Kicking It(113)

“What is she doing?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the comingling shadows.

“I—” Russell shook his head and tried again. “I don’t know. But I don’t like the way it feels.”

That was enough for me. “Move.”

He didn’t move fast enough. I vaulted onto the table and hit the floor running. A flicker of stored magic called my crossbow to my hand, and still moving, I lifted and fired. The blue foam bolt hit the waitress in the temple, the spell inside splashing onto her. She went down, hard.

All talking stopped for one suspended moment, making the diner silent aside from the jukebox. Then chaos erupted. People screamed and cursed. Most jumped out of their seats, rushing for the door until they’d created a bottleneck jam.

“MCIB,” I yelled, holding the badge over my head. It didn’t help. It rarely did in situations like this.

I used a touch of magic to send my crossbow back to its holster, and then I shoved my way through the crowd, trying to reach the waitress and her victim. A small pool had opened around the girl, keeping her from being trampled. Which was good—I preferred to take the human elements of crimes in alive. Unfortunately the man whose shadow she’d . . . well, I didn’t know what she’d done to it, but it hadn’t looked good, was gone. Damn it.

I jumped onto the booth bench and searched the crowd. The man was already outside. Double damn.

“Hey, Knight,” I yelled, hoping my voice carried over the panicked outcries.

Derrick, unsurprisingly, hadn’t entered the melee. Instead he stood against the back wall, arms crossed over his chest as he remained well clear of anyone who could accidentally touch him. He watched the madness with a rather apathetic expression, but his head jerked toward me when he heard his name.

“Can you get her secured and processed? She’ll be down several hours unless someone dispels my knockout spell.”

At his nod, I jumped from the booth and pulled an evidence bag from my pocket. If I were following procedure—or being intelligently cautious—I would have pulled on gloves and cast a circle before trying to remove Vicky’s heels, but I needed to catch up to the man she’d worked some unknown magic on. And I needed to find out what that magic was. With that in mind, I grabbed the shoes and pulled them off feet covered in welts and blisters.

“Damn, I’m even more surprised that you could walk.” How could she have smiled like she did when she had to be in agony? Not that such a question was what I needed to be focused on right now. I shoved the shoes in my bag, the spells on them all but crackling when the magic-dampening spell in the plastic touched the red material. I sealed the bag and then ran for the door.

Some of the panicked patrons scuttled out of my path, but many didn’t and I spent priceless seconds trying to shove through the crowd.

“Darque, activate your charm,” Derrick yelled from the back of the building. He’s the premonition witch. I covered the small pendant with my palm and channeled just enough magic into the healing charm to activate it. Then I continued to elbow my way through the crowd.

By the time I made it outside, the victim had vanished. I ran for my vehicle, scanning people and cars as I moved. There. The man was in a silver sedan, already in line to make a right out of the parking lot.

I jumped into the rental Hummer and reversed the large beast, forcing it to turn a little tighter than it liked. I did it without smashing any other cars, so it was a success. The sedan had already turned. Damn. I didn’t bother with the line but took the Hummer over the sidewalk and onto the grass—it was an off-road vehicle after all. I made good time with my improvised private turning lane, but still not fast enough to spot my target. Which means a little aggressive driving is in order.

The Hummer had a lot of pickup, and I pushed its horsepower as I swerved and darted around other cars while the speedometer needle continued its climb. It took only a mile for me to spot the silver sedan, and only a minute to catch up. I slowed as I approached and flashed my lights, trying to signal the driver. He didn’t turn off the road. Swerving around him, I opened my passenger window waved, yelling for him to stop.

The small car sped up.

Damn it. Just because he didn’t know I was trying to help him didn’t mean he had to be so stubborn.

As I gave chase, I considered shooting him. I could probably bounce a metal bolt in such a way it would pierce the glass and spill its contents on the driver without actually hitting him. There were a lot of variables though, and while I could get away with a lot in my job, even I would get in trouble for shooting a victim for his own protection. Besides, I had no way to control his car. He’d likely end up in worse shape than the victims already affected by the waitress’s spell.