Darkly - Episode #15

Dark Magic collides with the FBI

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

For a Darkly Table of Contents, click here.

Recap: Kinley escaped the Darkness in time to guide Gil and the FBI team at the Mall. Bad news: one person died. Good news: they think they caught Omega.

Now… onto Darkly Episode #15.

“It’s not Omega.”

I stood at the two-way mirror watching Gil interrogate the suspect, knowing in my gut that we’d got it wrong. In the confusion, when the Mall’s Food Court turned into a mass of humanity, I’d been no help. I knew Omega was there, but I’d lost him, and the team thought they’d caught him because a dead woman collapsed at the suspect’s feet.

My unsettling realization: Omega planned the whole thing, and it unfolded exactly as planned—not that I wanted to give him any credit.

In the interrogation room, Gil sat across from the presumed Omega suspect—formerly known as the Hot Dog Guy. Carter was there, too, leaning against the wall. He insisted on staying close, acting as if the suspect would magically unlock his chains and disappear. Maybe in a local police station, but Ward Six had deterrents.

The facility agreed with me… oh, yeah. Having another voice in my muddled inner thoughts was gonna be fun.

In the control room, which was also Alec’s and my office, Lopez stood near me with Alec at his desk. Lopez nodded approval to every question Gil asked. We could hear the interrogation, their voices filtered through an intercom.

“We should interrupt,” I continued since neither Alec nor Lopez had reacted to my statement. “I’m serious; that man is not Omega.”

Lopez turned to glare, unable to form a sentence. It wasn’t necessary. He practically dripped disapproval.

I knew Gil would listen to my theories, even though we hadn’t even shared eye contact since he returned from the Mall. He was laser-focused on the job. I knew he’d seek me out, eventually, but interrogation protocol said not to interrupt unless the building was on fire. Glancing over at Alec, deep-diving into the suspect’s fingerprints, he gave me a little head shake. It was a friendly cease and desist or face the consequences.“What were you doing at the Mall?” Gil sounded patient. He had all the time in the world to get answers. The suspect’s eyes darted around the room, anxiety high.

“I don’t belong here. I want a lawyer.”

“Not how it works here, buddy,” Carter snorted.

The suspect turned to him. “How does it work, huh? ‘Cause you got it wrong.”

Carter kicked the suspect’s chair, moving it an inch. The jolt shut him up.

“We need you to tell us about the girls,” Gil said with a slight nod like he already knew everything. He just wanted confirmation. “Why do you kill them?”

The suspect yanked at his chains. They slid along the metal bar embedded in the table. “Them? Jesus! I don’t. I didn’t. That girl? She just collapsed. I didn’t know what happened. I was having lunch, you know? Lunch. What is wrong with you people?”

Carter set a cell phone on the table. They’d taken it from his pocket—a former Omega victim’s cell phone. “Where did you get it?” Gil asked.

The suspect looked at the phone. Shrugged. He shook his head back and forth. “It’s not mine.”

“Oh, we know it’s not yours.” Carter’s condescending laugh accompanied a glance at the two-way mirror.

Lopez pointed a finger back at his partner, not that Carter could see him. “Damn straight.”

Behind us, Alec snapped his fingers, confirming the suspect’s identity. “Fingerprints match. That’s two sources,” Alec said, reading from his computer screen. “What’s on file at Virginia DMV matches Army records for James Sullivan Slaughter.”

“James Slaughter?” I asked. “Slaughter? That’s his real name?”

“That’s his real name.” Alec sounded certain.

“He’s not our guy,” I said, picking up nothing from the suspect. I’d know if he was Omega. Right? I silently asked Dante. He’d been mute on the subject so far… and prompting him didn’t help. Say something unless you want me to be spitting mad.

Whoa! Dante sent more shock than words.

I stewed for a minute, wondering what game he was playing, and kicked myself for thinking we’d actually gotten over some of the bullshit between us. After all, we’d beaten Omega together.

