Chapter 12 — A bit of History

I swore under my breath which made Darron smile. He had thinning light brown hair, a ruddy complexion. He was big and nearly as tall as I was, but where I was built more like a basketball player, he was more of a lineman or a gorilla with a bad attitude. He wore a blue shirt with a metal badge attached to one of the pockets. His hips were loaded down with a belt which displayed handcuffs on one side and his firearm on the other. We’d crossed paths before. He had suspicions about me and what I did that were far too close to the truth. Worse, he’d arrested me about a year and a half ago when I’d been trying to stop a creature in downtown Boise.

“Darron, not a good night,” I said in a rush as Lana made her way around to see who it was, slowing as she saw the man in uniform.

Darron looked past me at her, and an evil glint filled his eyes. His smirk grew until, it was a predatory smile, twisting his goatee to one side.

“Sorry to intrude,” he said, his bearing showing that intruding was actually the least of his concerns, “But you are a person of interest in a crime that occurred earlier this morning.”

“A crime?” I said, not feigning my surprise and confusion.

“At the Sugar Loaf Inn. I need to ask you a few questions. Will you let me in?”

“I…um,” I said, knowing I couldn’t resist him, not without looking guilty to Lana. But I also didn’t want Darron in my shop, poking around. He would drag this out, making me sound guilty in front of Lana no matter what had happened. If he had to stand out in the cold, he might leave more quickly, which was my preference.

“It’s alright.” Lana said, sitting the rocks she’d gathered on the counter, “I’ll go.” I felt a pang of regret as she sat down her found treasures. The joyfulness of the evening popped like a balloon before the party had even begun.

Officer dick face sneered at me, then in a more consoling tone to Lana said, “You really should Miss, I can’t guarantee your safety with him.”

“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding,” I said to Lana, raising both my arms. “Officer Vance and I can figure this out in a moment. If it was really that serious, he wouldn’t have come alone.” I said, hoping to save some face. Darron couldn’t have come at a worse time, and he could sense it.

“Oh, I’m not alone. I sent the rookie out back behind your shop in case you decided to make a run for it like—"

“—Well, here I am, completely not running,” I said shrugging and holding my hands out. “And not guilty. Lana, your fine to stay or go. I’m sure this won’t take long, and I can assure you I’m not a criminal.”

“Allegedly,” Darron said shifting into a wide stance with his chest and badged puffed out, his hand now resting on his holstered pistol.

“We have a bit of a history,” I said, frustration staining my words as I ran a hand through my hair. “He’s making whatever he’s here about more of a big deal just because you’re here.” I said to her, “Plus, even if I was a criminal, we both know you could handle me easily.”

Lana was making as if to leave when Darron made his first mistake, “Ah admitting a girl could beat you Cal? I knew you were weak.” Darron wasn’t looking at Lana, his focus was all on me as he sneered. But I saw the change. Lana paused, contemplating for the briefest moment before setting her jaw and pausing her flight. She positioned herself off to the side, her stance as if she was setting up for a fight.

“You have a problem with women?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

Darron turned, I thought he might have realized he had crossed a line, based on her change of demeanor. But he was an idiot, so who knew.

“No. It’s just the opposite. They can’t cause the same kind of trouble that a man can and you may not be safe here alone with Cal, not with what he’s implicated in this time, and in his past.” He said the end in a rush before another officer, the Rookie, made his way up to the front door. Darren clearly didn’t realize that those words could also be taken as an insult. I saw as Lana clearly took the measure and found him lacking.

“Hello officer…?” I prompted to the new man. He was lean, and perhaps had some Indian heritage but it was hard to tell other than his long black hair and subtle facial signs but I could have easily been wrong. He moved with youthful energy and stood near the door but maintained a noticeable distance between himself and officer Vance. That could have been due to training, or him not liking Vance, or Vance smelling something awful. I considered the last the most likely.

“Lansing, Officer Lansing. I take it Officer Vance has already informed you as to why we are here?”

“He did, that and insulted my company tonight. I think he owes her an apology,” I was pissed at Darron’s treatment of Lana, but glad she could see the kind of man he was. It might give me some room to explain myself later, so she simply didn’t run away.

