Page 70 of Mystic Justice
‘You don’t need to. They’re looking for someone to bury alive.’
‘I’m currently a dryad. The earth contains roots and plant life – if I were buried alive, the trees would dig me out,’ he said confidently. ‘I’d be fine.’
A good point. I guessed I could remove any dryads from my ‘likely to be kidnapped and buried alive’ list.
‘Someone else won’t be,’ I said darkly. ‘But once Harbinger and his woman have killed their four targets, I believe they’ll keep on going. More deaths, more magical energy, more power. Killing gets easier the more you do it, as you well know.’ I paused but he didn’t bite, so I continued. ‘Dropping the bodies in yourterritory is meant to either piss you off or frame you. Either way, you’re in their sights, Jingo.’
‘Why, Inspector! I didn’t know you cared.’ His voice was warm, teasing.
My glare intensified. ‘I want you alive, Jingo, so that one day I can lock you up myself.’ I hung up.
‘Nice,’ Krieg said approvingly. ‘Solid mic-drop moment.’
Despite my dark mood his comment made me smile. ‘Thanks.’ I turned the comms to open. ‘Status check,’ I ordered.
‘Nothing here,’ Channing replied.
‘Nothing here,’ Elvira said.
‘All quiet,’ McCaffrey added. We were all tense; there were no quips or asides about kombucha tonight.
Frost was still ensconced in the station with Sandra. I waited for Ji-ho to check in from his van. When the silence dragged on just a beat too long, fear ricocheted through me.
I threw open my door and started to run. Ji-ho was afraid of being underground.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I pounded the pavement, my heart hammering. As I rounded the corner, I could see Ji-ho’s van – and the sliding side door was wide open. Shit!
He’d parked his van the next street over so it was unobtrusive, but that had also meant that there were no eyes on it. I ran to it, praying he was just listening to K-pop at full volume and drumming the rhythm on the desk, that he’d simply missed the check-in. Maybe he’d opened the sliding door because he was hot. Yeah, yeah, I was BS-ing myself, but I clung to that faint hope all the same.
I sprinted to the van and looked inside. Empty. Fuck!
I hit the comms. ‘Ji-ho is missing!’ As I slammed the van door closed, I spotted the claw marks around the door seal and my stomach sank. Not just missing: he’d been taken. Harbinger had wrenched open the van door. Claw marks meant he was in his griffin form and that meant wings; he’d probably snatched Ji-ho and was airborne, flying him to his death.
Their destinationhadto be the Chester Grove or at least somewhere in Grosvenor Park. ‘Loki!’ I yelled and my bird flewto me, his eyes solemn. ‘Fly to Grosvenor Park. I need aerial sweeps. Any sign of them, you come and find me. We’ll be right behind you.’
‘I see fuckers!’ Loki promised and took to the air. Somehow between one beat of his wings and the next, he disappeared. Could my avian friend teleport? Was that even athing?But I had no time to wonder about Loki because Ji-ho’s life was on the line.
The others had arrived, panting, fear in their eyes. We all liked Ji-ho – it would have been hard not to because he was friendly, warm and damned good at his job. He made our lives easier and I wished I’d told him that just once. Even if Mei’s parents looked down their noses at his job, we didn’t. He was valued, essential. Missing.
‘Grosvenor Park,’ I snarled. ‘They’ll be taking him there. At least I hope so, because if not we’ve got no idea where he is. Everyone head to the park – Elvira go to the north, Bland south, Channing east and McCaffrey west. McCaffrey, on your way contact the dryad grove. Ask them to check in with their trees and tell me if any of them sense a disturbance nearby. I’ll hit the centre. Comms on and stay in touch. Let’s move!’
We sprinted off to our respective vehicles. ‘Grosvenor Park!’ I barked to Krieg as we slid into the vehicle. He started the engine and I was surprised when it let out a loud roar.
He smiled. ‘Appearances can be deceptive, Inspector. It’s beat-up on the outside but souped-up on the inside.’ The car careened through the Liverpool streets.
Anxiety was crawling in my gut and I felt sick for Ji-ho, for what he was going through. We’d get to him in time – we had to. I tried to shove my emotions down because they were a weakness, a distraction. I needed to concentrate, tothink, not get lost in my own dark memories.
‘You’re not going to love this,’ Krieg murmured, ‘but check the glove compartment.’
I opened it and blinked. He was right: I didn’t love it. There was a police light in there. I didn’t grouse, just grabbed it and turned it on. Blue light flashing, I lowered the window and stuck it on the roof of the car. Krieg hit a button on his dashboard and a siren began to shriek. ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ I muttered.
‘Over dinner?’ he offered. ‘With a glass of wine?’
I appreciated his attempt at levity. ‘Deal.’
Impatience gnawed at me as we zoomed towards Chester. It would take us forty-five minutes – perhaps thirty-five the way Krieg was driving – and Ji-ho had last checked in fifteen minutes ago. The worst-case scenario was that Harbinger was already fifteen minutes ahead of us; best case, only mere moments. Griffins could fly fast but he was being weighed down by the victim he was carrying in his claws. We could catch up – but could we find them in time?
