Against a Brightening Sky (31 page)

She raised an eyebrow, her tone dry. “I do hope you understand that Dee and I aren't interested in putting on a performance. Our work is every bit as serious as anything Gabe and his squad undertake. A great deal of what we plan to do today appears extremely dull, but could go a long way toward catching this killer. Watching us pore over a stack of dusty manuscripts and scrolls is far from entertaining.”

Jordan pulled himself up tall and straight and looked Dora in the eye. “I'm not interested in theatrics or tricks. I got a good taste of that in the church yesterday with the salt circle and the wind blowing through. Learning more about what you do and how you manage to help Gabe is the main reason I'm here. Meeting Sam's girl would be nice too, but I'll go if you want me to.”

“I never said I wanted you to go.” Dora winced, her expression contrite and apologetic. “And now you're angry and extremely insulted. That wasn't my intention, Jordan, I promise. You have my word that I'll explain too, but let's get inside first.” She held a hand out to him, palm up. “Scott Jordan Lynch, you are welcome in my house. Let all who ask know I call you friend.”

He hesitated, head tipped to one side and studying Dora's face. I wasn't sure he'd accept the invitation, but Jordan smiled, flattered and baffled both, and took her hand. “I'm honored, Isadora. I can honestly say I've never had a friend like you.”

She beamed at him and took his arm. “I'll take that as a compliment. Now, don't let go of me. I didn't have time to prepare the boundaries. Going through the door might be a little rough this first time. Dee, take his other arm. We go together.”

Sam held up his package. “I told Alina I'd bring some of my family pictures today. She's waiting, so I'll go inside while the two of you put Jordan through the initiation rites. I did call, Dora, but you'd already left. Randy said he didn't think you'd mind, so we came ahead. I'll know better next time.”

Dora grimaced and rubbed her temples. “I truly don't mind. And I'm not the slightest bit angry at you, Sam, just a bit out of sorts and generally annoyed for some reason. Ignore me, all of you. I'll be fine once we're inside.”

“Alina and I will start some tea. Don't forget to hold your breath while crossing the threshold, Lynch.” Sam hurried inside, whistling and eager to see Alina.

I slipped my arm though Jordan's, leaving him free to still hold his cane. He looked a little apprehensive. “Ignore Sam's teasing too. You don't have to do anything but walk inside. In any case, now that Dora has invited you inside, you may come and go as you please.”

“My grandma fancied herself the conjurer woman for the whole parish. She had ways of keeping people she didn't know out of her house when she wasn't home. Grandma was darn near ninety when the alderman's boys broke into her house.” Jordan winked at me and straightened his shoulders. “Those boys came out of her house scared within an inch of their lives. Ghost traps in the trees wasn't the only thing she knew to do. Used to embarrass the hell out of my daddy.”

Jordan crossed Dora's boundaries without the slightest hesitation. Once the three of us were in the entryway, Isadora patted his arm and moved away to hang up her hat and coat. “Dee, would you please take Jordan to my workroom? I need a moment to freshen up before I join you.”

“Are you all right?” She was pale and drawn, her hands visibly shaking as she took off her coat. I removed my own wrap and took Dora's away from her, hanging both coats on the hall tree. “Can I get you something?”

“Don't fuss, Delia. You know I can't abide that.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words. “I'm feeling better already. I'll be down in a few minutes.”

Dora took the stairs slowly, but her color was returning and she held her head up. I took Jordan down the hall to her workroom.

Alina and Sam were already seated on the settee, heads bent over an old photo album. She appeared totally entranced, leafing through the pages and pointing to pictures of a skinny young boy I assumed must be Sam and laughing. Sam spoke in her ear and she glanced our way and smiled.

“Good morning, Delia.” Alina stood, clutching the photo album to her chest and smiling. I couldn't help but reflect how different the bitter, resigned young woman in my dreams was from the happy one standing before me. She held out her hand to Jordan. “You must be Lieutenant Lynch. Sam's told me about you.”

