Tyler nodded. “Exactly, which is why I’m going to get the Brownstone Agency folks to agree to enforce the neutrality of the new place.”
“Are you serious?” Kathy laughed. “Why would he? Just because he’s done some business deals with you doesn’t mean he’s going to agree to something like that.”
Tyler shrugged. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out something. Free drinks for his guys, free info when they’re in town, that kind of shit. Business is ultimately about negotiation. You have to make something worth someone else’s while, and I’ll make it worth his while. You know how it goes with Brownstone. His name is enough anymore to get people to back down, and anyone he targets goes down, so anyone who has a beef with him won’t last long enough to threaten me or my place.”
Kathy sighed. “Okay, let’s assume you convince Brownstone and his people to protect your neutrality. Where do I fit in?”
Tyler smiled. “Isn’t it obvious? I need someone to run the place. I can’t drive back and forth every day between Vegas and LA. I’ve got a lot of ties to Los Angeles, but we both know that you don’t. You’ve proven you’re not just a pretty face, and I think you’d be a good choice to lead an expansion in Las Vegas. You’d manage the bar and the info business, and I would front the cost of the place and some other things. You’re out from underneath my shadow, so you can build up your own influence, but I still profit and don’t even have to do that much. Again, win-win.”
Kathy stared at him for a moment before frowning and nodding. “I got a decent chunk of change from Brownstone for helping him with He Who Hunts, you know. What’s to stop me from moving to Las Vegas and opening up my own place and getting rid of the middleman here? If it’s such a good idea, why shouldn’t I steal it?”
“Nice, very nice.” Tyler shook his finger and grinned. “You act like you care less about money than I do, but you’ve got the fire in the end. That’s exactly how you should be thinking, but before we start talking about any other details, I just want to be clear. Would you be willing to move to Vegas? If you aren’t, then I have to figure out how to find someone else I might trust.”
It might be dangerous to admit he trusted Kathy, but extending trust was part of building a business, as Brownstone had already proven with his agency.
Kathy shrugged. “Why not? You’re right. I’m newer to LA. I don’t have a boyfriend or family or anything here. Not even a pet. It’s just a place I ended up. So, yeah, I guess I am interested, but I don’t want to be your employee anymore. I’m willing to front money for this to ensure that. Maybe I don’t want to do it on my own, but I don’t want to have you call all the shots, either. After going through that shit with the Eyes, I feel like I deserve more.”
“How about we both do it, then?” Tyler steepled his fingers, adopting his best Bond villain smile, confidence radiating from his face. “We both kick in money, and I still get a percentage. We also cooperate, share tips both ways; that way we’re both benefiting and building our brands. I also have contacts in Vegas who can help kickstart your position there.” He leaned back. “Yeah, you could go there and grab your own place, but without me opening doors, it’s going to be a lot harder for you to get established. So, if you don’t want to be my employee, why not agree to be my partner?”
“Partners? And you’re willing to accept that?” Kathy eyed him with suspicion. “The man who didn’t even want waitresses because they cost him money?”
“I’ve evolved due to changing market conditions. I also used to hate Brownstone’s ass and hope he got killed, but he’s made me money, and now I’ve partnered with him.” Tyler shrugged. “I’m interested in any deal that can make me money, and partnering with you can make me money for very little effort other than an initial investment. I’m tired of being short-sighted when I could be a little more rational and make a shitload more money.”
“Still seems generous for you. You can’t blame me for being suspicious.”
Tyler laughed. “Generous? The only reason I’m willing to talk about being a partner is that you’re willing to kick in some of your own money. That means I don’t have to invest as much upfront, and I’ll be turning a profit a lot sooner.” He leaned back in his chair with a smirk. “And in the end, it all comes down to money. This isn’t about you being hot or smart or brave or any shit like that. Those are just things you have that make you useful for the position.”
“How nice.” Kathy snorted.
“It’s simple. I need your help to make me money, so I’m cutting you in. I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass about it. If you want to make money, we can do this. If not, I’ll move on.”
“Huh.” Kathy stared at him in silence.
Tyler waited, thinking about all the possibilities and ways to convince Brownstone to expand into other cities so he could send other people there for similar arrangements. A brief vision of an entire national network of information brokers funneling cash and info into his pocket filled his mind. That thought finally brought a frown.
I got lucky with Kathy. It’ll be awhile before I find another person like her I can trust not to fuck up.
Kathy shrugged. “Okay, I’m in. What can I say? It’s a good idea.”
“Excellent.” Tyler extended his hand. “I’m happy to make money with you, partner.”
She took his hand and gave it a firm shake.
James glanced around the busy boarding gate. Dozens of people sat in the plastic chairs that filled the area. Most people stared at their phones, but three men spoke in hushed tones near the window. The slender mid-range supersonic passenger plane was already parked outside the gate.
At least I won’t have to be on the damned plane for long.
A plane at a nearby gate slowly backed up and turned to taxi to the runway.
Magic might have returned to the world, but most humans—or aliens pretending to be humans—still depended on an iteration of the aircraft that had filled the skies for decades.
