James had a meeting with McGovern that afternoon and got back about ten minutes before it was supposed to start. So, rather than try to get anything done before it began, he headed into his office. Maybe he could catch up on email or something while he waited.

He walked into the office, glanced over at the couch, and stepped back, startled. Amelia was lying there with her eyes closed. Her casted arm rested on her chest while her other arm was thrown over her head, against the threadbare green throw pillow he’d put there a few days ago. She was breathing evenly, and James moved carefully to avoid waking her up.

The demon books were still missing from the bookshelf as he walked past, and the dirt that had scattered from the shelf crunched under his thick wool socks. James winced at the sensation. Normally, he was completely on board with no outside shoes indoors. But he was either going to have to actually vacuum his floor or change that rule.

If Gabriella was going to be their researcher, he’d need to get her input on more books to purchase for their excuse for a library. Maybe they could squeeze a little bit out of the budget to update some of these more… antique resources. Once they were done dealing with the Delinskys, he’d turn his focus toward that.

As he got to his desk, he heard Amelia shifting on the couch. He turned to see her crack an eye open and look at him.

“You okay?” James asked, stopping before he sat down in his chair.

She nodded, closing her eyes again. “Fine,” she said.

“I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes, but you can stay there if you want.”

She took a deep breath, then opened her eyes. “Nah,” she said. “I’m up. I’m just on my break.”

Amelia sat up, folding her knees as she leaned against the puffy back cushion of the sofa. “Bradley called,” she said.

“When?”

“When you were getting gas. He said you attacked the guy at the store?”

“The one that tried to kill us? Yeah.”

“That was stupid.”

James sighed, then walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. “I know.”

“For real, are you okay?”

He wanted to say he was fine and move on. But instead, he shrugged. “Honestly, no clue,” he said. “We both were almost murdered when a curse destroyed our brakes and I’m not sure if I’m traumatized by it or not. And now we’ve got people murdering their bosses and their bosses suck. Like, they’re fucking awful and should face some kind of consequence. But nobody gets to decide that someone else deserves to die, you know? Right now I hate our client, hate our suspects, and hate that the Foundation is putting so much on us. So just a regular day.”

Amelia nodded and he could tell just from her face that she was feeling everything he’d just said. “Now what?” she asked.

“I have a meeting with McGovern in a few minutes,” James said. “I’m going to see what the Foundation can do about tracking down someone who sets curses for money.”

“Want me to stay?”

“Do you have anything else going on?”

Amelia shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “Graham and Gabriella went to go take a statement about a haunted house over by the high school. I need to do my workout at some point today, but I’m not in a hurry.”

“Me too,” James said. “I’ve fallen off of it so bad. I assume you’re just going to walk?”

“Nah, I’m thinking of free weights. Maybe some pull-ups.”

James rolled his eyes and huffed a laugh. Then he got up and headed toward the computer for the meeting.

---

“James!” McGovern said a few minutes later over the video chat. “And Amelia! You two look good. How are you feeling?”

“Alive,” Amelia said with a small laugh.

“Same,” James said.

“That’s good, I suppose,” McGovern said. “Alright, just a couple of things to go over. James, I’m sorry, but the Foundation doesn’t cover personal tech that was damaged in the field.”

“Even if I need it for work?”

“We can loan you a Foundation phone,” McGovern offered.

He’d seen them and he was better off with the cordless phone they still had for the landline. “Thank you anyway.”

“Next, your reports are all set. I have a copy of the police report as well. The van has been declared totaled, so we’ll work on that. I was sure that our partner garages would have someone who could fix it, but apparently, it was too damaged.”

It was also probably halfway to totaled before it went off that embankment. Still, a sharp pang went through James at the official loss of the van. It was ridiculous, he knew. But it was a little like losing a team member.

“James, there was a small note of concern. The police had you take a breathalyzer test?”

The memory of the cop’s harshness and the swirling confusion of the accident threatened to make him vomit right here at his desk. But instead, James nodded. “Yeah.”

“You weren’t drinking on a case, of course.”

“Of course not!”

“That’s what the report said,” McGovern said.

Then why say anything about it at all? James’s heart was pounding, and he took a deep breath, trying to push away the humiliation. “I was in shock and disoriented because the brakes failed on the van and sent us off the road. I wasn’t intoxicated.”

“Nor do we think so.”

Then why was this a topic of discussion? “Is there anything else?” Amelia asked quickly, rescuing him before either he or McGovern could say anything else on the topic.

