Deadly Paths

by Jack Parker

  Victoria smiled and winked. "I'm better than a cop. I'm the hot chick you get to have fun with. Help me out with this and we will see what we can do about your other warrants. Even if I am lying, what do you have to lose?"

  "I dunno," Ray said with a shrug. He leaned forward. "I mean, it all sounds too good to be true, ya know? Like I'm being set up for a bigger sentence or somethen."

  "If I wanted to do that," Victoria explained. "I would just press charges. I'm not going to. How often does your victim on a reality TV show turn out to be the sneaky cop?"

  Ray smoothed his long bangs back nervously and licked his lips.

  "Because these people," Ray was keeping his voice low now. "These are some scary people. It wouldn't surprise me if they wanted us to kidnap a cop."

  "Because of the first assignment they had for you?" Victoria prompted.

  "No, because they had connections to—"

  The door behind Ray opened, and a prison guard stepped into the room with him.

  "Hey!" Victoria said loudly. "It hasn't even been fifteen minutes yet!"

  It took Victoria a heartbeat too long to realize that the prison guard was a woman, and that something was very wrong. Ray didn't even get his head turned all the way around to see his assailant before the garrote was firmly around his neck. The blond woman with cold, deadly blue eyes kept her gaze on Victoria the whole time as her victim kicked and thrashed about like a helpless salmon caught in the jaws of a bear.

  "Fuck!"

  Victoria slammed the side of her fist hard against the glass. There was nothing she could do but watch as her best lead was strangled to death in seconds. There was nothing to do but meet those eyes, and return the deadly smile with one of her own. Mr. Fukazashi's finance didn't have to speak the words that were on her mind. You're next little spy.

  Well see about that! Victoria thought back at the assassin.

  As the assassin turned to leave, Victoria started screaming for help, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. She was going to have to act fast if she was going to catch this pro.

  * * *

  "Keep the change!" Jake said as he hurriedly exited the taxi. The downtown detention center loomed before him, its nine floors an impressive display of justice in the middle of sin city. I hope I guessed right, Jake thought.

  Despite popular belief, getting into a taxi and declaring, "follow that car" did not mean you were going to end up at the same place as the person you were following. It took some extra cash to get done, and a driver who wasn't concerned about legal matters. Jake's driver, a man from Brazil, managed to agree in time to keep with the blue taxi that Nova had gotten into until the exit downtown, where traffic lights, construction, and unwary pedestrians caused the driver to lose sight of the car.

  Jake had made an educated guess at that point on where to go. Even though the bubbly administrator had sworn up and down that the bikers were stunt men, Jake had never really bought it. Nova's odd behavior in going downtown simply added to his suspicions. Had his so called partner somehow arranged the whole interference to make herself look better? Jake felt he was about to find out a great deal about Nova that the show's producers didn't. He still had no idea how all of this information was going to be useful to him, but that could be decided in time.

  Jake had first tried the nearest downtown police station, but if Nova had been there in her business get up, nobody seemed to remember. He had hurried to reclaim his same cab, and come here to the detention center. This time his driver did not bother to wait for him, which was fine, since the thick white smoke that erupted from the entrance seemed to indicate he was in the right place. Nova must be more insane than I thought!

  Jake trotted up to the entrance, and knelt by an officer who had come barreling out coughing and wheezing with tears in his eyes. As Jake watched, more and more people began to make their way outside, some covering their mouths and noses with whatever cloth they could find. Officers, court clerks, and criminals alike stumbled out through the billowing smoke. Jake tried to search for a way in, but felt his eyes begin to sting as he got too close to the smoke. An officer stopped him.

  "You can't go in there!" coughed the officer. "The place is in lock down!"

  "But my brother just got arrested," Jake lied, thinking on his feet. "I was coming to see if I could get him out. What the hell is all this? What happened?"

  "Somebody got into the prison riot gas grenades," the guard said, heaving one more loud cough before seeming to catch his breath. "Don't worry it will be under control soon. But I would register online and come back in the morning for your brother."

  "Right," Jake said, pretending to turn and walk away. "Thanks."

