by R. Lee Moore
Tamina surged after him, and kicked his legs out from beneath him dropping the man like a sack of bricks at her feet. He didn't even try to fight back. He just curled up into a little ball with his head tucked in tightly between his knees. Tamina shot a pair of contemptuous stomps into the side of the man's head that made him twitch and spasm on the pavement from the impact.
When she was sure neither of the two men were going to be an issue, Tamina allowed herself to notice the panicked screams and shouts that had erupted all around her. She swept over the crowd with a murderous gaze that sent anyone unfortunate enough to meet her eyes scattering away as fast as their legs could carry them. No one was going to try to get in her way anymore, she'd made sure of that. Normal people couldn't handle the violence she was capable of.
She strode determinedly through the entrance and down the hallways following the lengths of cables stretching from the doorway towards where the crew was working. She held her weapon loosely at her side, glaring dangerously at anyone she passed to keep them from getting ideas. Most of the people who she ran into took one look at her and the heavy pistol in her hands and hastily dove out of her way. She was sure that at least one of them was going to be on their phones calling the police in a panic, but Tamina figured she'd deal with that when she had to.
She paused just beyond the archway that led onto the set and growled angrily under her breath. No one on set seemed to have noticed the commotion going on outside because of her arrival. It should have surprised her, but it didn't. Instead, it just angered her all the more.
These people, who could have easily helped and provided the information she and Lieutenant Decker needed, were so damn absorbed in their own depraved little world that they hadn't even noticed she was there.
They were all clustered around this large dirty mattress on the floor with a pair of men and a single woman writhing around with whimpers and deep throated moans in a sweaty pile on top of it. The lights arrayed around them were so bright and hot, that Tamina could feel the heat emanating off of them the moment she walked through the doors.
From what she could see, the set-up looked like it was a stereotypical two men one woman threesome. Nothing special about it at all if you were able to overlook the burning amber glow in the woman's eyes. She was definitely a shapeshifter, Tamina thought. Probably a werewolf. The two men however were human. That much was obvious from the slightly worried glaze in their eyes. She couldn't blame them. When a shapeshifters eyes changed color they were either very angry, or they were beginning their change. The woman beneath the two men may have been growling and snarling, but Tamina was relatively certain it wasn't out of anger. If she had to guess, it was likely just the opposite, which left only one option. Tamina recoiled at just the thought of what these people were doing.
She raised her sidearm up, took a careful aim, and squeezed her trigger. The weapon bucked in her hand and roared out with the sound of thunder. One of the lamps surrounding the performers shattered in a violent explosion of glass and metal that sent shards raining out in all directions. Everyone noticed her now, but Tamina wasn't finished. Not yet. She wanted to make sure there was no doubt of her intentions and willingness to commit violence. With a steady hand, she fired off several more well aimed shots that obliterated each of the remaining lights surrounding the trio on the floor in quick succession.
There were terrified screams, and people scrambling for cover. Everyone had scattered in a desperate attempt to get away from the sudden eruption of gunfire except the werewolf on the mattress.
Her partners left her behind. Left her laying on the dirty mattress writhing with her bones cracking and reforming painfully within her flesh. Tamina could see tears and rips in her flesh beginning to ripple all across the woman's bared skin. There was fear in her glowing eyes, fear that was fueling her change. She was about to lose control of herself, and if that happened, she wouldn't be able to stop the violent rampage that inevitably followed. People would die, and if that happened, Tamina was going to have to put her down.
Tamina crossed the now empty set and stood over the woman on the mattress and aimed her weapon directly between the shifting woman's eyes. She could see the realization of what was about to happen flicker through the woman. It made her tremble and shake violently through the agony of the early stages of her transformation. There was still humanity in those eyes mixed in with the stark terror and pain. Maybe it was enough to keep the woman alive.
“I'm loaded with Wolfsbane,” Tamina said firmly. “You either calm yourself or I'll take your fucking head right here and now. Can you do that? Can you calm yourself enough to pull back? You're only going to get one chance.”
There was only one way out, and the woman beneath her knew it. She closed her eyes tightly and gave a quick jerking nod of her head. Tamina held firmly in place with her weapon aimed down at the terrified werewolf until she saw the trembling and shaking ease up, and the changes in her body freezing in place before slowly reversing.
The woman began to whimper and cry softly, and Tamina felt a pang of sympathy for her. From everything she'd ever been told, stopping the change wasn't easy. It was supposed to be one of the most agonizing experiences a shapeshifter could go through. More painful even than just letting the change go through. It was some sort of built-in evolutionary mechanism meant to keep them from holding back.
Once she was certain the woman wasn't going to change, she backed away and swept her gaze around the room at the remaining occupants. All those that hadn't fled out through either the doors or the windows had huddled in terror in back corners and behind various equipment. She'd gotten their attention, Tamina thought. Good.
She nudged the woman on the mattress to get her attention and to open her eyes, then motioned her out in front of her and towards the wall with the barrel of her pistol. The woman didn't look like a fighter, but she was still a werewolf. Tamina wasn't going to take any chances.
