Call Of The Witch (29 page)

The two stood there for what seemed to me an
unusually long time. Brittany’s back was towards me, but from the
look on Lade’s face, I could tell their eyes were locked. She was
reading him. I don’t know how, but I knew it, maybe sensed it.
Heaven knows that Lilith had done it to me enough, held me in a
trance while she probed my mind, my very thoughts both sacred and
intimate. And as with any spell a witch performs, there’s an
unsettled energy left behind, an aura of sorts that lingers in the
spell’s wake. I thought I felt it then. I gave Brittany a little
nudge on the elbow to break the uncomfortable silence.

“
Hey, you
coming?”

She broke off the handshake and turned to me,
smiling thinly as though she had found satisfaction in the moment.
“Sure. Let’s go.”

Ricky followed us out the door and stood on
the porch, watching as we got back into the car. He waved as we
pulled away, and I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw him take a
joint out of his pocket and light it up as we rounded the corner. I
hadn’t planned to say anything to Brittany about the handshake. In
the first few blocks we drove after leaving the house, I had
convinced myself that any connection to witchcraft I thought I saw
between the two of them was simply my imagination. Still, if not
witchcraft, the exchange was unusual and I decided it warranted
discussion. So I just came out and asked her.

“
What was that back
there?”

“
What was
what?”

She knew. “Back there with Lade. That was
some handshake.”

“
Oh, that. I was reading
him.”

“
Excuse me?” I couldn’t
believe she admitted it.

“
It’s a trick I
learned.”

I knew it. I just knew it. “A trick, eh?
What, like witchcraft?”

She smiled devilishly. “Witchcraft? Tony
Marcella, don’t tell me you believe in that sort of thing.”

I noticed she didn’t answer my question. “Me?
No, that’s crazy. It’s just that you mentioned witchcraft earlier.
I thought you––”

“
No I didn’t.”

“
Yes you did.”

“
No, you’re mistaken. I
didn’t mention witchcraft. I mentioned magic.”

“
Yes, but you meant
witchcraft, didn’t you?”

“
No, I meant trick magic.
Like Houdini.”

“
Right. That’s what I
meant, too.”

“
Tony, do you think I’m a
witch?”

“
A witch! Come on, Brit. I
don’t….” But then I had to ask, “I don’t know. Are you?”

Her devilish smile returned, and for just a
second I thought I saw the sparkle of witchcraft in her eyes.
“Tony….” She shook her head and laughed the way Lilith does
sometimes when I’ve asked a silly question to which I already knew
the answer. “You’re funny. You know that?”

I laughed it off with her, and for a few more
blocks, we refrained from talking. I was happy with that, and in
fact preferred we didn’t talk again until we reached the justice
Center. Our conversation had made me that uncomfortable. But what
she said kept eating at me, and I couldn’t let it rest until I
cleared the air about it.

I asked her, “Did you learn anything?”

She seemed to snap from a daze that made me
wonder if she’d been concentrating on her driving. “What’s
that?”

“
I said did you learn
anything; back there when you were reading Ricky Lade.”

“
Reading him?”

“
The handshake. You said
you knew a trick.”

“
Oh, that. Yes.
No.”

“
Yes, no,
what?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t know
anything.”

“
How do you
know?”

She took her eyes off the road long enough to
look at me. Then she arched her brows high and fluttered her
fingers about her face in a whimsical gesture. “It’s magic.
Remember?”

“
Brit.
Seriously.”

She settled back into her seat. “It’s a knack
I have, a gift if you will.”

“
What is?”

“
My ability to read
people. All I need to do is look into their eyes and I can tell
things.”

“
What kind of
things?”

“
If they’re lying, for
one.”

“
Get out.”

“
Hey. You
asked.”

I let it go for a while, still uncertain if
she was telling the truth, telling a half-truth or bullshitting me
altogether. I considered the likelihood that what I saw when I
thought she was performing a pulse point spell on Lade was a
misinterpretation on my part. Had I not learned of the spell only
recently, I might not have thought anything of it at all. Still,
there was something about Brittany that I just couldn’t quite put
my finger on.

I remembered the first time I saw her after
my return to prime. She looked at me in that same way, deep into my
eyes. I felt as though she were peering into my soul, figuring out
who I really was. And she called me Tony. I didn’t realize until
after she left that night that I hadn’t told her my first name.
Somehow she just knew.

“
So what could you tell?”
I asked, unable to squelch my curiosity. “I mean about Ricky
Lade.”

She laughed. “Nothing much. Only that he was
thinking about that joint in his pocket and how he couldn’t wait to
smoke it.”

“
You read that from
looking into his eyes?”

She shook her head. “No, I deduced that after
seeing him light it up in my rear-view mirror.”

I settled back into my seat, crossed my arms
at my chest and fixed my sights on the road ahead. Brittany was a
good detective; no doubt about it. And I didn’t suppose it mattered
whether or not it came to her naturally or by way of witchcraft. I
only knew it was getting late, and if I had to spend time with a
witch, I thought it best that it’d be with Lilith.

I checked my watch. It was pushing six
o’clock. “Listen,” I said. “If you’re going back to Brewbakers,
maybe you can drop me off at my house. It’s on the way.”

“
Sure.”

“
In the meantime, I’ll
call Spinelli and have him pick up Martinez and Kovalchuk on a
non-arrest custody notice.”

“
You can’t. You sent
Dominic home.”

“
I did. Didn’t I? I’ll
call Carlos then, ask him––”

“
Carlos went to see his
accountant.”

“
Hmm, that’s right. I
guess that leaves you.”

“
You guess?”

“
All right. That does
leave you.”

“
Tony, why am I always
your third choice?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I mean you got this
good-ol` boy’s club going with Spinelli and Rodriquez. In case you
haven’t noticed, I made detective six months ago.”

