Special Agent in Charge (The Federal Witch Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Copyrights

  Bonus Short Story: Unicorn Fort.

  More Books by the Author

  Author Notes

  A few Friends of mine

  Chapter 1

  There is something about driving that is both soothing and mind-numbing at the same time. I discovered this as I headed back toward Virginia and Quantico. My name is Agatha Blackmore, and I am a Witch. I'm still a very new agent, but I'm the FBI's first official Witch. That fact alone puts a heavy burden on me. Am I good enough for the service? I spent three years training for this job. I'd like to think during my internship in the field I was able to contribute unique skills.

  "Can we sing another round? I'm just starting to get the hang of this song!"

  I winced. "NO! No more singing! Do not make me lock you in the bathroom again."

  "Why not? It's such a fun song." Fergus my mini-Unicorn and familiar burst into song again.

  "99 bottles of root beer on the wall..."

  I almost slammed on the brakes of the RV and carried out my threat. By the Gods, if I had to listen to that for another hundred miles? They would have to take me down from that bottle strewn wall. I love Fergus, but his singing leaves much to be desired. I'm starting to think Chuck taught him the song just to irritate me.

  My partner and boss, Jack Dalton, usually drives this rig from place to place, but he arranged to take a mini-vacation at his home in Dallas. I hung out in the area for a couple of weeks and managed to find more trouble on my own, but that is a story for another time. Jack hadn't been home for over a year. His wife has more patience than I would have. She just wanted him to herself for a time.

  "Agatha, are you sure you can handle the rig? It's a bit ungainly." Jack sat in the passenger seat of the Magical Crimes truck.

  "Grandmother taught me to drive with her Land Rover. I spent time learning to handle Chuck's car. Cat was able to teach me the right way to drive, correcting all the errors I was making. Chuck's Riviera may be old, but it drives like a dream."

  "A '72 Riviera isn't a class C camper. There is a huge difference between the two." Jack said giving me the eye.

  "I know that Jack. I'm not stupid. Gram's Land Rover is a relic, but it drives very similar to this except the steering wheel is on the wrong side. The front half of this is just like a truck, right?"

  "It is. This one has a Mercedes body. It was custom built especially for us and uses diesel instead of regular gas. Remember that for fill ups. It weighs around 54,000 pounds empty. With the modifications and our equipment, you really need the extra power provided by the diesel. You have to take wide turns, very wide turns with it. It's a real beast."

  I nodded. All spring and summer I had watched as he manhandled the RV around the country. "If I practice, can I drive it?"

  Jack pursed his lips and looked in my direction again. "Let's find out. Mustang field isn't all that far from here. The area around the runways and hangars is still paved. We can use that to practice on."

  I wasn't allowed to drive until we got to the old airfield. A sign over the entrance read Mustang Field. All the building looked in disrepair and abandoned.

  "What is this place?" I peered into one of the hangers as we drove by.

  "This was a secondary supply and training field during the '40s for the Demon War. Pilots trained here both during and after the war. This was way before the FAA took over and regulated everything. Today only the National Guard uses it along with hobbyists. The developers keep closing in on it. Soon it will be nothing but houses." He drove us past the hangers to the edge of the runways.

  "Switch with me." Jack hopped out of the driver seat and went around to my side. "Do you need to get out?"

  I shook my head and hopped over the console and into the driver's seat. After making some minor adjustments, I was ready.

  "Now. The main runway is 3500 feet long, so lots of room to drive on. There are aircraft turns every thousand feet so use those to turn with. Take it easy. This rig is a tiny bit top-heavy and will tip over with too sharp a turn." Jack mimed turning too sharply.

  "Is that where the dents up on the driver's side roof came from?"

  Jack blushed a bit. "It is. I was chasing a rogue and all I had at the time was the rig. I almost had him too. Took a corner too tight and over she went. Lesson learned."

  "I wondered. Anything else I should know about driving it?"

  "You've driven with me and have seen me follow the breakdown checklist. Too many people forget about the list and rip out the cables or water or even the sewer pipe. The list is there for a reason. Always, and I do mean always, do a walk around before driving off. Before I had it installed on the roof, we used to have a portable uplink unit. I was in a hurry one night and backed right over it. Command made me pay for that one out of my own pocket. Three thousand dollars is a lot of money! So follow the list."

  He watched as I made my first turn and lined up for a second one. "You're right. This is a beast to drive." I could feel the entire weight of the rig as we went around the corner.

  "Good, you feel it too. Now I want you to make a sudden stop Now!" I slammed on the brakes at forty-five mph, and it felt like the back wheels lifted off the ground. Unlike Gram's little truck, this thing didn't stop right away and actually took more than seventy-five to one-hundred extra feet to stop.

