Page 5

“Sorry about Amory,” Bruce said once the two of them were on the road. “She’s a good kid, just a little misguided at times, that’s all.” He chuckled. “She’s opinionated. Actually, I think the two of you will get on great once you get to know one another.”

“Are you insinuating I’m opinionated? I’m not sure I fall under that category.” Calix had known Bruce since high school. He’d been the officer on his case back then, and the one person who’d truly stood in his corner from start to finish.

He’d believed him when no one else had, and that’d always meant a great deal to Cal.

In his mid-fifties now, Bruce had moved up the ladder and been promoted to Police Chief only two yeas ago. He was the run-of-the-mill family man with a loving wife, two kids, and a furry pet. Pictures of them all littered the desk in his office, and Calix had easily recognized their faces from the yearly holiday card Bruce sent him.

Technically, once you joined the I.P.F, you had to renounce explicit loyalty to your home world, but that didn’t mean breaking all ties. Calix had kept in touch with Bruce over the years, looked up to him even to this day. That was a major reason he’d agreed to take on this case as his last before quitting.

Calix couldn’t give two shits about Emergence, but he owed Bruce a lot, and helping him catch this killer and bring them to justice was a good way to pay off past debts.

“I’ve reminded her of the evidence,” Bruce said. “What happened back then wasn’t your doing. I know you still carry it with you, but it’s time, kid. Let it go. It was a faulty vehicle and you were an eighteen-year-old scared out of your wits.”

“Tell that to everyone else who remembers my face plastered all over the news,” Cal drawled, glancing out the window as they drove through the city.

For a moment, it was quiet, and then Bruce broke the silence. “I heard about what happened last night.”

Calix bristled, waiting to see what kind of gossip had spread.

“How many of them jumped you?” he sounded angry. “You sent the police away last night without giving them any details, but I’m sure you recognized them. Assault is a serious offense. You shouldn’t let them get away with it.”

So the assault story was holding, that was good. Better than everyone knowing the truth, at least.

“How much did the doctor tell them?” Calix couldn’t help but ask, pretending not to care one way or the other even though that was a lie.

“Aodhan told my guys that you were trying to be a martyr and let the thugs who beat you get off scot-free. He mentioned you thought you deserved what happened to you, and that it was within your rights not to press charges.” Bruce gave him a once over before returning his eyes to the road. “Got to say though, you look fine to me. What, did they just avoid your face or something?”

Right, because if he’d been beaten up by more than one person, he’d at the very least have a split lip. Especially since an ambulance had been called for him.

“The doctor feared I may have a few broken ribs,” Cal lied through his teeth. “That was why he insisted I get wheeled out of there. Fortunately for me, that’s not the case. There’s just severe bruising around my midsection.” Knowing that wasn’t nearly good enough to sell the story, he added, “Aodhan found me before they could do any worse than kick me a few times.”

“Well, I’m grateful to him that he did,” Bruce said, seemingly believing it. “I was also glad when he was suggested as our liaison with the hospital. Aodhan is a fantastic doctor and charismatic as well. Everyone who meets him ends up liking him. He’ll be useful to the investigation.”

“You really think our killer has a connection to the hospital?” Calix asked, glad they were veering back toward a safe topic. Lying wasn’t a problem for him, but he worried the longer they spoke about last night's events, the better the chance of him slipping up and spilling the truth.

“A group of the medical staff traveled to the planet Vitality recently for a wedding. Would you guess that’s around the same time as when the third murder was committed?”

“Can’t be a coincidence.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Bruce pulled into a mostly empty parking lot where only a handful of police vehicles could be seen. “One of those staff members ended up arrested the day after the wedding for a murder. We thought perhaps it was him at first, but then the fourth kill happened.”

“Why couldn’t it be him?” Calix undid his belt as soon as they came to a stop in front of a dense line of trees and a single dirt path.

“He was still being detained in Vitality,” Bruce replied as they got out and headed toward the path where another officer Cal hadn’t met yet was waiting to greet them. “Something about his case tangling up with charges being brought against their Imperial Heir.”

Calix let out a low whistle. It was rare for an Imperial to be caught doing anything wrong—usually because they had enough power and money to make people look the other way. “Who’d they piss off to make that happen?”

