Darkened (2 page)

“I like your sword. You wanna see mine?” the drunk guy asked.

“If that is a euphemism for your dick, I would have to reply with ‘mine’s bigger’. So don’t bother because if you whip it out, I will cut it off.”

He smiled. Great
, a drunk guy that was too stupid to take my warning.

“Aw, come on baby. You’ll like it once you see it.”

I pushed him out of my way and left the restroom. There was no point arguing with the guy. He just didn’t care.

I notified Davis and Kansas that I had dispatched the perp and left the club. As I started toward the front entrance I felt the lead singer watching me again. Whatever. I was done for the day. Time to head home and have some Ben and Jerry’s as my reward for getting that guy off the streets.

I was woken up at four am by the sound of my phone. Some days I hate my job.

“Avery Tywella,” I said as I answered it.

“Tywella, we gotta dump. Fifth and Broad,” my boss said.

Well, Hell. “’Kay Cop. I’ll be right there.”

He hung up. Sergeant Copula never mixed words. He said what he needed to
, made sure you understood, and was done.

I threw the covers off and stumbled to my bathroom.

After I had showered and dressed, I pressed start on the coffee maker while I toasted a bagel. Carbohydrates and caffeine, the breakfast of champions. I poured my coffee in a to-go cup and headed out the door.

The corner of
Fifth and Broad was on the wrong side of town. It wasn’t news to find a body dump there, and it must involve an Other or else I wouldn’t be called in.

I pulled up to find a half dozen cop cars at the end of an alley. It didn’t look like any of the businesses that backed up to this alley were still actually in business. I walked down to the dumpster a Wizard was currently looking in.

“Hey, Al. What
have we got?” I asked.

He looked up for a moment. “Hello Avery. A Human male. Looks to be in his early twenties. I’m looking for cause of death right now.”

I nodded. Albert Johnson is our Gray Wizard. His specialty is locating magic of any kind and tracing it back to the person who used it. If a Human was killed by supernatural means, Albert can tell you who did it and how. It was because of him that we were able to catch the bad guys like the Demon last night. Without him, and Others like him, we would have no proof that an Other actually did the killing, let alone which Other did it.

“That is weird,” Al said.

“What would that be?” I looked into the dumpster. There was a guy in torn up jeans and a rock band t-shirt with spiked hair laying inside. I saw no blood but he was definitely dead.

“There is magic surrounding him but he wasn’t killed by magic. From what I can see, he died from strangulation.”

“Does that mean that the killer had magic but just didn’t use it to kill this guy? Or
, that the dead guy has magic but was killed by regular means?”

“From what I see, the first would be correct. This fellow was definitely mundane Human.”

Huh. That was strange. Most
Others, which incorporated all beings other than mundane Humans, would use their magic if they were going to kill a Human. They figure “Why get their hands dirty”. This was odd. Why would he strangle the guy if he could have used magic to kill him? I mean, not all Others could work spells and potions. Take Vamps and Weres for example. They have magic and when they kill a Human by either draining them of blood or shredding them with their claws, it still shows up that the Human was killed by magical means. Because a Were’s transformation and a Vamp’s fangs are their magical weapons, so to speak. Al was saying that whoever killed this guy had magic available but just chose not to use it to kill him. Why?

“You are sure the killer was an Other, right?” I asked.

He gave me a nasty look. “Of course I’m sure.”

I held my hands out in front of me. “Okay. Sorry, I was just making sure. Sheesh. Did you find an ID on him?”

“There wasn’t anything in his front pockets. I was waiting until someone arrived to help me remove him from this dumpster before I could reach his back pockets.”

He gave me a pointed look. Uh, no. Dumpster diving is not in my job description. Not that I haven’t had to dive in a dumpster before while working a job, but that was a “save my ass” moment and this is definitely not.

I walked over to the men in blue hovering in the perimeter.

“Al needs a big strong man to help him remove the body.”

Nobody moved.

“I was referring to one of you. I can see how you would misunderstand me,” I said sternly while looking at the
ir over-sized bellies.

Even though they were regular beat cops
, they were to work in conjunction with our task force and assist us in any way we need, but usually they tried to stay out of it.

“I hear you
’re half Demon. Why don’t you use your demonic powers to remove the body,” one of the wiseasses said.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t I use my demonic powers to suck your soul out and send it south where it’s going to end up in a few years any
way?”

Surprisingly enough, he didn’t think that was funny. His friends started looking around nervously. I wouldn’t know how to suck someone’s soul out if my own depended on it. But
, they didn’t know that.

“I’ll be sure to tell my captain about your threat,” he said.

“And I’ll be sure to tell mine how uncooperative you were,” I replied.

That seemed to change their attitude. No one wanted to be on Sergeant Copula’s bad side. They all three walked over to the dumpster and soon had the guy laid out on the body bag Al provided. Al checked the other pockets and found a wallet.

“Stephen Wilkins. 403 Fifth Street
, apartment 3C. There are no credit cards or bank receipts. No keys. Nothing else that would help find next of kin,” Al said as he handed me the ID.

“Alright. Thanks.” I turned to the assholes. “I need the entire dumpster went through. Anything that you think might be evidence needs to be bagged up and sent to HQ.”

I didn’t wait to hear their replies. I just walked back to my car and headed for Fifth Street. I’m sure they were pissed to be given such a menial task but I really didn’t care. That’s what they get for being assholes. As homicide agent of the Human’s Rights task force, I outrank them even though they are from another division.