Jordan didn't stare, but he looked at Alina oddly, almost as if he thought he should know her or had seen her before. Given what I knew about her identity, that wasn't out of the realm of possibility. The newspapers ran photographs of royalty more often than film stars.

“Pleased to meet you, miss.” He didn't linger over shaking her hand, letting go and stepping back as soon as was polite. “Sam's told me a bit about you too. He left out how pretty you are.”

Alina blushed and glanced over her shoulder at Sam. He grinned but didn't say anything.

A reflection on the side of a crystal bowl next to the settee rippled, and the three princess ghosts brightened into view. Given how deep Dora's protections ran, I was surprised, but only for a second or two. Rules didn't apply to these ghosts or their behavior. I should have expected them to follow me.

Dora breezed into the room, brighter and more chipper than when she'd gone upstairs. “I see all the introductions have been made. Alina, would you be a darling and visit with Sam in the sitting room? Delia and I have a great deal of work to do, and most of my books are here.”

Sam stood and took Alina's hand. “The cook is making tea for all of us. She'll bring some in as soon as you ring.”

Dora smiled and went to a small bookcase nestled in a corner. “Thank you. Be sure to say good-bye before you leave.”

Jordan had followed me to a tall glass-fronted case flanking the window. Three intent faces watched me from the curved glass front, but I did my best to ignore them. The oldest of Dora's books resided in this cabinet, some with leather covers so ancient that they threatened to crumble to dust if handled too roughly.

Opening the doors brought the smell of ancient oceans, pine forests, and the salty smell of heated desert sand. Each volume carried its own scent, a marker placed by the man or woman who wrote it. Spices, long vanished meadow flowers, herbs and perfumes: each one was unique.

Not all the aromas were pleasant. That too was a reflection of the contents; dark histories from desperate times, or a survivor recounting how evil almost swept the world away. I'd avoided reading those books when I first started working with Dora, but there was no avoiding the shadowed corners for long. Best to know and be prepared.

Jordan crinkled his nose as I piled my arms full of books, but didn't comment on the smell. “Can I help you carry those, Delia?”

“That big one on the bottom shelf.” I pointed with my chin. “If you bring that one, you'll save me a trip.”

A large oval table filled the center of the workroom floor. I added the books I'd selected to the ones Dora had already set on the table and took my seat. Jordan hesitated, standing away from the table, eyeing the stack of books.

Dora patted the chair next to her and smiled. “Sit down, Jordan. There's no reason to be uncomfortable while we bore you.”

“I'm afraid if I get too comfortable, I'll start asking questions. You won't get any work done if I start down that path.” He took the chair anyway, laying his cane across the one next to it. Jordan touched the spine of one book gingerly. “Can I help in any way?”

Dora's expression softened and her smile brightened. “If you like. Many of the old books are written in such a way that makes them difficult to understand, a type of cipher or code, if you will. I'm not sure how much you'll understand, but I can give you key words to look for. If you find them, you can hand the book off to one of us.”

“I'd like to try.” He took a book off the stack. The smell of sun-warmed pine needles wafted up and vanished. “My grandmother was born a slave and she never got the chance to learn to read. She made sure my father learned once they moved north, and sent me off to school as soon as I was old enough. I think it broke her heart that my daddy wasn't interested in learning anything that didn't come out of his Bible.”

The distant past wasn't always as far off as it seemed. That was often difficult to remember. I cleared my throat. “We're looking for anything that has to do with illusions. How they're cast, what kind of charms are used, and most important, how to break an illusion. Dora and I have more than enough evidence that this killer is a master at those spells. We're looking for ways to combat that ability.”

“I'm sure Gabe told you the story of what happened at the parade.” Dora fetched a pack of cigarettes and an ashtray from a side table and settled into her chair again. “A large number of the union men reported seeing monsters and angels reaching for them from the smoke. Many of the men who came from Ireland were adamant they saw banshees. The man we're looking for cast those illusions. That takes a great deal of skill.”

“Damnation.” Jordan sat back, mouth pulled tight and arms crossed. “What other tricks can this man pull?”

