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VALENCIA NOIR

ACT IV

In the mornings, at just the right time and just the right conditions, the Valencia Race Track had a shine to it. Decorated with white and green like an antique brooch, this was another place in town where dreams were born and born to die. So much depends on a red horse…or a white one…or a horse as black as night. Places like this took absolute delight in toying with people’s emotions, dangling promises in front of their faces to make daring decisions and showing no morose in the consequences, or joy in their decisions. And it all starts with the blaring of a trumpet, and the bang of opening gates…

The Valencia Race Track did look like a piece of jewelry as it sat in the middle of Upper Los Angeles. With pure white walls bright with lazy sunlight, green grass touched with morning dew and a green roof curling over the seats like a new leaf…the race track fit in perfectly among the colors of the city. The races wouldn’t start until noon that day, but the trainers and jockeys were still out and about with their horses and equipment. People were coming in and out of the track as well. Some were there with children to show them the horses, others were early arrivals in a day full of betting…and then there were guys like Dexter and Tyler. They were there to ask some questions and get some answers. The angel unwrapped a sucker from his coat and popped it into his mouth, foot on a rail as he and the werewolf watched the horses go by. “I never understood the appeal of betting on how fast a certain horse could run compared to others. Do you?”

“No. But only because I have experiences with fast animals…they mean that you don’t eat if you aren’t fast enough.”Tyler replied as he examined his claws, foot also on the rail. “So I’m a little bias.”

“That you are. Enough finger twirling and sightseeing, we got work to do with our favorite filly.” The sleuths hopped off the rail and started to walk towards the concrete tunnel leading down to the track and to the stables. Tyler’s girlfriend, Lillian/Lulu Kamerka, was a stable girl that took care of the horses and helped the jockeys and trainers. She practically lived at the track so she would know just about everything about it. The boys would find her near the stables, tending to the stalls and feeding the horses.

Tyler’s tail was wagging nonstop at the sight of the stable girl before he broke out into a jog towards the girl. “Lulu, my love!”

Lulu heard this and was quick to react-by putting a rake up in front of her and letting Tyler take it square in the face before he fell over, groaning. “Not now, Ty! I’m workin’ here! Besides, I’m pretty steamed at you fer not callin’ me lately!” Lilian told him in a thick southern accent. She was a farm girl through and through, from her overalls and work boots that she wore every day to the way she wore her long red hair up in a pony tail. Her amber brown eyes were fiery and sweet and her nose and cheeks were kissed with freckles. If that didn’t manage to steal Tyler’s heart, being a rough and tumble werewolf was what sealed the deal. “Heya, Dex. How you been?”

“I’ve been better, but thanks for asking.” Dexter replied, watching Tyler pick himself off the ground. The angel didn’t see this as a problem or anything to be concerned about. This was just how they showed their love…and how Lillian reacted when Tyler did something stupid.

“Ooowww…but Lulu, we got a case! I couldn’t call you because we were out working!”

“Don’t try an’ sell me tha’ old cow, Ty! You promised an’ a promise is a promise!”

“He’s telling the truth, Lulu. We’re working a case and we need your help.”

“Hmmm…what case?”

Heading into the stands to sit down, the boys explained to the female wolf about the case and what they were suppose to do. At first she was a little skeptical but then she started to realize that they were telling the truth. “Cyrus was a true, blue friend…I was downright heart broken when we found out wha’ happened to him…” Lillian finally said in the end. She was sitting in Tyler’s lap then, her back against his chest, his mane around her neck and his tail in her lap.

“Lillian…I’m sorry. I should have called and found out if you were alright the morning after and when we were asked to investigate…”

“No, no. You were right…you had investigatin’ to do to see if Miz Fallon really did kill Cy…”

“I’m really sorry though…”

“We both are. I’m your friend and I should have thought of that too.” Dexter said. Turning the sucker over in his mouth, he pulled out his pad of paper. “So, were you here on the night in question?”

