Riley Parra Season Four Read online

  Riley Parra, Season Four

  Geonn Cannon

  Smashwords Edition

  Supposed Crimes LLC, Falls Church, Virginia

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2012 Geonn Cannon

  All Rights Reserved

  Published in the United States.

  ISBN: 978-1-938108-05-1

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  The Problem with Saints

  Ruin Upon Ruin

  His Former Name

  Stations of the Cross

  The Fallen

  Broken Hallelujah

  Two Witnesses

  Hatching Vain Empires

  The Devil You Know

  Hammers & Nails

  The Good Girls

  Hell Breaks Loose

  The Problem with Saints

  Ten weeks after the war ended, the reinforcements arrived.

  Though the war was officially undeclared, and most people hadn't noticed it as it was waged in their front yards, they still noticed when it ended. The sun seemed to penetrate deeper into the shadows and the night didn't seem quite so dark. There was a sense of hopefulness that was simply present one day without warning. Even people in No Man's Land were friendlier and more ready to smile.

  For those who'd been aware of the war, they could pinpoint the exact moment the tonal atmosphere of the city changed. It happened the day Gail Finney, the champion for evil, plummeted to her death from an elevated train platform. Her mentor, a demon called Gremory, had also been destroyed. Marchosias, the demon who ruled over the blighted city, lost both his champion and his most trusted lieutenant in one fell swoop.

  Detective Riley Parra, Gail Finney's counterpart on the side of the angels, chose to allow Marchosias to choose a new champion and continue the war. Following that decision was one of the most peculiar months in the city's history. People went about their lives, babies were born and old people died. But when pressed for details about what occurred during that period, people only gave vague and noncommittal answers.

  Only a handful of people knew the truth. After Gail Finney's death, Riley ended the war between good and evil at a great personal cost. She gave up her partner, the love of her life, in exchange for peace. When the cost became too much to bear, Marchosias offered to shift reality. He rewrote a single moment, allowed Riley to say yes instead of no, and the entire world changed.

  For the most part, things remained the same. People went about their lives under an unseen détente rather than true peace. It wasn't a seismic shift, but it was enough to make people a little uneasy. Memories weren't to be trusted, and everything just seemed slightly off-center. One newspaper article compared it to "feeling like Monday when it's really Wednesday." Some younger people compared it to how they felt while playing hooky.

  Eventually the feeling faded, and people put aside the unusual feelings. No one expected an explanation for why they felt so odd about those first five weeks; they simply took it as one of life's oddities and carried on. Ten full weeks passed without Marchosias enlisting a new champion for evil. Ten weeks of quiet, if not true peace.

  It was this silence that drew the Good Girls to the city.

  They arrived at night, their pristine white gowns just long enough to cover their feet but not so much that they dragged on the pavement. Three of them walked together down McKinley Avenue, one slightly in the lead of the other two. Their hoods were down to reveal the wavy black hair of the leader, and the shorter red and blonde curls of her handmaidens. The leader stopped at the corner and turned to speak to her companions.

  Before she could say anything, her attention was grabbed by movement further down the street. The four youths had been following them for blocks, but now they seemed ready to make their move. The blonde handmaiden glanced at her mistress.

  "Are you certain, Aissa?" the Mother whispered.

  "It is my duty, Paladin."

  The Mother cupped Aissa's cheek, then gathered the redheaded handmaiden under her arm and stepped off the street. Aissa turned and walked toward the four men, who spread out and moved to surround her. Aissa was smaller than even the runt of their group, her cherubic face framed by dirty blonde curls. Her eyebrows were thick and dark, and her eyes were pale green underneath them. She loosened the string at her collar, loosening her hood as she addressed the boy who seemed to be the leader of their group.

  "Leave us be."

  The boy couldn't have been more than twenty, but he carried himself like someone twice his age. Considering what he'd probably experienced on the streets of No Man's Land, he might as well have been that old. He stopped and looked at his friends, then smiled at her.

  "You think we're going to just leave you alone because you asked us nicely?"

  "It's my fervent hope that you will."

  One of the boys to her right snickered and the leader stepped closer. "Yeah? Well, maybe we can compromise. You give us what we want, and we won't be forced to take it."

  "We have no money."

  He leaned in, and the smell of his smoke drifted into her face. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "We aren't talking about money, darling." His gaze lowered to her chest. He reached out and tugged on the material of her robe so he could better see the curve of her breasts. "Yeah, I think you got plenty to keep me satisfied."

  "What's your name?"

  One of the kids laughed. "She wants to know what to yell out, Lukey."

  "Lukey?" Aissa said. "I presume it's Luke?"

  The leader chuckled and dipped his chin. "At your service, pretty lady."

  "I'm sorry, Luke."

  His lips moved to form the words "for what," but before he could speak, his windpipe was crushed by a sharp jab from the side of Aissa's left hand. As he gagged she twisted, pulling up her gown just enough to free her right leg for a kick. The boy rushing her from behind slammed into her foot. Her knee bent and she pushed away, sending him toppling. She stepped back, pressing against Luke as the two boys to her left and right collided in the space she had just occupied. Aissa reached over her head, grabbed Luke's ears, and dropped into a crouch as she pulled him forward. Her back provided the fulcrum, and he hit the pavement in front of her with enough force to make him cough up blood.

