by M. K. Gibson
“There’s the reception desk,” Jessie said, pointing towards a circular desk in the center of the lobby made of a glossy black wood with a white marble counter.
Making their way there, the trio scanned the room, looking for any kind of reaction. But the army of lawyers simply ignored them. Jessie looked confused.
“It’s the coats,” Ito explained. “They have minor magical charms woven into them. Unless you do something overt, people tend to just . . . not notice you. Unless you want them to. It’s one of the ways we operate, by blending in.”
“Good to know,” Jessie said with a nod, then turned to the tall, thin receptionist at the counter. “Excuse me? We are looking for—”
“Yes, Officer DeLeon, Detective Ito, and the ambassador, Our High Lady Who Walks Between the Shadows of the Leaves. You are expected,” the receptionist said. “Ms. Agne will see you shortly. My name is Bradford. Please follow me and I will take you to our waiting room.”
Bradford stepped away from the circular desk as a young woman came and wordlessly took his spot. The young man walked towards one of the private glass elevators at the back of the lobby, set apart from the standard elevator bank.
Jessie shot Ito a look. “Is this for real?”
“Yes,” Ito said. “He’s telling the truth.”
“But how do they know who we are?”
“I don’t know,” Ito said, shaking his head. “Up until now, we thought that only you new three were known, which was why you were attacked. But if they know me and Gabby . . .”
“Then the Laughing Man knows who we all are,” Jessie finished.
“Officers, please, this way,” Bradford said by the open elevator.
“Stay frosty,” Ito said. “While no one is overtly sending hostile vibes our way, I’m picking up a lot of . . . diversion. Subterfuge. Deception.”
“It is a building full of lawyers,” Jessie offered.
“Fair point,” Ito said.
Jessie followed Gabby and Ito onto the elevator. As she stepped on, Bradford gave her a pleasant smile that she found false and unsettling. When the door closed, she turned to the young man.
“How did you know we were coming?”
“Hmm?” Bradford said as he looked at his tablet. “Oh, Ms. Agne informed me that you would be arriving and that I should come and escort you directly to her.”
“And how did Ms. Agne know?” Ito asked.
“I’m afraid you will have to ask her, Agent Ito,” Bradford said.
Jessie exchanged a quick glance with her partners. Ito’s nostrils flared in frustration while Gabby’s hands were raised as if to choke the snide right out of Bradford. Jessie flashed her a smile but shook her head. Gabby rolled her eyes.
Arriving at the ninth floor, the private elevator dinged and the doors opened into a circular waiting area with a designer black leather couch and matching marble floors. Across the waiting area, three heavy wooden doors led to three private offices. Jessie assumed that these were the executive offices of Draco Leges’s partners. Jessie noted that there weren’t any signs or nameplates.
Well, if you could afford to be up here, she thought, odds were that you were on a first-name basis with the partners.
“Please, sit. Help yourself to the refreshments,” Bradford said as he pointed towards the black lacquered end table. Jessie saw that there were three chilled bottles of water, three crystal tumblers, and a crystal decanter filled with a dark liquor.
Before anyone could respond, Bradford walked to the door to the right, leaving them alone.
“What to you think?” Jessie asked.
“Waiting game,” Ito said. “Classic power move.”
“What are our options?” Jessie asked, then added, “Or limitations?”
Ito smiled. “You mean, do we have the authority to just break in and throw our weight around?”
Jessie half smiled. “More or less.”
“Truth? We don’t know yet. Messer operated within APD law. Like the coats, we blend in. But he wanted something more for MORTAL. A presence so that people, and criminals, knew that that we were the good guys.”
“So kicking in the office doors of a lawyer, even if they are corrupt, wouldn’t exactly be that kind of presence.”
“No,” Ito said. “It would be just another form of authoritarianism. Something we strive to avoid.”
“Says the agent of a secret group that monitors people.”
