Shanahan looked at the tower. He couldn't see the top from where he was. He wondered who had built it, and why. Then he tried to figure out where Wyndham would be so he could break in and get her back.

He shouldn't have left the sword wherever he had left it. He might have needed it as a threat. People tended not to fear grumpy old men who looked harmless.

He decided he could get another one whenever he ran into one of the local cops. He couldn't make his punishment any worse for anything else he might do.

He wondered if he would have done things differently if he had known they were cops. He doubted it. They had all the marks of being dirty. There wasn't a reason to hold back unless they gave him Wyndham and the door home.

The thought they wanted her for her talent played in his mind. The ability to find anything had to be better than being able to run for long distances. If their boss could do the same thing, why did they need her?

Taking the talent away from her seemed the obvious answer, but it led to questions he didn't have enough information to answer.

He had a feeling that Grandview not being around in person had something to do with Wyndham being taken.

He looked up at the vast sprawl of the tower. He took a breath. All of the side issues fled from his mind. He needed to get into the place and find Wyndham. Once they talked, he would have a better picture of how things lay, and what they needed to do next to get back to New York.

Killing the Weapons weren't a priority unless they got in his way.

The front desk had said The Door's living quarters were on the twentieth floor. He had used the big dummy to punch a hole in the outer wall at the fifth. Could he climb up to the fifth and get in through that hole, or should he climb up to the twentieth? Could he punch through the wall like his enemy?

Shanahan thought that he could break in with the new strength he had been given. He didn't know what the limits were, but he felt he could at least do that. He checked the ledges. They seemed to be at every fifth floor. He only needed to reach the fourth one. Then he could look for a way in without revealing himself.

He circled around until he could see the hole in the tower. He frowned at a guard standing up there. The other hole created by the Sword probably had a guard too.

He walked around until he couldn't see either hole from the ground. He grabbed the stone wall and pulled himself up. He nodded. Digging his fingers into the stone didn't take any effort on his part at all.

He pulled his body up as quickly as crawling on the ground. He must look like Spider-Man doing his thing. He hoped no one spotted him from the ground. He didn't need an alarm being sounded.

He doubted the goons knew where Wyndham was. He didn't want them telling the brass he was on the way. There was no way for him to stop that magic blade, or the popping away.

Surprise was the only thing that would let him carry the day. If he killed either one of them and took their abilities, he would be able to pop around, or slice people up with his mind. That would make him unstoppable for the lower ranks, maybe on par with any of the other weapon users, and give him a chance against the big kahuna.

If Grandview showed up, he would have to figure out what the guy could do beyond what he already knew fast. Otherwise he was taking a dirt nap.

Did Wyndham even need him? Should he be trying to get home to his girls instead of doing this? He passed the fifth floor ledge and decided he had to do something. Wyndham knew the players, she knew where to get a door back. He couldn't expect to just be allowed to wander around with what he had.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The other factions would want what he had. It would be money, or coercion, to get him on their side. Either way they would want someone who could do what he did working for them instead of punching people's heads off in the middle of nowhere on his own.

Shanahan didn't know enough to accept such an offer from anyone else. Wyndham probably could have negotiated something for herself, but hadn't. That said the other factions weren't interested in independents operating on their turf.

He wondered how the oracles got away with wandering around and giving advice. Maybe they were useful enough to leave alone. The ability to read the future could be enough to wreck anyone trying to extort them.

When this was over, maybe he could have a long conversation with Renfield about how he could shape the future to give him what he wanted.

What did he want from the future?

Shanahan paused at the fifteenth floor. He looked around. The city spread out around the tower. No one seemed to be looking up at him.

He climbed up to the twentieth floor and paused on the ledge. He needed to get inside without attracting attention. How did he do that?

He worked his way around the tower. A window would be good in his opinion. How much higher could he go before he started suffering from oxygen loss? Was there such a thing here?

He didn't want to find out while he was clinging to the outside of a building high enough to get killed if he fell off of it.

Shanahan found a narrow window after a few minutes of ledge walking. He peered through it. He saw a hall beyond. Doors to rooms lined the hall. Guards stood at the end of the hall where the steps would bring visitors to the floor. They looked bored to him.

Why even have guards at a place where no one could get to without crossing the other minions on the lower floors?

Maybe that was another thing in operation that he didn't know about and had no way of asking what was going on.

He certainly didn't expect an answer from the people he was thinking about wrecking. They wouldn't tell him the truth if they were under duress.

They probably wouldn't tell him the truth at all.

Shanahan watched the guards through the narrow slit. Sometimes they looked around. Mostly they talked about things that weren't on the floor with them. He thought he could get inside the tower and find cover if he was careful.

He didn't want to leave a trail of bodies while he was looking around for Wyndham.

He was there to search and rescue, not search and destroy. That could come up later if things didn't go his way.

Shanahan placed his hand against the stone block next to the window. He pushed gently on the wall. He ramped up the pressure as he tried to be silent. He almost smiled when the block slid forward. He had picked one close to the floor. It slid out of his way, but gave him cover.

He caught the next block up with his hand as it started to fall out of place. He stacked it on the first block. He crawled inside the hall. He checked the guards. They hadn't seen him from the way they were still talking.

He decided to leave them alone if he could. A rope hung from the wall next to where they were standing. He felt that it was some kind of bell rope. He should find the Door's rooms and see if there was any clue to what was going on.

He would worry about the guards if he heard the bell ringing. Then he would be thinking about getting off the floor and going through them would be on his mind.

He looked around and saw a door with a door engraved on it. He crept over to the door and pushed in. The lock gave way under the pressure of his muscles.

He checked the guards. They hadn't turned to look at the slight noise he was making in his break-in. He slipped inside and closed the door.

Shanahan looked around. Whitehouse didn't have that many belongings. Maps pinned to the walls interested him. He took them down and rolled them up. He looked for a container. He settled for a bag that he could slip on across his body. He didn't see anything related to the tower.

He also didn't see anything that related to Wyndham. Where were they keeping her?

Shanahan didn't like his options. If he tried to move around, he would have to deal with the lower ranks and chance an alarm being raised. If he remained in place, the Door might discover him and get away to raise the alarm.

The fact that the Door could drop someone else on top of him while he was trying to deal with the man was not lost on Shanahan.

Should he go ask the mooks where their boss was? Would they even know? Who would?

He realized the rooms didn't have windows. What time was it? Would Whitehouse be at the mess, or out on the street?

Shanahan doubted the man would be out on the street while everyone was looking for him to do something to find Wyndham.

It was more likely that the Door and the Sword was together trying to plan around what he would do.

If he knew what he was going to do, it would be easier on them.

Shanahan heard a popping sound. He turned to face the source of the sound. Whitehouse stared at him.