The Marradith Ryder Series—The Art of Shadows–Part 13

“How can this day get any worse?” Fiona whispered under her breath.

“Oh, let’s not tempt fate, I’m sure it could,” Marradith replied.

The girl stood with her back against the wall, hands shoved in her pockets. It was just past eight in the evening, and the better part of the day had been spent arranging for Sojourner guards to pick up, transport, and examine the body of the victim that Marradith had found in the park.

Now they were in the morgue of a hospital with a doctor who was paid on the Sojourner payroll. He was a middle aged man, heavyset, with gray, curly hair.

He balanced his glasses on the tip of his nose. His name was Dr. Roberts.

Fiona looked at Marradith. The girl had not shown any signs of being ill, but she was waiting for it.

“You sure you’re okay?” Fiona pressed.

“Yes,” Marradith replied, holding her body rigid. “I kill things. I’m good.”

Fiona smiled dryly. “You’ve killed one thing so far, and you weren’t around to see the gruesome aftermath. Let me know if you need some fresh air.”

Marradith didn’t want to argue. She’d seen Justin kill Bruce. She stood and watched Justin and Will burn the body. But this felt different. Maybe because she didn’t feel any sympathy for Bruce – he’d tried to kill her and Justin both. There was something cleaner and more humane about shooting a man.

This victim wasn’t that lucky; he’d been gutted like a fish.

“How come Daria got to go to the hotel and deal with the paperwork?” Marradith asked.  She couldn’t hide the irritation in her voice.

“Daria needs to improve her skills at documentation.  And you need to get your hands dirty.”

Why did I even ask? Marradith thought. Fiona always has an answer for everything.

The doctor interrupted them just then.

“Well, he was definitely killed by a Wolf.  There are distinctive claw markings on the flesh. And the saliva matches.”

“Saliva?” Marradith said.

“Yes,” Dr. Roberts smiled, pleased that she was showing interest. “Wolves have a very distinctive enzyme in their saliva which is canine. It kills off germs. Their mouths are actually a lot cleaner than humans. Anyway, there wasn’t much of it too be found.”

“Which means?” Fiona prodded.

“Well, I’d say it means that this person was not killed as a meal. This Wolf wasn’t hungry, just angry. And the victim was dumped in a public place. This was a message.”

“That bit we guessed,” Fiona replied. Marradith noticed the bags forming around her eyes.

“You took the red-eye in this morning,” Marradith said. “When did you sleep?”

“A few minutes, in flight,” she snapped, and then turned her attention back to the doctor. “Is there anything else remarkable about this guy?”

“Well, yes. Two things. He wasn’t human. He was a ShapeShifter. Which is interesting, because how often do they even get close enough for someone to kill them? And secondly?”

He turned the body onto its side, so that its back faced Marradith and Fiona.

When they found the body, Marradith had seen the small infinity symbol on the on the base of his neck.

His back revealed a myriad of black symbols, each one an inch long. It reminded her of the ancient script she’d seen in her high school history books.

“I’ve got no clue what this means,” Dr. Roberts said. “It must be something important.”

Fiona stared at it for a long moment. “No. No… I have never seen anything like it before.”

The doctor and Marradith exchanged glances.

“Alright then. I’ll complete my report and send the paperwork to you.”

“These tattoos…” Marradith began.

The doctor shook his head. “Oh, I didn’t mention. These aren’t tattoos. They are brandings. It was very cleanly done.  I can’t tell how long ago, but I’d say it was very recent.”

Marradith clapped a hand over her mouth. “Um….”

“Ladies room is over there,” the doctor said. She ran for it, barely making it into a stall before she threw up.

***

A few minutes later, Marradith went back to the exam room. Oddly, she felt better. The quivering in her stomach had stopped, and she was fairly sure there was nothing left to bring up anymore.

The doctor was alone in the exam room. A sheet had been placed over the body.

He smiled at her in a fatherly manner. “You did well, dear. Everyone loses their cookies that first time. It’s just part of the process.”

Marradith nodded affirmatively, and then was sorry she did . She was lightheaded.

“Those markings. Have you seen anything like that before?”

“No. And that’s saying a lot.”

Marradith paused. “Where’s Fi?”

“In the hallway, out the other door.”

“Okay. I know she’ll be receiving your report, but would you be able to send me a photo of his back? I want to see if I can find out what those symbols are.”

“Of course.”

She gave him her information so he could email it to her.

Out in the hallway, Fiona waited.

Marradith was taken back by the look on her face. Fiona was in shock.

You freaking liar, Marradith thought.  You know exactly what those symbols mean.

“It’s some kind of ransom note, isn’t it, Fi?”

Fiona shivered.

“I can’t explain this here,” she said. “We need to talk in private.”

_______________________________________
©2010 Lori Titus

Vote for The Marradith Ryder Series on Top Web Fiction:  http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=the-marradith-ryder-series

Purchase Lori Titus’s new e-book, Green Water Lullaby here: http://www.sonar4publications.com/green.html

Catch the Marradith Ryder video on You Tube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULTTseiM1Yc

“You’ve got to tell me one day, exactly why it is you hate Fiona. I know that you weren’t happy about her getting with Will, but it seems like you were angry with her before that,” Marradith said.