Officer Lansing surveyed each of us and the room beyond the open door, reading the situation better than I would have given a new officer credit for, or maybe he’d seen what Officer Vance was really like and knew my statement was probably true.

“Maybe I can take over, being new and all?” He said, turning to Officer Vance. “It would give me practice on managing a situation like this?”

Vance gesticulated with a chin thrust for Lansing to continue, stepping back from Lana and I while flexing his gun hand twice as if in reading his fingers for a quick draw before resting them on his pistol again.

I grit my teeth. I wouldn’t allow anything more than idle threats from Officer Vance and had the power to stop anything he tried if needed. Bullets weren’t that hard to negate with magic and I sure as heck knew I could muster up a ward faster than he could draw. Fren was also really into composting. Hiding a body wouldn’t be that hard, Fren had hidden much worse monsters down in the basement, using their bodies to spring new life from his plants. I took a deep breath to clear my mind. I wasn’t a murderer. I’d never killed a human and doing so by magic was forbidden, but Vance…. I grit my teeth, closed my eyes for a moment, and took another deep breath. For Vance it was almost worth running afoul of the Tribunal.

Vance was a despicably misogynistic man, the kind that tarnished entire organizations. The other Boise officers I’d met were great by far and large, but just like with anything else, there were those drawn to power who abused it.

“Where were you at 6:20 this morning,” Officer Lansing asked, pulling out a small notebook, his tone dismissing everything that had happened so far as irrelevant.

“I’m not sure of the exact time,” I said. “I don’t wear a clock or carry a phone. But I was either asleep in my bed at the Sugar Loaf Inn, or I was driving home.”

“You stayed at the Inn last night? Which room were you in?”

“Yes, for the past two nights, but I’m sure you already knew that. I was in room number five, again something you probably know. It was the last room at the far end of the motel.”

“There was a note in the inn’s logbook showing that they switched another expected guest to a different room, so that you could have that specific one.” Officer Lansing said, “Is there a reason why? And what transpired this morning before you left?” He watched my face and body as I answered, looking for any clue that I was lying, but his hand moved smoothly over his notepad as he recorded my statement. If I was more of a suspect, he would have had a recording device, but I didn’t see one on him and it didn’t look like they were going to haul me down to the station. That made me relax a little, then again, maybe that was the point of doing it like this. I knew I could probably decline to answer until I had a lawyer. It might be the smarter thing to do, Officer Vance had seemed to think I was central to this investigation in some way. But that would make me look guilty and I had nothing to hide.

“I asked for that room because it’s the furthest one off on its own. I don’t like to be disturbed and having other guests on all sides could wake me up. It’s also a gas station and I wanted to be further from the pumps. As for this morning, not much happened. I woke up. I hadn’t sleep well, so I decided to check out early rather than stay another day. I talked to Phillis, the owner, gave her my room key. Then left. I drove straight here to my shop.”

“Can someone vouch for when you arrived at your shop, or did you see the time in your car?”

“I drive an old CJ-5. The radio was gutted or stolen years before I bought it, along with any clock it might have had.”

“You really never looked at the time?” Officer Vance asked with a sneer.

“That’s the way I live my life, time free. It’s a unique perspective.” I gestured to the walls in the shop, none of which held a clock.

Lansing looked around the room, spotting no cameras, no clocks, and no electronics whatsoever beside the old iron-encased coffee machine and the brass relic of a till. Both of which looked old enough they made a statement in and of themselves. “Alright,” Officer Lansing said, brow furrowed, “No exact time of return.”

“He’s a freak, He’s—”

I cut Vance off, “­—When I got in, my business partner,” I felt like congratulating myself on getting it right this time, “was here. She might know the exact time and can at least vouch for me arriving early. You could ask her for any details you need about my arrival.”

“We will need her contact information,” The rookie said.

I rattled off her address and phone number. I could tell the others were somewhat impressed but that was the thing. Everyone used to have to memorize phone numbers and addresses, so it wasn’t a big deal. Now it was an abnormality because everyone else used phones rather than training their brains. It made me more irritated. I wondered what Lana was thinking.

Lana had grown quiet, but seemed content to wait and watch.

