18. He’s not the brightest crayon in the box. #5
“Sure, Bailey. You can nap now. What do you want to do about this?”
“Del-a-ware on way home. We go in-ves-ti-gate before home. Then we go home, and no more vay-cay-shun. Only home, where sleep for month.”
“It’s not quite on the way home, but I guess it’s close enough. Alas, we don’t have a month to sleep, my beautiful.”
“Well, that is sad.”
“I’m sure you’ll be okay.”
While life was often not fair, it wasn’t always cruel, and not all disappearances ended with grief or sorrow.
Before we headed home, we went to the address in Delaware, which proved to be a state-run mental institution, and the name was that of the doctor in charge of Commissioner Dowry’s uncle, who was known as John Doe to them, for they’d never been able to find any leads on the man’s family due to his Alzheimer’s.
They hadn’t known he hadn’t been diagnosed prior—and they hadn’t known he’d been a sudden onset victim listed as a missing person in a different state.
As the state couldn’t pay for an angel to reverse the damage without familial request, Dowry’s uncle lived a quiet life in a wing dedicated to dementia patients.
In the paperwork we were permitted to review due to our badges and that the Dowry case was our jurisdiction, we learned Dowry’s uncle would need months to be able to recover—assuming he received the right care.
The hospital had laid out a treatment plan, including everything they thought was needed to let him live happily outside of their walls.
He had a good record, calm disposition, and was considered to be an ideal long-term patient who caused no trouble beyond needing to use a script to remind him why he was there and distract him when he wanted to remember his past.
At sixty-three and otherwise healthier than an ox, he’d be a long time dying, living in a fog without memory or identity.
It took us two hours at the hospital, a trip back to our precinct, more forms than I liked, and another few hours at the hospital to begin the mandatory treatments required to let him go home.
The effort exhausted me, and I wondered how Quinn handled his day-to-day work, as it somehow seemed routine to him.
Instead of asking, I watched and tried to learn—and wondered how much would have changed if I’d known about the man.
According to the angel who came to begin the treatment, he would be ready to meet his family and resume life sometime near Easter.
The drive to our house went by in silence while I tried to make sense of my magic, how easy it had been to solve such an old case, and what would have changed if only I’d known to look for him sooner.
“Okay, Bailey. Spill. What’s wrong?”
“I wouldn’t call it wrong. I was just wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t hid what I am.”
“That you’re my most beautiful cindercorn and wife?”
“Wayfinder.”
“I don’t know. What I do know is that when we invite Commissioner Dowry to spend Easter with us, we’ll be bringing quite the surprise with us.
I’ve decided we’ll be visiting Delaware at least three times a week during his treatments, and I’ll be bringing the familial records from the case.
His family did a lot of work trying to find him. ”
“How did they miss him in Delaware?”
“He had no symptoms of the disease, Bailey. That’s why.
Why would we look for that? We had queried about amnesia patients.
He’s not an amnesia patient. He’s an Alzheimer’s patient.
And so you now see one of the many failings of law enforcement.
” My husband sighed. “I don’t know if you would have found him sooner.
Was your magic strong enough then? How does your magic work?
Does it need the weight of longing from others to work?
When you looked for proof of Audrey’s guilt, it was one of the most important things I needed in my life. ”
I understood what he meant. “When I went to find you, you were the most important thing in my life.”
“When you found Avalanche, you wanted her for me.”
“Returning to being among the most important things in my life. And then Janet would have counted, too.”
“My point is, every time you’ve used your magic, it has been something truly and desperately important to you.
Finding him wasn’t necessarily that important to you, but years of not knowing creates a sense of desperation.
I’m willing to bet that fueled your magic more than your personal desire.
Have you ever looked for anything truly trivial? ”
I spent the rest of the drive thinking about that.
When he pulled into our driveway, a cruiser waited for us.
“No, I’ve never looked for anything truly trivial.
Why are there cops in our driveway again?
I swear, Sam, if someone tried to burn down our house again, I’m going to kick ass, take names, and need bail. ”
“It’s a deterrent cruiser the Queens cops parked with a camera running to monitor. Don’t take your clothes off until we’re inside.”
“Why would I take my clothes off before we’re inside?”
“I’m that sexy, and I failed in my duties to provide to your every need two nights in a row. You’re thirsty for me.”
I was? I mean, when wasn’t I? I stared at him. “Do you need something, Sam?”
“Desperately. Please.”
I laughed. “The faster we get our pets and our shit inside, the sooner I take care of your special needs. Move it, Samuel Leviticus Quinn. I don’t have all night.”
Damn, he sure could move when motivated.