MJ 6A: Case of the Curse Pt 1

He was cuffed to his own oven.

"Marly!" He lurched forward and the oven door opened slightly and stopped, jerking him back.

"So, where is Kraven?"

"I don't know."

"Finn, if you did, would you tell me?"

He growled.

"Fine, stay there." I walked to the den knowing his phone was out of reach and his own cuff keys which might work were far enough away. On the desk sat the computer, on, but password protected, waiting for me.

It took my three tries but I figured it out. The password was my name and the date we first met. I ignored the twinge in my chest and took the next 30 minutes to ignore Finn's growls and threats from the kitchen and search his files.

Finally, well hidden through 16 folders and 12 more passwords moronically listed in a text file on a separate drive, I found the records for his actors. He had scans of IDs, 2 forms per performer, all compliant with the law that performers must be at least eighteen.

I found "Kraven" and the address listed on his passport and driver's license sent chills down my spine. High fallutin' for a porn actor, for even a drug dealer, he lived in the heart of Printer's Row.

At the very same address as Nikolas Meyers.

I pulled my gun and left the file pulled up. Back in the kitchen Finn had grabbed a craving knife and was idiotically trying to use it on the hinge of one cuff. At least he was smart enough not to try and pry the lock.

He was cursing me under his breath now, no longer yelling.

"You knew. You already knew."

He feigned innocence for all of a second then brandished the knife. "Open and shut case babe. Kraven skipped town. This Bain chick O.D.'ed on his junk and split. All that's left is to find a body for Bain."

I leaned on the counter and grabbed my glass of wine taking a large sip. "And let me guess...you didn't tell me this because there is still the matter of very rare, very large, very expensive jewels only two people in Chicago have the connections to fence...and you're one of them."

He gave me an enigmatic grin. I pulled out the keys to the handcuffs and dangled them. Finn lunged and I snatched them back, marched to the bathroom, and flushed them down the toilet. I found his cell phone in the bedroom and brought it back.

Carlos was on speed dial and answered on the third ring. "Carlos, it's Marly, remember me?"

"...Yeah, er, yeah! How are you, Marly?"

"Fine. Finn needs your help. He's handcuffed to the oven in his...stop laughing, Carlos."

"Kinkier than his usual. Where are the keys?"

"In the Cal Sag Canal by now."

He guffawed again. "I'll be right over."

I snapped it closed and left it out of his reach. "Fuck you," was all I said and I left out the back door, walked down to my car, and was sitting behind the wheel by the time tears started.

This was the problem. Every time I felt that blossom of love I felt for Finn turn towards the sun, he came along like a mutt and shat all over it. From past experience I could only assume he'd attached himself to this case to simply get at those jewels.

Sure Finn loved me, but he loved me in a way that damn near destroyed me every time.

***

I'd gone back to my office/home and crashed that night. I spent the day doing business and screening my calls; nothing from Finn. I took care of two open cases and put in calls to friends at Amtrak trying to track down Kraven. I offered $500 to any ticket agent who gave me solid info and waited for a call back.

When none came I picked up the phone in the later afternoon to dial Meyers when it rang. Meyers was calling me.

"Hello?"

"Miss Jackson? It's Nikolas Meyers."

"It's Marly, and can I help you?"

"I wasn't honest with you before. I know where Kraven went, but..."

"You were protecting Ellie?" I finished for him.

There was a pregnant pause. "There's something I want to show you. Kraven said he was going west but I think he was really going to see Ellie, or at least see her before she left, maybe even take her with."

"So what do you want to show me?"

"It's where Ellie likes to hide out sometimes."

I got the address from him and it was in a far northern suburb, Riverwoods. There was truly just a river and woods there with a few overpriced houses belonging mostly to Greek mobsters, then a whole passel of anonymous office buildings and Big Pharma.

Rush hour was there so I told him to give me two hours. I touched up my makeup to sophisticated feminine but still business like, put my hair in a knot, and made sure my tailored grey suit was smooth. It actually made my skin seem more pale olive and my hazel eyes almost grey, it was a neat effect.

The drive up was hell. October had a strong wind but a warm enough tinge to the air I knew a thunderstorm was coming. I broke off onto the tollway north of the city and took the exit, driving past the offices and onto a lonely stretch of road through thick forest.

I almost missed my turnoff and barely made, skidding the corner onto a dirt road. I followed it until it ended at a log cabin with a Kawasaki bike parked outside.

