Mastim's Curse

Chapter 6

The girls are out shopping and I'm making lunch when there's a hard knock on the door. I'm surprised to find two uniformed police officers on my doorstep along with two guys in suits.

One of the officer's, a Latino, greets me. "Good morning. Are you Mr. Mastim?" He's all smiles, but the suits are all serious.

This can't be good. "That's me. Can I help you?" I ask nonchalantly.

"Yes, I think you can. I'm Detective Rodriguez and this is my partner, Detective Brown."

Brown smiles at me and I don't smile back.

"And this is Detective Lorde and Detective Nolte." He motions to the men in suits. "They're with the Homicide Division."

The taller of the two comes forward and hands me an official looking document. "We have a warrant to search this residence. Also, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you and your daughter Nicolette. May we come in?" He walks past me into the house before I can respond. The others follow.

My heart drops out of my chest. Nicole... The image of her aged face last night hangs on my mind. I shake my head. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions too fast. "Why do you need to search my house?"

"We have reason to believe that your daughter has been involved in another altercation," he says.

"Another altercation?" Has the darkness finally taken hold of her? Fear stabs my heart with daggers of ice.

"He doesn't know," Rodriguez says with a smirk. He gives me an expectant look. "Is Nicolette home?"

"No. She and my girlfriend are out shopping."

The suits both frown.

"That's unfortunate," Nolte says.

"What encounter are you talking about and what's Nicole got to do with it?" I ask.

"That's exactly what we're here to find out," Brown says.

Rodriguez looks me over with curiosity. "I find it very interesting that she didn't tell you about saving that girl from two attackers not more than two weeks ago. Are you two close?"

That hurts. "Yes. We're very close. If she-"

"But she didn't tell you she killed two men last week," Rodriguez says.

Killed two men?! "You're lying," I say with a hint of desperation.

He holds up his phone which has a picture of Nicole standing next to a police car, her hands cuffed behind her back. He then shows me pictures of two dead men lying on bloody pavement.

The world fades away as my worst fear has come true. Nicole's gifts are malevolent. She's going to need all the help I can give her or she'll end up like my dad. I push back the overwhelming despair I'm feeling in time to see Nolte taking an interest in my study. Damn, I left the door to it wide open. Nolte walks in like he owns the place. That's not going to go over well under the circumstances.

"Jackpot!" His exclamation draws the attention of the others.

Shit! This is turning into a fucking nightmare. Now I've got to explain why I have a room full of weapons.

The rest of his gang joins him in the den, where they give an assortment of whistles as they all take great interest in my many items of destruction. Detective Nolte shakes his head while putting on a pair of latex gloves. "This should keep the lab busy for a while."

"What do you mean," I ask.

Brown says, "There's been another vigilante killing at the university that's very similar to the killings your daughter did." He gives me a wink before picking up one of my swords.