“That dream came to me from the bear totem that Dave now wore, and when Wendigota seized me, it brought with it memories of that fight from its point of view.”
Just thinking about it, I could feel it squirming around in its insubstantial prison. I continued, “After shaman-Jeff’s warning, I’d stayed as far away as possible from the skull holding the monster, but it wasn’t the Caduceus that had freed it from its prison. Jeff hadn’t told me that just breaking the skull was enough to set it free and my stalker-cum-assassin, Erik, had done it out of spite. Once freed, the spirit immediately possessed Erik. That’s when he went on his killing spree.”
“That’s pretty frightening,” said Hunter even though she’d heard it from me before. “But, speaking of killing sprees, let’s get back to Colette. Why do you think she’s the one who stabbed you? In the report from the officers at the scene last night, you didn’t mention it. In fact, you said your attacker wore a... I think the technical term you used was ‘Ninja-mask-hoodie-thingy.’”
“Hey, I don’t know what they’re called. But, even though she had one of those on, I recognized her aura.”
“People’s auras are that distinct?”
I nodded. “They’re all different colors. Hers is a bright violet color.”
The detective looked intrigued. “What color is mine?”
I’d Looked at her before, but just thinking about it pulled up my sight. Like most, her aura was beautiful. I took a moment to also appreciate her more physical beauty before I responded. “I’d call it emerald green.” She looked pleased.
“How about mine?” asked Jen.
I Looked at Jen as well. “Yours is intense, deep, sky blue.” I’d told her before, but she must have forgotten.
Or she wants you to look at her like you looked at Hunter. We could do a threesome.
As usual, no one around me had any idea why I seemingly blushed at random intervals.
Detective Victoria talked over my distraction, “It’s hard to believe they’re that distinct. There are a lot more people than colors, Finn.”
I nodded her point. “Yeah, some of them are really close.”
“So how can you be sure it was Colette?”
“She… uh...” I thought of her moonlit heart-shaped butt sliding through the window and blushed. “She had... the same build and eye color as Colette, too.”
The detective cocked her head, detecting my pause, no doubt, but she let it slide. “Is there any other reason you can think of that might tell us why she would stab you to get your stick?”
I was hugely grateful that Dave wasn’t around for that straight line.
“I don’t know why she did it, but now I think she might have killed two other people as well.”
“I assume you mean Mr. McCormick and Mr. Portatori?”
“How did you...? Oh yeah, never mind.” I squirmed under Detective Hunter’s sharp gaze. Both men had been shot recently by someone who knew what they were doing. She’d been on the scene with me after I’d reported McCormick’s murder, and as for Portatori, murders were pretty rare here, but assassinations were even more so.
Hunter’s voice matched her look when she said in a low and dangerous voice, “And you didn’t tell us this conclusion before because...?”
I waved my hands in panic. “I didn’t know! Honest! She said Portatori was her ex.”
“And you didn’t think we might want to talk to her when he was found shot dead?”
“No. It’s not like that. Arrrghh.” I ran my hands down my face. “Look, a lot of stuff’s been happening. I had just started pulling the shadows off people again. After Mr. Johnson died, I was—”
“I thought you said she only killed two people...”
“No, he died of pneumonia, but it was probably the shadow riding him that made him too weak to fight it. I was determined never to let something like that happen again—not if I was in a position to help. So, Colette wasn’t the only thing on my mind. Touching those shadows is freaky and disturbing. It was hard to think of anything else when I started removing them again. The first person I helped was Janice...”
When I finished my story about Janice, the women sat there and thought about it. Finally, the detective shook her head. “Okay, I get it, you were doing some pretty crazy things. Now, tell me what happened with Colette and Portatori.”
“Okay, well, as it works out, that was right after my session with Janice...”
I finished my (again edited for content) story with, “I didn’t think anything else about it. I mean it was strange, but not that strange.”
