Industrial Magic

Gone



FOLLOWING THE ADDRESS I GAVE, THE CAB STOPPED IN front of a square block of brick squeezed between a restaurant and a small accounting firm. Unlike its neighbors, this storefront had no obvious signage. It took a minute of searching to see the near-microscopic sign in the window: THE MARSH MEMORIAL CLINIC.

“Jesus,” Jaime said as I rang the after-hours bell. “What is this? A rehab center?”

“A private hospital,” I said.

“Shit. Who do you have to kill to get in here?” She caught my expression. “Ah, not who, but how many. A Cabal hospital.”

A blond woman in her forties opened the door. “Ms. Winterbourne. Hello. Mr. Cortez said you’d be by this evening. Come in, please. And I presume this is Jaime Vegas?”

Jaime nodded.

“Has there been any change in Dana’s condition?” I asked.

A brief flutter of emotion rippled the nurse’s composure. “I’m afraid not. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Mr. Cortez asked that this be a private visit, so if you need me, please buzz. Otherwise, I won’t bother you. She’s in room three.”

I thanked her and followed her directions into a side hall. As we walked, Jaime looked around, taking in everything.

“And just think,” she said. “This is for the employees. They’ve probably got a place in the Swiss Alps for the execs. And the family? God only knows. Can you imagine having this kind of money?”

“Remember where it comes from,” I said, quoting Lucas.

“I try, but you know, sometimes, you see what a Cabal can do and you think, hmmm, maybe tormenting a few souls now and then wouldn’t be such a bad gig. You’re dating the guy who’s supposed to own all this one day. I’m sure you think about that.”

“Not in a good way.”

“More power to you, then. I’d be tempted. Hell, I’ve been tempted. Ever met Carlos?”

“Carlos Cortez? No.”

“He’s the youngest. Well, you know, the youngest of the legit—uh, of Delores’s kids. Carlos is the hunk of the litter. Takes after his mother, who’s gorgeous…and as vicious as a rabid dog. Carlos got the vicious genes too, but seems to have missed out on Benicio’s brains, so he’s not very dangerous. Anyway, I met Carlos at a club a couple years back, and he showed some definite interest. There were a few moments there when I was tempted. I mean, here’s a guy with money and power, wrapped in a damn near perfect gift box. What more could a girl want? Okay, maybe someone who doesn’t have a reputation for nasty bedroom games, but everyone’s got their hang-ups, right? Honest to God, that’s what I thought. I’m standing there, looking at this guy and thinking, hmmm, maybe I could change him.”

“Probably not.”

“No shit, huh? I don’t learn my lessons well, but that’s one I’ve committed to heart. Take it or leave it, ’cause you ain’t gonna change it. But that still didn’t keep me from thinking about Carlos. Power and money—if Calvin Klein could bottle the scent, he’d make a fortune.” She tossed a grin my way. “Just think, we could’ve been sisters-in-law. We’d certainly have livened up family reunions.”

I pushed open a door marked with a small 3. “They’re probably lively enough as it is.”

Jaime laughed. “I bet. Can you imagine—”

She stopped as we stepped into the room. It was twice the size of my apartment bedroom. A leather couch and two matching recliners were grouped around a coffee table just inside the door. Past that was a king-size bed. A girl with long blond hair lay in the middle of it, a sunflower-patterned quilt pulled up across her chest. Her eyes were closed. Bandages encircled her neck. To one side, machines bleeped discreetly, as if trying not to wake her.

My breath hitched. How could anyone—? How could her mother—? Goddamn it! Why, why, why? I closed my eyes, swallowed, walked to Dana’s bedside, and took her hand.

“Holy shit,” Jaime whispered. “She’s a kid.”

“Fif—” My throat dried up. I tried again. “She’s fifteen. But she looks small for her age.”

“Fifteen? Jesus Christ. When Lucas said ‘girl,’ I thought, you know, he meant a woman. I should have known better. He says girl, he means girl.”

“Is that a problem?”

Jaime inhaled, gaze glued to Dana. “Tougher, yes. Not to communicate. I mean”—she tapped a manicured nail against her forehead—“up here. What do the doctors say?”

“She’s stable. As to whether she’ll regain consciousness, they don’t know.”

“Well, we might find that out tonight. If she’s crossed over, I’ll know it.”

Jaime rolled her shoulders, approached the bed, and gripped the side rail. She stared down at Dana, then shook her head, opened her oversize purse, and pulled out what looked like a jumbo makeup bag.

“I’ll call you in when I’m ready,” she said, not looking up.

