Melissa Barker-Simpson

EPISODE 4 

DELAYED REACTION 

Previously on Labno & Carter: Chasing their own leads, with Dan in Nearyon waiting to examine the bodies, Kate follows the trail of each victim’s last known whereabouts. The episode is told from Kate’s point of view. 

When I got to Grangefield, part of me expected to be given my marching orders since it was just before 2.30am.  

The site had once been a school, though the large, imposing building no longer looked like an educational institution. To be fair, most of it was hidden behind a wall of trees, which extended throughout the grounds. 

As soon as I waved my badge at the main gates, they swung open. A soldier dressed in a deep blue uniform indicated the way; directing me to a visitors’ car park to the immediate left of the entrance. 

“Inspector, I’ve been instructed to take you to central command.” 

“Lead on,” I said, and since I wasn’t sure of his rank, left it at that. 

I followed him down a long winding path, which had modern, rectangular buildings running parallel; new to the site I was sure and probably quarters to house the various personnel. 

Though I couldn’t see much, I noticed the other additions, mainly attached to the old school building. They were seamless extensions that complemented the environment, and if the rumours were true, those extensions also continued underground. 

Stories of the earth spirits who had awoken during the war were told far and wide. I had hoped to see more evidence of the Ashoka. The spirits had brought the woodland to life; their protection, as well as their penchant for mischief now legendary. 

When we reached the end of the path, my guide stepped into one of the buildings on our left. He led me to a door, bowed, and hurried away again. 

Shrugging, I pushed my way into the room. 

The man seated behind a large desk was so far from what I’d expected I had to blink a few times; he was that stunning. He looked like a lion in human form. 

“You must be DI Labno, I’m Carlisle, joint commander here at Grangefield.” 

“Thank you for the warm welcome,” I replied, working up a smile. See, I could be nice. 

“JJ said you’re a friend of David’s and to give you all the information you need.” 

Well, that was cooperative. “JJ?”  

“Jake Jacobs. He’s busy right now or he’d have welcomed you himself.” 

The smile was beginning to hurt. Too many pleasantries hurt my teeth; like sugar after I over indulged. 

“I have a few questions about a member of your community, Nicholas Lowe.” 

Carlisle frowned. “What’s this about, Inspector?” 

“First off, as you seem so friendly with Commander Hunsley, I’m wondering why you didn’t report him missing.” Dammit, that wasn’t particularly nice now, was it? 

“Missing? I’m sorry, but you’ve lost me. I saw Nick a few hours ago.” 

That would have been impossible since he’d been holed up in an adjoining wall for god knows how long. 

Taking the picture I’d stashed in my pocket I turned it in his direction. “Are we talking about the same Nicolas Lowe?” 

“Yes, and I ask again, what’s this about.” He was getting pissed, so that made two of us. 

“Earlier this evening we found six bodies; Mr Lowe was one of them.” 

“Shit.” Carlisle jumped up from the chair, his large body practically vibrating with annoyance. This time it wasn’t about me. “I knew something was off. He’s been acting weird for days, but we put it down to stress.” 

He said the words, but he wasn’t really talking to me, he was somewhere in his head. I let him have a moment because my own mind was whirling. How could Nicholas have been acting anything at all, if he’d been imprisoned this whole time? 

“It’s a shapeshifter, it has to be. Probably a hympe,” he said. 

Shit was right, because I hadn’t thought about that and now things were starting to slot into place, giving me a bad feeling about the whole operation. 

“Can you tell me what role he plays here at Grangefield,” I asked, reforming the questions whizzing through my brain. They were pointless at this stage, given the new intel. 

“He’s a counsellor. A good one…” he paused to study my face. “Was a good one.” He dropped back into his seat. “Take a load off and tell me what you’ve got.” 

Though I wanted to pace like the caged animal Carlisle probably was, I played ball and sat my ass in a chair. “I’ll tell you what I can, but I have to be honest we don’t have much.” 

He nodded. “What do you know of hympes?” 

“I know of one shapeshifter in the field, but from what I understand they’re on our side.” 

“You don’t strike me as naive, Inspector.” 

I waved that away. “I think we can bypass the formalities, for now. It’s Kate. And I get that there are exceptions, but don’t they go through a ridiculously long period of testing to train out the kinks?”  

“Gods spare me from smart-assed women,” he muttered, piquing my curiosity because it sounded like he knew someone else with a winning personality. “If you’re talking about the Hympe Trials, then yes, they are rigorous, and often abused. There are some who come out at the other side twisted, and their skills make them a dangerous enemy.” 

“If this is a hympe operation they’re not working alone. Our prime witness was snatched from a moving car by an invisible assailant.” I hesitated only a second before I told him the rest. “We found eredytes in the place they were being held.” 

Carlisle got the look that Dan always got when he was about to get his bear on. 