“No clue. But it’s not looking good for Lyra Diar. Guess being an Imperial isn’t the get-out-of-jail-free card we always believed it to be.” He stopped in front of the other officer. “Brents.”

“Afternoon, sir,” Brents, a rookie officer by the looks of him, gave a curt nod to Cal, “Detective. If you’ll follow me, sirs. We’ve cordoned off the area, but so far there doesn’t seem to be anything amiss.”

“You mean aside from the severed head?” Bruce drawled, rolling his eyes behind the younger guy’s back, smiling when Cal noticed.

“Well, yes,” Brents said nervously, “there’s that, sir.”

The path led to a small clearing where a single towering decer tree with glittering orange leaves stood. Beneath it, clearly staged, was the head of the fourth victim, Williams Gorty. It’d begun to rot, the smell and the sight ghastly as they approached.

Bruce covered his nose and gagged a little. “Never gets easier, does it?”

“We’ve already taken photographs and tissue samples.” Amory stepped away from the small group of officers standing nearby and approached. “His eyes have been removed and his lips were sewn shut, but even with the rot setting in, we were able to confirm Mr. Gorty’s identity.”

Calix pulled a small, clear orb the size of a billiards ball from his right pocket and set it on the grass between his feet. The object made a whirring sound and then rolled forward, straight for the head. “N.I.M. will run a detailed forensics assessment.”

The N.I.M. was a useful tool given to all detectives in the force. It was a small AI that connected to Demeter Station, the largest knowledge hub in the universe, and could run all sorts of imaging scans within seconds.

“Have you contacted Meadows?” Bruce asked her. “I want to introduce him to Cal, since this is his case now.”

“Yes, sir, he’s on his way.”

“Mitri Meadows is our lead forensic scientist,” Bruce explained. “He’s a bit eccentric, but he gets the job done. Actually, he was recommended to us by Aodhan when our last scientist retired. He’s a big Effy fan.”

“Who?” Amory frowned.

“Effy Gar. He’s a Fly Ball player. Calix loves him.”

“Not anymore,” Cal corrected.

“Come on,” Bruce clicked his tongue at him. “You can’t keep letting the past control your life like this.”

“He’s right,” Amory surprised them both by agreeing. Until she looked him dead in the eye and added, “Only the guilty can’t let go.”

“Officer Paige,” Bruce scolded, but she merely shrugged, hands resting on her belt buckle.

“I mean it. He’s innocent, right? It’s about time he acted like it. That’s all I’m saying.”

It was obvious Bruce didn’t believe her, but he chose to pretend, turning back to Calix. He slapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “That’s the right idea. Get back out there and live a little. You’ve worked hard these past seven years. It’s time for you to have a little fun. Take a break, go on some dates—”

Cal brushed him off. “I am not going on a date with your forensic scientist, Bruce,” Calix stated dryly, only for someone to clear their throat behind them.

A man dressed in gray slacks and a buttoned navy shirt stood there holding a black case in his left hand. His hair was an interesting shade of silver that seemed to sparkly yellow and purple when it caught the light. The badge dangling from his neck by a violet lanyard explained who he was with a photo and his name, and he smiled politely once he had their attention.

“I typically prefer to be introduced to the men I’m being volunteered to go out with, but in this case, I’m willing to make an exception—After my date with that guy over there." He motioned toward the tree and then held out his free hand. “Nice to meet you, Detective. I’m Mitri Meadows.”

It was on the tip of Cal’s tongue to reply with, not interested, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair to the other guy. He’d walked in on them talking about him behind his back, after all. “Calix Valimir.”

N.I.M. finished up and sent a report to Calix’s multi-slate, the ding interrupting whatever weirdness had been about to transpire. He pulled away and clicked the screen on the small rectangular device, scanning through the information just collected.

“There’s something under his tongue,” he announced, moving toward the head. One of the other lingering officers held out a box of gloves and he took a pair, slipping into them as he crouched down in front of the grotesque remains of Williams Gorty.

Since the lips were sewn shut, it wasn’t as simple as sticking his fingers in there to recover the object, but he took a close look at all of the visible marks.

“According to N.I.M.,” he explained once he felt the others step up behind him, “the lips were sewn first, then the left eardrum and the right were punctured in that order. Finally, the eyes were taken. His throat was cut last, meaning he was alive throughout all of that, though it’s unclear if he was awake for it or not.”

