John Levitt - Unleashed

“I know him. A bad apple. We’ve been trying to get rid of him for years.” He laughed. “What can I do for you, Mase? Played any good gigs lately?”

“All my gigs are good. The audience occasionally sucks, though.”

“You want a tough audience? Try being a cop sometime.”

“No, thanks. I don’t possess the people skills or the superb intelligence necessary to do that job.”

“Hold on a second. Let me find my shovel.”

“I mean every word.”

“Oh, I see. You want something.”

“Of course. Why else would I flatter a stupid-I mean, not at all, Inspector, but now that you bring it up…”

“Shoot.”

“You know those animal attacks? The ones that have everyone in a panic?”

“I seem to recall hearing something about them,” he said dryly.

“The paper just says the victims were all torn up. I know you’re not directly involved, but cops talk. Have you heard anything else about them?”

“Why the interest?”

“Let’s just say I’m a concerned citizen.”

“Sorry, Mason, but you know I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation. Wish I could help, but them’s the rules.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I understand. Thanks anyway.”

We talked another couple of minutes about other stuff and I invited him down to my next gig before hanging up. Thirty seconds later, my phone rang.

“That was quick,” I said.

“Cell phone. It’s not a good idea to talk on department lines, I assure you.”

“I know, but I couldn’t find your cell number.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. So what’s your interest here?”

“Just an idea I had. But I need a description of what really happened to those hikers.”

“I don’t have access to any official reports, but I can tell you this. If the state of those bodies was common knowledge, there’d be more than just panic.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, they weren’t just mauled; they were completely eviscerated. And the internal organs were missing-heart, liver, kidneys-even the brain. The heads were all cracked open and it looks like some animal just scooped them out and ate them.”

“Are you sure it was an animal?”

“What makes you ask that?” he said, his tone sharpening as the cop sense kicked in. Then it softened. “No, it’s an animal, all right. One of the victims was seen being attacked. His friends were hiking with him and they were lagging back a ways, which is probably what saved their lives. They saw something come out of the bushes and drag him off. It happened so quick they couldn’t give a good description, just that it was large and dark in color, but they swear it wasn’t a mountain lion. But it certainly wasn’t a person. Whatever it was tore the boy apart, just like the others. The wildlife guys are saying it can’t have been a mountain lion, either-about the only thing that could do that to a person would be a bear. But there aren’t any bears around these parts. And even if one escaped from captivity, bears don’t act like that anyway. The whole thing is just spooky.”

“Hmm,” I said. “Interesting. Well, thanks for the info.”

“No problem. Does any of it mean anything to you?”

“Not really.”

“Right. Like you said, just a concerned citizen. And speaking of which, I do remember hearing about another guy asking very similar questions a while back, offering to help. Homicide was very hot on him for a while. They thought he was just a bit too curious. But that was before the animal was actually seen. Turned out he was just another nutcase.” Warning bells went off in my head. Macklin might think it just an odd coincidence, but I didn’t.

“Huh,” I said. “Curious. You don’t remember his name, by any chance?” Now warning bells were definitely going off in Macklin’s head.

“What’s going on here, Mase?” he said.

“Nothing. Just thought it might be someone I know-a lot of my friends have been discussing this case.”

“Yeah? Well, I can’t remember his name, but it was something like Rocky or Rambo.”

I almost blurted out, “Ramsey?” but caught myself in time. One more coincidence and Macklin would start paying me serious attention, animal sighting or no. Cops hate things that don’t add up. I guess all of us do, for that matter.

“Well, it’s not important,” I said. “Thanks for the help, though.”

“Anytime.”

After I hung up for the second time, I did some serious thinking. What was Ramsey doing sniffing around the cops? Was it just his general clumsy attempt at investigation, or did he want to find out how much they knew? Maybe Ruby had put him up to it, but she had to know how lame and ineffective he was. The only thing he’d accomplish would be to draw unwanted attention. I’d have to check with her.

The information from Macklin was interesting, but it hadn’t really helped at all. Instead of narrowing down possibilities, it opened up even more of them. Such as, what if the killings had nothing to do with any theoretical entity wandering around? Nothing kills just because it’s evil. Everyone and everything acts from motive, even powerful beings with unknown abilities. Power. Fear. Simple hunger.

And missing organs? That smacked of a more human agency-a black practitioner gone bad, for example. I had no idea what those organs might be used for, but it wasn’t a random happenstance. But the witnesses had seen an animal. Or something not human.

I thought some more, then pulled out the scrap of paper with Ruby’s number on it and called. After a few pleasant ries, slightly less juvenile than the ones I’d traded with Macklin, I got down to business.

“Have you talked to Victor lately?” I asked.

“I have-in fact, I’m on my way over to his house later this afternoon. I’ve got some ideas I want to run past him.”

“Does that include any ideas from the cops?”

“Beg pardon?”

“The cops. Did you know Ramsey’s been bugging the cops about these murders, stirring up interest?”

“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him.”

“You do that. He can cause trouble for us all, you know.”

“I know. He’s been helpful, but he’s beginning to wear on me anyway. It might be time to send him on his way.” She paused. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t have to tell Victor about that, though. It makes me look like a flake.”

“Tell Victor about what?”

“Thanks,” she said. “Why don’t you come by, too? We can run some ideas past each other.”

“That would be great, if I had any. But sure, I’ll be there.”

“About one, if that’s okay? If I can get some other stuff done by then.”

RUBY WAS STRETCHED OUT ON THE COUCH IN the study when I arrived at Victor’s. She unwound herself from the couch, slinked her way over to me, and held out a cool and dry hand, giving me a little squeeze as she did. I think she knew the effect she had on me and enjoyed teasing me, but not in a mean way.

“Ruby’s got an interesting take on this,” said Eli. “She doesn’t think there’s a creature out there at all.”

“Why not? We didn’t dream up the fake Ifrit,” I said.

“Or the Wendigo, either.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she said. “I’m talking about there being another creature.”

“Well, something’s been killing people, and it’s not the two we know about.”

“Something or someone. ”

“Like a black practitioner, you mean?” Her face took on a grim expression.

“That’s exactly what I mean. I’ve been casting some scry ing spells, ones designed to locate uncanny things. Something Giancarlo taught me. That’s how I tumbled to that Ifrit creature, the one you’ve been hunting. I can’t use my talent to actually locate it, but I can feel its presence.