P. Stormcrow

Giving chase was all fine and easy on a training course. Trying to do it in the middle of a senior center and not knock over grannies was a different matter. For every one of them that tried to shuffle out of the way, two others stopped to stare up at them and ask what was happening. It slowed Finn down such that by the time she got to the door, Lacey was already halfway across the parking lot.

She pressed on harder, though her leg muscles screamed in protest. It helped close the distance. She spared a second’s thought, wondering where Jackson went, but she had to focus as Lacey dove into the aisle between parked cars.

With a groan, Finn followed. To her dismay, however, her target had already ducked out of sight, and all had grown quiet. Lacey’s evasion skills were excellent and even more suspicious now, Finn drew her gun once more and inched along a large truck.

Something rattled to her left, and on instinct, she pivoted toward the sound. But there was nothing there, no feet showing beneath the undercarriage of either the van or case beside it. She could swing around to investigate or…

She stepped out from behind the vehicle and aimed at where Lacey would have had a narrow but plausible trajectory.

No one was there.

Fuck.

About to give up, she stopped again when Jackson emerged from the aisle over, his forefinger over his lips to signal for silence. Finn raised her brow. Where the hell was he this whole time?

She would ask later though, as he withdrew a mini kaleidoscope from his pocket and looked through it. That done, he offered it to her while jerking his head into his right.

With as little sound as she could manage, she eased over, took the toy from him, and fitted it over her eye. At first, she saw nothing but a fractured myriad of colors, as she had expected. But as she recalled how Olivia had used the tool back on their previous case, she waited until a crouched figure shimmered into existence, wrapped in strands of glittering threads.

A don’t-look-at-me spell.

It was the same as one of the many spells that kept the warehouse safe. Finn had dove into the lore using that spell as a starting place once Olivia had explained it to her.

And once she spied Lacey, the device she used to see the magic was no longer necessary. Her regular eyesight now showed a woman with her back towards them, still watching the other direction. Wisps of blond hair escaped out of a half undone bun and her slim shoulders rose and falling as she tried to catch her breath. Finn returned the cylinder to Jackson, and they walked over, aiming the gun at the witch.

“Lacey James.”

Jackson held up his badge. “FBI.”

Their target stiffened before she glanced back up at them, groaned, and straightened from her crouching position, patting the dust off her slacks. “Look, it was just that one time…” She eyed them with suspicion, trailing off before she let out a long sigh. “You’re not here about that, are you?”

“About what?” Finn asked, resisting the urge to face palm. Back on track. She couldn’t let Lacey distract her. “No. You hired Sunny McDaniels to build you a website for SIDDelivery.”

Lacey’s jaws dropped. With indignation, she set her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side. “Oh, is that what he told you?”

Finn exchanged an uneasy glance at Jackson. If this was any other division’s protocols, this would be where they would take her in for questioning. But this was not a normal division. Plus, they were on lockdown.

“Come on. I know a place.” Jackson half turned and motioned for them to follow.

Lacey however, grimaced. “Can you put away the gun?”

Finn raised a brow.

“I don’t need more gossip.” She jutted her chin in the direction of the crowd that was spilling out the door of the community center. “I promise I won’t run.”

When they both scoffed, Lacey let out a huff.

“I swear on the Goddess’s powers.”

At Jackson’s a subtle nod, she tucked the weapon in her waist pocket and gestured for her to proceed. As Lacey followed her partner, she fell in line, bringing up the rear until they got to her car.

For the first time, she was glad she had a two door vehicle. Without prompting, Lacey entered and settled in the backseat, crossing her arms like a petulant teenager.

“We’re going to have to burn this place after but it can’t be helped.” Jackson slumped into the passenger seat, rolling his head backward against the headrest.

“What place?” Finn started the cars and checked the mirrors, well aware that Lacey was listening. The woman, however, continued to sit in grumpy silence, staring out the window. It suit Finn just fine.

“A safe house close by. I’ll give you directions as we go.”