“Can I ask why I’m a person of interest?” I asked, hoping to clear my name directly in her eyes.

The two officers looked at each other but Vance was the one who answered.

“There was a murder at the Sugar Loaf Inn. You were the only one that we know of who left early in the morning. A witness saw your Jeep driving off—rather fast­ I might add—from the crime scene.”

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“Talk to Phillis, she saw me, and I had no time to murder anyone between when we talked, and I left.”

“She’s the one who’s dead,” Officer Vance said with an accusatory glare.

The news came as a punch to my gut. I broke out in a sweat, and I had to focus to keep my magical energies under control. Phillis had been a genuinely kind person. She’d been excited to go see her granddaughters school play in Ketchum next week. She’d been polite and helpful, especially when I’d requested a certain room. She and her husband had bought and ran the inn and gas station for literal decades. I’d never met her husband. He’d been in Alaska on a fishing trip the entire time I was at the inn, but I’d heard stories, and it seemed like they had a genuinely good life together.

“What?” I asked, lost for words. “But she was fine. She… Damn,” I trailed off. My expression must have looked genuine enough that it set off Darron.

“Don’t feign innocence,” he yelled, pointing a finger at me like a dagger. I was glad he hadn’t tried it with his gun. “I know the type of things you’re involved with. Strange disappearances, the paranormal, black magic. You hide it all with this new age shit,” he gestured to my store, “but I’ve seen you.” His last utterance sent spittle flying to stain his upper lip as he vehemently disparaged me.

Lana gave me a side-eye. I didn’t know what to say to rectify things, Officer Vance had seen the real me. I’d been frantically hunting a changeling creature in the city. There had been three missing children and with Fren’s help I’d been on the hunt for the supernatural creature who had been responsible. I hadn’t been able to trust anyone. Officer Vance had found me beating a man I suspected of being the creature in a parking garage. I’d had good cause, but I’d been wrong about the guy and ended up catching the true creature later. The guy had been a thug, pedophile, and possible human trafficker, so he deserved far worse than I gave him. I had trapped the man in a ritual circle which of necessity had been made of blood. My blood, because I wasn’t going to hurt anything else to get it. My vigilantism hadn’t gone over well when Officer Vance had arrived on the scene.

The trap I’d constructed would take away a changeling creature’s ability to transform for a time, which I’d needed in order to stop it. But finding me beating a guy in a parking garage by his car in a circle made of my own blood gave Vance good reasons to distrust me. I was clearly deeper into the occult than what I presented to the general world, and he knew it.

The problem was, I was one of the good guys.

Vance had locked me up, but the other guy had decided not to press charges given what I knew about him, and he thought that would stop me from revealing why I thought he was the true criminal. I hadn’t been prosecuted. Still, it had permanently put me on Darron Vance’s bad side. I was the fish that got away. I’d still arranged for the right information to make it to the right people and the thug had been arrested a few days later and last I heard was spending a long time in prison.

Actual monsters residing in Boise were generally smart, efficient, and well-hidden. I’d found a few, but knew it was the outcasts. Those leading things here and seemingly in most cities, set firm rules to avoid discovery. I’d initially thought starting in a smaller city like this would be a safe place to stop crime, grow my skills, and work on magic, essentially to do some good in the world in a place I wouldn’t be outclassed rather than watch it pass me by. I’d only been partially correct.

Creatures of the night, the fae, and other supernatural groups were present threats even here. They just hid their tracks better. Missing persons, deaths, and injuries all covered under other guises.

Travelers were targeted along with others who wouldn’t be missed. I’d found urban areas attracted sinister, smart beings, who killed with no overt bloodshed that would alert the local authorities. It was probably true in most places.

I grit my teeth, mad that I couldn’t fix it all, not even in my own city I’d grown to love. Not even when the victim was someone I’d met like Phillis. “It wasn’t me. But I want to know what you found, maybe I can help find the actual culprit?” I looked Officer Vance in the eyes and tried to convey my intent, my voice as calm as I could manage. “She was a good woman. Perhaps we can piece what we each know together and figure out what happened, I’m willing to share anything that might be of use.”

The rookie looked to Vance.

“No. I’m not going to give you the chance to come up with a cover story,” Darron said. “You’re far too cunning.”

