Return of the High Fae (Vegas Fae Story Book 1) (14 page)

I got home, did a little last minute cleaning, then kicked
back to wait for the kids to arrive. It felt weird, but I also had a chat with
Charlie and Lucinda, telling them to try and act like regular dogs and cats.
Then I told the cat I was calling her Lucy. I'm not sure she liked that.

Nikki made it to the house first, with Jay following about a
half hour later. We spent the best part of the next several hours rehashing old
times, enjoying dinner (steak and shrimp on the barbecue) and just catching up.
Jay played ball with Charlie and Nikki fell in love with Lucy. It was such a
nice time; I almost forgot what my life had turned into... almost. After the
dishes were put away, I fired up the outdoor fireplace and we sat down,
cocktails in hand.

"So Jay, tell me about your new case. I hear it's the
same as Nikki's body in the desert."

"Actually, I'm glad you brought it up, Dad," he
said, shuffling in his chair. "It's a bizarre one, although you know we
aren't really having this conversation." He always said that when we
talked about work.

"Bizarre?" I asked. "What's so strange about
it?"

"It's the autopsy results," Nikki chimed in.
"They don't make any sense."

"In what way?"

"Well, there's no argument that the guy was
electrocuted. There's clear evidence of that," she answered. "But the
wound pattern and tissue damage are not consistent with normal electrocution
injuries."

"What do you mean?"

Jay sat forward and answered. "Ok, Dad, what we mean is
that it's really friggin weird." He stood up and moved in front of us.
"You see, electrocution injuries follow similar patterns."

"Yeah, they're supposed to follow established
scientific rules," Nikki added.

"Hey, are you telling this or am I?"

"Sorry little brother. I just wanted to make sure Dad
understood."

"Whoa, guys. Take it easy. Jay, please go on," I
said as I took a drink.

"All right, Dad," Jay continued. "It's like
this. If you get electrocuted, there are certain things that usually happen.
Body parts are supposed to react in certain ways. There can be exit and entry
wounds, such as burns at the point of contact. High water content parts, like
nerves and blood vessels, are good conductors of energy, so they offer low
resistance and move current. Bones aren't, so they usually heat up. Now, if
it's a lightning strike, you can have..."

"I think I'm getting lost here," I said, getting
up to refill my glass.

Jay just grinned. "Sorry, next time I'll leave the
science discussion for Nikki. Anyway, the point is, there are certain anomalies
in the examinations that aren't consistent with established rules of science
and that's got people worried."

"Ok, what are the anomalies?" I asked, sitting
back down.

"Nik, you want to explain?" he queried, plopping
back down in his chair.

She took a drink and put the glass down. "Well, without
getting all scientific, it boils down to this," she answered. "The
tissue and other body damage is inconsistent with known electrical injuries.
That means we are dealing with an unknown source and type of energy. Something
new. No one seems to be able to identify what it is, but we know it's
different."

"Wow, seems like you have your work cut out for you
then," I answered, trying to decide how I should continue. "So, Jay,
what do you think it means?" I asked, remembering what Ray had said.
"Has someone developed a real, working ray gun, like in
Star Wars
?"

"Honestly Dad, I'm not sure. I have to continue on the
premise that it's some new form of energy. But whether it's purely a weapon, or
someone's just using it as one, I don't know."

"Well, with several people dead, it seems more like a
weapon than just a source of energy," I pointed out, shaking my head.

"You would think so," he answered. "But if
someone had developed a new energy source, there'd be a ton of money in it. I
know they assigned me due to the terrorist angle, but think about it. If you
were going to develop a terrorist weapon, why would you use it on rich people
individually and then try to hide it? I mean, that's not the actions of a
terrorist. You'd want to strike fear in large groups of people. These are
individual deaths and they've been too quiet. Something just doesn't add
up."

"Tell him about the spooks," Nikki interrupted.

"Spooks?" I repeated. "What, is the CIA
involved, too?"

"Who knows who they work for?" Jay retorted.
"But get this. I get a call from DC this morning. Two suits wanted to
observe the autopsy. I sent a car to pick them up from the airbase and take
them to the coroner's office."

Nikki gestured wildly. "Dad, these guys were absolutely
spooky! Real
Men in Black
types, like the kind you hear about
investigating stuff from Area 51!"

"She's not kidding," Jay continued. "They
stayed for the autopsy. Then we took them back to the base. They never said
more than a few words the entire time. They just stood there watching and
taking notes."

"They were beyond weird, Dad. I mean they looked like a
couple of ghouls," Nikki added.

