Fury From Hell (21 page)

Joining a coven?  What the hell is my life coming to?

Shaking herself out of the Twilight Zone Jennifer checked the time.  It was almost six o’clock.  She had to head back to Brooklyn but she really didn’t want to face her apartment and the missing bullets alone.  She again turned on the TV to wait until Lady Ariella and Betty came out of the kitchen.  She heard Betty’s cell ring a couple of times before Betty picked it up answering in her cop voice.  Jennifer’s ears perked.  Usually an officer was not called when they were off the clock.  There was a silence that ensued; it felt like a tense one.  Then Jennifer heard her say, “Damnit!  Why’s it my turn already?  Yeah, I’ll be in.  Give me about an hour and I’ll be there.”

Jennifer was up and moving into the kitchen all thoughts of her own predicament pushed to the side.  “What?” she asked Betty tersely.

“Ever hear of Stagg Rennkler?”

Lady Ariella and Jennifer both made incredulous sounds.

“Who hasn’t, Betty?  He’s the freakin’ billionaire’s billionaire.  Why?” asked Jennifer.

“He’s dead.  I’m on the case and I’ve got to be at the precinct like an hour ago.”

“What?  How the hell do you get such a case?”

“Seems Rennkler bought it by the Waterfront in Dumbo and the Mayor’s calling for a team to be put together immediately.  That puts the case in our house and I’m one of the senior detectives in the precinct.”  Betty sighed and ran a slightly muddy hand through her hair.  She snapped herself out of it.  She moved and spoke while striding out of the kitchen

“Okay, Holden I’m giving you a ride back to Brooklyn.  We’ll have to finish this later Lady Ariella.  Duty calls.  I’m going to see about having you on the case this way we get your amped up perceptions and I get to keep an eye on you at the same time.”

“I don’t need a babysitter!”

“No one said, or implied, you did.  What you need is a damned spirit guide but we don’t have time to teach you how to connect with yours so this is the best alternative.  What do you think Lady Ariella?”

“Yes, she needs the extra fortitude you can provide.”

“Hello??  Still here.  I’m right next to you both.”

“But what if while we’re working something else tries to come and possess her?  With the guys all around from work that’ll be an interesting little song and dance I’ll have to come up with to protect her and not appear nutters.”

“As I recall, you were a drama major…”

“Lady Ariella…this is serious.  A little more direct help please?”

“Make an emergency pack, give her a small Bible, a rosary and a cross to wear now.  Then, douse her with holy water and pray over her — we’ll both pray with her…you.”  Lady Ariella looked at Jennifer apologetically and finally included her in the conversation.

“Since you don’t have your own faith we must drape you in ours for the time being to give you a fighting chance.  I’ll put a strong charm around you to make your aura appear unblemished and teach you a simple incantation to call your guardian angel and spirit guides to your side.  Yes!  You have them, and don’t tell me you don’t; everyone has protective and guardian spirits surrounding them.  And, let’s not get into the discussion of where they’ve been.  We don’t have the time,” Lady Ariella finished by pointing a firm forefinger at her with a stern look in her eye and one raised eyebrow.

Jennifer snapped her mouth closed as she was just about to voice that very thought.

Betty, smothering a laugh, took the stairs two at a time.  Jennifer and the High Priestess heard her banging around.  Moments later, she was flying back down the stairs talking a mile a minute.

“Jennifer, take Lady Ariella’s number,” Betty scribbled it on a Post-It note and handed it to Jennifer.  “Memorize it!  Put it in your phone.  Write it all over the house.  We don’t know if the Fury has left booby-traps in your mind.  So, Lady Ariella’s info and my info my get warped in your head once you’re not with us.  Got it?”

Jennifer’s insides went ice cold.  She gulped hard and wished for a strong drink that would chase the gnawing fear away.  She nodded and grabbed her purse and followed the witches out the front door.

Woof!  Wooof!!

“Shut up Moxie!  Don’t have time for your bull right now and you
better
leave my hedges alone if you like your pathetic life!” 

Stifling a hysterical giggle, Jennifer waved farewell to Lady Ariella as she hurried to Betty’s vehicle and Lady Ariella walked briskly to her car.

“Lady Ariella, I’ll call you as soon as I can!” said Betty.