  Jake scanned the crowd billowing out of the first floor entrance. He paid close attention to the freshly arrested people in handcuffs—prostitutes, drunks, gamblers with a casino angry at them. Most were behaving themselves, a few had used the confusion to try and get away, but were promptly being tackled and subdued. A few officers organizing the confusion had gas masks. One blond female guard in a gas mask trotted away from the main crowd in pursuit of a prostitute with pink hair.

  That's when he finally spotted Nova—unflinching, not even coughing, walking briskly after the blond guard. The prostitute, coughing and stumbling with handcuffs on, vanished around the corner of the building; the guard quickened her pace, but turned to glance behind her. Upon seeing Nova, there was a hint of recognition in both women, and the guard took off at a sprint. Nova gave chase, kicking off her shoes and peeling off her suit coat.

  "Great," grumbled Jake. "Now I get to go for a run, and it's for damn sure not part of a show!"

  Chapter Eleven

  Victoria sprinted barefoot over warm concrete. No bitch, you're not getting away that easily, she thought as the blonde vaulted a parked car and headed across the street for an alleyway between two buildings.

  Victoria slid across the hood of the same car and slapped the hood of another that came screeching to a halt just a foot short of her. In the alley, the bogus security guard knocked over two trash cans and pulled down some boxes to block Victoria's path. Victoria leapt over the cans and kicked off the wall to her right to clear the boxes as she continued pursuit.

  The short alleyway intersected with another street. The assassin exited the alleyway with a hard cut to the right. Victoria rounded the corner and had to shoulder through the middle of a startled couple as she raced down the narrow sidewalk. Her target had put a good thirty yards distance more between them.

  She's faster than me. At this rate . . .

  Victoria's heart raced and her lungs ached for more air as she continued to sprint after the assassin, who crossed another street and disappeared into a parking lot behind an office building.

  Now I've got her. I'll cut her off at the end of the lot.

  The office building had its own parking garage for special members adjacent to the outdoor lot. Victoria dropped two body lengths down onto an entrance ramp to the garage and sprinted inside. She headed for an opening between the up ramps and launched herself at a concrete support pillar. She kicked off the pillar and continued upward, catching hold of the metal bars of a short safety fence at the top of the next level. A shoulder roll preserved her forward motion before she dashed across the driveway ramp. Victoria vaulted the concrete barrier leading back out to the exterior lot and found her prey less than two arm lengths away.

  A shadow of motion flickered in the corner of her eye, and she ducked into a roll as a long black missile slammed into the parked car to her left, shattering the window. She sprang out of the roll to come face to face with the prostitute in the pink wig, wielding a meter long staff made of what looked like hard rubber.

  A weapon to avoid metal detectors. The accomplice had probably concealed it in two pieces in her ridiculous boots. Victoria's eyes went wide as the hooker whirled and attacked. The weapon whined like fishing line being cast as half of the staff zipped toward her head. She bent backwards, throwing herself off b
alance in a desperate dodge as she backpedaled out of range.

  Not a staff! Victoria thought frantically. The missile was attached to a length of transparent cord. A safe distance would be hard to judge. If she'd thought to secure a sidearm in the confusion before this chase it wouldn't matter. Right then. We do this the hard way.

  Victoria advanced, cartwheeling out of the way as the business end of the weapon zipped toward her again. The rod whirred on its return trajectory as Victoria stepped from bumper to hood of a parked car and launched herself in a flying roundhouse kick at her attacker. The assassin bent backward in an effort to dodge, but not before Victoria's foot impacted the side of her head, knocking the wig off and setting free a messy mop of red hair. The stunned whore yelped and cursed with rage. She glanced over her shoulder at her partner, a few hundred yards distant, and spat at Victoria before turning to flee after her accomplice.

  She broke three more car windows as she fled, forcing Victoria to scramble up onto a car and leap from vehicle to vehicle to continue the pursuit without cutting her feet.

  Victoria hit the ground running as both women jumped a chain-link fence at the other side of the parking lot. She scrambled up the fence and leapt from the top, landing with a roll in a deserted one-way street as the women used blocky window ledges to scramble on top of a row of run down one story buildings. They ran lengthwise along the rooftops and Victoria mirrored them on the ground until she came to a construction scaffolding set up to refurbish one of the buildings. She launched herself forward and caught hold of a cross bar on the metal frame, letting the momentum carry her up to the second tier of the scaffold. The wooden plank wobbled and nearly broke as she sprang for the ledge of the building and hauled herself up.

