6. Chapter 6
Bec
I couldn’t see either twin, but I knew one of them was out there somewhere, watching me.
After talking to Marduk the other day, I wasn’t as annoyed. I still didn’t like it, but I understood better. I wasn't ready to talk to them in person yet, but messaging them through PixUs and seeing what they posted, made me feel like I was starting to know them.
That thought made me open the app. Danzig had posted an off-center picture of a cup of coffee. I didn't think the guy could take a centered or straight picture to save his life.
He liked to share pictures of anything and everything: an out of focus seagull, a funny shaped cloud, a selfie with his motorcycle, and every cup of coffee he ever drank.
His account was the complete opposite of his twin.
Marduk only posted professional quality photos with all different themes and subjects.
Some of them were so beautiful that they made me tear up.
A black and white image of a mother cradling a child hit me hard.
The mother's soft smile as she stared down at her sleeping child held me captive for several minutes.
I scrolled through to find that Marduk had a new post. At first, I thought it was an image of a jungle, but then I saw the jaguar hidden in the foliage. It was staring down Marduk's camera, but not to attack. It looked more like it was scared to move for fear that Marduk might turn aggressive.
It seemed that the jaguar knew who the real predator was.
After commenting on both Danzig's coffee picture and Marduk's jaguar, I closed PixUs and opened TrackIt. That was the app linked with the trackers I'd bought.
In an attempt to increase the odds, I’d sent three different envelopes, one from an insurance agency, another from the state government, and for the third I’d made up a company.
I tracked them from the post office to the stoner's apartment. Then they didn’t move for an entire day, but now they were on the move again
I’d hoped at least one of them would lead me to Hugo, but all three were traveling! Excitement made me clumsy as I shoved stuff in my purse and shut down the computer.
“I’m leaving for the day!” I called out to Jim. He came out of his office as I was grabbing my sweater.
“Are there invoices?” he asked, eyeing my desk.
“Not today,” I said.
He frowned. “I know this is only a part-time job, but I need you to be professional.”
I gave him an overly dramatic gasp. “Oh, I’m so very sorry Mr. Masel! I’ll sit right down and get those done.” I sat down and looked at the empty space on my desk. “Wait, I don’t seem to have the spreadsheet I gave you yesterday to fill out so I can create the invoices.”
Turning in my seat, I glared up at him. He flushed, and his demeanor immediately changed. “Sorry, I forgot.”
Despite my eagerness to follow the trackers, I stood up and faced Jim. “What’s going on? This isn’t like you.”
Jim let out a sigh, still not meeting my eyes. “I’m just a little distracted. Stay safe.”
With that, he turned, went back into his office, and shut the door. Part of me wanted to pursue him and demand he tell me what was really going on, but poor Hugo was waiting to be rescued!
I grabbed my purse and jacket before rushing out of the office.
Despite being in a hurry, I took a moment to look around.
I didn’t see Marduk or Danzig. I wasn’t supposed to be leaving for another hour so maybe whoever was watching me today had taken a quick break, assuming they’d be back before I left.
With a little giggle, I rushed to my car. They were going to be so surprised when they got back and saw that I was gone.
I plugged my phone into the car and mapped the spot where the tracker had stopped.
It was a typical sunny Southern California day, and it was early enough that the traffic wasn’t too bad. The tracker led me to a nice neighborhood full of well kept single-family homes.
He must be staying with a friend here. As far as I could tell, he hadn’t returned to the apartment he shared with stoner-dude since Gale had hired me. That made me curious if he was hiding from Gale or something more sinister? Maybe he was a drug dealer or robber.
I parked across the street and watched the house for a while. The cheap, beat-up Civic in the driveway was familiar. I’d seen it parked outside Leif’s apartment building. The damage pattern was too distinct for me to mistake it for another car. I bet that it was stoner-guy’s car.
I knew I needed to wait until he left, so I got comfy. For the first time in days, I didn’t open up PixUs. I was worried I’d find a notification from one of the brothers asking where I’d gone.
It wasn’t my job to make sure they could keep up with me.