Huh. Will things be different for Alison when she’s my age? We’ve got shit like Currus now. Maybe the world will be a lot fancier when technology and magic are mixed more.
What about my amulet? Is that magic or technology? Like Currus cars?
James looked around, taking in the crowds sitting and walking around him. Shay had wandered off to the bathroom, but they had plenty of time before boarding began, so he wasn’t worried. They’d arrived early to do all the bounty hunter paperwork for their equipment, but he’d flown out of LAX often enough that the Customs agents could go through all the inspections and procedures swiftly.
He nodded to himself, a sliver of excitement building at the idea of the trip. Shay had been right. While he wasn’t thrilled about flying into snowy Alberta from Los Angeles, the idea of taking down scumbags had its appeal. It would also be a good test of Thomas’ ability to handle being away from his new owner.
He wasn’t that worried. Charlyce was watching the dog, but he seemed fine with the idea of James taking off.
Shouldn’t be surprised. He was on the streets when I found him.
One of the three men speaking in hushed tones glanced James’ way. One of his friends frowned at him and muttered something.
James grunted and checked for Shay again. Maybe she’d stopped for a bagel after the bathroom. He spared a look at the three men. They had obviously been watching him.
Something was off. Their shoulders were too tense, their frowns too deep. A man couldn’t be a bounty hunter for his entire adult life and not spot a troublemaker in a crowd.
Not my problem. They don’t have bounties. Or do they? Wouldn’t have enough time to get them processed before taking off, though. Your lucky day, assholes. Still…
James frowned and pulled out his phone, bringing up his bounty hunting app. He tapped the option for facial recognition and held his phone up to take a picture of the men.
They all stared at him, deep scowls on their faces.
He waited for the picture to process and match aga
inst bounties in the Los Angeles and Calgary areas.
NO MATCHES BASED ON SELECTED PARAMETERS.
If they weren’t local or Calgary bounties, he didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t going to fly somewhere else for small-fry bounties.
One of the men marched over to him. “Hey, what was that about?”
James looked up at him. “What?”
“You just took our picture, didn’t you?”
He shrugged. “Problem?”
The man glared at James. “You can’t just take someone’s picture in public.”
James frowned. “Pretty sure you can, actually. At least in the States. Don’t know about Canada.” He nodded. “They are tight about it in Japan, though. I remember hearing that on my trip there. But I don’t take a lot of pictures.”
The men’s nostrils flared. “Then why did you take our picture?”
James shrugged. “So I could match you against wanted bounty databases, but you weren’t in any that I care about.”
The man swallowed. “You are him, aren’t you? James Brownstone. The Scourge of Harriken. The Granite Ghost.”
“James Brownstone?” echoed another passenger nearby.
Several people murmured and looked his way. His name apparently carried more weight than his appearance.
The bounty hunter stood with a grunt. “Yeah, I’m James Brownstone.” He narrowed his eyes. “You might not be bounties, but you look shifty as hell. Whatever you fucks are thinking about doing, don’t. This is supposed to be a fun trip for my girlfriend and me. I already hate flying, and I don’t need anything else to make my trip unpleasant. Do I make myself clear?”
The man’s eyes widened. He swallowed and looked back at his friends. After he hurried back over to them, all three men picked up their carry-ons and walked away from the boarding area.
James crossed his arms. The entire crowd around him continued to murmur and whisper amongst themselves, occasionally pointing at him.
The trio turned a corner as Shay reappeared from the opposite side of the boarding area. She made her way to James, blueberry muffin in hand.
She held up the muffin with a smile. “I figured you wouldn’t want one, considering the only sweet things you care about are barbeque sauces.”
James grunted. “I’m good.”
Shay leaned in to whisper into his ear, “I didn’t want to tell you because I wanted to keep things relaxed and I was going to handle it on my own, but maybe seeing you scared them off.”
“Tell me what?”
“Oh, just recognized three terrorists. Saw a thing on them on the dark web the other day.” Shay took a bite out of her muffin and swallowed. “Wasn’t worried, but didn’t want you punching them through a window and depressurizing the plane, so I figured I’d take care of it while we were still on the ground. That and go to the bathroom and get a muffin.”
“They got pissy because I was taking pictures of them.” James glanced toward the corner.
A chime sounded over the PA system.
“All passengers waiting to board the ToddAir Flight 2327 to Calgary, your flight has been delayed for mechanical inspection. We’re sorry for this inconvenience, and we thank you for choosing ToddAir.”
Groans and angry mutters filled the boarding area.
Shay’s phone rang, and she pulled it out with her free hand. “Yes? Okay. Okay. Sure. Thanks, Peyton.” She slipped the phone back into her pocket. “I had him place an anonymous call to the airport police about the terrorists,” she whispered. “Airport cops already caught them, but I’m guessing they want to inspect the plane before we take off.”
James grunted. “Those fuckers still managed to screw with our flight. Let’s go get something to eat at that steakhouse we passed, then. And, just a reminder, I know how to beat someone down without smacking them through a window.”
Her mouth full of muffin, Shay shrugged. “Sometimes you do,” she muttered around her food.
