It's the end! If, by chance, you aren't ready for the end yet--or maybe you'd just like to read the whole thing over again--that button right down there will take you back to A.
Z: Zombie
Thea had helped half of London into an air raid shelter before her brain managed to realize that noise wasn’t just happening in her dream. The dream went fuzzy on the edges, and someone started shouting for them to turn the false alarm off, and Dottie kept shouting back it wasn’t false. Something was wrong. The air raid siren meant something, they should take it seriously.
Once it percolated through she sat bolt upright in bed and reached for her phone. It was two in the morning and she reserved that ringtone for things that warranted being woken up by an air raid siren. Like Alice actually calling her, at two in the morning.
“I’m awake,” Thea said into the phone, putting her feet on the floor. “What’s the emergency?”
“I…um…” Alice stumbled verbally. “Okay, so this is going to sound crazy.”
Thea reached over and flipped her bedside light on. “Well, I’m sitting down, obviously. I think I’d be upset if it wasn’t serious.”
“The Honolulu police just put in an information request to the national database for next of kin for Moira Kadagan.”
“Honolulu?”
“I called it.” Alice swallowed. “A body was found three hours ago, it’s an active crime scene and they suspect foul play.”
Thea blinked, and rubbed her eyes, trying to force herself to wake up. “Who was killed?”
“Moira Kadagan.”
“Moira wasn’t killed, Alice.”
“I know that.” Alice sounded especially agitated. “But they think they have a suspicious murder of a woman named Moira Kadagan.”
“As they should, given she’s been dead for a bit, and I wasn’t aware she’d ever been to Hawaii.”
“I checked it,” Alice insisted.
“I don’t doubt you did, I’m trying to figure out what the mix-up is. You’re right, it sounds crazy.”
“They sent me the ID she was using,” Alice said softly. “It says Moira Kadagan. There’s a credit card with the name Moira Kadagan, tied to a room at a little hotel in Honolulu.”
“Is the picture on the ID our Moira?”
“No.” Alice swallowed. “What do I do? Like if they go looking for Moira, they’re going to find her family I’m sure but this is…”
“There’s no way someone is impersonating Moira that isn’t going to wind up at our door on some level?” Thea sighed, and worked her way to her go bag in the closet. “Schedule me a flight, early as you can. Send me the particulars. Keep tabs on what it looks like from here. Unless we’re fronting the zombie apocalypse it won’t be Moira, obviously, but I’d like to know what it is before I get there.”
“I’m pretty sure zombies are above our pay grade.”
“We should definitely have a line somewhere.” Thea dropped her bag at the bottom of her bed. “Do I have time to go back to sleep before I leave?”
“First flight out is at five-twenty.” Alice swallowed. “Other than watching, what should I do?”
“Try to block the flow until they figure out who it actually is. Her family doesn’t need to get a well-meaning phone call in the middle of the night.”
“Should I tell them anything? Their special investigations office seems to be handling the case. A detective Holokai Fukuyama filed the request, I could butt in and make something up.”
“Not yet.” Thea turned the light off. She was going to force herself back to sleep for a few minutes. “Let’s see what we know in the morning before we start injecting ourselves into an investigation.”
“Okay. Wake up call?”
“Yes.” Thea pulled the covers up. “Four.”
“Roger, boss.” Alice signed off.
Thea closed her eyes and forced herself back to sleep. It looked like she’d be going to Hawaii sooner than planned.
“Zombies are not a thing,” she muttered to the room at large. It never hurt to make sure the universe appreciated where she stood on certain things.
Once it percolated through she sat bolt upright in bed and reached for her phone. It was two in the morning and she reserved that ringtone for things that warranted being woken up by an air raid siren. Like Alice actually calling her, at two in the morning.
“I’m awake,” Thea said into the phone, putting her feet on the floor. “What’s the emergency?”
“I…um…” Alice stumbled verbally. “Okay, so this is going to sound crazy.”
Thea reached over and flipped her bedside light on. “Well, I’m sitting down, obviously. I think I’d be upset if it wasn’t serious.”
“The Honolulu police just put in an information request to the national database for next of kin for Moira Kadagan.”
“Honolulu?”
“I called it.” Alice swallowed. “A body was found three hours ago, it’s an active crime scene and they suspect foul play.”
Thea blinked, and rubbed her eyes, trying to force herself to wake up. “Who was killed?”
“Moira Kadagan.”
“Moira wasn’t killed, Alice.”
“I know that.” Alice sounded especially agitated. “But they think they have a suspicious murder of a woman named Moira Kadagan.”
“As they should, given she’s been dead for a bit, and I wasn’t aware she’d ever been to Hawaii.”
“I checked it,” Alice insisted.
“I don’t doubt you did, I’m trying to figure out what the mix-up is. You’re right, it sounds crazy.”
“They sent me the ID she was using,” Alice said softly. “It says Moira Kadagan. There’s a credit card with the name Moira Kadagan, tied to a room at a little hotel in Honolulu.”
“Is the picture on the ID our Moira?”
“No.” Alice swallowed. “What do I do? Like if they go looking for Moira, they’re going to find her family I’m sure but this is…”
“There’s no way someone is impersonating Moira that isn’t going to wind up at our door on some level?” Thea sighed, and worked her way to her go bag in the closet. “Schedule me a flight, early as you can. Send me the particulars. Keep tabs on what it looks like from here. Unless we’re fronting the zombie apocalypse it won’t be Moira, obviously, but I’d like to know what it is before I get there.”
“I’m pretty sure zombies are above our pay grade.”
“We should definitely have a line somewhere.” Thea dropped her bag at the bottom of her bed. “Do I have time to go back to sleep before I leave?”
“First flight out is at five-twenty.” Alice swallowed. “Other than watching, what should I do?”
“Try to block the flow until they figure out who it actually is. Her family doesn’t need to get a well-meaning phone call in the middle of the night.”
“Should I tell them anything? Their special investigations office seems to be handling the case. A detective Holokai Fukuyama filed the request, I could butt in and make something up.”
“Not yet.” Thea turned the light off. She was going to force herself back to sleep for a few minutes. “Let’s see what we know in the morning before we start injecting ourselves into an investigation.”
“Okay. Wake up call?”
“Yes.” Thea pulled the covers up. “Four.”
“Roger, boss.” Alice signed off.
Thea closed her eyes and forced herself back to sleep. It looked like she’d be going to Hawaii sooner than planned.
“Zombies are not a thing,” she muttered to the room at large. It never hurt to make sure the universe appreciated where she stood on certain things.
So. There's Z. We're not done with Cornucopia Ltd, obviously. What happens next will be in book form, and sort of less focused on this gang. Sort of. And I'm going to soft promise it by the end of summer right now.
But you know what they say about promises...
But you know what they say about promises...
It seems weird to dedicate at the end, but I'm doing it anyway. Eventually when there are books they'll be dedicated to Kate because at least half of this is her fault (as with most things).
But this one is dedicated to Dad, because he always liked the idea of new things. Like I said yesterday, it's been a weird and rocky year. I'd have loved to know what you thought about this, and I'd have been belted up for all the mistakes you found. Love you Dad.
But this one is dedicated to Dad, because he always liked the idea of new things. Like I said yesterday, it's been a weird and rocky year. I'd have loved to know what you thought about this, and I'd have been belted up for all the mistakes you found. Love you Dad.
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