Dirty Magic (43 page)

She didn’t say anything, but I could tell by her look she was just letting me vent my spleen.

“Besides, maybe it’s time to grow up and settle down. Get a nice, safe job behind a desk. One that doesn’t require me to carry a gun. Like, I don’t know, a secretary or something.”

She looked up quickly. I thought she was about to say something insightful. But then the first giggle escaped.

I crossed my arms and leaned back to glare at her. “Shut up.”

The laughter increased until tears formed in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she gasped through the giggles. “But that’s the funniest thing you’ve ever said. You’d be a terrible secretary.”

I flipped her the bird and chugged the rest of my beer. “I’m serious, Pen. I’m tired of the bullshit politics.” I pointed toward the phone. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to tell those fucking reporters that Mike Hanson was a hero?”

Even though I’d told Eldritch and Gardner the truth about Hanson’s involvement, they had decided it was best not to muddy the waters by making his betrayal public. Therefore, the media had been told he’d died helping me take down Bane. Since the shoot-out at the brewery, I’d received several phone calls from reporters, and every time I uttered the word “hero” in the same sentence as Hanson’s name it tasted like a shit sandwich. But Babylon was already healing from too many wounds for me to make it worse by telling the truth. Plus, I was already lying about so many things I figured one more couldn’t damn me any more than I already was.

“So Hanson gets a hero’s funeral and I can’t even get anyone to tell me if I have a fucking job?”

She set down her beer. “I know. Trust me. But maybe you should wait to hear from Eldritch and Gardner before you decide to move to the suburbs and spend your days filing and getting coffee for some mid-level manager.”

I chewed on my lip and watched the clock tick. Every minute that passed without a phone call felt like a year.

T
wo days later, I stood outside the police station, looking up at the seal of the city of Babylon. The sun sparkled off the symbol of a large gate guarded by a roaring lion. For some reason, it called to mind the day I’d earned the badge that bore the same insignia.

Back then, I was a starry-eyed recruit, fueled by a craving for justice and the conviction that I was finally one of the good guys. That I could make a real difference. I imagined myself as that lion, guarding the innocent from the bad guys.

But now, less than five years later, I stood in front of the building where I graduated waiting to hear if I still had a job. The stars had dimmed and the conviction was wavering. I didn’t feel like a lion anymore so much as a kicked dog. The only thing that hadn’t changed since that day was the desire for justice.

But that had to count for something, right?

I sucked in a deep breath, stuck my shoulders back, and marched through the doors to hear the verdict on my future. My bravado lasted only as long as it took me to cross the threshold.

Every officer I passed wore a black ribbon across their badge. To them it was a way to honor their fallen comrade, Mike Hanson. To me, it was a reminder of a system that favored politics over truth.

Eldritch greeted me near the sergeant’s desk. He made a big presentation of giving me a hug. “Welcome!” he said in a forced tone that made me want to turn around and leave. But before I could, he urged me toward his office while smiling for the troops and claiming I was the woman of the hour.

Once we reached the office, some of his joviality dimmed but he remained friendly.

“Sit, sit,” he said, waving to the chair. He sat on the edge of the desk near me and sighed. “First, how’s Danny?”

“He’s good.” I smiled. “Ornery.”

“Excellent!” Eldritch slapped his knee. “One thing I’ll say for you Prosperos: You’re all fighters.”

I nodded to accept the backhanded compliment. “We got the casserole from Francine. Thank her for me.” I’d thrown it out in the garbage the day it arrived. Why did everyone send casseroles in times of crisis? Why didn’t anyone ever send brownies and Jack Daniel’s?

“Ah, it was nothing.” He chuffed out a breath. “Anything you two need, just call.”

I need to know if I have a job, I thought. “Thanks.”

An awkward pause followed. The kind that happens when the pleasantries are done with and it’s time to get to the uncomfortable business but no one wants to be the asshole.

Just when I was about to start squirming, the door opened and Gardner rushed in. “Sorry I’m late,” she panted. “Had to meet with Stone about the Bane case.”

I rounded to look at her. “H-hey.” Last I’d heard she was on her way to Detroit to give her regional director an update on the drama at the warehouse. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“Got in yesterday.” She waved a hand. “How’s the kid?”

“He’s good. What’s up with Bane?”

“Nothing you should worry over.” She shook her head and my heart sank. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet.”

She nodded and sighed. “Good. I didn’t want to miss seeing her reaction.”

My face contracted into a deep frown. “What?”

Eldritch crossed his arms. “Well, first, you’ve formally been cleared of the shooting incident.”

I nodded impatiently. Eldritch practically vibrated with excitement. Gardner was more subdued, but I sensed tension from her. Not bad tension, just … expectation, maybe.

“With everything going on with Danny, we’ve put through paperwork to retroactively pay you for the time you were suspended plus an extra two weeks of paid personal leave.”

My brows shot up. “Wow, that’s great.” Now maybe I wouldn’t go bankrupt paying off the hospital. Plus it gave me another five days to nurse Danny until I … did whatever came next. I looked at them both expectantly, waiting for them to fill in the blanks.

“Once that leave is up, you have a choice to make. You can either return to your old post at the BPD patrol division.” Eldritch glanced at Gardner and nodded.

She smiled. “Or you can represent the BPD on the MEA task force full-time.” My mouth fell open, but she held up a hand. “With a promotion to the rank of detective.”

