Keegan felt the steely glare as she stepped from the bottom of the staircase and into spook territory. The silence only strengthened the force of the glare. She ignored the sly glances she received from her co-workers as she passed their desks and headed towards hers. It was currently occupied by homicide detective Matthew Hollis. He sat with his feet kicked up and resting on her desk top with his hands folded together and resting on his chest.
With a quick shove Keegan sent Matt’s feet sprawling off the desk and to the floor with a loud smack. Everyone had their pet peeves. One of Keegan’s pet peeveswas having other people invade her territory and show the amount of disrespect to her belongings that Matt Hollis was showing having his boots sitting on top of case files.
“Way to greet a person Morne.” Matt shifted back in her chair resituating him self and sitting up right.
“That’s how we greet people acting like a*sholes around here.” Keegan tapped her boot on the underside of the chair. “You want to move out of my seat and tell me what the hell you’re waiting around here for?”
“It isn’t that often that homicide pays us a visit.” Leeroy’s lips curled into a wicked smile. “Unless, you’re at a loss as where to go on the case and need our help?”
Matt turned away from Leeroy and focused in on Keegan. His face was flushed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “You went to see Bryton Anderson and Mason Mills. Then you decided that Mason Mills was no longer a person of interest in the case without bothering to consult with me and you didn’t send any communication to homicide about your visit with Anderson. Who, might I add, will not speak to any of my men.”
“Funny,” Keegan stepped up to stand toe to toe with Matt. “I vaguely remember stopping by your desk yesterday to go over my interview with Anderson but you didn’t have the time to go over that with me. As for Mason Mill I just spoke with him today. I just got done and haven’t had the time to sit down at my desk much less send you an e-mail about the interview. So I do my job and you get mad at me for doing so. What else can I do to piss you off Hollis? Breathe a little louder?”
“You don’t clear a suspect without talking with homicide about it. We are the unit that is heading this investigation. What you did undermined my authority completely.” Matt’s finger pressed against her chest, emphasizing his frustration with every word he spat out at her.
“You might want to rethink touching me Hollis. Just take one second to remember where you are. You’re in Spook territory and it won’t be fists that go flying. We fight dirty; teeth, fire, and my own special brand of fury. So you might want to keep your hands to yourself.” Keegan shoved him back a step. “And I did what your guys were too slow to do. I only cleared him based on his fiancé’s word and the fact that she alibied him out. Oh and let’s not forget the evidence at the scene. If you want to go behind me and verify what I found, go right on a head. I don’t give a damn what you do but he isn’t going to talk to humans like he spoke with me. So I did you a favor Hollis. If you would have given me ten minutes you would have had my report in your e-mail about Mr. Mills and Bryton. Now? You expect us to want to work with you after you push me to the side and claim I closed down communication between our departments? You need to get out of my squad room. Until you can respect the SIU and the work we do you don’t need to pay anymore visits to us.”
“Excuse me?” Matt’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
“I believe you heard me.” Keegan shook her head, “Any communication going on between the two departments are now limited to e-mails and phone calls. Any of your guys harass mine? Your ass is grass.”
She watched as Matt back pedaled and heading back up the stairs. His face etched with tension and anger. His steps were heavy up the stairs and the door separating the two departments slammed.
“Want to tell us what that was about?” Gary looked over the top of his glasses. His eyes were full of concern and the way he shifted awkwardly conveyed his worry.
“I’m tired of them screwing us over and treating us like shit.” Keegan rubbed angrily at her eyes. “And if he thinks he can disrespect me the way he did he has another thing coming. I’m not just someone he can push around and expect to follow along with whatever rules he puts in place. This is a team effort the last I checked.”
“Uh, baby girl,” Leeroy stood up and set his hands on her shoulders. He massaged at the tense muscles and grimaced with Keegan let out a hiss of pain from the action, “That was more than some jackass cop messing with your desk and treating us like the rest of the cops out there. That, what just happened, was personal.”
Keegan let out a sigh, “He just,” she gave an aggravated growl, “Gets under my skin.”
“You let him.” Melinda pointed out before looking down at the papers in her hands. “Anyways what did you find out on Mason Mills? He isn’t our guy?”
“Nope, he’s no longer a suspect.” Keegan stepped away from Leeroy and settled into her chair. “I have background from a friend that gave clear enough indicators that Mills has changed over time. He just kept up the persona. It also matches up to what Mills himself told me. The thing I wasn’t expecting was he and the Barrs were close to each other.”
