A Handful of Skulls (Here Witchy Witchy Book 9) Read online

  Liz sat next to me. “What are you doing?”

  “Research. After finding out that Agent Thompson was not actually on the case, I want to make sure that Agent Landry is.” I pulled up the PIB network and typed in her name and badge number.

  I scrolled through the information. She was assigned to the bombing case. She was internal affairs, and as far as I could tell, she had no personal connections to the case.

  Liz let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad she checks out.”

  “Me too.” I closed the computer and leaned my head back. “I still want to talk to that cadet about his visions.”

  “We’ll have time. Maybe we can go while Jason and his team work the scene.”

  That was a good idea. Forensics didn’t like us on the scene while they worked it, because we tended to look over their shoulders trying to find things.

  I trusted most of the forensic teams, and I really trusted Jason. He was damn good at his job, and he’d make sure that the team didn’t screw anything up.

  “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Jason walked in with a small team of people behind him. “Hey, Agent A, Agent L.” He gave us a small wave. “What do we have?”

  “Another body in gel. Take a look, move the body if you need to. Let us know what you find.” I shrugged. “Business as usual. Liz and I need to talk to a person of interest.”

  “Actually, Abby, you go. I’ll stick with Jason and the team in case something magical pops up. You’ve talked to the cadet before, he’s more likely to trust you.”

  It made sense. It also made me think that she had something else in mind that she didn’t want to share out loud. “Sounds good. I’ll head that way, call me if you need me.” I walked away, and she didn’t stop me. The sun was slowly making its way down toward the mountain. We still had a few hours of daylight left to go, but it was a reminder to me that creatures that wanted to kill me would be waking soon. I cringed at the thought. Samuel didn’t have to wait until sunset. He was a daywalker, and that meant I had to watch my back at all times.

  I walked toward the dorms and found the building that I wanted. I climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. The cadet answered, peeking out the crack that he opened the door.

  “Agent Collins, what are you doing back here?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about the blast.”

  He shook his head. “I told you everything that I saw. I didn’t know that people were going to die. I didn’t know it was going to be three buildings, not one.”

  “It’s okay. I’m not here to accuse you of anything. I wanted to know if you saw anything else recently. Maybe something about a secret?”

  He shook his head and opened the door further, letting me in. Scott’s side of the room had been stripped, leaving only an empty bed behind. My heart ached at the sight. The cadet had lost his roommate, and I needed to remember that when questioning him.

  I sat in the desk chair and looked at him. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard and a lot is going on.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  “The man we were searching for, he’s dead. We know that part of the reason he was killed was he was hiding a secret. Do you happen to know what that secret was?”

  He closed his eyes, and I remembered the mannerisms from the last time he spoke to me. “He knows it all,” he whispered. “The king, the plot, the princess.” His eyes opened and met mine. “He was after something though. He was after immortality.”

  I tried not to be stunned at the words. I knew Boss Man had been in on keeping me from knowing who the King was. I didn’t know that he knew who the king was, but maybe he did. That was a pretty big secret, and one many people would kill for. I pressed my lips together. “Thank you.”

  I knew Boss Man had been searching for Vlemeinheil, but we hadn’t been sure if it was for the claim of immortality or not. I stood. “I know you don’t want to be used as a tool, but PIB really could use some amazing seers.” I walked out without another word. He hadn’t even met my gaze after what he had told me. I didn’t want to hang around and bother him any more than I needed to.

  Halfway down the hall, I heard him call after me. “Agent Collins.”

  I stopped and turned to face him. He smiled at me. “Thank you. Also, the blasts, look in the third building.” He bowed his head and then went back to his room. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was supposed to be looking for in the third building, but I was going to check it out regardless.

  Because a seer told me to, and last time I didn’t heed his words, I almost ended up dead.

  I walked out of the dorms and back toward the science lab building. Liz hadn’t messaged me, so I was guessing there was nothing new yet. We probably wouldn’t find anything out until Jason was done with the body at the morgue.

  I sighed as I walked into the building and found Liz and Agent Landry standing outside the room talking. I gave the two a wave as I stepped up. “Learn anything?”

  Liz shook her head, but it was Landry that spoke. “I have decided to keep you two on the case as long as you can prove to me that nothing personal will get in the way. There are a lot of emotions that come along when an agent you know gets killed.”

  “I’m familiar,” I said without thinking. “Don’t worry about us. We both just want to solve this case. It’s not getting any less weird.”

  Liz held a hand up. “Amen.”

  I snorted. “I talked to our cadet. He says that Boss Man was looking for immortality.”

  “Who’s the informant?”

  “A seer who wishes to remain anonymous.” I shrugged. “I can’t blame him. He also said to check the third building that exploded. He didn’t say what to look for, so I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.”

  “And what about the immortality note?” Landry asked.

  Liz crossed her arms. “We know that Boss Man was looking for a warlock by the name of Vlemeinheil. Rumors say that Vlemeinheil has the answer to immortality, and it’s not becoming a vampire.”

  “Impossible. Anything that even messes with life means working with some serious black magic.”

