Page 43 of Deadly Avarice
I don’t remember actually closing the door or the walk to my desk. My face alternated between complete shock and a grin so broad it hurt my cheeks. The next thing I knew I was at my desk, staring at a blank computer screen with thoughts of what type of ring Boone might like running through my mind.
Chapter
Fourteen
Erasmus
It had taken three days to come up with a date and time that worked for both Detective Cardoza and Janet Meeker. Janet hadn’t been happy when I told her I was going to meet with Detective Cardoza first. She’d reluctantly agreed on a time later in the afternoon. Just like last time, Janet started out friendly and grew annoyed and demanding by the end of the conversation. I’d never met a person so hot and cold.
Franklin was still working on identifying the John Doe in the morgue. Depending on the time I was finished and just how much necromancer juice I had left, I might offer to bring his victim’s soul back later today. If it was too late or if I was wiped, then it could wait until tomorrow. Unfortunately, the autopsy had already been performed. I mentally cringed at the idea of bringing a soul back into a cut up body. Most of the time, it went okay. However, when it went bad, it really went bad. At the very least, I could get Franklin a name.
It was a lot earlier in the morning than I liked getting started. The sun had risen, but barely. Thankfully I was driving west, headed to St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana so the sun wasn’t in my eyes. I had the radio on and had just finished a fast-foodmorning breakfast. I still had about a fourth of my soda left and considered stopping and getting more when I got closer to my destination. It was never a bad idea to sugar up before a big day of soul retrieval.
I’d traveled to Louisiana enough that I knew the radio stations along the way and when my favorite Mississippi one started to fade into scratches and dead space, I switched it up and continued on my merry way. While it was a workday, traffic was light on the open highway. The clouds were gone and the sun shone brightly in my review. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the beautiful day. It wouldn’t stay that way for long. It never did.
Along the way I was greeted with yards littered with blow-up Christmas decorations. I didn’t really understand the trend and often found them more gaudy than festive, but who was I to judge someone’s holiday spirit? The end of December was a festive time for witches and warlocks also. Winter solstice was widely celebrated and while those decorations were more subtle than the strings of brightly colored lights that lit up human Christmas, they were still nice to see. Hanukkah, Kwanza, and a litany of other celebrations also dotted the late December calendar. Honestly, it was amazing anything got done this time of year.
TheWelcome to Louisianasign greeted me to a different state, and I hummed along to a new song on the radio. I’d left home today before Franklin, but he kissed me goodbye and told me to call or text when I arrived. I had no idea how my lips could still feel so tingly hours later, and yet they did.
Thoughts of Franklin generally consumed any mental idle time. It was a good way to zone out and just be. That’s the mental place I was in when I noticed a large, black SUV looming in my rearview mirror. The driver was tailgating me in the worst way possible.
My mood instantly soured. “There’s plenty of room. Go the fuck around!” Of course the driver couldn’t hear me, but yelling at them still made me feel better.
Five minutes later, they were closer than ever. Exasperated, I pulled into the middle lane, hoping they’d pass me by. They didn’t. The vehicle followed. My irritation quickly morphed into unease. I yanked my car back into the right lane and the fucker followed me again. By now they were so close to my ass all I could see was their bumper.
I needed to get off the interstate. I also needed to call for help. “Call Frank—oof.” My body jerked as my car was rammed from behind. My seatbelt caught and jerked me back into position. “What the fuck?” I pressed on the accelerator while simultaneously rooting around in my pocket. Their vehicle was faster than mine, and I got slammed again. Hard. My car veered and I struggled for control. The timing was shit. I’d just latched onto the shield charm, and it flew out of my hand, landing somewhere on the passenger’s seat.
Grass and weeds tugged at my tires and ground my car to a halt. I was pitched to the side, half my car leaning down into the side ditch while the driver’s side was still clinging to the road. My neck hurt from whiplash and my chest ached from where the seatbelt dug in. With my head ringing and my heart hammering, I tried to get my bearings. Thankfully, the airbags hadn’t deployed. In the distance, I heard a car door slam, and I struggled to wiggle around enough to see what was going on. Had another driver stopped to check on me? Was I lucky enough that the police were nearby?
The all-black-clad body with an equally dark mask and hoodie pulled up over their head negated all those positive thoughts.
“Shit.” My seat belt loosened and I dove sideways, plastering myself into the passenger’s seat just as a bullet shattered thedriver’s side window. I wouldn’t get lucky a second time. My fingers scrambled and I felt the unique texture of Pops’s shield charm, activating it just as the sound of the gun pierced my ears again. The shield charm flared to life and when I looked to my left, I saw the tip of a bullet poking through the shield, its business end on my side of the shield, the trajectory clear. The damn thing was aimed right at me. This one wouldn’t have missed.
Several more rounds exploded outside as the person unloaded their gun on my car. The shield absorbed all of them. All I could see of my attacker were their eyes, now large and round with disbelief, narrowing into hatred and anger. With a strangled cry of frustration, they took off running back to their vehicle when the sound of sirens sounded in the distance. Gaia bless whoever had called the police.
I watched the damaged SUV fly past me, zipping down the road. I tried to see their license plate number but only caught the first letter—S on a Louisiana plate.
Heart still beating a mile a minute, my phone rang. Pops’s ringtone lighting up the interior of my damaged car. He’d been alerted the minute I activated the charm. While it was two hours earlier in California, Pops immediately responded.
Scrambling for my phone, I answered, “Hey, Pops.”
“Erasmus, are you—”
“I’m fine. Thanks to you.”Again, I silently thought.
“What happened?” Any sleepiness fled Pops’s tone. He was all worried business.
My laughter sounded hysterical, even to my own ears. “I don’t know why, but people keep shooting at me. I have to be doing something wrong,” I joked, my humor falling flat. “Or maybe it’s my car. Then again, I’ve been in a different one every time someone’s taken a shot at me. Looks like this time, my car took the unlucky hit.”
Pops’s breathing rattled across the phone line. “Is Franklin with you?”
“He’s at work. I was on my way to a job and… I’m really not sure what.” Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, my body was starting to crash. My head and neck hurt so I activated one of Pops’s pain charms and felt instant relief. By now, lights were flashing all around me. Cops were getting out of their vehicles and faces I didn’t know were peering in at me. “Pops, the police are here. I need to go.”
“Erasmus, I—”
“Can you do me a favor and call Franklin? Let him know I’m on I-10 and just crossed into Louisiana.”
“Consider it done. You will call me later.”
