“So that’s one. Now we just need to find the rest of our boy band.” Parker walked over to the whiteboard, uncapping one of the markers and writing down Gile’s and Learn’s names. Underneath, he put eight dots.
“What makes you say boy band?” McArdle said.
“So far, they’re all men,” Parker said. “But that could just be the ones we found. We need to track Gile’s movements this morning. Where was he before he came in? Was he infected at the crime scene or by the CSI before the break room got theCarrietreatment?”
“I saw the CSI earlier today, before Gile even went on shift—I checked. If it was only a small circle on me, and if I was infected when I saw him…” McArdle raised both eyebrows, looking at Zahide and Nick. “It would take more time than that to spread the way it did in Gile, right?”
Nick considered, taking into account what he had seen, trying to figure out how it was even possible. Then again, asmost things had been over the past couple of years, he needed to think less about what was possible and just accept that it was happening. His job was to work it into his new reality.
“So both Gile and the CSI were infected at the crime scene,” Parker said. “We confirmed he was working it?”
Rios nodded, looking up from a sheaf of papers he was examining. “Gile was one of the first people on the scene. Before you talked to him, Gile was giving his statement. It looks like he went to four different locations before coming on shift this morning. Five if you count his house. We’re going to need teams to visit each of them.”
“Are we allowing anyone to leave the station?” Nick asked, eyebrows going up.
Rios’ lips tightened. “We’re still waiting on the FBI and the Bureau of Paranormal Threats. If you and Zahide can confirm that no one in this room is infected, I want to go to at least a few of these spots and clear them. If this parasite is half as infectious as you say, then we could have the whole city infected by noon.”
Nick was already shaking his head. “I don’t feel comfortable saying anything about this parasite. It’s an entirely new variation on alchemy that I have never seen before. For all we know, it could be hiding—it could be so small that Zahide and I wouldn’t notice.”
“All the more reason that we need to figure out who the other ten targets are,” Rios said. “Can you clear the people in this room?”
Nick exhaled a long breath, thinking about McArdle and Gile. They were running out of time to find the other people infected.
“Yes.” He said it grudgingly, unhappy, but realizing that everyone was in the same spot. The BPT would take time to get caught up, time they didn’t have.
“Wait, why are we only checking out where Gile went?” Parker said. “We know two other people who were infected. Buford and Durkavic.”
“But neither one of those parasites threatened nine other people,” Rios said. “I was in that room, too, and it sounded like this one is in charge. So we need to start with his movements.”
Parker’s lips went flat, but he didn’t say anything else.
Nick and Zahide began systematically casting the magic on the people in the room, and he noticed Parker standing off to the side, eyes narrowed at the large board filled with pictures.
When he took a break, he sidled up to Parker. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that Durkavic might have been targeted on purpose.” Parker kept his voice low, but McArdle frowned, coming up close.
“What makes you think that?” she asked.
“The cop and the CSI were both at the crime sceneafterDurkavic exploded. But Nick, you said the circles on Gile were getting ready to jump victimsbefore. So normally, infection happens before the soupification. Meaning that the cop and the CSI were just chance. It took advantage of the situation.” Parker frowned, leaning closer. “Maybe it can only survive after the person dies for a finite amount of time. So it just jumped into two people at random.”
Nick shook his head. “No, not random. It’s a customized spell. It can’t jump randomly.”
Parker waved his hand. “But it was getting ready to jump into the three of you before Gile exploded. I think that’s its preference. If it’s like a virus, it can survive outside a host for a finite amount of time, but at a certain point, it dies.”
Nodding, Nick considered the photos again. “So it jumps into the two people it can jump into. Given the fact that Gile hasn’t exploded yet, even though he told us his message…” Nick’s eyeswent wide as he began reconsidering his entire interaction with Gile. “It’s going to wait until it can find a host before it explodes.”
“Bingo,” Parker said. “So, either Durkavic was the one who spread the parasite like a modern Typhoid Mary, or the parasite wanted him goo and didn’t care that it might die killing him.”
“You think we should be tracking Durkavic’s movements,” Nick said.
“He’s either patient zero or the target of a very complicated assassination.” Parker shrugged. “I mean, a sentient, moving alchemy circle has to be twice as complicated as anything Arthur Conan Doyle came up with for Sherlock Holmes.”
“King, everyone in the room is clear,” Zahide said.
“Then here are assignments. I’m going to stay and wait for the Bureau of Paranormal Threats,” Rios said. “We’re going to put anyone available on tracking the CSI’s movements today.”
He passed out papers to everyone in the room, grouping them into pairs. Murtola and McArdle were going to check out Gile’s house. Avila and Zahide were going to the gym. A few other cops were visiting a gas station and pet store, respectively.
