Fang and Claw

by Markie Madden

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Jason Blyge wasn’t at home. Lacey even went to the trouble to ring another apartment and ask for access to the building, and Colton pounded on the door for several minutes, but his knocks remained unanswered. According to the receptionist at McCormick Shine, who was on her way out the door for the weekend, the main computer at the office only synced with the systems at various locations in the city on an hourly basis. As it was just after five, Lacey stopped by Blyge’s apartment first.

  Now, they were on their way to the Bank of America building, where they were told their suspect would be assigned until the middle of next week. Lacey wasn’t looking forward to going back up on that roof, but she knew her duty was to apprehend the Skinwalker and bring him to justice. However, she could think up no acceptable excuse to ask her partner to confront the man by himself. So, she forced herself to push the elevator button for the top floor, and tried to push her fear out of her mind.

  If Colton noticed her discomfort, he didn’t let on. Maybe he’s forgotten, her mind whispered. When they stepped from the elevator on the top floor, she saw that the access door was propped open as it was supposed to be. More than likely, Blyge was in one of the cages hanging from the side of the building. She touched Colton lightly on the arm before stepping to the short staircase.

  “There’s no way of knowing which side of the building he’s on,” Lacey said. “I think we should split up, work our way opposite one another until we meet in the middle.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Colton argued. “He’s dangerous.”

  “If he’s in one of the cages, there’s no way he could catch either of us unaware.”

  “If he’s in one of the cages. There’s no guarantee he is.”

  “True. But I think we’ll need the element of surprise. Put your phone on hands-free mode.” She did the same with her phone as she talked.

  “I got a bad feeling about this.” Colton made the adjustments to his phone.

  “Quiet. Stay on your toes. We come up the stairs, I’ll go right, you go left. If you see him, use code 10-18 and the compass direction.” She referred to police code meaning ‘quickly’. “I’ll do the same.”

  With a worried look on his face, Colton nodded acknowledgment. They took the stairs together, but Lacey’s longer stride carried her to the open door first. Her weapon was in her hand in an instant. Flattening herself up against the wall of the stairwell, she pivoted, glanced out the door, and returned to her position against the wall in one smooth movement. “Clear.” Her voice was a ghostly whisper. Colton nodded and drew his weapon as well. “Be careful.” It was the last thing she said before they went their separate ways.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Colton stopped short, scrubbing one large hand over his eyes to clear his vision. That’s impossible, he thought as he rounded the final corner of the building. There were two of her. The hands gripping his service pistol trembled and went sweaty. For a brief moment, he was startled at the sight of two Laceys, squared up and fighting kung fu style. Kick, block, punch. Spin, kick, roll. He couldn’t shoot because, as far as he could see, there was no way to tell them apart.

  Blood ran from the nose of one of the Laceys, and when they spun around, he noticed the other one had a shallow cut down the cheek. One of them jumped up, spun, and delivered a kick to the chest of her opponent that would have stopped any human, and quite a few Immortals, in their tracks.

  “Give it up, Blyge!” His bellow fell short; the wind at the top of the building was howling so much that any word he may have voiced was immediately shoved into the back of his throat.

  But somehow, Jason Blyge knew he was there, just behind the stairs leading down from the roof. One Lacey looked up with a feral grin. In a flash, s/he snatched the real Lacey close, one slender yet muscular arm wrapped around her neck. Her hands went to her throat, but it was obvious that they were matched in strength. The Skinwalker sneered at him, swaying back and forth as s/he held Lacey in a choke hold, making sure s/he was in constant motion.

  “Put your gun down and slide it toward me!” The Skinwalker demanded.

  Colton hesitated. It was against departmental policy to negotiate with suspects, but an entirely different situation when the subject had his partner in a death grip on top of a skyscraper. He lowered his gun a fraction.

