I raised my eyes to Whittaker’s frowning face.
“When?” I asked.
“Sometime yesterday, maybe as late as after dark. An old mansion in the Mount Washington-Pimlico area.” He sighed and sat back in his chair. “We got an anonymous call a couple of hours ago. Forensics, Homicide, and Vice are all out there or on their way.”
Whittaker bit his lip as he studied me. “Dani, I have a very bad feeling about this. I think we may be looking at a gang massacre. And if we are, we’re likely to see retaliation.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. “If I give you a temporary promotion to lieutenant so you can take lead on it, can I count on you to behave yourself? Bite your tongue and not say stupid things to the press? Don’t piss off the brass when they come around asking stupid questions? Don’t go barging into peoples’ houses sticking your Raider in their mouths without a warrant? Play nice with the other cops? Act professional instead of like some kick-ass vigilante with a chip on your shoulder?”
“Temporary lieutenant? You mean I get paid as a lieutenant?”
He pursed his mouth and wrinkled his nose. “Yes, and if you solve it without doing any of those things I mentioned, or otherwise getting your ass busted back to patrolman, the promotion will become permanent.”
I caught myself biting my own lip and stopped it. “I’ll try.”
“Try damned hard.” He held out a gold badge. I pulled the silver one out of my belt, and we made the exchange.
“Get out of here,” Whittaker said. “Novak can fill you in on what little else we know. When you come back, tell me I’m wrong about this shit.”
Once we were in the car and on our way, I asked, “So, what makes Whittaker think it’s a gang thing rather than a domestic dispute or something else?”
“A couple of things,” Novak said. “The first responders found a lot of drugs. Personally, I find that surprising. If it was another gang, you would think they’d take the dope. The second thing is that everyone was shot in the back of the head.”
“Oh,” was all I said. That about cinched it. The killers wanted to send a message to someone. The drugs explained why Vice had been called in.
“That’s the second time in two days that the killer didn’t take the dope,” Novak said. “Do you believe in coincidences?”
“Sure. I believe in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, too.”
He chuckled. “Whittaker must think a lot of you.”
“I get results.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Novak studying me.
I took to the air so we could avoid the morning traffic downtown, and it didn’t take us long to get to the crime scene. The uniformed cop guarding the street knew me and waved us through the police barricade. I parked as close as I could, and we trooped up the slight hill of the front lawn to the house.
In general, the whole neighborhood could have used some sprucing up. The murder house had seen better days, but a new coat of paint and a little care of the landscaping would make the place look respectable. With two stories plus a gabled attic, and probably a full basement, the place was built for a large, wealthy family in the early 1900s.
I had just reached the porch when Lieutenant Sam Berger walked out of the front door. He stopped abruptly when he saw me. He was a big man, shorter than I was, broad, and heavily muscled, but he was getting a little paunchy. The hat he always wore to hide his receding hairline was firmly in place. Berger was a mage with a talent for working with water and had been my partner five years before. We hadn’t parted on the best of terms.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I didn’t call for assistance.”
“My case,” I said. “Anything I should know before you leave?”
He puffed out his chest and straightened to try and make himself look taller. I still topped him by a couple of inches.
“This is a major crime,” he said. “Regulations say a lieutenant leads the investigation.”
I flashed my new gold shield and said, “Talk to Whittaker. I’m just following orders. He said he wanted someone competent on this one.”
For a few moments, I thought Berger’s head would explode. His face certainly turned an interesting shade of red. I pretended not to notice, busying myself with putting on shoe covers and gloves. When I finished, I said, “Mychal, this is Lieutenant Sam Berger. Dan, my new partner, Detective Sergeant Mychal Novak. Now, are you going to show us around before you leave, or just get out of the way so we can go see for ourselves?”
Berger wasn’t gracious. He stepped aside so we could go inside, but he didn’t follow us. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw him going down the steps, fumbling for his phone. Out of pure spite, I tossed a spell at the phone, killing it.
“You two have some history?” Novak quietly asked.
“We used to be partners. He has problems with women.”
“Is he the one you broke his arm?”
I chuckled. “You heard about that, huh?”
“After half a dozen people told me I should check up on my new partner’s history, I figured it might be a good idea.”
I grinned and winked at him. “There’s hope for you yet. Yeah, I broke his arm.” I left it at that. Berger was lucky to be alive.
The first body was in the foyer, a human missing one arm and a face. A bullet in the back of the head does a lot of damage when it comes out the other side, especially a bullet capable of killing a demon.
