I'm sorry

Drayce stood outside Fiona's lair under the dirty highway overpass. He felt a little foolish, but he held the crystal she gave him in his right fist and raised it above his head. The crystal responded with a dim hum and a bright violet glow.

Immediately, a portal appeared from the concrete wall where Drayce had entered her lair before. Fiona stepped out, wearing an all-too-familiar dress -- the red cocktail dress she wore when they first met at the night club. The dress left little to the imagination as to what was underneath. She also wore the same stiletto heels that would be the envy of all women onlookers.

Fiona sashayed over to Drayce, standing beside his car.

"Get in," he said brusquely.

"Hmmm, I don't see anyone with you. I assume I'm eating out tonight?"

"I said, get in!" Drayce ordered.

"My, my! You're even crankier than this morning. Did you forget who you're talking to?" Fiona asked, her bright red eyes giving him a cold stare.

Drayce quickly came to his senses. He was not normally this temperamental. His rage and impatience clouded his judgment.

"I'm sorry, Fiona," he apologized. "I'll explain on the way."

"Apology accepted," Fiona said. She opened the passenger door. "Besides, the badass vibe doesn't work well for you."

They drove from under the overpass onto the access road. Fiona noticed Drayce gripping the steering wheel unusually tightly. He had a fierce, fiery look in his eyes, a look of complete determination.

"So, uh, where are we going?" she asked finally.

"Some colleagues at the station found some new evidence on Phoebe's murder. We are going to make sure it checks out."

"I thought you were supposed to bring me dinner," Fiona sighed.

"If it does check out, you'll have your damn dinner, don't worry," Drayce said coldly.

Fiona tossed him her signature devilish smile. "Oh, I like it when you're cold hearted!" She leaned over and kissed the side of his neck. "It really turns me on."

Drayce paid no mind to her tongue running up and down his neck and her hand fondling his genitals as he drove. He was focused, and not even a sexy demon like Fiona could deter him from his goal.

It was not a far drive to his destination. He parked on the roadside next to a shabby set of run-down houses. It was a very poor neighborhood; Drayce's police instincts told him to be on his guard here. He looked across the street at a run-down white house. It had expanded metal sheets over the windows to protect against vandals, broken downspouts, chipped paint, an untended yard, and several beat up cars in the driveway.

"Well this certainly isn't the most romantic place to dine," Fiona said. "But I'm not going to be too picky at this point. What are we doing here again?"

"We're looking for a man: Markus Santana. His last known address is that shitty house over there. The cars in the driveway suggest he is inside. When he comes out, I need you to use your mind reading ability to tell me if he killed Phoebe."

Fiona looked at him, confused. "And you suspect the man who killed your wife lives in that shithole? What do you base this on, exactly?"

"It's a bunch of techno-babble you wouldn't understand," Drayce said. "You and technology don't get along, remember?"

"And yet here you are, using my magic for confirmation. Oh, the irony." Fiona said with a smug look.

A man opened the front door of the shabby house just then, a very thin dark-skinned man with huge unruly curly hair. He stepped from the porch and walked to a car.

"That's him!" Drayce said. "Get everything you can on him."

"I need him to look me in the eyes," Fiona proclaimed.

The man was just about to get in his car when Drayce rolled down his window and whistled at Markus. The man turned his gaze towards them, and then showed Drayce his middle finger. Fiona's eyes flashed red for an instant and went back to their normal color.

"Well?" Drayce asked impatiently.

Fiona sighed, "I'm sorry Drayce, but it wasn't him. He has never stepped foot in your house."

"What?" Drayce shouted. "That can't be! His prints are on the fucking bullet casing found at the crime scene!"

"Stop your shouting!" Fiona countered. "You wanted me to tell you and I did. What reason would I have to lie to you?"

"So you can finish this ritual thing you keep vaguely mentioning that I still don't know what the hell it's for."

"It's to find Phoebe's killer. That is all you need to know. Performing it has absolutely no benefit to me. Now you can either take my word for it or I can leave Chicago. The choice is yours."

Damn it all! He thought for sure this was the big break he needed. Perhaps he hoped for closure so much that it, along with his rage, had made him act irrationally.

"I'm sorry," Drayce said. "Thank you for helping me. I just want to put this all behind me, you know?"

"I'm aware," Fiona said. "But this ended up being a waste of time for the both of us. His soul isn't even corrupt."

"Wait. Not corrupt? At all?"

"Well, his soul isn't pure like yours, but he hasn't done anything bad either. Everything he was charged with has been his brother Antonio's doing. Apparently his brother blames him for the death of their mother who died giving birth to Markus. Now that Antonio is a big shot lawyer, Markus doesn't want to ruin his image. So instead, he takes the fall for everything Antonio does, including the armed robbery that Antonio did just for fun. All because 'family always sticks together' or some nonsense. You humans do the dumbest things sometimes."

Drayce felt like an ass. Moments ago he was ready to hang an innocent man. Now he felt sorry for him. The CPD would be raiding his house tomorrow hoping to find the revolver that matched the bullet casing. If they find it, he would likely go to prison, and whoever killed Phoebe would walk away scot-free.

"Did he know anything about a 9mm Belgian revolver?" Drayce asked.

"It was a gift to Antonio from their father. Markus doesn't have it, so it is likely with Antonio."

"Good," Drayce said. "At least the CPD won't be able to pin Phoebe's murder on him."

"There's more," Fiona said. "Markus knows Antonio is one of many buyers in the sex trade organization you've been tracking. Travis Dunham was also an old acquaintance of his."

Drayce started the car and put it in gear.

"Now where are we going?" Fiona asked.

"We're going to pay Antonio a visit. I hope you're still hungry."

☆