Tangled Truths by Lindsay Buroker

Author:Lindsay Buroker [Buroker, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: 2020-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

16

My phone buzzed as I jogged through the trees after Sindari, who was hot on the trail of the four sasquatch. Game trails ran through the area, and here and there, the forest thinned, revealing farmlands in the distance, but the sasquatch stayed under cover.

“What’s going on, Willard?” I answered, not slowing down.

The sasquatch seemed to know Sindari was on their trail and were moving quickly.

“I’m checking in on your progress,” Willard said.

“I’ve had some leads. I’m not sure yet who’s in charge of this mess.”

“I’ve heard that the roads to Harrison have been destroyed and that the equipment that’s being brought out to fix them keeps getting sabotaged.”

“I’ve heard that too.”

“Are you running?”

I didn’t make a lot of noise as I ran, flowing lightly over downed logs and around trees, but maybe she could hear it in my voice. “Yes, I want to join you in your next triathlon.”

“I’d call you a horrible liar, but you weren’t even trying.”

“Sindari and I are following some sasquatch, hopefully to their home.”

“They exist then?”

“Yes, four of them dug me out of a cairn and tried to convince my mom to go in so the trap could be sprung on the right person.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure, but I think they’re going after humans, not magical beings, and I must count as the latter. Maybe someone conveyed to them that people who can sense magic would be able to see through their ruse and shouldn’t be targeted.”

“Someone? Goblins?”

“That’s my guess. We’ve spotted a few and seen lots of prints. We haven’t been able to catch any yet.”

There is magic ahead, Sindari warned me. The sasquatch are heading for it.

Goblin magic?

I don’t think so.

“There may be more here than goblins,” I told Willard.

“Well, get to the bottom of it. There have been several deaths reported. Some died in Rupert’s bar, and some who had visited the bar earlier in the week died later.”

“People who played with that orb?”

“Mentions of it keep coming up among my informants and the people I’ve questioned. There are rumors of more of them popping up around Puget Sound. The Northern Pride has information, but they’re not talking. They put their lawyer on the phone when I called. He’s slicker than a greased pig.”

“Since you’re from the country, I assume you’ve actually handled a greased pig.”

“I may have competed in a pig scramble or two in my youth. There’s prize money, you know.”

A faint whisper of magic crawled over my skin like a cold mist, and I slowed down.

“I’ll finish here as quickly as I can,” I said, “but nobody’s turned up dead yet, and so far, the criminals have only broken into houses and stolen things. And bashed in inoffensive light fixtures, though that might have been inadvertent due to height and hard heads.”

“What’s your point?”

“Do you want me to use deadly force if I find out who’s in charge?”

“No.”

“Am I supposed to arrest them?”

“You sound puzzled, Val.”

“I don’t get sent out to arrest people. I get sent to make them dead.

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