“As it happens, Agent Pruitt found some manifests from Volos Transport’s freighters yesterday. Mr. Volos has been receiving shipments of alchemical materials from Canada for the last five weeks.”
He laughed. “As an Adept, he’s allowed to use alchemical materials for his own purposes.”
“What do you suppose a solitary practitioner would need barrels full of oil of rose quartz for, Captain?” Mez challenged.
“It’s well known Mr. Volos does consulting work for Sortilege, Inc. Maybe it’s for a project with them.” Eldritch crossed his arms. “So far I have only heard conjecture.”
“We’re working on it,” Gardner snapped.
Eldritch’s mustache twitched. “John Volos isn’t just bankrolling for the mayor, he’s also a goddamned hero in this city. If you’re going to go after him, you better be sure you can back up your accusations with evidence that’s more watertight than a frog’s ass.”
“I’m sorry the mayor’s on your case,” she said. “But Mr. Volos is involved in this investigation whether any of us like it. How are we supposed to do our job properly if all the mayor’s cronies are off-limits?”
“Gee, Gardner, I don’t know. Maybe with police work? Finding hard evidence, instead of guesswork? Or does the MEA only know how to harass city leaders and get informants killed?”
His comment lay on the ground between them like a tossed gauntlet. Gardner’s jaw tightened.
“I can promise you that my team”—she shot a weighted look at Morales and Shadi—“will be more careful moving forward.”
Message heard loud and clear if the stiff postures of my teammates were any indication.
“However, I’m not here to play politics,” she continued. “I’m here to catch the criminal whose handiwork has already gotten two people killed and potentially more wounded. The evidence you respect so much is telling me Volos is involved somehow, so he will continue to be monitored.”
“Good luck with that.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I’m meeting with the mayor later to discuss options.” He crossed his arms. “He’s considering pulling the plug on this case altogether.”
“Shit,” I breathed and shared a worried look with Morales.
Gardner grew very still. “You’re going to tell him not to, right? Because there will be more violence, guaranteed. A spike in violent crimes won’t look too good to the voters right before the election.”
“Not so sure it’s the wrong move. We only have one confirmed crime connected to this potion.”
“I found five in the files that could be tied as well,” I said quietly.
“Then we’ll raid the Arteries and any known potion houses. The BPD can handle that without the MEA’s assistance.”
“Unacceptable,” Gardner said. “We simply need more time. Regardless of who is responsible for this potion, we’re looking at federal charges and I won’t let cronyism prevent us from doing our job.”
“If you can show me one piece of solid evidence tying Volos to Gray Wolf, I’ll go to bat for you with Mayor Owens.”
Gardner and Morales shared a weighted look. Finally, my partner shook his head a fraction to either side.
“That’s what I thought,” Eldritch said.
“Imagine what it will do for the mayor’s reelection if we can bring down one of the biggest coven leaders in the city. Imagine how grateful he’ll be to you for making it possible.”
He sucked on his teeth for a moment. Finally, he said, “I’ll see what I can do to buy you some time, but you need to watch your ass around Volos.”
Morales and I shared relieved glances. Gardner smiled at the captain. “You made the right choice.”
“We’ll see,” he said. He turned to me and raised his brows. “Prospero? A word?”
I glanced at Gardner. She tipped her chin down, but shot Eldritch a warning look. He looked offended that I’d even silently asked my new boss for the go-ahead. Jesus, this was getting more complicated every second.
He stormed back down the stairs without waiting to see if I’d follow. I dragged myself after him. As I descended the stairs, I heard Gardner talking rapidly to the team. No doubt they were hatching some sort of Hail Mary play.
Eldritch was waiting for me on the sidewalk. The instant the door shut behind me, he started in. “I didn’t get you a place on this team so you could betray your entire unit, Prospero.”
I jerked my chin back as if he’d struck me. “First of all, sir,” I said with sarcastic emphasis, “you couldn’t get me out of your hair fast enough, so enough with the bullshit about doing me a favor.” He shrugged—as close to a “You’re right” as I was getting. “Furthermore, I don’t control Gardner. Neither does the mayor, for that matter. And as for Volos, you know damned well he’s probably playing the mayor to knock us off his scent.”
“Do you really think he’s behind this?”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t know. I hope not, but I do know that not investigating him because he threw some money at the mayor is a huge mistake.”
He crossed his arms and pierced me with the old laser eye. “I could revoke the exception I made to allow a suspended officer to consult on a federal investigation.”
“No offense, sir, but that’s not gonna happen. Gardner needs my insider knowledge of the Cauldron to make this case. Especially since my childhood friend John Volos looks to be the lead suspect.” This far I’d managed to avoid letting Eldritch know about the real nature of my relationship with Volos, but I wouldn’t be so lucky with Gardner, whom I’d have to tell before the day was out. I was gambling that she’d see the connection as an advantage.
“Don’t get cocky, girl. Gardner will only like you as long as you keep producing results. What happens when your luck runs out? Or if the MEA pulls this team out of the Cauldron? Where are you going to go then if you burn all your bridges with the BPD?”
I squinted up at him. “Haven’t you ever imagined what it would be like to shut all this down?” I motioned to the trash-strewn street, the broken-down buildings, and the disenfranchised junkies who scrambled through this part of the city like rats in a dead-end maze. “What if we could clean up these streets and run the wizards out of town?”