Gambino’s eyes shift over to the team before shrugging his reply. “Some paint chips, some glass. Nothing much. Hopefully we have enough to identify the car. The boy was pretty young, I doubt even eighteen. I hope he’s on our missing persons list and we can identify him easily.”
I hope so too. “I’ll stop by tomorrow after I visit the Medical Examiner to check out his findings.”
Just then, my chimerator tightens, so I flip open the lid and see Jack’s countenance reflected in the dark, glossy surface of the black pearl. “It’s my boss,” I tell Gambino.
Gambino’s eyes flick down to my ring, but unlike most Norms, he doesn’t flinch at my use of it. A chimerator is an enchanted ring that projects the image and voice of a person trying to contact you. It also generally gives Norms the heebie-jeebies.
A smile ghosts over Gambino’s lips. “Well, I’m heading out. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
As I watch Gambino walk to his car, I say “Hola” into my chimerator, trying to sound casual. My boss, Jack Tanner, is quite possibly the sexiest man alive. He exudes danger in a quiet, stealthy sort of way. I often think I should be frightened of him—quite possibly because he’s a very old and incredibly strong Vampire. But I can’t seem to muster any fear for him, even when he’s in an obvious rage. That only makes me question my sanity. It’s a constant struggle to actually feel casual, so I usually end up settling for sounding casual.
“Hi, Blue. So what’s happening?” Jack asks.
Jack is not one for small talk, so I give him a quick rundown. “Well, an older teen boy, approximately sixteen to eighteen years old, was apparently hit by a car. Some off-duty officers were just leaving a tavern and heard tires squeal before they came upon the scene. The car was gone and the boy was dead when they reached the body less than two minutes later. Forensics picked up paint chips and glass at the scene, and the deceased has a large impact injury on his hip. The scene is located behind the Cock and Bull Tap at the intersection of the alley behind it and River Road. No other evidence was found, and no one else appeared on the street at the time of the incident. Unfortunately, I didn’t sense any magic used at the site in the perpetration of the crime.”
Jack asks, “So a standard hit and run?” He pauses a moment. “Wait, Blue, how did you see an impact injury on his hip?”
I scuff my boots on the sidewalk. “I wondered if you would catch that. This is no standard hit and run. Before this boy was killed it appears he was stripped, starved, beaten, tied up, and left to stand in his own excrement.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jack mutters.
“What’s worse is that he felt free. I got the impression of a feeling of triumph before he died. He thought he had won. And then he got hit by the damn car and his brain was bashed in.”
“For Christ’s sake,” Jack says. His swearing is an unusual development. In fact, there seems to be an exceptional level of swearing with this case thus far.
“I’m worried because this looks like a standard hit and run as far as the death goes, and no magic was used at the scene of the death. But that boy had a magical gift of some sort, and he was tortured, so I want this case. We are not going to let the boys in blue keep it for themselves.” I say this last part with a level of confidence I do not feel.
“Who’s working it from the precinct side?”
“Senior Detective Tony Gambino.”
“It will be fine then,” Jack assures me. ”Gambino doesn’t seem to mind working with SIB. I’ll file the paperwork.”
“Thanks.” I breathe a big sigh of relief, just now realizing how afraid I had been of losing the case on a technicality. The Supernatural Homicide Investigation Unit has limited jurisdiction, only working cases where one of the supernatural breeds was involved to a significant extent. We pick up cases in which death is caused by a Vampire or someone magically Gifted. Supernatural homicide hate crimes fall into our ballpark, and unfortunately, there are far too many of those happening lately. We also get involved if the death occurs due to motive relating to magical gifts or blood theft. Just a standard hit and run of a Vampire or the magically Gifted would not get us involved in a case since that’s all regular work the police could do. In this case, the death looked like a simple hit and run, but cases of torture to a magically Gifted individual have a statistically high chance of relating to the magical gift.
Jack voices a warning that brooks no argument: “Keep me updated on this one. I want daily reports. Whoever you’re dealing with is a real gentleman.” He practically spits that last bit of sarcasm out, and then his face fades from the surface of my chimerator.
***************************************
Excerpt from: The Light Who Shines
By: Lilo Abernathy
The Light Who Shines has a Big Sale! Today for only 99 CENTS (Reg $4.99) If you want the entire 136,000 word novel, I hope you take advantage of this sale!
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Who-Shines-Bluebell-Kildare-ebook/dp/B00HYH3ZU4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1392572506
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'd love to hear your comments!