“Oh yeah, but not fer long. I had horses to look after but I left fer home before it got too late. So Cyrus was left alone with the other trainers and the stable hands.”

“Did you smell anything out of the ordinary, baby? Someone that didn’t belong there before you left?” Tyler asked as Lillian twirled some of his fur between his fingers.

“Nah, tha’ was the weird thing! I got a pretty good sense of the people tha’ come an’ go around these parts but no one out of the ordinary came in tha’ night! Tha’ was wha’ I told the police when they came the next morning, but police don’t listen to werewolf farm hands like me…”

“Did Tay-Miss Fallon, come in any time during that day?”

“I think she did…she came in once to get the money she an’ her brothers made on the last race! They come here a whole lot to get their money an’ check on their horses, same with some other no good hoods…”

“Other gangsters come here?” This wasn’t too surprising but he wanted to make sure he had it in the notes.

“Oh yeah! A lot of ‘em own horses too! So I’m used to smellin’ ‘em around the tracks. I would have noticed if something were wrong…and if any of ‘em had a problem with Cy…” Lillian started to bury her face in Tyler’s fur then. “Poor Cy…even the Fallon horses have been actin’ funny since he died…all sluggish and tired…”

Tyler wrapped his arms around Lillian’s middle, head resting on top of her hair. “We’ll find out who murdered Cyrus, Lillian. If it was the Fallon bird, we’ll lock her up and throw away the key.” Because in Tyler’s mind, nobody messed with his mate and her friends. He tossed a look to Dexter, telling him to feel the same despite what he may feel about Tayte. He felt the same, though he still hoped that it wasn’t Tayte that did the deed.

“You two oughta go an’ see the stables where they found Cy. The police are still keepin’ it locked up until they go through every hay stack and pile of horse crap. Though my ears did pick up tha’ they’re gonna let it loose soon to the public…”

“ What?! They’ve only been at it for two days!” Dexter exclaimed. “A regular case involves taking twice as long just to investigate a scene!”

“Chicken boy was right, they are going to try and railroad the Fallon dame into the bird cage for this.”

“Dang it! There’s absolutely no respect for the system whatsoever in cases like this!” The angel was quick to get to his feet and head back down towards the track and the stables. Tyler and Lillian were quick to join him. The red head took the lead then, leading the sleuths into the stables and to the site of the murder.

Still wrapped up in yellow and black police tape, the horse stall was big-it took up a good corner of the room to house several horses at once-and littered with hay and horse hair. Near the entrance of the stall, there was their first sight of where the victim died: The chalk white outline of his corpse was still visible on the floor. From the looks of it, he died on his stomach, facing inside the stall. The outline showed sprawled legs and arms around his head, like he fell onto the floor. And on the floor was dry blood. It was spattered and thrown everywhere and mixed in with the hay and matted the horse hair. It looked like it was a grizzly scene to walk in on when everything was fresh.

Dexter was feeling it in his stomach then…how violent it must have been…how long it must have taken Cyrus to die… His experiences with death had a habit of creeping up on him when first seeing crime scenes like this. “Jesus…”

Tyler patted him on the shoulder as Lillian stood behind him. “It’ll be alright.”

Shaking off the feeling of death from his skin, the angel started to lift up the tape so he and Tyler could look around. From his pocket, he started to pull out a pair of rubber gloves. “Let’s see what we can find. Maybe there’s still something that the police didn’t find. Something that was left behind.”

“You know I could arrest you both for trespassing on a crime scene! And your redneck girlfriend too as a matter of fact.”

“AH! Damn it all to Hell! And you should know I could sock you in the face right now!” Tyler shouted, head snapping out of the stall to growl at the source of the voice. Dexter followed soon after, looking just as annoyed at the source of the voice as Tyler. The voice belonged to a person that…wasn’t exactly a favorite in their books. “What do you want, Raph?”

