Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling
Chapter 3—The Plan
Charlie was not in any mood to deal with a van load of naked hippies. Genevieve lost her professionalism and couldn't stop giggling. He started to say something to the very stoned, semi-frightened group, but he just shook his head, turned around and walked away. Fuck 'em, the thought.
"You don't think they're dangerous?" Genevieve asked, following along with Charlie.
"Did they look dangerous?" he asked irritably.
"I don't know. Maybe they had guns or something in the van." She shrugged.
"They're naked. The kind of weapon needed to stop a dragon couldn't be fired comfortably by naked people. But suit yourself, go check out the van. Maybe you're right. Something's getting past the sentry. Apparate inside, I'll keep them busy out here."
Charlie let the group see Genevieve disappear into thin air. He wanted to scare them. For some reason he wanted them to be frightened. He was getting very angry and he didn't know why. Usually, a van full of naked people, at a minimum, amused him. They were harmless. Now he was just pissed. He held his wand out in front of them.
"Don't any of you mother fuckers move," he threatened menacingly.
The group stood in front of him paralyzed, surprised at his tone.
"I know what you're thinking," he said coldly. "What's he going to do with this little stick? Is that what you're thinking, Mary?" he asked the long-haired shaggy man who was obviously the leader of the group.
The man shook his head, then started nodding his head; confused as to what this red headed man expected him to do.
Charlie waved his wand and a bright blue light erupted from the tip.
"Yo, Esse, que paso?" a voice from behind him said.
Charlie turned around and smiled. "Hey, Boo," he said. "Who let you out of jail?"
Everyone called Ricardo Sanchez "Boo" because he had the habit of just popping in without a word, which was pretty unsettling. He had a great sense of humor and he and Charlie were good friends. They spent a lot of time drinking together in their favorite bar in Mexico.
Ricardo walked up to Charlie and shook his hand. He gazed over at the group of muggles huddled in a circle in front of the bon fire.
"Holy shit, man." he said. "You guys ever heard of a razor?" Ricardo was very intimidating figure. He looked like the stereotypical gang banger. His arms, neck and chest were covered in tattoos. He wore a bandana and a lot of leather.
The group became more terrified with Ricardo's presence. Genevieve appeared at the front door of the van. She didn't know Ricardo, but she was definitely interested. Ricardo pulled his sunglasses down to take a look at her. "Hey," he said.
"Find anything?" Charlie asked.
Genevieve shook her head. "There's an awful lot of marijuana, but no weapons."
"This is Ricardo. I'm guessing our new partner." Charlie said.
Ricardo nodded. "Mike and I traded shifts. I got a couple of hour's sleep, which explains why I'm late. Did I miss anything?"
Charlie laughed. "We're about to turn the hippies loose. They're harmless."
"Do you want me to do the memory charm?" Genevieve asked, pulling out her wand.
"Fuck it," Charlie said, shaking his head. "They're too stoned to remember anything. It's all a dream."
The three of them walked away from the group and started back toward the cross road. The rest of the evening was relatively quiet. There traffic wasn't as bad as Charlie thought it would be. Kids mostly. None tried to leave their cars, except to pee or puke. The three watched them but didn't intervene. If they tried to walk around or stray from the highway, they were ready to turn them around. The verdemalos were a little restless, as usual, but the other two species were quiet. There was a random Flying Demon soaring but not too close to the highway.
Ricardo and Charlie had time to talk. Charlie hadn't seen his friend since he returned from the World Cup. Ricardo liked Quidditch, but he was a huge muggle futbol fan, and he favorite team was Mexico. He sometimes partied in muggle bars just to watch the games on Sundays. Charlie didn't care much for futbol because there was no flying involved and only one ball, which you couldn't handle with your hands.
By the end of their shift, the three were ready to go back to their rooms and get some sleep. Charlie had to finish his report, and he knew that the front office would be interested in his encounter with siren. He told Genevieve he needed her to go with him to report the incident. He was sure someone would want to hear her side of the story.
Charlie promised Ricardo he would hook up with him later in the day and go to Mexico for lunch. Ricardo told him he would buy the first round.
Charlie went by the infirmary to talk to Padmai. He was in luck, she was there. She waved him in and it was clear there was something important she wanted to share with him.
"We found something really interesting when we did the necropsy." She told. She quit talking as a couple of wizards walked between them.
Charlie waited until the wizards passed by. "Yes?"
"You know that every dragon is marked with a brand for tracking." Padmai began.
Charlie nodded. "Sure, we do when they're babies. Was the Red marked?"
She nodded nervously. "The numbers were altered on the Red and the second dragon, the verdemalo, but not the first one."
"Altered? How?" He asked.
She showed him a reference photograph that was taken during the necropsies. He could clearly see that the identifying mark had been changed. The branding, which couldn't be seen without a hex, showed up when a wand was passed over it. It was evident that the brands had changed.
"What does this mean?" Charlie asked, looking at the photograph closely.
Padmai took the photograph back and slipped it into the pocket of her robes. "I have no idea," she said honestly. "Can you think of a reason why someone would alter the brands? It makes absolutely no sense, but here you are."
"Did you check any random brands?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I didn't think to." She looked at him carefully. "What are you thinking?"
"What if there are specific targeted dragons? And they're being altered so they can be separated in some way from the others." He shrugged.
"Then that would mean that the targets aren't random? That doesn't make any sense either," she said. "Why target a specific dragon when someone can just take the first one they come to."
"Not necessarily. What if it's a hunt?" He said, thinking out loud. "Suppose someone here is setting up hunts where wizard or muggles get the opportunity to kill a dragon."