“That’s true.” Ito nodded. “But we do it for good reason. The world didn’t want . . . us.” Jessie watched the man pass a hand over his face. His expression seemed distant. “The world isn’t as tolerant as it claims to be.”
“When did you come to the city?” Jessie asked. When Ito didn’t answer right away, she raised her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, it’s okay,” Ito said. “My mom was an anime nut back in the day. She saved her money to go to Japan. While she was there, she met a guy who shared her interests. And, well, they fell in love. In time, he showed her what he was, what he really was, past the glamour. But love is love. They moved to the city before I was born so I wold grow up in a place that wouldn’t be strange for a kid like me. But when we’ve gone back to Japan to visit family, or even back to California to see my mom’s side of the family, I was never accepted. Avalatis is the only place where a man who looks like me fits in, you know?”
Jessie nodded. “And then you met Cross?”
“Yeah,” Ito said with a shrug. “I—goddamn, I didn’t even know she was sick. She, well, she cheated on me. But I think it was just so that I wouldn’t want to see her while she . . . went through that. Alone.”
“Kyle,” Jessie said, placing a hand on his arm, “I’m sorry. I don’t really know her, but I think she still loves you. She just has . . . issues.”
Ito laughed. “Yeah. That’s Cassy.”
“So how does the tail come into play?”
Ito looked at her. “What?”
“Nothing,” Jessie said with a dismissive wave. “It’s nothing.”
Ito shrugged. “Hey Gabby, what do you—damn, woman!”
Jessie looked over and saw that Gabby was chugging the liquor directly from the decanter. Once she drained the contents, she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, burped, and smiled.
“It’s not even noon yet, Gabs.”
Gabby shrugged and put the crystal decanter back on the small table.
“Agents, if you would be so kind and follow me,” Bradford said as he reappeared. “Ms. Agne will see you now.”
********
15 May - 10:41 am
Location unknown
Ito laughed. “Yeah. That’s Cassy.”
“So how does the tail come into play?”
It was the headache that brought him to consciousness. Ironic, really. In times like this, it would make sense that if he were in pain, he should remain unconscious. Yet the body had many built-in survival mechanisms. And waking to pain was a primitive message of danger.
Eric slowly opened his eyes. With his hazy vision, he saw his legs first. They were bound both above and below his knees by bungee cords. Yet he felt zip ties around his ankles. A tug on his wrist found his arms were likewise tied at the wrists, both above and below the elbows. Looking down, there were more bungee cords around his chest and waist. Whoever had done this was a professional.
And from the way the cords were tied, and how it made his stomach bulge, they were jerks as well.
“Hey there, Arby.”
Turning his head, Eric saw Cass in the chair to his right. She was tied just as thoroughly. Her face was bruised and her lip was split. But her eyes shone with the same ferocity that he had come to love and respect in his partner.
“You look like one of those stress balls when you squeeze them too hard and they ooze though your fingers.”
Eric looked at his stomach again, and despite the pain, he laughed. “Yeah.”
Cass then looked down at herself. “I can’
t really see, but do I look like a model for bondage titty-porn?”
“Little bit,” Eric said.
“Thought so. Perverts.”
“Where are we?” Eric asked.
“Don’t know. A basement maybe? A utility room? Walls are concrete and I can hear the hum of machinery.”
Eric looked up and saw power cables in the ceiling. A deep intake of air and he could smell the moisture of the air. They were definitely below ground. But there was also a distant, lingering scent of disinfectant, laundry detergent, and . . . onion? For some reason, the smells made him feel . . . aroused? What was his subconscious trying to tell him?
“But it’s the camera that bothers me,” Cass said, inclining her chin.
Eric looked straight ahead. Along the far wall there was a door, a camera on a tripod, and a monitor. Inwardly he chuckled. For all his talk of her always looking for a bigger picture instead of being in the moment, he sure had missed the obvious.
“So who do you think is watching?” Eric asked.
“Based on my boobs and your belly—”
“Hey!”
“Then its either a chubby-chasing sex pervert, or the Laughing Man.”