Sweetheart, Dante’s thought caressed my mind. I’m letting you and Boss Man do your jobs. Unless you want me to consult with the FBI?

Do you have to make everything difficult?

Dante chuckled. Yes. Yes, I do.

The suspect is not Omega. I insisted.

Of course, he’s not Omega. Dante’s thought had a humorous lithe to it. I’m a little concerned that your team doesn’t sense that. I thought they were on the Gray?

I was disappointed, too, but I understood why. They’re giving Omega too much credit.

Dante sent a rude noise down our connection. He almost handed us our asses.

“Hello?” Lopez snapped his fingers in front of my nose. “I’m talking to you.”

Dante’s laugh echoed in my head. He was a bit too entertained by my inability to talk to him and hear what was happening around me.

“What?” I sputtered at Lopez.

He pointed at the two-way mirror. “They’re coming out. Now’s your chance to say something stupid.”

Alec waved me off, begging for caution. “Facts, Kinley. You’ll get more flies with facts. You know, if facts were honey.”

The analogy might be off, but I understood, calling on the computer before I got to my desk chair. A tiny slip on my part, but they didn’t notice. It opened the Mall’s surveillance recordings and strung together every bit of footage for OneWheel. It tracked the teenager from the moment he entered the Mall until he left.

Gil and Carter entered the control room as the spliced-together footage played.

“What’s this?” Gil asked.

“I think this is Omega,” I said, watching the recording cut between the feeds, reach the Food Court chaos, and then show the teenager quickly exit the scene. The next time it picked him up, he was in the stairwell, changing his look and leaving the building—transformed from a teenager to an adult.

“What the—?” Carter swore.

“Omega organized the whole thing,” I said. “From directing us to the Mall to this guy.” I pointed a thumb at the two-way mirror. “His last name is Slaughter. Slaughter is exactly what Omega does to his victims.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Lopez complained.

Oh, but I did, and I told him to rewatch the footage. “The Mall was a setup, a trap, whatever you want to call it.” I knew what I knew; no argument would dissuade me, and the recording was proof.

“He killed the woman and got away in the confusion?” Carter asked.

“It was easy,” I explained, “because he gave you a suspect.”

Gill shook his head. “And we fell for it.”

Silence is never a good thing when the shit hits the fan.

Ooh, bitter bite. Dante held back his glee, but I heard it. Bad day for Ward Six.

The facility vibrated at Dante’s assessment, defending Gil, I guessed. The slight tremor murmured through my feet. I hoped no one else felt it.

“We can still track him,” I said, ignoring Ward Six and Dante, sending a request to the computer to check all surveillance feeds, traffic cams, and civilian cell phones to follow the suspect as he left the Mall.

My verbal suggestion fell on deaf ears when it came to the agents. The enormity of our screw-up had to be hitting home. Gil and Carter would have to explain to the higher-ups, and they hated excuses. I didn’t envy them that call and wanted to do my best to find some ammunition to turn it around.

The computer informed me that the target evaded all surveillance once he left the Mall. Forced to share the information with the room, the mood dropped even further. The Ward Six intercom filled the void. It crackled to life, announcing that Nina Dunbar was granted access to the facility.

“Nina?” Gil asked, looking over at me.

With a shrug, I went into the hallway to greet her. The Plexiglas entry door silently shut behind her lanky form, the lasers glowing back to life, baring any other entry. Nina flashed an expectant smile.

Party or pariah? Dante silently asked, reminding me of a gnat. If only our bond had the same lifespan.

Frankly, I didn’t know what version of Nina found her way to Ward Six. It appeared to be Nina 2.0. She’d ditched her usual business suit for black slacks and a matching sweater set. I guessed it was her casual look. The red lipstick and four-inch killer heels, however, were still in place. “Did you get him? Did you really get him?” she asked as if anticipating good news, but her focus quickly shifted past me. “Hey, Gil, lookin’ good.”

“Nina, why didn’t you call me back?” I ignored her flirting. So did Gil.

