The Good, The Bad, And The Undead

Edden.

'Thank you,' the FIB captain said. 'Now go stand with the officers.' He hesitated, smiling. 'If you would, please.' He crooked his finger at a pair of FIB officers who had just arrived, pointing at Quen. They jogged over.

Glenn left the crime scene van with its radio and headed in our direction. Jenks was with him, and the pixy circled him three times before zipping ahead. 'Give me the key,' Jenks said as he came to a pixy-dust-laced halt between Edden and me. 'I'll take it up.'

Glenn looked at the pixy in bother as he joined us. 'You're not FIB. Key, please.'

An unheard sigh lifted through Edden. I could tell he wanted to see what was in that room and was making a conscious effort to let his son handle it. By rights, he had no business being out here. I imagine accusing a city council member of murder gave him more justification than he might have otherwise.

Jenks's wings clattered harshly as Captain Edden handed the key to Glenn. I could smell Glenn's sweat over his cologne, his eagerness. A cluster of people had joined the dog and her handler about the door, and gripping my bag tightly, I started to the stairs right along with him.

'Rachel,' Glenn said, coming to a stop and catching my elbow. 'You're staying here.'

'I am not!' I exclaimed, jerking out of his grip. I glanced at Captain Edden for support, and the squat man shrugged, looking put out that he hadn't been invited, either.

Glenn's face hardened as he saw the direction of my gaze. Letting go of me, he said, 'Stay here. I want you to watch Kalamack. Read his emotions for me.'

'That's a load of crap,' I said, thinking, crap or not, it was probably a good idea. 'Your d—' I bit my tongue. 'Your captain can do that,' I amended.

Bother pinched his brow. 'All right. It's crap. But you're going to stay here. If we find Dr. Anders, I want this crime scene tighter than—'

'A straight man's butt cheeks in prison?' Jenks offered, his tiny shape starting to glow.

He landed on my shoulder, and I let him stay. 'Come on, Glenn,' I wheedled. 'I won't touch anything. And you'll need me to tell you if there are any lethal spells.'

'Jenks can do that,' he said. 'And he doesn't have to step on the floor to do it.'

Frustrated, I cocked my hip and fumed. I could tell that under his official veneer, Glenn was worried and excited all at the same time. He had only made detective recently, and I imagined this was the biggest case he'd worked. Cops spent their entire professional lives on the job and were never assigned a case with this many potential political ramifications. All the more reason I should be there. 'But I'm your Inderland consultant,' I said, grasping at straws.

He put a dark hand on my shoulder, and I pushed it off. 'Look,' he said, the rims of his ears going red. 'There are procedures to follow. I lost my first court case because of a contaminated crime scene, and I'm not going to risk losing Kalamack because you were too impatient to wait your turn. It needs to be vacuumed, photographed, dusted, analyzed, and anything else I can think of. You come in right after the psychic. Got it?'

'Psychic?' I questioned, and he frowned.

'Okay, I'm kidding about the psychic, but if you put one manicured nail over that threshold before I say, I'll throw you out of here faster than stink on snake.'

Faster than stink on snake? He must have been serious if he was mixing his metaphors.

'You want an ACG suit?' he asked, his eyes shifting from mine to the dog van.

I took a slow breath at the subtle threat. Anticharm gear. The last time I tried to take Trent down, he had killed the witness right out from under me. 'No,' I said.

My subdued tone seemed to satisfy him. 'Good,' he said, turning and striding away.

Jenks hovered before me, waiting. His dragonfly wings were red in excitement and the sun caught the glitter of pixy dust. 'Let me know what you find, Jenks,' I said, glad at least one representative from our sorry little firm would be there.

'You bet, Rache,' he said, then zipped after Glenn.

Edden silently joined me, and I felt as if we were the only two people in high school who hadn't been invited to the big pool party, standing across the road and watching. We waited with an edgy Trent, an indignant Sara Jane, and a tight-lipped Quen as Glenn knocked at the door to announce his FIB presence—as if it wasn't obvious —and unlocked it.

Jenks was the first one in. He darted out almost immediately, his flight somewhat ragged as he landed on the railing. Glenn leaned in, then out of the black rectangular opening. 'Get me a mask,' I heard him mutter, clear through the hush.

My breath came fast. He had found something. And it wasn't a dog.

Hand over her mouth, an FIB officer extended a surgical mask to Glenn. A foul stench came faintly over the comforting aroma of hay and manure. My nose wrinkled, and I glanced at Trent to see his face empty. The parking lot went silent. An insect shrilled and another answered it. By the upstairs door, Socks whined and pawed at her handler's legs as she looked for reassurance. I felt ill. How had they missed the smell before? I'd been right. It had to have been spelled to keep it contained in the room.

Glenn took a step into the room. For a moment his back was bright with sun, then he took another to disappear, leaving an empty black door frame. A uniformed FIB officer handed him a flashlight from the threshold, a hand over her mouth. Jenks wouldn't look at me. His back was to the door as he stood on the railing, his wings bowed and unmoving.

My heart hammered and I held my breath as the woman in the doorway backed up and Glenn came out. 'It's a body,' he said to a second young officer, his soft voice carrying clear down to us. 'Detain Mr. Kalamack for questioning.' He took a breath. 'Ms. Gradenko, too.'

The officer's response was subdued, and she headed down the stairs to find Trent. I triumphantly looked to Trent, then sobered as I imagined Dr. Anders dead on the floor. I superimposed the memory of watching Trent kill his leading researcher, so quick and clean with a ready alibi waiting to be implemented. I had caught him this time, having moved too fast for him to cover his butt.

Sara Jane clutched at Trent. Fear, real and full, made her eyes wide and colored her pale cheeks. Trent didn't seem to notice her grip, his face seriously blank as he looked at Quen. Knees weak, I watched Trent take a slow breath as if steadying himself.

'Mr. Kalamack?' the young officer said, gesturing for Trent to accompany him.

A flicker of emotion flickered over Trent as the FIB officer said his name. I would have said it was fear if I thought anything could shake the man. 'Ms. Morgan,' Trent said in parting to me as he helped Sara Jane into motion. Edden and Quen went with them, the captain's round face slack with relief. He must have put his reputation further on the line than I had thought.

Sara Jane pulled from Trent and turned to me. 'You bitch,' she said, fear and hatred in her high, childlike voice. 'You have no idea what you've done.'

Shocked, I said nothing as Trent took her elbow with what I thought might be a warning strength. My hands started shaking and my stomach clenched.

Glenn was on the stairway. There was a disposable wipe in his hands and he was running it over his fingers as he made his way to me. He pointed to the crime scene van and then the black rectangle the door made. Two men lurched into motion. With a calm tension, they wheeled a black hard-walled suitcase forward.

I was going to get Trent Kalamack arrested, I thought. Can I survive that?

'It's a body,' Glenn said as he came to a squinting halt before me, wiping his hands with yet another wipe. 'You were right.' He saw my face, and I knew I must have looked anxious as he followed my gaze to Trent standing with Quen and Edden. 'He's just a man.'

Trent was confident and unruffled, the picture of cooperation, a sharp contrast to Sara Jane's anger and hysterics. 'Is he?' I breathed.

'It's going to be a while before you can go in,' he said, taking a third towel and swabbing the back of his neck. He looked a little gray. 'Maybe tomorrow, even. You want a ride home?'

'I'll stay.' My stomach felt light. It occurred to me that I should probably call Ivy and let her know what was going on. If she'd talk to me. 'Is it bad?' I asked. By the door, the two men chatted to a third as they unpacked a