  "It's the weight. Keep a wide distance between cars especially on the highway. You cannot stop on a dime without using magic. Remember that, and you will survive this. Gradual stops are the way to go. Leave plenty of room in front. Semi-trucks are worse than this. Including the bigger Class A rigs. Ask your friend Anastasia about hers sometime."

  I looked down the runway and had an idea. "Could I use Magick to protect and stop it?"

  "I don't know. You are the expert in that. Let's try it. If we tip, you get to right it." Jack double checked his seatbelt.

  Pretending it was a chase, I floored the gas pedal, and the RV surged forward. I could see the turn coming up and focused a spell on protecting the RV and making the center-of-gravity shift and bend with motion. In theory, we should be able to keep all four tires on the ground. I released the spell just as I made the turn.

  "Whoa..." It was if we were in slow motion. As I turned the wheel, I kept expecting the rig to slide or tip, but nothing happened. We slid around the curve and into the next lane at the top speed of fifty-eight miles-an-hour, which was insane and scientifically impossible. But then Magick was an impossibility too.

  "Awesome! Agatha that was incredible. What about stops?" I slammed on the brakes to find out.

  At the speed I was going, a sudden stop should have sent any loose objects flying forward and had us slamming into the windscreen. Instead, we stopped, as Jack later said, 'on a dime.' It was indeed awesome.

  "Can you leave that spell in place or is it temporary?" Jack released his seatbelt and stepped out to inspect the rig.

  I really wasn't sure if it was or not. My randomness has faded some in the months since graduation. Both Cat and I think it's because of my newfound confidence and experience. The training the Council gave me
did help some. But Grandmother's training is what helped the most. Something to be said for Traditions. I sent a mental thread out to the ward that my spell created. It was still there and as strong as ever.

  "Jack, it may be permanent. I'll make a point to check each day just to be sure. I'll add it to the checklist." I grabbed the clipboard behind the passenger seat and penciled it in.

  "Good. You may be ready for the basics. Let's drive some more, passing and parking is next."

  We practiced all afternoon and the next day driving the RV. He went over each thing step-by-step including how to 'dump' and rinse out the black water tank. Who knew there was this much involved with RV living? I didn't realize until later that he was preparing me for this drive back.

  "I have good news, and I have bad news, Agatha. Which would you like first?" I was at his house in Dallas, and Jack finally looked like he had gotten a good night's sleep.

  "How about both at once?" The only bad news I could think of would be the Council of Witches coming after me because of the Dragon I zapped.

  "It's not all that bad. Don't worry. I've decided to take a small vacation and stay here with my wife for a month or so." He held up his hands to forestall my comments.

  "Let me finish. You have orders to take the rig back to Quantico. Director Mills wants to evaluate your last few assignments. Plus you have told me of your garden. Don't you have to check on it?"

  I nodded. The offshoot of The Garden was very important to my future within the FBI. High-quality supplies were hard to find outside of Maine and Mount Untersberg in Germany.

  "So the bad news is you get to drive the rig home. I will fly over when my vacation is over and join you." He smiled at me.

  "I thought... I mean... Jack, I..." I couldn't speak for a moment.

  "You thought your time was up with me, didn't you? Well, it isn't. This is your permanent assignment, full Agent Blackmore. Congratulations. You are no longer a newbie. You still have to answer to me, but you do that anyway. Start packing. According to my calculations, it should take you three to four days of driving."

  Smiling, I whipped out my cell phone and ran the distance. "Jack." I pointed at my phone.

  He laughed. "Don't believe those things. Yes, it is about a twenty-hour drive straight through. However, this thing doesn't do super long distances well. You will have to stop for fuel at least three times along the way. Driving that long, especially for a newbie is tedious and very annoying. Take the extra time to go slow and enjoy the trip. Okay?"

  Looking back over the past couple of days, I could see the value of his extra day theory. If we were pushing to get to a crime scene, that was one thing. I was just headed home. Trying not to go to sleep was the problem plaguing me now. Well, that and a very annoying Unicorn.

  "Shall we play a game?" I looked down, and Fergus was in the seat next to me.

  "How did you get up here?" I chanced a look behind me. The last place I saw the little terrorist was on the workstation just behind my seat.

  "I jumped. So where are we?" He had the almanac open on the seat and was staring at it.

  "Between West Virginia and Kentucky. When did you start reading?"

  Fergus pranced about with his head in the air. "I'm a Unicorn I can do lots of things."

  It was all I could do not to shake my head at him. "Why do you want to know?"

  "I want to poop in every state. Can we stop for a rest?"

