Trail of Dead (26 page)

Jesse met my eyes again and nodded quickly, shifting his attention to the witch next to us. I stared at the streetlight for a second, rejoicing in my now-working lungs, until Jesse reported, “She’s been shot in the side. I can’t tell how bad, but the ambulance will be here soon. She bumped her head when you tackled her, but it doesn’t look too bad. Maybe a minor concussion.”

“Is she gonna live?” I asked, panicked.

“I think so,” he said, using his professional cop voice. “But you need to stay calm. You did everything you could.”

“I should have come running around the outside of the house instead of running through it.”

Jesse gave me a sharp look. “And you were supposed to know that how?
Olivia
shot Kirsten, Scarlett. Not you. You took a bullet for her.”

I managed to roll myself over, onto all fours. I dug my cell phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. The little LCD face had a crack through it, but when I started pushing buttons everything else seemed to work fine. Beside me, Jesse was applying pressure to the bullet hole on Kirsten’s side. Blood covered his hands and stained the torso of her beautiful gown. It seemed like a really good time to call Dashiell.

He picked up immediately. “What’s happened? Did you get them?”

“No.” I told him about Olivia showing up at the party instead of the witch. “She brought a gun; she was prepared in case I showed
up. Dashiell, you’ve gotta get people over here to press minds,” I said. “There’s a dead body, and Kirsten’s been shot, and some other witches may have been hurt, and the police are gonna be here in a second—”

“Scarlett, you’re babbling,” he said with exaggerated patience. “Don’t worry about Kirsten. I’ll come myself.”

I sighed with relief. That was kind of what I’d been hoping for. Dashiell was arrogant, pushy, and controlling, but this was exactly the kind of situation that made me glad to have him around. “Thank you.”

“I’ll talk to you more when I arrive. For now, just don’t say anything to the police.” He hung up.

I looked over at Jesse. “Dashiell’s on his way,” I said—thus speaking to the police. Then I groaned. “Oh, shit.”

He looked up from Kirsten in alarm. “What? Are you hurt somewhere else?”

“She shot Molly’s sweater. Molly is gonna kill me.”

He looked at me, and we both sort of…giggled. Before I could say anything else, though, three police cars came screaming up to the house, and I froze. I’d seen this in the movies a thousand times, but it was still kind of terrifying when you were the one lit up in the headlights. “Just be still,” Jesse murmured. “Keep your hands visible.”

I’d just been shot in the back. What was I gonna do, run a five-minute mile? “No problem.”

The cops from the first squad car, a man and a woman, came boiling out of the car with their guns drawn, just like in the movies. They began to shout at us, but Jesse shook his head and yelled, “Detective Jesse Cruz, Southwest Homicide. My badge is in my inside jacket pocket. I don’t want to move my hands from this wound.”

The uniformed officers exchanged a glance, and then the female cop holstered her gun while the male kept his trained on us. Jesse
and I held perfectly still while she approached and reached into the pocket of Jesse’s leather jacket, pulling out his identification. She nodded at the male officer, and they both relaxed visibly. “She’s with me,” Jesse said, tilting his head my way. I waved limply.

The three of them began to chatter at each other in cop codes, which I made no effort to sort out. After a few minutes, the other cops went inside to check the rest of the house. The ambulance arrived and two female EMTs jumped out, beelining straight for Kirsten. One of them was older, maybe sixty, with gray hair cropped short. The one who’d been driving was younger and moved with more energy. She had a ponytail pulled through a baseball cap with the name of the ambulance service printed on it. I scooted back a few feet so they could work, and Jesse was finally able to lift his bloody hands off Kirsten’s side. I looked away. I could handle the sight of blood, but there was no point in giving myself this memory of Kirsten.

“She’s waking up,” the older EMT reported. She leaned forward with a little flashlight, checking Kirsten’s pupil dilation. “Ma’am, please try not to move. Do you know where you are?”

Kirsten blinked against the light. “Yes.”

There was a wave of bustling activity, and Jesse helped the two EMTs get Kirsten onto one of those backboard thingies, and then a gurney. I managed to get to my feet while they were folding the wheels and getting her in the ambulance, although it probably didn’t look very graceful. By the time Kirsten was settled in the ambulance, she was out again. “Her too,” Jesse ordered, pointing at me. “She needs to go along and get checked out.”