“Let’s hope not,” Amory stated. “Poor bastard.”

“Poor bastard that liked touching his children behind closed doors,” Mitri drawled almost absently, snapping a pair of gloves on himself with a bit of flourish.

Cal glanced at him over his shoulder with a frown.

“What? You haven’t heard?” Mitri glanced between them. “Seriously? It’s all over the news.”

Bruce swore and stormed off. He could be heard making a call as he disappeared back down the path, no doubt on his way to check if what the scientist was saying was true.

Calix stood. “Fill me in.”

“Sure thing, Detective.” Mitri switched places with him so he could get to work while he spoke. “According to the reports, it was discovered that our friend here liked to take the edge off by playing games with his youngest daughter. Games that typically involved the removal of clothing and inappropriate touching.”

“What about the oldest?” Amory asked.

Mitri shook his head and swabbed Gorty’s ears. “There’s no evidence he did the same to the oldest, but reporters are coming up with theories.”

“His oldest was in and out of the hospital frequently,” Calix said. “She wouldn’t make for an easy target.”

“The youngest, however, would have been swept to the side by the rest of the family and medical staff. Attention always falls on the sick one,” Mitri agreed. “They were given proof in the form of photographs taken on hidden cameras. Obviously the worst of it is blurred since they weren’t about to post that on national television.”

“You trying to say reporters have souls?” Amory made a shocked sound.

Mitri chuckled. “Just telling you what I saw on my way here, that’s all.” He stood. “I’m all set. Have this bagged and moved to the station. I’ll go on ahead and prepare for it.”

“You heard the man.” Amory motioned to the two officers standing nearby who quickly got to work. “Anything important you think you should tell us now?”

“I think most of the important stuff already came from the Detective’s fancy device,” Mitri stated, tutting down at the orb as it rolled to a stop near Cal’s feet. “Thanks for taking over my job, N.I.M.”

The device beeped as though it understood, but really it was just a programmed response to hearing its name called.

“It’s the end of the universe as we know it.” Mitri sighed and then set his hands on his hips, that friendly smile back in place full force. “Anyway, since the chief seems busy, want to ride back to the station with me? We can count it as our first date if you’d like.”

Calix was in the process of trying to decide if that was meant as a joke or not when a deep sense of dread suddenly overcame him. He sucked in a sharp breath, turning toward a spot in the tree line along with the others who must have felt it too.

“What the hell?” Mitri’s brow furrowed. “Did anyone hear anything?”

“No,” Amory answered, eyes scanning their surroundings, “but I definitely feel it.”

“We’re being watched.” It wasn’t the first time Cal had felt someone’s attention, though he couldn’t recall it ever being this…potent before. Every nerve ending he had was screaming there was danger and he should get the hell out of there.

Which of course he wasn’t going to do.

Troya’s earlier assessment about his death wish came back to him, and he almost laughed. His partner would get a kick out of what he was planning on doing next for sure.

The blaster at his left side slipped out of its holster a second before he eased closer to the trees.

“Are you sure you should do that?” Mitri asked. “What if it’s a predatory animal? This forest is known for zem sightings. I’ve done autopsies on a few of the unfortunate souls who came into contact with them. It’s not pretty.”

“Stay here,” Amory ordered Cal, then stepped up to Calix’s side. “I’ll go check it out.”

“We’ll do it together,” he corrected. This was his case, he wasn’t going to stand around twiddling his thumbs simply because of a bad feeling.

“He’s right,” she said, “about the zem.”

“I don’t suppose you brought any zem spray with you?”

She shook her head.

“Too bad.” Calix motioned her forward. “There’s a chance it’s the killer and he’s come back to the scene to get a rise out of us.”

“By discreetly watching from within the trees?”

“Not so discreetly since we were able to sense his eyes on us.”

“Can’t disagree there.” She frowned. “Isn’t it kind of weird though? I mean, he obviously knows we’re onto him. Why is he still watching us instead of running?”

Cal took another step forward. It was either a taunt or some idiot hiker had stumbled on them and was too busy freaking out to use common sense and get out of there. It wouldn’t explain the bad feeling they were all getting, but a feeling was just that. It wasn’t proof of anything.

“Let’s go ask them and find out,” he suggested, and that was all the warning he gave before he took off into the woods with Amory hot on his heels.