A Life for a Life

A couple of hours later, Jess felt mostly human again after taking over-the-counter pain meds and soaking some of the soreness out of her muscles in the bathtub. One of the healers had also given her a spelled cream to put on her sunburns and the relief was enough to make a girl almost weep. After an hour, the burn was gone and Jess was sporting a nice tan.

Jess sent text messages to Alex and Michelle to check in with them as soon as she got home. Alex replied right away with a smiley face and a thumbs up, but it wasn’t until Jess got out of the tub that there was finally a response from Michelle.

Keeping me overnight in hospital. Concussion.

Jess winced and typed back a quick reply.

I’m so sorry, Michelle. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.

Not your fault. And I’ll be fine, don’t worry :).

Jess sighed and put her phone on the charger since it was nearly dead again. Danger came with the job, but she still felt guilty for letting her co-worker get injured.

Despite her ordeal, Jess was restless. Her mind spun with the facts of the murder cases alternating with who would send a bomb within another bomb. What was the point of the light bomb? Were they were trying to make a statement about even when witches think they’re safe, they’re really not? What was her killer trying to accomplish really?

It was a jumbled mess in Jess’s brain. When she didn’t come up with any answers, she decided the best use of her unexpected free time was to work on her magical garden.

Jess moved her couch so it was up against a wall, revealing a circle permanently embedded in the wood underneath. It was big enough for her to sit cross-legged in the center comfortably and after taking her position, she poured a little of her magic into the circle to activate it.

Many forms of magic could be done outside of a circle but Jess was an open sensitive, meaning she received sensations from her surroundings all the time without even touching anything—in her case, usually impressions about people. The shield in her mind protected her from being assaulted by the impressions uncontrollably, but a circle also did the same thing. Being within one was the only way she liked to bring her shields down completely.

Jess took a deep breath and closed her eyes, visualizing the wall of vines around her senses. She slowly detangled them, watching as they retreated into the ground until there were only the barest nubs left, giving her something to start with when she wanted to bring them back up. Next, she pictured her magic garden and pretended she was tending it, pulling wisps of magic from the ground up into roses, petunias, and honeysuckle until they bloomed with color. After that she watered them, circled the air until a breeze formed, and even used fire to clear away the brush of spent magic. Magic came from the elements and she used her imagination to incorporate each one until she felt brimming with life, strong and healthy.

Once she finished tending her magic garden, Jess took the opportunity to take stock of her stored spells, namely in her rings. She only had two knockout spells left after capturing the Magic 8 Ball user and since it was one of her more frequently used spells, she made a mental note to get more from Angela, the witch WISP kept on retainer for such things. On the same ring was the protection spell she had used on her hands when handling the black magic of the bomb sent to WISP.

She wore three other rings consistently, one full of containment spells she could use on suspects, another with tracker spells, if she happened to have a personal item for tracking, and the third with energy burst spells. The last one was the most dangerous as the resulting crash was swift and brutal and had to be timed so she didn’t leave herself vulnerable, but sometimes it was necessary in a pinch.

Jess wove together a few containment spells by interlocking flowers in her mind and stored the spells in her ring. Her other spelled rings were fine so, satisfied, Jess rebuilt her shield of vines and released the circle. She swayed a little after standing up, exhaustion eating at her as if she really had spent hours working in a garden, but the moment passed. Deciding food was in order, Jess went to peruse the fridge.

She was considering her dinner options when there was a knock at the door. Jess opened it to see Charlie, holding up a six-pack of beer and Chinese takeout.

“I thought you could use something a little more substantial than frozen pizza and ice cream this time,” Charlie said with a grin.

“After the day I’ve had, you bet,” Jess said, letting her in with a smile. She got them plates and napkins while Charlie took the food to the coffee table. Plates dished up, Jess cracked open a beer and took a long swallow before sitting back into the couch with her food.

“That’s what I needed. Thanks, partner,” Jess said.

“You’re welcome. I wasn’t sure if you had a food or beer preference but you don’t seem the overly picky type. And I mean that in a good way,” Charlie added, brow creasing. Jess laughed.

“It’s okay, I know what you meant. And I appreciate you bringing this for me. It was going to be canned soup tonight.”

“Not much of a cook, are you?”

Jess shrugged. “Not really. What about you?”

“Yes, I like cooking when I have the time. I’m one of those people that does a lot of cooking on my day off and freezes it for later when I’m working.”

