Blood and Fire Read Free Page A

bad thing for the TV show? It might even boost ratings. Of course, if the true cause of death was leaked, it would be really bad for everyone else. Any hint of black magic would make the coverage go viral, burying the police and the Magic Council with public and media demands.
    Carmody shook his head, then dropped into a chair. “All right, ask your questions. If we think we can answer them, we will. But don’t ask us why we’re here. Only the lawyers can release more than we’ve already told you.”
    Although impatient for information, Ari gave Carmody points for his handling of the situation. He’d remained nonbelligerent, yet had firmly drawn a line. Ryan’s face conveyed annoyance, but he grabbed a chair to join Ari and the crew at the conference table.
    “The body was found on the bank of the river early this morning,” he began. “Can you tell me when and where each of you last saw him?”
    “We all had dinner together at the River Vista hotel restaurant. It broke up about ten o’clock.” Carmody looked toward his colleagues. The others confirmed this, and everyone except Carmody reported they had gone straight back to the yacht and to bed. “Jase and I had one drink in the hotel bar, and I left him there at 10:30.”
    Only ninety minutes before he died. Hardly time for a man to get into so much trouble. Unless trouble was already looking for him.
    Ryan asked the usual questions regarding threats, possible enemies, unusual occurrences, or strangers hanging around. No one had anything significant to add. Until this morning the expedition had been uneventful.
    With the interviews completed, the crew filed toward the door, until Ari stopped them with one last question. “How’d your boss feel about magic?”
    Carmody turned and took a step back toward her. “Jase was a believer. Embraced most things spiritual. I guess we’ve seen too many odd things we can’t explain. Why? Does this have something to do with his death?”
    “Was he a practitioner?” she persisted. “Would he attempt a spell or summoning? A conjuring that might have gone wrong?”
    Two or three in the group exchanged worried glances. Carmody frowned. “I don’t know. I’d have hoped he was smarter than that. But if Jase thought it would help him find what he wanted, he might try anything.” He waited, but when she didn’t comment, he turned and followed his crew. Ari cocked her head in thought.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    While Ryan finished tagging evidence and ran to the courthouse to pick up the search warrant for Barron’s boat, Ari went home to check on her adopted cat, Bella, and her four kittens. The momma cat—silky gray fur, black-tipped ears, and big green eyes—met her just inside the door, twining between her legs. The ten-week-old kittens tumbled around the studio apartment, over the couch, under the kitchen table. Shredded scrapes of tissue paper, stolen from a box in the bathroom, littered every surface. Shaking her head with a reluctant smile, Ari began picking up the mess. Even Bella seemed overwhelmed by their unbridled energy. She hopped onto the safety of the kitchen counter and stared down at their antics.
    “Can’t you teach them better manners?” Ari scolded her cat.
    Bella blinked.
    Tossing the scraps into the trash, Ari sat on the floor and allowed the kittens to leap in and out of her lap. When she scratched her finger on her knee, they staged a mock attack, which made her laugh aloud. The young felines were the progeny of Bella’s mating with Hernando, a snow white Siamese with intense blue eyes. The kittens showed the mixture, but only one had the blue eyes, another had Bella’s green; the last two were golden. Although she knew when they were born she’d only have the kittens for a while, she’d given each a temporary name. After all, she had to call them something. Claris, Hernando’s owner and Ari’s best friend, didn’t necessarily agree with all her choices. The reserved gray female with