Part 28
The dark-haired plainclothes cop paced the sidewalk in front of the house, chain smoking and muttering under his breath.
His honey-haired partner leaned casually against their car, checking his notes on his PDA.
"Fuck. Why did they have to pick on us?!" snarled the first cop, flicking his cigarette butt into the gutter. "Stuck out here in caviar land. Damn it --"
His partner didn't look up. It was the same gripe he'd been listening to for over two weeks, and frankly, he was tired of responding with the gentle voice of sweet reason.
"Dee," he said instead, firmly. "If you do not come out of that pity party, you can get yourself another room tonight. This is not a punishment assignment. Commissioner Rose sent us because he thought we could do the job. These are his people," Ryo reminded him. "They have confidence in him and he has confidence in us."
"In you," Dee grumbled, but came back to sit on the front fender of the car.
"I hate waiting around," Dee muttered after a few minutes.
"I know."
"I hate not being able to find any clue in this mess."
"I know."
Dee slid a sidelong look at his partner.
"I hate not being able to throw you down on the grass right here and fuck you stupid."
"I know." Ryo looked up sharply. "What?!"
Dee smirked at the look on his partner's face, part outrage, part embarrassment, and part speculation.
"You weren't listening, were you?" he laughed.
"Dee, you are so --"
"Aw, baby; give me a break, huh? I'm going crazy over this! I hate these weird cases!"
"We're on duty, Dee; don't call me 'baby,'" he said firmly. "That's why we're meeting an expert. Maybe a new perspective will be helpful."
"Maybe he'll wave his magic wand and fix everything, huh?" Dee suggested sourly.
Two women missing. A wealthy widow in her seventies and her live in companion, her fifty-three year old niece. No sign of forced entry. No sign of a struggle. No sign of robbery or burglary. Paintings, jewelry, furniture all worth hundreds of thousands of dollars; absolutely untouched. Two year-old Cadillacs in the garage. Both women active in the community, no boyfriends or ex-husbands, no trouble with neighbors or associates. No strange or weird attachments politically, religiously or sexually. No reason for them to disappear at all.
Two women just... gone.
The local cops were stymied. They called Berkley Rose for help, since this was his former stomping ground. He still had connections, both politically and personally, in the area, so he sent his best men to figure out what happened.
And so far, his best men had figured out exactly squat.
Dee was taking it personally.
His partner smiled gently, understanding, but not giving in. "Maybe we'll hold a séance."
Dee moved closer. "I wish we could hold a séance, just the two of us," he murmured, nuzzling the fair cheek. "How 'bout we take our lunch to the motel, huh Ryo?"
"Good morning. Detectives Latener and McLain?"
Dee jumped a foot and came down with his gun in his hand. Ryo merely turned to greet the owner of that voice.
"Yes," he said pleasantly. "I'm Detective Randy McLain and this is Detective Dee Latener."
Surreptitiously, Dee holstered his gun, hoping no one noticed.
"A pleasure," returned the dark-haired man with a slight inclination of his head. "I am Heero Yuy, from the Special Investigations department of the Bureau. This is my associate, Duo." He indicated the person standing a pace behind him and to the side.
Neither Dee nor Ryo could immediately guess the gender of that person. The auburn hair woven into a calf-length braid suggested female, but the lean body and balanced stance said male.
"Nice to meet you," said Duo neutrally, and they knew then that he was male.
"I've read your reports," said Heero. "And the reports of the original investigators. May we take a walk through the house?"
"Certainly," replied Ryo with a smile, and led the way.
In the entryway, Duo glanced around almost lazily.
"I'll get started in the backyard, Heero. If I find anything, I'll call you. Okay?"
Without waiting for a reply, he sauntered through to the rear terrace doors and let himself out into the lushly landscaped garden.
Dee watched him go, paying close attention to the sway of that braid and the dusky plum leggings under the long shirt.
::What the fuck is that?!::
Geez!
He joined Ryo, who was showing Yuy through the first floor of the house.
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Duo found plenty of insects in the garden, but he couldn't talk to them. There didn't seem to be any birds or small animals residing in the garden. That was unusual. He should be sensing mice, gophers, moles and the tiny beggar birds. No trace of a larger predator, like a cat or a possum to account for it either.
