Bark at the Moon Ch. 01

"Eleven markings all together." Reese grunted. "Snap some pictures of her when you do the full autopsy, Len."

"You've got it." He nodded. "There's some evidence of rape, I'll look into that as well."

"What do the symbols mean?" Kara asked them.

"It might mean that our killer was using our vic's energy for a spell. I'll ask Jas at the Cauldron about what the symbols might mean. However, any spell that uses a body as the canvas has got to be black."

"Black magic?" Krazinsky blanched. "Shit. Well, I'll try to figure out exact CoD. That's never easy with magic, though she might have been strangled as part of the ritual..."

"Yea, we'll be waiting for the report." Reese stood. "I'm thinking the ritual happened somewhere else. There's not a lot of blood here."

"And, what, called it in?"

Reese shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past them. If you're doing black magic, you're already past the point of sane thinking. He might be doing it to boast, or as a challenge."

Great, lunatic psycho black magicians. When Kara had gotten assigned to Major Cases, this was not her idea of how things would start.

Jason Archer pulled his Mini Cooper up to the curb and parked it. He ran a hand through his hair, preparing himself mentally. A tip had come into the Shield about a new drug, Bliss, that was coming out on the streets. Jason had been handed off on the assignment. He'd done a piece on the Cappucio crime family last year, under a pseudonym, and so his editor had tossed this one off on him.

He grabbed his Golden State Warriors cap, his sign for his informant. He also picked up his recorder and his gun. Technically, it wasn't legal to carry a handgun in San Francisco, but he knew more than a few good contacts. Besides, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

He hid the small pistol in his jacket, and he walked out of the car, and across the street to the diner. Jason was almost a bit too excited. He'd just gotten off a vegetarian diet a few weeks ago, and he'd taken every chance to indulge himself in more carnivorous tastes. He found a booth, and an older lady took his order.

He waited a few minutes, sending off a text to Kara about her day. While some of his colleagues weren't too fond of the police, Jason had been more than willing to take it upon himself to defend his little sister. True, he was only older than her by an hour, but he was still her brother, and he was damn proud of her for becoming a cop.

About five minutes after the waitress left him his Coke, a woman entered the diner.

Everything about her screamed danger. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail. She wore a denim jacket, black leather pants that fit perfectly on her long legs, and Jason could tell her sunglasses were top-shelf stuff, designer material. Jason could tell from the way she walked that she was armed. People packing heat moved with a much more deliberate manner, assessing threats and determining.

She surveyed the diner, and her gaze, even behind the sunglasses, seemed to drill into Jason. She walked towards him, her boots clicking across the linoleum floor of the diner. "You the guy from the Bay Shield?"

"Yea, that's me."

She slid into the booth, opposite from him. "Hmm, cuter than I expected." She extended a hand, finely manicured. "Name's Iris Nash."

"Jason Archer." He extended his own hand, and shook hers. She had a nice grip. Jason found himself a little pleased by that. If the tough girl deal was just an act, he'd be a little less inclined to take her seriously.

Iris smiled. "The Shield's covering lunch, right?" At his nod, she grinned. "Fantastic. I'm famished." She called over the waitress, and ordered a rare burger, fries, and a shake. As the woman scuttled off, she got right into it. "So, let's get started. I'm here representing an interested party who wants you to dig into this new drug in the street."

"Yea, Bliss." He'd done his research. There wasn't much on the subject. Hell, no one even had an ideas on its origin. The few street sources he'd interviewed were pretty vague on it too. It was a club drug, from what it seemed. It was absorbed through the skin, and acted as a stimulant and an aphrodisiac, supposedly. "So, tell me a bit about what you know about it."

"It's locally produced, I know that much." She said. "We're not sure about the exact process of how they make it, but there's a crime organization distributing them."

"All right, who are they?" He asked. He pulled out his recorder, and set it on the table. "You don't mind if I record this?"

She smirked. "Go right ahead." Iris sat back. "All right, so, you've heard of the Phantoms?"

"Yea, they moved in a few years ago, swept up some of the smaller street gangs. They used to do a lot of X, right?"

She shook her head. "They actually stayed out of drugs until pretty recently. The Bliss is their first really foray into this stuff. They do it mostly out of clubs, and keep all sales inhouse. However, since it's not big, and no one's died, the cops don't really know much about it."

"It doesn't sound too bad." He remarked. "What's so bad about it?"

"It's highly addictive." She said. "One hit of the stuff is enough to get you hooked. You try it once, you're going to want another when it's worn off."

"And what's your interest in this?" He leaned forward, looking into her sunglasses. "You don't strike me as the 'concerned citizen' type."

She chuckled. "Mm, yea. I represent a party who doesn't like Bliss one bit."

"You mean you work for a rival organization." He shot back.

Iris shook her head. "No, no, Mister Archer, my boss doesn't do drugs. In fact, he's mostly interested in keeping drugs off the streets. It's bad for business."

"All right, Miss Nash." He said. "Where do we start from here?"

"Ever hear of a club called Every Last Drop?"

Oh, boy, here we go, was his only thought. The things he did for a story.

*

Thanks for reading! Jason and Kara are both going to get their stories, and I've got plans for both of these archers. Comment, please, and leave a review! It's like crack to an author, you know.