Jeremy stuck around after the show, watching the Marvelous Mr. Hudson finish up his act. The finale was a show of fire-breathing and levitation, with the titular Hudson looking like he might pass out from the strain. As the final applause sounded and the curtains drew closed, Jeremy flagged down someone who looked like library staff.
"Excuse me."
"May I help you?"
Oh thank God, she doesn't recognize me from TV. "I'm interested in interviewing Mr. Hudson for a light story, and I was wondering if you could let him know for me."
The staffer brightened up considerably. "Oh, certainly! I'll make sure he hears before he leaves."
"I'd be happy to talk to him myself. I wouldn't want to trouble you."
She frowned. "Oh, all right. Just head up through the side door by the stage there. It's not a big place, you should be able to find him."
"Thanks."
Finding the kid wasn't the problem, as it turned out. As soon as Jeremy came around the corner to the backstage, there he was — still sitting on the stool from his finale, munching through an energy bar and wiping sweat from his brow. As soon as he looked up — deer in motherfuckin' headlights.
Jeremy started to raise his hands, but it didn't make a difference. Hudson bolted. The stool went flying. Goddammit.
He took off after the kid, but Hudson still had some tricks left apparently. The fog bank from the opener swirled back in, as thick as ever. Jeremy had seen enough of the room to remember where the back exit was, and he doubted the kid would have the presence of mind to stay put and hide.
As they both emerged out into the sunlight behind the library, Jeremy leapt. He tackled Hudson to the grass.
"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't— They approached me— Please don't hurt me."
Oh man, he's really just a kid. "I'm not gonna hurt you, kid," Jeremy growled. "If I let you up, you'll stay put?"
Hudson nodded frantically. "Right here."
Jeremy sat back against the wall. "Should've hid in the fog."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind." Jeremy paused. "What d'you mean they approached you?"
"I… wait, you don't know?"
"Know what?"
Hudson shook his head. "Nothing."
"Kid, do you know who I am?"
"...Agent Jeremy Ashe, right?"
"Good. So I'm a federal fuckin' agent. Which means lying to me is a very bad idea."
He gulped audibly. "Breaking my promise is a really bad idea too."
Jeremy shook his head. "You had one of them in your crowd today. He was scopin' you out."
"One of who?"
"You hear about the shit that went down at the bar last week? Hostage situation?"
Hudson nodded slowly.
"Fuck me, you knew about that and you still put on a damn magic show?"
"The show must go on," he said, with a hint of flair.
Fuckin' looney theater kids. "Well Mr. Wizard, if you don't want to end up on a slab, your best bet is to start cooperatin'. I'm the best friend you got right now."
Hudson really looked scared now. Good for him, he's learning quick. "What am I supposed to do?"
Jeremy pulled out the stone from his pocket. "First, tell me what the fuck this is."
"A rock?"
"No shit it's a rock. Here—" Jeremy dropped it into his hand. "What's it doing?"
His eyes widened. "Where did you get this?"
"Stole it from the guy who was doin' recon today." Jeremy
"It's… well I don't know what it is. But someone made it. With magic."
"Yeah, I got that," Jeremy growled, getting impatient. "What does it do?"
"...I don't know. This stuff is way beyond me. I'm still learning."
"Shit, you can just learn this stuff?"
"Err, no, not really. I mean, even if I did learn it, this is way outside my affinity. I could never make this thing."
"Your what now?"
"The magic I'm good at. Everyone's got one, and some really lucky people got two. This stone does something with Knowledge magic, and whoever made it was also really good with Creation magic. Those are like… the two hardest out there."
Jeremy tried to keep up, though half of what Hudson just said sounded insane. "So it's somethin' to find out stuff. Like whether or not you've got magic, so the guy can kill you. Sound right?"
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Hudson stiffened up. "...You really think he would have… killed me?"
"Wouldn't be the first time, either." Jeremy stood up, offering the kid a hand. At some point I just started talkin' about magic like it was totally normal. Shit, what happened to my life? "I'm on your side, kid. And not just in the usual 'tryin' to keep you alive' kind. I'm a… friend of Hailey Winscombe's." Friend might be pushin' it but whatever works.
Hudson nodded. "She said you were probably worth talking to. But no one had come up with a good plan yet, so we were supposed to avoid you."
"How many is we?"
"...I don't think I'm supposed to say." He looked pretty resolute. Jeremy doubted he could intimidate him into a real answer, not without actually hurting the kid.
And he's not gonna give me anything else about magic either. These guys run a tight ship. Jeremy shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Just tell me how I can get in contact with her again. She's not answerin' her phone."
"I… I don't know. She hasn't been talking to anyone for a while, as far as I know. I think she got shook up pretty bad last week."
Jeremy sighed. "...Yeah, I don't blame her. But seriously, kid. Anything you can give me. This is important."
"Jonathan. My name's Jonathan."
Are you fuckin' with me right now... "Jonathan," he drawled. "We're fightin' on the same team here, and in case you forgot, you just became a marked fuckin' man. I couldn't stop that guy from IDin' you. You're next on the list."
Hudon's eyes widened. "But… you stole his… I don't…"
"He's not alone, and I doubt this is the only stone they got. Even if it was, he knows what you can do, and his people want your people dead. They didn't give me a second fuckin' glance."
"I don't know anything!"
Jeremy sighed. "You talk to them somehow."
"I can't give you that."
"Kid, now you're flip-flopping in the same goddamn breath. You just said you didn't know anything."