"But that's sick," Padmai said, horrified. "And the bodies aren't being taken as trophies."
"Was there anything physically wrong with the Red? Or the verdemalo, for that matter?" Charlie said.
Padmai's eyes got very big. "Yes," she whispered. "The Red had a blood parasite disease, and we detected liver disease in the verdemalo." She covered her hand with her mouth. "It has to be someone working in the infirmary. We wouldn't have known it was the sick ones because—"
Charlie finished with her, "the brands were altered."
The scenario was beginning to sound good, but it still didn't make sense.
"Stop thinking like a wizard," said Charlie, talking to himself. "We can't believe that anyone would kill a dragon because of who we are. That's why everyone said muggle right off. A muggle hunts, not many wizards hunt. Dragons are revered and no wizard would kill one, unless the wizard had no heart. The only thing that can replace a wizard's heart is gold.
"Only the diseased or sick ones are corralled. Maybe the brands are being changed here; then they're released and because they're slower and they make an easy, er, easier target."
Padmai looked worried. She knew something (or thought she knew something) and there was a chance that that something could get her into a lot of trouble. "So what do we do? It could be anyone. If we tell the wrong person what our suspicions are…" but she couldn't finish her thought.
Charlie nodded. "Who do you think it could be from the infirmary?"
She shrugged. "No one."
Charlie agreed. He could not think of a soul who could plot something this bizarre. But the evidence was pretty convincing. Maybe someone just rationalized that the dragons were sick anyway, why not turn a tragedy into a profit?
"Are you going to tell anyone?" he asked her suddenly.
"I told you," she said.
"Right." Charlie sighed. "Why don't we just keep it to ourselves until we've thought more about this. Okay?"
Padmai nodded. She didn't think she could think of anything else.
Charlie walked away to look for Ricardo. He trusted all the keepers, but wasn't so sure about the head office or the wizards who worked in the other departments. He was trying to figure out who would possibly mastermind such a plan and then execute it. He didn't believe that it was only one person inside involved. Of course, the whole scenario was just speculation and he had no proof, except for the altered brands, and he needed more evidence to be able to actually prove any of his theories.
Ricardo was in the head office flirting with one of the witches that was in charge of scheduling. He greeted Charlie with a huge grin.
"I thought you'd abandoned me. You want to get breakfast?" he asked.
Charlie nodded, distracted. "Absolutely. Hey Dora," he greeted the witch.
She smiled shyly.
They turned and walked away. "What is it about you and witches, man? I flirted with her for fifteen minutes and she wouldn't even smile. What's your secret?"
"Scars. Witches dig scars." He deadpanned. "That, and my incredibly sexy red hair."
Ricardo laughed. "Yeah, that must be it."
They apparated to the Mexican wizard cuidad and found a cantina beneath an inn. Charlie had stayed there before and liked the food and the atmosphere.
They sat down and ordered breakfast and coffee. The place was filled with tourists who were having their last vacation of the summer. Charlie got a few second glances from wizards who thought he looked familiar, and recognized him. No one bothered him; but they did stare before he caught their eye and nodded. He was always polite but he was hoping no one would bother him. He wanted to talk to Ricardo about what Padmai told him.
"What's your theory about the dragons being shot?" he asked.
Ricardo put down his fork and leaned in. "I don't think it's muggles," he said.
"Me either," Charlie said. He started telling Ricardo his theory of an inside job, the altered brands and the fact that the two dragons were sick.
"What about the Flying demon?" Ricardo asked.
"She wasn't killed. I think hers was unintentional, but it gave somebody the idea. A muggle took a picture of the dragon and it ended up in those cheesy newspapers. Maybe some wizard saw it and came up with the idea, hey that would be fun to kill a dangerous creature. Proves I got balls."
"And if he was rich, he could bribe someone at the preserve." Ricardo finished.
"And blame it on muggles." Charlie said nodding.
"It sounds like a keeper, though, doesn't it? Who else has access to roaming dragons?" Ricardo said, disgusted.
"Got to be more than one inside, though. I can't believe a keeper would do that. Anyone you know that's having problems or needs gold?" He asked.
"Mike Hendershot—" Ricardo began.
"Absolutely not. Mike's one of my best friends. He loves dragons more than me. He'd never do that."
"But Charlie, the dragons were sick. Maybe they were going to die anyway. Maybe that was his rationale. He could make money but not harm the healthy herd." Ricardo nodded as the idea became more of a possibility.
"I can't believe my friend would do that. Besides we partnered together. He wouldn't have time. If we're right about it being more than one person, don't you think he'd tell his partner?" Charlie said. He refused to believe that Mike would even think of such an idea. He didn't need money, and except for problems with Lindsey, that he was sure they'd work out, he wasn't the kind of wizard that would do such a horrific thing.
"Okay, then who?" Ricardo asked. He didn't want to believe it was Mike, but it had to be someone.
"What about the interns?" Charlie said, going over the list of keepers in his mind. "We don't know them very well. I don't think Genevieve would do it, but maybe Geoff Morris."
Ricardo thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe. Who does he hang out with?"
Charlie shrugged. "I have no idea. I try to stay clear of him. He's lazy. I think he buddies up with some girls in the front office."
"Dora?" He gave Charlie a pointed look. "In scheduling?"
Charlie nodded.
"Maybe you should use some of that red headed charm on her." Ricardo drank the last bit of coffee and asked the server for a bottle of mescal.
"Maybe I should." He agreed. He said pouring himself a glass of the mescal.