Chapter 26 — Starring as an FBI agent

I hopped in my Jeep, cranked the key, and the engine started on the first try, thank goodness. I threw on my jacket and beanie while Lana ran to the separated garage and through a side door.

I backed out of the drive and onto the rather quiet road waiting for her. She backed out in an Audi luxury coupe. It was pitch black with deeply tinted windows. Silver rims, trim, and decals. I shook my head, chewing over the woman who was now a part of my life.

I looked at myself, wearing my brown jacket that matched my rust-colored brown Jeep. Both were worn, scarred, and aged if I was being generous about them. The seats in my car had weather lines in the fabric from use and exposure, foam piling visible in some. I’d pulled out the stereo ages ago to deter anyone from trying to rob me since it didn’t work anyway. The floor literally had holes for drainage that you could see the road through. My feet and whoever had owned it before me had worn through the paint at multiple places and on some of the handles exposing shiny metal.

I’d never felt... insufficient in my life, but I did now.

In magical terms, I was a powerhouse for my age. I had been smart, if a little rebellious in foster care and school. However, despite being in the system and often the outcast at school or social gatherings, I never felt less.

Yet right now I did, and I was about to meet Lana’s ex.

I couldn’t see what Lana saw in me and I feared she was making a rushed mistake. As regretful as I was about the change of course this morning, it was for the best. I did not have my life together. I was quick to anger, and despite how long I might live, I’d gone about things with a short-term perspective. Not training or constantly updating the defenses on my shop the way I should. Not taking care of myself the way I should. Her lightning-like effect on my life made me realize I needed to grow up. To heal and recover from things in my past. I needed to dedicate myself to my chosen goals and life more fully if I was truly going to be a force for good in the world like I imagined being. I didn’t like feeling inadequate, and unprepared. But now, alone, for the first time since meeting Lana, I felt it. I wanted to be more for myself and for her.

“Bet you can’t keep up!” She called out the window as she backed up with an impish grin. Her car pulled onto the street ahead of me. Then she blew an amazingly slow kiss in her mirror before slipping away down the lane. And just like that my fears melted away. Lana was energy and excitement bundled together in a small frame. She wanted me despite all the things I felt. Maybe I was more than I gave myself credit for?

I shifted into first and felt like a madman as I tried to keep up at speed around turns Lana’s Audi could easily manage, my vehicle proved much less agile. My jeep could get me into places her car couldn’t fathom. But for driving on a well-paved road, hers was by far the superior ride.

I tried to stay caught up, though I knew where we were going. I hoped she did without a phone for guidance, but she must have. I felt bad about the rush she was under due to breaking her phone. I hoped it didn’t cause any issues at her new job.

I thought on the past few hours as I drove mechanically. Despite everything… I was having fun. It had been years since I felt so excited and alive—if ever. That was due to Lana. She knew my secret and hadn’t run. She could hold her own. She had a past, just like me so it didn’t feel so one-sided. She was confident, capable, intelligent, and beautiful­—And I won’t let her get away— I thought as I pushed for speed as we neared the old highway entrance that led through the mountains.

Lana pulled away quickly from the last stop light and I eagerly tried to catch up. Another car, a grey family van, snuck in between ours despite my best efforts, my cars acceleration not enough to narrow the gap. I growled my frustration as the car in front of me carried on at exactly the speed limit, the road going from four lanes to a two-lane highway a few hundred feet from the last intersection. I saw Lana’s car darting away ahead and could only imagine her laugh as I clearly tried to find an opening to pass the van covered with stick figure sticker children and dogs on its back window.

It took five miles of road, which seemed an eternity, but I eventually passed the van at the first chance the roadway allowed. Then I laid into the gas as much as my old jeep was capable of. The engine hummed and growled as the wind noise picked up. The odometer was more of a suggestion in the old thing, the dial bouncing up and down with each press on the gas but I knew I was going well over the speed limit and near its max speed.

I shivered, wishing I’d worn another shirt or two under my jacket. I’d gone two years without doors on the jeep but now that I might be driving someone else around, someone used to the warm interior of an Audi no less, I needed to invest in them. If simply so we could talk and stay warm. I reached into my bag and pulled out gloves. Lana’s car came into view as I entered a long straight stretch of road. She hadn’t pulled too far ahead. I caught up, clearly because she’d wanted me to so we could arrive at the same time. We were still speeding but at a less aggressive pace.

