Axis and Allies

Tuesday Evening

Chapter 11

I left the museum with a reconfirmed promise by Curtis of our date for tomorrow night and headed to where I had left the Blue Beetle once more. Though physically exhausted in my body, my emotions were fully fired up and I was pissed off. That jerk had tried to kill me and an innocent mother and her child too. Granted it was not the first attempt on my life; perky high school girl wizards tend to have that unique experience early it seems. But still that did not mean I was simply willing to forgive and forget. But being this pissed off I did not want my emotions subtly affecting others, and especially not Curtis who would cancel out date and make me even more upset.

Unlike Harry, I like to think that when I do take the time to plan that I take into consideration things I can rely upon beyond just my own abilities and try to tap into appropriate, already existing resources. The right tool for the right job my dad always said. So as I drove back over to Harry's office to collect the mail I decided to make a phone call. If anyone would know what to do about attempted murder it would be Murphy.

"Murphy." She said all direct and to the point when I rang her cell phone. Of course that was the way she is, so it's not like I could tell if I were interrupting anything or she was free to talk.

"Hey Karrin it's me Molly, do you have a minute?" I asked her trying to keep all emotion out of my voice. I doubted that phone lines could carry my kind of magic but as pissed as I was I did not want to take a chance on it. Murphy was a great level headed cop. She would really hurt someone with her Aikido if my emotions influenced her right now.

"I'm on the way over to do a raid on those three remaining bald headed friends of yours." She said. "Someone who matched their description started shooting up another museum here in town a little while ago it seems, so that was enough for a reliable judge to issue a search warrant for their places of residence to see if one of them owns the weapon to match these slugs. It is thin, but better than nothing."

Yep this was going to be awkward. "Ummm about that." I said in a tone that I had no doubt set all her senses on edge. "You see I was the one being shot at in the museum."

"What?" She nearly screamed. "What the hell happened? And tell me quickly because I am two minutes away from the destination and need to hit these guys before they barricade up and we have a shootout on our hands." She ordered.

In a mere ninety seconds I explained my afternoon, starting with going to the museum to see if anyone knew anything about Jonathan all the way up to seeing Heinrich wheeled driven away in an ambulance. The only thing I skipped over was my date seeing as it was not relevant and of course since dating was a sensitive subject with Karrin.

"You realize that you left the scene of a crime?" Karrin asked.

"Well now that you put it that way…" Hey it was one of the first time I had been purposely shot at so it was not like I am so used to this that I knew what to do and what forms to fill out.

After a two second delay and a sigh she continued. "Well at least you had the common sense to call me. Are you at Harry's place?" She asked as I heard her parking her car.

"I'm at his office actually." I replied.

"Stay there and I will call you back once these raids go down and we can figure out what to do next." She ordered and I could tell from the tone she would brook no disobedience. Now Harry would of course ignore her orders if it suited him to do so, but in this key way that was one of Harry's bad habits that I had no intention of picking up. I agreed to Murphy's demand and decided that I could use this additional time productively anyway to track down another potential lead on this case.

I pulled out Harry's yellow pages again and began to call hospitals. On the third try I hit the jackpot.

"Mercy Hospital, how may I direct your call?" The pleasant voice on the other end asked.

"Yes ma'am I am looking for a patient who may have been brought in there by an ambulance in the last couple of hours." I explained getting ready to lie my ass off about being Heinrich's estranged granddaughter and last surviving relative. I had no idea if this was true. For all know he had thirty kids and one hundred grandkids, but I was counting on the staff not knowing that as my way to gather more information if it came to it.

"I will transfer you to admitting please hold." She sounded every bit as cheerful as she could be.

"Admissions." This next voice was anything but cheery. In fact that one three syllable word transmitted more lack of emotion than anything I had heard in a long time. Hell the guy who tried to kill me at least sounded pissed when he called me a bitch. I guess working around dying people all the time could wear on you.

"Yes ma'am." At least I think it was a ma'am. "I am looking for a patient named Heinrich Hummel who may have been…"

"Your relation?" She asked without letting me explain everything of where he had been picked up or his injuries.

