A Villain's POV

Chicago Part 1

It was maddening. In this new century, the police had decided to listen to a Necromancer. Dubois couldn't believe that Captain Edwards would take the word of a bonecutter like Mallory on who to call in as a consultant. Desmond Wood was well-respected by the supernatural community of Chicago, but had given the authorities no reason to trust him.

It wasn't that there was a lot of danger in the police bringing a Necromancer to talk to the dead. He'd been able to banish the spirits of two of his victims, but he hadn't had time to get rid of Torrio or Harper, their deaths had been too public. Torrio didn't know anything about the supernatural side of town, but the Mob side was another story. Lily Harper knew a bit about the supernatural, but not much about the workings of the Outfit.

His decision to make an exception and kill human scum instead of supernaturals had caused more issues than it solved. He'd done it in order to throw the police off and to deal with the blackmail issue. He truly regretted killing the girl and putting her where no one would ever find her, but he couldn't risk exposure at this point. He'd been tempted to make it look like there were two killers, one killing mobsters and one killing showgirls, but he'd found over the years that simple was better. It would confuse the authorities enough when they found that Lily Harper and Michael Torrio had been lovers.

Working with Edward Kaniff was driving him crazy. The man was going to have to die at the appropriate time, but for now they would continue to use each other.

He dialed. "Kaniff, it's me. I need something from you."

"Hey, my good friend. I heard you got Rudolfo Lombardo. That's my list, what do you need from me?" Kaniff asked.

"It's hard to believe, but the police brought in a Necromancer."

"You said dead men can't talk when they're killed by Blood Magic. That's the whole reason I went with you, my friend."

"There's no problem with Lombardo or Amato, but Torrio and his girlfriend I had to kill at the Club. I didn't have time to clean up. The Necromancer spoke with both of them."

"Fuck. What are you going to do about it? Do you think Torrio suspected I hired you to kill him? And why did you kill Lily Harper? Did she know something she shouldn't?"

"How could any of them suspect? They didn't see me. The other advantage of Blood Magic is killing at a distance. I killed Lily Harper so there would be less suspicion on you, if any. You don't have any reason to want her dead. The trouble is her ghost has found that one of the cops, Nicholas Rossi, has some Necromancer Mojo. She's attached to him. I think you're going to have to deal with them."

"Aren't I paying you well to deal with this sort of thing?"

Dubois snorted. "You're not paying me enough to kill a cop. Maybe you should have some of your guys rough him up a bit. This is Chicago, after all, how hard can it be to discourage a cop?"

"I'll think about it. You better keep an eye on that Necromancer. If he needs discouraging, my pet Blood Mage is going to be the one to do it." Kaniff hung up.

Working with Kaniff was driving him crazy. The man was going to have to die at the appropriate time. The idea that he could keep a Blood Mage as a pet was crazy even for him. Perhaps he should take matters into his own hands to be sure of things.

Kaniff had two wise guys who were his most loyal men. If he was going to send anyone to deal with the police, it would be them. Dubois had their blood. They'd been with the man when their first meeting went down. With the men's blood, he could control their actions and ensure that they remembered nothing about him. He was sure that Kaniff and his two goons were at the Drifter. He'd send the boss away and have the boys go looking for Rossi and his partner.