  One boy produced a knife. Aissa clamped her hand around his wrist and flicked it backward. The bones snapped and the boy went down to his knees with a cry of pain. Aissa took his knife and threw it. She heard the grunt of the boy who received its blade, but she didn't turn to see which of them it was.

  She released the broken wrist of the boy with the knife and pushed him away from her. He rolled onto his stomach and scrambled to his feet before he ran away with his arm cradled to his stomach. The last member of the gang, injured only by his collision with his friend, tried to run but Aissa swept her leg under his feet and he fell forward onto the pavement. He was sobbing when she hauled him back up.

  "Your kind should get accustomed to seeing us around. The Good Girls are not to be assaulted or otherwise molested by your kind. Am I understood?"

  "The Good...?"

  "Us
, child." Aissa didn't turn at the sound of her Mother's voice, and her grip on the hoodlum didn't relax. "Those in our order are not to be disturbed. You will know us by our manner and the style of our dress. Can you be entrusted with this message, or shall we wait for someone with a bit more sense?"

  The kid swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. I'll spread the word."

  "Run," Paladin said. Aissa let him go, and the kid stumbled before he got his feet back under him. As eager as he was to put distance between himself and the seemingly crazy women, he was quickly swallowed by shadows. Aissa looked over her shoulder in time to see her Sister slipping the bloody knife into the chest of the second gang member. Her actions were different from Aissa's; what she was doing was a mercy.

  Aissa smoothed the material of her gown over her stomach in an attempt to still the shaking in her hands, her head bowed so she didn't have to meet the Mother's gaze until she was ready. Finally, the Mother touched her cheek and Aissa looked up at her.

  "You know what must happen now."

  A tear rolled down Aissa's cheek. "Yes."

  The redhead joined them on the sidewalk. Her hands were bloody from dispatching the gang members. She looked at the Mother, who nodded. Aissa watched as the blood was smeared on the previously unmarred white material of her gown. A sob caught in her throat and she pushed it back down before it could break free. Once her Sister's hands were as clean as they could get without soap and water, the Mother loosened the tie at Aissa's throat, while the Sister removed her belt.

  Aissa lifted her arms, and the robe was pulled from her. She was left with just a thin cilice undershirt with wooden buttons that ran down the center of her chest and baggy trousers. The Mother folded the soiled robe so that the blood was on the inside so it wouldn't drip or mar her own gown. She stroked Aissa's hair and tucked the curls behind her ear.

  "You were very brave tonight, Daughter."

  "Brave," her Sister said. "Fearless in the face of the cause." She cupped Aissa's face and lightly kissed her lips. The Mother did the same. Aissa was now crying openly but silently.

  The Mother said, "You have one final task to perform for the Girls."

  Aissa nodded. "I will do it immediately."

  "Farewell, Aissa."

  Aissa's sister squeezed her hand as the Mother guided her away. Aissa crossed her arms over her chest as she watched them go. The glaring white of their gowns kept them visible much longer than otherwise possible, but soon even they had faded. Aissa allowed herself a single vocal sob, then brought her arms up to brush the tears off her cheeks with her wrists. Alone, feeling completely naked, she curled her toes in her shapeless shoes and began to walk. Her tears dried as she walked, her mind focused on what she had to do now.

  The task she was faced with was an enormous honor, and she wouldn't let it be overshadowed by the fact she had just been evicted from the only family she had ever known in order to deliver a message.

  #

  "Someone is knocking on your door."

  Riley shifted in bed, her lips twisting unattractively against the shoulder of Gillian's nightshirt. Their legs were tangled under the blankets, and Riley was barely awake, but she could hear the polite but insistent knocking on the apartment's front door.

  "Wuzzit mahdoor?"

  Gillian, who was just as exhausted but had been awake a few seconds longer, was more coherent. She slid her left hand under her right arm and stroked Riley's arm where it was draped over her. "It's your door right now because people don't come to the medical examiner with emergencies. They have the decency to call when they want me to look at a dead body."

  "'m sleeping with my wife," Riley murmured, burrowing her face into Gillian's hair.

  "Okay. Then I'll go answer the door in the middle of the night. Wish me luck, hope it's not a criminal."

  "Criminals don't knock."

  Gillian kicked away the blankets, but Riley stopped her.

  "Don't even think about it." She sat up and kept her hand on Gillian's shoulder until she was sure she wouldn't try to get up.

  Gillian pulled the blanket up over her stomach. "It's probably just Priest or Kenzie."

  "Probably." Riley took her gun out of the nightstand. "Stay here just in case."

  She didn't bother dressing before she left the bedroom. Dressed in panties and a tank top, her hair a mess, she figured she could get off a few rounds before they were able to attack. She left the light off and stood to the side of the peephole as the unexpected guest knocked again. There was a light in the hallway, and she could see the shadows of the person's feet standing dead-center in front of the door.

