Obsidian Butterfly - Laurell K. Hamilton [210]
I remembered what Nicky Baco had said, that the voice in his head was still trapped, that what had been doing the killings was just a minion, not the real deal.
“You’re all serious again. What did you just think of?” Ramirez asked.
I looked up at him and tried to decide how much of a cop he was, and how much of a player he would be. I could never have told Dolph. He’d have used the info for strict cop stuff. “I have information from an informant that I don’t want to name right now. But I think you need to know what was said.”
His own face was solemn now. “Did you obtain this information legally?”
“I did nothing illegal to obtain this information.”
“Not exactly a no,” he said.
“Do you want it or not?”
He took a deep breath and blew it out slow. “Yeah, I want it.”
I told him what Nicky had said about the voice and the thing being trapped. I finished with, “I don’t believe in a real god, but I do believe there are things out there so terrible that once upon a time they were worshipped as gods.”
“Are you saying that we haven’t seen the worst of it?”
“If what is doing the killings is just a minion, and the master isn’t up and around yet, then yeah, I’m saying the worst is yet to come.”
“I’d really like to talk to this informant.”
“You would be dandy, but Marks would have this informant up on charges so fast, we’d never find out what this person knew. Once you slap an automatic death sentence on someone, they tend not to cooperate.”
We looked at each other. “There’s only one person you’ve talked to that has a rep to get himself an automatic death sentence. That’s Nicky Baco.”
I didn’t even blink. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known he’d figure it out. I was ready for it, and I’d gotten much better at lying. “You have no idea who I’ve talked to since I arrived. I’ve talked to at least three people that could be put up on charges with a death sentence attached.”
“Three?” He made it a question.
I nodded. “At least.”
“Either you are a better liar than I thought you were, or you’re telling the truth.”
I just looked up at him, giving him a blank but earnest face. Even my eyes were quiet and able to meet his gaze, no flinching. There had been a time, not long ago, when I couldn’t have pulled it off. But that was then, and I wasn’t the same person anymore.
“All right, if there is some sort of Aztec god out there, what do we do about it?”
There was only one answer. “Itzpapalotl should know what this is.”
“We questioned her about the killings.”
“So did I.”
He looked at me long and hard. “You went without police backup, and you didn’t share what you found.”
“I didn’t find anything about the murders. She told me about what she told you, nothing. But when I talked to her, she stressed that no deity she knew of would flay people and keep them alive. Later I figured out that they were dead. She stressed that only through death could the sacrifice be a suitable messenger to the gods. She repeated almost word for word that she didn’t know a being or god that would flay people and keep them alive. Maybe we should go back and ask her if she knows of any deity or creature that would flay people and not keep them alive.”
“Oh, you’re inviting the police now.”
“I’m inviting you,” I said.
He started picking up the pictures and shoving them back in the envelope. “I took the pictures out of the property room, but I signed for them. I brought Doctor Martinez in to see the statue, but it was official. I haven’t done anything wrong, yet.”
“Marks is going to be so pissed that you found out important stuff when he meant to just get you out of the way.”
Ramirez smiled, but it wasn’t exactly a pleased smile. “I’ve got better than that. Marks will take credit for the brilliant idea of putting one of his senior detectives on special detail to investigate the relics.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“He did send me to the property room to look at what we took from the victims’ houses.”
“But he did it to humiliate you and get you out of the