The grassland sloping foothills slowly turned into pine forest as we approached Idaho city, a quaint town nestled in the woods. She slowed and took a few turns to stop at the ranger station. I pulled in and watched as she hopped out and waved for me to wait while she ran inside.

In only a few minutes she came out with a radio and a few other supplies and took one of the ranger official trucks left in the lot. Then I followed her again as we went straight to the Sugar Loaf Inn.

It looked different from when I’d seen it before, the building looked hollow and old… forlorn. Orange cones blocked off the turn-in, not enough to stop us but enough to let others know the gas pumps were closed. Two black sedans were parked in the middle of the lot, ignoring the rough spray-painted parking lines on the gravel. There were also three ranger vehicles and one Boise police department vehicle.

Lana pulled her car to a stop and jumped out, running towards me.

“Hang out here. I’ll go check the scene and see what we can do. Are you alright talking to my friend?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m here and I have nothing to hide.”

“I’ll try to feel out how much they think you’re responsible for before letting them know you’re here. Just wait in your car.”

I nodded and planned on doing just that. It was cold at this elevation, but I was more than used to it. Still, I fortified my mental defenses which could help me ignore things like cold and would train my ‘tier two body’, it was good meditation practice. Tiers were significant jumps, but it would take much more for me to be anything like a superhero. Strength, speed, and a resilient body were the dream of any wizard facing the supernatural. Not being killed in a single hit from a vastly more powerful creature was always a big plus.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lana nodded to two park rangers who stood by the inn looking towards my jeep. She said something to them, and they both nodded, remaining at their posts rather than coming to annoy me for which I was grateful.

I waited ten minutes, then bored I pulled out my identification glasses and assessed them carefully behind the dash. I’d worked small runes and spell patterns along the inner bands. It was fine work; work I was less used to doing since most defensive runes and workings in my shop could be as large as I wanted. While I was proud of what I had wrought, I’d already brainstormed a few changes I could do to make them more powerful and increase their effectiveness. I hadn’t read about or seen anything like them in my brief time at the Tribunal headquarters or inside the books I had access to. That didn’t mean nothing similar existed, but I felt fairly confident that they were unique.

As it turned out, I had plenty of time to work, it took forty-five minutes before Lana exited with another man and they were clearly heading to my jeep. The guy with her was tall, broad-shouldered, with blond hair and looked like he should be in an action film starring as an FBI agent, rather than the real deal. And that was coming from me, who didn’t watch TV. I’d dreamed up a few modifications for the glasses, and tinkered with them to see if I could improve their effectiveness, but there was only so much I could do away from my shop. I’d also been too far away to assess the personnel stationed around the inn.

As the pair approached, I saw the man, who was likely Lana’s ex, had pearl white teeth, brilliant light blue eyes; and was annoyingly laughing as he told Lana something funny. His chiseled jawline and large physique wouldn’t look out of place on a marble statue. I decided I didn’t like him at all.

Lana approached my would-be door, “Cal, this is Chris. He’s my contact in the FBI and fortunately for us he’s overseeing this case.”

“Hi,” Chris said, offering a hand. I took it and the guy tried to crush my hand in his. It was annoying and I met his pressure to protect my hand before he released, a trick Rex had taught me with his own annoying hand squeeze. I stepped out of the jeep, not wanting to feel trapped.

I was taller than Chris, but not by much.

I slipped my glasses on and took a long look at him, my ambient aura drawing in power and the contact with my skin enough to activate the glasses.

IDENTIFICATION ACTIVATED

Mana core: Not detected

Quality: Not detected

Power value: Base

Fortitude: Base

Body: Base

Being: Unknown

The information gathered still wasn’t perfect, but it did work better on a vanilla human than it had other targets. They hadn’t detected a core, and his power, fortitude, and base were all at the ‘base’ level of a human which I’d calibrated the glasses for. Theoretically, if a creature was stronger than normal but did not have a monster core I could still spot them. I was relieved to know this Chris wasn’t some fae, vampire, or hidden god among men.

Lana continued as I slipped off my glasses. “Chris would like to talk to you, he said that Kate gave the police almost enough information to rule you out as a suspect. There are factors which complicate the scene, and they are unsure if it’s due to the other attacks being in the forest or something new.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Phillis was a wonderful woman. She didn’t deserve anything like this, I’d be more than happy to help.”