  "Who is it?"

  "Detective Riley Parra? My name is Aissa Good. It has fallen unto my lot to inform you of a new power that has arrived in your town. As the champion for good, you must be told of our presence."

  Riley considered for a moment before she relaxed. "Are you armed?"

  "I've been trained in lethal combat, so I am always armed. But on my honor, I would never hurt you or your loved ones."

  Riley kept her gun at her side as she stepped away from the wall. She turned the locks and opened the door wide enough to see the girl. She looked young, somewhere in her mid-twenties at a guess. She wore an outfit thin and skimpy enough to count as pajamas, if that, and her bottom lip was trembling from the cold. Riley put aside any remaining concerns and stepped back. She turned on the overhead light and called for Gillian to bring a robe.

  The front door opened into the living room, and Riley pointed the girl toward the couch. "What did you say your name was? Ee-sa?"

  "Aye-sah. Aissa Good. But you can call me Aissa."

  Gillian came out of the bedroom in her robe, carrying two others. She handed one to Riley and offered the other to their new arrival.

  "This is Aissa," Riley said. "She has information about a new power in town."

  "Oh, God. Did Marchosias pick someone?"

  "No, not yet." Aissa twisted and looked over the back of the couch to the kitchen. "May I have something to drink?"

  Gillian nodded. "Water or juice?"

  "I would appreciate a glass of ice water if it's not inconvenient."

  "Ice water." She smirked at Riley as she started toward the kitchen. "I think I can manage that."

  Riley remained standing, her arms crossed as Gillian went into the kitchen. "So what is this power I need to be warned about?"

  "Not warned. They're on your side. First, however, you may wish to call your constables." She furrowed her brow and considered the word before she corrected herself. "Policemen. There are two dead bodies awaiting discovery on McKinley Avenue. It would be best if you were the investigating officer."

  Gillian glanced at Riley as she came back with the water. "Here you are."

  "Thank you, Dr. Hunt. It's an honor to be in your home, and I apologize for disturbing your slumber."

  "It's okay." She smoothed her hands over her robe. "Why should Riley be the one to investigate these murders?"

  Aissa drank half the glass and then touched a finger to her lips. "This is very cold."

  "It's from the fridge. Is that okay?"

  "It's marvelous. Just unexpected." She passed her tongue over her lips and looked at Riley. "I wish for you to investigate because I am responsible. I killed them."

  Riley cleared her throat. "So this new power that's in town... it's you?"

  Aissa averted her gaze. "I was part of it, yes. But I have been exiled. My hands were sullied by the deaths, and I was no longer pure in their eyes. I am no longer part of the Family. But because of that, I am free to come and speak to you. We are the Good Girls. Our fellowship was founded to aide those chosen as the champion for good whenever possible. We have been praying for you since you received your tattoo."

  "Nice to know I'm not the only one." Gillian touched Riley's shoulder, her hand sliding back to cover the tattoo currently hidden by Riley's robe.

  Aissa smiled. "We felt when your prayers were added to our own, Dr. Hunt. They were p
owerful... equal to the prayers of ten Sisters."

  Riley smiled at Gillian. "Only ten?"

  "With the fall of Gail Finney and Marchosias' unprecedented delay in choosing a replacement, we had the ability to do something we've never before had the opportunity to do. A group of us have traveled from our enclave to bring our prayers directly to the source. We will stand at the front lines between the city of light and what you call No Man's Land and pray. Given enough time, I feel we can push back the limits until the tide retreats."

  Gillian moved to the armchair and lowered herself gently into it. "Can you do that? Push back No Man's Land like that?"

  Aissa nodded. "It won't be easy. And if Gail Finney had a replacement, she could simply counter our attacks with prayers of her own. Detective Parra is standing alone for the moment. The balance of power can be dramatically shifted before the war begins anew."

  "And the demons will just let you do this?" Riley didn't quite share Gillian's wide-eyed wonder, but she had hope. "You'll be in terrible danger."

  Aissa smiled. "When our Family is not praying, we are in training. We are well aware that the war against demons will often require some physical confrontation. And with that, I am forced to remind you of my predicament. Should one of your fellow homicide detectives find the bodies I left behind, they will waste much time fruitlessly searching for the killer. I wish to surrender myself to you to protect their resources."

  Riley coughed into her hand and glanced at Gillian. "That's fine, but you'll have to surrender yourself to my partner. If you know Gillian, you must know--"

  "Zerachiel, Caitlin Priest. Yes." Her brow was furrowed. "Why can't you take the case?"

  "Because I'm not exactly a homicide detective anymore."

  Aissa's eyes widened and she looked at Riley's gun. "What? You are still a police officer, aren't you?"

  "Yeah. In the traffic division."

  "That's not possible."

  Riley smiled without humor. "That's what I told my boss. Apparently it's definitely possible. Probable, even."

  Aissa seemed shattered by this news. "H-how?"

  "Punishment. How much do you know about the way the war ended?"