The monitor flickered on. The image showed a form of a man shrouded in darkness.
“Would you believe both?” the mystery figure said with a modulated voice.
“The Laughing Man?” Eric asked.
“Indeed, Agent Deacon. Now, would you and Agent Cross be so kind as to wait there a moment? We have a very important call to make.”
Cass narrowed her eyes. “Like we’re going anywhere, asshole.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
15 May - 10:45 am
Draco Leges Partnership, Legal Practice, District of New Dorado
Jessie took a seat along with Ito at the clear glass desk across from the blue-skinned Nereid with raven black hair. Ms. Katarina Agne was dressed exceptionally well, in a modern business suit that cost more than several months of her rent. The open collar of her shirt showed the slight gills at her neck, and Jessie noticed that she did not wear a wedding ring on her slightly webbed fingers.
“Thank you for seeing us, Ms. Agne.”
“It is my pleasure, Agent DeLeon,” Agne said with a perfectly pleasant tone. “Before we begin, please note that anything Agent Ito should happen to pick up with his mental abilities does not constitute a confession or provide you with enough evidence for a search warrant. Like an overheard phone conversation, it is circumstantial evidence.”
“Of course,” Ito said.
“And while Our High Lady Who Walks Between the Shadows of the Leaves may continue to stand as she wishes, know that my reputation is within the community is unblemished. As such, any action she may commit to harm or intimidate me would be viewed as a hostile act among the Grecian Myth Conclave.”
Gabby gave Agne the finger but remained standing behind them and nodded.
“As for any surveillance equipment you have on your persons, be they technological or magical, anything recorded here is inadmissible in court, as the partnership strictly prohibits such devices on the premises.”
“We understand,” Jessie said.
“Excellent,” Agne said. “Now, what can the Draco Leges Partnership do for you three?”
Ito smiled at her. “Last night several of our people were attacked by redcap assassins.”
“That is very unfortunate,” Agne said. “Were there any casualties?”
“No,” Jessie said. “I, and the rest of the team, are fine. In fact, we have several of them in custody.”
“Good for you,” Agne said.
“What’s funny,” Jessie said as she recounted the information, “is that during questioning, they mentioned that they had been hired by a representative of Dolmades Imports.”
“I see,” Agne said, her expression showing nothing.
Fine. She wants to play it the hard way. “Ito?”
“Yesterday we went down to the Rot to visit a suspect in holding who was connected to a drug dealer known as the Laughing Man. When we went to question the suspect, we found that he had killed himself in his cell.”
“Prisoners often do,” Agne said. “When faced with the repercussion of their crimes, or to avoid questioning.”
“Yeah,” Ito said. “But the last person to see this suspect alive was his lawyer. Mr. Gareth Vikander of Dolmades Legal Defense.”
“And?”
“And that Dolmades Legal Defense doesn’t exist. It’s a fictional company that on paper, owns Dolmades Imports. Further research showed that Dolmades Legal Defense was owned by the Draco Leges Partnership.”
Agne took in the information, tapping a well-manicured fingernail against the glass of her table. She leaned back in her chair and regarded them with a look of frustration.
“So, let me try and articulate this, so that we are all clear. It is your summation that your agents were attacked by would-be assassins, hired by an import business, which in turn was owned by one of our partnership’s tax-sheltered businesses. Furthermore, you are suggesting that Draco Leges knowingly tried to have Agent DeLeon and her partners killed, on behalf of some criminal who goes by the name the Laughing Man. Are these the allegations you have brought to me?”
Jessie and Ito exchanged a quick look, and then they both nodded.
“Yes,” Jessie said.
“I see. And, may I ask, when you questioned these . . . redcaps, were they? Was any form of legal defense present? Were they read their rights? Or are you simply going off of what they told you while under extreme duress? Because if it was the latter, then I believe you are very close to building a case that is doomed to fail, while also risking an incredibly costly wrongful accusation suit levied against the city.”