“So,” she started with a calm but menacing tone. “I'm looking for whichever of you people is in charge. Director, producer, whoever calls the shots around here. And I really hope for all your sakes it wasn't one of the people who took a dive out the window, or I'm going to be really upset. So, go ahead and speak up. Point someone out to me, or I'm going to have to get all sorts of creative, and let me tell ya, you don't want that.”
It didn't take long for the crew that remained to vigorously shove two of their own against their will roughly forward. The unlucky two, one man and one woman, frantically tried to push their way back to safety, but neither one of them were having much luck. It didn't look like anyone else in the room was willing to risk themselves on their behalf. So much for loyalty, Tamina thought to herself.
“I will shoot you if you don't get your asses over here,” Tamina growled.
The casually dressed man in jeans and a polo broke down instantly, and fell blubbering and pleading down to his knees. He started trying to crawl back towards the rest of the crew to hide behind them, and Tamina felt a surge of rage filling her at the man's actions. Had she been anyone else, here for any other reason, the man would be putting the lives of the people he worked with at risk. He didn't care about any of them, he was just trying to save his own skin. Probably wouldn't have even cared if any of them got killed because of him, as long as he survived. The thought alone, true or not, enraged Tamina all the more.
She marched quickly up behind him, grabbed him by the back of the hair and flung him backward onto his back. The shriek of unadulterated terror that shot from his lips was ear-piercing. He curled himself into a ball tighter than the security guard had and started keening and wailing in a shrill pitiful tone. It made Tamina groan and flash a deeply disapproving glare at him. He wasn't going to be any use to her, she decided, but it didn't mean she had to be nice about it.
She snapped a kick into the man's midsection as hard as she could, followed by another, and another. He'd live, but she was going to make him earn it first.
In con
trast to the man now curled up and bleeding on the floor, the woman had managed to find some well of courage inside her, and drew herself up with a shaky defiance. Which might have been believable if she hadn't been trembling so hard and fumbling at the hem of her suit jacket with such a white knuckled grip. When Tamina's eyes met hers, the woman's brave facade crumbled under the scrutiny. Tamina couldn't blame her. Most people didn't hold up well to having a fully loaded pistol pressed against their temple. It made her job a hell of a lot easier that way.
“What-what do you want?” the woman whimpered pitifully. “Please. Just take whatever it is you came here for and go. We don't want any trouble.”
Tamina gave a cruel smile that made the woman she was holding at gunpoint wince fearfully.
“Oh I plan on it,” she said darkly. “I'm Supernatural Affairs, and someone here is going to give me what I want, or I'm gonna start capping people. Starting with you. So, which one of you wants to get on my good side and go first?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The woman stood dumbfounded and motionless with an interesting mixed of fear and confusion warring with each other across her face. She whirled around all at once and threw a murderous accusatory glare at the still naked and still very shaken werewolf huddled off to the side. If looks could kill, that poor girl would have been obliterated on the spot, Tamina thought to herself.
“Carly!“ the woman accused. “You said you were legal you little bitch! This is your fault isn't it?”
Tamina's eye started twitching as she watched the girl whose head she'd moments earlier threatened to blow clean off if she went through her change. She'd huddled into her shoulders and kind of hunched shamefully into herself at the other woman's accusations. Tamina had never seen a timid werewolf before. It should have been a contradiction of terms, because as far as she knew timid weak werewolves didn't last long. For various reasons.
“You're gonna regret this you goddamn mutt,” the woman raged. “You're going to pay for this. All of this.”
“I'm real close to pulling the trigger here,” Tamina growled at the woman in front of her. She made a point of pressing the slightly warmed barrel of her weapon against her forehead right between the eyes. The enraged woman's eyes widened in alarm, and she began to tremble and whimper. “You wanna back that shit off? Ain't none of that shit you just said is happening. Got it?”
She glanced over and focused her attention fully on the werewolf hunched miserably into herself. There was only one legal issue that Tamina could think of that a werewolf like her could have had that would have involved Supernatural Affairs, and that was just a registration and paperwork issue. Nothing anyone would go and shoot up a film set for. Usually.
“Carly is it?” Tamina said evenly. “Why don't you go and get something to cover yourself up with huh. This bitch here don't know what she's talking about. I ain't here for you. Don't go far though okay? May need to talk to you.”
The wolf-girl nodded her head without lifting her eyes from the ground, then promptly skittered away. Hopefully to get herself dressed, Tamina thought. She wasn't bad to look at, but having a naked person running around while you were trying to interrogate people was a tad distracting.
“Alright little miss thing,” Tamina said turning her attention back to the woman in the suit. “I'm guessing you're the one in charge here right? I got some questions for you, and if I think you're holding anything back, or god forbid lying to me, I'm going to beat you to death with my bare hands. You get me?”
The woman paled and nodded her head. Tamina always felt better when people took her threats as seriously as they were meant to be taken. It made things go a lot faster and smoother.
“Name,” Tamina demanded.
“Jen-Jennifer. Jennifer King,” the woman sputtered. “I'm the um, I'm the executive producer and co-owner of Wolfdancer productions.”
“Wolfdancer?” Tamina scoffed incredulously. “You have got to be kidding me. No. Not-not what I'm after.”
