00 Mayan Thief (The FBI Paranormal Casefiles) Read online

  “Who put it there?” said Jasper in an annoyed voice. “How many times have I told people to put things where they belong? There is zero respect for my work in this house.”

  We all ignored him. Augusta pushed past me and stared at the spectacle. “Is that a baby’s bassinet?”

  “Sure, looks like one,” said Mark.

  I raised my hands and waved a gentle spell. The results came back easily. “There is a bit of magic in there…but it doesn’t seem dangerous.”

  “What’s inside?”

  I gulped. “Something alive.”

  A living weapon. We’d never seen or heard of anything of such nature, but right now, so soon after the horrible incident in the house, all of us were equally wary. Augusta checked with her magic. “It seems…like there is a pulse. Definitely something alive.”

  “I’ll go and check,” I volunteered.

  “No, let me,” said Bryan.

  “You obviously can’t,” said Mark. He weaved his own magic. “It’s most likely a magical weapon and you don’t have any defense against such things. There is no metal in there. It’s not a bomb, for sure, but there is magic. Bryan, you stay here. Cleo, come.”

  We both walked towards the bassinet. Maybe someone left a puppy or a kitten. It had happened once before, but that was a long time ago. A couple left the town and dropped off their dog outside the gate, perhaps hoping that we would adopt him. Of course, we did. Augusta had a more caring heart that anyone I knew. The dog stayed with us for four years before he died. I wouldn’t mind a dog. A kitten would be ok too. But the real question was how anyone got past our defenses, which were really tight right now, and managed to leave something so far inside the farmhouse.

  And why were there traces of magic on that bassinet?

  Clearly, there were gaps in our security.

  Not a pleasant thought.

  Not at all.

  We both peered down. The infant chose just that moment to open his eyes. For a few moments, we all stared at each other. And then it let out a piercing wail. It had a startlingly blue pair of eyes and a really loud voice. Everyone rushed out and looked at the child. Shelley bent and before we could pull her away, she picked up the child and cradled it in her arms.

  “Wait!” I raised my hands. “It could be dangerous.”

  “It’s just a baby. How can anyone leave it lying here? What if we didn’t see it? What if it rained? My God! People can be so cruel at times.” She shushed the infant. I stared at it. Everyone else was as speechless as I was. A child? What the hell was going on? “There is nothing dangerous about this cute, little creature.”

  I looked at Augusta. This was a problem I wasn’t willing to handle. Let someone else who was better at these issues sort out this mess. The child certainly didn’t look dangerous but I wouldn’t feel at ease until we knew more. “The baby has magic,” I said.

  It was a budding mage, for sure.

  But why would someone leave a child here?

  Where were the parents?

  “Mark, Jeremy, we need to strengthen the security,” I muttered. “Augusta…hmm…I guess you better find out whose baby it is.”

  Augusta waved a hand. Clearly, she was as perplexed as I was. Oh well! I had other pressing concerns. With one final glance at the child, I walked towards the perimeter with Mark and Jeremy in order to weave better spells. We were not doing a good job of protecting our house, and enough was enough. We would now make it airtight. I didn’t want a fly to come in without us knowing about it.

  And then I would focus on the problem at hand – not the baby – but our next target, the one who would wield answers about the bold museum thieves.

  Chapter Six

  Two days later, as I strode towards through the FBI building, my mind wasn’t any clearer. Not on the thieves. Sooner or later, I would get them. It was Agent Hottie who was proving to be a problem. The man was chivalrous and polite. He knew his job, and yet his presence grated on my nerves.

  I was attracted to him.

  And that fact burned me more than I could explain.

  For the moment, I tried to ignore him. If he realized what I was doing, he was oddly silent about it. Or perhaps I was just another colleague, a mage, and no more.

  Damn it.

  I hated the insecurity.

  Grr!

  It baffled and confused me – and as such I tended to ignore anything that didn’t make sense, but in this case, it was highly difficult to not pay attention to the man who intrigued me on many levels; sexual, emotional, sexual…did I say that before?