Aiyn sighed and stared down at the ocean through her living room window. Her first gambit had failed, but the damned fools had been supposed to engage Brownstone once he’d landed in Canada, not eye him in an airport. It was fortunate they had no direct connection to her. They’d been contacted and paid their TrollCoin anonymously.
It had been a mistake to use such humans. I can’t rely on that kind of scum. If things had gotten out of hand, someone innocent might have gotten hurt.
The Shepherd frowned. She had few choices. If her superiors wouldn’t send reinforcements or authorize her personal engagement, she’d have to rely on disposable tools. Brownstone would hurt anyone who came after him, so it was imperative she manipulate the situation to avoid sending honorable law enforcement or military forces after him unless she were certain they would win, but expending criminals who preyed on their own people didn’t bother her.
It’s a punishment for them as well as the damned Vax.
Aiyn shook her head. Her hands twitched with the urge to grab her weapons and confront Brownstone directly. She could taste the joy of watching the monster taking its last breath. The lack of advanced technology on Earth meant the Forerunner was probably better adapted to magic than Alliance weaponry.
“No,” she whispered. “I’ve been handed this Alberta opportunity. I’ll use it, and in my next report, I’ll tell my superiors about how Brownstone was killed by local magical creatures.”
She chuckled. By the time the lie came out, would they even care?
Besides, a monster killing a monster? Pure poetry.
Chapter Ten
Heather tapped away at her keyboard, looking at her two monitors alternately. She didn’t like what she was seeing on the forecast. James and Shay could handle themselves fine regardless of weather, but she and Peyton couldn’t back them up with drones in bad weather. The refinery should have been a perfect scenario where the hackers could watch James and Shay’s backs.
Damn it. Need some remote-controlled snowmobile drones or something. The military probably has something like that. Then again, how often does James end up in snow country? Not sure about Shay, but she has been to Canada and Antarctica before from what Peyton said.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the blizzard will miss them,” Heather mumbled, and shook her head.
An alert popped up, and Heather narrowed her eyes. “What’s this?”
Her various bots, spiders and tripwires spread around the internet helped warn her if anyone was looking too closely into her or James. It’d taken her a long time to refine the algorithms to make sure that not every search query from random Brownstone fans would trigger an alarm, especially after her embarrassing first steps taught her an important lesson: there were a lot of thirsty women and men out there on the internet who wanted themselves a little of James Brownstone.
Heather frowned as she looked through log entries and examined some of the data. Whoever she’d caught snooping around definitely wasn’t a random fanboy or fangirl asking, “Is Brownstone married?” or “What is Brownstone’s favorite type of woman?” or “What’s Brownstone’s favorite type of man?”
No, this was a directed search by someone or something very familiar with communications technology programming and the modern internet backbone. In other words a professional.
She sighed. This was hardly the first time she’d run into this sort of thing, but the timing was unfortunate, if only because her boss was going to such a remote location where she might not be able to back him up.
What am I worried about? He’s got Shay with him. Those two took out an entire building filled with Harriken. He’ll be fine, and whoever is doing this probably isn’t magical if they’re relying on hacking. That means James and Shay can deal with them the old-fashioned way if they show up.
Heather submitted some of the recovered data to a few analysis scripts she’d written. Whoever was tripping her alarms had been trying to trace James’ phone’s exact location, among other things. They were hiding behind a maze of proxy servers, again pointing to a p
rofessional. The pattern of proxy servers, along with a few other minor details, confused her. Some of it seemed high-level and professional, and some of it seemed random and scattershot. She also didn’t understand the significance of some of the redundant routing or the meaning of certain packets that had been sent. She’d never seen anything like it.
Something’s off about this even if this is obviously the work of a pro, but I still spotted it. That means whoever they are, they aren’t way above me. Unless I was meant to find them? But why? Shit, I just need to tell him and let him worry about it.
Heather dialed James. Forewarned was forearmed.
“Hello,” he rumbled.
“I just thought you should know someone’s trying to pay very, very close attention to your exact location,” Heather explained. “Someone who knows what they are doing. The timing is definitely related to your trip, so you should assume that when you arrive in Canada, someone will be watching you get off that plane and maybe following you to the refinery.”
“Thought so.” James grunted. “I was expecting this shit.”
“You were?”
“Yeah.” James muttered something under his breath. “Probably Canadian intelligence trying to keep an eye on me because I tend to get…loud on jobs. I’ve got a few people in the American government on my side, but no one like that in Canada.”
Heather smirked. “’Get loud?’ That’s one way to describe it. Should I try to block them?”
“The Professor said he contacted them, but there’s no reason to let them do whatever the fuck they want. You do what you can. It’s not like they’re going to do anything to me even if I blow up an abandoned refinery because this job is far away from anyone who shouldn’t be hurt. It’s like the Council—I can beat down who I need to without worrying about shit.”
“Okay.” Heather chuckled. “I’ll block their asses.”
“I’ve got to go,” James explained. “Got another call. Busy all of a sudden. Not sure why Mike is calling me, though.”
Vax Humana: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Book 13) Page 8