“That’s Officer Sanzio to you! Remember to show a little respect towards the badge, citizen.” Raphael Sanzio was an angel of pure white exterior- white hair, white wings-but hardly a pure white interior. Dressed in a policeman’s uniform of dark blue pants and shirt and with accessories including a badge, handcuffs, hat and the like, this angel wasn’t one to give off the humble aura that Dexter did. In fact, he looked and acted downright arrogant and full of himself. “Now, what’s to stop me from dragging you two bums into the station for trespassing this time?”

“The fact that you’re hardly a real cop. You just babysit crime scenes until they’re released.” Dexter replied in a matter of fact tone while studying the scene.

“I’m more of a cop than you two losers. Still playing detectives, huh? I’m not surprised. No real police force would accept a kicked out angel and an uncontrollable werewolf as detectives.” He was looking to push some buttons and he was getting pretty close to pushing some that he shouldn’t push.

“Raph, you’re no more of a cop than Lulu is queen of the centaurs!” Dexter finally let slip. This insult managed to hit home, as Raphael looked like it hit a nerve while Lillian and Tyler were laughing.

“It’s true!”

“I did try an’ horse shoe one of ‘em before! He should have been more appreciative of the gesture!”

“Tsh! Sh-Shut up! Look, I don’t why you’re here! Just file out before I drag you out!”

“Take it easy, Raphy! We’re here on a case. Tristan Skyes hired us to look into this case to see if the Fallon dame really did whack this poor kid.” Tyler explained. “So buzz off! I still got a score to settle with you and I’m pretty tempted to settle it here…”

“We both are. So hit brick.”

When he heard this, Raphael’s face went from anger to thoughtful to finally, reluctant defeat. He shoved a fist into his pocket before pulling his police cap a little lower over his eyes. “The body was discovered at six fifteen in the morning. A lock of long red hair was discovered in the victim’s fist and his body was covered in slashes, most likely from talons-"

“Hold up, hold up! Are you trying to tell us that…you’re Tristan’s source of information? You’re the guy that’s been leaking police information out to him?!”Dexter asked, starting to look pretty stunned. Raphael had to be pulling their leg, there was no way he could be the source. He wouldn’t do anything to help anyone… at least for free.

“Keep it down! If anyone on the force finds out, I’m out of a job. I’m only doing it until I clear up a couple of favors I owe Tristan… I can’t get back into his clubs until I do!”

“Wuss.” Tyler smirked at Raphael as his tail wagged behind him.

“Tyler.” Though that did just prove his point.

“Behave now, mister! You were sayin’?”

“Tristan told me that if two detectives that weren’t with the force came around asking about the Gilmead murder, I should help them out and give them all the information the police have. But I never thought he would hire you two chumps.”

“Irony stinks, doesn’t it?” Tyler looked like he was enjoying this- a lot. “So, what do you have for us then, Officer Sanzio?”

Dexter would never say it, but he was enjoying seeing Raphael twist in the wind like this. The guy was a class-A jerk. He was always trying to gum up the works in their investigations, throwing the weight of the police around on top of them whenever he felt like it…and there was also the little matter of him bullying Reisen back in school, and still finding the time to do so to this day. Tyler always swore to sock him one for bullying his new family, but having him dish out the information and give them crime scene photos was just as good. “Thanks for the help, Raph! Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone about this. We don’t you to lose your job as a police force desk jockey!”

“Just don’t get to use to it, you would be angel! Same to you, fuzzy! Once my debt is cleared up, I’m throwing you both in the slammer for interfering with police business!” Raphael was left to slink off in defeat then, leaving the sleuths and the red head with an envelope of photos and notes.

“Hmmm…he struts like the family rooster but squacks like the rooster when ya give him a squeeze!” Lillian said, obviously amused by what she just saw. “An’ I could be queen o’ the centaurs, if I wanna be tha’ is.”

“No doubt about it, my little cherry tomato. Man Dexter, that was just too good! Who would have thought Raph would be good for something after all!” Tyler said, his tail still wagging with glee.