“It’s been crazy since I saw you,” she said, sounding apologetic. “Everything went to shit, as you know, and Wilkes was MIA. He’s off the grid. Missing, rogue, I don’t know. No one’s heard from him in two days.”

Except me, I thought. I’d heard from him. Gil glanced my way, knowing Wilkes might be off the team, but he wasn’t off the case.

“What are you doing here, Nina?” Gil pressed her for a straight answer.

Nina’s cheeks flushed, eyes alert and eager. “I had to know. Did you really get him?”

“No.” I didn’t sugarcoat the news.

Nina’s excitement evaporated.

“Come in and see for yourself,” I said.

In the control room, Nina watched the footage and then Slaughter through the two-way. Carter and Lopez had gone back in and peppered the man with leading questions, vainly digging for something that would disprove my analysis.

“Damn.” Nina sunk into my desk chair.

Gil watched her. “You agree?”

“I do,” Nina said, dejected. “And I bring extra intel, which will probably confirm it even more, although I trust Kinley’s freaky, amazing insight. We went back to Amanda Collins, as you suggested–”“You did?” I interrupted. I couldn’t believe someone had listened to me and used the FBI’s alternative memory enhancers on the surviving victim, Amanda Collins.

“Yes, you’re brilliant, settle down,” Nina said, teasing. “They’ve put some smart people on the Omega case now.”

“Who?” I wanted to meet some smart people.

“Me.” Nina smiled, pleased with herself. “And we want you to join us.”

Alec whistled, low and sweet. I’d forgotten he was even in the room.

A sense of pride swept over me, but how would that work? Would it? Part of me wanted out of Ward Six fast, but another part saw it as a safe haven. The final decision wouldn’t be mine, of course, so I played it cool. “I’m flattered.” My eyes shifted to Gil, wondering what he was thinking, but true to form, I couldn’t read his expression.

“Hell yes, you’re flattered,” Nina smirked, clocking a glance between Gil and Alec, neither giving anything away. “Amanda was open to pharmaceutical ways of jogging her memory. She remembered a tattoo. A Greek symbol—alpha. Maybe he considers himself the beginning and the end.”

The end, for sure. Dante’s comment came with a flash of how Omega tried to end us.

I missed a step, crossing to the interrogation room’s control panel, but only Alec noticed. “Where’s the tattoo?” I asked Nina.

“On his right forearm,” she said.

I pressed the microphone button, and it caused a soft static hum. Carter turned to face the two-way mirror. Unlike Gil, he hated being interrupted if his snarl meant anything.

“We need to see his right forearm, please.”

Carter turned back to the suspect and motioned at his right arm.

“What do you mean?” Slaughter asked. His dumb act seemed less like an act.

Lopez went over and pulled up the man’s sleeve. No tattoo. Just for good measure, he pulled up the other one. It revealed nothing but skin.

“He’s not our man,” I told them, then shut off the mic. “Not that we didn’t already know, but now we really know.”Carter and Lopez left a relieved Slaughter alone in Interrogation, breaking protocol. If he wasn’t a suspect, though, the point was moot.

“Luckily, there’s a bright side.” Nina rebounded fast, showing no disappointment about the turn of events. “I get to steal my girl back from you.”

Gil groaned, appearing ready for a fight. While I was glad to see he wanted me to stay, I wasn’t prepared to turn this into a discussion over Nina’s offer.

Carter and Lopez entered the control room, spotting Nina. Finding a new arrival stalled their first objective, which seemed focused on chewing me out.

“Sorry we interrupted your interrogation,” I said, trying to make nice.

“You will be sorry, sweetie.” Lopez was red in the face. I worried about his blood pressure. Well, not really. But anger like that was not good for the heart.

“Can we bring up the best images we have of the new suspect?” I asked Alec.

He brought up an image of the teenager and the adult, although it was a side angle, revealing little of the real man.

“That’s Omega,” I said.

Lopez swore.