“I’m an old hand at this,” I said. “Well, not exactly an old hand, but I’ve helped out at a few summonings. Here, pass me the censer and herbs and I’ll set them up while you—”

“No.”

The word came out sharp enough to make me jump. Jaime clutched her tool bag closed, as if I might pry it from her hands.

“I’d rather you waited in the hall,” she said.

“Uh, sure. Okay. Call me then.”

I walked to the door, then glanced back to see her still holding the bag closed, waiting. I pushed open the door and stepped into the hall.

Well, I said necromancers were queer beasts. Jaime might look a far cry from your typical spacey-eyed necro, but you have to wonder about a woman who’ll strip in front of a stranger, yet draws the line at letting the same person watch her perform a summoning ceremony. Not that I minded being relegated to the sidelines. I knew what was in that Gucci makeup bag, and it wasn’t designer lip-liner.

To summon the dead you needed artifacts of death. In that kit, there’d be everything from grave dirt to scraps of moldy grave clothes to, well, dead things…or, at least, travel-size pieces of them. The tools-in-trade of a necromancer. Made me really happy to be a witch, casting spells surrounded by sweet-smelling herbs, pretty gem-stones, and antique filigreed chalices.

About ten minutes later, Jaime called me in. When I entered, she was sitting beside the bed, holding Dana’s hand. Most necromancers leave their tools out during a summoning, but Jaime’s makeup bag had vanished, along with its contents. Only the censer remained, burning vervain, which necromancers used when contacting either traumatized souls, such as murder victims, or the souls of those who didn’t realize they were spirits.

“It didn’t work?” I asked.

“It worked.” Jamie’s voice had faded to a strained whisper and her face was pale. “She’s here. I haven’t—” Her voice strengthened. “I haven’t made contact yet. I think it’d be easiest on her if I used channeling. Do you know how that works?”

I nodded. “You let Dana speak through you.”

“Right.”

“So I’ll ask her the questions and—”

“No, no,” Jamie said. “Well, yes, you’ll ask the questions, but I’ll relay them to her, and let her speak through me. She doesn’t take over my body. That’s full channeling, and if a necro ever suggests that, find someone else. No necro in her right mind ever gives herself completely over to a spirit.”

“Got it.”

“Now, for the first part, making contact, I’ll do that on my own. It’s easier that way. I’ll establish contact and…explain things.” She swallowed. “I’ll tell her what happened, where she is. She may know, but…with kids…there can be some resistance to the truth.”

Damn it, I hadn’t thought of this. We weren’t just asking Jaime to contact Dana. We were asking her to tell the girl that she was lying in a hospital bed, comatose.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “If you don’t want to do this, I totally understand—”

“I’m fine. She’ll figure it out sooner or later, right? Now, she’s almost certainly not going to remember a play-by-play.”

“Trauma amnesia,” I said. “Lucas told me about it.”

“Good. I’ll make contact now. This may take a while.”

Twenty minutes ticked by. During that time, Jaime sat ramrod straight, eyes closed, hand clutching Dana’s, the occasional twitch of her cheek the only sign that something was happening.

“Okay,” Jaime said finally, in a cheerful chirp. “Now there’s someone here who’s going to help us catch the guy who did this to you, okay, kiddo?”

“Good.” The response was pitched an octave higher than Jaime’s voice.

“Her name is Paige, and she’s a witch, just like you. Do you know what the Coven is?”

“I…I’ve heard of it…I think.”

“It’s a group for witches. Paige used to be in the Coven, helping witches there, but now she works outside the Coven, so she can help all witches.” That was a nice way of putting it. I mentally thanked Jaime for the positive spin. “What I want you to do is tell her everything you remember, then she’ll ask you some questions, and we’ll catch this guy before you wake up.”

So Dana was okay. Thank God. I relaxed for the first time since walking into the room.

Dana asked when she’d be waking up.

“Any day now,” Jaime said. “Your dad is supposed to be here soon—”

“My dad? I knew he’d come. Is my mom there?”

“She’s been in and out,” Jaime said. “Taking care of you.”

“And they’ll be there? When I wake up?”

“Sure will. Now, can you tell Paige what you saw?”

“Sure. Hi, Paige.”

I opened my mouth, but Jaime answered for me. “You won’t be able to hear Paige, hon. I’ll have to relay her messages. But you’ll get to see her when you wake up. She’s been pretty worried about you.”