I don’t know why I was surprised. “Me? I’m fine. The vest caught it.”

“She got shot in the back,” Jesse explained to the younger EMT.

The woman with the ponytail went around to my back and unceremoniously lifted the sweater. “Hey,” I protested mildly. At least it was a woman.

“I’ve got a bullet here,” the ponytailed woman yelled to her colleague. To me, she said, “He’s right, Miss. You need to come with us. There could be internal bleeding or cracked ribs.”

One of the uniformed cops opened a downstairs window and stuck his head out. “We’ve got a few more injuries in here. You guys want to take a look now or call for another bus?”

The younger EMT raised her eyebrows at the older woman, who said, “She’ll be stable for a few minutes. Run and look quick so we can at least give them a heads-up.”

The young driver nodded briskly and jogged inside, letting a cop guide her around Kevin’s body. Poor Kevin. Even in death, he was just a backdrop.

“Come on, I’ll help you climb up,” Jesse said, taking my hand and steering me toward the back of the ambulance.

“We don’t have time for this,” I protested. He ignored me, and I pretty much had to allow him to pull me along. Digging my heels in would hurt too much.

“We’re making time,” he said, and I knew from his tone that further arguments would be pointless. Jesse helped me climb carefully into the rig. I scooted around the older EMT, who was working over Kirsten, and settled down in the seat across from the witch.

“You should get back in there,” I called to Jesse, who was still on the ground. “Dashiell will be here any second.” I gave him a meaningful look that I hoped said
and you guys have to figure out what to tell everyone
.

“I want to stay with you,” he said simply.

“I know, but—” Before I could finish that thought, I saw the younger EMT walking around the outside of the house leading a young woman with a long, ugly gash on her forearm. Runa. “Oh, fuck me,” I said out loud. I had forgotten all about her.

“What?” Jesse said. He turned around, following my gaze, and saw his girlfriend being led away from the witch party. The coward in me was glad I didn’t have to see his face just then. “
Runa?
”
he said incredulously. “What are you doing here?” He must have taken in the camera that was still hanging around her neck. Even from twenty feet away I could see the cracked lens. “Was this, like, a gig, or something? What happened?”

Runa looked at me briefly, and back at Jesse. “I sort of got pushed, cut my arm on the edge of the fountain,” she explained, her voice weak. “And, um, I think we need to talk.”

I almost laughed. That was an understatement. Before either of them could speak, though, the younger EMT said, “It’s not that deep, but we should take her in for surface stitches.” She turned to address Runa. “Miss, the next ambulance is going to take you to the hospital. Please wait here with the detective until it arrives.”

“Oh, hey, she looks way more hurt than I am,” I protested, starting to stand up from my stretcher. It hurt, but the pain was already less than it had been a few minutes earlier. “And this is her cousin,” I added, pointing at Kirsten. “I can drive myself to the ER.” Jesse glared. “Or wait for the next ambulance,” I said contritely, before he could yell.

The EMTs exchanged another look, and then the older woman shrugged. “Fine by me.”

Runa came over to the ambulance, and I stood up to climb down. Before I could move to the edge, though, Kirsten’s hand waved weakly. “Scarlett?”

“Kirsten!” I took her hand. It was very cool.

“We need to get going, Miss,” the older EMT said, but I didn’t bother to look at her. I was focused on the witch.

“Kirsten?” I said again. Her eyelids fluttered, but after a moment her deep-blue eyes found me again. “I know you’re hurting, but I have to ask you something.” She nodded slightly. I looked up at Runa and gave her a look. She understood and began engaging the two EMTs in a question about types of stitches.

I took a deep breath. “There was nobody at that party stronger than you, Kirsten. I’m sure of it. But this whole time we’ve been
looking for a witch
inside
your union. What about the witches in LA who didn’t want to join you? Could a powerful witch be operating in the city without you knowing?”

Kirsten mumbled, “I’d know. Go talk to them. Ask them to join us.” Her last two words slurred together.

I frowned. “But witches have said no before, right? Have you ever been turned down by someone very powerful?”

For a moment, Kirsten’s eyes cleared and her eyebrows furrowed. Then her face relaxed, and her head seemed to sink a little farther into the gurney. “There was someone once. Years ago. But she died. There was an accident. Olivia…” She gasped, and both EMTs’ heads swiveled our way in alarm. Kirsten’s face couldn’t get any paler, but her hand squeezed mine.