Despite telling myself that, I still felt guilty. They might be following me, but they’d been keeping their distance. No interfering at work or when I didn’t go straight home. They hadn’t even come into the bar I’d visited with Em the other night.
They were giving me the space I’d asked for. Maybe I shouldn’t have deliberately evaded them. It seemed rude, like I wasn’t keeping up my end of our strange bargain. Not that we’d formally agreed to anything, but there was definitely an implied understanding.
“It’s only this once,” I muttered to the empty car. “After today I won’t deliberately ditch them again.”
Coming to that decision made me want to get this case over with. Hugo might not even be here, and then I’d need to start all over again anyway.
The thought that Leif and Hugo might be somewhere else made me feel less guilty for ditching whoever was guarding me today.
Might as well confirm and head home. I’d knock on the door and get a look inside when someone answered. Dogs didn’t tend to be quiet when a stranger showed up at the front door. It’d be a quick way to find out.
Getting out of the car, I tried to think of an excuse as I crossed the street.
There was a mailbox next to the door. I lifted the lid and saw the name John Hill on one of the envelopes. I had another name, which was helpful, except I still didn’t know what to say to John when he came to the door.
I rang the doorbell anyway.
Except the door didn’t open. I rang the bell again, expecting at least a voice through the camera-doorbell combo demanding to know why I was there, but nothing.
Out of desperation, I tried the doorknob.
“No, not possible,” I muttered when the knob turned and the door swung open. The sight that met my eyes made me suck in a startled breath. I slapped both hands over my mouth to keep from screaming.
There were three dead bodies lying on the ground just inside the front door. Two looked like they'd been hugging when they were struck down and the other was standing close and had knocked over a table as he went down.
I didn't bother getting close to check for pulses, they were most definitely dead. While I didn't see any blood, it was clear they couldn't be saved.
How did I know?
That was easy. Because they looked like mummies wearing modern clothes!
It wasn’t only the clothing that clued me in, but one of them was clutching a cell phone in his withered hand.
Then the smell hit me. I could only describe it as death.
Pulling my shirt up over my nose, I crouched down to pull the phone free. The lock screen was the same picture Gale showed me of Leif and Hugo wearing matching shirts. Damn, they both looked so happy. It made me think I should've questioned Gale more.
The body half propped up against the overturned table suddenly fell all the way to the floor with a dry papery sound. It reminded me of a pile of dried leaves being poured into a trash can.
It startled me bad enough that I dropped the phone and jumped back. The mummy’s corpse stared up at me with empty, sightless eyes, and I finally realized I could be in danger.
These deaths had to be a result of some powerful creature, right?
That meant I needed to get out of here before the creature came back. Wait, what if they were still here, hiding in the house and waiting to suck the life out of an innocent amateur investigator?
I noticed the mail I’d sent, among other items scattered on the floor. Panic made me grab the three envelopes with the trackers and shove them in my back pocket.
I was about to turn and run when I heard little nails on hardwood. I looked over to see a French Bulldog in a Hawaiian shirt peek out from behind a wall.
“Hugo!” I cried.
Hearing his name made the little dog charge at me with a whine. I knelt, and he jumped into my arms, trembling violently. Whatever happened here, he’d witnessed it and was freaked out. I couldn’t blame him!
Hugging Hugo to my chest, I ran back to my car. I sat him on the passenger seat and pressed the start button. My hand was shaking so badly it took two tries.
“It’s going to be okay, Hugo,” I said, pulling away from the curb without even looking. Thankfully, it was a quiet street. Hugo responded by standing up with his front feet on the armrest and slurping his tongue up the side of my face. It was such a normal doggie thing to do that I laughed.
When I was about halfway home, I remembered Gale. I hated to think this way, but the sooner I got rid of Hugo, the sooner I could distance myself from what I’d just seen.
Gale probably didn't have anything to do with what happened in that house. Those three people could've simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten hit by a stray spell. Or maybe they’d made a deal with a powerful creature and hadn’t kept up their end.
Whatever the reason, I didn’t want to have anything to do with them or Gale any longer.
I pulled off the freeway and found a shady place to park. I tried to call her, but it went right to voicemail, so I sent a text. Still nothing. Not even an I’m busy right now but will contact you when I'm free automated text message.
