Demon Inhibitions: Caitlin Diggs Series #3 Page 20

  I stepped into the limo shortly after seven o’clock. Briana sat next to Dr. Federov. My empathic abilities sensed she was trying her best to laugh at one of the dentist’s observations, attempting to use a form of human magic, make believe, to mask her fear and grief. I took her hand as I entered. I wanted to tell her it was okay to pretend. As FBI agents we had to, because fighting scum, human or demon, would never fail to cast a little shadow on our souls.

  Pretending lasted all of five minutes.

  A vision sent me flailing into Dr. Federov’s lap.

  I saw Tim, the buff gym attendant, walking on the sidewalk. He was leering at something. His pace quickened when that something caught his attention. He jumped into his car and gunned it. I couldn’t be sure if the vision was in real time or not, but I couldn’t take any chances. I shouted for the driver to lose the tail.

  The black glass prevented me from seeing the car behind us, or if Tim was the driver. I shouted again when the driver failed to act. Dr. Federov shouted. “Follow the agent’s instructions. We all may be in danger!”

  This time he floored the stretch. The back end did a zigzag. And since that’s where we were riding, we took gravity’s cues. I found myself on the floor, nearly seasick. Briana struggled to help me up. But I refused. A part of me didn’t want to know the truth. A part of me wanted to pretend a moment longer.

  About ten lurching turns later the driver announced: “I think we lost them. Well,” he added, “If there was anybody back there to lose.”

  My face flushed as I caught his in a mirror.

  Thank you, I mouthed.

  Dr. Federov had been so quick to believe me I was taken aback by her accusation.

  “Agent Diggs have you compromised Charlize’s safety? Did you divulge any information to anyone which might have put a tail on us?” I didn’t have to be empathic to feel her emotions. She wasn’t really asking me. She was blaming me. After she glared at me a moment, she continued her rant. “Do you know why I didn’t tell you how Charlize gets to the concert? It’s for her safety. It’s why I take limos. They are a distraction. I figure the haters will target a limo and leave a more inconspicuous vehicle alone. But that plan would go to hell if I told anybody, wouldn’t it, Agent Diggs?”

  I nodded and thought for a moment. I did speak to the FBI earlier today about Charlize. Yet, it was clearly Tim whom I’d seen in the vision. I surely hadn’t tipped him off in conversation. So if my vision were correct, maybe Tim had been trailing me. Maybe he knew how I had struck a deal with Yilosk. Possibly, he might even know I had hired Sweeney to spy on the terrorist cell he allegedly belonged to. Conspiracy gnawed at me. I struck back.

  “Dr. Federov, I haven’t put Charlize in danger. You’ve got to believe me. In fact, you’ve got to tell me your motive for protecting Charlize. I need to know everything if I’m going to protect her.”

  She made a scoffing sound and muttered something that sounded like protection.

  “Excuse me, Dr. Federov,” I said. Briana’s eyes pleaded for me to stop.

  This time Federov spoke up. “What protection have you offered so far, Agents? I’m not here to add you to Charlize’s fan base. So give me a reason why I shouldn’t kick you to the curb right now.”

  “Because Charlize really is in real danger and it’s not just some idle threats by hate mongers, either. I have reason to believe a dangerous fugitive is targeting Charlize.”

  “Damn! How long have you known this?”

  “Only a day... I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you in person, not on a phone line.”

  She heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, Agent Diggs, Agent McFadden. You know what you’re doing. I’m just a dentist.”

  “No. With due respect, Dr. Federov, I don’t think you’re just a dentist. You’ve got to tell me about your relationship with Charlize. I have to know when it began and why.”

  Again Briana’s eyes pleaded with me for a second. I glared back at her. She dropped her gaze and folded her hands in her lap.

  “All right, I will. I am Charlize’s adoptive mother. Wilson is her stage name. She’s a Federov. That’s why I have vested interest in protecting her.”

  The words “adoptive mother” stopped me in my tracks. … Another abandoned child?

