The Burning Bush (46 page)

“It’s just a little parlor trick I know.” I extinguished any fire I sensed in the room and stood up. A smoky scent now filled the area.

As soon as Rivera backed away from me, I turned my attention to the Judge. He was at the edge of the interrogation room now, strolling back to his chair. There wasn’t any trace of the table left in the center of the room. Just charred pieces of wood all over the gray cement floor. In another corner, Jacobi was sitting on the ground and holding his knees together. He rocked back and forth. His eyes centered on me.

“I bet you have a lot of tricks, combo trash.” The Judge spat the words out and sat down in his chair. “Get over here, boy.”

Jacobi remained where he was as he focused on me with pleading eyes.

“You can stay right there, Jacobi,” I said.

Jacobi nodded. Sweat leaked from the pores of his face, dampening his shirt. The white cotton fabric stuck to his chest.

The Judge chuckled. “So, you have fire and think you’re scary? You’re just making it worse for Jacobi by sticking up for him.”

I twisted to the Judge, already tired of him running his mouth. “I’m not someone you want to fuck with. Any coincidental Earth magic happens around me and your flesh will melt from your bones.”

“I bet your magic is limited somehow.” Judge Brass leaned back and held his nose up, as if he’d smelled something disgusting. “Those fireballs may be all you have for the day.”

Earthies are the dumbest people on the planet.
Jacobi glanced back and forth from me to his dad and then back to me. He gaped at us, mouth wide open.

Sighing, I turned to Jacobi and asked. “Why did you make the girls look the way your mother did when she died?”

“I thought my dad killed them,” Jacobi said, so low it was almost a whisper. “The way I did the spell was—”

“Shut up until the lawyer arrives,” Judge Brass said. His hands clenched into lethal fists. I thought he might shoot out of his chair and attack his son. I increased the heat in the room just in case. A metallic click sounded on my left side.

Rivera edged up to me with a gun in his hand, pointed at Judge Brass. “No more fighting.”

“My son will not say anything else,” the Judge snarled.

“Dad, I’m going to jail for tampering, anyway. Why not just explain everything now?” Jacobi’s hands continued to tremble while he hugged his knees.

“You don’t say a word because now you’re including me in this craziness. You’re going to make confessions that I won’t be able to bail you out of,” Judge Brass said. The walls quaked.

I really hoped there wasn’t a lot of wood or other Earthly components in the walls, or we were fucked.
The Judge can probably control the stone from the cement.

I decided to threaten the Judge one more time. “Calm down before you conclude your evening in the hospital burn unit. And Jacobi, I have a long evening ahead of me, so let’s answer my questions really quickly. Why did you think your dad killed the girls?”

“He killed my mother,” Jacobi said, his voice barely audible.

The Judge stood up. “She died casting a fire spell that got caught on the bushes, and then she tripped into the fire.”

Tripped into a burning bush?
It’s like he pulled that out of an abusive asshole’s excuse book.

“No.” Jacobi’s voice grew stronger as he spoke. “He controlled the bushes. He caged her in. She tried to use fire to free herself.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with these girls’ murders,” the Judge interrupted.

“Shut up and sit down.” Rivera moved the gun’s sightline from the Judge’s face to his groin.

“Okay, so your dad killed your mother, and you came to the conclusion that he killed Onyx and Shelly, right?” I asked Jacobi. We all froze as habbies stomped into the room.

“I heard screaming,” one of the habbies said.

“Grab the Earth Witch.” Rivera pointed at the Judge. “Put him in a holding cell.”

I combed my fingers through my dreadlocks and waited for the habbies and Judge Brass to leave. Rivera sat down but continued to hold his gun. He tucked a cigarette behind his ear while he fingered a lighter in his right hand.

“Jacobi, what happened the night you found Onyx?” I asked. My voice was soothing as I tried to make him feel comfortable enough to tell me everything he knew.

Jacobi stared at the floor. “Onyx was on my bed. Her neck looked broken. I woke up, and she was there. I don’t know how it happened.”

“So you assumed your dad killed Onyx and dumped her on your bed?”
This doesn’t make sense.

“Is this your dad’s typical behavior?” Rivera asked.

“No,” Jacobi muttered. He wiped sweat away with the back of his hand. “I think Ely put her there as a message. My dad must have killed her and asked Ely to get rid of Onyx’s body. Ely usually has to clean up my dad’s mess whenever he hurts a woman or takes things too far with one.”

“I’m lost. Who is Ely?” Rivera asked.

“The limo driver,” I said.
There goes that damn limo again, popping up everywhere.
Everyone I’d talked to lately had seen a limo. Kilo had seen Onyx talking to someone in a limo. Friends had spotted Shelly climbing into one.
Did Ely kill the girls for the Judge, or is it like Jacobi said—Ely’s job is to clean up the Judge’s messes?

“The Judge and Jacobi came to the precinct in a limo.” Rivera headed for the door. “I’ll go fingerprint the driver.”

“Check the Judge’s fingerprints, too,” I called out after Rivera and then looked back at Jacobi. “So you know why Ely and the cooks hate you? Because of the day their moms died with yours?”

“Of course.”

“What really happened that day? The cooks hinted you all might be related. Was your mother mad that your dad had kids with the maids?”

“No.” Jacobi rubbed his hands together like he was freezing. “Most Witch families do that. Usually all the servants’ kids are related to the children in the main family in some way. It’s no big deal.”