“If you’re going to go all lion on me, maybe I should step back a bit,” I said, eyeing him warily. 

He laughed. “How did you know about my animal half.” 

Well, duh! 

“You’re a lion in human skin so I pegged you as changeling as soon as I saw you.” 

“Don’t judge a book by its exceptional cover,” Carlisle drawled, “I’m not changeling, at least not in the way your presumed. I’m Clanderian.” 

That was a new one I would be researching as soon as I had the time. “I apologise if I caused offense.” 

“I think you actually mean that, but regardless, I’m not going to lose control.” He smiled, and it was definitely cat like. “The eredytes tie into the theory that we’re talking about shapeshifters. A hympe can take on any form of their choosing, but if they assume the shape of a known person, they find it difficult to assimilate unless they’ve done extensive research. The bugs would take care of that through the psychic link.” 

“Then we need to figure out why they were posing as members of the Cooperation because every one of the victims can be traced back to the community.” 

His expression turned thunderous, but I had other things to worry about when my comms unit beeped an incoming call. 

“Please excuse me, but I’ve got to take this.” 

“Of course,” Carlisle rose to his feet. “We’ll offer all the help we can. Right now, I need to update JJ and warn Tobias Locke of the development.” 

 “Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, Commander Hunsley knows how to reach me.” 

Pleasantries out of the way I practically jogged back to my car and called Dan.  

My partner didn’t keep me waiting. He appeared on the screen, a macabre scene at his back in the form of six bodies, the one closest to the camera positioned so I could see the open skull and what was left of the man’s brain. 

Since I couldn’t avoid the sight, even if I’d wanted to, I looked at the man’s grey matter. It was an apt description and made me think of bad meat. At the thought, the sandwich I’d eaten turned sour in my stomach, and that was before I studied the bug which had attached itself like a parasite. 

It, too, appeared dead, and it was different to the creepy hell-bugs in their jars. Oddly, it looked like the man’s thyroid had been detached and implanted in his brain. The flaps of skin which had seemed redundant, had wrapped themselves around their prize and dug in with relish. 

“The estimated time of implant is between twelve and fourteen weeks,” Dan said, his voice gruff. “According to the doc, they were lucky to survive that long because the eredytes suck the brain dry.” 

“Their counterparts probably syphoned a great deal of information in that time,” I muttered, thinking of the intel. As far as spies went, they were virtually indetectable. 

“Counterparts?” 

“Yes, Carlisle, the joint commander at Grangefield, thinks we’re dealing with shapeshifters, probably hympes gone rogue.” 

“Of course, that makes sense.” 

I scanned the screen, looking for the person to match the voice and settled on a tall woman standing to Dan’s left. 

She met my eyes, her gaze steady. “We couldn’t figure out why the mortals were implanted and not utilised. But if the goal was to create a connection to steal memories and not manipulation, then we now know, if not what the purpose, then the why they were taken.” 

Nodding my agreement, I looked back at the bodies. “I can see that; I just don’t get why they were sealed up behind plasterboard.” 

“Think about it,” Dan cut in. “Whoever planned this knew the victims had a use by date so they future proofed the problem by burying the evidence ahead of time.” 

He kind of had a point, but still, the plan was flawed because they hadn’t counted on the smell, or a pacifist taking a sledgehammer to the wall. 

“Is there a theory on what caused the aroma?” 

“Aroma?” the doc asked, frowning. 

“Yeah, smelled like a cannabis farm,” I explained, then as her puzzlement grew, I elaborated. “It’s a plant humans use as a recreational drug. It has a kind of earthy, musky scent.” I left out the term skunky or we’d be here all day. 

“It’s unlikely it’s the creatures themselves, contained as they are, but there are certain species found in Erebus who secrete a bitter odour found in the environment. Usually, it’s those with the most power because they absorb and channel the noxious energy around them.” 

“Great, then all we need is a line-up of the deadliest demons found in hell so we can do a sniff test!” 

Dan’s laughter had me grinning. He had a huge laugh and seemed among a select few who understood my humour. The doctor certainly wasn’t amused, given her slack-jawed expression. 

The picture flickered as my unit indicated an incoming call. It was flagged as urgent. “I need to take this call. Give me a few, okay?” 

When Dan inclined his head, I ended transmission, which patched through the call waiting. 

Matthew’s face filled my screen, so I knew it wasn’t anything good. 

“We found Miller,” he said without preamble. “I’m sorry, Kate.” 

Goddamn it. I slammed my hand against the steering wheel with enough force the impact radiated along my fingers. It was a distraction from the burn of Eris’s mark, so it was a welcome pain. 

“Where?” 

“Abandoned playground on Griffiths Road,” he said, compassion filling his tone. 

“I’ll be there in ten.” Then I closed down the call because I didn’t need to see pity, too.