Chapter Club: The Shadowrunner Chapter 12
Happy Friday! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter of The Shadowrunner.
Last Time
Luke is the chief police officer in a small Arizona town called Abeja
His daughter, Lucy, has magical abilities that she is keeping secret from her parents
A Texan named Silvia Montes was murdered not far from Luke’s house. Lucy saw the murderer the night of the crime
The investigation has revealed the existence of magic and magical creatures like Pejito, the strange creature that can reveal things currently happening in its reflective surface. Luke and his team are still struggling to find ways to defeat and control the magic
The investigation is straining Luke’s relationship with his wife, Jenni
The investigation has also drawn the attention of Abigail Morrison, an agent for a secretive government organization that knows about the existence of magic
Jennifer woke to a lonely bed. Part of her had been expecting it, but that expectation didn’t fill the loneliness that caved a hollow into her stomach. She preemptively stopped her back-up alarm and opened the door to her bedroom. Normally, she would have gone straight to the shower and started the process of getting ready for work. But she needed to check on her family.
She stopped first at Lucy’s door. She opened it gently and peeked in. It wasn’t quite time for Lucy to be up, but her bed was empty and unmade. She must have gotten up early today, but why would she have left her room?
She closed the door and made her way down the stairs. The light over the stove was still on. It had been left on all night. It was still dark outside, so she left it on, but she was still slightly disappointed.
The light in the front room hadn’t been turned off either and that one could be turned off. She walked over to the edge of the hallway and stopped. Luke was lying on the couch, fast asleep. Lucy was curled up on his chest, wrapped in both his arms and her dreams.
She stepped back out of view of the pair and pressed her back against the wall dividing them. She lifted her hand to her face to wipe away the tears that were forming there. It was too early for this, she thought in a lame attempt at humor.
Part of her was glad that the two of them had been able to reach some kind of understanding. Why else would Lucy have come down after she had ended her argument with Luke? Why else would she be here now and not in her bed, unless Dad and his little girl had been having a late-night chat.
Another part of her felt jealous. It was a horrible envy that threatened to make her nauseous with how strong it was. Why hadn’t Lucy come talk to her last night? Why wasn’t she curled up on her chest this morning? She knew it wasn’t a fair question and certainly not a helpful one. It wouldn’t do anything to smooth over the tension that was fraying all of their nerves. And yet, still it needled at the back of her mind.
She stepped back out into the front room and turned the light off, leaving the two in darkness. There would be time to talk to them later, especially once it was time for Lucy to get ready for school. In the meantime, she had to figure out what she could say to Luke.
Jennifer knew she had hurt him. Knew that it had torn at the deepest parts of him to make him choose between his commitment to her and his commitment to the men at work. That probably had not been the wisest choice. She should have found some better way to help him understand how not knowing how to protect their daughter was tearing her apart. But should would not undo the damage. And an apology wouldn’t be honest.
She continued mulling the matter over in the shower and as she got dressed. She could apologize for not communicating well. She would have to catch herself; she couldn’t say “but.” But she did need Luke to understand her position.
The next time she came down the stairs, she started making breakfast for herself, Luke, and Lucy just like she always did. Peanut-butter toast with sliced bananas, scrambled eggs, and chocolate milk for Lucy. A toasted bagel with cream cheese for Luke. And a bowl of oatmeal topped with blueberries and a glass of orange juice for her. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Luke standing a foot away from her.
She swallowed. “Good morning.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I—“
“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Jennifer interrupted. “And that’s on me. Not on you.”
He looked at her quizzically before letting out a chuckle. “Is that what you want me to say?”
“No! I—“ She stopped when he looked back at her with a small smile.
“I know.”
He lifted his hands to her shoulders, but paused before making contact. “Can I hold you?” he asked.
She nodded, letting out a sigh of relief as his hands settled on her shoulders. This was how it was supposed to be. Yesterday would fade away into memory and it would eventually be forgotten.
In any other case, that might have been true. But the fact that their daughter sat at the center of a murder case was too much to forget.
“I just—” Jennifer said. “ I’m scared for Lucy and I’m scared for you. And I don’t understand and that makes me even more scared.”
“I know,” he said.
She turned to the counter and grabbed Luke’s breakfast. She gently pressed it into his hands. “You better eat quick. You still need to shower.”
“Do I really smell that bad?” he replied.
“No, you smell like little girl.”
Jennifer glanced at the clock as Luke circled the island and took a seat on one of the barstools on the other side. They had a few more minutes before Lucy needed to be woken up. The sky was growing brighter outside. She grabbed her breakfast and joined Luke on the other side of the island.
“Jenni?”
“Yes?”
He took his hands in hers.
“I need you to tell me something.”
She nodded for him to continue.
“Do you want to be married to a hypocrite?”
She felt the significance of the question. He was making a plea. He would tell her everything if it meant knowing outweighed the breach of character. But if that character mattered, then he wouldn’t tell her.
Her mind went back to when they had first met. She thought of how they had ended up in the same English class at one point. How they had become friends. How she had looked over his essays and offered to help him get better. He had never let her suggest anything he could copy. He had wanted to do it on his own.
Honor. That was the word that came to her mind when she thought of him in his cap and gown. How it had not been easy, but how he had struggled to the end, even if it meant he was unlikely to go to college. That had been the boy she had fallen in love with.
“No,” she said. “But if something happens and then I can’t tell you, are you going to accept that?”
It was a reminder. If she was going to accept his commitment to honor, he had to accept that she would reciprocate if their situations ever switched.
