“I don’t know much about ghosts, but shouldn’t poltergeists not be able to wander around how this one has been?”
“You would think so, but considering we have a demon problem, it’s not that far-fetched that the hells might be influencing the poltergeist.”
“If a hell is involved, no one will be pleased.”
“I know. That’s an avenue of investigation I need to pursue. To do that, I need to keep the fact that I’m a federal agent under wraps if we can so the Cascade Coven isn’t aware of my status. The hunter in custody was booked under preliminary attempted murder charges. I know it’s a long shot, but is there any way Legal can seal my affiliation with the SOA?”
“That’s probably not doable, but we can maybe stall before the hunter goes before a judge. You’re looking at max a forty-eight-hour window.” Maricela reached for her cell phone and unlocked it. “Ross is on his way to King County Correctional Facility to interview the hunter right now. I’ll tell him to leave your name out of it and hedge on the agent front. He can play it like it’s part of the gala case since we have jurisdiction over that now.”
Spencer waited while she made the call, absently petting Fatima. He listened in on the conversation for the few minutes it took before Maricela ended the call and set her phone aside again.
“Is Ross the only one of the team heading to the jail?” Spencer asked.
“Yes. The rest of the team is trying to track down which hunter group might be responsible. They have a copy of the initial report from the sheriff’s department, so they’re running license plate numbers and the one hunter’s ID. What happened to the others?”
“My CI took care of them.”
Maricela frowned deeply at him. “That’s not a good enough explanation.”
Spencer chewed on the inside of his bottom lip. “My CI is someone the government has worked with before. The director is aware of who they are, and I haven’t received any pushback from her about them. I need you to trust me that they’re working on behalf of the government.”
“If bodies show up—”
“They won’t.” He could say that without lying because if Takoma was anything like Lucien, he wouldn’t leave pieces lying around big enough for anyone to find. “The preternatural community doesn’t take kindly to hunters. The government shouldn’t either, not after what they supported two years ago.”
“We don’t, but we also can’t condone murder.”
Spencer winced. “I didn’t say anything about murder.”
“It’simplied. That could put our case in jeopardy, and I won’t allow that.”
“Losing the Ouroboros Mirror will be a lot worse than turning a blind eye to some hunters no one will miss. Ross can be the face of the agency. I’ll run the back channels.”
Maricela sighed deeply. “Make sure you give us something legal to build our case on.”
Spencer was well acquainted with how difficult that could be. “I’ll do my best.”
* * *
“So the good news is, we aren’t dealing with the Krossed Knights,” Kori said as she dropped a stack of stapled reports on the table in the war room. She proceeded to hand a copy out to everyone seated around her. “After the Battle of Samhain and the trials that happened with the remaining members, that group is looking at life sentences from the RICO and seditious charges levied against them. They were the group with the deepest pockets and the furthest reach in terms of recruitment and shady dealings.”
“And the bad news?” Levi asked. It was late in the afternoon, and his foray at the jail hadn’t turned up much. The hunter in question had refused to speak without a lawyer present, and there wasn’t any point in wasting time cooling his heels when a public defender still hadn’t been assigned yet. Spencer was curious to see if the Cascade Coven would front the bill for a criminal defense attorney or not.
“None of the facial recognition on the gala security feed or the hunter Spencer arrested come up in the hunter database. Which means they’re either new—”
“A long shot,” Hudson interrupted from his spot at the table.
“—or they’re established and have managed to run under the radar with the help of others in a position of power.”
Hudson nodded. “Our likeliest scenario.”
“Why our likeliest?” Spencer asked.
“The preternatural and supernatural communities have always been extremely territorial. Hunters have historically had a difficult time infiltrating Seattle’s borders because of the Night Court here.”
Kori nodded. “Takoma has claimed this area of the country as his since before it was even a state. His word is law more often than not when it comes to everyone who isn’t a mundane human.”
“How far is his reach?”