By the door was Nikolas. His hair was loose, dangling down onto his long black trench coat. He wore spiked boots and what seemed to be leather pants.

I got out and he smiled, fake fangs hanging over his stained red lips. When I drew nearer I saw his eyes were black rimmed. Unlike most men it didn't look gaudy with the rough stubbled skin of his face, it made him look exactly what he wanted to be; a vampire on the prowl.

"Hello," he drawled with serpentine confidence.

"Hello there. So what makes you think Kraven hasn't left town?"

"Come inside and you'll see why." He turned and pulled keys out, searching through them. "Ellie and I came here time to time to get away. Outside of the rituals with her friends, just the two of us. She said it was a special place, full of magic."

"Magic? Curses? Vampires? What is all this?"

He found the key he wanted and looked at me, actually more at the bite marks on my neck. He smiled. "Armature."

Since I had that unholy fetish thanks to Finn, the husky promise flashed through me and made my body tighten.

Then he opened the door and the smell of death floated out. Without thinking I'd unbuttoned my coat, unsnapped the holster, and my gun was naked in my hand.

Nikolas opened the door and pulled a flashlight from his pocket. He turned it on and shined it inside. I felt shocked to the core.

Inside it was painted black, the windows were covered with black curtains. The wood floor had been painted black an a pentagram had been drawn in chalk with some other symbols I didn't recognize.

Opposite the door was an altar draped with black cloth that looked wet, flanked on either side by candelabras straight out a Vincent price movie topped with burned down red candles. On the wall behind the altar was a taxidermied goat's head with fake human eyes. That wasn't what chilled me.

What got to me was the naked bloodied, bloated and dead mean chained to the altar. It was his blood that stained the cloth and from the smell and bloat he'd been dead at least 24 hours.

"That's Kraven."

"How did you find him?"

"He called me, said Ellie was leaving and needed a score. He said he was meeting her here. I told him not to come-"

"You knew this would happen? You two come up here for this?" I swung the gun on him and he put his hands up.

"No, it's not like that. Ellie is...disturbed. She came up here once in a while, after she'd spent lots of time with her family. This place belongs to her father."

"We should call the police."

"But we're not going to," he said confidently.

"And why not?"

"Because of this." He stepped inside and I followed, wrinkling my nose against the stench. Against the wall by the door was a small table and on it was a hand-written note. He passed it to me and turned the flashlight on it.

"Dear Nik, I am leaving. I think you know why. I am sorry I couldn't tell you. I called Kraven here to help me sell something. You know what. He tried to take it and I stopped him. I did what my father would have done. Goodbye," I read and looked up at him. "What her father would have done?"

"We should go, I'll explain everything. You go first and I'll cover our tracks."

"I used to be a cop, I'll do it."

He frowned but nodded. "I'll meet you at the Denny's on Milwaukee, Prospect Heights."

I hadn't lowered my gun. "One hour. If you're not there...I don't have to explain."

He nodded and left me to clean up a crime scene. I'd grabbed the flashlight and followed him back out to my car to grab gloves and supplies.

I loved my life.

***

The Denny's was 24 hours but at 9 when I pulled in it was dead. The bike was there, I saw with relief and Nikolas was waiting for me on the bench inside.

He stood and nodded when I entered, sweaty and tired, my hair starting to come loose from the perfect knot.

"Thanks, I owe you, and I promise to deliver."

"You better."

We seated ourselves in the smoking section and I lit up a cigarette and opened the menu. He pulled out some Nat Shermans and lit one.

Neither of us spoke as we ordered coffee, burgers and fries, and I had to wonder how he was going to eat his with those fangs. Did they come out?

The waitress took our menus and returned shortly with the coffee and poured. When she was gone I pulled out the creamers and leveled my cop gaze on Meyers.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Look, that...place is owned my Ellie's father. She said he took her there as a child. She said he's into that Satanic shit."

I thought about the elder Bain and found this strangely believable. The man believed in curses, why not in black magic?

"She never said but I think he abused her. Her mom died and he never dated anyone else, even now he has an unhealthy obsession with her. And when she spent time with him she was fucked up. She would bring me there and we'd...have sex. She called it 'cleansing the darkness.' I was always creeped put by it, but I thought I was helping a friend, maybe I could make it better."

"Tell me about Kraven, where does he fit in?"

"He's an old friend of mine, started selling heroin. When she got into it I pointed her his way, I thought I could trust him. We went to school together. He didn't sell her much, but then she started selling things from her dad's store. Eventually Kraven and she teamed up on something big, neither would tell me."