  Seeing that Colton had no intention of putting down his weapon, Blyge continued to weave, presenting a moving target, while making his way closer to the edge of the building. Lacey was no longer struggling against the grip of her copy, but Colton could tell by the look in her eyes that she was evaluating, trying to get a sense of the Skinwalker’s weaknesses. But, he could tell that she was also scared.

  “Put your gun down,” the suspect demanded again. “Or I throw her off the edge!”

  Colton, well aware of his partner’s fear of heights, saw the terror in Lacey’s eyes intensify. Her mouth moved almost imperceptibly around the word, “Don’t.” He now knew he didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t about to let Blyge throw his partner from the building. But if he gave up his pistol, he would have to rely on the secondary weapon he wore around his ankle; the ankle holster was meant as a backup, not as a quick-draw weapon. Slowly, he lowered his service pistol, crouching at the knees to lay it on the pebbled surface of the roof. With both hands out to his side, he straightened and kicked the weapon so that it clattered across the gravel with a skittering noise.

  Blyge’s eyes tracked the gun as it slid across the roof. His distraction was obviously the moment Lacey had been waiting for; she placed one foot between each of Blyge’s, landed a hard backwards kick to one of his kneecaps, and did a neat little twist and dive, sending the copy of herself over her back and through the air. Colton breathed a sigh of relief, for at least he could tell them apart now. The real Lacey had the vicious slice down the right cheek.

  Lacey remained in a fighting stance as the suspect climbed slowly to his feet. Then he charged, and she waited until the last minute before stepping to one side and using her hip to throw him off balance. He grabbed her wrist as he went by, and fumbled to keep his feet under him. The rest happened in slow motion.

  The Skinwalker fell to his knees, dropping Lacey’s wrist to block his fall with his hands. But the act of grabbing her had caused her body to start moving toward him, and she tripped over him as he went down. Colton watched in horror as she went over the safety rail and disappeared from sight.

  “Lacey!” Colton was sure his voice couldn’t be heard over the wailing of the wind.

  Blyge had jumped to his feet and was momentarily stunned by the sudden disappearance of his opponent. Colton took the opportunity to crouch, pull the small .38 caliber revolver from his ankle, roll away from Jason Blyge, and take aim. It was difficult to pull the trigger on a suspect wearing his partner’s face, though he knew it wasn’t really her. His finger twitched and the gun fired, putting a single round into Blyge’s left shoulder. The suspect crumpled to the ground. Then, after securing both his backup and service pistols, and verifying that Blyge was unconscious, Colton bolted for the side of the building.

  Almost afraid to, he ducked down between two of the fence rails and peeked over the edge of the roof. His breath whooshed out in relief as he saw Lacey clinging to a narrow strip of molding above one of the building’s windows, her boots dug into a narrow crack between the wall and a minuscule ledge. Her horror-stricken face revealed the strain she was under as she tried not to move. Her arms trembled from the effort, and he saw her lower lip quiver. Lacey’s blue eyes bored into his, pleading with him, please don’t let me fall!

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Lacey had never felt fright quite as intense as what washed over her as she tumbled from the side of the building. Her fear of heights had doubled as she had fought with her look-alike on the roof. She’d thought all was okay after the kick to the knee and the swift toss that had brought down Blyge, but in the next instant, she’d felt the rush of air
and the sensation of falling. Her stomach rolled in sickening symphony as she tried to twist her body in mid-air. She had gone off the roof nearly backwards, and only her lightning-quick reflexes saved her life. Her hands reached out, finding a slightly raised surface to grab onto. Her body then impacted with the solid wall, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

  Now she clung, helpless, to the side of a 72-story building, the wind howling in her ears and flapping her clothing against her body. Her arms, for all their strength, were starting to quiver with the strain of holding most of her body weight. She could feel her boots beginning to slip on the narrow ledge beneath her. Lacey strained to keep her body as flat as she could against the building, knowing that a strong enough gust of wind meant certain death.

  She saw Colton’s concerned face peek over the edge of the roof, framed by the deep blue sky. She felt a glimmer of amusement; she had to admit she was happy to see him.