“Huh,” Melinda scratched her head in thought. “Well who else would want the Barrs dead if we eliminated our main suspect? All that leaves us with are the wolves that supposedly follow Mills’ example. I can check them out and see what is really going on there later on tonight at the pack meeting but we’re hitting a dead end here.”
“Gary? Leeroy? Did either of you come up with something on that receptionist at Misery Real Estate?” Keegan pulled up her e-mail and started digging through the trash before she got to the meat and potatoes of it all.
“He only popped for traffic violations, a seat belt charge, so unless we find something else besides being a racist against him, we’ve got nothing on him.” Gary gave a hopeless shrug.
“Well Dr. Biggerson got an ID on what kind of creature left the bite marks on both of our victims.” Keegan pulled up the file. It showed the mold and compared it to a database picture of a skull of a leopard shifter. “And it looks like we were looking at the wrong type of shifter the entire time. It’s not a wolf that did this, it was a leopard.”
“At least we know where to start in the morning. Gary and I will hit up all of the recuperating shifters from the full moon tonight and see if we can get anything out of them.” Leeroy offered.
“Melinda, you keep at the wolves in your pack. Maybe something will stick out and we can go somewhere with that. If not, we’ll clear them completely and move on.” The phone on Keegan’s desk chirped obnoxiously and continuously as Melinda muttered out, “You got it boss.”
“Detective Morne, SIU.” Keegan answered snappishly. She nodded and hummed in acknowledgement before she set the phone back down in its cradle. “Dr. Biggerson said she was done with the bodies. I’m going to head over there and make sure the spirits stay at rest.” Keegan scooped up her bags and shouldered them.
“How about you do us all a favor? Go straight home afterwards?” Gary pouted a little and gave her his patented puppy dog eyes. “We all need some rest.”
“Promise,” Keegan squeeze his arm as she passed by him grateful for his concern. “Y’all do the same okay? Especially you Melinda. You do whatever you need to do with your recuperation time.”
“We don’t mind picking up the slack.” Leeroy teased as Keegan disappeared up the stairs she listened to Melinda mumbling and the entire room bursting out into laughter.
Keegan shook her head at the Medical Examiner’s personal office that sat adjacent to the autopsy suite. There were Christmas cards lining the door way. She even had set a string of multi-colored lights up along a bookcase. For a woman who appeared so harsh while out in the field only a few people knew how tender hearted Sarah Biggerson really was. It was what made her so good at her job. She needed to help the dead so they would receive the justice they deserved.
That attitude was probably the only reason Keegan was allowed down in the autopsy suite to complete the death ceremonies she did in order to help the victims of violent crimes move on.
Knocking lightly on the door Keegan waited for Dr. Biggerson to finish dictating the last bit of her notes before stepping entirely into the room.
Sarah pushed pause her recorder and stuck a post-it note to mark her spot before she stood up and stretched the kinks out of her back and gestured Keegan over to the cabinet she had kept most of Keegan’s supplies in. She unlocked the cabinet before digging out the bag and handing it over to Keegan.
They padded softly into the autopsy suite were the victims were waiting for Keegan. They were all three laid out on the cold steel tables, eyes closed and blue covering from their toes up to their necks.
“You know the rules.” Doctor Biggerson’s voice was a soft reminder as to what the department had set up. To disturb the bodies, in any way other than what the death ceremony required would result in her immediate termination.
“These are not rules I would break.” Keegan glanced up at Sarah. “You know that.”
To desecrate a body before putting the soul to rest was almost as if she were tearing the soul to pieces and setting it on a darker path. She wasn’t going to be the necromancer who did that. This ritual was something sacred. This moment, of letting the physical body be put to rest and letting the soul go should never have to be shared with the medical examiner and a detective. It should be shared with loved ones and a priest. Since a family ended up in Dr. Biggerson’s autopsy suite Keegan was the person who laid the souls to rest.
“I just have to remind you,” Dr. Biggerson held up her hands. “Its all part of the rules like me overseeing the ritual.”
Keegan began unpacking the bag of tools. She set the wooden bowl at the crown of Alice’s head and began mixing and crushing different herbs together. The herbs were used to protect and cleanse the soul was only the first step. Pouring rosemary scented oil into the mixture she mixed it together completely. She dipped her fingers into the oil and let her fingers trace patterns only a necromancer knew along the forehead.
Forgive the ill committed
Keegan traced the underside of the chin,
Forgive the mistakes made
Keegan let her fingers drag slowly at over the heart.