I bit my tongue about the supposedly cursed family jewels.

"Something happened a week ago and Ellie said she was done with her family. She said she was going to do something to hurt her father and disappear. Last I heard Kraven told me he was leaving too, but he was going to visit her for one last sale and to conclude their business."

"She mentioned she was selling something, and said you'd know what. What was it?"

"Jewels. Her dad filled her head with this nonsense that these old family heirlooms were cursed. He said they had to stay in the family or they would lose everything, but as long as they did every Bain woman died after giving birth to a child."

That damn curse again. All this lead back to the father. Jeweler to the stars, incestuous abuser, Satan worshipper, father of a vampire coven leader? This seemed surreal at best, like a mash-up of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Wes Craven.

"So if she was meeting Kraven to sell it why kill him?"

"Like the note said; I wouldn't put it past him to try something. Ellie is beautiful but fucked in the head. Most people would think they could pull a fast one, but she's like a coral snake; beautiful and small, but deadly."

Our food arrived and for long moments we merely munched. He'd lied to me before but I had to wonder if he was lying now. Most of my cases were simple and straightforward but it seemed like the 2% Finn got involved in blew up in my face.

It was possible he, Kraven, and Eleanor Bain had all conspired to steal and sell the jewels and Ellie had skipped out on him and killed Kraven. It made no sense, however, Nikolas Meyers was the sole heir to a huge fortune, and was living on a trust fund from grandpa that I could only imagine. His bank balance read like the GDP of France.

"Level with me. So her old man is a Satanist and an abuser, and his daughter grows up fucked in the head. She joins the vampire community, talks you into weird orgies, and when she gets into needles you point her to an old friend with big aims and small means. She tells you the same bull story her dad told me about cursed jewels damn near impossible to fence, and you mean to tell me she didn't tell you she had them and was leaving? She calls up your dippy friend, takes him to Satan's Playhouse, and when he tries to pull something she kills him Hollywood black magic style and leaves you a note?"

"I know this is difficult to believe. Look, I thought she was lying about the jewels, but she was serious about hurting her dad. How better than to steal something from him he believes is the sole key to his lifestyle?"

My head was spinning. Luckily I had years of training to fall back on; push aside the bullshit and focus on the hard facts and what was traceable.

"Look if she fenced the jewels here...I've already talked to the 2 people who could have done it."

"She would have done it today, when did you talk to them?"

He had me there. "Not that recently. But she could still have them. Where would she go? Where would she feel safe?"

"Nowhere. Look she had no real friends. I'd like to call myself a friend but she was just using me. She was part of the vampire community but she's been ostracized. She went too far, got too dark."

"Too dark for vampires?"

"Do you know Michelle Belle Angel?"

I shook my head and he sighed. "Well, Marly, Michelle is a big mover and shaker in the community. She came here to talk about opening up a House, a true vampire refuge. There was lots of infighting and Ellie was the cause. She showed up to meetings drunk and abusive, was always pushing sex and dark rituals. Most of us are not into that. Well, sex, yes, but Satanism? That's for teenagers."

I nodded.

"She was whacked out of her mind usually. When Michelle came there was a house being established, and we were well on our way. Michelle was like our unofficial fairy godmother; she wasn't going to be a permanent leader, but she was the one getting us organized. Ellie came in, disrespected her, tried to get her thrown out. It got worse from there and ended with Michelle leaving in disgust and Chicago's vampire community has suffered in the larger community ever since."

"Great so in other words, you have no idea where she would be?"

"My guess is somewhere there is another community that must hate Michelle Belle Angel. She'd head there, but she's always been afraid of those jewels. She'd want to unload them."

"You said she was crazy. Maybe she threw them in the river, or buried them by the cabin, or fuck, stuffed them in Kraven's intestines."

He shook his head. "She'd want the money. And she'd never leave them on family land, or she'd think the curse still existed. And she'd never just throw them somewhere where her father might someday find them."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

He looked down at his barely touched food. "I'm worried about her."

"You think she'd hurt herself?" he didn't answer me. "You think the curse is real?"

Nikolas looked up finally. "You haven't heard the family stories. That curse is real, Marly. It's very real, and..."

I waited but he looked nervous. I set down my mug and sighed. "And?"

"She's pregnant."

Crazy heroin chick pregnant and thinking a curse meant she'd give birth and die. Great. "Yours?"

He shrank back in horror. "No. I think it's her father's."