“Even though you don’t eat a lot?” Jess asked, noting the vegetables and a few pieces of sweet and sour chicken that was all that was on Charlie’s plate.

“I get full quickly so I can’t eat a lot at once. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like food because I do.”

“Hmm, okay.” They ate in companionable silence for a while. It wasn’t until Jess cleared her plate and picked up her beer that she spoke again.

“You’re the best, Charlie.”

“Thank you. I’ve got some cookies here too, if you want any,” Charlie offered with a wink. These she pulled out of her bag in a Tupperware container. Jess grinned.

“You baked me cookies? How sweet,” she teased. Charlie threw a napkin at her.

“Actually, I baked these for myself last night and brought a few for lunch but with the light bomb and everything, I never got around to eating them. And now I’m generously offering to share with you.” Charlie pulled off the lid on the Tupperware and presented the cookies with a dramatic flourish towards Jess. Jess laughed and grabbed a cookie. They were chocolate chip, her favorite.

Jess took a bite and her eyes widened in surprise. “Did you put a charm or something on these? Because this is, like, literally the best cookie I’ve ever had.”

Charlie laughed and shook her head. “There’s no charm, but my abilities with inanimate objects sort of help me get the amount of ingredients exactly right. Or so I’m told.”

“Man, I can’t wait to try some of your cooking sometime,” Jess said as she grabbed another cookie. “Is there anything you can’t do?” Instead of the smile she was expecting, Charlie frowned down at her lap.

“Yes, I’m not good with people.”

Jess was confused. “You don’t seem to have problems getting along with people that I’ve noticed.”

“Not getting along with them—that I can do fine. I’m a reasonably nice, easygoing person—I think. But I can’t read anybody. I’m terrible at interrogations because I can never tell if a suspect is lying to me,” Charlie confessed.

“Well, you know that’s pretty much my specialty so I’ve got your back there. Don’t worry.” Jess still didn’t see what Charlie was getting so upset about.

“Matt asked me out,” Charlie blurted. Jess took a moment before answering.

“And you didn’t see it coming,” she guessed.

“No! I had no idea he had any interest in me at all.”

“Are you interested in him?”

“How should I know?” Charlie burst out in frustration. “I mean, he seems nice and he’s cute enough and all, but I usually wait a long time before making my mind up about someone because I know I’m such a bad judge of character.” Jess started grinning, unable to help herself. Charlie smacked her arm.

“Shut up, it’s not funny,” she pouted, but the corners of her mouth were twitching upwards.

“Okay, okay, well what did you say to him?”

“Nothing! I just stood there gaping like a moron for a few seconds until we were interrupted. I’ve been avoiding him ever since. I mean we work together; you shouldn’t date someone you work with, right?” Charlie asked desperately.

“Well, technically, he doesn’t work for WISP so that might make him fair game,” Jess pointed out.

“So you think I should go for it?”

“Only if you want to. It’s your love life.”

“You are no help at all, you know that?” Charlie complained, slumping into the couch.

Jess laughed out loud. “If you think you like him, go on the date. If you’re worried about it, wait until after this case is over. Good enough?” Charlie nodded but it wasn’t very enthusiastic. Jess decided she needed time to think it over so she changed the subject.

“So, before the bomb disaster, did you learn anything new today?”

“Nothing at Sara’s apartment, but I did pick up a faint trail of magic outside.” Charlie took off the necklace she was wearing and used magic to make it float around the room, letting Cracker chase after it but keeping it out of reach. Jess grinned. Anyone who played with her cats was okay by her.

“The trail grew stronger as I followed it, like I started at the end of it rather than the beginning. It took me all the way to the diner where Sara works, but then it just kind of ended. I couldn’t find any source or object at the diner it was tied to,” Charlie continued. Jess bit her lip, thinking it over.

“Sara told me that she recognized Chloe as a one-time customer at the diner and of course Sara works there. Do you think that could be our connection?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s an avenue we haven’t explored yet.”

“Right, well tomorrow we can start looking at everyone who works there and maybe ask Sara about any regular customers. Maybe one of them is our guy,” Jess suggested. Charlie agreed with her, then helped Jess clean up the dinner mess. After Charlie headed home, Jess collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

*

The next day, Jess was greeted with several “How are you doing?” and “Glad to see you back” comments from her co-workers. Jess appreciated the sentiment as she made her way to her desk. This time she beat Charlie in.

