I was back in the saloon. I listened to the tinkling piano as I walked forward to the bar. I sat down and the bartender robotically placed a shot glass in front of me and filled it from his jug. I threw the cheap whiskey back and gasped against the chewing tobacco taste. It was a gut punch even though I was ready for it this time. I grabbed a handful of peanuts and turned to the man sitting at the bar. I looked at my father as he sipped at his own glass. He raised it to me as if in a toast.
“Nice work in the alley. Just like I used to do.” He smiled broadly. Like I had just hit the winning home run in the big game.
“Dad, did you work for the government? What happened to you and mom?”
He frowned. I wasn’t sure he was hearing me. His eyes searched the ceiling like he was listening to a far-off sound. He shook his head slightly before continuing, “You still have my things? From my study? They can help you.”
“Dad, I lost them. They burned up in a fire.” Along with my wife and your granddaughter, I thought bitterly.
His frown deepened. “You’ll need them. He’s still out there. I thought he was severed. But I was wrong.” He was searching the ceiling again.“You can still use the scissors. It’s my fault.”
I opened my eyes with a gasp of breath and found myself staring at the ceiling of my bedroom. Damnit. It didn’t appear that my dreams were a two-way street, communication-wise. I was grateful for the contact, but I had so many questions.
I got ready for work and headed into the office. I called my lawyer on the way and spoke with a clerk. I asked them to digitally fax me all the records they had regarding my parent's estate. I almost crashed the Wildcat while digging through my stuff, looking for my new work email address. The clerk took the message and promised to have the request processed by lunchtime.
Tina met me at my desk with a hot cup of Teddy’s Ecuadorian java. It smelled like heaven, especially since I was still shaking off the effects of whisky. Tina was wearing a high-waisted, black pencil skirt, and a white long-sleeved silk blouse with a high collar. Her messy hair was tied up in a messy bun in a way that probably took her an hour and looked stylish as hell. A smart-looking gold-trimmed belt completed her ensemble. The way her silk blouse clung to her body it was tough to tell if she was wearing a bra or not. It looked like, not.
I nodded my thanks and took a sip. That sweet black gold hadn’t hit my stomach before she started in on me. “Did she take you home last night?” She made a half-hearted attempt to make it seem like a casual question.
“Who?”
Tina rolled her eyes. “You know who.”
Jesus, was this a government agency or a high school? “You mean Agent Santiago?”
“Of course, I mean Agent Santiago.”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, but no. We’re co-workers.” I thought about our kiss. Was I lying to Tina or myself?
Tina took a breath and seemed to realize that she was acting a little coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs. “I’m sorry Agent Renshaw. You’re right of course. It’s none of my business. It’s just that Agent Santiago can be” she bit her lip, “assertive. Especially with men. I was worried for you, being so new to the whole idea of metanaturals.” She touched my arm lightly and flushed with relief.
“Yeah, no problem, Tina. I appreciate the concern.” I took another sip of coffee and thought about Alicia's flashing eyes and huge incisors. “But I am a big boy, I can look out for myself. You don’t need to worry.”
She smiled warmly. “You certainly are.” She leaned closer and spoke softly so only I could hear, “I’m free tonight if you don’t have any plans.”
The elevator dinged and Agent Ruthersford exited. Tina straightened and managed to get Teddy coffee before he made it to his desk. Did she already have it poured?
“Ah, thank you, Tina! Good morning Cash.” Teddy set down his brown leather satchel and took a sip.
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“You’re welcome Agent Ruthersford.” Tina cooed. She smiled and gave me a meaningful wink before sauntering back to her desk.
Teddy sat down across from me and started unpacking his things. “Did she give you the third degree?” He asked me without looking up.
“She did.” I sighed. “I don’t understand what’s such a big deal.”
Teddy smiled. “Our little outing last night has become quite the topic of discussion around the office. What did you say to Alicia last night that made her storm out? You know what, I don’t want to know.” He raised his hands. “I will only contribute to the scuttlebutt.”
“Around the office?” I looked around. The floor was empty except for the one blond agent that had been there yesterday. Greyson I think his name was. He was busy typing something and ignored me.
“There are sixteen investigative agents assigned to this bureau Cash. Most are away on assignments. But we have both technological and magical means of keeping up with the latest office romances.” He shrugged as if to say “What are you going to do?”
“Office romance? What romance? I went home alone.”
“Exactly so! As did Agent Santiago, alone, I mean. That in of itself is news. Quite a bit of money changed hands, mine own included.”
