Aftermath

Aftermath is a novelette told in Karrin Murphy's point of view in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It is set between Changes and Ghost Story.

Plot
Karrin Murphy gets back to the Water Beetle, intending to keep her date with Harry Dresden. He's missing and, according to a forensic tech apparently shot to death; Murphy calls for a team to investigate the scene, only to have John Stallings shoo her away.

Next morning, Billy Borden asks Murphy for help; and informs her that his wife Georgia has been kidnapped; she's pregnant. With Harry absent, she is his only hope, and she agrees. Billy and Georgia's apartment is trashed, with no blood around, but Georgia wasn't alone; according to Billy, Andi or Marcy were present.

Canvassing the neighboring buildings, Murphy hears from a witness that a man very reminiscent of Hendricks visited Georgia's apartment soon after the kidnapping. Murphy arranges a meeting with Gentleman John Marcone. In a brief and heated discussion, he denies involvement in Dresden's death, offers her a job, which she refuses, and wounds Billy, who had threatened him. According to Ms. Gard, a thereto unknown faction is kidnapping mortals with minor supernatural talent and that Hendrick had gone to investigate after Maria called in. Ms. Gard also provides her with a Craigslist personal announcement about a talent search, which seems to apply to the kidnappings.

Karrin and a now healed Billy meet with Marcy, which admits that both she and Andi were at Georgia's, and that all three of them shared the same nightmare. The nightmare was experienced by a number of practitioners all over the country; and it's no coincidence that people have been disappearing in the same time period. A group of Red Court vampires has been found torn to pieces, and Murphy informs them that the previous night, Harry Dresden destroyed the whole Red Court.

The three of them arrange a meeting in Buttercup Park through Craigslist's personal, which turns out having very sibilant voice: with Billy and Andiy as bait they hope to get some information on the kidnappers; Billy, however, notes the demise of the Red Court has changed the rules, and the status quo ante is gone.

The delivery goes without a hitch, and Murphy follows the contact to a seedy, lakefront warehouse filled with cages of people enthralled into submission. Georgia and Andi are among them. Nothing is directing the loading of the cages into a railroad cargo container, when the Fomor Frogface arrives to inspect the operation. Karrin shoots him dead when he starts the enchantments to bind Marcy; the Fomor servitors track her down and engage her in pitched battle. Bill and Marcy join in; after a long while, the servitors are dead or dying. Murphy and the werewolves open the cages and free the prisoners.

At dawn, Ms. Gard appears, to inform Murphy that the Fomors and others like them have been trying to get into Chicago a number of times in the previous months. She congratulates Murphy, hailing her as "Warrior", and offers her Marcone's help to get her job back, or, alternatively, a position in Monoc Securities; Donar Vadderung always needed people with Murphy's skills. Murphy refuses, and Gard leaves. Bill joins her and they muse about Dresden disappearance.