Chapter Nineteen
Salem Square
Saturday
Early Afternoon
Lunchtime
The square was busy, and the tourists were moving around, filling the area with talking, laughter, and most definitely shopping. There was happiness there, and it wasn’t lost on the three people that this was dangerous.
Who knew who would be next?
Certainly, not them.
At some point, this person had to make a mistake, right? That was what they were all hoping, despite it being a longshot.
For someone they called the great Oracle, Tori and Julian were greatly disappointed. Yeah, she’d given the Marines addresses, and they’d found a victim, but that was it?
Or were they asking too much?
If her kingdom was in the static, shouldn’t she have more information? When Lucian came out with Ridge, they usually were the MVPs of a case.
Either way, something had to give.
As Honor hung up the phone, she looked like she’d been dressed down, up, and all around.
It was clear that the call hadn’t been fun.
“Remind me why I’m a cop?” she asked, unwrapping her sub sandwich.
Tori laughed.
“To protect and serve,” she said, remembering asking herself that same thing many times as a Fed. “If it matters, being a PI is a lot less difficult,” she stated.
That made her laugh sardonically.
Honor knew where that was heading.
“Working for you two nuts would be more difficult. All the ghost stuff is more than my sanity can handle. I’m one witch in, and that’s my max.”
Yeah, well, no shock there.
“Did your boss read you the riot act?” Julian asked, taking a bite of his sub.
His wife was eyeing it up as she had a salad. Truthfully, he felt bad that she couldn’t have lunch meat, and that Tuna salad gave her the ick.
He’d make it up to her later.
The bakery wasn’t far away.
She nodded.
“And I quote, ‘If you two don’t figure this out, I’m busting you both back down to beat cops, working Halloween night by the public Port-a-potties’,” she stated.
Oof.
That was pissed.
“We’ll figure it out.”
Only, Honor knew the truth.
“This guy is going missing, so this won’t be solved, unfortunately for us. Before you go there, that’s how I like to phrase it,” she stated. “Let me have this.”
Oh, no one was happy with that, but they had to deal with what came their way the best they could.
Speaking of coming their way…
Here came Bishop.
She was walking across the square, and she was wearing her sunglasses. She might look like she wasn’t watching everyone, but she was.
Honor knew her partner.
She.
Was.
Pissed.
She was almost as angry as she was, and that told her all she needed to know about how it all went down.
Not.
Well.
As she sat, Honor handed her half her tuna sub and shared her lunch with her partner.
Before she said a single, solitary thing, Bishop inhaled it.
It was clear that someone had been hungry—or she was rage eating.
Honestly, it could be either.
Because she remembered being ravenous when pregnant, Honor passed her the rest of hers.
For now, she’d be fine. None of this was sitting well with her, so she’d eat later.
No one liked a hangry Bishop, and the day was still young. It wasn’t fair to the world to unleash that upon them.
When she was finished chewing, she stole her partner’s soda too.
It was clear they did this a lot, or that Honor wasn’t food reactive. Because if Julian reached for his pregnant woman’s salad, food she didn’t even like, she’d bite his hand.
No.
Doubt.
“Bad, huh?” Tori asked.
Bishop nodded.
“We told Ridge, and he sobbed himself to the point he was shaking. Lucian is with him, and he’ll help him start to adjust to this new reality. I’d like to say he was surprised, but he wasn’t.”
Uh-oh.
Julian went there.
“He wasn’t?”
Bishop shook her head.
“No. He asked if she was cheating before we could even tell him. Something was off in their marriage, and he sensed it. Apparently, he’d been putting it together.
The birth control was one clue, and his mother told him at some point Wynter was disappearing while she was supposed to be home.
He wrote it off as her getting out for some air, but he went there in his head. ”
Julian said nothing.
What was there to say?
This was the problem with cheating.
It destroyed lives.
“Will he be okay?” Honor asked. “I don’t want to have to stand above one more friend at a crime scene. I’m at my max for that.”
Bishop reassured her.
“Lucian spends plenty of time in his head. He’ll know if he’s going dark side.”
Oh, well, they hoped so.
“How about you guys? How about an update?”
Tori started.
“Well, in good news, we found some dead, and they are hanging out at Trent’s home.”
Well, there was that.
“We also saw his camera footage. This dude showed up on it.”
Bishop looked excited.
That was until they showed her the black hazy blob that covered the man.
“What the fuck is that?” she asked.
Both of them shrugged.
“We should probably call the office and talk to them. Maybe Raven or Booth know or maybe it’s just a camera issue.”