  “But I also have another motive,” Federov continued, “I know humans were responsible for killing what could have been her adoptive father.” She explained she had dated a demon for three years, two years prior to adopting Charlize. “He was a lycan and we were to be married. He was slain one night in an alley. The police never solved the case. I just know whoever did it was human. So, if what Charlize can do will help unite the world in harmony, I have to protect it, at any cost.”

  I had been proven correct. I suspected she had a vendetta. It all made sense if she were Charlize’s mother.

  I told her I understood her need to keep her relationship a secret, that it might jeopardize Charlize’s safety. I tried to mend her ruffled feathers as best I could as we finished our ride. Yet, we spent the majority of it in reflective silence.

  I stepped out of the limo and stared at a wondrous church before me, high as the heavens with three steeples.

  I remained silent until we entered and were shown our seats. Manners, seated with his son Gabriel, waved to us across the room.

  My somber mood lifted when Charlize hit her first note.

  Tonight, accompanied by a full band: drums, keyboard, sax, guitars and backup singers, Charlize’s set list ventured beyond pop into gospel.

  She smiled at me as she sang. I felt her reverence. She still felt I was a goddess; although, at this moment I felt frailer than the weakest human.

  When the concert concluded, I felt eyes bore into me.

  They belonged to a handsome, familiar face.

  It was this reality’s version of my detective friend, Stanford Carter.

  I waited until the crowd milled into smaller groups to engage in chit-chat before I approached him. He obviously wanted to talk to me. I knew from my call to his former crime lab that he had lost his job. I would feign to recognize him from an old case. In my reality, it wasn’t fakery. It was the truth.

  It felt strange to feel an attraction to him. Butterflies danced in my stomach. They always did when I approached a gorgeous man.

  I always had enjoyed a platonic relationship with my Carter. Although he was undoubtedly handsome, I’d never explored the possibility that he might be physically attracted to me. Later in our relationship, he married. I wondered if this were the case in this reality.

  He went along with my story; that we had met some years back. I tended to think it was more from politeness than recognition. I surmised my Carter would do the same thing. He was a gentleman.

  Romance... I knew it was the last thing I should be thinking about. But if this Carter worked in law enforcement, he might somehow become an aid in my fight against Mollini. I kept telling myself that as his brown eyes locked with mine over what seemed like genuinely interesting conversation, not the small talk new couples endure in their quest to find the Holy Grail: the bedroom.

  We had gotten so comfortable I barely noticed Briana trying to flag my attention from across the room. She was smiling, standing next to Manners and his son. They all seemed to be basking in a glow from the concert. I hoped they would interpret the glow on my face to be from the concert and not Carter’s tantalizing pheromones.

  This was the first time I felt at home. Even though this man was not my Carter, his mannerisms were quite similar. Attentive and affectionate, topped off with a good sense of humor. I felt I earned a right for a small modicum of comfort. After all, we had all survived another glorious concert unscathed. When he asked me out for coffee, I accepted without thinking.

  I scurried over to Briana. “He wants me to have coffee. I said yes. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,” I said.

  Briana rested a hand on my shoulder. “Home is where the heart is.”

  How could she know about Carter? I didn’t really wan
t to know. Had she been spying?

  She interrupted my brain fog. “I’m going to the Federov’s house. I need to put a cloaking spell on their home.”

  “Good thinking, Briana.”

  “So you’re free to go have a date. Enjoy.”

  I had to wonder what Briana really thought of me. She knew I had just slept with Grant. What kind of image was I setting? It concerned me because Charlize thought so highly of me. She revered me. I made sure I stood in the after concert reception line to say hello to her. While her hand rested on my shoulder, she began to smile. “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

  I shifted the strap of my gown so she could see.

  “The Ankh. You are indeed my Isis.”

  I left her smiling. I wanted to let her pretend a while longer, not just because I really didn’t believe I was the second coming of Isis, but because I hadn’t told her about Mollini.

  ~ * ~

  We shared coffee and some meaningful glances before I hit Carter with the sixty-four thousand dollar question.

  “I heard you left the department. Care to share?”