"So you don't know what agency they were with?" I
asked, wondering what their significance was. Could there be a government
agency that dealt with non-mortals? That was a scary thought.

"Hell no. DC didn't tell me and I didn't ask," he
answered. "Really friggin weird. Whoever they are, they had full military
access and clearances I didn't even know existed. I was told to give them
whatever they wanted."

"I thought this was like the fifth body," I noted.
"Were they at the other autopsies?"

"No, not that I know of. But they didn't call my team
in until they found the third body, so my reports wouldn't have hit DC till
last week."

"Hmm, beats me," I said.

Nikki leaned forward. "Dad, I know you still have a lot
of contacts. Would you see if you can find out who they were?" she
whispered, as if someone else may be listening.

That was my girl. She still believed that I could find out
anything. Of course, in this case, she might be right. "Well, that sounds
like it's more up Jay's alley," I said, chuckling.

"Not me," he replied. "I've learned not to
ask too many questions when it comes to anything out of Washington. Those DC
guys would classify the morning paper as secret. You know what I mean?"

We all laughed. Jay wasn't saying anything I hadn't said in
the past when it came to dealing with Feds, even if he was one himself.

I turned back to him. "So, tell me about the victims.
You mentioned they were wealthy. I mean, if you can't talk about them, I
understand."

"Dad, I've already said enough to get me
suspended," he said as he laughed. "Anyway, I don't have all their
info yet, but it's not just the money. It's that they dealt in a lot of cash.
Two of them were in the entertainment business; movies and video distribution,
I think. One guy was connected to the adult entertainment industry. Him we have
a file on. The fourth was a rancher/farmer." He turned to Nikki. "I
haven't seen the final on today's guy. Did you hear anything else after I
left?"

"Other than he was a regular Vegas player? No, your
guys were with our detectives, but that's the last I heard," she shrugged.

"Ok," Jay said. "Metro identified him as a
high roller. I'll find out what else they have in the morning. But the point is
they all seem to have had access to large amounts of hard cash."

I wouldn't think of a rancher or farmer as having access to
large amounts of cash, so I asked him about it.

"Yeah, multi property payroll services, believe it or
not. Migrant workers, farm hands, all paid in cash. That one caught me off
guard as well."

I had enough to think about, so I let the conversation drift
off to other things. Nikki, who had to go to work early, soon left. Jay went to
get ready for bed and I cleaned up the mess. I had just closed the dishwasher
door when Jay came back down. He had his cell phone in his hand and was taking
it down from his ear.

"Sorry, Dad, that was the office. It looks like I have
to head back earlier than I had hoped. We'll have to postpone fishing," he
said, putting his cell phone in his pocket. "I'm really sorry."

"I know how it goes. Maybe next time."

"Well, as soon as we get this one wrapped up they'll
owe me some vacation time." He reached in the cabinet for a glass.

"There's cold bottled water in the fridge," I
said, assuming that's what he wanted.

"Great," he replied, pulling his hand away.
"Hey Dad. You know the suits we were talking about?"

"The not-CIA spooks?" I asked.

"Yeah," he continued. "Remember when you did
that work on quirky religions and black magic stuff?"

"Sure, what about it?" I wondered what brought
that up.

"Well, I just got off the phone with Darrell. He was
the agent that played driver for them."

"Ok."

"He just told me that when he was getting ready to
drive them back to the base, he overheard them talking about some kind of black
magic mumbo jumbo."

"Black magic?" Now it was getting interesting.
"What did they say?"

"Well, he said one guy made some comment about
Necromancers and blood wands, but he stopped as soon as he caught Darrell
listening. What do you think that was about?"

"Maybe they were just bs'ing." My guts clenched.

"I don't know. These guys didn't seem the chatty type
and Darrell said they gave him the creeps." He walked over to the fridge,
grabbed a bottled water, then turned back to me. "Ok, humor me for a
second. Let's say the government has a special section, like the old project
Blue Book. Only this time, it's not about aliens, but voodoo and sorcery stuff.
Is that too crazy?"

"It sounds a little farfetched to me. But you never
know which side of the fence the government sits on these kind of things. I can
tell you that there are a lotta folk out there who believe in that stuff."
Shit, he'd probably hit it right on the nose. I wondered if they knew about me.

"Yeah," he replied. "Governments do weird
stuff all the time. Believe me, I know. The Germans did it in WW II; looking
for old relics that were supposed to be magical."

"Look, Jay. Is there something you know that you
aren't, or can't, tell me?" I asked, trying to get to the heart of the
matter.