  Victoria closed some of the distance as the women jumped the gaps between buildings. As she cleared the gap to the last building, she stretched her arms forward like a pouncing puma, conserving her momentum by vaulting over an air conditioning unit. She extended her legs at the last moment and landed in a crouch, rolled, and closed the distance with a burst of speed. The blonde gestured to her left, and both assassins dropped down from the rooftops into an alleyway behind the buildings. Victoria followed, sliding down a drainage gutter into the dark alley. The blonde had paused a second to study the base of a fire escape ladder, looking for a way up. The ever elusive assassin scrambled up the wall like a spider monkey and kicked-flipped over to the ladder. It descended with a jarring crash, but the assassin held on and began to climb.

  Her partner reached the ladder moments later and made the easy leap. She dropped something as Victoria caught up that landed with a clank. White mist erupted as the canister hissed like an angry asp. Victoria made the mistake of inhaling. She gulped back tears and coughed hard, but still made the jump to the lower rung of the fire escape.

  Can't shake me that easily.

  They were gaining distance on her though. Her tear filled eyes made it impossible to track their ascent to the top of the building, and the cloud billowed after Victoria as she climbed, giving her no respite. She had to get out of this gas to climb safely. She would be a blind sitting duck when she reached the roof if she stayed on the escape. It had been a while since she had last had the chance to practice her Parkour skill to such a degree—this was going to be a challenge.

  Victoria gave a war cry as she burst from the mist in a wild leap from the last platform of the fire escape to a window frame. She hunched her body and dug her bare toes into decaying brick as she built up potential energy in her legs, then launched herself up as she rapidly spidered her way to the roof. The assassins were not waiting to ambush her, but were already fleeing to the edge of the building. She wiped her eyes as she ran after them.

  "Tell me they're not going to—" Victoria wheezed.

  They did. They leapt from one apartment building to the next, the hooker having a little bit more trouble than the guard as she caught the ledge at her abdomen then hauled herself up. Victoria made the jump and landed with a roll on the lower building, springing up to continue the chase. The streetwalker turned and released her weapon again, forcing Victoria to duck down behind a large length of air conditioning tubing as the missile sailed over her head.

  Victoria waited for the zip and click of the return flight of the rod before popping up to witness the pair of assassins leap to the fire escape of an adjacent building. Victoria groaned.

  "Blimey. Again?"

  She looked for another way across. A stairwell structure was part of the topography of the taller building. If she could reach the top of the building first . . .

  She sprinted along the raised edge of the building, barely concentrating on her balance as she navigated the narrow strip of concrete. She found what she was looking for, and launched herself into the air, tucking into a roll to increase her momentum. She extended her body as she flew through the open window, then tucked into a roll as she hit the carpet. Two startled children called for their mother as she yanked open their bedroom door. A woman screamed and a man stood up from his easy chair brandishing his remote control like a dagger as she dashed for the front door to the apartment.

  "Sorry!" Was all Victoria could think to yell back at them as she raced down the hallway to the stairwell. She flew up one flight of stairs and burst out the door onto the roof. A quick dash placed her in the path the two women. They did not reverse direction. The blonde slowed to a walk and halted a good ten yards from Victoria.

  "Give up!" snarled Victoria. "You've got nowhere to run!"

  The redhead caught up to her partner at a trot and burst out laughing at Victoria's words. Her green eyes burned with fury, her laugh manic like a rapid hyena. Fukazashi's betrothed stepped forward and waved her partner back as if she were ordering a guard dog to stay. She kept her tone casual as she addressed Victoria, speaking as if she were at a dinner party.

  "Oh my dear Miss . . ." She cocked her head. "Kingsley is it? We wouldn't dream of running. You've caught us. But first . . ."

