I kept out of sight for the next hour as I field-treated my wounds from the fight. The whole time I kept a close eye on the comings and goings of the building. An ambulance loaded Lisa into the back and headed to the hospital. Mara flashed her badge to let them ride with her. I silently wished them luck though I could tell from the little time I had known her she’d pull through. Leastwise she had better, I wasn’t looking forward to having to break the bad news to Tony that I got his niece killed. The police showed up not too much later. I guessed that meant they had IDed me from the security footage by their numbers. Adding to the good news, my phone started ringing. A quick check showed Tony’s number. Guess the old man still had ears out there after all.
I thumbed the phone off. There was little enough Tony could yell at me I wasn’t already telling myself. Two partners in two weeks sent to the hospital and one to the morgue. All because I was too slow… or too old to keep it from happening. This shit is why I always preferred to work alone when the only ass on the firing line was my own. Well, standing here feeling sorry for myself wouldn’t help anybody. It was time for me to do what little I could and hope to hell everything would work out for the best in the end.
“Holly, you online?” I muttered under my breath. “I’m gonna need your help on this one.”
“I’ll say, big guy. I thought we were keeping you low profile and you caused a huge incident downtown?”
“Yeah, it looks like the dictionary I got for Christmas was missing the page with subtle on it. In any case, you think you can use some of your brand of magic to get me back in that place without security knowing?”
“With my skills, I could get a fish in and out of a sushi restaurant without the Itamae ever knowing it was there.”
“Thanks, remind me to buy you a drink after all this is cleared up.” I started moving towards the building. Security and regular police were still milling about the lobby and checking the grounds for Lisa’s attacker.
“I don’t drink, sugar, but I’m always open to cash donations… well, cash and diamonds.” She laughed lightly and I couldn’t help but wonder what the person on the other end of the wire must look like. “ Apparently the cops found the three of yours’ weapons and are trying to escalate this to a terrorist watch. They’ve called in extra security and it’s only a matter of time before the feds show up so you should move now while there are still lots of new faces wandering around. Head to the northeast fire exit. There should be a break in the patrols for the next three minutes. In one minute I’ll set off the alarm at one of the other doors, use the commotion to get in.”
“Got it… one minute.” I started off towards the building at a trot. It was a decent amount of ground to cover in not much time but I made it just as I heard the klaxons going off inside the building. I tried the door but there was no doorknob on the outside. “Holly?”
“On it, I’m disengaging the magnetic lock but you’ll have to find something to pry the door open with.” I looked around the area and found a bit of old scrap metal half-buried under a bush. I wedged it in between the door and the jam and put my weight on it. After a bit of finagling, I managed to move the door enough that I could grab it with my fingertips and pull it the rest of the way open.
“Okay, I’m in.” I moved inside the door just as the next patrol ran by outside. “Where too now?”
“Up the stairs to four. They’ve got heavy patrols moving floor to floor but they aren’t up there yet. Should be clear from then but you’ll essentially be trapping yourself.”
I looked up at the stairwell climbing up the height of the building. My life was turning into stairway after stairway this month, guess I wouldn’t be needing that gym membership I got in the mail after all. As I reached the fourth floor and was about to try the door back into the main building the door opened. I hurled myself over the railing and out into open space my hand missed the handrail and plunged down a floor. Desperately, I grabbed onto the third-floor rail, the impact wrenching my not-yet-healed wounds. I bit back the cry of pain as I saw a face poke out over the rail above me. The cop had a tired look on his face, there was little chance he was enjoying the extra work my presence had caused. He glanced at the wall and then down the stairs to his side with a sigh, he might not have even seen me had I not hidden he was paying so little attention.
“This is Murphy.” He spoke into the radio on his shoulder. “No sign of anyone in the north stairs… heading up to five.” He strolled up the stairs never even glancing down at my precarious situation, for once I was happy at an officer’s incompetence. I clambered over the railing and went back through the door into the officer had exited.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Sorry about that, Hunter, he must have been in a blind spot. They have two officers still patrolling on your floor, we’ll get you to the elevator. Just keep as quiet as you can. Impressive reflexes you have there.” I moved down the hallway slowly, keeping an eye on the branching path where the patrolmen must be. I got to the elevator and hit the up button very slowly, only to be rewarded with a loud bell ringing throughout the floor. “Crap, Hunter, they’re coming. Office, on the right, go now! Fast!”