“Morning John,” Jess said as she sat down. When he didn’t answer, Jess looked over to see him frowning at nothing on the wall, deep in thought.

“John? Everything alright?” Jess asked, reaching over to tap him on the shoulder.

He jolted. “Oh, hi Jess. Yeah, I’m fine. How are you? No lasting damage from yesterday?” Jess’s senses told her John was lying, but she let it slide.

“Fit as a fiddle. Whatcha working on?”

“Oh, the usual. Some cursed jewelry making the rounds at pawn shops and a troll who thinks his neighbor is out to curse him. Nothing interesting,” John said with forced nonchalance. Jess frowned because now John was really lying. Her senses were waving a red flag right at her.

She opened her shields and peered at John’s aura once his back was turned. John had always had a normal yellow soul, not too hardened yet by his few years as a cop since he usually dealt with the lighter crimes. Today, though, there was a dark purple edge to it that Jess associated with extreme stress or disappointment. It was a color she often saw around parents coming in to collect a troubled teenager who got on the wrong side of the law.

What she saw bothered Jess, but John was a good man. If he needed help with something, he would ask. She turned to her computer and entered a search for Murphy Sanchez, the Librarian, with a capital L and all. They needed to get a meeting with him to see if he had ever heard of a spell that stole life forces or something that would cause a shadow around people’s souls that made them go crazy.

She placed the call and to her surprise, got a meeting for that afternoon.

“Murder is serious business,” the assistant drawled in response to her surprise. She hung up before Jess could question her further. By then, Charlie had arrived and was sitting at her desk. Jess told her about the meeting.

“So that means we have all morning free. You want to go to the diner and see if we can talk to some people there?” Jess asked in conclusion. Charlie agreed and they gathered their stuff to leave. Jess tossed one last worried look John’s way, but he was focused on his computer screen. She’d have to work on him later.

When they arrived at the diner, the breakfast rush was dying down as people headed off to work. Jess and Charlie snagged stools at the counter and ordered cups of coffee while they waited for Sara to finish up with a couple of customers before she made her way to them.

“Good morning Inspectors,” Sara greeted them.

“Hi Sara. How’re you feeling? Is the bracelet still working?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, I feel fine for the most part. A little out of sorts without my magic, but at least I’m functional,” she informed them. “Is that why you guys are here? Checking up on me?”

“Not entirely. I’m glad you’re doing better, but we actually wanted to talk to you about the diner. Have you noticed anything off about some of your usual customers? Or even not usual customers?” Sara thought about it for a moment as she wiped down the counter.

“There’s this one guy, comes in about once a week. He always orders the same thing, eggs benedict and coffee, and always pays in cash so I don’t know his name. Been coming here for at least a year, I think. The last two times he’s been in, he was looking pretty ragged and tired. He only ordered coffee and some toast. I just assumed he was recovering from some illness or something. He’s never been much of a talker, though always polite.”

“What does he look like?”

“Average really. White guy, just under six foot, maybe mid-fifties, short brown hair, kind of heavyset but not super overweight. Usually wears a decent, but off the rack suit, nothing fancy.”

“When was the last time he was in?”

“Last Thursday,” Sara answered promptly. “I haven’t seen him yet this week so if he sticks to schedule, he’ll probably be in tomorrow or the next day. It’s not always the same day of the week.”

“Next time he’s here, can you give me a call?” Jess asked. “It might be nothing and he could just be sick like you said but it wouldn’t hurt for us to take a look at him.”

“Sure thing.”

“Is there anyone else that stands out to you?” Charlie asked.

Sara shook her head. “Nothing else unusual that I’ve noticed.”

“Okay, thanks Sara,” Jess told her. She went back to work while Jess and Charlie talked to the other waitress and the cook, but neither of them noticed anything unusual. Charlie did another sweep with her magic but the trail she followed yesterday was gone today.

“It doesn’t make sense for it to be Sara’s customer,” Charlie said. “He was here last week but Sara was affected yesterday and that was when I felt the trail.”

“He could have been in the area,” Jess pointed out. “Maybe he planned to go into the diner and changed his mind for some reason.”

“That’s possible, I suppose.”

“Or it has nothing to do with anything, but we should still check it out, just in case.” Dejected, they went back to the office.