“You see, DeLeon,” said Ito, “what Ms. Agne is doing is throwing a whole lot of lawyer words and terms at us in an attempt to dodge the implication of the accusation, while also threatening us into going away. Sadly, neither works.”
A slight grin crossed Agne’s face. “Reading my mind, Agent? I told you, that is not—”
“No,” Ito said. “Not reading your mind. Simply seeing through your bullshit. Now, what connection does Draco Leges have with Dolmades, the assassins, or the Laughing Man?”
“Neither myself, or the other partners at this firm, knowingly have had dealings with anyone known as the Laughing Man, to include the hiring of assassins.”
“And Dolmades?” Jessie asked.
“Yes, the partnership has, as I have already said, tax-sheltered corporations. Independent contractors are hired under the Dolmades name, so as to not mar the Dracos Leges name directly with poor success rates and less-than-savory clients. These actions are, frankly, how business is done across the globe.”
Ito softly, and slowly, clapped his hands together. “Well done, Ms. Agne. Very well done. It’s almost like you’ve practiced that kind of speech before.”
“I am sure I do not know what you mean,” Agne said.
“Oh, can we please cut the crap?” Jessie said.
“Pardon me?”
“You knew we were coming. You know about MORTAL. You knew our titles. All of this is information you should not have. So, how? How do you know all this?”
Agne smiled. Saying nothing, she began to type on her computer. A ringing sound came from the computer as a video call was connected.
“A client of mine, Mr. Smith, would like to talk to you,” Agne said. “Mr. Smith, are you there?”
“Yes Ms. Agne, I am,” this “Mr. Smith” said. “As it is nearly eleven, I believe you should treat yourself to an early lunch. You will find that reservations have already been made at your favorite restaurant, Triton’s Tearoom, and the bill has been prepaid.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Smith,” Agne said. “I am so thankful that you have continued to keep Draco Leges on retainer.”
As she stood to leave, Agne turned the monitor of her desk around so that it faced her, Ito, and Gabby. Then she sim
ply left her office without another word. Confused, Jessie turned to look at the monitor. There was the shape of a man shrouded in darkness. The voice had been modulated.
“Who are you?” Jessie asked.
“As far as Ms. Agne and the people of the partnership are concerned, my name is Mr. Smith. But as I understand it, you, and the rest of the agents of MORTAL, have been looking for me.”
“The Laughing Man,” Ito said.
“Your words, Kyle, not mine.”
“Where are you?” Jessie asked.
“Are . . . are you serious? Why would I tell you that? Is this your first investigation? Back me up on this, Agent Ito.”
“It—it was a dumb question,” Ito admitted while Gabby nodded.
“He tried to kill me,” Jessie snarled.
“I did no such thing, Agent DeLeon,” the Laughing Man said. “I heard about what happened at your apartment. I’m as horrified as you are. Truly.”
“What do you want?” Ito asked.
“Many things, Agent Ito. But to begin with, I require you, and the rest of MORTAL, to cease looking for me.”
“We can’t do that,” Ito said. “You killed people.”
“Again, I did nothing.”
“Hermes. Vulcan. Whiskers. Boris. Dr. Harris. The hookers.”
“All victims of their own choices, or the actions of other wicked men,” the Laughing Man said. “Or so I understand.”
“The cops in the precinct,” Jessie growled.
“While that is saddening, they were the victims of Vulcan’s choices. I will, if you like, make a generous donation to a fund of your choice that would help the families of the deceased.”
“Well, aren’t you just a saint,” Ito scoffed.
“In my own way, yes, I am,” the Laughing Man said. “But let us be frank. I do what I do. And the city is full of bad people, enough for you to run around and chase in order to feel righteous. By keeping me in place, I could, allegedly, control the flow of certain activities. Activities that I would, again allegedly, be able to inform MORTAL or the APD about.”
“Listen to me, you bloody psychopath,” Jessie said. “If we don’t bring you in, then the elves will—”