Joyce & Jim Lavene - Taxi for the Dead 02 - Dead Girl Blues (18 page)

“I’m kind of a bounty hunter. I work for a private firm in the city.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask for more details. I could think of answers, but I didn’t want to lie to him.

“I hear you met up with Gerald Linker.” He glanced at a red pickup as it pulled into the station.

I was finished pumping and put back the hose. “That’s right. It was interesting. I guess news travels fast.”

“You could say that—especially since he was arrested a few hours ago for breaking and entering. I asked a buddy of mine who was there at the scene. He said Gerald told him he was looking for evidence to prove werewolves had killed his wife. Know anything about that?”

Chapter Twenty-two

So much for not lying to Tim.

“No. Werewolves, huh? Where did he break into? Is there a werewolf institute or museum that I don’t know about?”

Tim chuckled. “Nah. He broke into a psychic place over near the river. There was something on the sign about being able to help with supernatural events that bother people. He seemed to take the owner at her word. They had a meeting a few hours before he broke in. It seems he waited until she left and then picked the lock on the front door.”

Gerald
. I sighed, hating that he’d gone overboard. I’d hoped he’d be able to handle it. I guess he was still too fragile. I could blame this breakdown on myself.

“Sorry to hear that. I wouldn’t have gone to see him if I’d known it could cause a problem for him.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. He’s not right in the head anymore, you know? Anything could’ve put him over the edge. But I wonder why werewolves?”

“Maybe it was the way his wife was killed. I’ve seen the pictures. She was ripped apart, even worse than Jacob. I couldn’t blame him for thinking something supernatural did it since no one has come up with an answer that makes sense.”

“I guess that’s true. Given his background, mental problems and all, werewolves could be something he’d think of.”

“I suppose so.” I watched the traffic moving by on the main road. “Thanks for telling me. I have to go to work. Have a good one.”

As I was turning on the engine in the van, Tim put his hand on the open window ledge next to me.

“You’re not thinking anything weird like that, are you, Skye?” His brown eyes were steady on mine.

“No. Cops don’t have that much imagination, right?” I smiled and waved.

He gave me a friendly salute and moved his hand. I took off. My brain hummed with ways to get Gerald out of jail before the system began to work on him again. I didn’t want him to go back to the hospital. I didn’t think he was crazy. He’d just leaped on the idea too soon and panicked. I might have done the same thing if I didn’t have Lucas to talk to.

But I had to meet Artemis first before I could do anything that might help sort out Gerald.

Was it me, or were the werewolf questions Tim was asking more pointed than I would’ve expected from someone in law enforcement? I couldn’t imagine having a straight-faced conversation with someone about werewolves when I was a cop.

I was still mulling that over when I found the address Abe had texted me. The houses were middle-class family styles with small driveways and no garages, which meant there were cars parked everywhere on the street.

Abe’s Lincoln wasn’t there, so he really trusted Artemis after last night. I had to keep myself out of it, at least until I had better answers or had a way to prove to Abe that Artemis was cheating him.

I scanned the block, no idea what kind of vehicle Artemis drove. He answered my question when he dramatically appeared in front of me, directly in the headlights.

“I guess I didn’t have to worry about finding you, did I?” I said as I got out of the van.

Dressed completely in black this time with a black, red-lined cape theatrically spreading out behind him, he looked more like a magician than Harold ever had. I had to admit that he was a handsome man with his aquiline features and thick blond hair.

His arms were raised, pushing the cape back from his shoulders. I caught a glimpse of a large tattoo on his arm, but I couldn’t be sure the design was.

Could it be the dragon the man at the smoke shop had talked about? How would I ever make Abe believe Artemis had killed Harold, if I found it to be true? He already trusted the sorcerer so much.

“It’s lovely to see you again, Skye. I wish the circumstances were different. Perhaps after we have mastered this problem, you and I could step out for a drink.”

“My daughter is waiting for me at home.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, Kate was at home. “Let’s get this over with.”

I wished he stop flirting with me or whatever it was. I didn’t appreciate his interest but had to tread carefully if I wanted to prove my suspicions about him.