Detective Hunter’s sharp eyebrows could be used as lethal weapons. “You didn’t think it was strange that a woman did a flying tackle of a grown man in the middle of the street?”
“Look, it was on the sidewalk, and I didn’t have any idea what she had gone through with this guy. I had no clue if he deserved it or not. And besides, she’s French.”
Jen rolled her eyes in (I felt) over-dramatic exasperation. “Really, Finn? Are you saying you expect to go to France and see French babes tackling guys around the city?
I scowled. “No, I’m saying I don’t claim to be an expert on foreign standards of behavior!”
“Okay Finn, calm down,” said Hunter. “If she could wipe the sidewalk with this guy, why do you think she killed him?”
I squinched my face and put my hand on my forehead. I really didn’t want to admit to this next part. Having scorn heaped upon you in a hospital room when you have no underwear should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. There should be a constitutional amendment against it. As soon as I was out of here, I was—.
“Finn? Are you okay?” I dropped my hand, opened my eyes and took in Jen’s concerned face. That helped.
I took a deep breath. “I’m fine. But listen, I already know I’m a world-class idiot, okay? You guys don’t have to point it out any more.”
They both smiled.
I said, “I’m serious. If I go on, you have to promise you won’t laugh at me or call me names or anything, okay?”
Spring said,
Hey, I’m not going to make any promises like that. I told you that girl was no good.
You did not! You loved her.
That’s just because she took us dancing.
Jen said, “Okay, I apologize, Finn. Cross my heart, I’ll be good.”
Hunter nodded agreement.
I didn’t believe either of them for a minute, but I felt a little better.
“Right,” said the detective. “Go on, Finn. When did you meet Mr. McCormick?”
“Right. Well, okay...” As, I tried to collect my thoughts, Hunter’s impatience became more than obvious. “I’m getting to it! I just have to think about what happened.”
I brightened with a memory.
“You asked me why I didn’t think about Colette being involved in Pietro’s death sooner. Well, in my defense, I thought Pietro was killed while we were out of town. It was a while before I learned that he’d actually been killed before we left. Also, she looked so stunned when she was told about his death that I was sure she couldn’t be faking.”
“Perhaps you need to work on your lie-detection skills, Finn,” said Jen.
“Jen...”
“Okay, I’m sorry, tell us about Mr. McCormick.”
“Well, it was after Colette and I had gone dancing.”
Jen looked shocked. “You went dancing?”
Jen looked a bit wistful when she asked, “Did you go to Trax?” I was surprised she even knew about it, but on reflection, I realized that even though she was six months younger than me, she was a lot more worldly.
“No, you couldn’t get me into that place at gunpoint.”
“Why not? I heard it was awesome!”
Crap
, I so didn’t want to tell her about it.
Detective Hunter’s mobile lips broke into an evil grin and she said, “Bad memories, I would think. He got into a fight with a guy who was jealous about Finn dancing with his boyfriend. I had to pick him up and take him home.”
“You were dancing with a guy?” I could see the wheels turning behind Jen’s surprised eyes.
“I’m not gay!”
“I didn’t say you were.” Jen pulled back, eyes growing even larger. Detective Hunter barked a laugh at my response. Spring echoed her in my head. This was so unfair!
Hunter eye’s danced as she said, “It was his experimental phase. He’s over it now.”
“I am not! I mean I never was. You promised you wouldn’t laugh!”
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Finn.” She cleared her throat, put on a serious attentive look and said, “Mr. Morgenstern, please continue.”
Jen smiled at me. “Yes Mr. Morgenstern, do go on.” My glare was obviously less than intimidating, but they remained silent and I
t
old them about how the man followed us.
“Once we got to Colette’s hotel...” I remembered our cover story. “We went up to her room and found McCormick’s body on the floor.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed, “Wait a minute, if you were with her the entire time, why did you tell me she killed McCormick?”
Oh crap.
Grab the tray, hit her over the head and run!
said Spring.
Spring please!
“...I did?”
“Yes, you did.”
You really suck at lying
,
dude.