He sat down on the stone path and sent out a call, then waited for whatever creature might answer that call.
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"So, you're the Wizard of Oz," said Dee after a few minutes. He didn't particularly care how rude he sounded. The case was pissing him off, and he didn't much care who knew it.
"No, Detective Latener, I am a Wyvern and an investigator. If you wish to have a Wizard to assist you, you will have to make a special request."
Heero Yuy continued down the hallway, fingers lightly touching the walls here and there.
Dee ignored Ryo's appalled glance. "Maybe I was misinformed," Dee continued evilly. "I thought Commissioner Rose contacted the Department of Weird Stuff and asked for someone supernatural to come wave a magic wand and solve our problem."
A hiss from Ryo's direction told him that he was going to pay for this, oh, yes indeed; tonight and probably for several nights after, but he was just so fuckin' pissed about this whole thing.
Yuy didn't seem to take offense. He stopped in a doorway and looked Dee up and down. "I may or may not be able to solve your problem, but I can tell you now, that there is no sign of mundane violence in this house. But there is a strong taint of the supernatural, as you call it."
"Oh, come on -!"
"Dee!" Ryo grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall to the stairs. "Have I ever threatened you with violence, Dee?" he whispered tightly.
"Uh, no."
"If you don't stop being rude to that man, I will coldcock you with your own gun and stuff you in the trunk of that rental car! Got it?!"
::Holy butch-fit...::
"Yeah, baby. I got it."
"Good! I always said you're smart!" And Ryo kissed him quickly, and winked.
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Duo sat with his eyes closed, humming softly while he waited. Eventually, he sensed a presence, and opened his eyes.
He saw a small garden toad creeping across the grass toward him.
"Good morning friend toad," he said politely to the green-grey amphibian. "Might you have news for me?"
The toad made a toad sound and hopped closer. Duo extended his hand, and the toad hopped into his palm.
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Ryo was so damn smart. Professional, too. He seemed to know all the right questions to ask the visiting spook. They were discussing fingerprints versus auras right now. Dee felt like the proverbial skunk at the garden party. He was less than clueless about all that new age metaphysical crap.
What was that? Dee's ears pricked up. Ryo was speaking Japanese. And Yuy was answering him.
::Aw fuck...!::
"How amazing!" Ryo exclaimed in English. "My family originally came from that area! Of course, that was a couple of generations ago."
"They might not be aware of my clanhold. Su Ryu is a small village even now, and rather isolated. The people there have always been protective of our privacy." Yuy was smiling at Ryo.
Oh, god... Would Ryo find him attractive? He looked sleek and fit in black jeans and a deep green sweater, and his eyes were bluer than blue had any right to be. His chocolate brown hair was a mess, but an attractive mess, like he'd just crawled out of bed after seducing half the city. And his grin was easy and unthreatening.
Dee couldn't stand it. He walked downstairs and onto the terrace to light a cigarette.
Yuy's partner -- or whatever -- was sitting on the ground talking to his hand.
"Why am I missing the drug dealers, the murderers and the rapists?" Dee wondered aloud. "Oh, yeah. The normal people."
He wandered over to see what Duo was doing.
The fey creature had a common garden toad in his hand. He was stroking its back gently with one finger.
"Making friends?" Dee muttered.
"Mmhmm," Duo sighed. He looked up. "Would you mind?" He nodded to Dee's cigarette. "We're downwind of you."
"Oh. Sure." Dee moved around behind Duo. "So. Find any clues?"
"Possibly. This little guy is telling me what he knows."
Dee stared down at the top of Duo's auburn hair.
"Um... I'll go get the others." He walked quickly back to the house.
"Your partner," he said as soon as he joined Ryo and Yuy, "Is talking to a toad!"
"Did he mention getting anything useful?" said Yuy.
Dee stared at him. "He's talking to a toad."
"You said that."
Dee turned to Ryo. "Ryo..." he began plaintively. "Help me out here. I'm the big dumb goof, remember?"
Ryo patted his shoulder and smiled affectionately at him. "It's okay, Dee. Just go with it."
Just... go... with it...
Deep breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Smile.
"Okay, Ryo. Whatever you say." He nodded to Yuy. "Guess I'll go have another cigarette. Yep. Guess I will."