I poked my head into the bedroom, which housed a single mattress on the floor. The kitchen was the worst of it, takeout cartons littering the kitchen counter, holding a variety of old food. A single roach climbed out of the sink, and I backed out of the kitchen like my ass was on fire.
“She was definitely here,” Kyla said. “I can smell her.”
“Why would they bring her back here?” I frowned. “Maybe they panicked. They weren’t expecting her to walk in on them. She’s a witch who’s good with wards, so they probably didn’t sense her approaching the house.”
I used one hand to massage the back of my neck. “They’re going to know we found their flop. If she’s still alive, she won’t be for long. You take the bedroom, I’ll take the living room.”
Kyla wrinkled her nose but nodded, and we methodically searched every inch of the apartment.
“Yo,” Kyla said a few minutes later.
“One sec.” I was kneeling in front of the sofa, peering beneath it. I used the light from my phone to search the floor, but all I found was enough dust to be a health hazard.
I got to my feet and met Kyla in the bedroom.
She’d shifted the mattress– and she deserved hazard pay just for that. I crouched, examining some kind of bone. It was long— about the length of my forearm— and had been smoothed, polished, and wrapped in some kind of silver cage which was attached to a gleaming silver handle.
It was a bone wand. And I really didn’t want to pick it up.
“Someone wanted some insurance in case the witch turned on him. We might get lucky and get a print or two off this, but I highly doubt it.” I said. “If not, maybe we can take it to Selina. She can sometimes see things when she touches certain objects.”
I pulled a clean plastic bag out of my utility belt, turned it inside out, and used it to pick up the bone.
“Let’s have a chat with a few of the neighbors.”
I took the apartment on the right, while Kyla took the one on the left. I knocked, waited, and knocked again.
Nothing.
I closed my eyes, sending a trickle of power through my shields. I had no idea if it would work but—
There. Movement.
I slammed my fist on the door a few more times, making it clear that I wasn’t going anywhere.
Finally, the door swung open.
“Are you fucking kidding me, bitch?”
The woman wore nothing but a t-shirt, panties, and a vicious scowl.
“I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“My name is Danica Amana. I’m investigating a kidnapping.”
She leaned against the door. “So you think you can just wake people whenever you please? I don’t see no badge, bitch.”
I hadn’t quite pushed my power back behind my shield. With a wide smile, I slid the trickle toward her, wrapping her in darkness.
She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it. My power wrapped around her wrists and ankles, holding her still.
“What the fuck?”
“I don’t need no badge. Bitch.”
Silence.