I struggled not to show my disgust.
So, the head of the household just runs around his property sleeping with everybody and procreating unapologetically?
And Purebloods think Mixies are trash?
And then it hit me. Judge Elijah Brass must have had sex with the maid. Ely’s mother named her son after the Judge.

“Why was there a big fight?” I asked.

“My mother and Ely’s mother slept together,” Jacobi murmured with some hesitation. “My mom would take me to the servants’ quarters and have sex with Ely’s mom. I caught them a few times when I hid under the bed.”

This gets weirder and weirder.

“I told my dad what I saw. I didn’t realize it would cause a problem. I just wanted him to like me more. I didn’t think he would get so mad. But he was so furious that dirt floated around him.” Jacobi pulled a tiny bottle out of his pocket and dabbed liquid into his hands.

It must have destroyed the Judge’s ego to find out his wife and mistress had united behind his back.

“Ely’s mom came out of the servants’ quarters,” Jacobi continued. “Bushes grabbed her and squeezed her until blood was everywhere. Then my mom started screaming and shooting fire at my dad.”

Jacobi froze in shivering silence as I watched the second hand of the clock count down a whole minute.

This is going nowhere. Why would the Judge kill Onyx and Shelly?
“Okay.” I sighed. “Let’s get back to Onyx. You found her dead body in your bed?”

“Yes, but I didn’t kill her.” Jacobi shook his head. “In fact, I hadn’t seen her in several months.”

“But you had sex with her?”

“Yes, but that was a long time ago, and it really wasn’t anything special.”

It was to Onyx.
I considered what I had discovered from Kilo before Zulu killed him. “Did you come by Onyx’s apartment in a limo?”

Jacobi shrugged. “I have no idea where she lived.”

“Or that she became a hooker immediately after you broke up with her?”

“She went into prostitution?” Jacobi pulled out the white bottle again, dropped more liquid into his hands, and rubbed it on his face. “Before finding her body, I hadn’t seen Onyx in two months. She walked in on me having sex with someone else. I gave her some money and told her not to see me again.”

So then who was the limo guy Kilo was talking about?
It must have been Ely. For some reason when Kilo mentioned that Onyx was talking to someone in a limo, I had assumed it was a rich person riding in the back, not a person driving in the front.

“How well did Ely know Onyx?” I scratched my head.

“If it got too dark and my dad didn’t need to go anywhere, Ely was allowed to take Harriet and Onyx home.” Jacobi put the bottle back in his pocket and returned to hugging his legs to his chest. “Personally, I think Ely was in love with Harriet. He was always giving her flowers from our garden. My dad beat him a few times for stealing them. To prove his point, he would beat Ely right in front of Harriet.”

The door opened. “We printed the driver and the Judge,” Rivera exclaimed as he rushed in. “Neither of their fingerprints match the prints on Onyx’s body, but Ely’s prints match the ones on Shelly’s.”

Motherpounder! Ely really did it. But then who killed Onyx?
Walking to the wall, I blew out a long breath and hit my head against the surface, not too hard, just enough to punish myself for being me.

“I’m done.” I headed for the door.

“No, we’re not.” Rivera stuck his arm out in front of me, blocking my exit. “What do you mean you’re done? How can you be done?” Rivera spat out the words with disgust. “Who killed Onyx?”

“I have no idea.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe you can charge the Judge with killing his wife. It’s an old case, but it would still bring national coverage. Plus, you already have Jacobi for tampering, and now you have Ely for killing Shelly.”

“But why did Ely do it?”

“Ask him.”

Rivera held up one finger. “You look here—”

“No. You look.” I produced a fireball in front of his forehead. I didn’t let the ball touch him, but it was close enough for him to feel the heat and sweat. “I’ve done enough for you. And believe it or not, I have a life and other things to do. If you had tried blackmailing Nona and Zulu, you would be dead right now. I mean seriously, I tried things the diplomatic way with you, but I don’t know who killed Onyx. And let’s face it. Your boss won’t even care because you have Shelly’s murderer, and that’s all that matters, right?”

Rivera shook his head. “I think I need both murders solved to get my promotion. Don’t forget that I have the tracking device that puts you at the blood factory.”

“I’m starting to realize why Zulu just kills people.” I tilted my head to the side, assessing Rivera. “I’m thinking that’s not a bad alternative.”

I stepped closer to him. Rivera’s lips quivered, but I had to give it to him; he didn’t back down.
Stubborn ass.

“I could set you on fire in seconds, make the flames go away, and then just sweep your ashes into the garbage.” I gestured to Jacobi. “He’d probably help me.”

Rivera’s hand fingered the gun in his holster. “Okay. I’ll charge the Judge for the old murder, Ely for Shelly, and Jacobi for tampering, but I may still need to use you to clean things up—especially if the real authorities come into the cage and begin investigating.”

“Fine. Maybe we can talk about this after the Masquerade Ball tonight.” I edged into the hallway. “Besides, I have some things to take care of before the ball. Can you give my crew and me a ride?”

I really needed to talk to Harriet. Ely’s, the Judge’s, and Jacobi’s fingerprints didn’t match Onyx’s body. But I had a feeling Harriet could help me out. She’d lied that day in her apartment and pretended like she had no clue who Jacobi was.
Why?
I sighed, not liking the path my thoughts were going down.
Please say she’s not involved in these girls’ deaths.

MeShack and Vee stood up from a couch when I entered the hallway.

“Did the professor kill the little Mixbreed?” Vee asked first, breaking the silence.

“No. But I know who may be able to clear this all up.” I headed past them.

At least, I hoped so.