as humans, using their prejudices to hide their actual species,” I complained.
“Dragon clans probably send naughty hatchlings to Miami to learn how to hide and control their problems. Do any of the dragon clans actually miss the hatchlings that can’t survive Miami? ”
“Miami is not a hotbed of dragonkind,” my mother informed me, and her tone warned against pushing my luck. “We picked Miami as a place to raise you because it’s not a hotbed of dragonkind. Were it, our ruse would have been uncovered immediately, and you would have become spoiled.”
I struggled to imagine a world where my parents had spoiled me.
“Sure, Mom. Keep telling yourself that.” While Erik handled parking my SUV in the garage, I let my parents into the house through the front door, kicking my shoes off and shoving them under the entry table.
I questioned the furniture in our new home, the kind of stuff I expected the rich and famous to purchase: elegant, pricey, and one step away from being gaudy.
My frugal heart loved it; our families had footed the bill for just about everything in the house, although I would be rearranging some furniture to have a room closer to my standards rather than theirs.
As the kitchen, a modern oasis of stone countertops, elegant wood cabinets, and gas appliances, better fit my idea of perfection, I headed there, dumping my kit on the table before heading off to put my weaponry and ammunition away.
Erik joined me in our evening ritual, and we both double-checked to make certain everything was appropriately locked.
“Hey, Dad? Got a question for you,” I announced, and rather than sit at the kitchen table like a good girl, I hopped up onto my favorite of the counters.
“Mom has perished in an accident of some sort, and you’re a necromancer wishing to bring her back from the dead.
I, your most beautiful daughter, has likewise perished.
Which one of us would you experiment on during your quest to resurrect the dead? ”
“You. I love you dearly, but I only had you because I loved her first. If I mastered the art of necromancy, and for some reason, I couldn’t bring you back but I learned how to bring your mother back, we’d just have another child.
If we didn’t get a girl, we’d probably try again until we had another girl, and then we’d try to raise her in the same fashion so she would be a lot like you.
Not quite raising you from the dead, but the closest I could get in that situation.
” He engaged me in a staring contest. “You are the product of a great deal of love, and while we both love you, she is why you exist.”
I considered his words before nodding. “Mom, your thoughts?”
“I’d consider slitting his throat to bring you back some days, but then I realize I need him to make more children just like you, so I’d keep him around.”
I snickered as her response was closer to my expectations. “All right. Dad, let’s say you found a method to bring your wife and child back from the dead, expecting to succeed with both. What steps would you take post resurrection?”
“I would immediately be taking us away from Dragon Heights, as everyone here would know you both were dead, and that would definitely land me in hot water. There’s no point in bringing you back from the dead if I’m going to rot in prison for mass murder.
So, I would establish an escape route, have a property elsewhere, preferably overseas, and make certain people who knew us had no idea where I went or why I went.
I’d lie, lie, lie to just about everyone so we could start again somewhere else.
And then I’d work on convincing your mother to grace us with many large clutches. ”
“We are not having a large clutch,” my mother replied, and she raised a brow at my father. “We are not entering a competition for largest number of children with our daughter. She is partnered with a yellow dragon. I am partnered with an egotistical lout.”