Protect the soul from the darkest of nights and deliver thee into safety.
Never shall we be alone. Brother, sister, father, mother. May these spirits guide you home.
The entire time she whispered her blessing for the spirit to move on, to find peace and continue their journey into the afterlife, not to linger any longer.
She repeated the steps with Cody Barr. Her voice was barely above a whisper as her fingertips danced feather light against cold skin. It was more difficult to repeat one last time on little Connor’s body but she did so.
Taking the last steps Doctor Biggerson blocked the smoke sensor with a paper cup they kept just for this reason. Keegan lit a bundle of sage, juniper and devil’s root waving the combination of burning herbs over the bodies. To cleanse, protect and keep evil away from the souls that were heading towards the afterlife.
As soon as she was done, Dr. Biggerson opened the autopsy suite doors and let the mixture of smoke mingle with the fresh air from her office. The smoke slowly dissipating as Keegan cleaned up her supplies and walked them back to cabinent that Sarah kept them in.
Sarah slouched in her chair and watched Keegan like a hawk. As soon as the door was shut and locked up tight Sarah started in on the detective. “I heard you banned homicide from spook territory until they started treated the unit with respect. There happened to be any truth to the rumor?”
Keegan let out a groan before she flopped down on the couch that lined the eastern wall in Sarah’s office. “I need a drink.”
“You’re preaching to the choir girl. I say we bust out of this place and get our drink on.”
“Can’t,” Keegan moaned mournfully. “I’ve got work in the morning and supernaturals to interview. I do not need some one deciding that I am doing my job impaired because they can smell alcohol on my breath from the night before.”
“Out of everything I know about you Spooks, that is the only downside of investigating shifters. They always know who you have been with or around, what you just ate and how long it has been since the last time you have had sex. The nosey bastards.”
Keegan chuckled at the joke, “But you have to admit, they are great in bed.”
“All animalistic and possessive.” Sarah mock shivered and grinned at the blush that she got out of Keegan. “Don’t pretend you aren’t into that stuff detective. Everyone has a wild side even they don’t show it.”
“Too true,” Keegan ran her fingers through her hair, “I’m tired of people.”
“Come work for me. You might be around people all day but they won’t talk back to you.” Sarah offered with a bright white smile.
“Why do things have to be so complicated? Why does it matter what a person is or isn’t? Why can’t the world just get along?” Keegan shifted in her seat to look at Sarah. “It just baffles my mind that the smallest difference can change the way you treat someone.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you are talking about what happened with a certain detective yesterday evening and not the rest of the world out side of Misery PD?” Sarah spun back towards her pile of paperwork and began scribbling out things that Keegan would need a medical dictionary to understand half of.
“He just made me so angry last night I went off. I never do that. Ever. You know how I am.”
Sarah nodded, “You just bottle things up until you can rant to me or you beat the ever loving shit out of someone at Diyo’s to feel better.”
“Let’s not let anyone ever hear you talk about the later.” Keegan stared up at the smooth tiled ceiling. “He has been so cold, uncommunicative and disrespectful since I think, key word, think he looked into my personnel files to figure out what I actually am.”
“Why didn’t you just tell him?” Sarah turned in her chair before toeing her shoes off and tucking her feet beneath herself. “Would it have caused that much trouble if you would have just told him?”
“Let’s remember what you said to me once you found out, “Don’t cut up my bodies, don’t walk out with one of them and we’ll be okay.” And that is probably the kindest reaction I have ever received when someone has learned that I’m a necromancer. Most of my own family still won’t talk to me.”
“Well you’ve never cut up or taken any of my corpses so we’re all good.” Sarah grinned happily at how their friendship began; snarky bickering and full of sass. “So go home, have a drink or six and don’t give a shit about what everyone else is thinking about you. A girl deserves a little me time and I say after the past few days that you have had, you deserve a drink.”
“Amen,” Keegan rolled off the couch and squeezed Sarah’s shoulder. “Don’t work your self too hard.”
Sarah snorted in amusement, “How about you take your own advice Morne.”
Maria was camped outside of Keegan’s house in her running SUV when Keegan arrived home. Keegan smacked her head against the steering wheel letting out a frustrated groan. She could already hear the lecture she was going to get for not having any sort of holiday decorations up. Biting her tongue, Keegan shut off her car and headed towards her mother’s hoping that the lecture wouldn’t be too bad and there would be something to soften the blow.
