“… And the flight attendant says: ‘Sir, if you just put down the pineapple, then I’ll show you.”
I laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as Jackson finished his joke. I’d heard it before, but he didn’t need to know that. What he needed, was to think that I found him endlessly entertaining. There was a bit of acting involved in that, but not as much as there could have been. The club owner was, in truth, a charming and likeable person. I’d certainly had to flirt with more objectionable incubi in the past. Jackson made it relatively easy. He grinned, evidently pleased his joke had landed, then paused briefly, looking up and glancing around, as he had intermittently, checking to make sure no one else at the bar needed anything. The place remained stubbornly quiet, however, so he quickly turned his attention back to me. In way, that was lucky. It meant I could monopolize his time, and also, he was more likely to have noticed and remembered Mia than if the place was packed every night. But, on the other hand, it did mean I had to be more careful. Since there were so few people here, I couldn’t rely on cover from a crowd to distract from anything I did that might draw attention. So, even though it seemed that Jackson would be cooperative and reasonable if I just asked him about the missing woman, I still couldn’t chance doing it out in the open, where prying eyes might also see what I was asking. Besides, he seemed kind and reasonable now, but I hadn’t given him a reason not to be, yet. So, I decided to stick to my original plan, get him alone and question him then.
“Let me ask you something, Sandy,” Jack leaned across the bar, lowering his voice as if we were sharing a secret. “Why did you decide to come here tonight?”
“Is that a personal question, or market research?” I offered a mischievous smile.
“Can’t it be both?”
“I don’t know, can it?” I chuckled. “Honestly? A friend sent me an invitation, and I was… curious. We’d talked about it before, but I hadn’t worked up the nerve to actually come. I confess that this is kind of out if character for me, I’m usually pretty timid, but I guess I just wanted to live a little. I wanted to see what this place was all about, you know?”
“And what do you think? Now that you’re here?”
“Well, I will admit, I was a bit nervous when I first got here. I thought I’d made a big mistake.”
“Oh?”
“Well, the place does look abandoned, and I was patted down by an armed guard at the door. That was a new experience for me,” I lied. “I am sure you can imagine that might scare some people away.”
“But not you?”
“No, I suppose not. I figured that must be the worst of it, so I might as well press on. And I am glad I did, in the end. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone has been,” I met his eyes briefly as I said that, then looked down quickly.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he grinned broadly. “And I do apologize for the situation at the door. That isn’t the way I prefer to greet my guests, but we do need to be cautious. You understand. Not everyone is as… open minded as you are.”
“Yeah, I wondered about that. Aren’t you taking a big risk, operating somewhat openly like this?”
“It is a risk, true, but we try to screen our human guests as carefully as we can. No weapons are allowed inside, and only people who are recommended by other trusted guests can enter. It means the place is often… quieter than I would like. But I think, with time, we can build up our trusted clientele and business will pick up.”
“Do you screen the ubarae guests and staff, too?”
“No, there isn’t really any need, is there? They wouldn’t do anything to expose us, would they?”
That was a dangerously naïve attitude, but I kept my mouth shut about it, for now.
“I can’t help but wonder, why take the risk at all?” I traced my finger along the edge of the bar. “You could have stayed hidden, stayed safe.”
“That is a fair question, I suppose,” he rubbed his chin. “I don’t really know how to explain it, I guess with all the… changes, that have occurred lately, I just thought that we all needed a place like this. A place where humans and ubarae can meet openly, and learn about each other, spend time together. And really, I was tired of hiding. Even before the Announcement, before we were all exposed to humanity, I wished I could just… be myself, openly and without fear. We are supposed to blend in, to go unnoticed, but that just isn’t who I am. I opened this place so that there was somewhere that I, and other ubarae, could be our whole selves, without pretense or persecution. Is that too much to ask?”
“No,” I shook my head, feeling a little guilty about my own pretense. “It’s not. And I hope that we can find a way to all coexist peacefully, given time.”
“That is my dream, too!” his eyes lit up. “I really think that we can all benefit from this new arrangement. I know it is a bit of an adjustment, especially for you, humans, I mean. But if we can just get past this initial… awkwardness, I believe that this will actually turn out to be for the best. Everything above board and out in the open, like it always should have been.”
“I admire your optimism. I hope you’re right,” I didn’t have to pretend for this part of the conversation.
“Trust me, this is all going to work out. Some humans are simply scared because they don’t really know us, yet. But that will change, with time and with places like this,” Jackson’s enthusiasm bled into his words. “Once everyone understands each other better, I think we will all find a way to cooperate.”
I wanted him to be correct, but he was skipping over a few key details. Misunderstandings weren’t the only reason humans feared ubarae, and this place didn’t seem to have any safeguards in place to protect the human customers from that possibility. Well, that was something else to bring up in our private conversation. Which, come to think of it, I should probably get moving on, I could only nurse this one drink for so long, after all.
“Well, I for one, am all for getting to know you better. And by that, I mean, ubarae, of course,” I flushed and stammered.