“Let’s not say anything like that until we see these photos. If they’re any good, we’ll cut him some slack next time we bump into him. If not, feel free to finally punch him.”

“With pleasure!”

“Let’s get out of here then. We got photos to review.”

The group of three started to file out of the stable then. Back out into the sunlight and on the track, Lillian started to take a whiff of the air before realizing something. “Shoot! I plum near forgot! There’s someone else here tha’ saw Cyrus before he died!”

“Really?”

“Who?”

“Miz Wildhunt! She’s here today for a ridin’ lesson with her pa! She brought her big ol’ dog with her today! Come on!”

“Possible witness?”

“Here’s to hoping!”

Rushing to the other side of the track, to another loop of land outfitted with horse jumping obstacles such as banks, brush fences, coffins and combinations of the like, the three hopped onto the fence to look for Miss Wildhunt. Lillian was quick to point her out as the woman on the tawny red charger with a great big beast of a dog trotting around its hooves. One look at the woman and both boys could say without a doubt that she was beautiful-and magical. Judging by the shape of her pointed ears, Miss Wildhunt had to be a fey or at least one of the fairy people. Her hair was short and fire red, just barely long enough to frame her perfect face. She was dressed in red cloth, brown leather and matching fishnets and boots to form a unique riding outfit. But what really made the boys jump at her appearance was the cloth wrapped around her eyes.

“She’s…riding blind? Holy smokes, she’s riding blind!” Dexter exclaimed while nearly jumping over the fence.

Tyler was about the same with his reaction to this sight. “Ch-Cheese and crackers, you’re right! Who the hell is letting her do that?!”

“Relax, fellas! Look, she’s got it under control!” Lillian wasn’t worried about this and knew the reason why. Miss Wildhunt’s dog was helping her make her way through the course. Going a head of her and on the other side of the obstacles, it would let out several barks before she would guide herself towards the barks, line up her horse and make the jump. And besides the dog…there appeared to be something else helping her through. While the whole show was giving the boys heart attacks with every jump, the spectators were enjoying themselves and applauding politely. This continued for a few minutes before the fey finally dismounted her horse and bowed before them. Once everyone was distracted, she turned her head towards Lillian and her guests and smiled. The werewolf female smiled and started to call her over. “Hey! Hey Miz Wildhunt, over here!”

“Hello, Lillian. It’s so good to see you again.” The fey said as she came over. Her dog followed before, its footsteps actually in synch with her own. She didn’t remove her blindfold, but walked like she could see. “This is new. You rarely bring guests with you.”

“Yea, well…this is my buddy, Dexter McBane and my beau, Tyler Levion.”

“So nice to meet you both. I am Miss Asthore Wildhunt.”

Even her voice was magical. It was polished bells in a spring breeze. Both of the boys felt a little flustered then to be the presence of a fine lady. “Uh, uh…nice to meet you, Miss Wildhunt. Wildhunt…is your dad Tynan, from the Council of Human and Creature Affairs?”

“He is. He is Master of the Wildhunt family, responsible for disciplining rule breakers by order of the council. One day that title and responsibility will be mine.” Asthore was pretty humble about this. The Wildhunts were more powerful than the police were in most affairs because of their ties with the council.

“And-pardon me for asking this-are you…really…?”Tyler had to ask.

“Blind? Yes, I am. I can see with magic quite well though.”

It was probably best not to dwell on that for too long. They still had to ask her about Cyrus. “So, Miss Asthore, what can you tell us about the night Cyrus died?” Dexter asked, ready to take notes on her response.

For that moment, Asthore lost her smile and the warm magic around her. She looked more troubled by this than any of their other witnesses had been. “Mr. Gilmead…Cyrus…Cyrus and I were here late last night. Until about ten o’ clock, I believe.”

“What were you doing?”