"That I know? Not really," he said. "I didn't
want to mention it in front of Nikki, but there are rumors about other teams
being observed by these guys on weird cases. So I was just wondering if it
happened when you were working that stuff."

I took a moment before answering. It had been 20 years or so
since I'd worked black magic and witchcraft cases. I'd even written a paper on
it for the Department back then. I tried to decide what information I could
tell him that might help, without telling him everything. I mean, how do you
tell your son that you just found out that you're a magical being yourself?

"Well, I do still have a few contacts in the Wicca and
witchcraft world and they do believe in magic. My only advice to you is never
discount anything. I mean, even if you don't believe, their beliefs are real to
them. Besides, it's like I always said about Christmas."

Jay started to laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I remember. Even if
your friends don't believe in Santa Claus, you have to give him the benefit of
the doubt, because there are always a few presents under the tree that you
can't explain. Thanks Dad. Good night. I'll see you in the morning." He
turned to go upstairs.

"Listen, Jay, I know you can't ask too many
questions," I said.

He paused at the foot of the stairs.

"But like I said, I still know a few people. I'll keep
my ears open and see what I can find out. Just let me know if you run into them
again or if anything really weird happens, ok?"

"I will, Dad. I know it sounds a little crazy, but
thanks."

I walked over and gave him a hug. "Nothing in this
business would surprise me, you know that. I'll let you know what I find out.
But you stay safe. There are a lot of crazies out there and you're in the thick
of them."

"I will, Dad. Good night," he said as he headed up
the stairs.

Later, as I lay in bed, I promised myself that I would do
whatever I could to protect them from the world I had been thrown into. I
realized that, sooner or later, I was going to have to find some way to tell
them. I just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Although their safety
was my prime concern, I had too much going on at the moment to be worrying
about what their reaction to my new found situation would be.

The next morning, Jay came into the kitchen as I was pouring
a cup of coffee.

"I'm heading over to where our latest victim was last
known to be staying here in town and drop a subpoena. Then I'm going back to
L.A. I'll try to come up next month, unless business brings me here
sooner." He paused as I handed him a cup, raising an eyebrow. The mug
featured Fox Mulder from the
X-Files
.  "Are you trying to tell
me something?" he asked with an inquisitive look.

"No," I said, chuckling. "Just thought you'd
get a kick out of it."

We sat down at the kitchen table.

"So, where was he staying?"

"Comped suite at Neptune's Landing. Apparently he was a
whale from Japan. You know much about the place?" A whale was a heavy
gambler. It was a term known to every casino employee, as well as most Vegas
folks.

I almost spilled my coffee. It would have to be the Neptune.
"As a matter of fact, the head of the place is a client of mine and his corporate
security guy is an acquaintance. I can introduce you. It might make things work
smoother."

"That'd be great, Dad. Can you arrange it? It'll take
me an hour or so to get the paperwork from the U.S. Attorney. How do you want
to play it?" he asked with a smile on his face.

I knew this would give him an opportunity to make a new
connection in town. It would also make things move faster.

"Do you trust them?"

"I have no reason not to at the moment, but it's your
case. I can call him now and set something up, or if you'd prefer, we can drop
in on them cold." I left that decision to him. I didn't want him to think
I was stepping on his investigation.

"Yeah, go ahead and call. I don't want to be too
difficult. See if we can meet him around 9:30, if that's ok," he replied.

"Let's find out." I picked up my cell phone and
dialed Siegfried's number.

"Do you want me to tell him anything?"

"I'd rather wait," he said, shaking his head.

Having been in his shoes and knowing that I couldn't tell
him anything different, I nodded. Siegfried answered almost immediately. I put
the call on the speaker. "Robert, you're up early. What can I do for
you?"

"Hey, Siegfried, I was wondering if you have time to
meet up this morning. Say around 9:30 or so? My son is in town and has a few
questions about something he's working on."

"Ah, yes, the agent," he said. "Can you tell
me what this is about?"

"Well, I'm really not in a position to comment. It's
his case. So I'd rather have him discuss it with you, if you don't mind."

Siegfried didn't hesitate before answering. "Of course.
I understand your position. Do you want to meet here?"

I looked over at Jay and he nodded his head. "That
would be best. Where do you want us to meet you? We'll be traveling in two
cars."

There was a short pause. "Why don't you ask for me at
the security podium by the cage? I'll come down when the first one of you
arrives."

"That'll work," I answered. "See you
then."

"Thanks, Dad," he said. He drained his cup and
placed it in the sink. "Well, I'm gonna head to the Vegas office. See you
at 9:30?"