Making a noise that disagreed with all we knew, Carter shook an index finger at me. “Omega’s not a teenager.”

“Omega was disguised. Get up to speed or get out.” Gil shut down Carter, making it clear he ran things inside of Ward Six.

A tiny thriller of excitement flushed over my skin, and I knew it wasn’t my reaction to Gil’s take-charge attitude, although I liked that side of him. My new link with Ward Six had to be the source. The facility really had a thing for Gil. It was equal parts sweet and creepy.

Hundred percent creepy, Dante offered.

Stop butting in, I warned him.

Nina sighed. “We’ve long thought Omega used disguises.”

Carter still had issues. “Are you telling me that Omega is a kid?”

“No,” I said. “He pretended to be a teenager. I think he’s in his early thirties but youthful.”

Gil didn’t need more proof. “Since we lose him after the attack, let’s look before. Maybe he made a mistake, and we can find the teenager arriving at the Mall. That OneWheel stands out. Find it.”

“On it,” Alec said.

“Good work, Kinley,” Nina congratulated me.

“Fantastic work,” Lopez said. It didn’t sound like a compliment. He went to the door.

Carter bit his lip, following his partner. “Such a pleasure working with all of you.”

Gil didn’t like their tone. “Carter! Where are you two going?”

“To find out how long we gotta stay at this shit show.” Carter and Lopez exited, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“I better smooth that over.” Gil sounded doubtful. “You hanging around, Nina?”

“Absolutely,” she purred.

I watched Gil until the door shut, hoping he’d look back at me. He didn’t.

Alec turned to us in his chair. “You want coffee?” he asked. “I want coffee.” He left us alone.

“Do women make him nervous?” Nina asked, sitting in the vacated chair. She gave it a little spin.

“He knows I need to talk to you,” I said, speaking my mind.

Nina shrugged. “I know that got messy, but we’ll be fine.”

I grimaced. “Today was a big failure.”

Nina shook her head. “It’s an opportunity. Could be a good one or a bad one. I’ll need to get back to Washington and make sure it’s a good one. For us.”

“Hey,” the male voice filtered in from the interrogation room. “Have you forgotten about me?” Slaughter waited, impatient, chained to the table. “Aren’t you gonna release me?”

“Guess we should unchain him.” I made a face.

“Oh, right.” Nina agreed. “One of the agents has to do it.”

I triggered the microphone. “Sorry, Mr. Slaughter. You will be released soon. Thank you for your patience.”

It seemed to satisfy him for the moment.

“Hey,” Nina stopped me at the door. “I know I didn’t go about it the right way, but I really want you in D.C. The sooner, the better. Can you leave with me today?”

“That’s impossible,” I said.

Nina wrinkled her nose. “Why?” She raised an eyebrow, not expecting a negative response. She was about to say more, but the facility intercom crackled to life.

“Agent Tony Wilkes, access granted.” The announcement echoed throughout Ward Six.

Nina bit her lip. “Missing for two days, and he shows up now?”

I shook my head, not wanting to be the one to tell her we’d been following his tip, and now we had to tell Wilkes we’d caught the wrong guy.

“Let me handle Wilkes.” Nina spun on her heel.

We came out of the control room into the corridor, spotting Wilkes at the far end, near the entrance. If his posture said anything, it suggested he wanted to make peace, as his head was bowed and one hand rubbed his neck. Unfortunately, the baldheaded nightmare had fooled me before. Even though his elbow blocked a good view of his face, I knew once I saw those beady eyes that’d be full of venom.

Alec came out of the break room to join us, carrying coffee mugs, which put him closer to the entrance and made him the first person to greet Wilkes. Alec shifted both mugs to one hand and stuck out the other one to Wilkes, smiling, even though he knew all about my old boss. Alec could be neutral and polite, even if he’d rather slug Wilkes. “Welcome to Ward Six,” Alec said.

“Thank you.” The voice came out low, edged with hatred.

“It’s not Wilkes!” I shouted, but my warning came too late.