“I interviewed one of the Moncrieff kids,” I said. “He’s friends with Sarah Benning. He actually helped me zero in on Martin Johansson. Said Johansson had a thing for young girls.”
Novak rolled his eyes. I realized that he was smarter than I’d given him credit for. And I felt dumber than I thought I was.
“Mychal,” Whittaker said, “in your spare time, try to educate your new partner on Family alliances and politics, and why she should care. Consider it an exercise in self-preservation.”
Novak gave me a smirk that I deserved.
Whittaker headed up the stairs, with Novak and me following, and led us outside. We walked past all the cops and ambulances to where his car was parked near the street in the front parking lot.
“Okay,” he said, turning to us and leaning against his car. “I’m pretty sure that Akiyama isn’t involved in the trafficking. Not directly, in any case. Other than Johansson, I can’t think of any Families stupid enough to get their hands that dirty. I also can’t imagine any Family employing vampires for a hit on a couple of cops. We’re usually more subtle than that, and what fool would trust a bunch of vampires? So, who else might have been doing business with Johansson?”
Mychal shook his head. “Heads of Families, no. Younger or dumber members of Families? You can’t automatically dismiss everyone.”
I took a deep breath. “Ashvial.”
Whittaker stared at me for a full minute, and I could see his mind working. Then he slowly nodded. “That makes some sense. The question is, how would we penetrate his organization?”
I took another deep breath. “He hit on me once. The question is, how could I protect myself from being enthralled?”
“Or possessed?” Novak asked with a raised eyebrow.
Whittaker shook his head. “Magiteks are immune to that. As to enthrallment, I think we can provide a charm.”
“I am?” It was the first time I had heard that I couldn’t be possessed.
“Yes,” Whittaker said. “Something about the magik that magiteks and spirit mages have blocks demonic possession. We learned that early during the Rift War.”
I could check that with my grandmother, but I was skeptical about the efficacy of a charm. “Hang on a minute.”
Stepping away from them, I called Kirsten. When she answered, I asked, “Can you make a charm that guards against demonic enthrallment?”
She chuckled. “Planning on taking Ashvial up on his offer?”
“Something like that. It’s work related.”
“Yeah, I can make you a charm, but I can probably do something even better.”
“You’re sure?”
“Pretty sure. Let me check with my mom.”
“Thanks.” I hung up and turned back to Whittaker and Novak. “Kirsten says it’s possible. I still want backup. Tight backup.”
Whittaker nodded. Novak looked skeptical.
Chapter 27
Back at the station, I used magik to bypass the lock on Cordero’s phone. She had received a call shortly after Novak and I left the Social Services office, and then made three calls within a ten-minute span. I gave the three numbers to Novak to check out.
He came back a few minutes later.
“The call she received was from the Social Services office,” he said. “The first call she made after that was to Johansson’s phone, and it lasted less than a minute. I’ll get his phone from the evidence room, but he was dead before that. The second call was to Dorothy’s Dungeon, and the third call was to the apartment where she picked up the girl.”
“Yeah, get his phone and I’ll unlock it,” I said. “But I think that settles that she was working with Johansson. Have some uniforms pick up the girl’s mother and bring her in. Let her stew overnight, and we’ll interview her in the morning. I’m going home, and I suggest you do the same. I think we’ve done enough for one day, and neither of us have eaten.”
I packed up, dropped by Whittaker’s office to tell him what we’d learned, and took off. I got my bike from the parking garage under the building and rode home. By the time I negotiated traffic and crawled off the motorcycle, I was bone tired and wanted a drink. My side throbbed, I couldn’t straighten up properly, and I felt as though I’d been beaten.
No sooner had I sat down with a shot and a beer than Kirsten walked in.
“Hey, you’re home early,” she said.
“Bad day.”
She got herself a beer from the fridge and sat down in her favorite chair.
“Friend of yours stopped by the shop today.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Osiris Dillon.”
Dillon was the head of security for the Findlay Family. “And when did Osiris become my buddy?”
She chuckled and took a swallow of her beer. “I think your grandmother sent him. He wanted to tell me I should strengthen my wards, both at the shop and here at home. He also said to tell you to go by and see him. What’s going on?”
I said something that probably would have shocked my grandmother. Osiris was not an errand boy. If Olivia sent him in person, then she wanted us to take things seriously. I told Kirsten about Johansson’s death and the ambush at the sex dungeon.
Kirsten set her beer down on the table and said, “Well, maybe I should check the wards before I finish that.”
She set out on a tour of our house, sketching a rune and chanting a spell at each window and outside door. It took her about half an hour, and then she came back, sat down again, and took a long pull on her beer.
“Okay. I think we can probably withstand anything anyone can throw at us. But if someone is gunning for you, you should probably go see Osiris.” She gave me an expectant raised-eyebrow look. “You’re okay, aren’t you?”
“It seems as though my search for Sarah Benning has drawn a lot of attention.”
That prompted Kirsten to say something unladylike. “And how does