“That’s almost a compliment, coming from you.”

“You’re going to hang for this,” Vance said, losing his cool and stepping towards me aggressively. “If you know more, you should tell us now or confess and make it easy.”

“What about innocent until proven guilty,” I asked, eyes narrowing. We now stood near inches from each other, close enough I could pick up on his stale body odor.

“You’re our only lead. The only person who could have done it. When forensics get back you will pay for this. I know it was you. Phillis’s husband was out of town, and they had a happy marriage. No reason for foul play.” He said the last like it was full-proof evidence that it could only have been me.

Officer Lansing reached out and put his palm on Vance’s chest, slowly pushing the man back from me and the open door. In a much more relaxed voice he gave me a few more details, “There was only one other room in use and those tenants were still there. They found the crime scene a little after you left.”

“It’s a gas station in the mountains. It could have been anyone,” Then an idea struck me, “There should be cameras? You could check them; they were all over the pumps and there was one right inside the front door.”

Officer Vance let out a bitter laugh, “You would point out the cameras, knowing full well you broke them.”

“What?”

“The drives were corrupted. Half the cameras don’t even power on anymore. Every light in the gas station is broken as well as all the fridges. The victim’s husband assures us they were all working before he left, and that Phillis would have told him if that had changed.”

I wanted to curse. I’d stayed at the inn too long. The wards to shield my dreams might have been enough to do in the electronics in my room, given my nightmare it could have damaged them in a few others. However, as they had established, my room was the furthest from the front desk and pumps I could get. My deleterious magical effects on tech shouldn’t have reached so far. If they had, the lights and electronics in the gas station would have all been burned out too, which they hadn’t been when I left.

“And that implicates me how?”

“The alarm, TV, hell, even the smoke detector in the room you checked out of don’t work anymore. It’s not a big leap to see you don’t like electronics and are good with tampering with them.”

“Did they show signs of tampering?”

“No,” The rookie said, jumping in to stall the tension. “If they had, we would be having a different conversation right now. But Officer Vance is correct, you are a person of interest. We’re here to notify you not to leave town until our investigation is over.”

Lana had moved closer and was leaning against the nearby wall, watching the events transpire. I saw her eyes pass over me and wondered what she was thinking. Given her drawn-in stature, crossed arms, and narrow lips, my odds of ever going on a date with her had probably hit rock bottom. No sane woman wanted to risk dating a killer, innocent until proven guilty be damned. It was too much of a risk and I totally understood it.

Officer Lansing continued, with a sigh, looking at Lana and seeing what I had. His next words surprised me, “I’m going to tell you both more than we should, given the situation.” Vance turned angrily towards him, but the other officer ignored him. “There were no signs of tampering with any of the electronics in the store. The initial coroner report also made it look like the murder happened after the time you were seen leaving. The sole witness was reading in her room with the window open. She saw you leave, but no other cars came in or out that she noticed—but she wasn’t paying particular attention for it. Given you were the only one there we’d have arrested you already, but the event resembled other deaths which have occurred in the forest. The ones that have been all over the news.”

I nodded, it had been the creature or thing I’d been hunting. Magic was involved if everything in the gas station was broken.

“At one of those other attacks, someone matching your description Cal was reported as staying at a nearby bed and breakfast in Ketchum,” Vance suggested, undercutting his rookies attempts at saving my date and providing us with more information.

Shit. I thought frowning. I’d been casually searching for vague threats Fren had heard about from the woods, but I’d been more casual about it until the news began saying it was an animal attack. I had been trying to think like a fae, as one of those creatures was the most likely culprit. That put me near some of the initial missing persons. I used cash, but I wasn’t exactly a forgettable person if anyone spent time around me. I was tall, had a few distinctive scars, and was reasonably fit. I also wasn’t the best at laying low and my inherent power made me stand out to sensitive and intuitive people. I’d been trying to guess where the creature was roving in order to capture it and now that implicated me in the murders.

