Believer Read online

  “I’m sorry, Camille. We could not find out where they were keeping her.”

  “I traced her cell phone. We could start there. If she’s not there, burn the goddamn place down. Just so they know we’re not fucking around. Then—”

  “I know you’re angry. I know you want to act. But that is not the way to deal with these people. She is not dead, and, as of now, there are no plans to kill her. My contact is trying to find out more. We have to wait until then to move on this. Can you do that?”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Camille. We will talk more tomorrow. Okay? Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

  I exhaled loudly. “Alright. I won’t. Your contact was sure they won’t kill her?”

  “Yes,” she assured, “I will speak to you tomorrow. Try to get some sleep.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

  2.

  I woke up late. I was amazed I had slept at all. There was a note from Uncle Ted on the kitchen table saying I had to make my own way because he was leaving early. I hurried up and got ready, texting him that I was running late.

  I got on the subway and began my trek to work. Luckily, I had my mp3 player in my purse, so I could listen to music to pass the time. Like something out of a movie, the opening riff for ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ by Taylor Swift came on, and Jesse stepped onto the subway car.

  Or a dude that could have been Jesse’s twin. Or clone.

  Jesus.

  Except that wasn’t possible because Jesse was dead. His blue, bloated face as it lay on a morgue slab appeared in my mind as if it was burned onto the back of my eyelids. The LeFaye had killed him because of me.

  I gasped, sucking back tears.

  I tried hard not to stare, but I found my eyes constantly going back to this man. If I had not known how young Jesse’s little brother was, I would have thought it was him. An oversized sweatshirt seemed to cover much of his body, his hood pulled down enough that just the front of his scruffy blonde hair was sticking out. Baggy jeans draped over his not quite of the moment sneakers. His blue eyes were constantly darting around examining every possible mark or threat. I had a memory flash of us at sixteen, a sad gawky little me clutching his hand like a life preserver.

  My heart continued to sink down, and my chest started to hurt. I did not miss him. It was his death that made me sad. Harold LeFaye and his people had killed him to jumpstart my prophecy; I would be a monster if I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty.

  My greatest fear was that the person I was without him wasn’t good enough. That his presence was the only thing that made me worthwhile. That I wasn’t a person without him.

  He didn’t even look at me, this clone. I was happy and insulted all at the same time.

  When I finally got to work, Ramona was busy on the phone. She smiled and waved as I went back to my office. I piled my bags on my desk and headed to the break room to get coffee.

  Eric was stirring something in a cup when I walked in. He looked different than when I had last seen him. He wore a faded black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, black jeans, and black boots. He had a watch with a thick leather strap that looked more like a wrist cuff.

  “Good morning,” I said, and he jumped as if I had startled him. He turned and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.

  “Morning,” he replied. “There’re donuts.”

  “Awesome!” I slithered in beside him and made a cup of coffee. I slipped a small plate off the shelf and grabbed four chocolate glazed.

  I blushed when I saw his expression. “Sorry. I really need the sugar. Had a bit of a weird night.”

  “I’m not judging. Would it make you feel better if I told you this is my fourth coffee today?”

  I smiled at him. “Actually, it would.”

  He was better looking close up. His vibe was almost magnetic, every move made me watch a different part of his body like I was studying it for further exploration. He was a man in so many ways, and the notion that someone like him, who was probably ten years older than me, would take a girl my age seriously was almost laughable.

  “Hey, are you any good with Photoshop?”

  “I get by. Why? You need some help?” I asked.

  “I do. Can I come by your office later? You can give me a lesson?”

  “Absolutely. Let me get settled, and I will let you know when I am free.”

  “Cool, cool.” He waved a little as he left the break room, and I smiled all the way back to my office.

  My phone was dinging when I closed my door. Repeatedly. I rushed to put my stuff down in case it was something important about Bliss.

  It wasn’t.

  It was Kiera.

  WHERE IS JESSE’S PHONE?

  Before I could text back, Ramona paged me from the other phone. Her voice was low and flat. “Ted wants to see you in his office.”

  “Ruh roh.”

  “It’s not like that, kid. But you need to go. Now.”

  I knocked on Ted’s door and took his grunt as an okay to come in. He smiled a little too big as I sat down.

  “Who died?” I asked. Pulling down my shirt so it didn’t ride up as I moved, I sat sideways in the chair with my knees up over the arm rest.

  “Why would you think someone died?” He chuckled awkwardly. I knew he was hiding something.

  “Because you don’t look at me like that unless something is up. Something that is going to bother me. Out with it.”

  “Kiera called—”

  “She wants Jesse’s phone. I know.”

  “She wants Jesse’s phone because it is evidence in a homicide investigation.”

  I hesitated. “Oh.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? It doesn’t change anything. He’s still dead. Do they have any leads?” My thoughts started to swim, and I didn’t know what to say. I took a breath and tried to steady myself.

  He stared at me. I did my best to keep my face blank and unreadable.

  If I told him, he wouldn’t believe me. I didn’t want to think too much about the truth. Because in that version I was responsible for multiple deaths, which I had not fully come to terms with.