“Oh, that’s a shame. Here I thought we were really hitting it off.”
“Oh… I… I didn’t mean that I wasn’t interested in getting to know you better, I just didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
“What if I said there was no need to presume?” he reached forward and gently brushed a strand of hair out of my face, letting his hand graze my cheek as he did.
I smiled, but pulled away.
He took his hand back, with a questioning look,
“I’m sorry, did I overstep?”
“No, no, it’s just…” I glanced around the large room. “It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I am a little shy. I can’t… not with other people watching.”
I watched him open his mouth to insist that no one was watching us, but then he paused, catching sight of something over my shoulder. I didn’t look back; I already knew what he’d seen. To his credit, Simon had seated himself at a table in the back, keeping his distance, but he had also been staring a hole in my back ever since he arrived. I had studiously ignored him so far, but we were going to have to have a chat about his spycraft later. Or his lack thereof.
“You do seem to have caught someone’s eye,” Jack chuckled. “But I would prefer to have you to myself. So, how about we go and continue our conversation somewhere more private?”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Will that be alright?” I looked at the bar.
“Oh, I am due for a break, anyway,” he motioned to the blue-haired waitress. “Emily, cover the bar for a bit, will you?”
She lifted her head from her phone,
“How will I manage this rush all on my own?” she rolled her eyes but stepped behind the bar.
“Don’t mind her,” Jack chuckled. “Follow me.”
I rose and he led me behind the bar and through an ‘employees only’ door at the back. We walked down a short hall to a lounge area, with a comfortable-looking couch and a few tables and chairs. It looked like an employee break area of some kind. I followed him in, and as he took a seat on the sofa, I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it.
“Now we have some privacy,” Jackson smiled.
Well, this probably wasn’t going to go down especially well, no matter how I approached it, so I might as well rip the Band-Aid off.
“Yes, we do. And I appreciate that. Really. So, perhaps I should start with an apology.”
“An apology?” the incubus cocked his head, confused at the sudden change in tone.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to mislead you; I am sorry about that. But this is important, and I couldn’t risk anyone else overhearing this conversation,” I pulled out my phone and opened the picture of Mia that Carissa had sent me. “Do you recognize this woman?”
“What is this, Sandy?” Jackson got to his feet and began approaching me. “Who are you?”
“That isn’t really important right now. I just need to know if you know who this is.”
He grabbed my wrist and turned it, the tattoo on the inside of my arm shimmered slightly in the light. I should probably get that covered. Jackson staggered back.
“You are one of them! What are you doing here? We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I didn’t say you had. And point of correction, I am not one of anything.”
“Don’t lie to me, I know an Organization enforcer when I see one.”
“The Organization is disbanded, and I am retired. I am not here to ‘enforce’ anything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I already told you,” I held up the photo again. “I am looking for someone who knows this woman. She went missing two days ago.”
“So, a woman goes missing, and you just jump to the conclusion that it has to be related to us? Because obviously it has to be the ubarae, right? You people are all the same,” he snorted, trying to push past me and out the door.
“Please stay,” I said quietly. “I just want to talk. I am not here to hurt you or to persecute you. I wasn’t lying before, when I said that I hoped we could all coexist peacefully, in time. I truly have nothing against you, or this place.”
“If that is true, why try to put the blame on us?”
“I am not trying to put the blame anywhere. I only came here because this was the last place she was known to be heading, the night she vanished. Her friends and her roommate haven’t seen her since, and they are worried.”
“Did it ever occur to you that she just met someone, and nothing is wrong at all? Or do you prefer to assume the worst of us?”
“It was the first thing I considered, actually. But she didn’t go back home for her insulin, and that doesn’t smell right to me. I just want to make sure she is alright. I have done everything I can to avoid disrupting your business or upsetting any of your clients. That is why I wanted to speak to you about this privately,” part of the reason, anyway. “But maybe I misjudged you. I figured you would want to help, if there was a chance something happened to her. But maybe you don’t give a damn, as long as it doesn’t affect your business.”
“Of course I care!” he snapped. “But no one here would have hurt her. Our people aren’t like that.”
“I think that might be an assumption too far. I understand why you don’t like the job I used to do, but whatever your personal feelings, there was a reason that job existed. I believe that you have good intentions, but Rogues do exist, and you have, unintentionally I’m sure, created a perfect environment for them. The humans here are actively seeking out ubarae companionship, and they are prompted to keep this secret, for your safety. That secrecy would make it difficult for people to make the connection that I did, if something were to happen to them. And you told me you don’t screen ubarae guests or staff, at all. You aren’t doing anything to protect the humans that come here from a potential predator. And if there is a predator in your midst, they are as dangerous to you as they are to the humans, because while it is harder to trace their victims back to Synergy, as you can see, it isn’t impossible. If anyone learns that you allowed that kind of thing to occur, I don’t envy you the backlash.”
Jackson swallowed hard,
“None of my people would be involved in something like that,” he managed, weakly.