I leaned forward so only Kirsten could hear. “Olivia got rid of the body,” I said quietly. Kirsten nodded, a tiny, urgent movement. “Only she didn’t.”

“I should have…I should have…” Her eyelids fluttered again. “Mallory,” she whispered, and her hand relaxed in mine.

“Kirsten? What’s her last name? Where does she live?” But her eyes were closed again.

“Miss,” the driver said firmly. “Come down here. Now.”

When the ambulance sped off with Kirsten and Runa, Jesse turned on me. “Did you know?” he asked in a soft voice. “About Runa?”

“I found out about ten minutes ago,” I said honestly.

“Was she…was she sent? To be with me?”

I sighed. “I think so. But you should really talk to her.” I saw Dashiell’s expensive car pull up to the nearest curb spot, and I nodded at it. “Dashiell’s here.” I held out my hand. “You still have the best parking spot, though. Can I sit in your car until the ambulance gets here?”

He automatically dug in his pocket, still dazed, but froze with his keys in the air. “Swear to me that you won’t try to drive yourself to the hospital,” he demanded.

I nodded. “I swear I won’t drive myself to the hospital. I just want to sit down for a second, Jesse, I promise. But I don’t want to sit on the porch by…the body.” And I didn’t want to sit on the ground, because getting up off of it had not been fun the first time, but I didn’t feel the need to mention that.

He searched my face for a long moment, saw that I meant it, and dropped the keys in my palm. “I’ll meet you at the ER,” he promised.

“Oh, Jesse?”

He raised his eyebrows at me.

I told him about the name Kirsten had remembered. “Mallory,” he said thoughtfully. Then he looked back over his shoulder and sighed. “Let me take care of this first.” He took off toward Dashiell.

I limped toward Jesse’s car, feeling the pain in my back. I opened the passenger door, which was closest to the curb, and sort of fell into the low seat. It was better than the ground, I figured. From that spot I could see Jesse confer briefly with Dashiell, keeping his eyes away from Dashiell’s gaze. I felt a silly burst of pride. He was taking care of himself. Jesse talked to some uniformed officers, who began spreading crime-scene tape around the house’s exterior now that the wounded had been cleared away. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

How had everything gotten so messed up, so quickly? The plan had been for me to go to the party in order to identify Olivia’s witch partner. Instead, Olivia herself had shown up and…shot at Kirsten? The gun itself didn’t surprise me; I could see Olivia carrying one on all her recent missions on the off chance that I might show. But unless I’d completely misjudged the angles, it had really seemed like Olivia was
aiming
at Kirsten, not me, and certainly not Jesse.

Kirsten hadn’t had a picture on the basement wall, though. I had been so sure Olivia’s next move would be to come after someone I loved. Was I completely wrong about Olivia’s plan? Or was
Olivia’s plan just on hold until after the night of the solstice? Maybe they were focused on what this other witch, Mallory, wanted, but if that were the case, why come here and kill Kirsten? To keep her from interfering? That seemed awfully random, given that Kirsten was clearly busy and distracted tonight. She hadn’t exactly been about to pound on Mallory’s door.

I rubbed my face in frustration, feeling the muscles in my back cry out from the movement. Tonight was supposed to be about getting answers, and all I had was more frickin’ questions.

I was distracted by my cell phone, which was vibrating in my pocket. I heard the dim strains of “Werewolves of London.” Will. I dug out the phone, wincing at the pain as I leaned sideways. I felt a flash of guilt. He was probably calling about his truck, which was parked on the street back in front of Molly’s house. I’d kind of forgotten all about it. I held the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Will, listen…” I began, but my voice trailed off as I listened to the unmistakable sounds of glass breaking and screaming. Then Will’s voice came on the line, so suddenly I jumped in my seat. “Scarlett!” he screamed. “Get here now!” There was another crash and then a tangle of words, but I could only make out one.

“
Wolfberry.
”

So I stole a cop’s car. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I didn’t bother to tell Jesse what I was going to do. He would either insist on coming with me, which would be dangerous for him, or insist that I needed to go to the hospital first, which would be dangerous for everyone at Hair of the Dog. And there was no way in hell I wasn’t going. Eli was at the bar, and if it was Will calling instead of him, then Eli had probably ingested the wolfberry.