  Why oh why did I even ask him. "Sure, why not. Look (at)on the map and tell me when the next stop is. It should be a little green bed or triangle next to the highway."

  "What road are we on?" Fergus trotted across the map stopping on West Virginia.

  "Don't worry about the map, there is a sign for one." I pointed out the window. Then I realized he couldn't see over the dashboard or even out the window.

  The rest stop was typical of many along this route. Well, paved, lots of parking and a nice tourist information center was the norm. I parked the RV in the truck parking area and scooped up Fergus.

  "I will take you outside and let you do your business in a moment. I have my own inside." I placed his struggling form into my ever-present shirt pocket.

  After taking care of much needed bodily urges, I tried to find a nice soft patch of grass for my Unicorn to graze in, which made me sound insane.

  "Go do whatever. I'll keep an eye out for hawks and cats." I set him down in a large patch of clover.

  "Cats! Where!" Fergus looked in all directions at once.

  "Nowhere. Just eat and whatever. I really and truly don't want to know."

  There was a picnic bench nearby, so I sat and watched him prance around chasing off a couple of bumblebees.

  "Those things can sting you, you know."

  "My horn is more powerful." He swung his head back and forth shaking it.

  Why did I shrink the insane Unicorn? Wasn't there a nice normal one I could have been given? I tried to not look like the crazy owner of a Unicorn.

  "What'cha doing?"

  Fergus's voice behind me scared me half to death with a fireball instantly forming in my hand. "Yaaaah! How the hell did you get up there?"

  Standing on the top of the picnic table, Fergus looked up at me. "I jumped. I'm ready to go now."

  Regaining my composure, I nodded. "Sure. Let's go." I scooped him up and headed back to the RV not even thinking about how he got up there in the first place.

  Remembering what Jack told me to do, I did my walk around before starting up. The RV looked fine as far as I could tell. I remembered doing the 'clean and fix' spell back at school and thought I might have to do it again before too long. We were looking a bit ragged along the edges. Checking beneath it was last on my list. I looked underneath the front and spotted a shadow that seemed out of place.

  "Can't we leave?" Fergus was growing restless.

  "No. I have to check something first." I reached into one of the outside compartments and pulled out a flashlight. For Jack or me they would open, but anyone else would find themselves stuck to the side of the rig. Gotta love Magick!

  I shined the light under the rig in the direction of the shadow I saw. There was a sudden movement, and I could hear the clicking of nails on the concrete as well as what sounded like horns?

  Running around to the other side, I witnessed what looked exactly like a Jackalope scurrying across the parking lot, its horns bouncing as it leaped.

  "Did you make more of those things?" Fergus looked up at me from the top of my pocket.

  I let out the breath I was holding. "No. I didn't."

  Climbing back inside I deployed the sat dish and fired up the internet. Several search words got me a Tennessee Newscast that was rated as a hoax. 'Jackalopes Fact or fiction?' More research turned up a Kentucky hunter that swore he was attacked by bunnies with horns.

  All I could think was please, please, let them be some other Jackalopes and not mine. How did they get all the way to Kentucky and West Virginia?

  Locking everything back down, I ran through the list real quick and got back on the highway. The school was only a couple of hundred miles, and I was going to push straight through this time.

  Chapter 2

  Pulling in off the highway, I couldn't help but think that I was coming home. This place has been the closest thing to home for me for many years. Now that I'm a full agent I could go back to Maine if I wished. Agents of the FBI were considered as a neutral party by most in the paranormal society. I was the first Witch to hold that position, but the rule should still be in effect. Thinking about it, I'm not sure my Aunt Camilla would be pleased, but truthfully I didn't care.

  Watching for movement, I scanned the tree line as I drove in. My Jackalope sighting in West Virginia and Kentucky must have been a fluke. Or at least I hoped so. No sign of the little buggers around here. Our dorm room was gone, so I assumed the RV was where I was staying for now.

  "You again." The blond receptionist glared at me from behind her fort-like desk.

  "I'm
here to see the Director. Do I need a badge?" I smiled.

  "Congratulations on your status as a full agent, Agatha. You can head right in."

  "Wow, no insults? I've been gone too long. Believe it or not Melissa, I've missed you."

  "Hardee'har har. Get moving before I have you dragged out of here." Melissa and I buried the hatchet over a year ago but we still liked to antagonize each other.

  Smiling, I walked down the hall. Many of the office staff and security gave me surprised looks along the way. I guess the news was out that I was back!

  "Agatha! Welcome back. We have so much to talk about." Director Mills was standing near her receptionist's desk as I approached.

  "Hi, Director Mills." Looking past her I could see one of the B's sitting at the desk.