"I'll be there," I said, as I followed him to the
front door.

I arrived at Neptune's Landing around 9:15, parked in the
main lot and went inside. I headed to the cage area where the security podium
was located and gave the guard my name. Moments later, Siegfried came out a
side door.

"Robert, how are you?" he asked, shaking my hand.

"Good, Siegfried. Jay should be here any minute."

We made small talk until Jay showed up. After introductions,
we went back to Siegfried's office. His office was large and well-furnished.
There were some interesting artifacts as well, all relating to his Viking
ancestry - Viking art on the walls and examples of weaponry behind glass cases.

He sat down behind his desk as we sat in the plush chairs in
front.

"Well, Agent Hoskins, how can we assist you?"
Siegfried asked, clasping his hands.

"I have a subpoena for some records for you. Your
company is not the subject of my investigation. Rather, it's for records about
an individual by the name of Chitose Shoda. He was known to have stayed here
recently." He handed the subpoena to Siegfried.

Siegfried looked over the paperwork, appearing stunned for a
moment, then recovered quickly. "Mr. Shoda is well known to us. As you
have a subpoena, we will, of course, provide you with whatever you need. But,
please, can you tell me what this is about?"

Jay looked over at me before answering. "Mr. Shoda's
body was found a week or so ago. We believe he was murdered."

Siegfried picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Please tell Mr. Milagre that I have Mr. Hoskins and his son, Agent
Hoskins with Homeland Security, here in my office. We need to speak with him
immediately." There was a short pause. "Thank you, we'll be there in
a moment." He looked back over at us. "This is very disturbing news.
Chi was a good client, as well as a regular guest. He and Mr. Milagre have been
acquaintances for years. I think he will be better able to answer any questions
you may have."

Siegfried stood up and we followed him out the door. He
stopped at his secretary's desk and handed her the subpoena. He gave her some
instructions, then asked us to follow him to Milagre's office, which was around
the corner from his. Once there, he asked us to give him a moment. We waited in
the outer office as he went in to see Milagre.

"So what do you think, Dad?" Jay asked as
Siegfried closed the door behind him.

"I think you caught him off guard. He looked quite
concerned."

Jay started to say something, but Siegfried came back out
and waved for us to go in.

"Tell you what," I said as I turned to Jay.
"This is your gig, son. I'm gonna wait out here while you do your
thing."

"Ok, thanks Dad," Jay answered, smiling.

He knew I was recognizing that this was his case and I'd
done my bit with the introductions. Hey, you gotta let them grow up sometime. I
sat down in one of the plush chairs and watched him walk into Milagre's office.
I grabbed a magazine and sat back to wait.

Siegfried came out a few minutes later. "They will be a
while. Would you care to wait in my office?"

"Sure," I said.

When we got to his office, he went straight to his
secretary's desk. "How soon will those records be ready?" he asked
her.

"Michael is handling it," she replied.
"Everything the subpoena requires is computerized. I told him to rush it.
We should have the file any minute."

"Very good, send him in when he arrives."

We went in his office and he closed the door behind me. I
took a chair as he sat down at his desk. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you
more before we got here," I said.

Siegfried leaned back and ran his fingers through his thick,
blonde hair. "I understand. It's just a shock. Shoda was well respected
and he was a powerful Fae. That would have been Mr. Milagre's fate had you not
intervened."

"I figured he was one of us. Who was he?"

"The Japanese are very different from us, Robert. Here,
although well hidden, the Fae have integrated into modern society. But there,
the worlds remain apart." Siegfried said, rubbing his temples. "Shoda
was an exception. He was a go between. He moved freely between both worlds. I
understand his services were much sought after. His passing will leave a
considerable void. It concerns me a great deal."

"His death?" I asked.

"More so the reasons behind it. Unfortunately, I do not
know a great deal about his activities. What I do know is that Shoda was our
only contact with the Eastern world. His passing closes many doors. I do not
know when they will be open to us again."

"Well, it gets worse," I said. "There are at
least 4 others that I know of. I'm guessing they were Fae as well. From what
little I've learned, each was wealthy, so probably powerful as well. I don't
have their names. But the question is, who's taking out the Fae, and why?"

"Since Mr. Milagre's was the last, then your
dispatching of the attackers seems to have curtailed their activities, at least
for now," he replied.

"So it seems. But for how long?"

I could see Siegfried was thinking about that as well. He
started to say something, but was interrupted by the phone. When he picked up,
he told her to send him in.

A young man in an Armani suit walked into the room
"Here are the reports you requested," he said, handing a folder to
Siegfried.