***

The walk up to the old low-rise apartment building reminded her a little of her own home. The thought depressed her more than it should, but she kept a stoic expression as Jackson muttered something under his breath. To her surprise, from the corner of her eye, she spied a keypad above the door handle, one that she swore wasn’t there before but before she could verify her suspicions, he punched in the numbers, waited for a beep before he let them in.

Small magic, she was learning, could coexist with technology. It was all about scale though she wondered what the threshold was such as what the difference between delivering tech in the tube system versus a don’t-see-me spell on a keypad.

As soon as they all piled into the unit, Jackson moved to check the apartment. It was a protocol she recognized to ensure that someone hadn’t previously comprised the safe house, but she remained still with their only weakness who had fallen silent but watched them with hawk-like eyes. It wasn’t until Jackson returned and pulled a chair out from under the wooden table that Lacey shuddered.

“Have a seat.” Jackson’s voice was casual, but she recognized the stiff set of his shoulders.

Lacey looked as though she was going to protest, but she snapped her mouth shut when she glimpsed the lazy smile on his lips. With a little more hesitation than before, she sat.

Her partner brought two more chairs over to the other side of the table and eased into one of them. Finn turned to make sure they had locked the door before joining them.

“So, tell us your version of the story.”

For the first time, Lacey narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, folding her arms on the hard surface. “So what’s in it for me?”

How about not going to jail? The thought entered and fled her mind right after. The last case was a ghost that got banished by some piece of equipment she hadn’t quite figured out yet, but now humans were involved. Did they go through the same prosecution process as a regular arrestee? Or was there some kind of special protocol for magic users? Shit. What would even be the charges?

Why didn’t she think to question any of this beforehand?

Jackson, however, appeared unfazed as he gave her a Mon committal shrug. “What will happen if the community found out you were mixing tech with spells?”

Lacey threw her head back and laughed. The sound chilled Finn to the bones and her fingers itched for her gun, for assurance. “They would be the first to try to steal our secret. Do you really think everyone isn’t already trying to make the two aspects work? We’re just the first to manage it.” Lacey rolled her eyes. “Government, always with such antiquated ideas. Get with the times, Strangers.”

It took all of Finn’s focus to not appear shocked. Beside her, Jackson shifted in his seat, hunching forward, triumph glittering in his expression. “So you have been experimenting.”

The witch’s eyes widened as she realized she had just given herself away. In an attempt to recover her dignity, she straightened and sniffed. “I have been providing my services, perhaps. It’s Sunny’s brainchild. You know how boys are with their toys.”

She should have known he wasn’t simply some webmaster. Damn it.

“Did you meet him through his mother?”

“Edith? Oh please. She has nothing to do with this. The old bat is too much of a traditionalist with her herbs and crystals. After Sunny and her had an all out at the last coven meeting, he came to me because I was the only one that didn’t think his ideas were that crazy.”

So Sunny was a witch too? Or did that make him a warlock? No. That didn’t matter right now. What she wanted to know was why Jackson hadn’t been able to sniff that out when they met him earlier. For every tidbit Lacey gave them, three more questions sprang up.

“So what? Combine your magic with his tech and make a delivery service using interdimensional space?” Finn ventured. There was no use dancing around this any more.

“The business is hardly illegal.”

At that moment, her phone buzzed. On instinct, Finn picked it up and stared at the notification that popped in puzzlement. Another text from Agent Olsen? Right. She recalled that Jackson had borrowed it on the drive over here. His grin cemented her suspicions.

She unlocked the device and passed it over to him. Jackson scanned the screen for a moment before handing it back to her and turning to face Lacey once more.

“So, I understand you have a soap business, selling to the locals? What do you think we are going to find if we called the FDA for an inspection?”

It hit her. Lacey had run, after all. So if not for the delivery service, there must have been something else she was guilty about. Jackson had prepared for this, and her respect for him rose.

She shrugged and made a sound of disbelief.

“You asked us earlier what’s in it for you. Tell you what. Give us the information we need and we’ll overlook your side gig.” Jackson extended a hand out to her.

Lacey stared at him, at her, and back at him again before she sighed. “Deal.”

And they shook on it.