Tamina waved her sidearm to shut the woman up and keep her from continuing that line of thought. She hadn't asked for her damn resume. People did that though when they were frightened. They tended to babble and spill whatever they could to get the gun out of their face. It was what made it so effective. Did have its downsides though.
“Listen, Jen,” Tamina said. “With all those fancy titles I didn't ask for, you gotta be one of the people LAPD called up and told that one of your performers had just gotten mauled by a werewolf and dumped in an alley. What was your response again? Oh yeah, fuck you we ain't telling you shit. That sound about right?”
The woman's eyes widened, and she vehemently began shaking her head and flailing her hands in front of her like she was trying to ward off an evil spirit.
“What? No,” she denied. “Is this about Amy? No! You've got it all wrong. There are legal issues. We can't just disclose client or employee information without a warrant. You have to understand-”
“The fuck I do,” Tamina snapped cutting the woman off mid-sentence. “Amy Lynn is dead. I don't give a damn about your legal issues. You have information that's vital to figuring out the deaths of at least two people so far, and you're hiding behind some bullshit lawyers. I should shoot you just for that. Nah, that ain't happening. We're just going to skip over all that and get right to the part where you tell me what I want to know.”
“No,” King replied defiantly.
She was shaking her head and looking like she was rebuilding whatever courage she'd tried showing earlier. It was like Tamina could almost see the woman's sense of self-importance and entitlement rear its head right before her eyes. It was stunning to see such a disconnect with reality coupled with an apparent utter lack of any sense of self-preservation, Tamina thought.
“You can't do this,” King said suddenly more sure of herself. “I'm calling the police, and you can talk to my lawyers about this. We still have rights in this country. Amy's death doesn't change that.”
Tamina gave a loud barking laugh in response to let the woman know just how she felt about all of that. To make the point more clear she locked the hammer back on her Hardballer with that all too familiar click, and made sure it was aimed right at the woman's face. The confidence just melted away after that. Why did people keep telling her she couldn't do things, Tamina wondered? She'd have thought they'd have gotten the point by now. She'd made her entrance guns blazing for fuck's sake. These people were idiots.
“Yeah I'm going to stop you right there,” Tamina said with a grim smile. “What part of mauled to death by a werewolf didn't penetrate that thick skull of yours? Now personally, I'd have thought just mentioning Supernatural Affairs would have told you just how different this whole situation is. Your lawyers ain't going to do shit.”
“That-that doesn't matter,” King replied shakily. “I'm-we're human. No, we have rights. You can't come in here threatening people and throwing around accusations without any proof. No, you're going to have to talk to my lawyers about this. I've got nothing to say to you“
“Really,” Tamina said with a cruel little smile across her lips. “Lady, first, I ain't accusing you of a damn thing outside of withholding information. And second, you don't seem to understand that I am legally well within my rights to do whatever I think is necessary to get what I need. Which, since we're talking about a murder includes putting a bullet dead center in the face of whatever self-entitled sanctimonious little bitch that gets in my way. Laws change when there's a supernatural involved.”
That seemed to do the trick. The woman's face drained of all color and her eyes focused almost exclusively on the barrel of the weapon pointed directly at her. The reality of the situation slowly dawned across her face and her fear returned with a vengeance.
Tamina's response was a knowing smile and slow nod of her head just to make sure the woman had no more illusions fluttering around in that head of hers. She'd meant every word she'd said, and after the last few days, she was looking for even the slight
est excuse to unload.
“You have access to the information I need for the case I'm working on?” Tamina demanded in a low quiet tone.
“My-my laptop,” King said looking over at the remnants of a small overturned table. Its former contents scattered all over the floor.
The woman was looking over to where the laptop was with enough dread that Tamina became a bit suspicious. She was probably hiding something, Tamina thought. These types of people usually were. They were all involved in something or other that they shouldn't be. Luckily for Jennifer King though, Tamina couldn't give a damn what kind of sleazy illegal crap was on her laptop. That wasn't her problem. She just wanted information about the murders she was working on, and her patience was wearing thin.
“Then why are you still standing there?” Tamina growled. “I'm sure there's a printer somewhere you can link up to. I need two copies of everything. The rest of you, if you ain't involved in this or got anything to add, I'd suggest getting the hell out of here before I lose what patience I have left.”
The remaining crew members scattered leaving only Tamina, King, the man still curled up on the floor whimpering, and surprisingly the now dressed werewolf girl Carly. Tamina released the hammer of her weapon and slid it back into the holster beneath her jacket. She turned to the werewolf and tilted her head expectantly. The girl fidgeted nervously under Tamina's scrutiny and quickly averted her eyes. Way too timid to be a werewolf, Tamina told herself. The girl wasn't going to have an easy life as a shapeshifter like that.
“Spit it out,” she said sternly. “I ain't going to shoot you. Unless you start going feral on me again anyway. You aren't are you?”
“No!“ Carly squeaked out in alarm.
“Okay then, what you want?” Tamina demanded.
Carly bit her lip. She looked unsure of herself. Uncertain. She kept opening her mouth as if to speak, but just as quickly clammed up.