“True. However not one Coven member over the rank of under boss or Capo has ever been turned. Anytime they try both the Agents and the snitch die. The Dons and their Masters are believed to be beyond law enforcement until this week. One of our Bureau offices has a man in custody that can identify both a Don and some of the members of the Commission.” I heard glass break and looked toward Bill. He sat there with his mouth open in shock.
“Bill are you OK?” He shook himself and reached to pick up the shards of glass. “Leave it. I’ll get it later. What’s wrong?”
“The Commission? We have a link to the freaking Commission? How?”
“Agatha what’s the Commission?” Cat and Chuck both spoke at once.
“Bill?” I looked to him to explain.
“The Commission is the holiest of holy's when it comes to all things Mafia. Most wise guys will tell you it’s a council of Dons that get together to discuss territory and profits. That movie, uh… what was its name? The man from Corleone. He was on the so-called Commission. That is a good one to watch to understand how the American Mafia works. The second one is better for the early history or at least what us regular humans are aware of. The FBI only became aware of the Magical Mafia a few years ago. It took computers to decipher some of their communiques. We call them the Black Hats or the Prime Coven in out messages. They are as Agatha has called them. Spiders that lurk below the surface.” Bill looked away from us and stared at the wall.
Staring at him for a moment I too looked away. “On a side note. Bill here had a run in with them at one point in his life and he may discuss that with us soon.” Glancing in his direction I saw him nod.
“Because they fall under Magical Crimes, Jack has a file on them. According to his research there are thirteen coven members of the Black hats. Strega members will have a tattoo of both the moon goddess and the horned god on each of their shoulders signifying their commitments. Most if not all wear either an ornate Pentagram ring or necklace on their bodies.”
“I will say that so does just about every other Wiccan or modern Witch on the planet. Finding them that way is almost impossible.” I held up my hand to show the ring.
“How does this relate to WITSEC?”
“A very good question, Cat. They have a witness in their possession that can identify both one of the Dons and a Strega leader.” I smiled as Bill shot upward.
“Holy crap, Agatha! That’s huge.” The smile on his face dropped. “He’s dead. No one survives to get to trial. Not ever. Look at “Unlucky” Luciano. He tried to turn states evidence against the face of the Commission Meyer Lansky and he was stabbed, drowned, hung, and shot. Not in that order. No one has ever survived to even set foot in court over these guys.”
“Except this time someone in Organized Crimes division got smart. They hid the witness in the courthouse three days before the Grand Jury hearing. He managed to give his testimony before the assassins showed up and he was whisked away to protective custody. However. The convoy he was in was attacked and half the group of US Marshals were killed. The car they were driving was melted.”
Cat frowned. “Melted? Is that even possible? Could you do it?”
“Good question. Maybe? I can see in my head how it works and maybe I have a spell of Grandmothers that might do the job.” I glanced in the direction of my office. Grandmother had given me an heirloom spellbook that might have something like that in it.
“Bill will agree with me on this. WITSEC absolutely hates the FBI. They work very closely with our counterparts in the human part of the Bureau but they get given all the dirty work. Don’t get me wrong. What they do is necessary and a huge help to our cases. But we given them hardened criminals and expect them to turn them into regular people.”
Chuck leaned forward. “Do we really? I thought WITSEC was for witnesses and people who see the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like the movies.”
“Thats only about five percent.” Bill looked at him. “Remember that man-on-the-street witnesses are rare. They see the wrong thing or are easily confused. The real information comes from bad guys that want to turn states evidence to save themselves from the gas chamber! According to WITSEC they’ve relocated over eight-thousand since the seventies.”
“And no one they relocate who follows the rules has died on their watch. Note I say those that follow the rules.” I glanced at my notes. “Quite a few of these guys can’t cut it and go home or break cover and then they die. Usually horribly.”
“Agatha. What do they want from us?” Bill finally asked the question I was waiting for.
“They want us to hide the current witness from Magickal attack. At the same time, Washington wants us to try and locate the Magickal Mafia.”
“They aren’t asking a lot are they?” Bill just shook his head.
