Page 12 of Arresting the Warlord

“No, it isn’t, but know this, I will hunt that monster down and kill it.”

“Promise?”

“You have my word. Do you see a light?”

Kathy shook her head.

Some spirits who died violently needed help to cross over. Reaching out mentally, I connected with the esoteric plane and chanted,“Miraculin sepulcrum ibidem solus novum. Domum rotundam vivtorie construxit!”

An iridescent glow popped into existence.

“Your mother’s waiting for you.”

“She is? Where?”

“See the doorway?”

“Yes.”A big smile lit up Kathy’s face.“Mom.”She ran into the light.

I severed my link with the esoteric plane and frowned when I sensed Jake sneaking up on me. Had he seen the portal? Probably. My gaze fell on a turquoise shaman’s bracelet. Shit! That wasn’t a good sign. I quickly grabbed a pair of latex gloves out of the murder bag and pulled them on.

Jake demanded. “What are you doing?”

“Gathering evidence.” I picked up the broken turquoise bracelet and held it up for him to see. “Is that okay with you?”

Jake examined it carefully. “You think it belongs to our suspect?”

“Or another victim.” I knew the owner of the bracelet was Dezba Yazzie, a Navajo shaman and a close friend of my father. I prayed nothing had happened to her.

“My scanner registered a huge power spike and there was a bright light in the sky.” Jake cocked his head. “Any idea what caused those?”

I gave him a pitying stare. “The bright light is called the sun.”

“And the power spike?” Jake’s right eye twitched.

“Haven’t got a clue.” I put the bracelet in an evidence bag. “Get anything out of the witness?”

“No. The shuttle’s coming to pick up this body too. It might be a good idea to record the remains before they arrive,” Jake sniped.

“Yes, sir,” I said politely and had the horde of blow flies bombard Jake.

Jake swatted madly at the buzzing insects. “Is this another one of your shaman powers?”

I blinked innocently as the flies completely avoided me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe they like your stinky aftershave.” I picked up my scanner and began documenting the crime scene.

Jake followed me. “I’m not wearing any aftershave.”

“Oh. Maybe if you bathed regularly you wouldn’t have this problem.”

“You’re a real riot.”

“And you’re a jackass. Now go away.”

“You’re not what you seem to be,” Jake spat.

“What? A cop trying to do her job?”

Jake leaned down until we were nose-to-nose. “You’re hiding something, and I’m really good at discovering secrets.”

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