“
I know that.”

“
Then why am I the one
still fetching coffee and babysitting the Brewbakers while you
three are out conquering the world?”

“
Brit, there’s a pecking
order to these things. Carlos and I are first grade detectives.
Spinelli’s second grade and you’re third grade.”

“
But I was a Corporal when
I entered the detective’s pool.”

“
Then take it up with the
Lieutenant. What can I tell you?”

“
You can tell me you’ll
start tossing me a bone once in a while. I’m good at what I do,
Detective.”

“
Fine, I’ll toss you a
bone.”

“
That’s all I’m
asking.”

“
Good. Now please take me
home and get an NA custody notice sent out on Karina Martinez and
Dmitry Kovalchuk…Detective.”

If I wanted peace and quiet for the rest of
the ride, I sure got it. The only thing Brittany said to me after
that was, “See you in the morning.” And that was when she let me
out at the curb in front of my house.

I closed the car door and mouth the word,
“Yeah,” to her through the glass. And I waved. She drove off about
as pissed as I’ve ever seen her. I started up the walkway toward
the house, hoping Lilith was in a better mood than she was.

“
Lilith! I’m home,” I
hollered, after wiping my feet at the door. The lights in the
living room were off, as were most all the other lights in the
house. But the sun had not yet set, and even with the blinds
pulled, I could see into the kitchen where Lilith had left a note
for me on the table. I picked it up and read it aloud.

“
Gone to sit with Ursula.
Dinner’s in the fridge. Enjoy. Lilith.”

I opened the fridge and found a pizza box
from Pizza King sitting on the middle shelf, the same box I put
there two nights earlier. I lifted the lid. The three leftover
slices of extra cheese with mushrooms had shriveled to two-thirds
their original size. My stomach lurched at the sight of them.
Still, I was hungry, and I’ve eaten Lilith’s cooking before. I
figured I could do worse. I grabbed two slices, ate them, watched
TV until midnight and then went to bed.

I arrived back at the office the next
morning around seven o’clock. Spinelli was there, going over last
minute details of the drop with Brittany Olson.

“
Morning,” I said, nodding
at the two of them, but making sure I made eye contact with
Brittany. She smiled up at me and gestured a similar nod. As I came
around the table, I gave Spinelli a tap on the shoulder. “How’s
Ursula. She doing all right?”

“
Yeah, she’s fine,” he
said, leaning over the big photographic map that Brittany had
brought to the Brewbaker’s the day before. I saw that he was
marking out locations around Garfield Creek for the surveillance
teams. Without looking up from his work, he added, “She and Lilith
were up most of the night, gabbing.”

“
How about you? Did you
get any sleep?”

He shook his head. “Not much.”

“
Do you want to go home
now? You can catch a couple hours shut-eye before we have to do
this thing.”

“
Tony….” He tossed the
grease pencil down on the table, straightened his back and
shoulders and pointed at me as if I had accused him of something
unforgivable. I could see how red and puffy his eyes were, and I
knew that lack of sleep was not the only thing wearing him down.
“…I don’t know if you can appreciate what that poor little girl is
going through, but she’s out there, cold, scared and all alone. She
has nobody. Do you understand that? You might be able to go home
and sleep, but I for one refuse to give up on her. And I’m not
going to rest until she’s home safe and sound.”

“
All right,” I said, my
hands up in surrender. “Nobody’s asking you to give up. You don’t
have to go anywhere.” I looked over at Brittany. The expression on
her face told me she knew that was coming, but was unable to warn
me. I put my hands back down and softened my stance. “Just so you
know, Dominic, I’m sure everyone here appreciates what that kid is
going through. To assume otherwise is unfair. Now I know you’re
extra-sensitive about this case, what with you expecting a kid of
your own soon, but we all care for Kelly’s well-being just as much
as you do. That the rest of us have gone home to sleep doesn’t take
away from that. The reason I’ve been trying to get you to go home
and rest is that I need everyone to be as sharp as they can be.
Especially you. You’re my right-hand man, Dominic. I count on you,
and I need you to be at the top of your game at all
times.”

“
What? So you’re sending
me home now?”

I looked again at Brittany. She gave me a
faint head shake no. Another couple of hours, I thought, and it
would all be over. Would Dominic be any worse by then? I doubted
it. I stepped up to him, wrapped my arms around him and gave him a
hug. I don’t know why. I guess I thought he needed it.

“
No. I’m not sending you
home.” I palmed his shoulders and pushed him away easy. “But I do
think we could use a pot of coffee down here. We still have some
details to work out.”

“
I’ll get it,” said
Brittany.

“
No.” I put my finger up
to stop her. “Dominic, would you mind getting it?”

He didn’t hesitate. In fact I think he
appreciated me asking him to do it. And the look on Brittany’s face
told me I had tactfully killed two birds with one stone.

We were still mapping out our strategy when
Carlos showed up around eight o’clock. If I thought Dominic looked
bad when I first saw him that morning, I can tell you Carlos looked
even worse.

“
Mother of Joseph!” said
Dominic. Apparently he noticed it too. “What the hell happened to
you, Carlos? You look like shit!”

Carlos plopped down in a seat at the end of
the table furthest from the map. His hair was scraggly. He was
unshaven. His clothes, which I noticed were the same ones he wore
the day before, were rumpled. His hands were dirty and his shoes
were untied.

“
Carlos, where have you
been?”

“
Out,” he said, his gaze
just a blank stare down at the floor.

“
What do you mean out?
Outside?”

“
Yeah.”

“
All night?”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Did you sleep
outside?”

“
Uh-huh.”

“
Where, in the
dirt?”

He nodded.

“
Carlos, tell us what
happened. Were you mugged? Are you all right? Are you
hurt?”