Darkly - Episode #12

Dark Magic stalks the FBI

Want to start at the beginning? You can find the 1st Episode HERE.

Recap: Things are getting interesting at Ward Six, an FBI facility that processes people with magical skills. For FBI analyst Kinley Scott she’s trying to hide how much she knows about magic—and her ability to communicate with computers on a sentient level—as well as the fact that her ex-boyfriend, Dante Hicks, was brought in as a magical, subversive bombing suspect. He’s a character who uses telepathy to reconnect with Kinley, so she pushes him into a cell with an evil, choking presence. Fun, fun!

Now… onto Darkly Episode #12.

“He’s choking!”

Carter raced out of the elevator toward the cell, followed by Gil.

Guess I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“It won’t kill him,” I said.

“You don’t know that!” Carter turned on me as Gil toggled a switch on the cell’s control panel. It neutralized the presence.

Dante gasped for air. His eyes slanted my way.

“Maybe now he’ll be more cooperative,” I rationalized, glaring at Dante. “He knows we aren’t playing.”

A smirk spread across Dante’s face. “Or maybe—” his voice squeaked out, and his bound hands went to his throat. He cleared it. Twice. “Maybe we’re playing the same game, sweetheart.” The snappy comeback failed since his voice still sounded like it went through a cheese grater.

Gil flicked a finger at a green dome in the corner of the cell. “It unlocks your wrists.”

Dante waved his bound wrist over the device, and the zip tie fell off. One hand rubbed his neck, and the other raked through unruly hair, but his eyes followed me.

Still mad?

Dante’s question fluttered in my mind.

While Carter complained to Gil about my behavior, I ignored Dante, not wanting to reveal that I could hear him. As far as he knew, I’d shut that down years ago. He might believe otherwise, but he didn’t know for sure.

The question, however, lingered. Was I still mad?

Dante exposed me to magic, and that should have been a good thing. It should have made us closer, but he’d done it for a reason, and it wasn’t to help me.

The blowup that followed exposed how my parents and our community kept me in the dark. Not that discovering magic explained that mystery. I was still unclear about why it was necessary. The only reason my parents did anything, though, was for the good of magic.

Dante had figured it out, and by tricking me into saying the love spell, he’d exposed me to magic and bound us. A power dynamic shifted, and it couldn’t be turned back—my parents had tried until I got away from them, too.

Listen up! Dante mentally shouted. Your cute boss is talking to you.

I jerked to attention, silently cursing. Not only had I missed what Gil said, but now Dante knew I could hear him.

“Yes?” I swallowed, hoping he’d repeat himself.

Carter groaned as Lopez rushed out of the stairwell.

“What did she do?” Lopez stormed forward.

I wondered if Carter texted him to get his butt back to work.

“Everything is under control,” Gil assured the agents, explaining that Dante was never in danger.

The fact that they used the cell to prank newbies was lost on the visiting agents. When it came to a high-profile suspect, they wanted it by the book.

“You’re the agent,” Carter reprimanded Lopez. “It’s not her job to transfer the suspect, and we don’t leave UNSUBS alone unless they are secured in a cell.”

I had to smirk. The FBI loved jargon, but calling Dante an UNSUB, which stood for Unknown Subject, wasn’t entirely accurate. We knew him, although not everything about him.

“Oh look,” Dante said, “Mom and Dad are fighting.”

Lopez turned on him, raising a finger. “One more word, and we’ll unleash that thing again.”

Dante raised his hands, backing away.

Lopez glared at me, but Gil stepped between us. “Back upstairs. We have a call to make, and you have research.”

Gil shut down any argument, and I retreated to the 3rd floor, not even giving Dante a backward glance.

He still had the last word. See you at the next teachable moment.

Lucky for me, Ward Six had bigger problems. No one up the chain wanted to pull the trigger on Dante, so what should have been a quick overnight turned into nine days of waiting.

Gotta admit I was hoping they’d take Dante to D.C. by the following shift change. Yet, when we returned from our break, nothing had changed except Team B’s patience. It had shriveled to nothing. They were clearly over Dante’s charm—a mixture of smug cockiness and snide remarks. And if my ex was still at Ward Six, so were Carter and Lopez. Insert groan.