  Once we entered the building, my heart rate quickened. Coming here was always full of anticipation, for reasons not related to this case. But that was also something I wasn’t willing to think about right now. Man! My brain was overloaded with things I didn’t want to think about. After climbing up some stairs, we took an elevator that had access to only one department. I’d to swipe my card three times before we gained entry into the large hall that served as the Paranormal Defense Intelligence Unit, or PDI for short.

  “Welcome back, Cleo,” said Cynthia as she worked on her desk. We’d collaborated on a few cases, and she was a calm and efficient woman. It took her a while to process the magic and paranormal bits, but she accepted them far easily than Bryan. Maybe then, it was because her sister was a mage. “How is it going?”

  “Not good. Did you hear about the attack on the commune?”

  “Yep. Bad news.”

  I knocked my knuckle on the hard wood of her desk. “Bad for those who pissed me off.”

  She laughed. “I’ve no doubt about it. Bryan, how are you doing?”

  He glowered. “You could have at least warned me.”

  “But it was so much more fun to send you in completely innocent. I bet Cleo enjoyed giving your the demonstration on the finer points of magic. Also, we have discovered that it takes far less time to convince an agent about the possibilities of magic when they experience it first hand.” She winked at me. “Now, Jones is waiting for you, and you know how grumpy he gets if you’re not on time.”

  “Sure. See you around,” I said as Bryan continued to sulk.

  We walked into the conference room. No one appeared to be in the mood to exchange pleasantries, so I took my seat. Jones was the head of this unit. He was sour, grumpy, and moody, but his decisions were usually correct, and he didn’t waver too much from the course he set. It was nice to have that level of predictability when we were knee deep in situations that could change from second to second.

  “Cleo. Always such a pleasure to see you, one of our illustrious partners.”

  I nodded towards Graham, the one and only mistake in my life. We dated for six months back when I was initially reunited in the department. Fortunately, the relationship didn’t work out. In hindsight, I didn’t know what the hell I was thinking, but the truth was, he was handsome and a smooth talker, and at twenty-one years of ago, I was far more impressionable than I was now. The only downsize of that break up was that Agent Graham and I seldom saw eye to eye on anything, and sometimes that affected our work rather negatively.

  It was four years since we broke up. It was time he got over it. It appeared he still hadn’t.

  “Cleo. Report your progress, please,” ordered Jones before I could think of a suitable reply to Graham’s carefully hidden snide comment.

  I stated whatever we found out. The only thing that I left out was the inclusion of my suspicion that the mages were trying to collect a spell. It was only conjecture, and I didn’t have proof of their motive. Once I finished my report, I expected Agent Bryan to throw in that fact, but he merely leaned back and kept his gaze averted from mine.

  So perhaps he also didn’t think it was a good idea to put such a wild idea in the arena.

  “James? Full name, please?”

  “James Roswell,” I said. “He has been a petty thief on and off. Clearly, he decided to use his talent to make easy money.”

  “What a pity,” said Grah
am.

  I ignored him. “I believe he has been hired by someone to do this because of his experience. From all indications, James might have the gift, but he doesn’t have the brains to devise ingenious plans.”

  Jones leaned back and surveyed me. From the look on his face, I knew that I was in trouble. Now what had I done? So far, all investigation was conducted by the rules we always adhered to. “Cleo, we have received a complaint from Mr. William.”

  I nodded. “Ah!”

  “That’s all you have to say. He was annoyed by your cavalier attitude. People who expect a visit from the FBI want to see someone in authority. They need reassurance more than they need answers. You made him feel as if we were messing around with this investigation.”

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “Perhaps Cleo seems to think that she is beyond such rules. After all, she isn’t an official member of the FBI. The commune members only work as a collaborative team,” said Graham. “It’s not right that they are expected to behave in the same manner in which we are trained.”