  “It was personal.” He paused to look away to possibly weigh his choice of words. “They would have found a way to fire me. You see they don’t like demons on the force.”

  I felt so stupid. I should have known. Why else would he be attending a holi-concert? The sugary sweetness of my coffee suddenly made me feel sick. I had been spent the last half hour enraptured by my dream man, when in reality he might be my living nightmare.

  “So, what kind of demon are you?” Smooth, Diggs. Real Smooth.

  “A Valux demon. I didn’t know she was one. She didn’t tell me. We had unprotected sex. That’s how she turned me.”

  He explained Valux demons don’t intentionally want to turn humans. It’s just a side effect of copulation. But he added they could be predators. “We have razor sharp incisors.” He smiled so I could see. “It’s about the only genetic alteration I have detected. Still, I could become dangerous. There are cycles in the month when I do feel carnivorous. And when that happens, my iris’s turn violet.”

  I joked. “I’ll be sure to run when that happens.”

  “It doesn’t happen often. In fact I could suppress the urges, even before I attended the concerts. I have a strong will, Caitlin.”

  If he was anything like the Carter of my world, he had the will of a hundred ordinary men.

  A din interrupted us. A small throng huddled about a TV. A murder had taken place,

  “That’s about three blocks from here,” Carter said.

  We scrambled for the exit.

  I dashed under the yellow tape leaving Carter huddled in a mass of onlookers. I didn’t wait for the lead officer to give me permission to enter the crime scene. In fact, I hadn’t focused on anything but the stiff lying on the sidewalk.

  “You’re welcome, Agent.”

  I knew the voice. It belonged to Sergeant Fleming, the lead detective in the Yilosk case.

  I nodded. To my right, a female coroner worked on the victim, it wasn’t humanoid. It had pointed ears, ridged brow, and talon like hands. A long hilted knife protruded from its throat. Whoever did it must have feared witnesses. No one leaves the murder weapon behind: Human or demon.

  I just had to ask. “So Sergeant, are you treating this as a murder?”

  The coroner looked up and spoke. I knew the voice from this morning. Kady Spelling.

  “I’d shake your hand, Agent Diggs, but they’re filled with blood right now.”

  “Sorry,” I said, sheepishly. “Thanks so much for the info this morning.”

  “Yes, Agent Diggs,” Fleming replied. “Is there anything else we can do for you? Get you a cup of coffee, perhaps.”

  Good rebound. They had put me back in my confused little place, whatever reality that was.

  Then I got a sick feeling. Dread. I replayed my vision. Tim. This demon... He had probably attended the holi-concert. I’d have to confirm this with Dr. Federov, but my hunch told me someone had stalked him, someone who might be on to Charlize’s whereabouts. It was my turn to parlay. I would bet my life the killer left behind his DNA.

  I let a dramatic pause build before revealing. “Officers, I think I know who killed your vic.”

  That shut their mouths.

  Nineteen

  The murder gave me an excuse to pull away from Carter’s allure and a very dangerous temptation. Despite his demon nature, I had thought about sleeping with Carter more than once. He graciously ended the night with a hug after I accepted a dinner date with him. As he drove me home, I made a mental note to ask if he could effectively turn partners into Valux demons. And could he do this with a simple kiss, or perhaps, something more intimate? The fact this still sounded desirable probably confirmed I dug bad boys. At least I had the civility not to ask such personal questions on our first date.

  I probably left Carter wondering about a lot of things including my interest in the demon slaying. I just hope he didn’t equate my departure with indifference. I had to hope the way I stared into his eyes all evening signaled the start of a very promising relationship. Yet, perhaps he already knew all this. Carter had been an investigator, and at heart, probably always would be. Most of us are born into our work. That fact made it hard to conceal why I had to rise so early. But I didn’t feel comfortable spilling my suspicions of Tim, the gym attendant. Until I could obtain DNA evidence, my theory was only a theory.

  For that reason, I left the Washington PD with my cryptic insinuation. I also didn’t want them to spoil my party. If my sting were to work, I would have to launch it myself. Tim and I were supposedly gym buddies. I planned to make good use of the fact we were of the opposite sex. I arrived at the gym at sunrise with looks to kill.