“We don't know for sure. You saw for yourself what he did at the church. Making you all think you smelled a rotting corpse was another type of illusion.” I pulled my hands into my lap, keeping myself from picking at the fringe on the runner down the center of the table. “He may be able to change his face to look like someone else. I'm fairly confident he can draw shadows around himself to keep from being seen when he chooses.”

Jordan had been attentive, listening closely, but now his expression changed to angry disbelief. He'd recognized something, or thought he did.

Dora watched him keenly, her cigarette forgotten. “Tell me what you're thinking, Jordan.”

“I'm thinking I almost had this man in Chicago and that's how he fooled me. He changed his face.” He gripped the edge of the table, anger sparking in his eyes. “Two men from my squad heard screams from one of the tenement houses. They burst in to find a woman dead and a man climbing down the fire escape. Clyde Dalton gave chase, and his partner called the station for more men. This was the third murder in a month in the Russian neighborhood. We'd already increased patrols, and it took only a few minutes until more than a dozen officers were searching that block. I was with them.”

I exchanged looks with Dora. “How did he get away?”

“We'd been searching the area for hours. I had three other men with me, all of us with our guns drawn.” Jordan's eyes took on a faraway look, remembering. “We saw Dalton strolling down an alley, bold as brass and in no hurry at all. One of my men called to him, but he kept on going out the other end. We found Dalton's body a few minutes later. He was already cold. The four of us spent a long time convincing ourselves we'd seen someone else in that alley.”

Dora snubbed out her cigarette. “Finding a way to either see through this man's illusions or stop him from casting them in the first place may be the best means of catching him. We know that Dee can see through his illusions. I'd guess I can as well, but I haven't had occasion to test that idea just yet. Regardless, the sooner we find a solution to this, the better for all involved.”

Jordan gestured toward the stack on the table. “And you really think we can find the answer in these books.”

“We won't know until we try.” Dora drummed her long red nails on the tabletop and frowned. “A bit of luck wouldn't hurt either. And I'm perfectly willing to manufacture my own luck if matters come down to that.”

I knew Isadora Bobet better than anyone aside from Randy. She was never reckless, but she didn't flinch from taking chances when necessary. “You're thinking of setting a trap and luring him in.”

She smiled, a fond parent praising a child's cleverness. “Only as a last resort, Dee. I don't think it will get to that.”

Jordan nodded. “Dora's right. He'll come after one of you or Sam's girl first. The trick is to be ready when he does.”

“Precisely.” Dora chose a book from the pile and opened it to the first page. The scent of lavender filled the air. “And once he's inside, he won't find it easy to leave again.”

*   *   *

Noon was fast approaching before Sam and Alina wandered into Dora's workroom. The two of them were hand in hand, and Alina carried Sam's photo album in the crook of one arm.

“It's time for me to get back to the station, Jordan.” Sam squeezed Alina's hand before stepping over to the table. He picked up a book and squinted at the print along the spine. “You can stay here if you like. I can always swing by later to take you to Mrs. Allen's.”

Jordan closed the book he'd been searching through, brushing his hand across the cover before setting it aside. “I promised Gabe I'd go out to the union hall with him. And these ladies are too nice to say so, but I'm just slowing them down. I'll be more useful out on the street.”

Dora stuck another slip of paper in the book she was reading, marking a place she wanted to come back to. She peered at him sternly and arched an eyebrow. “I disagree, Lieutenant Lynch. You've been an enormous help.”

“She's right, Jordan, and you might as well own up to that.” I twisted in my chair to look up at him as he put on his jacket and found his hat. “I have some influence with Captain Ryan. Perhaps I can persuade him to share you.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but I know where I'm needed most.” Jordan tipped his hat. “Let's get out of here, Sam, before they charm me into staying.”

Sam lingered long enough to say good-bye to Alina. Dora had convinced them that standing in the open front door, saying prolonged good-byes, was unwise. Alina stood in the workroom doorway to watch until Sam reached the front door. Each parting between them was difficult, fraught with the threat that hung over her and not knowing if they'd ever see one another again. That was a feeling I was all too familiar with, in both the past and the present.