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Storm arrived at the victim’s home close to midnight and met Bidziil outside an adobe structure much smaller and older than the villas.
His uncle led him through a home that smelled of death, but not the normal deceased-human scent Storm had encountered before. A taint of smoke and sulfur coated it, the same smells that had been on Sonny’s body.
That confirmed the dark majik involved fire.
In the bedroom, the body of a young man wearing only loose shorts sat on a bed. Black hair pulled back at his neck seemed oddly undisturbed when a violent death should have resulted in a more disheveled appearance. His skin had turned to the grayish-brown shade of the dead, but still in stark contrast to the white sheets beneath him.
His chest had been cut open from neck to navel with a butcher knife that had then been shoved down at that point.
His hands still clutched the handle with a fierce grip.
Storm had never seen someone so disturbingly still while appearing fixed in the throes of an agonizing death. The twenty-something man had the wide forehead, flat nose, and high cheeks one would expect of a Native son, but his eyes bulged almost out of the sockets with pain. His facial muscles remained stretched taut from his mouth opened in a silent scream of agony.
Just like Sonny’s corpse.
Both had been aware of what they were doing.
Storm cut his eyes to Bidzzil.
Sweat rolled down each side of his uncle’s head and his suit hung on his haggard body. Bidziil covered his mouth with a handkerchief Storm doubted would prevent him from barfing.
After a difficult breath, Bidziil said, “His name is Imala. Was. His girlfriend, Sayen, found him. We had to sedate her.”
“You didn’t get a chance to question her?”
“No.”
Poor Bidziil might start bawling soon. Storm had to shut down his empathic senses to keep from being overloaded with his uncle’s grief.
Wiping the perspiration from his pale forehead, Bidziil pulled himself together, covered his nose and spoke with a stuffy sound. “Imala’s girlfriend snapped. She screamed nonstop. If her friend hadn’t just dropped her off and heard the first reaction before driving away, Sayen would probably still be wailing where she found her in the hall.”
Storm couldn’t fault anyone for taking the woman away from the pain. She’d have to deal with enough once she regained consciousness. “Tell me what else you know about Imala.”
“This sickens me. He was another bright star I’ve watched over since he turned twenty. He had a sharp mind and amazing people skills. I talked to him about getting into hospitality management so he could return to make a place for himself and support the clan.”
Storm began to see his uncle’s side of the disagreement with his father. That might be why his father had told Storm not to carry another man’s burden by choice any time Storm had criticized the uncle he’d never met.
Shaking that off, Storm asked, “I scent maybe six people who have been here besides you. Two I recognize from the casino.”
“Who?”
“One is Tom, the security guy you brought to the meeting last night.”
Bidziil said, “He and Imala were on a baseball team.”
“The other is that woman Adsila who brought our vehicle keys the first night.”
Again, Bidziil nodded. “She’s friends with his girlfriend and transports anyone to and from work when it’s needed. I have three who do that, which could account for other scents.”
Dead end there for the moment. Storm asked, “Did your people get any intel at all?”
“Yes, my man questioned Sayen’s friend who drove her home from work sometimes. She said Imala would normally be at the door waiting for Sayen before he went to work at night in the casino restaurant. She also said Sayen talked all the time about the two of them and would have said something if they were having a problem. Her friend wouldn’t look at the body when she dragged Sayen away. Said she feared nightmares as it was. I told her Imala had taken his life. I can’t keep this quiet for long, not once Sayen is conscious again.”
“Nothing makes sense in any of this, but with two deaths we finally have a common denominator.” Storm waited for that to get through to his uncle.
Still looking wrung out, Bidziil’s voice perked up. “Really? What is it?”
“Both were connected to your casino in some way.”
His uncle deflated. “I thought about that, but most of the people in this area work there or have a family member who does.”
“I know,” Storm agreed. “But we have two bodies, so now we find another connection by going over everything we can until two threads cross. These two must have had more in common than casino employment.”
That seemed to energize Bidziil. “Let me make arrangements for Imala’s body and we’ll go to my office. I’ll call in everyone who can offer any information, even the elders. Maybe our covert security team will put together the dots. If we don’t solve this soon, the media will destroy this place.”
Storm frowned. He’d just been willing to give his uncle credit for his work to improve the tribe. Was Bidzill now concerned about a media circus that would disrupt the clan or about the casino’s monetary loss by negative press?
Bidziil glanced at Storm and expelled a sigh. “Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t care about the loss of money, but I’ve watched everyone here go from destitution to building real lives. The media will destroy our community. All that being said, I don’t want to lose another of my people.”
Storm told himself to stop being so quick to judge when he’d always been fair with others. “Please ask everyone to step outside for a moment, Bidziil.”
“You going to use your majik on it?”
“If this is the same type of spell, I have to release Imala’s spirit.”
Nodding with a tired movement, Bidziil stepped away. “I’ll clear the house.”
Storm opened up his empathic gift just a little. He picked up genuine mourning from his uncle so heavy that sensing the emotion hurt. He’d clearly cared deeply for those two young men. He wouldn’t shield anyone from this investigation.
Once the house had emptied, Storm performed the same ritual over this body.
Prepared for an attack this time, Storm squashed the rogue majik with minimum burning inside the body and managed to not light the bed on fire.
As the spirit passed over, it whispered, Evil blossom.
Could that be used in the spell the way sage and other herbs were to heal?
Storm headed for the door with what might just break this case tonight.