Daria and Marradith were sitting in a limousine, waiting to start the second part of their trip.  This was something Marradith had wanted to ask about for some time. There had been too much security staff on the jet with them that morning to speak openly.

One thing Marradith was learning quickly; there was no telling who was tied to whom within the Sojourners, and what alliances or disputes existed between people.

Daria smiled. “You’re right . Just to be real with you, Fiona’s a slut. Around her, any man that can stand upright is fair game. Secondly, I almost didn’t become a Sojourner because of her. If it hadn’t been for Justin, they weren’t going to let me in.”

“Why?”

“Fiona made some excuse about me not having the character for it.”

“Well…. What does that mean?”

“It’s a bullshit excuse that really means, ‘I don’t like that bitch’ . Well, after that, me getting into a fight with her didn’t help.”

“You didn’t…!”

“Oh yes I did. I guarantee that woman’s got a scar from me somewhere. Anyway. Part of the reason Justin and I are so tight is because he did stand up for me to the higher ups. Do you know what happens, Ryder, if you start the process and they decide you’re not Sojourner material?”

“I… that never occurred to me.”

“Well, I am sure Justin wouldn’t have wanted to stress it to you. Seeing as you made it through already, you might as well know. They kill you.”

Marradith sighed. “Um, yeah. He didn’t mention that. I think we’re gonna have a talk about that when I get home.”

Daria laughed. “Go easy on him. We all knew you’d be fine.”

“Anyway. Back to Fiona!” Marradith said.” I was shocked to find out she was having an affair with Will right under her husband’s nose, but, things happen. And I’ve never seen that much affection between her and Rafael.”

“Notice I didn’t go telling you upfront what my beef with her was,” Daria said. “You have to see how she is for yourself, Marradith. ShapeShifters in general, are funky people. It’s not just that they change the way they look. They change the way that they are.”

Their flow of conversation was cut off when Fiona opened the door of the limousine and slipped in across from them.

***

“I hope you both got good sleep last night,” Fiona said.

The two girls looked like they’d been caught with their hands in a cookie jar.

Fiona had told them that she’d meet them in New York, but they probably expected to see her at their hotel. She had flown in on another plane.

Fiona hadn’t heard what they were talking about, but had the feeling she was the topic of conversation.

“So what’s on schedule for today?” Marradith asked.

Daria rolled her eyes and picked at her fingernails.

“We’re going to the Abbott Arms,” Fiona said. “I want you to do a walk through of the room. See what traces of energy you can pick up there, the way you did that day we went to Jenny Winslow’s house.”

“I’m not sure I can duplicate that again,” Marradith said.

“I know. But I’d like you to try.”

“Fiona,” Daria said. “The night that I went to Rafael and found that ShapeShifter there - can you think of any reason someone pretended to be him?”

“No,” Fiona replied. “Why?”

“I have been thinking about it,” Daria said. “Justin and I talked about it, too. If this person intended on leaving New York and going back to Colorado with me, maybe they wanted to infiltrate Ryder House.”

“That’s a possibility,” Marradith said.

“What I am really wondering,” Daria said, “is if Rafael was really the person these people are after. Could there be anyone out there that might have it in for you, Fiona?”

*****

Fiona felt her blood pressure rising.

Daria always managed to get her riled.

Looking at Daria and Marradith together, Fiona reminded herself that both girls were young enough to be her daughters. She should treat them as such.

“We don’t have enough information to make that kind of assumption yet,” Fiona said.

“Well, we need theories,” Daria replied. “Rafael has to be the priority.”

“He is….”

“Stop!” Marradith cried.

“What?” Fiona said.

“Not you,” Marradith said, reaching past her to pound on the partition that separated the interior of the car from the driver. The driver opened it and glared at her.

“Please, stop and take us back to that spot where we were before. Before you made that last right hand turn.”

*****

Marradith was out of the car as soon as it stopped.

Fiona and Daria trailed behind.

“What’s she doing….?” Daria sighed.

“Hush just this once,” Fiona hissed.

Marradith crossed the street, hands shoved into her pockets. A patch of green grass came into view as she walked up an incline. Just ahead was the entrance to a neighborhood park. Forgeting about her companions, she broke into a run.

When the other two women caught up, they saw Marradith standing beside a tree, with her hand over her mouth.

Fiona reached her first.

Marradith had stopped inches short of where the body lay.

The corpse was hidden by the shade and a ragged crop of shrubs. The smell of death made Marradith step backwards.

Fiona didn’t want to look. “Marradith, is it…?”

“No,” Marradith said quickly. She didn’t dare touch the body. But she noticed a small tattoo on the back of the man’s neck. “Fi, this isn’t anybody we know.”

“Shit,” Daria whispered, looking around to see if anyone noticed them. “Well what are we going to do with him?”

“I don’t know,” Marradith said. “But this guy…. he was killed by a Wolf.”

_______________

©2010 Lori Titus

For more about this author and her imagination, see her blog:

http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/