“No they aren’t. I talked this over for hours with the Director. She feels this could be a major drain on our resources.” This conversation was about to turn very ugly. I just knew they would hate my plan.
“How so? We can keep him safe if you shield the RV like you did that one time last year. I don’t see the issue.”
“Cat, the issue is this. The Mafia Witches are insanely powerful. Yes, I can shield the RV but how do we do the second part of of the assignment if we have a witness with us at all times?”
Bill caught on first by shooting me a look and shaking his head no. “No! It’s far too dangerous. Let WITSEC guard him, you are far too valuable to risk.”
“Director Mills said the same exact thing. I can’t be in two places at once. It’s the only thing I can think of that will do both assignments.”
Cat looked between the two of us. “What is he talking about?”
I let out a big sigh. “To do this we need to split up. I will take the witness and hide him under a Magickal cover somewhere while the rest of you track down the assassins and the Strega. It’s the only way to do both assignments.”
“Agatha that makes you a target! We have to stick together in this!” Cat could only stare in shock at me.
“By conducting the investigation this way we are working together. I just can’t keep all of you safe. My Magick isn’t strong enough, Cat! The Strega are something none of us have ever tackled before. They practically ruled Sicily before the Demon War. It was only the threat of Demon’s that made them move entirely here to this country. We will be in touch the entire time. I promise you that.” I felt a tear run down my face. The very thought of leaving my friends and my team scared the living hell out of me.
“Where is WITSEC keeping this witness?”
Bill had a grimace on his face. I knew he disapproved but I was in charge not him. “Near Washington in a safe house. It’s where they take everyone. Director Mills told me it’s like the old terminal at Ellis Island. They assign living space and virtually your whole new life there; new papers, names, licenses, etc.”
Bill shook his head. “Do they have precautions in place for Magick?”
“Not to my knowledge. That’s one of the reason they requested us so fast. They have an unspoken rule of not protecting Magickal witnesses.”
Checking my watch I frowned. “We can discuss this more on the road but we have to go now. They are expecting us to pick him up in a couple of hours. Chuck can you get Anastasia’s RV disconnected and ready to go?”
“I’ll go now. Have you told her about all of this yet?” Chuck waved at all them to include in the discussion.
Shaking my head I replied. “Not yet. I’ll call her when she wakes. I’ll take the lead, catch up when you can.” Holding up my hand to prevent further arguments I went back to my room slamming the door behind me.
“Hey! Not so loud. I’m trying to learn something here.” Fergus yelled at me from inside his barn.
“I’m almost afraid to ask. What are you learning in there?” Opening the lid I could see him sitting in his recliner watching his phone.
“It’s a new show on the Barn channel called Pimp my stall. They fix up horse stalls and make them pretty. You should see what they did do this one old race horse. I really want a new paint job with flowers and wallpaper in my barn now!”
“What’s wrong with what you have? The farmer and fake farm animals looks OK. You have a dance floor and mirror ball already why change anything?” The walls were starting to look scuffed and worn. Maybe I should look for a new barn for the little guy.
“It’s too old! Can we pimp my barn? Can we?” His jumping up and down made me forget the whole WITSEC thing and all the danger it represented.
Still speaking I sat down at the table the barn rested on. “How about this. I’ll let the Bs know that you want a change. They look to be crafty. We can paint, wallpaper, and jazz up your barn for you. Maybe give you a porch or something. Does that sound good?”
“Yes! Let’s go now!” Fergus opened his door with a Moo and ran out to see me.
“About that. We have a new assignment. I have to protect a guy from Witches called the Magical Mafia. So we’ll be traveling for a few weeks. Can we wait a little bit?” The things I do to keep my Unicorn happy.
“Can I have a water fountain?”
“We’ll see about that later. You’ll be traveling with me a bunch. My job this time is to protect someone so I may need the power stored inside of you.”
“Do you have to? Every time you do that I feel like a juice box.” Fergus shivered all over.
“It doesn’t happen all that often. So get ready to travel we’re leaving the barn in the RV. You get to ride with me.”
Cool snippet can't wait for the book.
ReplyDeleteno what happened is it gone?
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