  I bared my teeth but refrained from answering. Graham just liked to get a jibe in whenever he could. “Sir, if I may add something,” said Agent Bryan. I barely stopped myself from bolting out of the room. He would likely add how difficult I was. Well, if they all thought they could do this without us, it was fine with me. But we needed the money this regular work with FBI brought us, and of course, there was a matter of pride.

  Not to mention I believed that their thieves were our thieves – and I wanted to be the first to get my hands around their throats.

  “Cleo handled the whole situation in the best way possible. Mr. William was merely irate because he expected us to employ the usual methods, and as you are well aware, in situations like these, the usual methods wouldn’t work.” If the sky had fallen on me, I wouldn’t have been as surprised. The man took my breath away. He was actually defending me. “If Cleo wasn’t there, it would have been impossible for me to discover how the thieves got in.”

  “Hmm.” Jones ran a hand over his face. “That’s true enough. Still, Cleo’s social skills leave something to be desired at times.”

  Since it was true, I didn’t particularly take offense. It was hard to deal with people who couldn’t ever understand what I was up to. But still, I needed to be more patient at times. It was a skill that I woefully lacked, and one my dear parents used to always remind me about. The memory of my parents made my heart pang with pain. It wasn’t something I cared to dwell upon, so I merely sat back as if I didn’t have a care in the world.

  If I pretended that I wasn’t in pain, maybe the anguish that continuously gripped me would one day vanish without a trace.

  “In any case, you shall continue this investigation but I am going to make a separate team who will work with the victims to make sure they believe we’re handling the matter.”

  Whatever.

  It worked well for me.

  “Sure, sir,” I said. As long as his team didn’t interfere with our work, I didn’t care what else they did.

  He tapped his fingers on the table and then picked up a folder and passed it on to me. “This is information about the other thefts. I was told you’re not planning to visit each and every one.”

  “Not yet, sir. We’ve been to Orlando, and the information we have gathered so far all points to James rather strongly. He is our next target. We’re headed to Ireland to chase him. Once we have him in custody, he will be able to reveal more about this band of thieving mages,” I told him. “If need be, we can visit the other sites later on.”

  “You can keep that folder. It contains pictures of all the objects that have been stolen so far. However, I fear that this list might not be complete. My understanding is that some of the private owners may have collected some pieces…a tad illegally and they don’t want to give us details of those.”

  “So we might not have pictures of all the pieces that have been stolen?”

  “We might not.”

  Hmm. That made the situation more complicated. If we didn’t have all the pieces, we wouldn’t be able to collect the entire spell, and we wouldn’t know what they were up to. But since I had not told him that was yet, I chose to keep my mouth shut for the time being. “I’ll keep this with me, sir.”

  Jones cocked his head, and for a moment I thought he suspected that I was hiding some things. “And you’re sure that the attack on the commune was related to this case?”

  “Abolsteuly, sir”

  Jones took a moment to ponder over the matter. “You’re a little too involved now, Cleo. The attack on the commune might make you rasher, less cautious. Don’t take it personally.” Easy for him to say that. It was personal as hell. “Keep me posted, Cleo. I want regular reports.”

  Supplication to authority wasn’t my forte, but I tried my best. “Sure, sir.”

  “I’ve absolute faith that you will crack this case, but please…try to keep a low profile. I don’t want to send in a team after you to clean up the mess that could be well avoided.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Agent Bryan.

  There was no need to say anything. I would do whatever it took to crack the case, and yes, I would do my best to keep the casualties down and to keep a low profile, but if matters got out of hand, my priorities were clear. I needed to solve the case first and foremost.

  As Jones stood, I leaned forward. There was something I had to ask, and if I didn’t do so now, I might lose the opportunity. “Sir, has there been any progress on the old case that we talked about?”

  Was it my imagination or did his eyes soften for an instant? “I’m afraid not, Cleo. If there is, I shall contact you personally.”

  My breath was stuck in my throat. “Thank you, sir.”

