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“Any time. And my folks will keep looking into it as well,” Cassidy promised. “Just please, stay safe.”
7
Vic
Ross looked up when Vic walked into the office in the morning. “Bad news. Gillian Murphey is dead.”
Vic’s eyebrows shot up. “Dead? What from?”
“Not sure. The initial report said ‘car fire’ but…”
“What?”
“Apparently his widow is demanding an inquest and suspects foul play…from either the military or covert operations,” Ross replied. “And she’s gone to the press about it, to make sure it doesn’t get swept under the rug.”
“Wow.” Vic sat and cradled his cup of coffee in both hands. “Good for her. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that a CIA-type organization made it look like a spontaneous stroke or heart attack. But Murphey’s been out of the game for a while. What were they afraid he knew?”
Ross met Vic’s gaze. “Or what are they afraid he might have told you?”
That gave Vic a chill. “Shit. I wonder if they were watching him. He semi-joked about not wanting to end up in Gitmo for spilling secrets.”
Ross shrugged. “Those military groups are like the Mob. You can join, but you never leave.”
“Yeah, but he said he was just a guard,” Vic protested. “He saw stuff, but he wasn’t the one doing the magic or the experiments.”
“Maybe there was something he didn’t realize was important,” Ross hypothesized. “If that’s the case, then whether he mentioned it to you or not, those same people may see you as another loose end.”
“Or,” Vic said, “there’s another possibility. What if the fire spirit sensed that Murphey was a threat and killed him?”
“That’s even creepier than the Mob,” Ross said.
Vic shrugged. “Right now, it’s the top ‘suspect’ for making Madam Mason disappear. If it can make a person disappear, it can probably make someone’s car catch on fire.”
Despite all his amulets and protections, Vic knew he was still vulnerable. The Ocean Visions situation had gone from an interesting side project to something that loomed large and dangerous, and likely to be more illegal than they originally thought.
“Speaking of dying,” Ross segued, and Vic grimaced. “I’ve been going through that list your friend Sanderson left.”
“Of people who played significant roles with the hotel over the years?”
“That one. I didn’t expect a lot of them to still be alive but figured there might be a few. It appears that connections with Ocean Visions are bad for your health. Nearly all of them were dead, at fairly young ages and from questionable circumstances,” Ross added.
“Over what span of time did the deaths happen?” Vic tried to grasp the big picture.
“The past three months,” Ross replied. “Car accidents where the car blew up, kitchens where stoves caught fire, house fires. One guy got electrocuted by his air conditioner. Every death had something to do with fire.”
“Which matches what Murphey told me happened to the people who were part of his secret project, back in the day. Then these new deaths occurred within the time the binding spell on the fire entity was fraying at the seams,” Vic mused. “How about before then?”
Ross shook his head. “People died, but the causes didn’t seem hinky, and the deaths were spread out, not in a clump. I mean, it could just be coincidence.”
Vic gave him a look. “Yeah, right.” He frowned. “Is everyone on the list dead?”
“Most, but not all,” Ross replied. “Three are still alive. They either moved away from Myrtle Beach or left the country.”
“The spirit, Simon called it a landvaettir. If it’s aware enough to have enemies, then Simon is in danger, and maybe you and me too. If it is the spirit causing the deaths, maybe it has a range,” Vic suggested. “I’d be inclined to wonder if the Dixie Mafia was cleaning up loose ends if it weren’t for the fire aspect. I can’t imagine them going out of their way to frame a supernatural creature.”
“What about Sanderson?” Ross asked. “He’s the one who raised the alert. We wouldn’t have known to hunt for the entity—landvaettir—if it weren’t for him.”
Vic shrugged. “Maybe he’s grandfathered in because his family owns the Ocean Visions. If the creature has some perception of enemies, then it makes sense it could have some loyalty to friends, or at least, family.”