"Granddaughter." I said. "You see my family…"

"Mr. Hummel is in the intensive care ward at the moment." She cut me off again rather curtly. "Thankfully his medical bracelet let us immediately understand and treat his condition. His vital signs are improving but he won't be moved to a regular room until tomorrow morning. Visiting hours begin at eight. Will there be anything else?"

I thought about asking if a bald headed man had come in with a hand injury but decided not to press my luck at the current time. "No that will be it thank…" She hung up before I could even finish my appreciation for her efforts. Like I said, working around death I guess jades some people.

Kay so I had a little bit of time on my hands as I waited for Murphy to call me back so I decided to get started on my homework for tomorrow. In the process of pulling those books out though I noticed Karrin's case file and having forgotten about it until this moment I realized now would be a good time to take a look at it and see if there was anything else important inside. Not that magic would be stated of course, but odd occurrences might have been recorded to allow me to figure out what we were dealing with.

I skipped over the FBI report on Ishmael Rothstein for the moment and decided instead to read the report on the death of his grandson. For those of you who have never read a police report let me say it is nowhere near as good a read as the average police novel. Hell it would not even get good reviews by readers at , providing of course you could get them to give a review. What it did though was provide all the facts of the case to allow those reading it to understand what was known without the bias, or as little bias by the investigating officer as possible.

Jonathan Rothstein, age 29 and a graduate of Brown University where he had double majored Philosophy and Religious studies and Judaic Studies with a 4.0 grade point average. That certainly fit with Murphy's conspiracy theory of religion playing a key part in this case. But of course I had nothing further to go on since this subject was not particularly relevant to his death according to the police at least so nothing further had been recorded.

Jonathan took the job at the museum the day after his grandfather had retired so Murphy's suspicions were starting to add up. He had been engaged to be married at the time of his death, wedding date scheduled for just over two months from now in fact, and all in all he seemed to have a successful, if rather boring life.

Bank records showed no odd withdraws, there were no gambling debts known, his credit rating was top notch, and he had no history of depression or any medical ailments. The investigating officer offered no motive for Jonathan to take his own life.

On the day in question Jonathan had taken the Loop, Chicago's elevated train, as he usually did to work. He had worked his full shift at the museum without any incident or argument. He had eaten lunch with coworkers who had not described his emotional state any different from any other day. He had punched his timecard when the museum closed at five-thirty and walked like he did every day back to his train stop for forty eight minute ride home, counting the single transfer to another train.

But two blocks from where he normally caught his train, for no apparent reason and before a host of witnesses, he stepped off the curb and in front of city dump truck that had the light to proceed. The driver of the truck was not on the phone, and the measurement of skid marks at the accident showed he had not been speeding, which is nearly impossible in that part of town at rush hour anyway. The driver's story of someone walking out in front of him at the last moment matched those of all of the other witnesses, some of whom had even made an ineffective grab for Jonathan to pull him back to safety. So in the end suicide had seemed the only answer that fit all these facts.

Of course the officer who had investigated was not likely to believe in magic so what else was he to believe? While odd, a copy of the case file had not been sent to Special Investigations after this had occurred as other even odder cases regularly did. It's not like anyone had seen a troll push him in front of the truck or Jonathan transform into a werewolf or anything. Had it not been the stolen dirt from his gravesite then the odds are Murphy and crew would never have gotten wind of this case at all.

I looked at Jonathan's college graduation picture once more and hoped that Murphy and I could get to the bottom of what was really going on. He looked like a nice guy. Nothing in the file suggested anything else in his personality. He deserved to have his spirit rest in peace.

The door to the office opened without me even realizing anyone was there and Mr. Leland entered. Once more I noted how his every movement seemed precise and efficient without any wasted energy or action. He strode directly to the desk and stood before it looking down at me.

"You have word on my property?" He asked with just a trace of expectancy in his voice.

"Not yet Mr. Leland, though I have completed the charm." I said pulling out and showing him that it laid still instead of pointing toward the watch he was seeking.

"That is most strange. I had the oddest feeling it had been discovered." He said looking at me in such a way to sense if I was actually lying to him about finding it.

I understood that of course. The watch was nearly priceless in the mere quality of its construction. To its creator it would undoubtedly seem even more so. Perhaps he expected that I would hold out on him now to seek and even greater fee later when he was more desperate. Or maybe he thought it was my desire to keep the artifact for myself.