"I'm sorry. I'm scared, okay? You just told me there's a bunch of guys out there who want to kill me."
"There's a lot out there who'd love to kill me too. You get used to it." Jeremy put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm on your side. Anything you can give me."
He hesitated a long time. "...Hailey's got a partner. Someone else goes with her to introductions."
"Yeah, no shit, I met him. Zack, right?" Jeremy had done a few searches, and Lani a few more, but neither of them came up with anything.
"...s'not his real name," he mumbled.
"What?"
Hudson took a deep breath. "His real name's Alden Bensen. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Hailey, he does."
----------------------------------------
"What took you so long?" Lani asked, leaning up in his bed.
"I had to visit the library."
"You went to the library?"
Jeremy glowered at him. "I read books, thanks. When I feel like it."
"I've never seen you with a single book."
"Because I've got a fuckin' smartphone."
Jeremy sat down in the chair next to Lani's bed. There were files scattered everywhere, and two laptops in reach with even more work. Lani wasn't letting his injury slow him down in the slightest, even if he did have to do a lot of it mostly one-armed.
"So what was at the library?"
"A cheap amateur magician with a really interesting story to tell." Jeremy glanced over the screens. "You go first though, before this mountain collapses and I gotta clean it up again."
"Well, after we ran out out footage to re-check and did all the background checks and family checks again, I decided I might try alternative sources. New social media."
"New like what?"
"Livestreaming sites. Geo-tagged videos from anyone in the area on May 15th."
"You really think we're that fuckin' lucky?"
Lani grinned. "We are that lucky. I had to get the company to pull it off a deleted account. Nathan Hurst."
"Dead in Rallsburg."
"Yeah, that Nathan. But here's the thing: those videos were deleted on the 18th, and his account was deleted a few days ago. Both by his own request."
"From a dead guy. Who we confirmed dead."
"Right. So the data hadn't been overwritten on the drives yet. I picked it up on an archive check, called them up and waved my badge around. Figuratively."
"What's on it?"
"Well they just emailed it this morning, and I figured you'd want to see it too."
"You waited for me?"
"...Yeah."
Jeremy shook his head. "Lani, you're a good friend and a good partner, but don't fuckin' wait for me when you're sittin' on new evidence. Follow that shit."
"...Right."
"Well, go on, play it."
They watched the two videos together, watched the riot unfold in the forest. Gunshots and fireballs, bursts of water and men flying through the air from devastating punches. The finale, with the man who seemed to evaporate into the air, and the tall girl — Rachel DuValle, one of the missing whose family they'd never been able to contact — striding out of the forest behind a girl seated on the back of a wolf.
"Jesus Christ…" Jeremy murmured.
"Dated May 14th," Lani added in a subdued voice. "And the later one is the 15th. This is what happened."
"Mostly," he pointed out. "The town looks pretty intact in that one. And we still have fuck all on who."
"Or why."
Jeremy shook his head. "I've got the why."
"Is this why you went to the library?"
"These kids have got magic, Lani. Real fuckin' magic. And someone else out there wants to kill 'em for it."
Lani stared at him for a few seconds blankly. "Magic."
"I know it sounds fuckin' crazy."
"No, it sounds like something I'd say. Not you." Lani shrugged. "So if you're saying it, I believe you." He pulled one laptop tray closer to him. "Who have you told?"
"Maddie."
"Anyone else?"
"No. You heard what they did to all the cops who testified about the golems?"
Lani nodded. "Full psych eval and suspended with pay."
"I ain't got time for that shit."
"So what's our next move?"
"Our?"
"What, did you think I was going to go back to normal old desk work?" Lani shook his head. "I'm in this too. They shot me."
Jeremy rolled back the second video to the brief clip where Hailey ran by. "That's Hailey Winscombe. I don't know the blue-haired girl, but the guy is Alden Bensen."
"...So he lied."
"What?"
Lani scrolled through a few screens to a scanned-in form. "We checked with the train station, and there were four tickets sold to Rallsburg on May 11th on the last train. The train doesn't ask for ID, so we don't know who paid for the three in cash, but the fourth ticket was bought with a debit card. Name was Alden Bensen."
"What's the connection?"
Lani scrolled down the form to a brief scrawled statement from some agent Jeremy didn't know. "We called the Bensens, just a routine check-in. We were told he never got on the train, confirmed he was home and alive."
"So what the hell's he doing in Rallsburg on the fifteenth…" Jeremy murmured. "And how did he get home?"
"He's probably worth talking to, and now you've got leverage."
Jeremy nodded. "Give me your badge."
"Huh?"
"Well I can't go investigating as me. I'm still chained to a desk."
Lani shrugged and handed it over. "You don't exactly look like a 'Lani Makaio'," he pointed out.
"They're middle-class white people in the suburbs. They ain't gonna know it's Hawaiian." Jeremy stood up to go. "You need anythin' before I head out?"
"I'm good."
"If you change your mind, text Maddie. She said she'd stop by later."
"She's back in town?"
He nodded. "Campaigning. She's busy as fuck, so don't be offended if she can't stay long, but she wanted to say hi."
Lani looked embarrassed. "No, she doesn't have to—"
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "There's no possible way on earth to stop her." He walked to the door, but paused. "Hey, Lani?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"Oh, I don't fuckin' know. Being a good partner, givin' me the benefit of the doubt, betrayin' your oath to the country. The usual."
Lani shrugged. "They told me to stick to you and follow your lead. I'm only doing as ordered."
Jeremy grinned. "Shows the shit they know."