“For the last couple of weeks, he’s been helping me ride. Guiding my horse along, helping me clear jumps…we’ve also been talking about a great number of things…”

“Were you…were you two having a relationship?” Tyler was so bold to ask.

Asthore blushed for just a moment but for a moment, it made her look even more beautiful. It quickly faded though, and she resumed her calm, quaffed attitude. “We…weren’t having a relationship, per say. Though I had hoped that last night would be the night where he asked me for the pleasure…I had been tempted to ask him for some time, but now…now I may never get the chance…”

It could almost break hearts. Even if she wasn’t crying, the sleuths could feel just how upset the fey was. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary that night? Well, not see but-did you notice anything out of sorts?”

“Just that Tayte Fallon was here.”

That made Dexter’s heart stop. “Tayte was here?”

“Yes. Around the same time Cyrus was walking me back to my father’s car. He saw the harpy girl coming out of the track and told me about this. He couldn’t see her clearly in the dark but I could sense that she was carrying something with her as she walked out. I don’t know what happened after that.” Asthore turned her head towards Dexter, sensing his discomfort at this fact. “Mr. McBane. Things are not looking good for Miss Fallon. The police want her and her brothers for their crimes, but the Council also wants them for disrupting the humans and creatures in this city. Their lists of crimes reach the fey community as well. For her sake, I can only hope she didn’t really do this. I wouldn’t want the Wild Hunt to be called upon her… I must take my leave. It was nice meeting you all, and seeing you again, Lillian. Take care.” And with that, Asthore left with her dog, back towards her father-a fey dressed in red, with wild red locks and an eccentric look in his eyes. Asthore was still giving off a sad, heartbroken aura as she left with him.

That left the angel and two werewolves to start walking. All of their leads at the track have been tapped out for now and it was time to leave. As they walked through the tunnels and halls of the track building, there was no fighting the heavy feeling around them. “Tayte was here…”

“Worse than that, the Council wants her too. I’ve heard horror stories about the Wild Hunt punishment. Nightmares for life, possible madness because of it…it makes guys BEG for prison!”

“I know, I know…if we can just get an alibi from her, we could try and prove that she didn’t do it. But if she was already here a number of times on the day of the murder…dang it…”

“Dex, you seem to be mighty invested in this…and when Miz Asthore mentioned that ol’ Fallon bird, your heart stopped!”

“I-I just want to make sure we do a good job! And that Tristan gets his money’s worth…this is just for justice’s sake and nothing else!”

“Uh huh.”

“Right…”

The angel was about to argue about this again when the red head cut them both off. “You want your chance to chat with Tayte…you can have it. I smell Fallon goons.”

“Really?”

“They’re here?!”

“Yeah! They’re at the foreman’s now, probably collectin’ their recent winnin’s!”

Faster than a rabbit could run, Dexter and Tyler were on their way to the foreman’s to catch this transition in action. If Fallon goons were here, then maybe their murderer in question would be too. Between Tyler’s experience hunting and Dexter knack for sneaking around, they were both settled on the other side of a corner and watching the elderly foreman pass a suitcase full of money to some nameless henchmen. No sign of the Fallons yet…but maybe if they followed these guys outside…

So they followed them outside. Standing on the top of the steps of the track, the sleuths saw the goons walk down towards a black car-very high end, very expensive looking, with a monstrous but elegant looking falcon as the hood ornament. Sitting inside the car, there was a handsome harpy male with shining blonde hair and dark wings behind the wheel and beside him was a familiar red head harpy female, with a beautifully bored expression on her face.

“Tayte…” Dexter felt the name squeezed out of him.