"Michael, this is Robert Hoskins," Siegfried said,
introducing me. "Michael is my assistant chief."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir," he said.

"You as well," I replied.

"Michael, anything out of the ordinary on this
trip?" Siegfried asked as he shuffled through the papers he had been
given.

"No, sir. As always, he neither booked in advance, nor
did we receive an itinerary. He dined on property and we have no record of any
visitors or unusual activity."

"Thank you," Siegfried said. "Check with the
other staff. If any more information becomes available, notify me
immediately."

"Yes, sir," he replied, and then left the office.

Siegfried picked up the phone. "I have those records,
sir," he said. "Unfortunately, there is very little here. Yes, sir,
I'll take care of it."

He hung up and turned to me. "Your son will be back
here in a minute. Hopefully, Mr. Milagre was able to provide some useful
information."

"Well, I'm sure he'll appreciate any details you can do
give him."

"Have you told him about the incident with Mr.
Milagre?" Siegfried asked shrewdly.

I ran my hands down the back of my head and neck.
"Hell, Siegfried, I don't know if I should tell him anything. But he's my
kid. He's also running this investigation. He has no idea that I took out two
of his suspects and I don't know how to tell him without revealing the rest. I
gotta be honest here, Siegfried. I don't like lying to my kids, but what can I
do? I'm certainly not prepared to tell either of them the truth about all this
just yet. Hell, I doubt they'd even believe me."

"A difficult position to be in," Siegfried agreed.

"He's got enough on his plate as it is. I'm knee deep
in this mess and it's getting complicated." I stood up. "I'll have to
play it by ear. If these killings place him or my daughter in any more danger
than they are now, I'll have to figure out a way to tell them. But for now, I'm
hoping we've slowed them down a bit."

"One thing at a time then. I hope you know that I will
help you in any way I can." The phone rang and he answered it. "Very
good, send him in."

After Jay came in, Siegfried gave him the information he had
requested. We chatted for a while. Then the three of us left the office and
walked back to the casino to go our separate ways.

"OK, Dad, I'll call you soon," Jay said as he
prepared to leave.

"All right, let me know what you can and I'll follow up
on what we discussed," I replied as I hugged him. As he walked away I
turned to Siegfried. "Have you got a few minutes?"

"Of course. Would you like some coffee? We have an
excellent coffee house on property."

"Lead the way," I answered.

The Neptune had several European style coffee stands
throughout the property. Each one was themed after a different region. We
walked through the casino and wound up at a little shop with a Mediterranean
theme.

"How are you coming along with William's case? Any luck
on locating the woman yet?" Siegfried asked after we'd ordered and taken a
seat at a table in the back.

"Slow going right now," I confessed as I sipped my
latte. "I've got searches running and some other inquiries out. If they
don't pan out, I'll start hitting the streets."

I looked over at him and made a decision. Siegfried had been
straight with me so far, and to be honest, I was gonna need a friend like him.

"My sources say that the jewel is a Dragon's eye and
that it was indeed gifted to an Oracle from ancient Greece."

That got his attention.

"A Dragon's eye? Then she is indeed from Delphi. Hah!
Who would have thought she was the one true Pythia." He took a deep drink.
"She would be a valuable ally indeed. I hope you can locate her."

"I'll find her. As to whether or not she'll cooperate,
we'll just have to wait and see."

"I did not know that you had other Fae sources,"
he said, looking at me intently.

"Yeah, well, things have moved kind of fast lately. But
first, there's more going on here than we know about, Siegfried, and that
bothers me. We need to find out why these Mages are going after Fae. I know I
took out two of them but I have to believe they'll try again."

"I agree," he nodded. "As you know, I have
increased security at the property as well as on Mr. Milagre. But without
further information about our adversaries there is only so much I can do. I
have inquiries out to all my sources. Do you have any thoughts?"

"No, I wish I did. For now, that's all I think you can
do. I'm going to be doing some more digging on this." I sat back, took
another drink, then turned back to Siegfried. "I'd like to discuss a few
other matters. Jay mentioned something that I want to learn more about. Have
you ever heard of any government agency that investigates nonhuman
activity?"

Siegfried gave me one of those raised eyebrow looks as he
sipped his coffee. "Yes, I know of them. They have contacted Mr. Milagre
on several occasions. It is said that many governments employ such agents to
protect themselves. Why, has your son been approached by them?" He put
down his cup.

"They were at Shoda's autopsy and Jay was wondering
about them. My daughter met them as well. She described them as spooks, as in
evil spirits, not agents."