Thanks to Gil being the senior agent at Ward Six, he knew what we were facing, and our team entered as a united front. Team B was waiting. A firing squad would have been worse, but barely. Gil’s counterpart, Joann, greeted him with a handshake as she sucked her teeth. The sound caught everyone’s attention and elicited a laugh from Alec.

“No word yet?” Gil asked Joann.

One negative head wobble was all she’d answer. Perhaps Joann didn’t trust her words. She’d been known to cuss a blue streak.

“Good work, Betty Bureau.” Team B’s analyst, Toad, spit the insult at me. He had a real name, but I refused to learn it, and calling me Betty Bureau proved my point. He didn’t deserve it.

Betty Bureau was a dated insider dig, but it was still used in some circles to insult female agents. I doubted Toad meant it as an insult to all women, just me.

Hating any in-fighting, Gil snapped his fingers. “Let’s get something clear. Every one of us needs to do our job, even if the result turns into a minor inconvenience.”

“Minor?” Toad almost busted a gut. “Fire Fuck is a pain in the ass, constantly wanting food, water, or a hot shower with fluffy towels. Well, he got pizza, water from his sink, and wet wipes. It’s all in my report.” He shot me another nasty look.

Turned out that my analysis of Dante Hicks—that he wanted to break out of Ward Six—had everyone shitting bricks. I guessed that some of the FBI brass wanted him to try, and the other half was betting on it. I made a mental note to check the over/under.

Team B didn’t like being guinea pigs and blamed me. As I’d predicted, no other analyst would have jumped to the same conclusions since none had my connection with computers or insight into Dante’s personality.

Toad sneered at me, making it clear he disagreed with my assumptions.

“I said that’s enough.” Gil sounded deadly serious.

“My mistake,” Toad said.

“Make it your last,” Gil warned. “You can be replaced.”“Yes, sir.” Toad’s snide tone signaled his team to depart.

After that greeting, I planned to retreat to my office. The last thing I wanted to do was run into Carter or Lopez. They had to be nursing feral moods by now, especially since they’d remained at Ward Six in limbo. Since they’d been told to stand down when it came to interrogating Dante, there wasn’t much to do.

“Team B will get over it,” Alec promised.

Would I? All I knew… I’d been reacting to other people’s bad behavior for far too long. It was time to take back control. With that in mind, I stared at my computer and pretended to work.

My cell phone vibrated for attention.

Curious. An unfamiliar number came up. I answered it anyway.

“Kinley.” Wilkes’s nasal voice echoed from the other end of the call.

Could my day get any better?“Wilkes? You’re the last person I expected,” I said, stunned.

Alec swiveled in his chair, looking as shocked as I felt. He waved his hands, slicing them through the air. If he wanted me to hang up on Wilkes, he wasn’t considering the consequences.

“Kinley,” Wilkes repeated. “I made. A mistake.” He took a breath between each short sentence. It sounded strange. Of course, he was saying something I wanted to hear, so I overlooked the odd tone of his voice.

“I’m surprised to hear you admit that,” I said. “What’s the occasion?”

It sounded like he had me on speaker. The hollow hiss of a large room came over the connection. Who else was listening?

“I did something,” Wilkes said.

“What did you do?” I asked, playing along.

“Doesn’t matter. I need you. To look into something. For me.”

“Why? I’m not on your team anymore.” And I didn’t trust him. Odds were, this was Wilkes getting back at me for appearing at the D.C. bar.

“Need someone not on my team. I need you. To look into something. You still want in on Omega, right?” His halting way of talking was more noticeable.

“Okay, guess I’m a glutton for punishment. What do you want me to look into?” I asked, knowing I didn’t have to do what he wanted, but I could listen.

“The victims’ cell phone numbers.”

For a moment, I thought the line had gone dead.

“Can you get me the numbers?” Wilkes almost sounded contrite.

For a moment, I wondered if the worst had happened, and they’d shut down the Task Force, or Wilkes had been kicked out. Whatever had happened, he should still be able to get into the Task Force database. Anyone could find the numbers with the password. Something was wrong. Wilkes had made it completely clear that I was the last person he’d go to for help.

“But you hate me,” I said.

Wilkes groaned. It was laced with pain, and I had to believe that it physically hurt him to ask me for help. “The team is compromised.”

“Compromised how?” I asked, feeling he was saying whatever he had to get me to do his dirty work.