We went up to the small house with yellow aluminum siding on the outside. There were lights on inside all the windows. I hoped one of Abe’s workers had turned them all on and we weren’t going to have to explain all of this to a loved one.

Not a chance.

A young woman, maybe in her early twenties, answered the door with frantic eyes. “Thank God you’re here. I assume Abe sent you. My brother is disappearing. Is this part of the contract he signed? Because he’s supposed to have another eight years left. If his contract was going to change, someone could’ve told us.”

Artemis passed by her as though she was a bug. “Let me through. I shall handle the problem.”

The young woman had been crying. She wiped her eyes quickly as he went by her.

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “This is something like a virus. We’ll clear it up, and he’ll have his eight years.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” She sagged in relief. “I didn’t know what to think. We wouldn’t have done something like this except that I was sick at the time—cancer—and he saw me through it. I don’t think I would’ve survived without him.”

Out of curiosity I asked, “What does he do for a living? Not that it matters. I’m always interested.”

“He works for the government. It’s not a big deal. We were surprised when Abe asked him to work for him.”

I heard Artemis with our zombie in the bedroom and cut the conversation short. I wanted to see how he handled the problem this time. I told the sister to wait for us in the living room and went back to see what was going on.

In the bedroom, the quickly fading man was face down on the bed. He was groaning but still able to be heard. Artemis had his tattooed foot in his hand. His eyes, and the ring on his hand, glowed red.

An instant later, so did the tattoo on the man’s foot.

As soon as the color changed, the man started looking human again. The tattoo on his foot remained red as it had on the previous LEP—at least to my eyes. I wondered if anyone else could see it this time.

I was at the doorway when the man’s sister joined us. She started crying again but this time tears of joy.

“You saved him. You were right.” She hugged me. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said even though I hadn’t done anything except show up.

“Why did the tattoo change color on his foot?” the woman asked.

“You mean you could see it?”

“Yes. It was blue before. It’s been blue since that day at the hospital when we met Abe. Is that part of getting rid of the virus?”

“Absolutely.” I was secretly thrilled that I wasn’t the only one to see the tattoo change color. Why hadn’t Brandon seen it?

The woman ran to her brother. I noticed that Artemis laid his hand on both of their heads in a gesture that reminded me of what Lucas had done after he’d saved me from being a ghost. They both hugged him, and Artemis immediately left the room.

“I’ll meet you outside,” he muttered as he swept by me with a wave of his cape.

I didn’t acknowledge him. The man was up, off the bed. He and his sister were thanking me.

“I don’t know what came over me,” the zombie man said. “Does this happen often?”

“No. Not often at all.” I smiled. “You should be fine now. You’ll just have to find new matching shoes for your red tattoo.”

I was joking, of course. A little zombie humor.

He looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” And lifted his foot. “It’s blue, just like always.”

His sister glanced at it too. “Yes. It’s still that nice shade of blue.”

“But you just agreed with me that it was red,” I reminded her.

I took another look myself. The A on his heel was bright red and not a complete circle.

“Well, thanks for your help,” The young woman smiled and quickly led me to the front door. “We appreciate you coming out so late. You have a wonderful rest of your night.”

I felt a little kicked to the curb as I found myself on the porch. Why had the woman changed her mind about the color of the tattoo? Was it something Artemis had done to make them see it differently?

The hand on the head.

It felt crazy to even consider that he could put his hand on their heads and make them see what he wanted. But I knew it was exactly what he’d been trying to do to me at Abe’s office. He thought he could make me see and feel what he wanted.

Outside in the humid darkness, I hesitated to confront Artemis alone. Even if Brandon was there, I wouldn’t be as scared. What if he put his hand on my head and I forgot everything he wanted me to?

That hadn’t happened with Abe or Lucas. I died so there could’ve been a detail or two I’d forgotten. But not something big like that.

Nothing had happened last time Artemis had tried his magic on me, but since I didn’t know why I’d been protected, I couldn’t risk it again.

