On the table in front of us stood fat stacks of cash and piles of colorful potion ampoules, baggies filed with patches, and some additional alchemical props thrown in for effect. Most of the props had been gathered in a raid we’d done two days earlier at Aphrodite’s temple. In the end, Gardner had gotten her potions and money on the table like she wanted.
She was wrapping up her spiel. “I have been in touch with AUSA Grey and his is already building a case against the remaining members of Aphrodite Johnson’s coven, including the former madam of a sex magic temple in Atlanta, Fontina Douglas, for crimes including two counts of murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, and a host of other crimes that should put several of them away in Crowley Penitentiary for a very long time.” She waited for the applause to die down before continuing. “I speak on behalf of myself, the entire MEA, as well as Detective Prospero and Special Agent Morales, in thanking the Babylon Police Department, including Commissioner Adams, newly appointed Chief Eldritch, Fire Inspector Perry, and Detective Duffy for the help in this case. We could not do our work without their cooperation.”
The men she’d name-checked stood and did their best to look humble.
Not one of us in that room had suspected Aphrodite Johnson as being behind those murders. Yet here we were, taking credit for their death.
A butterfly touch brushed my left hand. I glanced down and saw Morales shoot me a look. He was supposed to be hexed out of his gourd, but his eyes looked plenty clear to me. We’d worked together long enough that he could probably recite my thoughts to me verbatim. It helped that he usually shared my impatience for the spectacle. The difference between us was that he saw it as a necessary evil, whereas I just saw bullshit.
“We’ll take a few questions,” Gardner said.
Journalists leapt out of their chairs and waved hands to be called on. Gardner selected a Hispanic reporter I recognized from the local evening news. “Carmen Fuentes, Channel 10, Action News,” she said. “My question is for Detective Prospero.”
I stepped up and nodded, trying not to look like I wanted to run away. “Will you be under any sort of disciplinary action for cooking dirty magic for Aphrodite?”
A pocket of flame erupted in my gut at the gall of the question. Luckily, Gardner stepped in to field it. “Absolutely not. It is only thanks to the quick thinking of Detective Prospero and Mayor Volos that everyone walked away with their lives. In fact, I believe the mayor is working on a special commendation for the detective.”
That was the first I’d heard of that possibility. With cameras on me and Morales at my side, I kept my expression blank. But inside, I was conflicted between embarrassment and dread. I hadn’t spoken to Volos since he’d hauled me out of the theater. I probably owed him an apology for dragging him into that scene, and a thank-you for pulling me out of the shootout. But I hadn’t allowed myself to wallow too much in the fact that I owed him. Again.
“Is it true that Detective Duffy is retiring from the force?” another reporter asked.
I perked up at that one. Duffy looked about as excited to address the press as he’d have been about getting his prostate exam. But he couldn’t avoid the expectant looks.
“Yes, that’s true,” he said. “My last day will be in a few weeks. I’ve already started working with Chief Eldritch on identifying my replacement.”
“What about Detective Prospero?” a reporter shouted.
All eyes turned to me. Duffy looked like he wanted to cry. Eldritch looked like someone had offered him a shit sandwich.
“What do you say, Detective?” someone shouted.
Morales nudged me. My feet felt like they weighed fifty pounds as I stepped up to the mic. “I wouldn’t dream of trying to fill Detective Duffy’s shoes,” I said. “Besides, I’d love to keep working with the MEA as long as they’ll have me.”
Apparently, I said the right thing, because Eldritch visibly relaxed.
“That’s all the questions we have time for today,” Gardner said. “Thank you.”
* * *
After the press conference, I accompanied Morales back to his room. Once the nurses got him settled, I let out a huge sigh of relief at the blessed silence.
He’d been pretty quiet through the conference and the ride up to his room.
“You all right?” I asked.
He’d been looking out the window while I chatted with the nurses, and now he turned his head on the pillow to look at me. The light slanting in highlighted the bruises under his eyes and the paleness of his skin. The doctor said he had at least another week to go in the hospital before he could go home, but he was looking at months of rehab for the arm.
After that? Well, we didn’t talk about that yet.
“Drew?” I prompted when he didn’t immediately answer.
“I was just thinking about Yü Nü,” he said.
I frowned. “What about her?”
“How she jumped in front of you.”
In all the craziness since he got shot, I hadn’t had a lot of time to process everything that had gone down at the theater. But every night, I’d had a dream where I was dying and Yü Nü offered me an elixir. Each time, she whispered that a friend had sent her.
“Maybe it was a reflex,” I said, brushing it off. I rose and busied myself pruning the flowers that lined the windowsill.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Jumping in front of a bullet for someone is a pretty big deal.”
“Not when you know you’re immortal.”
He lay his head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling philosophically. “Duffy’s retiring.”
“Yep.” I threw a handful of dead red and white rose petals in the garbage. As I did, I spotted a discarded newspaper on top. A face in a picture on the front page grabbed my attention.
I removed it and held the image up to the light. The man in the picture looked a lot like the one who’d been meeting with Hung and Volos at the Buddhist restaurant. I scanned the photo’s caption. Senator Thomas Graves (R-NY) visits Babylon for a GOP fundraiser
“I’ll be damned,” I breathed.
“Huh?”
The doctor had urged all of us to keep stress away from Morales to aid in healing. I was pretty sure if I told him Volos had a United States Senator in his pocket, his blood pressure would skyrocket just like mine was.
“They’re expecting rain tomorrow.” I stashed the paper with my jacket before I went back to the bed. Later, I’d have to figure out why Volos, who was a Democrat, had business with a Republican senator from New York, but for now, Morales needed my attention.
I straightened the tray table across the bed, discarding bits of trash to distract myself from the theories popping up about Volos and the senator.
“I saw you,” Morales said quietly.
I looked up, feeling guilty even though there was no way he’d know what I was thinking about. “When?”
“That night. I saw you save Duffy.”
I looked around the room for something else to tidy. “Let’s talk about something else, okay?”
He patted the edge of his bed. “C’m’ere.” His lids looked heavy and his tone slurred a little. The nurses had given him a dose of pain potion before she left, and they were already kicking in.
I perched on the edge of his bed and took his left hand. His grip was surprisingly strong. I turned our joined hands over so I could look closer at the scars webbing across the surface. It hit me then that he’d probably have to relearn how to be a Leftie for a while.
“I told Gardner.”
My stomach felt like it dropped ten stories. “When?”
“Apparently, it all came out when I was coming out of anesthesia.” His tone was rueful.
“And?”
“And we’re going to have a discussion once I get out of here. But it didn’t sound like she was ready to send me to the clink.”
“That’s good.” I smoothed a hand across his forehead. “That’s real good.”
He took my hand and held it in his left. “I can’t change the past,” he said, his words slurring.
“Shh. Let’s talk about it later.”