Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (31 page)

“Detectives, I didn’t expect to see you. Are you done with my car yet?” she couldn’t quite disguise the eagerness in her voice. She really wanted to have her own car back and at least the illusion of freedom it represented.

The detectives exchanged an inscrutable look. “What?” Allie asked, suddenly uneasy. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to my car?”

“Ms. McCarthy we’d like to talk to you for a minute, if you have some time,” detective Smythe said, his voice very professional. She looked from one to the other.

“What’s going on?” she asked again.

“We’ve gotten the results back from the tires and we found something unexpected,” detective Riordan said, like someone about to break bad news. Jason had gotten up and walked over to stand near Allie.

“Okay,” she said, feeling the tension radiating from both of the men. Her stomach knotted in response and she fought down hysterical giggling, grateful that at least she didn’t have to worry about panic attacks anymore. “Could you just tell me what it is because dragging it out like this is freaking me out.”

Riordan grimaced slightly, “Well, to be blunt then, we found traces of blood on the tires, we think from the knife used to cut them. We ran the blood thinking it might be animal and it wasn’t. It was from the Elven Guard who was killed in front of your house.”

Aeyliss
? Allie thought, truly shocked.
But – no. That would mean that whoever cut my tires killed her. But that’s impossible because Walters did that and he’s dead
…

Jason stepped up putting a hand on her shoulder, and she felt his concern wrapping around her. “Allie? Are you okay?”

“That’s impossible,” she whispered.

“Ms. McCarthy, I can’t express how much this concerns us,” detective Smythe said, his voice as sincere as his feelings. “This ties the person harassing you directly to the death of an Elven Guard. Your life is very likely in danger as well.”

Allie shook her head slightly and Riordan spoke up, “Ms. McCarthy, I know this is upsetting, but if the person who killed the Elven Guard is the one targeting you we can only assume they mean to hurt you.”

“Kill me. You think they want to kill me,” she said, her voice intense.

Riordan sighed, “You are a member of the Elven Guard yourself now, and you’re dating one as well. That could be enough motivation for whoever this is.”

“Walters killed Aeyliss,” Allie said, her voice stiff and hard. “And he’s dead.”

Both detectives shifted uncomfortably. Riordan spoke in a soothing voice, “We never tied him conclusively to her death. It was all circumstantial, admittedly strong enough at the time to close it. But it’s within the realm of possibility that she was killed by someone else and that whoever that person is has now fixated on you.”

“Isn’t it also possible,” Allie said, not truly believing it but wanting to push the police to think outside the theory she knew they currently favored, “that he was never working alone at all? Maybe the whole time he had a partner or group he was with, like the original coven, and now that he’s gone someone else is picking up the slack? And one of them is after me because I was part of the reason he got caught?”

“Do you believe that?” Smythe asked, looking at her intently.

She wavered, “I don’t know what to believe, but it’s possible and no more or less likely than thinking there were two separate killers running around the whole time.”

“I think you need to consider taking some more safety measures,” detective Riordan said. “I don’t want to get called out to process a scene and find you lying on the ground dead because no one was taking this seriously enough.”

Allie looked down, feeling cold. Jason’s hand clenched on her shoulder, and his emotions spiked from worry to fear. She felt him shift slightly behind her, the hint of iron in the gun he wore at his hip an irritating presence at her back. She felt like she was watching her entire life spiral out of control and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

And then, as if she wasn’t overwhelmed enough Jess’s voice floated into her mind, “
Allie? Are you alright
?”

She reached up rubbing her hands over her face. She debated not telling him, but that was foolish, and then decided to just say it. He was 700 years old and a commander in the Guard, he should be able to handle bad news without panicking, even if he tended to overreact to anything involving her safety. “
Jess, the police are here and they have some disturbing news. The blade that cut my car tires is the same one that was used to kill Aeyliss.”

“
I am on my way
,” he said, his emotions a mix of fear and anger.

“
No
,” she said feeling his emotions immediately shift into hurt. “
No Jess I mean it. I am not rejecting you – the gods know I love you and I’ve told you so and shown you so you know it’s true. But there is no reason for you to run out here for nothing
.”

“
Aliaine
-“

“
Jessilaen
” she cut him off before the thought could fully form. “
You have a duty to the Guard. You cannot place me before that. I am not in any immediate danger and so far whoever is doing this hasn’t actually threatened my life. This is a disturbing turn of events, but it’s not like he wrote ‘I killed Aeyliss’ in blood on my car. Stay where you are and I will keep telling you what is going on
.”

“
I cannot bear you being in such danger
,” he thought back, his misery a bitter taste in her mouth.

“
We don’t know that I am. For now we can only keep on as we have been. I have to go, the police are still here and I need to finish talking to them. If you are that worried ask your brother’s opinion
,” she said quickly, wanting to be reassuring but aware that one of the detectives was speaking and unable to follow both voices at once.

“Ms. McCarthy?” detective Riordan was saying, his voice concerned.

“
I will talk to Zarethyn and I will see you again as soon as possible. Do not doubt that your safety means more to me even than my duty
,” Jess whispered into her mind, even as she tried to ignore him and focus on the human police in front of her. When she spoke out loud again she was surprised to hear her voice shaking and she struggled to sound stronger, “I’m sorry detective. I’m having a hard time concentrating. What did you say?”

“I said that there’s not much we can do for you, but please let us know immediately if anything else happens. Anything at all, no matter how minor it might seem,” Riordan said looking sympathetic.

“Thanks detective, I will,” Allie said. “Any chance I’ll get my car back any time soon?”