“Only new business if you have it. Do you have something to bring up?”

“Yes,” James said, sitting up a little straighter. “I sent over the update, but we have solid reason to believe it’s a curse that’s targeting the Delinsky family. We think that someone hired a professional.”

“A professional conjurer?”

“I guess you could put it that way,” James said. “But what kinds of resources does the Foundation have to track down someone who would do that?”

McGovern took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt. Then he put them back on his face with a sigh. “We certainly know of people we’ve stopped from doing that kind of work,” he said. “But if you’re hoping for a directory of sorts, no, we don’t have that.”

“What would you suggest we do, then?” James asked, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice.

“Maybe some of the other branches know,” McGovern said, clearly struggling for suggestions. “Or local covens.”

Yeah, there was an idea. Go to a group of harmless witches who had no reason to hate them, then stir up shit by asking if they knew of any evil witches that might kill people for money. Amelia looked equally grim at the idea, but she nodded. “We’ll consider those,” she said. “Thanks.”

“Anything else?”

There wasn’t, so they ended the meeting a moment later. As soon as the screen went dark, James buried his face in his hands. “Jesus, that was useless.”

He lifted his head. “Want to insult some potential allies?”

“Absolutely not,” Amelia said.

“My Uncle Tommy offered to help if we needed it.”

“The vampire hunter?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Yeah, I’m game,” Amelia said. “Give him a call and see what he knows.”

---

The phone rang about eight times as James considered just hanging up. Did Uncle Tommy not have a voicemail? James was about seventy percent sure this was a landline, too. Had he just not set it up?

“Hello?”

Uncle Tommy’s gruff, booming voice suddenly replaced the quiet ringing. “Hi, Uncle Tommy, it’s James.”

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“So you said you know some people who could help with the curse aspect of this?”

Uncle Tommy laughed and James moved his head away from the phone, just a little. “Foundation didn’t have what you needed, huh?”

“No,” James said, glancing around the room to see if any of the others were there. “They, um, apparently don’t keep directories of people who would curse for money.”

“Now let me see…” Uncle Tommy’s voice was exaggeratedly thoughtful as James heard him shuffling around. “MARY! Have you seen my directory of people who cast curses for money?”

James didn’t catch what his aunt said in reply, but apparently, it was rude enough to elicit another booming laugh. “Hang on, Jimmy,” Uncle Tommy said.

He set the phone down, and James heard the sounds of rummaging and mumbling. After a moment, he was back.

“I’ve got some names for you,” Uncle Tommy said. “Let me take a look… dead, gone, um, looks like I got a name for you.”

“Oh?”

“Polly Grace, out in Ashburnham.”

“Ashburnham?”

“Yeah. Nice place. Have you ever been?”

James rolled his eyes. “No, the case I’m working on is in Ashburnham.”

“The case… wait, kid, don’t tell me you’re looking at the Delinsky thing.”

James didn’t technically tell him, so he couldn’t get in trouble, right? They didn’t record on this phone. He knew that for a fact because it had broken and the Foundation had been promising to fix their recording tech for years now. “I guess you could say that,” he said.

Another laugh so loud that James flinched. “Yeah, I should’ve guessed. Okay, as far as I can tell, if you want the curse removed, you’re gonna have to get her to do it. She probably tied it to the family through their place up there. But I’ll warn ya, she’s an odd duck. And not very friendly, which you might’ve already guessed.”

It was like being ten years old again. “Yeah, I guessed it.”

“So you should be careful if you try to contact her. If it was her that put the whammy on your brakes, you know what she’s capable of. At least when she’s being paid for it.”

James wondered briefly how much they’d paid to have him and Amelia killed. Apparently not enough to get the good stuff. Maybe he should be offended by that. “Thanks, Uncle Tommy,” he said. “I’ll bring this to the team and we’ll figure it out.”

“That Delinsky compound is a hell of a place, huh?” Uncle Tommy said. “Have you been in it?”

“Yeah, it’s disgusting,” James laughed. “They called it The Cottage.”

“Who needs that much space?” Uncle Tommy said. “Alright, kid, have a good night. Call me if you need anything. And don’t tell your mom I told you all this.”

“I’m in my thirties now. I’m allowed to work cases,” James reminded him. “In fact, I’m in charge of them.”

Another braying laugh. “I know, kid, I know. All right, take care.”

They got off the phone, and James shook his head. There was something about talking to his aunts and uncles, no matter how old he got, that always made him feel like a child.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 17