Hunter squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced. Spring was right, I might as well have a nose that grew when I lied.
“Finn, when was she out of your sight and for how long?”
I said in a small voice, “She went up to her room alone. When she didn’t
come right back, I went to find her.”
“And when you found her?”
I really didn’t want to say it, but I did, “She was in the room alone with McCormick and had her gun in her hand.”
“Is there anything else I need to know about
,
Finn?”
Just that you took the security video equipment.
“No.”
“You don’t seem sure about that. Finn, did you leave anything else out?”
I looked up at the scowling, frightening face of Detective Hunter.
“No, honest!”
“If I find out you are lying to me...”
“That’s it, I swear! You know everything else.”
Jen sat up and said, “Wait, I don’t know what else happened!”
Hunter nodded curtly at my silent question.
“After we’d been interviewed a couple of times, Detective Hunter asked Colette to come down to the station with her. It seems there were some ‘irregularities’ in her visa.”
“Well, what story did you tell the police?” asked Jen.
I shrugged to the detective apologetically.
“Except for altering the fact that we went in separately, we told them the truth.”
“Not quite,” said Hunter with a glare. “You also ‘forgot’ to mention anything to do with Pietro. Finn, I hope you realize how much trouble you’re in.”
I swallowed back the bile attempting to rise up my throat. “How much?”
“A lot. Lying to the police on a murder investigation is a serious offense. There will probably be some jail time involved, and it will go on your permanent record.”
I gulped. “Doesn’t it count that I’m telling you now?”
“It depends on the judge.”
That’s it, we have to escape. We can go to Canada and use our hoodoo to get a fake ID. They’ll never find us.
We can’t run from this
,
Spring!
Sure, we can. Especially if the alternative is rotting in a jail cell for the rest of our lives.
I swallowed and asked, “I don’t suppose there’s some way we can maybe sweep this under the rug?”
Yeah! We lied for her last time.
She shook her head at me. “I don’t see how. This is critical information. I can’t ignore this, Finn,” said Hunter.
I looked away from the anger on Detective Hunter’s face and glanced at Jen for a little support. If anything, her glare was hotter than Hunter’s. I cringed a bit, and that set her off.
“Finn, how could you be such an idiot? Couldn’t you tell that she was just playing you? Her whole story’s ridiculous. I bet she came here just to steal the Caduceus.”
“Jen, you don’t understand! Even now, I can’t believe she was lying the whole time. Nobody can fake being that scared and, uh, other things so well.”
“Are you really that stupid around women? Finn, she broke into your house and stabbed you!”
“No, I don’t think...”
“She’s right, Finn,” said Hunter. “It looks like this woman played you for all you were worth. It’s just sheer dumb luck that you aren’t dead.”
Jen shared her contemptuous glare with the detective. “If she was in custody, how did she escape?”
Hunter shook her head, “She didn’t, she was taken off our hands by Homeland Security a few days ago.” She scowled ferociously. “If we had known she was a suspect in two murders, we could have kept her, and none of this would have happened.”
“How’d she get away from Homeland Security?” asked Jen.
Victoria’s mouth set even harder. I could see the muscles working her jaw as they tried to crush her teeth. “I intend to find out. Meanwhile Finn, I’m going to leave a guard on your door here till the doctor gives you a clean bill of health, and then I’m going to have to move you to the jail.”
“Oh, come on! You know me. I’m not going to run.”
That’s right, make her feel guilty—enough to let you go home—then we can run.
“I’m more worried about your psychopathic girlfriend trying to kill you and take your stick again.”
“Oh.”
“Finn, is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
I felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an onrushing semi. It took all my will power to just shake my head and stop myself from spilling everything.
“Okay, if you think of anything,
you will tell me, right?
”
I nodded. Detective Hunter turned and left. Unfortunately, Jen wasn’t done with me yet.
“I just can’t believe you were this dumb, Finn. You’re one of the smartest guys I know.”