When I arrived at 403 Fifth, I parallel parked then headed up to the third floor. I knocked on the door before entering the apartment. When no one answered, I picked the lock and went inside. It looked like a typical bachelor pad. The TV and Xbox were the most expensive things in the entire place. I spent the next hour going through what little paperwork I could find and managed to locate the telephone number of his mother. It looked like he worked at a local coffee shop, and went to college at Georgia Tech. That’s what I had figured. Most people that live in the apartments around the colleges are students. I pulled out my phone and called HQ.

“Cop.”

“Hey, I’m at our dead guy’s apartment. I found the number to his mom. You want to have someone with some compassion call her? Or would you prefer I do it?”

“Give me the number.”

I gave it to him.

“He works are Leon’s C
offee off Techwood Avenue. I’m going to head over there to see what else I can find out. I’ll come to the office when I’m finished.”

“’Kay.”

He hung up. I put my cell away then decided to check with the neighbors just in case they knew anything.

Man that was a waste of time. The first door I knocked on belonged to the local weed man. If the pungent smoke boiling out of the door was any indication. It’s like eight o’clock in the morning. Who gets up and smokes weed with their morning cereal? He said he didn’t know Stephen well. I took that to mean Stephen wasn’t a regular customer. The guy was so high it was like pulling teeth to get him to answer a question. After waiting for five minutes for him to finish one sentence only to have him stop halfway and zone out or say ‘uh, uh, uh, what was I saying?’, I just interrupted his mid-sentence daydream and thanked him for his time. Before I left, I couldn’t help but tell him that Cheech called and wants his bong back. Of course his response was “huh?” so I told him never mind and left for the next neighbor who was an old cat lady. I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say she was harder to get away from than Stoner was.

I walked into Leon’s Coffee and the smell of roasted beans had me practically floating to the counter. As the barista, a young woman with electric blue hair, was fixing my latte, I asked her about her coworker.

“Yeah, I know Steph. He usually works evenings three nights a week,” she said.

“When was the last time he worked?”

“He was here on Thursday night. We closed together.”

“What time was that?”

“Uh, I left about ten o’clock. He was just about finished closing up when I left.”

I nodded my understanding then moved on to my next question.

“Do you know what he does on his nights off?”

She shrugged. “I think he was in college. I remember him talking about Georgia Tech. I don’t really remember anything else.”

“You don’t know where he hangs out or with who?”

She started slowly shaking her head then said, “He did mention that band Darkened. You know the one that plays at Halo, the club over on Roswell?” I nodded and she continued. “We are both fans. But I never actually saw him there or anything, and me and my friends hang out there on Friday and Saturday nights all the time if I have off. They are sooo hot.”

Well that was helpful. Not. “Alright. Could you give me yo
ur supervisor’s name and number? I’d like to talk to them.”

“Uh, okay. Is Steph in trouble or something?”

“He’s dead. He was murdered and I’m trying to find out who did it.”

She put her hand to her mouth. “Oh my goodness,” she said then went about shakily writing the boss’s name and number for me.

I thanked her and took my coffee to go.

I had just gotten back to my car when my cell rang.

“Hello.”

“Avy, you will not believe what happened to me last night,” Temmy said.

I said the first thing that popped in my head.

“You hooked up with Sexy Singer and he was impotent.”

“Haha. You’re so funny. Did you catch the sarcasm? It actually is funny you said that because he did come over and talk to me after their set
, and he invited me and you to a party at their house tonight. Isn’t that awesome?”

“Yeah, that’s great Temmy. I hope you have lots of fun and I really hope he isn’t impotent.”

“There is no way a man that sexy could be limp. They have drugs for that you know.

“The Gods praise Viagra.”

“Okay, no more joking around. You have to come with me. You were personally invited after all.”

“No can do. I’m in the middle of a case. Plus, I don’t see how I was personally invited when I haven’t even met the guy.”

“He asked about you when he came to talk to me last night then invited me to the party, and told me to bring you. You can take the night off. I mean, the person is obviously dead or you wouldn’t be assigned to the case. They’re going to be just as dead if you take the night off.”

“That’s nice
, Temmy. I’ll be sure to use that next time I’m talking to the next of kin.”

“Your boss isn’t stupid enough to have you talking to the next of kin after that last time. Please Avy, he specifically said for me to bring my friend. That would be you. I’ve been trying to get in this guy
’s pants for months.”

“You have more friends than just me. Invite Saundra, she’d love it. Groupie is right up her alley.”

“Then I’ll have to fight her for Sexy singer’s attentions. At least if you come, I won’t have any competition.”

I’m not sure but I think I should be offended over that statement.

“I am truly sorry that I can’t accompany you as your ugly-friend-that-nobody-wants, but I really do have work to do.”

“You know you are anything but ugly. I only meant that you wouldn’t want the guy therefore I wouldn’t have any competition. Are you sure you can’t come?”

“Sorry. We found a body dump this morning and I’ve got to figure out who did him in and why.”

“I guess I’ll call Saundra then. You owe me for this. Next Saturday. Don’t even think about canceling.”

“Yes mother. I’ll be there with bells on.”

“You better be.”

I hung up. That guy obviously didn’t know me or he would have never bothered to invite me to a party. Groupie was definitely not my thing. Temmy would have a lot more fun with Saundra even with the competition. Saundra was a typical party girl, which is why she and Temmy were friends to begin with. I will be spending the evening back at HQ seeing if I can find out any more info on Stephen Wilkins.