That sounded like a good plan.
“We were waiting for you, though,” Honor stated.
“Other than that, the attorney wasn’t home when the pentacles were delivered.
After browbeating him, we left his place and went to the courthouse to check his alibi.
His office is across the street, so we took a peek at the security.
It shows him arriving early and leaving late. Trent isn’t the one.”
Bishop went there.
“Unless he used a back door and walked to the house. There’s no car in the driveway.”
Honor sighed.
Well, in which case, they were screwed because they’d not cleared him, and they were no further than they were two hours ago. It looked like she was going to be crowned queen of the potty patrol.
“I’m tired.”
That made her partner laugh.
“I’m sure the dead vouched for him. I just like playing devil’s advocate.”
Uh-huh.
They had.
“Let’s call,” Honor said. “I’ll start with the witch I’m shacked up with, or as I call him, the least annoying Littlemoon—but the day is young.”
Julian laughed.
“I have news for you. Same baby daddy. Same behavior. He’s still going to be just like us.”
Oh, she was aware, but the man was beyond hot in bed, and that made her forget many of those Littlemoon sins.
When he answered, he was happy to hear his wife’s voice.
“Hey, my sweet angel.”
As soon as he called her that, Julian nearly choked on his soda. That was the last thing he’d call Honor.
Angel?
Sweet?
Seriously?
She would punch a nun and not even question it if she thought she was doing something illegal—and she was CATHOLIC!
“Is that my brother dying?” he asked.
Honor stared at her brother-in-law.
“Yeah, he’s amused by my nickname. Wait until I tell him what I call him behind his back.”
Tori snickered.
Oh, they bet it was spicy as hell, like Honor.
“Are you behaving?” Booth asked his wife, ignoring that banter.
It was pretty common between his wife and brother.
“Asking for someone who will have to bail you out with my brother.”
Julian knew he was NOT the problem in this group. There were two pregnant women, and three fetuses. He was vastly outnumbered. He didn’t believe there was going to be a boy among them.
“We are,” she offered. “We got a video that’s weird, and we need you, Raven, and Avalon to look at it.”
That worked for her husband.
“Send it.”
She did, and she heard the chime when her husband got it. They also heard him talking to Avalon and Raven.
Then, they heard Raven’s gasp.
Oh, shit.
That couldn’t be good.
There was no way catching their resident master witch off guard was going to end well.
For.
Them.
“That’s demonic,” he said. “That’s something dark not wanting to be seen for its true form.”
Oh, that was NOT what Julian wanted to hear. Immediately, he began sweating.
“What do you mean, demonic?” he asked, having flashbacks of the evil that Nyx had tangled with, and that had nearly ruined all of their lives.
And took lives.
Avalon went there.
“That would explain its drive to hurt as many people as it can, and why the dead are missing. It’s problematic that the darkness I mentioned that originated here is now back again. That’s going to make it strong.”
Yeah, it was.
“How do we handle that?” Tori asked, as Julian was pale.
Avalon was honest.
“The same way we’d planned. It just tells us a few things.
The spirits it’s taking aren’t coming back by customary means.
There are few ways that they can return from that dark place, again, purgatory, if you will.
It also tells us that this has not only been getting stronger, but I’m going to say it’s definitely that entity that they worshiped before The Burning Times. We’re on track.”
“Can we get off track?” Julian asked. “I don’t like this.”
With good reason.
Avalon wished she could reassure him.
“The only way ‘off’ is to handle it. That means finding him before he hurts anyone else.”
Well, then, they’d better get moving.
“Any idea where he is?”
She wished.
“I gave addresses to the Marines, and they’ll recheck them later. I can’t get deep into the static to find more, right now. I need everyone recharged, and ready to go.”
That sucked for them.
“Thanks,” she said.
Honor was curious.
She was the Catholic in the group.
“Can we get it exorcized?” she asked. “You know, with a priest.”
Avalon laughed.
“Again, not that simple. Also, not the kind of demon the Bible speaks of. This is elemental. Your beliefs won’t really affect it. Think more like a Shaman IF that were possible. This thing feeds on hate and ugliness, so the person is going to be too far gone.”
That confirmed one thing.
This person wasn’t being brought in for justice. How would they explain that to a judge?
Oh, how the mighty had fallen on their swords on this one.
“Thanks,” Tori said.
Honor knew they were screwed.
“So Wynter’s gone, and so are all the ghosts tied to the victims?” she asked.
Avalon hated it, but more than likely, yes.