Puck used to be one of the up-and-comers in the Votary ranks. He’d gone down six weeks earlier for the murder of one of the leaders of that coven, an old-school wiz named Charm. He’d also been charged with murdering two A Morte coven hit men who’d actually been murdered by our mayor. The fact Puck was still alive in jail probably meant A Morte wasn’t buying him as the killer. But that was a pretty touchy subject in the office, since we’d all technically been accessories to that crime, and the idea of A Morte finding out about Volos’s or our involvement would be serious bad news.
“Are you thinking that once Puck was off the streets, the Votary rank and file started jockeying for positions?” Gardner said.
I nodded. “Most of the murder reports I’ve seen have been happening in Votary territory. But the issue at hand is whether Basil Valentine’s murder can lead us up the chain of command, and I don’t think it can. Last I heard, he was a low-level pimp for Aphrodite.”
“But you said yourself that the lab looked like a Votary cook,” Morales said.
The Votary coven used magic that was the closest to traditional alchemy. It also happened to be the coven I’d grown up inside, so I knew it best. Unlike the Votaries, the O’s practiced sex magic and the Sangs practiced blood magic. Neither of those traditions usually used complex alchemical lab setups to cook their potions.
“Is that true?” Gardner asked.
“Yes, sir,” I admitted reluctantly, “but even if he was working with the Votaries, most of the deaths so far have been simple drive-bys involving potion-filled projectiles being shot from pellet guns. All the bodies are from low-level corner wizes. None of the big players have been involved.”
“Yet,” she said, crossing her arms. “I have to admit I’m curious about the connection. Plus, I’d sure love to send my boss a framed image of money and potions from a big bust.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she held up a hand.
“But,” she said, “I agree that Duffy could be a problem. I didn’t like how he was sniffing around after the Brazilian incident.”
“So, you’ll call Eldritch and turn him down?” I asked.
Captain Eldritch was my boss at the BPD. Ever since I’d started work on the MEA team, our relationship had become…complicated. Luckily, since Gardner was the leader of the task force, she got the pleasure of dealing with him on cases like this.
She smiled. “No. We’re taking the case.”
My stomach dipped. “Sir—”
“Your concerns have been noted, Prospero. But the potential benefits outweigh the problems here. If you can connect this murder with the rash of drive-bys perpetrated by the Votaries, we’re looking at a huge case here. I want money and potions on the table at a press conference ASAP. Plus I’m looking forward to having Eldritch owe us for a change.”
Morales held up a hand. “What happens if we don’t find a connection between the murder and the Votaries?”
“Then keep looking.” Gardner’s smile faded. “I’m gonna be real grumpy if I have to hand all that money and those potions back to the BPD. Understood?”
Morales and I exchanged a quick glance. “Understood,” he said.
She watched us for a moment. Just when I thought she was about to change the subject or issue another veiled threat, she nodded. “Dismissed.”
She didn’t have to ask us twice. We were back outside before she’d even picked up her pen again.
“Morales,” Shadi called from the boxing ring. “You got a fax.”
While he retrieved the message, I went grab my backpack.
“From Duffy,” Morales said, waving the fax as he joined me at my desk. “Valentine’s rap sheet.”
“He’s not wasting any time,” I muttered.
Morales scanned it. “Damn. Someone’s been busy. He’d been collared for everything from driving under the influence of arcane substances to assault with a magical weapon to pimping and pandering.”
He pointed to a note near the bottom of the sheet. A list of known associates included the name Aphrodite Johnson. “I say we start here.”
I sighed and threw my backpack over my shoulder. “Might as well.”
“Where you two headed?” Shadi called from the ring.
She, McGinty, and Dixon were going over surveillance photos from a stakeout they’d recently done of a suspected stash house. Shadi’s leadership on these small-buy operations had netted some good information and a few low-level wizes willing to turn on higher-ups. That’s how we’d managed to justify needing the new headcount with Eldritch—the BPD loved that we were getting some of the rabble off the streets. But now it was up to Morales and me to bring in the big fish so we could keep the MEA brass happy, too.
“We gotta go see a sacred hermaphrodite about a murder,” I called. “Y’all behave yourselves.”
* * *
On our way to Aphrodite’s temple, I got a phone call from my best friend, Penelope Griffin.
“Working hard?” she said by way of greeting.
“Oh, you know. Another day, another shit show. No biggie. What are you up to?”
Morales looked over and I mouthed that it was Pen. He shook his head.
A deep sigh carried through the earpiece. “I’m watching a terrible reality show about people who agree to be locked up in a house with strangers for a chance to win unlimited supplies of vanity potions.”
“You have got to stop watching that crap.”
Another sigh. “I know.”
I shifted in my seat in an effort to control my rising irritation. “Why don’t you get out of the house today?”
“Maybe.”
“I guess this means you haven’t had any bites on that last batch of resumes?”
“Not one, Kate. I don’t get it.”
“Something’ll turn up. You just got to keep your chin up.”
Morales cast me a side-eye. I ignored him. Even though I got frustrated with the constant calls, I felt guilty about my irritation. Pen had quit her job as a counselor at the private school Danny used to attend six weeks earlier—on the same day I’d pulled him out of the school. The reasons for both exits were complicated, but we were a big part of the reason she’d left. On top of the stress of not hearing back from anyone, she was nearing the end of her savings.
“Tell you what,” I said, “Why don’t you come over tonight? I’ll order pizza and we can have a girls’ night in.”
“Actually, that sounds amazing.” She already sounded perkier. “What can I bring?”
“Just yourself. I have some beer.”
“Will anyone else be there?” she asked in a deceptively casual tone.
“Baba’s got her book club at the senior center, but Danny might be. Why?”
“Oh, nothing. I just want to be sure your special friend won’t be there so I can get the scoop.”
“Pen.”
“Kate.” She dragged the word out in a false whine. Even though she was teasing me, it was good to hear some of her old humor creeping back in.
“Behave yourself,” I said in a mock cop’s tone.
“Ditto, girl.” She laughed. “I’ll see you around seven.”
After we hung up, Morales said, “How’s Eeyore today?”
“Be nice. She’s struggling right now.” I swatted his arm. “I invited her over so she’d leave the house. It should be nice, actually. We haven’t hung out in a while.”
“There’s going to be a lot of giggling, isn’t there?”
I scowled. “We’re grown-ass women. We do not giggle.”
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“You got any plans tonight?”
“I was gonna meet a buddy. Grab a couple beers. Play some pool. No giggling, though.”
“You, uh, want to come over after?”
He arched a brow. “Like a booty call?”
I met his gaze. “Pretty much.”
His voice lowered to a husky tone. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.”
One of the things I loved about our arrangement was that we’d been able to keep things casual. Since we spent so much time together on the job, it would have been easy to slip into some sort of premature commitment situation. But thus far, we’d been able to keep private private and business business. When we wanted to sleep together, we did. When we had other plans, we didn’t. No expectations, no jealousy, no complications. Exactly how I wanted it.
He parked on the road about a block away from Aphrodite’s temple. “How are we going to play this?”