Vance had also let something else slip. He’d said attack rather than murder. The previous attacks had been chalked up to a rabid bear, cougar, or wolf by the news. If the death at the Sugar Loaf Inn resembled an animal attack they were only looking into other possibilities because they had no good answers. I was simply a suspect of convenience, not necessarily due to the evidence. The timing didn’t match, I knew because I’d arrived after the group went missing near Ketchum. Still being a suspect or tailed by someone undercover would hamper my own efforts to stop this thing.

I might be their only lead.

I didn’t like that.

“Thank you,” I told Officer Lansing. “I know you didn’t have to tell us that, and for my sake and Lana’s I’m thankful for it. I’m not a criminal. But I am willing to help in any way I can. I was in Ketchum because I like to hike and be in the outdoors. I have nothing to hide. It’s no surprise I’d be near events if they were happening in the forest, I go out every few weeks. I know most of the inn owners by name, at least this side of the Sawtooth’s.

“I only said so much…” Officer Lansing said, looking towards Officer Vance, “because were trying to figure this out. For now, I believe you, but stay in town. We may have further questions.” His expression with a side glance at Officer Vance, signaled another unspoken reason. It was because he thought Vance was being a dick and that I deserved some context as to why, and probably because Lana had witnessed it all and he felt bad.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked.

“Let us search the premises,” Darron said, loudly butting in. “I’m sure we won’t find anything tied to the occult or witchcraft, and we could clear your name. A guy like you wouldn’t have knives or weapons that could be used to resemble an animal attack. It would be for your own good and we could clear you right now. Just like the last time we met; everything was perfectly normal.” Officer Vance tilted his head up, as if considering deeply, then he gave me a wicked grin. With a glance at Lana to ensure she was listening in. “What was it? Oh yeah, you were beating a guy half to death in a demonic summoning rite, drawn out in your own blood­—Completely normal stuff.” He said the last words while shrugging his shoulders.

Officer Lansing and Lana both regarded me with different expressions. Lana’s wide eyes met mine, and her expression could only be taken as surprise or shock. I clenched my fists and weighed if the charges they would bring up against me for punching Darron might be worth it. But no, I really didn’t want to give them a reason to go through my stuff. I had some very… rare ingredients downstairs and I wasn’t sure if they were all strictly legal. Much less Fren’s personal garden being disturbed. Nothing was as directly damning as what Darron had seen last time, but still, I didn’t want to explain away my secrets all night.

“I have nothing to hide… but I’m going to have to insist you get a warrant. If you hadn’t come in here like a jack ahh—like your loveable self­—” I amended, “then maybe. But if I’m a suspect you’re going to need a warrant.”

“Guilty as anyone I’ve ever met,” Vance said, spitting on the brickwork of my shop off the main steps, “I’m sure you’ve dropped bodies in your past. I’ll—”

“—Let’s leave, before we threaten a civilian who can push charges against us and the department,” Officer Lansing said, gesturing to Lana and myself. Clearly indicating that I had a witness present, and Officer Vance was clearly stepping over lines. “We will be in touch Cal. Don’t leave town.”

The officers left and as the door clicked mostly shut, catching on the edge of a rug jostled in our conversation. My shoulders slumped as I let out a long breath, “I’m sorry you had to witness that. Officer Vance and I have a past.”

“That was clear,” Lana said, voice firm and reserved. I noticed she looked relaxed, but she was also keeping some distance between us.

“Look. If you want to leave and forget you ever met me, I get it. I can make sure I go to different classes at Rex’s and the world will keep spinning.”

“Oh no. I’m not running,” Lana said.

I raised a brow and truly looked at her. I saw now that her focused gaze was more intrigued than terrified, shocked, or skeptical. I could tell she had more questions and wanted information.

“Okay,” I said. “I’d be lying If I said I wasn’t glad to hear it. Do you have any questions?”

Her eyes seemed to see through me, “My dad… he was a bit… unconventional. He had me training in fighting styles from the age I started walking. My mom died when I was eight. Cancer.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, curious about the non sequitur.

“Shh,” She shushed me. “I’m not trying to tell you a sob story to get sympathy. I get too much of that as it is. I’m trying to explain why I’m not leaving. Going would objectively be the sane thing to do, but I’m not sure I am sane. And you need to know why I’m still here. Then I have questions for you.” Her eyes met mine, her voice firm, “And you will answer them.”