“Are you coming in?” Keegan let out a heavy sigh when her mother turned off her own car and followed behind her into the house. Keegan dropped her keys on the counter top before she pulled her badge and gun off her belt and set them on top of the refrigerator. “What are you doing here?”
“I figured if you weren’t going to visit me then I should visit you because of what happened at the house.” Maria moved towards the fridge and started pulling sandwich meat out and preparing dinner for Keegan. “So why did you really stop by before you jetted out of my house without your gumbo?”
“I’m tired of people treating me like I’m some kind of monster. I’m not something to be afraid of but everyone, even my own family, treats me like I am. If not like that then they treat me like I’m below them.” Keegan licked her lips and shook her head trying to fight the tears. “It’s just hard sometimes Ma. I wish we were all the same and people weren’t such jackasses. It would make life so much easier.”
“There are always going to be idiots out there Keegs. I believe that I have told you that since you were a child. So what is really going on that has you acting like you’re about to hulk smash someone?”
Keegan rolled her eyes at her mom’s reference. She took the offered sandwich and chewed a bite in thought. “I didn’t realize someone’s opinion meant so much to me until he found out that I was a necromancer. Now, all of a sudden he doesn’t want to talk to me. He is so disrespectful. He acts like every case we had worked on, every case we solved together doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is the fact that I’m a necromancer and past necromancers prove that I’m just the same. I’m evil.”
“Sounds like this fellow means an awful lot to you,” Maria murmured in thought. “But did you ever think maybe he’s just trying to process everything. Not that it excuses his behavior but maybe he is trying to understand how someone so good could be something that is associated with the bad.”
“I just,” Keegan shook her head. “I messed up earlier and I know it. I got so mad at him and I called him out in front of my entire squad. I was so unprofessional and angry I just couldn’t think straight.”
Maria grasped her daughters hand in her own. “You do know that apologies are still known to go a long way.”
“I know. I just needed to get all of my thoughts out of here,” Keegan pointed towards her head, “And understand how stupid I was acting. Normally you straighten me out when I get like this but Jaime and Gordon was over and looking at me like I was a cockroach and it made me so angry.”
“Well, are you at least feeling a little bit better now that you’ve gotten everything out of your system?”
“Yeah,” Keegan smiled up at her mother. “I do. I’ll probably spend an hour or so running on the treadmill before bed but I am feeling a lot better. Thank you for stopping by tonight. Even if you didn’t bring the gumbo.”
“That’s what mothers are for dear.” Maria smirked. “And maybe I had other reason for leaving the gumbo at home. So I could guarantee another visit out of you?”
“You devious woman!” Keegan wrapped her arms around her mom in a tight hug. “Thank you again.”
“All part of my job honey.” Maria patted Keegan’s back before donning her coat before she opened the door to head out she stopped and looked critically at Keegan. “Where is your holiday cheer? Do you plan on doing anything for Christmas or are you going to just let your house be the neighborhood’s sore spot?”
Keegan grinned knowing she was going to hear something about her lack of decorations. “Someone has to do it. It might as well be the workaholic who would leave the Christmas lights up all year round.”
Keegan watched as her mother backed out of the drive and then huffed to herself. She wanted that drink that Biggerson spoke about earlier and she really wasn’t feeling a cold sandwich for dinner. She grabbed her coat and darted through the cold and back out into the cold.
A drink or two is indeed what Keegan had accompanied by greasy bar food, a cheeseburger and steak fries. Her arteries were going to love her in the morning. She was sipping on her first beer when someone plopped down beside her. She turned towards her new companion and groaned. It was bad enough the bar was playing a mixture of Christmas music and the saddest country music she had ever heard but she really did not need any more drama for the night.
“Don’t be like that.” Matt rolled his eyes.
“Well,” Keegan dipped a fry in ketchup before chewing a bite of it to think over her next words carefully. “The last time we spoke things did not go so well. So you have got to see why I would be hesitant to share my dinner and drink my beer sitting next to you tonight Hollis.”
“Maybe a little bird said you would probably be here once I decided I needed to apologize to you.” Matt shrugged and smiled in thanks as the bartender set a beer and a plate of nachos down in front of him without having needed to ask Matt what he wanted.
“I’m going to kill Gary.” Keegan muttered under her breath as took another sip of her beer.
“That’s Professor, right?” Matt asked and Keegan nearly spit out her beer. She looked over at him with wide eyes. “He’s going to love that.”