  The blonde surprised Victoria by undoing her belt and letting it crash to the ground, complete with useful items such as pepper spray, club, and handcuffs. Then she turned away and began dancing as if performing a strip-tease, slowly peeling down her pants before letting them fall. Victoria wasn't sure if she was relieved to find she wasn't suddenly staring at a lacy thong or bare ass, but the bottom of a one piece cat suit, complete with leg garments housing what looked like several throwing knives.

  "Sister, don't tease her," cackled the redhead.

  "Oh, I'm not teasing her, Mila. I'm just getting comfortable before we are apprehended."

  "Fine, you get comfortable, Jess. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to wring the bitch's scrawny little neck until her pretty little head pops right off!"

  Mila gave her weapon a sharp twist and the two sections split. One end was covered in a ball of sharp, nasty looking plastic spikes, a detail Victoria had missed before. One hit with this weapon would end her. Mila held the spiked end low and the other end high, the transparent chord bisecting her diagonally as she crouched into a fighting stance. Victoria assumed a cat stance, her hands splayed in front of her in a knife-edge guard.

  "Why Miss Kinglsly you seem to have upset my sister. I have to tell you that isn't wise."

  "Sisters?" Victoria asked skeptically. "You don't look it. She doesn't quite share your brand of ugly. Who are you two supposed to be anyway? Let me guess. Carlo's Angels?"

  "We prefer Devils, certainly not Carlo's, and our odd little family is not of blood but of spirit." Jess finished removing the tan button-up shirt as she talked. She held her arms open as if asking for an embrace, and with a reptilian smile she purred, "I'm ready now. Shall we dance?"

  Victoria cracked her knuckles as she curled her hands into fists in front of her face, then relaxed back to knife edges. Mila swung her weapon, the deadly spiked end screamed toward Victoria's head. She sidestepped and bent backward, advancing on Mila and closing the distance while the weapon made its return
trip.

  Victoria snapped a swift toe kick at Mila's gut, and the redhead blocked with her free hand. This left an opening for Victoria's backfist and uppercutting elbow combo, the latter of which caught Mila just under the chin. Mila staggered backward and spat blood from a busted lip. She retaliated with a sharp cry of fury. Her powerful diagonal swing forced Victoria to retreat . . . and barely twist out of the way of a throwing knife. A flash of moonlight on steel was her only warning as the blade zipped past her ear. She studied both opponents for a few seconds as dark hairs floated to the ground between her and Mila.

  Can't let her sit back there and chuck those things at me. Attack!

  Victoria cartwheeled by Mila, dodging a downward swing from her mace. Face to face with Jess, Victoria unleashed a furious combo—knee, hand, elbow, foot, knee in succession. Jess effortlessly blocked or parried every strike.

  "Really Miss Kingsley?" Jess taunted. "Muay Thai? How quaint."

  "Zen do Kai," Victoria spat. "I'll show you quaint you—"

  A side kick doubled an encroaching Mila over, but Jess used the opening to land a clawed hand in Victoria's throat, followed closely by a fist near her kidney. Victoria choked, tasting bile as she clutched at her side and retreated several steps.

  "Ah," Jess said as she kept coming. "The Australian art of 'whatever works, use it.'"

  Lighting flashed through Victoria's vision as a booted roundhouse caught her on the side of the head, nearly knocking her over. The descending claw hand that followed sent her sprawling and tore her blouse open, scattering buttons.

  "Doesn't seem to be working for you now, does it?"

  Her chest burning with fire and her head ringing, Victoria barely had the coherence to roll out of the way of a thrown knife, which clanged loudly against the blacktop. Jess pounced on her, the other knife flashing in her hand as she drove it toward Victoria's heart.

  Victoria got her feet up in time to land them in Jess' stomach and send the blonde sailing over her, then placed her hands on the ground and scissor her legs to sweep Mila off her feet. Victoria stood slowly, clutching at her chest as she crouched into a new fighting stance. She began to bob and weave on springy legs, her stance mimicking a Kangaroo. Her body protested the bouncing, screaming in pain from multiple places. Jess may be familiar with Zen do Kai, but few knew of the nearly extinct Aboriginal art of Koonomon Togip Baip. Victoria was in bad shape, her legs threatened to buckle and it was hard to breathe. I can't show weakness.