Darkness Unbound
Page 13

“Marcus Handberry, as we know and love him today,” he said, touching another screen.
A picture of a pockmarked, thin-framed, dark-haired man came into view, and something within me shivered. The picture had been taken from a side angle, but he was looking at the camera and there was nothing resembling humanity in the muddy depths of his eyes. Even if Marcus Handberry was human, he’d left any semblance of it behind long ago.
“According to his driver’s license,” Stane continued, “he was born in Ireland and came here ten years ago. He holds dual citizenship, but travels on an Australian passport.”
“How can he have all that if he only popped into existence a year ago?” Tao asked.
I glanced at him. “It’s easy enough to do if you know the right people and have enough money.”
He gave me a long look. “And you know this because …?”
I smiled. “I have an aunt and uncle who were or are guardians.”
Stane glanced at me. “Then why are you the one investigating this creep and not them?”
“Oh, they are. I just refuse to sit back and twiddle my thumbs.”
“It would undoubtedly be safer.”
“Undoubtedly.” I flicked a hand toward the screen, and he took the hint.
“I did a search using his photo as a reference, but I can’t find anything so far. Either he’s had work done, or he really did pop up fully formed a year ago.” He glanced at us. “If you could get a fingerprint, that might help.”
“Unless he’s been re-fingerprinted as well.”
“That would be a costly procedure, would it not?” Tao asked. “And surely if he had that sort of money, he wouldn’t own a dump like the Phoenix.”
“Unless the Phoenix is a cover for something else.”
Stane smiled. “That was my thought as well, but I can’t find anything that suggests he’s involved in anything nefarious. Nor does the club seem to be anything more than a rowdy bar catering to less-than-savory types.”
If he wasn’t involved in anything nefarious, he wouldn’t have taken on the job of kidnapping and killing me. “Any idea what Handberry actually is?”
“According to his records, human, but I’ve walked past the man and whatever he is, it isn’t human.”
“But you couldn’t tell what else he might be?” The men who’d attacked me hadn’t smelled of any race, either—even though several of them had half changed. And I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Handberry had the same no-species scent, given that he was apparently the man in charge. But why would he put a human in charge of his nonhuman thugs? Unless that so-called human was something else, and I just hadn’t picked up on it.
“He smelled vaguely of cat,” Stane said, “but the scent of a cat shifter is usually far stronger and more acidic. If I hadn’t almost run into the man, I wouldn’t have even smelled it.”
“And why would you be running into him if you’re always on the bridge?”
He grinned. “Even I am forced to obey the needs of my body during the full-moon phase.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So why are you here rather than at a club?”
“Because the moon heat has been temporarily sated, and besides, my baby misses me if I’m away too long.”
He patted his bridge affectionately, and I snorted softly. “Have you found anything else?”
Stane shook his head. “But,” he said, rising to walk across to the neatly stacked shelving unit lining the rear wall of his main room, “if you’d like to plant this little electronic gadget, I’ll be able to hack into their security system and keep an eye on him for you.”
He came back with something that looked like a little black beetle. It even moved like one.
“What is it?” I asked, leaning closer but not actually touching it. Bugs, like spiders, weren’t really my favorite things to play with.
“This, my friends, is a semi-intelligent spybot, and the latest in nanotechnology.”
“It’s a robot?” I said, touching it lightly. What looked like bug-skin was actually cold metal. “How does it work?”
“I give it basic commands from here, and it goes to work. In this case, you drop it inside the Phoenix, and I’ll program it to go into the office area and hide in some corner. It’ll then send through everything that goes on in that office.”
“And what if someone spots it?” Tao asked. “You couldn’t afford to get something like this squashed by a well-placed boot.”
“That’s where the intelligence comes in. If it senses a threat, it scuttles.”
“Amazing,” I murmured. And scary. No one would ever suspect that an everyday-looking bug could be a spy camera. It made me wonder just what else was out there. I glanced at him. “How the hell did you get hold of it?”
“Ask no secrets and you’ll be told no lies.” He grinned and dropped it into my palm. “I’ll program it as you’re heading to the bar. Just be sure to place it near the office. Otherwise the walk will drain it and it won’t be able to transmit immediately.”
“So it recharges itself?”
He nodded. “With whatever is the closest power source—in this case it’ll be either body heat or heat from the lights.”
I wrapped my fingers around it. Its little legs made my skin itch, and it felt for all the world like I was holding a real bug. I shuddered and carefully dropped it into the unused coin section of my purse. At least it wouldn’t get lost there.
Tao glanced at his watch, then said, “We’d better get going. You’ve got the morning shift tomorrow, remember?” When I groaned, he slapped me lightly on the back, adding with a smile, “It’s Wednesday. Wednesdays are always slow.”
For him maybe. I was the one who did all the paperwork, and Wednesday was paperwork day. But I was betting that all the little numbers were not going to make sense after tonight.
“Thanks for all this, Stane. I really appreciate it.”
“Thank you for the Bollinger. I shall enjoy it at my leisure. Or swap it for something shiny.” He nodded toward the screen. “I’ll switch off the shield when you get down there.”
Tao touched a hand to my back and guided me down the stairs. The night air seemed fresher after the mustiness of the shop, but it was no less noisy. The heavy beat of music seemed to vibrate through my body, and the sheer loudness hurt my ears. It was going to be hell inside but if it helped get some answers, then it’d be worth it.
Two heavyset men were standing on either side of the iron gates that served as an entrance. One was a bird shifter of some kind, and the other smelled of cat. They looked us up and down, then the grimier of the two flashed some teeth and opened the door.
“Enjoy your night,” cat boy said, his voice sounding as if it were coming from the vicinity of his toes.