  Liz nodded. “We’ve dealt with similar. It’s nothing new for us.” She waved a hand. “The problem is that Vlemeinheil is a ghost.”

  “Literally?” Landry raised a brow, and for a moment, I wondered what kind of shit she’d see in the job as well.

  I’d dealt with ghosts before, well, poltergeists, but still. “Not a literal ghost, no.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” Landry let out a short laugh. “You two work on Vlemeinheil, I’ll work here.”

  I nodded and turned to leave.

  “Oh, and Agent Collins. Don’t go searching around the blast site.”

  I swore Liz let out an ‘ugh’ noise, but I shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t plan on it.” At least not right now.

  By the time Liz and I got back to the office, the emergency crews were all gone. Some of the cars were out of the hole, but Mason was still there. I had expected him to be gone and heading to the academy at this point, not standing in front of the PIB office chatting up one of our security people.

  The sun had started to slip behind the mountains now, and it wouldn’t be long before Levi headed this way with the Hummer. And it wouldn’t be long before Hannah could come out to play.

  I hesitated before getting out of the SUV at that thought. Who was waiting for me tonight? Hannah? A warlock? Our murderer?

  “Abby?” Liz’s voice brought me out of my head.

  “Sorry, just a lot on my mind.”

  She came around the car. “Look, I don’t know what is going on, but clearly something has gotten into your head. Take a deep breath and remember something.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a badass chick who has survived so much more than most PIB agents have. Whatever you think is out there, you can take.” She patted my shoulder. “And I’ve got your back if you need it.”

  I gave her a small smile. “Sometimes I need
a reminder that most of my shit is in my head.”

  “Welcome to life.” She jerked her head toward Detective Mason. “Let’s see why he’s still here.”

  We walked over to the detective together, and Mason looked up at us. “Agents.” He nodded. “Glad to see you’re back. Learn anything new?”

  “Not that we haven’t told you already. Our missing person has turned into a dead body.” Liz looked at the security agent. “Find out who killed our temporary Boss Man?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, not one of our people, but we have a visual. Detective Mason and I were just discussing if we should put the image out for the public or not.”

  “I’d like to take a look.” I started into the building with Liz on my tale.

  The security agent walked with us to the footage room and pulled up a video feed from outside Boss Man’s office. A man walked down the hall with no visitor badge on his chest to show that he’d checked into the office, which made me wonder where Mandy was and how he’d gotten past her.

  Liz tensed beside me and leaned closer to the screen. The man looked around, giving the camera a perfect shot at his face. The security agent hit pause on the frame and zoomed in.

  I knew this man. I wasn’t sure how. But I knew him. His eyes glinted in the light before he slipped into the room.

  Who was he, and why had I seen him before? Liz was staring intently at the screen too, as if she also knew him. I glanced at her. “I know him.”

  “Me too.”

  So the question was: Coven? Cult? Something else completely? Neither one of us seemed to be able to put a name to him.

  The security agent clicked play, and the man went into the room. A few minutes later, he came back out and walked down the hall like nothing happened.

  No one else entered or exited until Liz did.

  Liz and I sat back, and I crossed my arms. “Get me a screenshot. I want to run it through our system to see if he happens to be in there.” Maybe we would get lucky and something would show up with mine and Liz’s clearance.

  “I don’t think he was planning on killing boss man, or if he was, he’s not a professional. A professional would have known how to avoid the cameras.” Liz frowned.

  I agreed with her. “A meeting gone wrong, maybe?”

  “Maybe. He was in and out. Were there any other visitors? Maybe this guy saw Thompson dead and decided to walk away from the situation?”

  The security guy pulled up a chair and sat down. “His death was in that time frame, so that’s where we looked.”

  “Tests like that can be wrong.” Liz pointed out. “There are a lot of aspects to keep in mind. Jason is normally spot on, but he wasn’t here yet, right?”

  “Not yet. He’s apparently on another case, so the team is taking the body.” He made a couple clicks of the mouse and scrolled back. Nothing. No one entered the room.

  The agent went back far enough to see when Agent Thompson had entered. At one in the morning.

  I pressed my lips together. What was he doing in so early? “Wait, scroll in.”

  He paused it and scrolled in. Thompson had a file clutched in his hand. I wrote down the case number. “Did anyone see this file in the office?”

  He shrugged.

  Liz turned. “I’ll go ask Mason.”

  I nodded and turned back to the video. “What were you doing, Thompson. Not many of us come in at one in the morning to work,” I muttered. “Can you scroll back out?”

  He did as I asked, and I studied the area of the opened door. There was something inside there. I could see a reflection of glowing eyes, almost like a cat, but I knew it wasn’t. “Screenshot this, send it to forensics. I want a blown-up lightened version of this frame. Please.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He clicked a few buttons and then pulled up his e-mail. What was in the office lurking for Thompson. Vampire? Wolf? Neither?

  I shook my head. “Thanks for the hard work.” I walked out of the security room and went to find Liz and Mason. They weren’t out front, so I took a trip up the stairs to find them standing outside the office.

  “Well?” I asked. “The file?”