  “Are you okay?” His voice sounded strained as he leaned over the edge.

  “I’ve been better.” She fought to keep her voice steady, while trying not to move. She couldn’t stop the trembling in her arms, and she knew her strength wouldn’t hold her to the wall much longer.

  “Okay, just hold on. I’ll be right back.” And he disappeared from sight, leaving behind a wash of fear that flowed over her like ice water. She strained to keep her body pressed as tight as she could to the wall, praying that her arms and legs would hold on just a few more minutes. Had she been human, her heart would have been pounding, but the virus in her system kept her vital signs at a steady and healthy pace, maximizing the symbiotic balance between her and it. She counted her breaths.

  Several moments passed, and Colton’s head reappeared above her. He leaned over as far as he could. “Can you grab my hand?” He bellowed over the sound of the wind.

  She dug the fingers of her left, stronger hand into the window molding as hard as she could. Her fear was so intense that it was almost impossible to make the fingers of her right hand let go of the narrow strip. But she did finally pry them away from the building, reaching as high as she could. Colton did the same, one muscular arm stretched out to her. Just like that, a stray thought ran through her mind, the same thought she’d had when she’d first learned she would be partnered with a Wolf. Wolves cannot be trusted. There remains too much of the animal in them.

  Colton almost lost his grip on the safety rail, and there was no chance of Lacey reaching him unless she jumped, something she didn’t dare attempt on her fatigued and wobbly legs. She didn’t even try standing on her toes to gain the extra few inches; she could feel how worn and crumbling the outer shell of the building was under her feet. “It’s no use!” She modulated the tone of her voice so he could hear her over the wind. “I can’t reach!”

  “Just stay there, and hold on. Don’t move.”

  As he vanished from sight, she thought, Just where do you expect me to go? No, don’t think about that. Lacey fought the urge to look down, knowing that if she did, the fear would petrify her, making her unable to move when she needed to. She had no idea how Colton intended to save her, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on long enough for a rescue team to arrive. Assuming they could figure out how to get to her. She risked a quick glance around, and her heart fell when she realized she wasn’t close enough to one of the scaffolds to seek refuge there.

  “Lacey!” Colton’s urgent voice startled her, almost making her lose her grip. Steadying herself, she looked up at him. He was wearing a harness-like device the color of John Deere yellow, and he was leaning over the roof past the hips. He had obviously attached himself to something sturdy. “Come on, let’s get you up.”

  His fingertips were mere centimeters from hers, and she suddenly remembered the revulsion she’d felt the first time she’d met her partner. She’d had to force herself to shake the Wolf’s hand and say stiffly, “Welcome aboard.” And that, only because decorum demanded it. She reached for him again, expecting to feel the same sensation of disgust. Again, her hand fell minutely short.

  “Lacey.” His voice seemed suddenly loud, as if the howling of the wind had died down at the exact moment he spoke. Her vision narrowed as if in a tunnel; she could see only his arm, running up to meet his shoulder, and his concerned face framed against the pale sky. He wriggled off the roof just a bit more, and he, too, was in a precarious position. “Lacey, trust me. I’ve got you.”

  She took a deep breath, shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, and dropped her heels. She pushed off, using her feet like a spring and trusting her instincts and reflexes to connect with him. For a brief moment, as she hovered in the air, Lacey thought she’d failed. Then she heard the satisfying sound of her hand slapping tightly to his wrist, and his doing the same. She heard him grunt with the effort to bear her weight. There was no longer anything for her to put her toes into, so she reached up with her other arm, grabbing tight to the harness around the man’s chest.

  Colton pulled as she gripped the harness, and let go of his hand, reaching now for the lowest safety rail. The rest happened all in a rush; the next thing Lacey knew, she was laying on her side on the baking hot rock of the building’s roof. Colton was panting from the exertion, but he had a big, goofy grin on his face. She knew the relief she felt couldn’t be conveyed with a simple glance; instead, Lacey did something she never would have thought possible: she reached out and gave her partner a hug.