However, I avoided a soul gaze with him, and he did with me as well, but showed him not only my honesty that I had not found the item but also that it was something I was actively attempting to do. Something about him though made me want to conclude my current business with him immediately so I offered up almost everything so he would understand and depart satisfied I was actively on the case.

"As you can see the charm is currently dead." I said. "This means that the watch is most likely protected by something that is blocking the magic somewhat, for example a lead lined safe which might make sense due to its worth. I did get one momentary hit on the watch today for just a moment. Perhaps the person who owns it opened the safe. I do not know."

He looked disappointed by my revelation and perhaps reconsidering our deal. "What I do know is that I understand not only right where I was standing at the time but also the direction I was pulled in." I said. "I can draw this line on a map and then do one of two things."

"If the likely safe is opened again and I can get another reading then I will know right where the watch is being kept by cross referencing these two lines on the map."

"And if the door is not conveniently opened?" He asked.

"Then I can trace along this path from where I was standing and hopefully the close proximity of the charm to the watch will overcome the current barriers and I will find it that way." I explained much more confidently than I actually felt at present.

"You come highly recommended Wizard Dresden." Mr. Leland said after a near minute of considering my plan. "I believe your offered plan does indeed have merit, though as I explained originally my time on this issue is quickly running out. I hope you prove your supporters' faith in you is justified." His tone was neutral, neither hopeful nor skeptical.

I really did not know what to say in response to this. Sometime there just is nothing. So instead of looking the fool I merely kept sitting where I was until Mr. Leland turned back and headed out the door.

"Good day Ms. Dresden." He said closing the door behind him and leaving me to breathe a sigh of relief. And of course that lasted only until I exhaled in surprise when the phone on the desk rang.

"Harry Dresden's office." I answered since there was no such thing even dreamed of like caller ID when this model of telephone had been created. Thankfully it turned out to be Murphy as promised, though not with news that I was eager to hear.

"Molly we struck out on all three apartments." Murphy said by way on an introduction. "From the look of things they either knew we were coming or the loss of their two friends over the past two nights made them go to ground. We have APBs out for all three of them and we checked with all the local hospitals but there has been no sign of the guy you hurt."

That was not good. Since I did not know when he had first started tailing me I also had no idea of if he knew I was staying at Harry's house or came here regularly to his office. Today, having experienced him shooting at me once already, I did not want to find him waiting in ambush for me somewhere else on my normal daily path. That meant I would have to find him before he found me. But to do that I would need a personal item of him, a lock of hair, or blood. Well I was pretty sure knew where some of that was at least.

"Molly I'd like to take you into protective custody until we can track this guy down." Murphy was saying as I was making my own plans. "With his injuries he can't stay out of sight forever and when he pops up we nab him and you go back to your normal life."

"I got a better idea Murphy." I said. "How about I pull a tracking spell on him and lead you to him. That way I don't have to hide and maybe you get all the bad guys at once."

I knew Murphy was at heart a good cop who hated to see the bad guys get away. The offer I made her was obviously a tempting one, especially when she considered it might provide a lead under interrogation to solve the rest of this case and get it off her plate. It was a good bet that this alone would bring her around in the end.

"You can do that?" She asked though I knew she had observed Harry do so in the past, or at least been the beneficiary of the fruits of his labors in that case.

"Of course." I said. "Tracking spells are easy." That was generally true under two conditions. The first is that I had something of the person I was tracking, but like I said I knew where I could get some of his blood. The second is that you are not already totally wasted physically and psychically and cannot call up the magic.

I have to admit I was pretty damn close on this second point, but magic is sort of like a trickle fed pool. Even though I had not gone to sleep, some of my ability to call upon magic had been building up ever since I left the museum and came over here. There was no way I was ready for launching into a protracted spell battle and I also would not be recharging my three spent shield charms tonight, leaving me only four more, one of which was me weaker one, to call upon, but that should still be enough to see me through what I needed to do. I figured it would take only two relatively simple spells, and I had the strength for those I was pretty sure.

"Alright when and where do I meet you?" She asked accepting the plan but obviously on her terms.