  “Gone with no trace of it.” Liz shook her head. “Whoever killed him took the file. I’m betting on the man we saw in the camera.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. When we were looking at the frames, there was something lurking in his office. Chances are something that could get in and out without walking.” I pressed my lips together, thinking for a moment. “So now we have two suspects. Security will get the frames to me and forensics to see if we can’t shed some light on this.” I glanced at my watch. Levi should have been on his way with the Hummer by now, and then I’d go to dinner with my uncle.

  “If it’s alright with you guys, I’d like to ask an acquaintance about the person we saw. Maybe he can put a name to the face.”

  Liz looked at me. “I think that’d be okay.”

  “Whatever helps this case. It just seems to keep getting weirder.”

  Wasn’t that the truth.

  “I’m going to go to the Academy and see what I can find there. You agents stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”

  “No promises,” I said as he walked off.

  Liz frowned. “I don’t really want Oliver involved.”

  “Oliver knows almost every powerful wizard, and if he doesn’t know them, then he’s at least heard of them.”

  She sighed. “Has it ever occurred to you that there’s a reason for that?”

  “Yep, and I try not to think about it too much.” I shrugged.

  She sighed and followed me to my office. I unlocked the door with my keycode and walked in.

  “I don’t like him,” Liz said.

  “And why is that, Liz? Have I done something wrong?” Oliver’s voice came from my desk.

  He turned around in the chair and smiled. “Hello, Abigail.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “How did you get in here?” Liz demanded and pulled her gun.

  Part of me wanted to stop her, but the other part of me knew he was going to get caught sooner or later. Liz was probably the best person to catch him.

  He held his hands up and stood. A little visitor badge was clipped onto his jacket. “I’m here all officially. Levi asked me to get the Hummer to Abby because he had business to attend to.”

  She looked at me, and I shrugged. “I try to stay out of Levi’s vampire business, but since Oliver and I have a dinner planned tonight, it makes sense for him to be the one to bring me the Hummer.”

  “I really feel that the question of how I got in here is unnecessary.” Oliver disappeared from the chair and reappeared in front of us. “Seeing as we both belong to the same Coven.”

  It was weird for me to hear Oliver refer to the Cult as a Coven. In the end, it really was a Coven, the Cult was a bastardized name for it.

  Liz shook her head. “I’m not a member, thanks for trying. I’m glad you’re here though. Take a seat. We have a question or two for you.”

  He nodded and went to the correct side of the desk. Liz grabbed a chair and sat with me on my side.

  I pulled up the picture in my e-mail and showed it to him. “Do you know this man?”

  “Is this on the record? Or are you fishing for a name?” Oliver looked down at the picture, his brows pinched together.

  I glanced at Liz. “We’re looking for a name.”

  “You wanted Vlemeinheil, you found him.” Oliver met my gaze. “He’s normally not so willing to be photographed.”

  I looked at the photo and then to Liz. “But we both knew him. We’ve both seen him somewhere.”

  Oliver sighed. “Abigail, you saw him when you were younger. Levi can explain it to you. Liz…” He hesitated slightly.

  Liz frowned and then gasped as if she remembered. “I saw him when I was little too. He was at a funeral.” All the anger in her voice faded. “I don’t like where this is going.”

  Oliver nodded. “Vlemeinheil is very active in many communities,
but he tends to be very secretive about who he. Liz, whatever funeral he was at, he was there for a reason.” He stood. “Abigail…” he shook his head. “I’ll see you in an hour or so for our dinner.”

  He walked out of the office. I sat in my chair, looking at the picture.

  I knew the face. I wanted my brain to connect the dots. Oliver had said when I was younger. There was a lot of area that could be covered with that statement. “Okay. So spill. What did my uncle do to piss you off?”

  “He lied to me.” She pulled out her laptop and put it on my desk. “He lied to me about what happened at Ira’s. He lied to me about the shape you were in. He lied to me about everything, and we can’t trust him.”

  I was almost afraid to ask her what parts he’d lied about. “He works with the King of Vampires.”

  “As do you. But you tell the truth to the best of your ability. He didn’t tell me he had been there when you arrived, or that he was working for Ira.”

  “He was acting as a double agent, actually.” I rubbed my eyes. “Okay, look, the case was a lot more complicated than I put in the report. A lot.”

  She started up her laptop and logged into the PIB database. “How much more?”

  “I’d have to go into hiding, and I’d be exposing a lot of people.” I sighed. “I don’t like it, but it’s the nature of the case.”

  “Because of the King.”

  I nodded. “Because of the King. Trust me, Liz, I wouldn’t hide so much if I didn’t have to. Whatever lies Oliver told you, it was to protect me. To protect him. Though I am curious how you found out.”

  Liz pressed her lips together. “I really don’t want to admit to that right now.”

  Which made me wonder what it was that she had done. “Okay, one day you can share.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. If your uncle doesn’t share first.” She motioned to her screen. “So Vlemeinheil’s picture brought up a lot of people. None of which are labeled with that name.”

  “I’m not surprised. There wasn’t a lot that came up with that name.” I motioned to the screen. “Seems like Oliver is right though. These all look very deliberate, like he knew where to look. Just like when he was looking around for a camera.”