“Probably another day or two. I’m sorry about the delay, but under the circumstances we’re going over it with a fine tooth comb looking for any additional evidence,” Smythe said.

“I understand,” she said, resigned. It’s not like she could do anything about it anyway.

“We’re taking this very seriously,” detective Riordan said, looking troubled.

“I know you are, and I know there’s not much you can do unless you get a real lead about whoever’s doing this,” Allie said. “And I’ll be extra careful.”

Riordan nodded, still looking unhappy. “Alright then. We need to get going but I wanted to tell you this in person. Keep in touch, okay?”

She forced a smile for his benefit, “Thanks detective, I will. Hopefully I won’t have to.”

Both detectives smiled back and nodded as they said goodbye, but she could feel their concern. This had them spooked and that made her very unhappy.

When they left Jason stepped back a little, dropping his hand. “Wow. That…I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Allie covered her face with her hands again, rubbing her temples. “What the Hel has happened to my life?”

She felt him start to step towards her again and then stop himself, his feelings uncertain. “Allie…I…this is really bad. You need to tell Jessilaen. Maybe the Guard can help you.”

“I already told him,” she said ignoring the disbelief that went through him, “But Jason I’m not going to let the Guard take over my life. I can’t get put in a position where I end up under Guard again, or worse taken to the Outpost in protective custody.”

“Ummm. That’s a better option than death isn’t it?” he said.

“Is it?” she whispered back.

****************************

Allie sat anxiously in the back of the large conference room, waiting for the meeting to get around to discussing Jason. She hadn’t understood when he’d first told her about the hearing that it wasn’t a separate event of its own but would be included as part of the larger monthly meeting the fire department held, and would be open to the entire department and the public. When he had broken down at dinner and admitted it was likely to be a public spectacle sandwiched between budget debates and discussion of the upcoming training schedule she’d been appalled. She had not realized that although Jason was a paid fire fighter, as were a half dozen others at the station, there were also a large number of volunteers and so the monthly meetings were considered official town business and as such open to the public, as well as the entire emergency services department.

There wasn’t much she could do, especially with the tension that still hung between them after the events of the other night, but she had insisted on going with him. Tony couldn’t because he had to work, and there was no way Allie was letting Jason go alone. It had taken some bullying on her part because he worried that everyone from Bleidd to the Guard to the human police wanted her staying safely at home, but she had eventually convinced him that she would be just as safe out with him as sitting at home with no one but Liz and Shawn to keep an eye on her. It may have helped that she had implied that she’d follow him anyway, and so now she sat quietly in the back while he sat in the front row, radiating stress.

It was difficult to be in such a large crowd, surrounded by people feeling so many different things. As hard as she tried it was almost impossible to completely shield from a group this size in the current state her gift was in and the effort to do so was giving her a dull headache. She had hoped that sitting in the back corner might help, and it did seem to slightly dim things, but she still felt a little too much like she was treading water in the middle of the ocean.

The meeting dragged on and Allie watched the clock hands crawl slowly around. She was starting to wonder if they were every going to get to Jason or if they had decided to put it off until next month, when the assistant chief cleared her throat loudly at the front table, “Well, that takes care of the discussion about the new lockers. I think we’re agreed that we’ll table that issue until next month?”

There was a murmur of assent and someone made the motion official, to be quickly seconded by another person sitting in the lines of folding chairs. Allie shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the assistant chief continued, “Then it looks like the last item on our agenda is the issue of fire fighter Takada’s status. For the record Takada was put on paid leave after violating a direct order at the scene of a fully involved house fire, and re-entering the building at great personal risk to himself, endanger the entire crew in the process. We will now discuss whether further disciplinary action will be taken.”

The captain nodded and then took up where the assistant chief had left off, “Obviously our crew has to work as a team and we cannot have any individual putting themselves or other people in danger. Jason, you have always been a dedicated fire fighter and an exemplary employee, but I hope you understand why it is absolutely unacceptable for you to decide to go into an unstable structure fire against direct orders?”

Jason stood up slowly, his head down, shoulders slumped, “Yes, sir. I do understand.”

He thinks he’s getting fired
, Allie realized, frowning.
He isn’t even going to try to fight to keep his job.
Then she winced slightly to herself.
Well really what’s he going to say? I knew it was safe for me to go in because I’ve been lying all this time and I’m not human and fire doesn’t hurt me? Right, and then losing his job will be the least of his worries. And that won’t make them feel any different about him defying orders and running into a building about to collapse anyway. Being fireproof doesn’t keep you from being crushed
.

“Do you have any explanation for this gross lack of judgment?” the captain asked, already shuffling papers on the table in front of him, obviously not expecting anything from Jason.

“No sir,” Jason said, his voice quiet even in the echoing space.

“Well then, I’m afraid-“

“No, wait,” Allie said, standing up so fast she almost tipped her chair over. There was a small commotion as everyone in the room shifted and twisted trying to see who had spoken and Allie struggled against the urge to sit back down. Jason had partially turned and was looking at her with wide, slightly panicked eyes. Gods only knew what he thought she was going to say.

The captain frowned, his mustache twitching downward at the edges. “Miss, please don’t interrupt. These are official proceedings.”

“I know. I mean I understand that. But there’s something I need to say, umm, in Jason’s defense, if that’s alright?” her voice sounded weak even to her own ears and she bit her lip.
What the Hel are you going to say you idiot
? she thought desperately.
He’s never going to speak to you again if you make this worse
! Then she kicked herself
You may not be a full elf but you are partially one and you can talk him out of this without lying or exposing his secret. Just think and say what they need to hear to draw their own conclusions
.