I was sure—or at least I thought I was sure—that Lucas hadn’t changed me at all besides the color of my tattoo. But what if I was wrong? He kept saying I was different. Maybe I was seeing the world now the way he wanted me to see it.

Shaking my head, I knew I had to focus if I wanted to have any chance at all to get through all this crazy stuff and still be me.

Artemis was waiting for me at the van. “What about that drink, lovely lady? You and I have a lot to talk about.”

His bravado was staggering. He was changing—perhaps stealing—Abe’s people right out from under his nose. For some reason, I could see it, but Abe couldn’t. No one else could except Artemis.

“Thanks, but like I said, my daughter is at home. That’s where I’m going. I guess I’ll see you later.” I put my hand on the door handle to make my escape.

Artemis came up behind me and put his big hand on my head in the same manner that Lucas had—the same thing he’d done tonight to the man in the house.

He whispered a few weird magic words near my ear. I couldn’t see anything around his big paw, and I couldn’t move. A terrible dread that I was about to forget everything important in my life raced through me. I knew I had to fight back.

I held Kate’s image in the forefront of my thoughts. I even imagined Addie and Lucas. I saw Jacob’s smiling face and our room at Apple Betty’s Inn. I kept those pictures in my brain and refused to let them go.

He took his hand away, a swaggering grin on his face. “You are surprisingly strong! Come with me, Skye. You and I belong together.”

I smiled back at him and raised my hands toward him. In one of them was my Beretta.

“If you ever touch me again or try to do magic on me, I’m going to shoot a big hole right through your head and all your spells are going to fall out. Do we understand each other?”

He actually took a step back. I thought it was my threat but that didn’t seem to bother him.

“How is it possible you avoided my magic?” His face and tone was filled with disbelief.

“I guess I’m better than that.” I nudged him aside and opened the door.

“But you don’t have the training or resources, not yet.” He sniffed. “Wait. Something is different about you, isn’t it? You’ve been fooling around with Lucas. Deny it if you will.”

While he’d been babbling, I was already in the van with the engine started. If he’d jumped in front of me again, I would’ve run him down and dealt with the consequences Abe would bring later.

“Leave me alone. I don’t know what you’re doing yet, but when I find out, I’m going to tell Abe and he’ll take care of it.”

He laughed. “He’s only a puppet master. Not even a real sorcerer. Say whatever you want to him. He won’t believe or understand you.”

I put my foot down hard on the accelerator, but the van didn’t move. The wheels spun, and the engine revved. But that was it.

“You’re making a mistake, Skye. But don’t worry. It’s one that will be corrected.”

He released his hold on the van, and I went careening down the street between parked cars before I could slow down. Even then I didn’t stop until I was miles away. I pulled over, panting as though I’d run a race.

“Traitor,” I said to the van. “How could you let him possess you that way?”

The engine clunked along like it always did. Eventually I was able to put Artemis’s threat behind me and drove home as quickly as possible. I could swear I felt him coming after me the whole way. I didn’t feel safe until I was inside the inn.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas met me at the door.

“I need a drink. And how
do
you kill a sorcerer?”

Chapter Twenty-three

Later, when we were alone in bed, everything that had happened spilled out of me.

Lucas listened silently until I’d been quiet for a few minutes. “What do you think Artemis has in mind?”

“I think he wants to own me, for whatever reason, like he’s taking over Abe’s people one at a time. Maybe he’s the one who created this crazy curse in the first place. He’s getting bolder every time I see him. Why doesn’t his magic work on me? I mean, I’m glad it doesn’t. He made that brother and sister see what he wanted them to see.”

“Has he made romantic overtures to you?”

I smiled at his prim words. “No. I could handle that. It’s something else. He mentioned you and that I’ve changed.”

“If you shielded your mind from him, it was reinforced by your magic.”

“But wouldn’t Abe have known I had magic when he turned me into one of his people?”

“Yes. He knew. He took advantage of your grief and weakness in that moment. You didn’t need him to stay alive. You must acknowledge that you have a gift. Once you understand and begin to develop that gift, you’ll be stronger than Abe.”