I looked at the clock. It was just before six in the evening. Assuming everything would work out I did not want to go collect blood until after sundown at least. Add to that travel time and the time to cast the spell. "Meet me at Harry's apartment at nine or so?" I asked. "It will take me a while to clean up here and get over to his place and get the spell ready." I failed to mention the necessary detour also but that would not be something she was likely to approve so I relied upon the old faithful philosophy for 'tis better to ask forgiveness than permission' in this case.

"Okay I will see you at nine." Karrin said. "But be careful kid. I don't want to tell Harry some waste of flesh skinhead hurt you."

"Trust me Murph." I tried to laugh. "I don't want you having to tell Harry that even more than you."

We hung up the phone, I locked up the office, and I started a slow drive back out to the museum. The sun was still just setting when I got there so I parked a block away and popped into a 7-11 got grab a candy bar and a drink for a quick sugar high before starting my break in. The little container of Beast energy drink taunted me from the counter by the register. I knew I had the potions in my pack for added energy but still wanted to save those for an actual emergency. A good night's sleep would revive me. But of course I did not have that available at the present time.

What the hell, I bought a bottle of Beast along with my haphazard and certainly not Surgeon General of the United States approved meal and waited until dark by the car.

By the time the energy drink was kicking in and the sun had gone down completely, I had scoped out how I planned to accomplish all of this by doing a quick walk around. At the back of the museum was a delivery entry door that also had a small access door as well. Both were secured by a card swipe and electric alarm system. As far as security goes, this was damn near state of the art. So of course it was perfect for a wizard wanting entry.

I walked up to it looking for cameras on the outside, thankfully there were none, leaned in close to the card swipe and blew it a kiss. Like some guys, it never had a chance. Within seconds it started sputtering, smoking, and then exploded, rendering it completely useless. According to girl talk in school that too was like some guys they knew.

Of course the way the system was designed, the electronic access system failing was supposed to immediately lock down the electric locking door. Of course a wizard's curse has just the opposite effect. The charge to ensure the deadbolt remained closed also felt a power surge so retracted the bolt instead leaving the door unsecure. A mere pull upon the handle, my hand covered by my t-shirt to avoid fingerprints, and a certain perky high school wizard apprentice had broken into her very first government building. I am certain that Harry would be so proud of me when I told him; yeah right.

On the bright side I was glad that I had not been forced to cast a spell to get in as I had planned for. This allowed me to conserve what little strength I did have even after the power drink erased my overwhelming feeling of fatigue. I looked around and saw no one watching me and did not hear the distant sounds of sirens racing to come check out the museum's alarm so I entered and pulled the door almost completely closed behind me.

Unlike earlier today this time I had entered at the lowest level of the museum. That meant to get back to where the shooting had taken place I merely needed to proceed further into the complex. It was, however at this time that I suddenly wondered if the museum had nighttime security guards. That would be something a little hard to deal with for me.

In a way though, even if there were guards, I had a little advantage in this respect. It was so dark in the museum that I was forced to call upon just a small spell to make the cross that my mother had given me glow. In luminosity it was perhaps equal to a candle; enough to keep me from stumbling into anything but no so bright as to attract attention from anyone all the way on the other side of the museum.

The fact that there were no obvious lights on anywhere that I could see as I took as evidence that there were no guards at least on this level. There may be some on the main floor above, but providing I stayed quiet and did not let my light get out of control I should not have to worry about anything other than random patrols I guessed.

The four major escalators in the central area all exited in the middle of the floor and might transmit the glow from my light upstairs if I wandered too close so instead I followed Curtis's path from earlier and went far around the side through the farm technology section.

Having grown up in Illinois it's not like I had never seen a farm tractor before, but that did not mean I found them even remotely interesting. Certainly some people did, and the museum's displays of old plows up to modern huge commercial tractors were certain a great timeline as to how farming had progress over the years. But still, I was satisfied just to see the food in the grocery store. How it got there would never be a subject that I wanted to spend any time on that could be better spent on other pursuits; such as sleeping. Even with the power drink I still found myself yawning at the thought of sleep.

Finding where the shooting had taken place was not all that hard considering the multiple lines of police tape that had been strung up to keep people from stepping into this area. I was on a mission of recovery though so of course I did not let so simple a barrier as that prevent me from getting what I came here after.

I had just maneuvered my way through the strings and was on the inside of the fifteen by fifteen foot square area when I noted the marble flooring in this area was not going to be very supportive to my search. It was a dark speckled marble and the first three spots that I thought might be blood drops turned out to be just darker streaks within the stone.