I half ran, half jumped for the door Holly pointed out, closing the door to just a crack to keep an eye out of. The two guards, a man and a woman, arrived just after the elevator. They looked around for any indication of my whereabouts when a phone went off in the distance. They both hurried back up the corridor as the elevator doors started to close. I ran. I cared little about the noise and more about the opportunity leaving me. I barely managed to slip sideways into the elevator before the doors closed.
“Feds are here, Hunter, looks like they are convinced that your presence here was the prelude to an attack. They are going to try to shut the place down and evacuate to do a thorough search.” I exhaled as Holly told me the news. I wondered if Nate ever had this much trouble tracking down a simple lead. If he did I owed him an apology for looking down on his PI work. “They’re shutting down the elevators. I should be able to stall long enough for you to make it to sixteen but I can’t guarantee you the same ride back down.”
“Heh, with this many people pissed at me maybe I’ll just take the short way down and save everyone the trouble.”
“Don’t even joke about it. Holly cried out with more emotion than I expected from someone I just met a week ago. “If you don’t do something then this situation will get a lot worse before it gets better. There are too many people out there who don’t even know how much they need you right now.”
She was right, of course. An annoying habit I was learning to cope with. “Holly, things might get crazy with all that going on. If I don’t get the chance later, it’s been great working with you.” The elevator stopped and then the lights inside went out. I pulled the scrap metal pry bar back out and worked the doors open. I hadn’t quite made it all the way to sixteen, the floor cutting across the elevator doors a little bit above waist height. I climbed my way up into the reception area and it was just as we left it, quiet and empty. I started to head back to Ben’s office when I noticed a few fichus trees spread around to give the office a happier look. What I had in mind for them was in no way happy.
I grabbed one of the small trees by the trunk and heaved it out of the pot. Dirt fell off the roots all over the floor. I was glad I wouldn’t be the one asked to clean up afterward. I smiled as I shook the last bits of soil from the tree and headed to the office doors. I reached Ben’s office and kicked hard at the door. It flew open with a loud crash before swinging back on its hinges. Guess it wasn’t as locked as I had thought. I pushed through the doorway into the office and there was Ben, looking absolutely nonplussed at my sudden appearance.
“Listen up, hellspawn, I want some answers.” I really had hoped to use some shock and awe to gain the upper hand in the conversation but Ben seemed more engrossed with a spot on the wall than myself.
“My Hunter, such harsh words.” He swung his legs off the desk and turned to face me, his grin broadening. “As the humans say ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.’”
“Good thing I brought this then, isn’t it?” I shook the small tree at him.
“Well done, Hunter, you’ve slain a shrub.” He looked at the plant in my hand a little more. “Gloria loved that bush, not looking forward to explaining this to her on Monday.”
“Look you damned demon I don’t know how much time I have before some very well-armed and upset people show up here and I’m going to have the answers I need by then or I’ll sic every priest, vicar and friar in the tri-state area on your ass.”
“Hunter!” Holly called into my ear. “They know you’re in the building and are headed your way. ETA is three minutes at best. Get out of there!” She was right, but I just simply couldn’t talk myself into leaving empty-handed.
“Let me tell you a little something about myself.” Ben stood up and walked around the desk to me. He was taller than I would have guessed. “Back home I was considered a Marquis… royalty. Nineteen full legions of soldiers under my command to do my bidding. I could talk most people into doing what I wanted and the few I couldn’t met an unfortunate end on the point of a spear.”
“Sounds nice… wife, two point five kids, a yard with a white picket fence? Perhaps you didn’t hear me when I mentioned I was under a bit of a time constraint. We can wax poetic about the good ol’ days over some crumpets another day.” I could hear the heavy tread of booted feet down the hall. They were faster than I expected.
“Yes, the place humans believe the damned go to in the afterlife truly looks like an episode of Leave it to Beaver. I blame the PR department, I keep telling them a few TV ads, a magazine spot or two and we could have nipped this whole thing in the bud before it got out of control.” His entire demeanor was changing in front of me. It was almost like when Thorne got mad in his office earlier, but where the Alpha had fought to contain the thing inside him threatening to tear its way out Ben seemed to welcome it. He was pacing back and forth in the office in front of me and I could feel heat pouring off him at every pass. It was then four men in full SWAT armor broke down the door and ordered our hands in the air. Ben reeled on them, his eyes wide.
“I AM TALKING!” He screamed before I felt a weight slam down on me from above, crushing me to the ground.