“Right!  Just keep an eye on Jennifer,” Lady Ariella replied then she looked at Jennifer and addressed her.  “And, I’ll keep tabs on you through Kamali love, light and blessings to you both!”

Both cars started but Betty pulled off first with a screech of tires and high-tailed it towards Brooklyn.

***

Sunday, November 11
^th
, 7:30 P.M.

“Sorry to pull you from your day off, but this was going to be yours, anyway, no matter what.  ‘Sides, the Mayor’s hot on us to get moving
now
,” their Sergeant said in apologetic tones as they took seats in front of his desk.

“Ah…what are you doing here Holden?”

“I was with Feinster when she got the call…”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re in
my
office when I’m about to brief the detective on the case.”  One of his eyebrows arched as his gaze pierce Jennifer’s.

A lone bead of cold sweat popped out on Jennifer’s forehead.

“I’m waiting Holden.”

She got to her feet hastily and walked towards the door.

“Sarge, it would be good for Detective Holden to be a part of this case.  She’s done good work on the Barnes case and has gone the extra mile to secure evidence.  In fact, the detective believes the perp could be a serial.  Isn’t that right Holden?”

Jennifer halted in her tracks.  She turned around and looked into Betty’s eyes. 
She’s letting me in on the biggest case she’s ever had?

“Ah…that’s right Detective Feinster.  I contacted a fellow officer in the middle of the country who had a case similar to mine.  He had a strand of hair that matched the strand found on Barnes which links that case to mine unequivocally.  Detective Castleman’s case is now reopened and he’s made himself available to answer any further inquires I might have.”

“Huh.  Whaddaya know, our little rookie detective’s gone and hit the ball out of the park.  Serial, huh?  Atta girl!  I knew you had it in you.”

Sergeant Peterson gave Jennifer a 100-watt smile and some of the starch went out of his demeanor.  “So, just because of a bit of good detective work you want this rookie working with you Feinster?  Think she’s a team player?”

“Yes, sir.  She is.”

“Good.  Because the team has a total of four members now — the two of you, Clift and Yearwood.”

“Sir…?” Peterson ignored Betty and continued. “The Mayor wants results.  Stagg Rennkler is a notable public figure that ended up dead in our neck of the woods.  I wish he had bitten it in Bumbfuck Jersey where he lives, but he didn’t.  He got it right here in DUMBO.  The Mayor wants the best we’ve got on it.  The Feds want to come in and take it from us so we have to move fast and get the leads —”

“So why didn’t we go straight to the murder scene?”  Feinster interrupted.

“— because I had to brief you first.”

“But, Sir.  Valuable time —”

“The man was murdered and his body dumped in the River.  Nothing was stolen from him that we know of.  He had no ID on him and other than the bullet wound in his head he was not harmed in any other way.”

“All of which we would have ascertained at the crime scene…” insisted Feinster.

“…but what the majority of cops on scene don’t know is that we found a note.  I had the first on-scene to bring it directly to us here.  We photographed it as it was when he was fished out of the water.”

“A note?!”

“Yeah, with his alleged John Hancock no less but it seems that someone wants us to believe he offed himself.  Problem is the bullet wound is on the left side.  Most suicides use their dominant hand when killing themselves.  He was right-handed and the note is not in his handwriting.  Already checked that against writing samples available online.”

“How?  Who puts writing samples online?” asked Jennifer, puzzled.

“The annual reports for his company are online and his signature is at the bottom.  Yearwood ferreted it out and we were able to spot it as a hoax immediately and that he died by foul play.  Right now, only the 6 of us know about the note.  Let’s keep it that way.”

Lost, Jennifer repeated what she heard.

“Six?”

“Yeah, first on-scene was a beat cop.  You four, and me — six.”

“So now, we can go?” 

Feinster got to her feet and was turning towards the door.

“Yeah.  One last thing. Rennkler’s business partner of eighteen years hit the wind.  No one knows where the guy is.  It coulda been for the insurance money…the age-old motivation.”

To Jennifer, something about that suggestion didn’t sit right.  It felt wrong, somehow.  Shrugging it off, she followed Feinster out the door.