  “She didn’t say. She just said she needs that phone. Do you still have it?”

  “Yes. I will get in touch with her as soon as I go back to my office.” I stood up and went for the door, pausing and looking at him before I stepped out. “Right. Before I forget. You know Millie from the cafe down the street? Turns out she’s my mom’s cousin.”

  “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Back up. Come back in here and sit down. This is a big deal, Cas. How did you find this out?”

  I leaned against the doorframe, smiling weakly. “I vetted her. I was only able to sit and talk with her recently to corroborate. We’re going to hang out. She’s going to introduce me to her kid... kids? I forget now which she said. But anyways, it’s cool. Sort of a silver lining type deal.”

  He smiled warmly. “Absolutely. I am extremely happy for you.”

  “Great! I am going to go deal with this Kiera shit before it gets weird.” I shuffled off towards the door.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Cas?”

  “Right as rain.” I gave him a two finger salute, calling back to him as I walked out. “Now get back to work.”

  Jesse’s phone was still in my purse. I had copied its contents to my laptop already, so I wasn’t too worried about handing it over, but I was reluctant until Q got to take a look at it.

  I texted Q and filled her in, letting her know what was happening and asking if she was coming by today so she could do her thing before I had to hand it over. Then I texted Kiera. I told her I had the phone and not to worry, she would have it asap. When I didn’t get an immediate response back, I put my phone away. I was just about to get to work when there was a light knock at my door.

  Eric poked his head in. “You got a minute? I could use some help.”

  “Messed up, right?” I cou
ld tell by his confused expression that he was looking at my desk.

  He chuckled. “A little. But at least you’ve got a desk.”

  “You ready for the Photoshop help?”

  He smiled. “Absolutely. But the conference room would probably be better.”

  I stood up and slid out from behind my desk, collecting my phone, coffee and donuts, and then followed him out.

  His coffee cup was already waiting for us when we walked in, so I put my stuff down beside his. Once we were settled, he turned his laptop towards me and showed me the picture.

  “Lewis has got you doing the grunt work, huh?” I took a bite out of my chocolatey goodness. A quick thought of how I looked crossed my mind, and I became very self conscious of my appearance. With the back of my hand I brushed a few faded purple strands off my forehead and hoped for the best.

  “I like it. It’s paying my dues. I knew this job wasn’t going to be glamorous. Photoshop doesn’t want to cooperate though. It drives me nuts.”

  “You’ll get used to it. It’s really a matter of trial and error. I suggest fucking around with your own photos to see how certain functions work.”

  “That’s good advice. Thank you.”

  “This one is a bit grainy, so we do this.” I made a few adjustments to help balance the colours, then brightened it up. I took another bite of my food as I eyed the picture. “I see Mrs. Tanner was using us to hide an affair.”

  “Chris mentioned that. He just asked me to gather information about her. I haven’t met her or anything. There is this weird thing she does though.”

  I smiled. “Define weird.”

  “Once a week, at midnight, she orders a large pepperoni pizza.”

  “Oooh, how scandalous!”

  “That’s not the weird part! She eats the whole thing—by herself—while sitting cross-legged in her underwear on the floor of her home gym.” He took back his laptop, clicked on a few things, then turned back with a photo of Mrs. Tanner doing exactly what he said. It was hilarious and shocking.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. I am happy to know I’m not the only person who does that,” I replied, and we both started laughing.

  My phone rang, and I excused myself for a moment to answer.

  “Hey, Camille, it’s Millie. Sorry to call while you are at work,” she began. I watched Eric in my peripheral vision to see if he was listening.

  “It’s no problem. I was just about to text you.”

  “I don’t have much to tell you. My contact has gone AWOL so we need to go looking for her. We can gather more info as we do that.” The hair on the back of my neck stood up. This was not good at all.

  “Do you think they…”

  “No. The Kinkaid’s don’t have many witches in their employ. They really don’t want to lose this one.”

  “Why don’t you tell me her name? I will see if I can find her.”

  “Alright. Her name is Lilly Darling. Don’t get your hopes up. If she went poof, she won’t be easily found. We’ll be going out looking for her tonight. Are you coming?”

  “Of course. Who is we?” I asked. I was dead curious.

  “My daughter will be joining us. Do you know how to play poker?”

  3.

  Millie texted me later to say she would be by around 9PM to pick me up.

  Figuring out what was an appropriate outfit for this occasion was not easy. What does one wear to go searching for a witch? So I picked out something simple, and transferred my essentials to a smaller purse. A sweater with longer sleeves that I could pull down over my hands was a necessity. My Mom’s ring completed the outfit, and I was ready to go.

  I didn’t know where we were going, but part of being a good PI was being prepared for anything. And I was. Well, anything I understood.

  Ted was in front of the television when I came downstairs.

  “I’m going out with Millie and her daughter,” I told him, leaning over his chair and kissing his head. His greying hair smelt like Old Spice and faintly like cigarette smoke.

  “Oh yeah? Sounds cool. What are you guys doing?” He was nursing a beer and watching one of the various Law and Order’s.