“You seem to have grabbed Lana’s attention.” Chris said casually, “I’m curious to see if you can help us with the case as she seems to think. She said you’d cooperate?” The last was a true question, Chris eyeing me carefully. I could read his eyes as they searched me for visible signs of weapons and more, they judged me and found me wanting.

Lana nodded, missing or ignoring Chris’s demeanor, “I told Chris that you would be a good outside source on this—as a private investigator.”

I nodded, seeing she’d provided me some cover for my desire to be involved. I’d thought about getting a license to be a private investigator, given the things I regularly chased and the crime scenes I frequented, but my shop was more my style. Fren was also more than capable of helping me find threats to hunt rather than having clients coming in paying me to do the same. Unfortunately, ‘local shop owner’ didn’t hold a lot of weight in an environment like this.

“Let’s get started. Follow me Cal,” Chris said, turning sharply and walking back towards the inn. His shiny black dress shoes which matched his black suit pants were already growing dusted white from the gravel parking lot.

Lana stepped close, her hands going to my face to rest on each of my cheeks in a very familial way. It drew my full attention to her. Her hands were warm from being inside the building compared to my cold skin. I grinned as I looked down into her eyes, strangely annoyed Chris couldn’t see the sign of affection from her. “He’s seen things too,” Lana said, letting her hands drop to my chest once she knew she had my focus. “I told him that you were familiar with paranormal things. His dad and my dad were studying stuff like that before my dad passed. It’s how we met.”

I nodded. I didn’t really like someone from the FBI knowing that I knew things, but I trusted Lana. She knew Chris and I’d follow her judgement… for now. “I can play nice.” I managed gruffly.

“Especially if it keeps you out of prison.”

“Especially if it does that.” I agreed with a little more poise. I gave her a last smile and jogged to catch up to Chris who was waiting closer to the inn.

“I’ll need to take a statement from you,” he said. “To answer some questions about yesterday morning. It will make everything official and on record.” He’d turned and watched us. His tone was a little sharper than before. I thought it might be because he realized Lana and I might be more than friends given our close stance.

“Fine,” I said, happier than I’d felt a moment before. “Where?”

“Let’s go to the room you stayed in,” he said. “DNA from your room is being tested, so sitting in there again won’t complicate things unnecessarily.”

DNA testing the room seemed like a waste. There had to have been hundreds of people through that room this season alone, and I doubt it got cleaned well enough to remove all traces of each. Then again, I didn’t know a lot about forensics other than what books stated which were generally more outdated and not always correct, perhaps they could glean useful information from a busy place like that. The three of us walked towards the room. Chris pulled open the door which was unlocked, then he turned, raising a hand to bar Lana from going inside, “Lana you need to stay here. This is an investigation, and I need to interrogate a possible witness.” The last was said with doubt as if my status was very uncertain in that regard.

Her eyes narrowed, but she followed the order. I gave her a smile letting her know I’d be fine alone and rested a hand on her shoulder. But I decided to push the boundary with the FBI agent to see how Chris would react.

“I’d be more than willing to let her in to listen. Another witness for you couldn’t hurt given the nature of these things. I’ve heard you know Lana well. She wouldn’t get in the way.”

Chris’s jaw muscles bulged as he bit down, “No.”

I shrugged, “It’s up to you, big man.” I stepped through the door and into the room.

Chris shut and locked the door behind me. The bolt loud enough Lana would have heard it clearly. Then the FBI agent gestured to the small table with two chairs which sat by the front window. It was small enough that it might be able to hold two Styrofoam take-out meals, if those eating were willing to share the cramped space. Generally, that wouldn’t have been daunting to me, but this guy had been her boyfriend soon after she lost her dad. I didn’t know the full story of how that had ended, and I got the feeling Chris wasn’t done chasing her. I could dislike that, but I couldn’t blame him, Lana was incredible.

Chris carefully set out a small recording device on the empty table. I grinned, knowing it wouldn’t be working five minutes from now. Despite the control I was exerting to keep my aura contained… I was uneasy. I felt trapped, and my mind was all over the place with thoughts of Lana and the events of the past few days. The daemon had found me in this place, and the cramped, smelly room put me on edge. Nevertheless, I had control, I could lock up my aura more tightly but the creature that had killed Phillis might be near and Lana was alone outside with mundane officers that wouldn’t be much help. Given that, I wouldn’t limit or block my senses. Interview or no.

“Let’s get started,” Chris said his demeanor changing now that Lana was safely locked outside. His eyes locked unwaveringly onto mine as if they alone could unearth all my secrets.