I sighed. What kind of crazy quilting circle had I joined?
I logged into my computer and busied myself with some corrections to the report the day before that had been added. I also started a list of things that I remember inheriting from my father. I remembered the globe and the pince-nez. I remembered the scissors, now that he had mentioned it in my dream. They were not very large, but very ornate and I think they had been made out of gold. I remembered that my father wore them occasionally on his belt, in a little special holster. That seemed extremely strange at the time but made sense if they were some sort of powerful artifact that he used during his investigations.
The office was starting to wake up and I saw Director Northcutt exit his office. I hadn’t seen him come in and I was fairly certain his office had been dark and I arrived. He walked purposely over to our desks with a huge smile on his face, “Morning boys! How you doing?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I got a new case for you. Something that will help you forget all about the tattoo business.”
He slapped a thick file folder down onto Teddy’s desk. I went and stood behind him so I could see as they leafed through it. “We had a burglary last night. Several items were taken that fall right into our wheelhouse.”
“The Reliable Reliquary?” I read off of the top of the police cover sheet. “Isn’t that the high-end antique place on Monroe?” The pieces snapped into place before I finished the question. “They sell all sorts of magical bullshit, don’t they?
Teddy furrowed his brow as he began to flip through the pages. “The Reliable Reliquary sells a mixture of mundane antiques as well as magical relics.”
I tried to imagine the place in my mind. I knew I had been there at least once with Sarah. She loved antiquing. “That place has some pretty serious security, doesn’t it. I remember there being bars on the windows and some high-tech cameras.”
Chief Northcutt nodded. “All kinds of security, magical and otherwise. But nevertheless, several items showed up missing on this morning’s inventory. There was no sign of forced entry, but this was left in the till. Next to all the cash that wasn’t taken.”
He took a plastic bag out of his pocket and placed it on Teddy’s desk. Agent Ruthersford looked up from the file and held the bag up to the light. Inside was a simple-looking business card. The cream paper was blank on one side. On the opposite side was an ornate, stylized butterfly. Looking at the wings, I could read the letters “BB” with the first “B” reversed.
Teddy threw an inquisitive glance at Director Northcutt. “The Farfalla?”
The Director grimaced. “Seems like it. Look, boys. She fucked up this time. This is the end of the line for her. This gets solved. I don’t care how you do it, but we are bringing her in. She lifted some very sensitive items. Barnum wants a scalp. Capisce?” He smiled like he made a joke. He slapped both of us on the back and retreated to his office. “Let me know if you need anything.” He said over his shoulder. “Top Priority!” His office door closed.
I looked at Teddy, “Farfalla?”
“It’s Italian. It means butterfly. We think the BB are her initials.” He traced the letters on the card with a finger through the plastic bag.
“So what, she left a calling card? Who does that? This isn’t a movie.”
Teddy eyed me up and down. “Who wears cowboy pistols in this day and age?”
I thought for a moment. “She’s an Archetype?”
“That’s the prevailing theory. She’s a cat burglar. The Cat Burglar. World-famous.”
“And, she hit a Texas Antique store.”
“I can understand your confusion Cash. But the Reliable Reliquary itself is somewhat famous. It offers for sale a wide assortment of very powerful magical artifacts. It also offers an extremely unique service. Rentals.”
“Rentals?”
“Many of the things that they sell are prohibitively expensive for most of the world. Mages often only need things for limited periods of time, often to craft other artifacts.”
I nodded. “They can’t afford to buy them, but they can afford to rent them.”
Teddy flipped through several more pages. “Exactly, they are fronted the rental fee by third parties with the promise of payment whenever they create what they are working on, or murder their target, etc. It’s a dangerous game and the Reliable Reliquary is a dangerous place. They employ certain unsavory methods for retrieving overdue artifacts. We have investigated them more than once.”
“Huh. Interesting.” I was a real wordsmith.
Theodore slammed the file shut. “Dammit. This is the last thing we need.” He massaged his temples with a thumb and forefinger. “Well, only one thing for it. Finish up here. We’ll leave at,” he looked at his watch “10:30.”
I sat back down at my desk and finished up my corrections and answered a few emails. I noticed that I got an email from my law firm. I printed out the attached documents and threw them in a folder just as Teddy stood up and headed for the elevator. “You drive. I need to finish going through this.” He held up the case file.
“You’re the boss.” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. This sounded like an awesome case. Even if it wasn't directly tied to the tattoo mages, I was back on the hunt.