I momentarily considered increasing the brightness of my light, but since I was relatively close to one of the escalators the increased illumination would draw unwanted attention if there were anyone above. Well Molly, I guess this means you have to get down on your hands and knees and search very close to the source.

If in my mind I split this cordoned off area into three foot by three foot squares then I had only twenty-five to check by rubbing my hands across them looking for dried blood. Each would likely take at least one or two minutes to search by this combination of sight and touch. That meant worst case, if the fates were against me and I did not find the blood until the last square, I would be done in less than an hour. Well, no purpose in waiting.

I was on the eighth section, without luck so far I might add, when I had a creepy feeling run along my spine. I have said before that wizards are gifted with senses slightly different from others and such feelings are often the results of these senses trying to tell you something important. The fact though that it made me shiver I had to admit scared me also.

Likely I knew something would be there, I turned toward the escalator, which thankfully was not moving, and through the darkness I could just make out someone descending these stairs. While that alone was enough of a reason to get the heck out of there, the fact that the individual was coming down the steps is what was making me feel anxious gave me impetus to do it quickly and without being observed.

I dove once more back into the Farm Tech area and hid behind the really big tractor and waited to see what would happen. I had commanded my illuminated cross to dim, but not to go out completely, and hid it beneath my shirt once more. I waited to see the bobbing light of a flashlight or some other form of light but there was nothing. Nor were there any telltale sounds of someone walking on the hard floor.

I sat silently crouched down in my hiding place for at least five minutes listening for anything out of the ordinary. The time ticked by painfully slow, that was either the results of the adrenaline, the energy drink, or likely a combination of the two that made the time so torturous. At the end of that short period of time though I could not just sit still and hide any longer. My wizard senses were telling me whatever had creeped me out had not left the area, but I had no clue where it was right now.

I carefully and slowly moved looking for anything to warn me of danger, and I was surprised in the near total darkness how much my eyes were now able to see. I could make out the displays and walk between them without bumping into one with no problem. And as I got past them and once more was on the edge of the main central area I could even make out that the police tape line had been torn down.

I paused to consider this and then heard an odd sound from straight ahead of me. It was like someone sniffing the air, but being totally congested with a cold at the same time. My eyes locked immediately on that place where the noise had originated from but I could only make out a darker spot against the slightly less dark background. That is until I saw this darkness twitch as it made this same sound a second time.

You know that scene in the horror movies where the slashing murderer with the axe has just decapitated five of the poor dumb high school students who are out having sex by the lake and instead of fleeing the survivors who discovered the bodies decide to split up and look for the murder? You know how you always say 'don't do that you idiot, just get the heck out of there?' And you know how they never do that but instead do something incredibly stupid that they thought was a good idea at the time? Yeah, I just found out that I am that stupid student!

I lifted my glowing cross up out of my shirt, but clenched tightly in my fist to hide its shine until I was ready. When they noise emitted from the darkness a third time I opened my hand with the cross facing toward it and ordered the illumination to increase.

A man sat kneeling on the floor with his face pressed almost directly onto the marble almost as if in prayer. The snorting I had heard had indeed been this person inhaling, and noted with the increased light I could see a patch of dried blood, the very blood I had come here for, right below his face. But when the glow coming from my hand brightened up the room more completely he turned to look directly at me.

I guess in my mind I had been prepared for most possibilities. Harry's stories had told me of many possible fairy creatures or even vampires that might be attracted to a recent scene of violence and blood like this. Part of me was even ready for it to be the wounded skinhead who would pull out a new gun and start shooting at me once more.

What I had not even remotely considered is that I would be looking into the face of Jonathan Rothstein, the very same Jonathan Rothstein whose picture I had looked at less than three hours ago, and who according to Karrin, the police report, his own family, and even Ms. Brown who had gotten me into this mess in the first place, was supposed to be dead and buried in a graveyard. I could not make out all his features in this light, but I did enough to know I was correct in my identification.

Then when his head turned to stare toward me, I avoided his eyes of course and focused instead on his mouth, he mad an animalistic snarl that no completely living face was capable of. The sound he made was certainly not words, nor any normal form of communication, but still I had no problem understanding its inhuman growl meant he wanted to kill me, right here, and right now.