“We’re losing. I just need the numbers. Please. ”

“Alright,” I agreed, more to shut him up. Let him think I’d help, and then I’d take it all to Gil to sort out. “Do I reach you at this number?”

“No. I’ll reach you. Kinley?” His voice rose an octave. “I’m sorry.” The line went dead.

“What the hell was that?” Alec asked, pulling me out of dark thoughts along the same lines. “Wilkes? Really?”

I waved him off. “It’s nothing.”

“Guess you’ll tell me when you crash and burn again,” Alec muttered the last part, going back to his work.

I quickly logged onto the FBI database, using my special skills to bypass all the passwords and firewalls that protect the Omega Task Force. I’d been kicked out as soon as I’d left the building. Wilkes had made sure of that, which supported the fact that he’d been kicked out, too, if he’d lost his position. How had he known I could still get in…? I wasn’t sure, but he was aware of my temporary alliance with Nina.

Not that it mattered. The security didn’t stand a chance when the computer was on my side. Within minutes, I had a detailed list of the Omega victims’ cell phone types, numbers, and carriers. None of their phones were ever found. They were thought to still be in Omega’s possession. I stared at the screen. What did Wilkes plan to do with this information? The only thing a phone number was good for was to call.

Silently, I asked the computer to check if there was any activity on the numbers since they disappeared. It only took a second to see that every number had recently pinged a cell tower.

What?

My cell phone was on the desk next to the computer. I glanced at it, considering calling Wilkes back to ask what the Hell was going on. Instead, I picked up the phone and dialed the first victim’s cell phone number.

A recorded message said, “Number not in service.”

I ended the call and put in the next number. Same recorded message. What a waste of time, but what else could I do? I entered three more numbers, all of which displayed the same out-of-service message. I must have cussed out loud.

Alec wheeled his chair over to me and peeked over my shoulder. “Whatcha doing?” he asked.

“Dialing all the Omega victims’ cell phone numbers.” I hated admitting that I was helping Wilkes, but I couldn’t lie to Alec.

“Is that why he called?” Alec shook his head. “Morbid. What’s the point?”

“With Agent Wilkes, who knows?” I made a face.

Alec pushed himself back to his workspace. “As long as you’re using your time wisely.”

Obviously, I wasn’t. Wilkes had to be messing with me. He probably had me on speaker, so all his buddies could hear and be in on the joke. I punched in one more phone number, getting mad at myself.

The call went through.

Alec heard the ringing. His head jerked back toward me.

I quickly ended the call. “Whoa,” I said, hardly believing that one of the victim’s cell phone numbers was in service.

Alec’s eyes were wide. “No way.”

“It’s not possible,” I said.

My cell phone rang. I almost dropped it, noticing it was a callback. “It’s the victim’s phone number.”

“Don’t answer it,” Alec warned.“I can’t let it go to voicemail. Ssh, just be silent.” I took a deep breath and answered the call with my best telemarketer voice. “Research marketing. This number is for outbound calls only.” I ended the call.

“Good,” Alec applauded, “but please tell me you blocked your phone number.”

I nodded yes. “Track the call, please.” I tossed him my cell phone.

Alec typed the victim’s cell phone number into his computer. Phone data came up. “We got a cell tower ping. Holy crap, get somebody. Get everybody!”

I’d been holding my breath and let it out. “What? Where? Do we really have something?”

“Kinley, the call was placed at a tower three miles away. It had to originate from the Town Center Mall.” Alec jumped up. “Does that mean…”

“It’s the best lead we’ve ever had for finding Omega,” I filled in what he wouldn’t say. “Because Omega took the victims’ cell phones.”

Like sprinters with one finish line in sight, we raced for Gil’s office. I’d never moved so fast. I burst inside first, Alec right behind me. We startled Gil and the visiting agents.

Carter grabbed his heart, and Lopez recoiled.

“W-what the hell?” Carter stuttered.

Leaning against his desk, Gil stepped forward to keep me from careening into Lopez. “What happened?”

“We found him. We found Omega,” I said, realization hitting me that Wilkes’s hunch had paid off.

It might have been short-sighted, but getting a second chance to catch Omega made all the other noise seem insignificant. Damn the Gray Scale, Dante, my family and all the FBI bullshit. I wanted to catch a serial killer.