Dana smiled through Jaime, the smile of a kid who wasn’t used to people giving a damn. I’d make sure her dad knew about Dana’s situation with her mother and, if he was the kind of father Benicio said he was, Dana would never have to spend another night on the streets. If he didn’t, well, then I’d see to it myself.

“I’ll try,” Dana said. “But…I don’t remember it so well. It’s all jumbled up, like something I saw on television a long time ago and can’t really remember.”

“That’s okay, Dana,” Jaime said. “We know you won’t remember much, so if you don’t, we understand, but if you do remember something, anything at all, that’ll be great.”

“Well, it was Sunday night. I was coming home from a party. I wasn’t loaded or anything. I’d had a joint, but that’s it, just one joint I shared with this guy I knew. So I was walking home through the park—I know that sounds dumb, but around there, the park seemed safer than the roads, you know? I was being careful, staying on the path, looking, listening. And then…”

Her voice trailed off.

“Then what, Dana?” Jaime prompted.

“Then…I think I must forget what happens next because all I remember is this guy was suddenly standing right behind me. I must have heard him coming, maybe I tried to run, but I don’t remember.”

“Ask her—” I began.

Dana continued. “I know you’re going to want to know what the guy looked like, but I didn’t really see him. I know I should have…”

“Hey, if it was me,” Jaime said, “I’d have been freaking so bad, I wouldn’t remember a damn thing. You’re doing fine, kiddo. Just take it slow and give us what you can.”

“He grabbed me, and next thing I know, I’m on the ground, way off the path, in this forest. I was kind of awake, but not really, and I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep.”

“Drugged?” I asked.

Jaime relayed the question.

“I—I guess so. Only, it didn’t feel…I just remember being tired. I don’t even think he had me tied up, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want to move. I just wanted to sleep. Then he put this rope around my neck, and I blacked out, then I was here.”

“I want to talk about the phone call you made,” I said.

“I made a phone call?”

“To the emergency line,” I said. “The Cabal—the place where your dad works.”

“I know what you mean, but I don’t remember. Dad made my sister and me memorize it, and I know I’m supposed to call them first, so I must have.”

I prompted her with a few questions about her attacker’s voice, regional accent, word usage, anything that might have stuck in her mind more than a physical description, but she could tell me little more than that he didn’t sound like he came from “around here.”

“Oh, there was one thing he did say that seemedweird. When he started choking me. It seemed like he was talking to someone, but there wasn’t anyone there. Like he was talking to himself, only he used a name.”

I perked up. “Do you remember it?”

“I think it was Nasha,” Dana said. “That’s what it sounded like.”

“Ask her what exactly he said,” I said, and Jaime did.

“He said he was doing this for this person, this Nasha,” Dana said.

“Ritual sacrifice,” I said.

Jaime nodded. We continued to prod Dana’s memory, but she’d obviously been only partially conscious when she’d heard her attacker speak. Next we moved back to her attacker. He was likely supernatural, and may have done something to indicate his race, but Dana couldn’t recall anything. As the daughter of a witch and a half-demon, she was familiar with both spell-casting and demonic shows of power, but her attacker had demonstrated neither.

“That’s great, hon,” Jaime said when I indicated that I’d run out of questions. “You’ve been a big help. Thank you very much.”

Dana smiled through Jaime. “I should be thanking you. And I will, when I wake up. I’ll take you guys out for lunch. On me. Well, on me and my dad.”

“Su—sure, kiddo,” Jaime said, gaze flicking away. “We’ll do that.” She glanced at me. “Can I send her back now?”

I nodded, and capped my pen. “Tell her I’ll see her when she wakes up.”

A few minutes later, Jaime stood and rubbed her shoulders.

“You okay?” I asked.

She made a noncommittal noise and reached for her handbag. I stifled a yawn, then stepped into the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.

“So, do you have any idea when she’ll regain consciousness?” I said as I came out.

“She won’t.”

I stopped and turned slowly. Jaime was fussing with something in her purse.

“What?” I said.

Jaime didn’t look up. “She’s crossed over. She’s gone.”

“But you—you said—”

“I know what I said.”

“You told her she was fine. How could you—?”

Jaime’s gaze snapped to mine. “And what was I supposed to say? Sorry, kid, you’re dead, you just don’t know it yet?”

“Oh, my god.” I sunk into the nearest chair. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean—I didn’t mean—putting you through that—”

“Comes with the territory. If not me, then someone else, right? You need to catch this bastard, and this was the best way to get information, so…” She rubbed her hand over her face. “I could really use a drink. And some company. If you don’t mind.”

I scrambled from the chair. “Sure.”