“And that’s her brother, Laurent Fallon! He’s the brains behind the whole gang!” Tyler added, choosing to ignore that little expression of emotions from Dexter. They stood back and watched the goons exchange a few words before sliding the suitcase full of money through the window of the car. There was some chuckling from them as they appeared to ask Tayte something…to which she replied with a dangerous expression and a swift punch to their noses. “Oh, that had to hurt…”

“Ty…look around.” The angel noticed an interesting phenomena happening around them. Uninteresting and seemingly unnoticeable men were coming in and out of the race track, delivering suit cases to expensive looking cars when the coast was clear before both would disappear. Were these all gangsters too? This was studied for a while before it looked like the Fallon car was about to take off. “Come on, we got to catch that car! It may be our only chance to talk to get an alibi from Tayte.”

“Whatever you say, Lover boy!”

The closer they got to the car, the more focused and at attention the goons on the ground seem to get. They were soon up on their feet and stopped Dexter and Tyler from getting any closer to the car. “No one sees the Fallons without an appointment.”

“I didn’t realize we were talking to their secretaries. I’m used to either pretty girls or well dressed men.” Dexter said as he was quick to swat some hands off of his shoulders.

“Ugliest secretaries I’ve ever seen. You should ask the salon for your money back, sweethearts!” Tyler added, shooting off his widest, toothy smile. Those comments really got these guys mad and they were quick to make a lunge for the detectives. That was what they wanted. They were quick to react, each sending a fist flying into faces in a synchronized movement that was obviously practiced. With the goons stunned, the werewolf took over and tackled them to the ground as best as he could. “Dexter, go after them! I got these guys here!”

“Are you sure?”

“Get off my fluffy, ya no good hoods!” A familiar farm hand came rushing into the picture then, jumping into the pile of bodies and getting them into a head lock.

“I’m sure, now go! Save some for me, sweetie!”

Dexter took this as his hint and started to run for the car. Opening up his wings, he jumped and took off into the air. Flying above the Fallon car for a couple of blocks, he looked for a place to stop them before noticing the stop light up ahead. Waiting for the signal to stop the car, he dropped back onto the ground and went up to the Fallon car,stepping out in front of it to keep them from leaving. He was feeling anxious then, but excited as he went up to Tayte’s window. “Wait, wait! Please don’t go just yet! My-My name is Dexter McBane and I’m investigat-"

Before Dexter could even finish what he was saying, the car door was flung open so fast and hard it slammed into him and sent him falling backwards into the gutter. His ribs hurt, and it knocked the sucker out of his mouth and hat off his head, but he was more interested in the fact that Tayte was getting out of the car. She wasn’t dressed as formal as she was the night before but she was still beautiful. She was still dressed in black, but in tight pants, a small man’s vest with a tiny white blouse underneath and dangerous looking high heeled shoes. To which she used to crush the sugar orb on a stick beneath her foot. The action made the angel gulp a heavy knot down into his throat. Before he knew it, she was grabbing a hold of his tie and pulling his face up to hers again. But instead of sweet seduction, there was fury in her eyes.

“Look. I don’t care who you are or what you do. You tell Tristan-and I know it was him who hired you-to stay out of my life! I can take care of myself! I don’t need him sending in some angel cake gum shoe to help me beat a murder charge! I can handle that on my own!” The harpy quickly pushed the angel back into the gutter and strutted back into the car. Her brother was chuckling behind the wheel as she climbed back in and slammed the door behind her.

“I think you scared the kid a little too much, baby sis.”

“That’s the point…let’s just go. We’re running late.”

So the Fallons drove off then, leaving Dexter in the gutter. He couldn’t believe what just happened. Tayte…didn’t even remember him. She drove him crazy, filled him up with strange feelings and planted insane ideas into his head-all about her-and she didn’t even remember him as the guy she sat on in the club a mere twelve hours ago. It was…just heartbreaking. And more than that, she was turning down help that she probably really needed. The kind of help that probably would have kept her out of jail, away from the needle and quite possibly, away from the Wild Hunt and the family that specialized in the punishment of nightmares.

After watching the car drive away, the angel slowly picked himself off the ground, cleaned himself off and picked up his hat. Feeling heartbroken and confused, he had to wonder…

What was going to happen next?