Within minutes they had on their uniforms and were heading towards the crime scene in a squad car, siren blaring, lights flashing.  Jennifer was unnerved.  It was a lot to absorb that she was now part of a second case that would be just as time consuming, if not more so, than the Barnes case.  Shaking her head, she reprioritized everything, putting her personal life issues at the bottom.  Emptying her mind, Jennifer readied herself for the job at hand.

***

Sunday, November 11
^th
, 6:45 P.M.

Lady Ariella watched as Kamali’s Acura Hybrid sped off.  She admired at the younger woman’s tenacity and dedication but left her own car in park.  She grabbed her bag and looked through it.  Within moments she found the little book.  She pulled it open and smiled when she saw her finger had found Psalm 28, a prayer for help and thanksgiving.   Lady Ariella read the short psalm and looked through the windows towards Kamali’s home and wondered if leaving the Fury buried there was a good idea.  The High Priestess was still uneasy but chided herself for being a silly superstitious old woman.  She tucked the Bible away, put the car in drive and pulled out after checking her mirrors and the street carefully.

Next door Moxie — the pit bull — barked as Lady Ariella’s car rolled down the street at a moderate pace.  The dog pulled and stretched the rope that held it captive.  It snarled as it pawed the ground trying to get off its tether and investigate the tantalizing smell that was coming from the backyard next door.  In a frenzy, Moxie managed to get the tether in her mouth and she ran in circles while biting it.  After ten minutes, the dog had bitten clean through the rope and was free!

The pit bull darted through the small hole in the fence under the hedges and ran straight for the spot that the woman was working on just a little while ago in the very back of the yard — someplace Moxie never usually went —
but the smell!
  It was so odiferous!  Moxie arrived at the patch of loosely packed earth near the big tree and began using her front paws to dig.  The closer Moxie got to the delicious scent the more excited the dog became.  Within a few short minutes, the round icicle-encrusted lead crystal sphere was within reach of Moxie’s tongue.  Moxie licked a small portion of the sphere clean then dug some more releasing it from its resting place within the earth.  With the sphere between Moxie’s jaws the dog trotted back to her side of the fence and lay down in front of her doghouse as she began to gnaw and play with its new find.

***

Sunday, November 11
^th
, 8:17 P.M.

With all of the anchor people, their media crews and the paparazzi vying for a quote and shoving oversized microphones in their faces it was difficult for Feinster and Holden to gain access to the crime scene.  They had to elbow their way up to the police line and have their badges inspected for over two minutes prior to being let in.

“Stick close to me at all times,” Betty said tersely.

“Yearwood, what’s the latest?” the older female cop asked.

He peered at Jennifer before answering.  He inclined his head towards her.  “What’s she doing here?”

“Sergeant Peterson put her on with us.  Now, the four of us are on this case.”  Feinster’s eyes begged him to challenge her.

He thought it over for a second.  He shrugged then began briefing them. “Rennkler’s body was spotted by a couple of teenagers out for a romp.  The girl, allegedly playing hard to get, ran over to the area near the water where the rocks are located.”  Yearwood pointed to indicate the area as they walked closer to the body which was covered by a white sheet. “She says she saw a dark bobbing object that seemed to be anchored in some way.  She went into the water to check and started screaming her head off bringing the dude over.  He’s the one that dialed 9-1-1.”

“What held the body?”

“Rennkler’s clothes got caught on some debris below the surface.  Normally, the undercurrent would have taken him out and no one would have found him.  I’m telling you the whole thing is just freakish ‘cause in mid-November how many couples come out here for a romp?”  His wry smile made Jennifer grin in spite of the circumstances.

Betty hit him with another question. “So how was he ID’d?”

“Everyone knows what the guy looks like.  He’s not a recluse.  He just likes his privacy.  As a backup, we were able to get prints off him.  He hasn’t been in for too long, maybe 20 hours, give or take.”

Jennifer piped up, “So, death was Friday night?

“Still not sure.  The Coroner would have to say.  He may have been killed earlier and then dumped yesterday.  Damage wasn’t too bad.  His eyeballs are gone; fish.  But everything else seems to be intact.”

Jennifer’s stomach went into a spasm.  She took a deep breath and focused on the frenetic movement around her.  It wasn’t working too well.