“Very perceptive of you. Also, I already know it wouldn’t be wise.” Death wish came to mind.
“She would likely dispatch you on sight,” Aurelia calmly agreed, as if my death was inconsequential.
“That’s not a comforting thought.”
“It was not meant to be.”
“No, I don’t imagine it was.” My chest ached with my next question. “Can you find Ajita? If you wanted to?” It was still up for debate how easily djinn could locate one another. Aurelia hadn’t been terribly forthcoming with that information. In general, we knew they didn’t exactly like each other and tried to keep their distance if possible. Considering they had very little autonomy over their individual lives, that often wasn’t up to them. Originally, they’d been made to fight each other, which, according to Aurelia, wasn’t very fruitful and often beyond pointless as they were all fairly evenly matched.
If Aurelia’s eyes narrowed further, they’d be closed. “It may be possible.”
I licked my dry lips. “And if so, would you be willing to find her to deliver a message?”
Silence and unreadable eyes met my question before Aurelia finally answered a brief “I would need to consider the request.” Evidently finished with the conversation, Aurelia vanished.
Pops’s silencing charms worked both ways, and I remained in that bubble of absolute quiet. Unnoticed time ticked by, and still I sat. My mind felt fuzzy, and my vision was in equal trouble as I digested our conversation. Throat parched, I fingered Pops’s silencing charm. “Good talk,” whispered through my lips before I disengaged the charm, the hum of background technology filling my ears once more.
Chapter
Six
Franklin
I stared down at the skeletal remains of one of the six victims we’d found. Per Dr. Stowe, this one was a white female, just like the rest. Dr. Stowe estimated her age between twenty-five and thirty-five. A smattering of blond hairs had been found around the crown of her head, the rest long gone.
I wasn’t exactly certain what I was doing in the morgue. The only way I’d be able to make heads or tails out of the remains was if a bullet were found, the bone it sliced through shattered. I could also pick out a broken limb or two, and a bashed in skull was always a dead giveaway. The remains lying on the impersonal steel table had no such blemishes.
“Preliminary thoughts, Doc?” I didn’t expect Dr. Stowe to have a complete write-up on each victim.
“Don’t I wish,” Dr. Stowe answered with a frustrated head shake. “So far, I’ve got squat.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that your professional opinion?”
Dr. Stowe chuckled as she laid down her chart and shoved her hands into the deep pockets of her white lab coat. “It might as well be.” Tucking one of the many escaped strands ofhair behind her ear, Dr. Stowe tossed a frustrated hand in the direction of the remains before me.
“I hate having so little to work with, especially when there is absolutely no indication in the remains as to the initiating cause of death.”
My breakfast sank like a stone. “And the others?”
“I haven’t had time to properly autopsy the rest, but I have a sneaking suspicion they’ll be the same. Obviously, these bodies didn’t bury themselves, so some type of foul play has to be involved. What that might be and who I have no idea. At this point, I don’t even have any IDs I can get you.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, my eyes gazed into the dark, fathomless, empty eye sockets of our victim. “Six women, five of whom are fairly young… You’d think we’d be inundated with missing persons reports.” That was one of the many thoughts that had kept me from catching a few winks earlier this morning.
Dr. Stowe blinked twice before answering. “You’re right.”
“And yet, I’ve got a whole lot of nothing.” I’d gone through missing persons reports this morning and found two that might fit. Considering how full our morgue was, the numbers didn’t add up.
“How far have you extended your search?”
“I started with our own and surrounding counties before expanding to the whole state. Could be that our victims are transients or that they lived lifestyles that put them at risk. Could be that no one’s looking for them.” I didn’t know which was worse: having to notify loved ones regarding the decedent or having absolutely no one to contact. The thought that there were people out there that no one cared about, that no one worried over, was gut-wrenching.
Stepping closer, Dr. Stowe pointed to the victim’s teeth. “She’s had good dental work. Bone structure and density pointto someone who’s been well cared for. If she did live that kind of lifestyle, it’s been a recent development.”
I ran a hand over my face. My recent shave made the contact nearly silent. “Captain Cicely gave me the go-ahead to involve Boone. I assume you’re good with that.”
“I think it will be the quickest route to answers. For proper identification, I would need someone to compare dental records or DNA to.”
“And I’ve got nothing on that front.”