  Jones walked out. Graham also stood and left. I sat for a few moments, gathering my strength, my courage. I’d known that his answer would be negative. He knew exactly how important this was, and if he had some information, he would have passed it on without any hesitation. Still, every time I came here, hope fluttered in my heart.

  I needed answers.

  And as yet, they were denied to me.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  As I stood and walked towards the door, Bryan remained on his seat. “Cleo, what’s going on?”

  I turned to look at him. The innocence in his eyes never failed to amaze me. “What?”

  “What’s this old case you talked about?”

  “It’s got nothing to do with you. Come on. Let’s not waste time. We’ve to get to Ireland, and it’s not a short flight. Jeremy said that James left the country a day ago, and we need to be hot on his trail.”

  “We’re partners,” he said in that infuriatingly calm voice. “And we need to know what’s going on in each other’s lives. When push comes to shove, I have to be able to trust you. Which old case? And what does it have to do with this?”

  “That’s a personal matter, Agent Bryan. Leave it be. It has nothing to do with this case.” My voice was curt, brusque. He stared at me for some time. Shit. What the hell? There were many who were already privy to my pain. One more person who found out about it wouldn’t make a different. And it was sometimes important to remember that once I was as new as him, and at that time, I’d been vulnerable and emotional. Just like he was now. It wouldn’t be nice to hurt him by denying something that was pretty much public information within this department. “Sorry. I just…” I waved a hand. “My parents and my siblings were killed when I was eleven years old.”

  “Killed?”

  “By people unknown. I believe that the only reason I survived was because I was away on a camp. I wasn’t supposed to go as I wasn’t well, but I badgered my parents and they allowed me to leave with my class. When I came back…” The memory of that day was as fresh in my mind as if it happened moments ago; the stench of blood, the smells of decaying bodies, and the overwhelming odor of death. “They had been dead for two days. I’d to dial 911 and wait for help to arrive.”

>   He stood and made a move as if he wanted to come near me. With a quick shake of my head, I dissuaded him from that idea. “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I. For years, I wished I’d died with them, and then for years, I have hoped to find those who were responsible.”

  “Were they killed by magic?”

  “It was used to bind them. My parents were strong mages. It shouldn’t have been so easy to kill them, but someone forced them to remain still. Someone else used a gun to kill my brother. He was fifteen, and then my sister, who was thirteen. My parents watched that. And then they were killed too.”

  “I am so, so sorry.”

  “The people who killed them will be sorry when I find them. There has been no clue so far. None at all. It’s one of the oldest unsolved cases here. I came to the department initially because I wanted information, but they recruited me, and I was tempted to join this team because it gives me access to any information they may dig up.” I shrugged and took a moment to get rid of the pain that clung to my voice. “And also, the FBI pays well. The commune is pretty self-sufficient, but we need funds, and this is the best way to earn them. At least we work with the government and not against them.”

  He could sense that I didn’t want to talk about my family anymore. Perhaps it was a mistake to tell him, but then I had nothing to lose. The more people who knew about happened, the greater the chance that someone, someday might give me a clue that would lead me to the killers. My family wouldn’t come back, but I would exact revenge. I lived for that moment, and if the time came, I would die for it.

  “Augusta? She raised you.”

  “I ended up in foster care, but of course, we’ve a committee who looks after the interests of the underage mages. They found a way for me to be transferred to the commune. I was raised there, taught there, and it’s my home. Augusta…yeah, she pretty much took care of all of us. Most left when they were order, but Shelley and I stayed on.”

  “That’s why you were so mad when they attacked the commune. It’s your home.”

  It was nice that he understood. I appreciated the warmth he showed, but of course, this was the limit to which I could share my feelings. I learnt long ago that it was better not to have too many expectations from people because when they left, it hurt too damn much. He was all but a stranger, and he already knew far more about me than I did about him. “The commune will always be my home. Now come on, we’ve a flight to catch.”