“What? It’s the truth. The way he gets that scolding look and voice makes reminds me of one of my old college professors.” Matt held his hands out in mock surrender and grinned once he realized Keegan was entirely amused by his observations.
“He kind of does remind me of a professor.” Keegan took a big bite out of her burger. She turned to face Matt, her knees knocked against his before she straightened her self out on the stool. “I should apologize too.”
“Uh, uh I haven’t even gotten to my apology so you can’t apologize until after I have Keegs.” Matt shook his head before he focused on the television playing a replay of a football game from Monday night. “I did check into your files. Once the can of worms was opened I couldn’t just not look, you know? For some reason I needed to know. It was you Keegan. The thing is I should have let you tell me on your own terms. It isn’t like we’re partners, not really, it is just the fact I didn’t know and we have worked together so many times before I felt like I needed to know. So I went looking for the answers you didn’t really want to give me.”
“And let me guess, once you found out you wish you would have just waited for me to tell you that I’m a necromancer.” Keegan raised a brow in question and rolled her lips together when Matt nodded affirmative. “And then you were a jackass and I was one right along with you.”
“I needed to process what it meant, not that you being a necromancer really means anything, I just – there are so many bad things associated with other necromancers it caught me by surprise to find out that you are one too. Then it threw me even more for a loop when I saw the newspaper articles linked to your file. Declan Phillips was your mentor and you’re working here. What I knew and what you are like didn’t really match up with each other.”
“Of course they didn’t.” Keegan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m nothing like Declan Phillips. What he did, that was beyond evil. I try my best to help the dead. It’s bad juju to mess with corpses anyways. I would never go there.”
Matt chuckled a little at her off-handed comment. “That is excellent to know because I wouldn’t ever want to show up for a Christmas party and find a dead body in the freezer.”
“Psh,” Keegan waved him off.“That is what the basement is for.”
“Oh good to know.” Matt signaled for another beer and asked if Keegan wanted anything else and ordered a coke for her. “So wasn’t there something you wanted to apologize or was that a momentary lapse in judgment for you?”
“Look,” Keegan turned further towards him as she spoke. “I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you, especially in front of the rest of my squad. That combined with me ranting at you was most definitely unprofessional. I apologize for that.”
“I’m sensing a but somewhere in there.” Matt huffed out an over-dramatic sigh.
“But,” Keegan smiled at him softly. “What I said was true. Your guys treat us like we don’t help you at all. They give off an air that anyone in the SIU isn’t worth their salt. That we didn’t go through the same training and more than some of those guys did. People, civilians, they pick up on that kind of thing. You make it okay for them to treat us just as badly as you do. We already have it pretty bad for just being freaks with a badge. I go on home invasion calls, destruction of property and hate crimes for supernaturals and then we get called in for homicides. When you cut us out of the investigation while you were trying to figure out how to deal with finding out that I’m a necromancer, you cut off all lines of communication. You challenged Leeroy’s authority as second in command by posturing the way you did and you disregarded some of the most basic of respects. Even some humans would have been ticked off with what you had done.”
“What?” Matt blinked at the last bit of information Keegan threw at him. “What did I do?”
“Your feet on my desk? You were sitting them on top of my case files. Gary was probably this close to charring you to the bone for invading my space but topped with that I was surprised he wasn’t spitting fire.” Keegan shrugged. “Dragons are probably the most old fashion out of all the supernaturals in Misery. The angry exchange of words between the two of us combined with your feet on my desk? It made steam come out of his nostrils. Just saying.”
“I was a jackass, and I should probably apologize to them also.” Matt drained the rest of his second beer. “God, I want another but I’m driving home.”
“The faults of being a cop, the killer conscience telling you what you can do and what you can’t do.” Keegan patted his shoulder and threw enough money down on the counter to cover them both. “Get some sleep Hollis. We’ve got work to do in the morning.”
Matt grabbed her hand, stopping her trek towards the door. “We’re good right?”
Keegan ignored the warmth that spread across her chest at how intimate the touch seemed in a bar crowded full of people. Even if it were just to get her attention. “We are good. Olive branch extended and accepted.”
“Good.” Matt nodded and released her hand slowly before turning back to the bar with a whisper of a smile on his lips.
Cursing the warmth that bloomed across her chest in response from his smile and the softest of touches, Keegan kicked at the floor. Life had just gotten a little more complicated thanks to Matthew Hollis and his simple touches. At least that is how it felt to Keegan.