"Jump-start it how?"
"Those kids are here, right? In this garden. And they don't follow you any farther than the house. Why?"
"Well, I guess being fragmented or whatever means they're weakened, restricted in their movements-"
Eve's head shot around, her gaze following something. Then her face lit up, not with her usual cat-with-the-canary grin, but with a gentle smile.
"Hey, there," she said as she leaned down to a child's level. "Coming out of hiding?"
"You can see them?"
She shook her head. "Just glimpses." She looked away sharply from the ghosts, before her gaze chilled. "Dark magic or not, you don't do shit like this. It's just understood. No ritual requires children, so on one uses them."
"Maybe they don't know that," I said slowly, the thought still forming as I spoke it.
"Hmmm?"
"They're humans doing magic, right? They don't know they don't need children. Maybe they assume they do. Maybe whatever faith or magic system they're building on uses children. That's what we always hear about in tabloids and movies. Child sacrifice."
"Could be…" she mused, gazing out as if still looking for the spirits. "Use it and it works, so you keep using it." She swung her gaze back to me and stood. "Forget why. We'll get to that later, after we stop them."
"But it's another avenue to look into. For finding them. If we know what faith and magical systems use child-"
She waved me off. "More research. You've got to cut through that, Jaime. Take action. We start by going back to why those spirits are stuck here. Presumably the ghosts are weakened and can't travel far. Far from what?"
"Their bodies, of course-" I stopped and looked out over the gardens. The endless raised beds. A breeze rippled past and I shivered. "They were buried here."
"I'd say that's a fair guess." She walked along the path, her hand, passing through the roses as she peered around. "Perfect place. You wouldn't even have to dig down into the earth. Just get through lightly packed soil."
My gaze went to the house. "So you think the people who live here-?"
"Don't count on it. I've buried a few corpses in my time and I wouldn't put one in my own garden. But if I had a neighbor down the road with a yard full of raised beds? Or if I was an employee there? Or on a crew doing their gardening or pool cleaning? Plenty of people could see and get access to these gardens. You can go that route, checking possibilities, but it's just more research. You need to-"
"Take action. I heard. But how-"
"Say one of these poor kids' corpses… appears."
"We find a body, you mean? Dig one up and get clues that way?" I shook my head. "There's a house full of people a hundred feet away. People with cameras."
She smiled. "Which makes it perfect."
"Perfect? How would we ever hide-?"
"You don't. That's the point. You're thinking like a supernatural, Jaime. Hide the evidence. Cover the crime."
She crouched and reached out, as if coaxing one of the children, a smile playing on her lips. Only after a moment of this did she look back up at me.
"This time, there's no cover-up. These are humans. You can't just canvass supernaturals in Los Angeles looking for them. You have millions of suspects, not a few hundred. You need to draw them out."
I wasn't sure I agreed. In fact, I was pretty sure I didn't, but rather than argue the concept I honed in on the specifics. "How would I ever find a body? It coudl take weeks, even with Jeremy and me both out here every night digging."
"You don't need to dig, Jaime. They'll come to you."
"They'll-" My throat went dry. "You can't mean- Raise their bodies? My God, Eve, I can't believe you'd suggest that. You're a mother."
"Yes, I'm a mother, Jaime, which is exactly why I'd do this instead of pissing around with research. You think I don't know what I'm asking? I do, but if it means stopping these bastards, then I'd let you do it to Savannah herself." She walked past me, silent. "I know it won't be a very pleasant thing to do, Jaime. Not for you or them."
"If it would solve this, I'd do it. But we've got a lead with this Botnick guy and I think we should play that through first."
With her back still to me, she said, "Your call. I can't dig up the corpses myself. If you really want to do more book reading, look into African folk magic."
"Did the Fates suggest that?"
"No, I did. Couple of years before I died, I had some sorcerer kid offer me body parts. From a child. He'd hooked up with these… witch doctors. Fucked-up stuff."
"This kid… Where could I find him?"
"Over on my side somewhere. Not my doing. I tore a strip out of him and scared him off that shit, but he only got into something worse, with worse people than me. Guy was looking for a shortcut to power. Typical kid-didn't want to work for it. Point is, I did some digging into this folk magic after he told me about it. There are some branches that use children, either selling parts of their corpses or stealing their so-called life energy. You mentioned fragmented or weakened child spirits…"
"And something like that might explain it."
"So you go ahead and do your research. It'll give me time to track down Kris, tell him I'm back for a while. If you need me, just shout, but…" A sly smile. "If I'm slow responding, give me a few minutes."
"Gotcha."
JEREMY DROVE me to the seance site.
"All right," Becky said as she ushered us into the backyard. "Our subject for today is Mickey Cohen."
"Is this his house?" I said, surveying the small stuccoed home.
"Um, I can't say," she said. "Liability issues. Being a mobster and all, we have to be very respectful of the current residents."
"A mobster?" Angelique's eyes went wide as she shivered. "Like the Mafia? I don't think my daddy would want me talking to someone like that. Maybe I shouldn't do this one…"
"Cohen… Cohen," Grady mused. "The chap who founded Las Vegas, wasn't it?"
He glanced at Claudia, who gave a "don't ask me" shrug.
Becky smiled. "I'm not telling, but I'm sure he will. Now let's set up over there."
HE ACED the seance. All three of us. Becky was fuming, knowing I must have passed on her tip about Cohen to Angelique and Grady, and I realized I'd just made an enemy in the business. It was the first time I'd ever done so intentionally. I'm always careful not to burn bridges-that incompetent junior assistant you tell off today could be a studio executive in ten years. But in ten years, I'd be out of the business, and Becky didn't have the clout to do more than spread "difficult to work with" stories about me.
But if I was wrong? If she turned out to be the mistress of a network exec currently considering my new show? The thought passed with a surprising lack of alarm. Right now, my priority was freeing these kids. Anything else I could deal with later.
After the seance, Jeremy and I headed to Botnick's shop, which had been closed when he checked earlier. On the way, I told him what Eve had said.
"She may have a point."
I looked over at him sharply. "About raising the corpses?"
"No, but I think I know a way we could find a body without raising the dead. For now, though, it's simply something to keep in the back of our minds."
THE SHOP windows were still dark, the sign turned to Closed.
"Lunch break?"
"Perhaps." He found a parking place. "I'm going to walk past. Care to join me?"
"Around here, it's probably safer than staying in the car."
RUNES
ACCORDING TO THE SIGN on Botnick's shop, it opened at eleven and closed at seven. It was now almost one. Jeremy peered through the darkened window as I looked for a Gone for Lunch or Back in Five Minutes notice. Nothing.
"It doesn't look as if he opened this morning," Jeremy said. "The mail is still under the slot."
He glanced at the adjoining stores. An adults-only video shop and a tattoo parlor. Putting his fingers on the back of my arm, he steered me toward the latter.