“I didn’t say they were. It could be a guest, or her disappearance could be entirely unrelated to you. I am just presenting possibilities. But I at least need to figure out if she made it here, and where she went after she left, because even if it is unrelated to you and this place, something has happened to her. So, if you care at all, can you please tell me if you saw her?”
Jackson collapsed back onto the couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was silent for so long I almost gave up hope, but finally he sighed.
“You’re right, if there is any chance that she might be in trouble, I want to do what I can to help you find her. So, yes, I’ve seen Mia, she’s been in here several times over the last few weeks,” he finally admitted.
“And the last time was…”
“Two nights ago, like you said. But nothing unusual happened. She came in, ordered a few drinks, danced with a couple of people. Everything was fine.”
“Did you speak with her?”
“Briefly. She ordered a drink, asked how business was. It was nothing, just chit-chat.”
“When did she leave? Was she alone?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t see her go. But we have cameras, and I keep the recordings for a week. We should be able to see when she left, if that will help you.”
“Fantastic, let’s do it.”
“Alright, my office is next door, come with me.”
We moved into a small, cluttered back office filled with paperwork and a large monitor that flipped between different parts of the club. Jackson sat down and opened up the footage from Wednesday night.
“Now, there is only one exit,” he explained.
“That doesn’t seem like it would be up to code,” I noted.
“We wanted to keep people from sneaking in, or out,” he explained.
“And if there was a fire?”
“There is an emergency door in the back, but if anyone went out that way, it would have set off the alarm. That didn’t happen.”
“Alright, show us the one exit, then.”
He pulled up the video footage from that camera and let it play at 3 times speed.
“The last time I remember seeing her at the bar was around 1 am,” he bit his lip. “So, she must have left sometime between then and 4 am, when we closed.”
We lapsed into silence, watching the monitor. Fortunately, there weren’t many people coming and going, so it was easy to spot Mia when she entered the frame around 2:15 am.
“Freeze it,” I requested. “Who is that she’s with?”
Mia was leaving the club with a tall, muscular man with close-shaven hair. Unfortunately, his face was turned away from the camera, but they were clearly together. She was snuggled up close to him, and his arm was wrapped around her waist. They seemed to be very cozy. Jackson paused the video and leaned in to get a closer look.
“I… I can’t be sure who that is, you can’t even see their face,” he said after a moment.
“Yeah, that is obviously a lie. Please, I need to talk to them, find out what they know.”
“I don’t want you harassing our guests. He is a good guy; he wouldn’t have anything to do with her being missing.”
“If he is a good guy, then I am sure he would want to help me find her, just like you, right?” I observed. “I won’t harass him; I only need ask him what happened after they left and find out where she went next.”
Jackson hesitated for a moment,
“Alright, but please, be discreet.”
“I give you my word.”
He relented,
“His name is Andrew Cramer. Usually goes by Drew. He comes in a couple of times a week.”
“Have you seen him tonight?”
Jackson shook his head.
“Do you know where he lives? Or his phone number?”
“No. He isn’t a friend, or anything, we’ve just chatted when he comes in to the club. His name is really all I know.”
I nodded,
“Alright, I can figure out the rest. Thank you, for your help, Jackson. I really do hope things pick up for you, here.”
I turned to leave.
“Wait!” Jackson called after me. “What happens now?”
“What do you mean?”
“To us, to this place? Are you going to shut us down, or expose us?”
“Shut you down?” I laughed. “I told you, I am not here to enforce anything, nor am I part of any group. You can think of me as a… private investigator. I am just looking to find out what happened to Mia, nothing more. I don’t want to cause you any trouble. Though, if you are asking for advice, I think you should look into some form of security or screening for your ubarae guests, before anything bad happens.”
I carefully avoided saying ‘again’. Jackson seemed to relax slightly at that news. He chewed his lip for a moment, pondering his options, before finally asking,
“How could we go about that, exactly? It’s not like there is a way to screen for Rogues, is there?”
“How about this, you give me your number, and I will get you in touch with someone from the Council who can give you a hand, alright?”
“The Council? They do this sort of thing now?”
“It’s a bit… unofficial at the moment, but yeah, they are working on it. After all, the most important thing in fostering human-ubarae trust is to make sure they can handle any bad actors that arise. I’m sure they will be able to help you keep this place safe, too. After all, it has a worthy goal. To foster openness and understanding between our species. That is what the Council wants, too.”
Jackson fished in his suit pocket and handed me his card,
“I appreciate that, Sandy.”
“Call me Ray, alright?” I corrected. “And hey, maybe I’ll come by again sometime, if you don’t mind, see how the place is doing.”
“We won’t turn away a paying customer,” he smiled again for the first time since I had revealed my deception. “Whatever name they give.”
“Until then, I can see myself out. Have a good night.”
I slipped back out into the club, then headed straight for the exit. I needed to make a call to Oliver. He probably would want to know about this place, anyway, and I needed an address on Andrew Cramer.