  I bared my midriff with a skimpy purplish top. I accentuated my butt in black spandex. I teased my hair big.

  Tim took the bait. He nearly salivated rushing over to greet me at the Stairmaster. He jumped onto the adjacent machine with gusto. Go get ‘em cowboy.

  In that instant, Tim reminded me of Grant. He had somehow perfected a way to speak to women while surreptitiously casting his eyes all over their bodies. He’d steal a quick glance at my boobs, then, he would return his gaze to my eyes, before making some more small talk; all the while nonchalantly scanning the best bits of my lower body. I definitely concluded Tim was a butt man.

  I knew this line would really hook the bastard.

  “So Tim, is that cherry red Corvette in the lot, yours?”

  “Why, yes. Would you like to take a ride sometime?” His eyes stopped perusing. He actually looked at my face while he spoke.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve got to be at the Bureau soon.” I lilted my voice into a soft, girlish tone. Tim’s head cocked. Had him! Yet, I didn’t have the smoking gun yet. I had hoped to get a DNA sample with the least amount of contact possible, but if it meant getting into his mid-life crisis machine I would do it.

  Fortunately, Tim began to sweat. Beads of perspiration danced about his neck.

  “Here let me get that,” I purred. I was armed. Not with a gun but with a weapon of the trade. I swiped the back of the pig’s neck with my hand towel.

  “Ah, you come prepared,” he said.

  If Tim really was the killer, he certainly was a careless one: Leaving a knife at the scene, driving a red alert babe magnet, not to mention, allowing an FBI agent to take his DNA. Thank goddess for that.

  “So, you reconsider that ride?” he asked.

  My hand fell to my stomach as if on instinct.

  “Oh. It looks like it’s that time of the month again.”

  He nodded and found a lame excuse to leave.

  I love the way that line works every time.

  ~ * ~

  I had the bagged towel in the hands of my new coroner friend Kady Spelling a half hour later. I even sweet-talked her into running the plate number of the red Corvette. “Tell Fleming it’s my way of saying sorry. I think this is going to be
a case breaker.”

  She nodded absently but I was sure she was smiling underneath her rude exterior. It’s not everyday the FBI comes to the aid of local PD without an ulterior motive. Maybe that wasn’t true. I did want to be included in the investigation. If Tim was the killer, I needed to question him. Pressure him to spill all he knew about the Knights of White Temple and their plans to exterminate Charlize Wilson. I did have personal motivation. What I wasn’t looking for was glory. I could care less if they cited my help in their investigation. I just wish more FBI agents felt this way.

  I returned home to phone Grant.

  “I’ll be working at home today.”

  “That’s okay. Agent McFadden is here. She’s filled me on a very interesting murder that took place last night. You wouldn’t be working this case by any chance, without my express approval, would you?”

  “No sir. I’m simply brainstorming. The Deputy Director told me I needed to find a discreet way to stop Mollini. I thought working at home would be best. Can’t be more discreet than lounging about at home in my silk pajamas, can I?”

  My sarcasm was not lost on Grant. My empathic nature felt his anger. It also felt the rise of his lust. I had to believe my comment about pajamas jumpstarted it. Yet, Grant took no action to affirm our relationship. Maybe it was because Briana was in his office. Maybe he only planned on banging me in his office… if so, hasta luego, poppy. I would have a date with a real man tonight.

  But first I needed a plan that would allow me capture Mollini without killing him. As an officer of the law, duty bounded me to resort to other means than killing him. Yet how could I contain a man who defied nature? I thought about what Charlize told me. If I really were Isis, I could defy nature as well. My tattoo was living proof.

  I began with research. The kind one can do in silk pajamas. I fired up my laptop.

  I found the Egyptians believed Isis to be a Lady of Magic. Perhaps I had used magic to fool Tim into giving me his DNA. Possibly, even manipulated the DC police into doing my bidding… I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I needed a lot more than the power of persuasion on my side. Mollini could take souls. How could I ever counteract that?