Tao grunted. It seemed to fit the atmosphere.
Surprisingly, the noise inside wasn’t actually any worse than outside, but the overwhelming scent of humanity and alcohol had me wishing for nose plugs. The Phoenix was an old-fashioned bar—meaning people basically stood around drinking. There was a three-piece band huddled in one corner pumping out noise, and at the rear there seemed to be half a dozen billiard tables, most of them occupied. The bar dominated the left-hand side of the room, and the crowd before it was three deep. If there was an office, I couldn’t immediately see it.
“Let’s see what’s at the rear,” Tao said, his lips close to my ear. Wolf hearing or not, I probably wouldn’t have heard him otherwise.
We weaved our way through the crowded shadows and billiards tables to the small, tabled area at the back of the bar. The smell of alcohol was thicker here, but this seemed to be more a “couples” area, if the pairings at the tables were anything to go by. There were three tables free, and one of them was nice and close to both the back wall and a somewhat battered-looking door. It had to be the office, given it had a burly, bronzed beefcake type standing watchfully next to it. Either that, or it was a storeroom. In this noisy, boozy crowd, there was probably good reason to keep an eye on the supplies.
“I’ll go get us a beer,” Tao said as I sat down. “Try not to cause too many problems.”
I snorted softly. “I’m not the one who enjoys a fight, boyo.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” He grinned and cracked his knuckles, then spun around, whistling softly as he made his way back to the bar.
I shook my head and hoped like hell people stayed out of his way. These days, Tao never backed away from a fight—in fact, he often went looking for them. It was almost as if he needed to keep proving himself—and not to anyone else, but to himself.
I leaned back in the chair and tried not to breathe too deeply. Even so, it was hard to ignore the scents that swam around me. Everyone in here was human—even the burly guard at the door. My gaze flicked down. Light crept out from the crack between the door and the floor. Somebody was obviously in.
I drew the bug out of my purse and carefully placed it near the wall. Its little feelers twitched for several seconds, then it scuttled away, getting temporarily lost in the shadows before something small and black ran between the guard’s feet and under the door. The bug was in.
With nothing else to do, I tapped my fingers against the somewhat grimy tabletop and tried not to think about how badly I wanted to get out of this place. Or the fact that I’d given up an undoubtedly amazing night of sex to come here.
Tao returned with two glasses of beer, handing me one as he sat down. “At least it’s cold,” I said, licking the froth from my lips. In a place like this, that had to be a bonus. I nodded toward the doorway. “Looks like Handberry is in.”
“Well, the light is on,” Tao said. “That doesn’t mean Handberry is home.”
“True.”
“Did you deliver the package?”
I nodded. “It scuttled in about five minutes ago.”
“Then hopefully Stane is picking up the feed okay.”
“With what that thing is probably worth, he’d be pissed off if he didn’t.”
Tao snorted. “Trust me, Stane wouldn’t have paid for it. He would have done some sort of nefarious deal. He’s got a nice sideline of black-market electronics.”
I wasn’t entirely surprised. “So the mess in the shop is a cover?”
“Would you think of looking for illegal components in all that grime?”
“Not when there are probably hundreds of spiders just waiting to pounce.”
“The webs are fake. Stane hates spiders as much—” He paused, glancing toward the front of the bar as a commotion started up. Two men were going at it, the smack of flesh against flesh audible even above the rest of the noise. It didn’t last for long—security moved in quickly and escorted them out of the venue.
But a reaper followed them out.
I shivered and took a quick sip of beer. It didn’t help much. Nothing did—not when I knew death was so close.
“They don’t muck around,” Tao commented.
“I suppose they can’t afford to in this sort of crowd.” I scanned the room, looking for another reaper. Looking for mine. I couldn’t see either, and something within me relaxed a little.
The guarded door was suddenly flung open and Handberry stalked out. His weaselly, pockmarked features were stained a dark shade of red, and the stink of anger poured off him.
“Matt,” he snapped, barely even glancing at the guard, “I’m off home. If anyone is looking for me, tell them to f**k off until tomorrow.”
“Yes, boss,” the guard said, relief crossing his features before settling back into bored disinterest. Maybe Handberry was as unpleasant to work for as he looked.
Handberry strode past our table and pushed his way through the crowd. Not that it was hard—this place might be filled with humans, but even they were feeling the fury radiating off him, and they parted like the Red Sea.
Tao finished his beer in one long gulp, but I didn’t bother. With my wolf constitution, drinking any alcohol that fast tended to make my head spin, even if I didn’t actually get drunk often. I had enough wolf in me to prevent that, at least.
Tao caught my hand and led me back through the crowd. He was big enough that people tended to move for us, so we weren’t that far behind Handberry when he exited.
“Leaving so soon?” the toothy guard asked.
“The band is too f**king loud,” Tao commented, glancing after Handberry but turning right toward to his car.
“Fucking werewolves,” the guard muttered. “There’s no pleasing the bastards.”
“Werewolves just have higher standards.” Though Tao’s comment was soft, we both knew that the cat shifter, at least, would hear it.
Anger swirled through the night after us, but the two men remained at their posts. Maybe if Handberry hadn’t still been visible, it would have been a different matter.
Tao opened the passenger door for me, then ran around to the driver’s side and climbed in. On the opposite side of the street, just up from the club, Handberry was getting into a red pickup. After several seconds, he pulled out into the street, tires smoking as he hit the gas.
“Moron,” Tao muttered as he followed at a more sedate pace.
“Wonder what’s made him so angry?”
He glanced at me. “Maybe he just found out that the two thugs he sent after a certain werewolf failed in their task.”
“I’d call it more than a failure,” I mused. “One is dead, and the other is in the hands of the Directorate.”