I stared at my phone for a few minutes, letting my heart calm down and my hands stop shaking. Finally, I looked up at Hugo. He was still perched on the armrest, watching me intensely.
“I guess it’s you and me for a while,” I said.
His answer was to leap into my lap, do a circle, and settle down with a happy harrumph.
“I guess I'm a good interim human,” I joked. I gently put him back into the seat. He wasn't pleased. “Sorry, buddy, but it's too dangerous to drive with you in my lap.”
He gave me some serious side eye, then turned to stare out the passenger window. He barked at a dog on the sidewalk across the street. The dog was trotting ahead of the owner and pulling her along.
That was when I realized I didn't even have a leash. Gale might get back to me in a few minutes or not until tomorrow. Hugo couldn't go that long without the basics like food!
“We need to go shopping.”
He turned his head and barked, as if agreeing.
“Next stop, a pet store,” I declared. Shopping for Hugo sounded like a lot more fun than dwelling on the dead bodies I'd accidently discovered.
I could only hope I didn't see them in my dreams.
Danzig
Instead of coffee today, I bought an energy drink. That wasn’t the only change to my normal pattern when guarding Bec. I’d also decided to park in the only shady spot in the parking lot. It was in a spot under a tree at the far corner and not a bad spot.
I could tell Bec didn’t see me when she left work early and looked around before going to her car.
I wasn’t surprised she’d missed me. The tall bushes at the base of the tree did a good job of hiding my motorcycle.
I’d been leaning against the tree so that must’ve been enough for her gaze to pass right by me.
Pulling on my helmet, I followed Bec at a respectful distance.
When Bec stopped in this neighborhood, clearly watching a house, I assumed she was on another stakeout.
I parked the motorcycle and reached for my phone to DM her, but she’d gotten out of her car and walked right up to the house she was watching.
She wasn’t there long and then she came running back out, holding a dog. They got in the car and rushed away.
I was torn. Clearly something had happened inside the house and there might be some human in there in need of retribution, but I also didn’t want to lose sight of Bec.
After a few seconds of indecision, I decided to investigate the house. I was good at tracking auras and felt confident I’d be able to locate Bec again.
I understood why she'd run from the house the moment I got to the fully open front door.
“That’s interesting,” I mumbled, crouching down next to one of the bodies. They looked like they'd been buried in the desert years ago, although by the look of their fading auras, they'd been alive only ten minutes earlier.
As I watched, the spell that caused their deaths pulsed, and the dried corpses disintegrated to human-shaped piles of dust. Their auras completely disappeared.
I wished I’d recorded it, but I had no way of knowing that was going to happen. I hadn’t seen that before.
I took a few pictures, making sure not to touch any of the dust. I couldn't see or sense any more magic, so I was sure the spell was finished. However, I wasn’t going to risk accidentally setting off another spell that might be waiting to activate.
After I'd gotten some pictures, I noticed a phone sitting near the feet of one of the corpses. I picked it up; no magic clung to it. I wiped my prints off it and tossed it next to one of the piles of dust.
After closing the door, I wiped any possible fingerprints off the knob and walked back to my bike. I debated about flaring my aura but decided against it. I could already tell that the door camera wasn't working because electronic devices always gave off a slight pulse, but there was nothing here.
There were going to be a lot of questions when the human authorities found them, but that wasn’t my problem.
Jumping back on my bike, I started it up and followed the faint trace of Bec’s aura through the surface streets to a pet store about ten miles away. I found her car, then circled the parking lot until I could tuck myself out of sight next to a truck.
I debated telling Marduk. He should know, but he would also definitely overreact. I didn’t want him doing anything all of us would end up regretting.
He must’ve felt my debate because my phone rang.
“What’s going on?” he mumbled. He'd been asleep, but my strong thoughts and ongoing conundrum must’ve woken him up.
“I’ll tell you later,” I said. “No one's in danger. I'm sitting in a parking lot while Bec shops.”
He grunted and hung up.
This was probably going to blow up in my face later, but I had hours to figure out how to handle Marduk after I told him.