All the blood rushed from my head. “Holy shit!”

Gardner cracked a smile. “Is that a yes?”

I shook my head.

Her face fell. “It’s a no?”

I sucked in a deep breath to collect my scattered thoughts. I’d walked in prepared to get fired and then move away to give Danny—and me—a more stable life. But the instant they’d mentioned a promotion, things suddenly didn’t seem too cut-and-dried. “I don’t know. I thought the mayor revoked permission for the task force to operate here.”

“He changed his mind after you brought down one of the city’s most dangerous coven leaders,” Eldritch said, all magnanimous.

“So the team is back in play for good?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say for good. But for the foreseeable future, yes. Captain Eldritch has also been generous enough to convince the chief to grant us a few additional officers for the team.”

“That’s great,” I said. “And you’re sure you want me on it?”

“What’s the problem, Prospero?” She tilted her head. “I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“Forgive me, but I expected to be reprimanded, not given a promotion.” After I’d admitted to going to see Volos without telling anyone, I’d been read the riot act.

Eldritch cleared his throat. “We all said a lot of things in the heat of this investigation that we didn’t mean. But the bottom line is you brought in the guy, and you deserve to be rewarded for all your hard work and sacrifice.” The words were nice, but they rang hollow. More likely, the promotion was to keep me happy so I never went to the media about the Hanson situation.

I looked Gardner in the eyes. “Are you being forced to take me?”

“Absolutely not.” She didn’t flinch or look away. “Has anything I’ve done given you the impression I’d let the mayor or anyone else force me to take a team member who didn’t have the chops?”

I snorted. “I guess not.”

“You’re dedicated to the job, more knowledgeable about the Cauldron than the rest of the team combined, and show the promise to be a great detective.”

My cheeks heated and I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from turning up at the praise.

“You’re also stubborn.” She shook her head. “And unpredictable. I thought you’d be jumping at this. Eldritch says you’ve been angling for detective for a couple of years.”

“I have.”

“So what’s the problem?” Eldritch’s tone was annoyed, as if he was worried he’d be forced to take me back on his staff.

“I just—” I swallowed. “I’ve just had a lot of shit going on. But you’re right. I thought this was everything I wanted—the promotion, the spot on the task force. But after Danny was hurt—” I paused and swallowed the unexpected emotion that suddenly clogged my throat. For a made-up excuse, my body was sure reacting to my words as if they were the truth. “After Danny got hurt, I started wondering if maybe I should be a cop at all.”

Eldritch made an awkward huffing sound, like he was completely unprepared to deal with this much emotion. Gardner, however, tilted her head. “That’s bullshit.”

I reared back in shock. “Excuse me?”

“I get that your brother’s situation was scary. It would be for any of us. But I saw you, Kate. You didn’t act like a woman who doubted whether she needed to be in the justice business.” She chuckled. “You didn’t hide from the pain. You turned into a pit bull. Maybe you’re telling yourself you long for a nice, safe, easy life, but I think you know you’ll never be happy with a civilian job.”

The words were tiny daggers piercing my half-formed plan for a normal life. My ideas about moving to the ’burbs and getting a desk job had been a form of self-defense. I’d expected to walk in that office and find out I was officially relieved of duty. Instead, they offered me everything I thought I wanted. And it scared the hell out of me. What if I wasn’t good enough? What if I let everyone down? What if Danny got hurt again? What if I did and he was left alone?

“Kate?” Eldritch snapped.

I sucked on my teeth for a moment. Out of nowhere, his words from earlier echoed in my brain. “You Prosperos: You’re all fighters.”

He was right. But I didn’t learn how to be a fighter from Uncle Abe or his wizard pals who swaggered around the Cauldron like kings. Instead, I’d learned how to be strong from my mother. A humble woman who worked two jobs to support her kids. A proud woman who never got a fair shake but didn’t complain about it. A complicated woman who always told me she wanted Danny and me to have a better life than she had. A beautiful woman who died too early because I didn’t understand then that selling potions wasn’t the path to a better life.

In the days following Danny’s recovery, I’d tried to convince myself that a simple existence in a cookie-cutter house with a boring job was better. But deep down I knew the truth. A better life was one where I got to be that lion standing in front of the gates.

“Kate,” Gardner prompted, “what’s it going to be?”

I lifted my head and looked Gardner in the eye. “When do I start?”

T
he stage stood in the center of what used to be the barren lot in front of the Arteries. Not ten feet from where I’d put a bullet into Ferris Harkins’s face, John Volos smiled like a politician as he addressed the crowd gathered to celebrate the ground-breaking of the community center.

Danny and I stood in the back, near the street carnival Volos had hired. Morales was with us, watching with his arms crossed. Behind us, calliope music and the occasional screams provided the sound track to Volos’s speech.

“Today is a new day not just for the citizens of the Cauldron, but for the entire city of Babylon. For too long, we’ve allowed criminals to rule these streets and prevent us from providing adequate services to the future of this city—our children.”

A smattering of applause rippled through the crowd. On my left, Danny stared up at his savior with wide, worshipful eyes. As far as the kid was concerned, any tarnish on Volos’s armor had been polished away the moment he rescued Danny. I tried to tamp down the spark of jealousy it caused, but just once I wished my brother would look at me with that kind of admiration.