“I understand.”
When Luke arrived at the station, Sally stood from where she was sitting.
“Officer Alden,” she said.
“What is it?”
She looked a bit like a trapped mouse as she circled the desk to stand next to him. Her eyes darted at the corners of the room. “Someone is here to see you. Her name is Agent Morrison.”
Luke paused. Unease tickled the edges of his fingers. “Who’s she with?”
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Luke felt his breath catch, and then made an effort to breathe through the discomfort. He didn’t know that anything was wrong. There were a host of reasons a federal agent would want to talk to the local police. He didn’t want to assume there were any connections to what they were working on.
He couldn’t stop himself from considering the alternative. If the agent was here about the Montes case, maybe they could help. Maybe this was something that the federal government had experience with and had covered up.
He chided himself, and it seemed as though it was Jenni doing the chiding. Conspiratorial thinking, she would call it. It was what she said when they drove home from a family event where one of Luke’s brothers dropped his latest government cover up theory.
Luke asked, “where is she?”
“I let her into your office,” she said.
“Thank you, Sally”
She nodded and made her way back to the front desk. Luke glanced through the window of his office and saw a well-dressed woman sitting in the chair across from his desk. Luke steeled his nerve and went over to his door. As he opened it, Agent Morrison rose to her feet.
She was tall, tall enough that Luke knew the pickup basketball games at the city park would have been glad to find her. Her hair was blond and matched her khaki suit and dark blue tie. Her eyes were a California blue. She looked a bit like Bradley and the association frustrated him. He didn’t want to dislike her just because she reminded him of someone who acted more like a teenager than a cop.
“Agent Morrison, how can I help you?” Luke stuck out his hand to shake.
“Alden, nice to meet you,” Morrison said as she returned the gesture. He frowned at the irritating omission, trying to keep it from confirming his initial evaluation of her. “I wanted to talk to you about the Montes case.”
As Luke walked around to his desk, he took the brief moment when his face was obscured to grimace. So there had been a reason to be nervous.
“What would you like to know?”
“One of the investigators on your team requested that Montes’ papers be handed over to the department as part of the ongoing investigation,” Agent Morrison started. She was leaning back in the chair. If she had been leaning any further the front two legs would have lifted off the ground. “I came to ask why you needed them.”
“I thought that was a question for a judge, not a member of the FBI,” Luke replied. He was confused why she was asking him about a warrant that had already been granted. She should have had access to those.
Agent Morrison smiled. “I see you paid attention in high school. All that talk of separation of powers.”
Luke frowned at her patronizing tone. It was clear she thought him beneath her, and maybe she was more important than him in the large scheme of things. That didn’t mean he liked being reminded of it.
“Agent Morrison, I don’t want to detain you any longer than I need to,” Luke interrupted.
“You must have paid attention in kindergarten as well.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“The attempts at being polite, despite the fact you loathe me being here.”
Luke’s gaze hardened. He had tried to control his feelings, perhaps in the hope that she would be the one to take the weight of the falling sky off of him. But now there was no point in disputing the fact that he disliked her. If she had figured out or merely guessed was irrelevant.
“I don’t want to waste your time,” he repeated.
“Then tell me, Alden. Why do you need those papers?”
Luke crossed his arms. Now we was determined not to cooperate. “As I described in the application for the warrant: Silvia’s social circle here was so small that we have exhausted our local resources. The papers may provide leads on who killed her.”
There was another reason he wanted the papers. The map from the field journal had only provided scant details that had taken him days to piece together. Pejito was another piece revealed by the story book. He would continue to look for any details she had about Owen and the man with the scared lips, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a more complete picture.
“And you have no suspects as of yet?”
“I answered your question, Agent Morrison. I’m sure you have already read about the case in the paper. There isn’t much else to go off other than the sketch we have of our main suspect.”
He knew he was obscuring the extent of what they had figured out, and he didn’t care, though he should have. Agent Morrison wouldn’t be any better equipped to handle the ambiguities and mysteries of this case than anyone else. And just as he had said in the forensics lab, he did not like the idea of the national spotlight turning to his city because of a murder they had yet to find a way to explain.
Agent Morrison cocked her head. “I’m disappointed, Alden. I would have expected the police of this great city to be more competent.”
“This is a highly unusual case,” Luke replied with ice in his words.
“Right.”
Agent Morrison drew herself up to her full sitting height. While the effect was not as dramatic as when she was standing, it was still noticeable.
“Let me make myself clear, Alden. The FBI is watching this case closely, in case there is any hint of interstate activity we need to be aware of. The moment you get even a hint that Silvia Montes was involved in anything of federal concern, you contact me.”
Luke ground his teeth. Why Agent Morrison felt the need to show up at his office to remind him of proper protocol was beyond him. Unless she already sensed something was wrong. Or she suspected they were hiding something from her.
“Of course, Agent Morrison,” Luke replied.
She nodded and rose to her full height. She picked up a dark brown hat from the corner of the other seat and placed it on her head. As she walked out of Luke’s office, she stopped and turned her head.
“Say hello to the wife and daughter for me.”
Luke clenched his jaw, watching every step as Agent Morrison walked out the front of the police station. He only released his clenched knuckles when the front door closed behind her.
Agent Morrison wanted to play the intimidation game. If he thought it would make Luke easier to cow, she was wrong. Luke pulled out the box of pushpins and assorted stationary from his desk, then turned to the board behind him. They needed to find this murderer. And they needed to be faster.
I hope you enjoyed this sneak-peak of The Shadowrunner. What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!