Sometimes the lines between sex magic and the other traditions got blurred, too. Like when someone wanted a vanity potion. Usually vanities fell under the heading of alchemy, but sometimes sex magic potions were employed to increase a user’s attractiveness. Same went with blood potions, since the energies that influenced both blood and sex came from the same kind of chthonic power sources. All of this was to say, of course, that sex magic was big business, which was why Aphrodite put so much money into the setup. Also why she’d be so determined to find the offender and make him pay for daring to violate the sanctity of her lab.
I approached the wall-to-wall lab setup with Morales, while Mez continued to take notes at the table.
About three feet back from the shelves, I threw out an arm to stop Morales. He looked up with a frown. Instead of answering, I pointed to the floor. Several small shards of glass glittered on the concrete floor. A dried, sticky patch lay under the glass. I looked back at Mez. “You see this?”
He frowned and came over. “I got images, but haven’t had a chance to test it yet.”
“You think our perp was in a hurry and accidentally dropped one?” Morales asked.
I nodded. “Lack of prints indicates he was wearing gloves, right? Probably grabbed this bottle off the shelf and it slipped from his hand.”
Morales knelt down and inspected the patch. “You got a black light in there?” he asked Mez.
The wizard nodded and removed a portable light wand. He glanced at Shayla. “Go close the blinds on all the windows.”
While she scurried off, I stepped around the area and approached the shelves where the guys were working. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking for a shoe print,” Morales said.
The room dimmed as Shayla finally closed all the window treatments. While Mez waved the wand over the floor, I used a flashlight tilted sideways to cast a glow on each shelf just in case there might be a print. “Hand me the camera, will ya?” Mez asked Morales.
My partner grabbed it for him and brought it over. Mez messed with the controls for a moment before clicking several shots in a row. As he worked, I squinted at the spot on the ground. Sure enough, there was a mark in the ethereal blue pool cast by the black light off the spilled potion.
“That doesn’t look like a shoe print,” I said.
Mez put down the camera and looked up. The black light made the charms in his dreads glow. “I’ll need to analyze the images under a magnifier back at the lab, but we definitely got a partial print of some sort.”
I nodded. “Good.” My phone buzzed on my hip. “One sec.” Pulling the phone out, I answered it without looking at the ID. “Prospero.”
“Hello. Katherine Prospero?”
I frowned, not recognizing the staticky female voice. “Yes, who is this please?”
“This is operator five-four-nine from the Crowley State Penitentiary. Prisoner six-six-six-four-two, Abraxas Prospero, would like to speak with you. May I patch him through?”
The blood in my arms and legs went frigid. “What?”
“Prisoner six-six-six-four-two, Abraxas Prospero, has requested to speak with you. Do you accept the call?”
“No,” I snapped. “Take me off his call list.” With a shaking finger, I punched the End button before the operator could say anything else.
I stood in shock for I don’t know how long with that phone clutched tight in my hand. The hard plastic dug into my palm, and I had to resist the urge to throw it at the brick wall.
“Kate?” Morales called from across the room.
I swallowed the panic and shock, pushing them deep down where they couldn’t interfere. Shoving the phone in my pocket, I turned. “Yeah?”
My partner was standing next to the graffiti penis. Mez was packing up all his supplies while talking to Shayla about getting the tape she’d promised us earlier. “Everything okay?”
“Fucking telemarketers.” I feigned an annoyed shrug. “We done here?”
He watched me for a couple of seconds longer before nodding. “For now. What say we go visit the Wonder Twins? See if maybe they’ve heard of anyone trying to fence some sex potions.”
The twins he mentioned were named Mary and Little Man. They were my best snitches, and the ones most likely to know if there was chatter on the streets about Aphrodite getting robbed.
Ignoring the nausea and the fist of worry in the base of my throat, I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Six
Fifteen minutes later we were at an intersection near the construction site for Volos’s pet project, the Cauldron Community Center. The groundbreaking had been six weeks earlier, and the crews already had the foundation poured and the framing up for the walls. We’d just passed the sign announcing that the center would open by Thanksgiving when Morales tapped the brakes. “Hey, Prospero?”
I pulled my gaze away from the side window I’d been glaring out of for the last five minutes. “Yeah?”
He was pointing out the windshield. “Isn’t that Mary?”
I squinted in that direction. Sure enough, a six-foot-tall lumbering hulk of a woman was crossing the street about a block up. As always, Little Man was strapped in a baby carrier on her chest. “They’re usually at the park this time of day.”
“Nice of them to save us some time by meeting us halfway.” Morales pulled the SUV to the corner closest to where Mary had just crossed.
I rolled down my window. “Yo, Mary.”
She glanced back over her hunched shoulder, and her eyes widened. Instead of stopping, she lumbered away faster, her lanky brown hair swaying like oily fringe at the back of her neck.
I frowned. “Mary?” I called. She shot a worried glance over her shoulder and picked up the pace even more. I threw open the door and hopped out to follow.
They were far enough away that I couldn’t hear, but I could see Little Man waving his arms and shouting instructions to her every time she turned to look back.
Mary and Little Man had been my snitches for going on five years. They’d also met Morales a couple of times, so she had to have recognized him, too. In other words, there was absolutely no reason for her to be afraid of us. My instincts forced my legs into a jog. “Mary, wait!”
Morales caught up with me and we fell into a run together as Mary turned the next corner. “What the hell?” he snapped.
I shook my head. A second later we both skidded around the corner in time to see Mary duck into a city bus. The large vehicle belched away from the curb. I kicked up my speed, pulling my badge from my pocket. “BPD, stop!” But the grinding of the bus’s gears drowned out my demand.