Okay it is at this time that in the horror movies the girl gets killed. I on the other hand chose to run. I took off quickly heading back toward farm tools to make my way back outside, but Jonathan, or at least the thing that looked like him, kept pace with me heading down the more direct straight aisle toward my door. It was going to beat me to the exit, so I had to change plans and do so quickly.

Zombie! My mind seemed to identify just what I figured I was facing based upon Harry's stories and of course the fact that Jonathan was dead. That meant that I had been right. There had to be a necromancer working here in Chicago again. And while I may do a great imitation of a dumb blonde girl in a slasher movie, the fact that this perky high school apprentice wizard knew she was out of her league and would require help did not make me feel any less sure about myself.

I would have to call Carlos again I reasoned. With Harry gone, Carlos was the only one I knew both with the power to take on a necromancer, and someone who would not assume I was in cahoots with him or her just because I was living under the Doom of Damocles. Of course, getting the chance to call Carlos meant that I had to get out of here first. And with my door on this floor blocked, that meant it was time to improvise.

Instead of turning left toward the door I turned right and raced down the hall. With my light still glowing I was a perfect target for the zombie who I could sense was still tracking on me. Thankfully at the end of the hallway where the corridor formed a T-intersection there was also another escalator. I ran around that since the stairs were on the far side and decided on my escape plan in an instant.

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out one of the quarters I had been given in change at the 7-11 and cast an illumination spell on it as well. As its glow increased I dimmed the cross and then tossed the quarter up the currently non-moving stairway and onto the main floor above. Then I placed myself in God's hands for a fifty-fifty choice. As I heard the zombie approach the stairs I went around the opposite way from which I came and ducked down quickly.

I dared not raise my head to look for fear of it seeing me, but the illumination from the quarter at the top of the stairs obvious drew its attention for I could hear it making squishy sounds as it climbed the stairs. Thinking of how bodies decompose, the squishy sound sort of turned my stomach when I thought about it.

You might wonder why I had not fled up the stairs. The simple answer is that my open door lay on this level and not up above. Sure I might get it open in time, but that would take longer and might require a spell. I figured the zombie would like not be that patient.

I came back around to the underside of the stairs and waited a moment to listen to what the zombie would do once it understood it had been duped. There was nothing immediately available to use as a weapon if it came to a physical battle other than a placard that said that the World War Two German submarine U-505 exhibit was down the corridor to the left at the end of the hallway. The placard might be sharp like a knife, but knives are not all that effective against something already dead.

The zombie made some sort of howling sound, either in frustration or in signaling the chase was on once more, but I decided not to stick around and find out which. I raced back the way I had come and out the loading bay doors to the clear night sky that was far better illuminated by the moon and stars than the inside of the museum had been. I did not stop to admire these but instead raced around the building and made a direct beeline for where I had parked the Blue Beetle. Thankfully it was there, it started, and I was off weaving through Chicago's evening traffic back to Harry's apartment without any further sign of the zombie. That last was enough to allow my breathing to return once more to normal.

Ninety minutes or so later I was once again pulling up at Harry's place, delayed by an accident between two commuters who did not know what color the stoplight had been obviously. Thankfully, the whole time I had been trapped in the jam waiting until they moved the cars there had been no sign of the zombie running up behind me, or at least none I could see in the rearview mirror which kept my almost complete attention.

Murphy was not here yet, but I knew she was likely due any minute. I hurried inside and was greeted by two hundred pound dog happy to see me and a thirty pound cat wearing a disapproving stare. And then the phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I said not daring to want to say more.

"Molly, it's me Murphy." I could tell she was calling from her cell phone and that she was not driving.

"Hey Murph let me save you the trip." I admitted. "I struck out on the blood to cast the seeking spell."

"Don't worry about it kid that is why I am calling you." She said. "We just found the guy who tried gunning you down in a back alley surgeon's makeshift recovery room. He is dead and covered in dirt just like his friends. However, this time we have the killer's image on bank ATM photo." She said smugly having a real break in the case for once.

"Let me guess." I interrupted. "It is Jonathan Rothstein."

"How the hell did you know that?"

"You know Murph…it's been one of those nights that just can't get any worse." I said.