Earthshaker

Chapter 12

Chapter 12I spent the next two days at home in a trance. Duke came and stayed with me, but I barely noticed he was there. People came to the door and left messages on my answering machine, but they hardly registered. All I could think about was Aggie. The times we'd had and the things we'd said. Especially the last time I'd seen her, the morning before she'd died. We'd shot the s**t for a few minutes over coffee, and she'd bitched about work. Nothing special. So many things we could have said, and all we managed was nothing special.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the picture of her waving goodbye from the Divinities flyer. I couldn't get it out of my mind. Such a look of innocent friendliness on her face, so unsuspecting, so vulnerable. Never guessing what she was in for, never supposing her friendship with me could be dangerous.

Now it was all over except the funerals—one for the ordinary side of her life, the other for the not so ordinary side. I wondered which one I should attend...though I didn't really want to go to either.

I just wanted to wallow in my misery and punish myself for not saving her. For maybe doing more harm than good just by being her friend.

That was what really bothered me: my life was better because of her, and what had I done in return? Somehow, in some way I couldn't guess, I'd played a role in what happened.

It was enough to make me want to curl up into a ball and never come out. Even Duke couldn't get through to me. I know I would've stayed that way a lot longer if not for Briar.

Late in the afternoon of my third day of hiding from the world, Briar stormed into my living room and snatched the TV remote control from my hand. Off went the soap opera I'd been staring at (and not following) for the past forty-five minutes.

I didn't even have the heart to snap at him. Just rolled over on the sofa so my back was turned to him.

"We don't have the killer." Leave it to Briar not to beat around the bush. "I don't think we have a viable suspect at this point."

I listened, but I didn't answer him. I really just wanted him to go away.

Of course he didn't. "The State Police and F.B.I. are satisfied Holloway's our man. He was running the escort service, his prints are all over Time-Out, and he had a motive. Aggie was going to out Divinities in the media." Briar cleared his throat. "But I'm not convinced."

I didn't say a word; it seemed like a waste of time. Holloway the ringmaster had "murderer" written all over him. Case closed.

"The staties and F.B.I. just want this freak show to go away," said Briar. "They don't know what the hell to make of it. Plus, they're taking heat to cover this up and back off the V.I.P. johns we rounded up. So they're rushing that bum Holloway through the system.

"And they're ignoring evidence." Briar sat on the arm of the sofa by my head. "We got some special prints off those manacles."

I blew out my breath and talked to the sofa cushion. "What kind of special prints?"

"Weird prints. Twilight Zone prints," said Briar. "The lab team is having conniptions trying to figure them out. All they know for sure is they're not human."

"What else could they be? Chimp? Orangutan?" I said it sarcastically.

"They're consistent with human prints in size and certain characteristics," said Briar. "But the whorls are star-shaped instead of oval loops."

"Meaning what?" Even as I said it, I knew where he was heading.

"The lab's theory is they're fake. Some kind of gimmick," said Briar. "The staties and F.B.I. have already written them off as useless. But I'm thinking maybe they belong to someone from your world. Someone unique."

I agreed with him, but that didn't mean I knew who could have left those prints. "Nymphs have normal prints," I said. "That's about all I can tell you." There were all kinds of special beings in the world; I was always coming across new ones.

"So that's it, huh?" said Briar. "The star-shaped fingerprints don't ring a bell?"

"Please go away." I wedged myself tighter in the crease between the sofa cushions. "I can't deal with this right now."

Briar sighed. "I know, Gaia." He patted my shoulder. "But this is for Aggie. This is about her getting some justice."

"It's too late to do anything for her," I told him. "It's just too late."

"Okay then." Briar got up from the arm of the sofa. "I'll handle it myself. Let you know how it all turns out."

"Fine." I really wanted him to leave. Just wanted to be left alone with my misery. So why didn't I get up and kick his ass out the door?

I heard him walk halfway to the front door, and then he stopped. "I guess I'll be okay, dealing with the special people out there. It's not like they have special listings in the phone book or anything...but I'm sure I'll be able to find them. And get them to talk. And get them to give up their secret killer buddy with the star-shaped prints." Briar cleared his throat. "I'm sure that'll all work out great."

I wasn't going to play his game. "Good." I rolled halfway over and snapped at him over my shoulder. "Now leave."

"Will do." Briar took two more steps and stopped again. "Just one more thing. Do you have any advice for dealing with people who have powers? What can someone like me, who has no powers, do to keep from getting killed by someone who has them?"

"Just go!" I was really pissed at him by then, almost ready to do that ass-kicking out the door I mentioned—and it was all for one reason.

It was because he'd made his case, the son of a b***h.

He opened the front door. "Well, thanks for listening," he said. "I hope you feel better.

Before I could say another word, he shut the door. End of visit, thank God.

I hated him for interrupting my grief. Hated him for trying to guilt me into helping with the case. Hated him especially because I knew he was right.

Just then, Duke called from the kitchen. "How does bouillabaisse sound for dinner, Earth Angel?"

"Okay. Sure." I wasn't really listening to him. All I could think about was what Briar had told me.

Now I knew Aggie's killer was still at large, and almost certainly from the special side of the tracks. He or she was out there somewhere, complete with a connection to me—and not at all the type to be brought in by conventional law enforcement means.

Here then was reason for me to get off my ass. To do something that made some kind of sense of Aggie's death. It was the kind of job that couldn't be done without me. The kind of job I could never forgive myself for not doing.

So at least I had something to look forward to in a terrible sort of way. Something to keep me sane. Something to give me a reason to get through this misery—and perhaps redeem myself for failing to prevent it.

I wasn't ready to get off the couch yet, but when I did, I was going to track down the monsters responsible for Aggie's murder and make them pay.