  He seemed embarrassed, but Colton gave her an awkward, one-armed hug, the kind male acquaintances often give one another. She heard something and released him, her head whipping around and scanning the rooftop.

  “Are you okay?” Colton climbed to his feet.

  “I’m fine.” He offered her his hand and helped her to stand. “What about--”

  He grinned again. “See for yourself.” He gestured behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find Jason Blyge, laying on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back, and just coming to. His face, or rather, her face, was cut and bleeding, and some of the skin had sloughed off, revealing the man’s form beneath it. One eye was swollen shut and beginning to blacken. Lacey turned from her partner and, with a confident stride, went over to the Skinwalker. She rolled him onto his back, not even trying to be gentle. A gasp of pain escaped as the weight of the suspect’s body fell onto his cuffed hands. “You’re under arrest, you son-of-a-bitch.” Blyge didn’t bother to respond.

  After calling an ambulance and a pair of officers to ride to Medical City with their suspect, Lacey and Colton made the drive through heavy traffic to the hospital. Colton explained how he’d seen her go off the roof and how he’d fired while Blyge was disconcerted. “Then I ran over, hoping that you’d found a ledge or something,” Colton continued his story as they walked into the ER. “And the first time I left you, I’d heard him moaning. My service pistol was still on that roof somewhere, and I knew I had to cuff him quickly, or else we’d both be in trouble.”

  “You did right.” She responded in a quiet voice.

  “And if I had to punch him in the face and break his nose in order to subdue him, well, that’s just necessary force.” He cocked his lips in a grin.

  “You did just right.”

  Epilogue

  “Going to trial with a lawyer who considers your whole life-style a Crime in Progress is not a happy prospect.” ~~Hunter S. Thompson

  Colton tugged at his suit tie and swore. The long hair she had grown accustomed to in the past months was now trimmed to frame his square face. Lacey glanced at him as they walked up the short flight of stairs leading to the doorway of the Dallas County Courthouse. It had been completed in 1892 and was a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture. The granite and red sandstone gleamed in the light of the midday sun. Eight rounded turrets rose six floors above street level, and at the center of the building stood a clock tower, still announcing the time with the ringing of its dulcet bells. Blue granite made up the first two floors and arched gracefully over each window.r />
  “What is it?” She asked, stopping on the top step.

  “I hate the courthouse.” He looked down as he said it, a mannerism she had learned meant he was uncomfortable in admitting something.

  “I don’t like it much myself.” She agreed. “But, catching the bad guy is only part of the job.”

  “Yeah, I know.” They walked through the door, side-stepping the full body X-ray and metal detector. A large crowd had gathered in the spacious foyer, cameras and microphones in hand. As they caught sight of Lacey and Colton, there was a rush and press of bodies, and a din of voices calling out various questions, none of which the two officers were authorized to answer. Just before stepping into the courtroom, Lacey turned to the members of the press.

  “We can not and will not give you any information or comments regarding this case. The department will issue a statement later this week. No further comments.” Her voice rose with the last statement, as she tried to speak over the reporters who had begun to yell their questions even louder. Lacey turned her back on the press and walked diligently through the large oak double doors leading into Courtroom A, the largest room the building provided.

  “And that’s one of the reasons why!” He referred to the reporters.

  The room was already filled to near-capacity. Their mediocre assault case had become an overnight sensation when DNA testing had confirmed that Jason Blyge was indeed a Skinwalker. Once that bit of information had leaked to the press, there was no stopping it. Over the months since the arrest, through all the pretrial procedure and jury selection, one or more newspaper or TV reporters had been in or around the courtroom. One of the TV news channels had even gotten their hands on some video of Lacey’s close call on the building; several people in offices right next door had watched in awe as the drama had unfolded, and recorded it with their cell phones. The videos had gone viral world-wide in just a couple of days. All the media attention had proven embarrassing to Lacey.