  “No Grey’s Anatomy tonight?”

  He took a sip of his beer. “It’s not on tonight. Have fun with your new family.”

  “Are you trying to be bitchy or was that an accident?” I sat down on the floor in front of him. “Because you are my family. You and Cuddy and all the Bishops who took care of me after my parents died. Millie and her daughter and anyone else with the last name LeFaye are just my mom’s people. That’s all. And I like Millie.”

  “I like Millie too.” He leaned over and pulled me towards him, hugging me tightly. The smell of beer and his aftershave wrapped around me life a blanket. His body was warm, his cotton Ralph Lauren dress shirt was soft against my cheek.

  He sighed loudly into my hair. “I am just worried about you. You are a little too calm and collected since Jesse died.”

  “I’m doing okay. Weren’t you the one who said I am better equipped to deal with life than most people because of all the therapy I’ve had? Loving a junkie does things to your brain. You make peace with gnarly shit.”

  “I know. I just keep thinking if I were in your shoes, I would be a fucking mess,” he said as he let me go. “Especially now that it’s a homicide investigation.”

  “Should I call his parents? See how they are?”

  “No. They may expect something of you that you are probably not interested in doing. You are not the grieving widow.” He kept his eyes on me, his dark brows giving a hint of what his hair once looked like. He had a distinguished look about him, like the private investigators from the old noir movies that wore trench coats and fedoras.

  “Good point,” I said as the doorbell rang. I stood up and kissed him on the cheek. I smiled at him, my hand resting on his shoulder. He smiled back at me, and in that moment I felt like everything was going to be ok. That was part of Ted’s magic; his calm demeanour was a blessing after he took me in when my parents died.

  I grabbed my stuff and headed for the door. “Don’t wait up!”

  I stepped out on the porch, locking the door behind me. It felt like I had closed off one world and was stepping out into a new one. Millie pulled me into a hug, and when she backed away, she asked, “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay at the moment. The police have opened a homicide investigation into Jesse’s death. Have you heard anything about Harold and his people?”

  “No. Oddly enough, I haven’t. But I’m sure I mentioned before that they are an isolated group.”

  “Well, my cousin Kiera is on the case. They better have covered their asses or what’s left of them are going to jail,” I said as I followed her off the porch. Her black SUV was parked right out front.

  “What’s left...?”

  She got in the driver’s seat and unlocked the back door so I could get in. A young, petite woman sat in the passenger seat; she looked a little older than me. Her dark brown hair was cut in a cute short bob with bangs that was glossy and beautiful. She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “Camille, this is my daughter Nya. Nya, this is Camille. Now, you were saying something about what’s left?”

  “Can I speak freely?”

  “Yes, of course. You’re safe with us.”

  “Okay. When I had that altercation with Harold and them, I took a few of them out. They told me they killed Jesse because I am some ‘prophecy girl’, and I flipped out. I used my powers—for the first time I might add—so I didn’t know what I was doing, and I killed Harold’s wife along with a few others.”

  “How did you pull that off?”

  “Well,” I began, looking down at my hands. “These things came out of my hands, the best way to explain them is like strands of energy and power that looked, to me, like threads and attached onto them. These threads stuck themselves to a deeper part of the person, like plant roots digging into soil. In a burst o
f anger, which is understandable because they were threatening me and Bliss, I pulled on them. When I did it was like I pulled their essence out of their bodies. What came out of Harold’s wife was like a puff of smoke. My hands also turn super white and it’s freaky as shit. I’m scared what will happen to my brain when I process what I have done, and what I can do.”

  “Have you summoned anyone yet?” Millie asked.

  “Not that I am aware of.”

  “Have you ever had a dream where you felt like the person was really there? Like it was super real, and you woke up confused?” Nya asked.

  “Um... yeah. I have. That was summoning?”

  “A form of it. Some spirits choose to come forward that way because it’s easier on the person and easier for the spirit to communicate on that plain of existence.”

  “Does this mean I can talk to my mom? To both my parents?”

  They both were silent.

  “We don’t know. So we’re not going to comment. There is a possibility, but there are no guarantees. Magic doesn’t work that way,” Millie’s tone was very to the point. “We need to prepare you for where we’re going. This is not your uncle’s poker game.”

  I chuckled. “You would probably be shocked if I told you about some of my uncle’s poker games. Ted’s the good uncle.”

  “You have to keep your temper down. We’re not walking in there to prance around Blanchmains like a prized pony, if you catch my drift. If you see someone use their powers, you have to act like business as usual. Same if there are any ‘others’ there. Got it?”

  “Got it. I’m good. I promise,” I told them.

  “You know, if you don’t mind me saying,” Nya began, “You have handled all this really well, Camille. You’re so calm and collected when you’re talking about pulling essence out of someone’s body.”

  “Nya!” Millie slapped her arm.

  “What? If I was in her shoes, I would be bugging the fuck out. Like, postal.” Nya smiled back at me. “Sorry! I’m good at putting my foot in my mouth.”