‘Just remember,’ Bianca said when her breathing had steadied. ‘She’s my sister-in-law. I’m the only one allowed to kill her.’
Damian laughed. ‘I’ll try to keep that in mind.’
Boston, MA.
‘Really? Wow. I think Dom’s slowing down in her not especially old age.’ Andrea flashed her parents a grin and listened to Penny on her phone.
‘Maybe,’ Penny said. ‘That’s two dates Zoe’s got out of her and Dom went out of her way to get them both times. I think Dom has a serious crush going on.’
‘Zoe’s a nice girl, but she’s infatuated enough with Ultras that she’d be willing to try something new. If Dom breaks her heart, I may have to do something nasty.’
‘I’ll help. Love to your parents. See you tomorrow.’
‘See you then.’ Andrea hung up the phone and smiled. ‘Penny sends her love.’
‘Problem with a friend?’ Audrey asked.
‘Not a problem. Probably not anyway. Dom is Dominika Zuyev.’
‘The Soviet defector,’ Marcus said, nodding. ‘Svetilo. Quite a woman.’
‘Oh, she is. One of the reasons she skipped out of Russia was that she’s bisexual. She seems to have decided she likes the girl I work with, Zoe. I must have mentioned her.’
‘Not too bright but a nice girl,’ Audrey said, nodding.
‘Yeah, that’s about right. Not too bright but quite perceptive. Anyway, Zoe seemed to be fairly okay with the idea she’d never see Dom again after the first date, but apparently they’re spending Christmas together.’
‘Well, it’s always nice to have someone to be with at Christmas. We’re glad you came up to see us, and we’re glad you’re going to be with Jacob later. And when is he coming to visit?’
‘Ah, well… A short visit would be easy enough, but he’s got some rather specific environmental requirements at the moment that you wouldn’t find comfortable. He has problems if he’s not kept below about fifty Fahrenheit. I will try to arrange something though. Maybe Cygnus could fly him up one day.’
‘I’ll clean my shotgun,’ Marcus said.
Andrea shrugged. ‘From what he’s managed to work out about his powers, Jacob’s fairly bulletproof.’
New Millennium City, MD.
‘So, I said I’d try to work something out. You really should meet them.’
Jacob nodded. ‘I guess.’ Right at that moment, he did not really care. He was curled up on the sofa with Andrea in his arms. The TV was on, showing an old movie they had been ignoring for almost its entirety, and their clothes had migrated to the floor. Jacob Dannon almost felt human when he was alone with Andrea, who could put up with his cold environment without winter gear.
‘Almost midnight,’ Andrea said.
Jacob glanced at the old clock he kept near the TV. ‘Huh, yeah.’
‘This is poking things with a stick, but… I really didn’t think we’d get through the whole day without a body or a fire.’
‘Still got ten minutes… But I think we’re probably safe.’
Andrea turned, a feat of nimbleness on the narrow sofa, to look into Jacob’s eyes. ‘It’s still a little weird, looking into two glowing orbs instead of brown eyes.’
‘I can understand the problem.’
Andrea giggled. ‘Yeah, I guess you have some experience. Two people with weird eyes naked on a sofa at the end of Christmas. What are the odds?’
‘In this city? Probably not as low as you might think.’
‘I think I like them. Your eyes. I think I like your eyes. I liked them before, but I like them now too.’
‘Good, because I think I’m stuck with them.’
‘Probably. Let’s go to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be a lot less quiet than today was, and I want to make the most of it while we can.’
Leaning toward her, Jacob pressed his lips to hers and the kiss rapidly deepened into something a bit more passionate than the reassuring peck he had been aiming for.
‘Or,’ Andrea breathed when they finally broke, ‘we can just start here and try and make it as far as the bed before dawn.’
26th December.
‘Looks like someone was busy last night,’ Twilight said. Her eyes were on the body of a man named Edwin Mole which was half-sitting, half-lying on a sofa in his lounge. Both the sofa and parts of the carpet around it were wet: the house’s heating system had ensured that the ice had melted.
‘Looks like it,’ Jacob agreed. ‘This is a significant change in pattern.’
‘Less than ten days after the last death,’ Heather said. ‘All the other victims have been attacked on the street, suggesting they were entirely random, circumstantial. This suggests the killer went after Mole specifically. This place is outside his normal area too.’
‘I know that name,’ Twilight said. ‘Mole? Who was he?’
‘He was in city government. One of the Churchton seats. He was a bit of a campaigner, trying to get the NMCPD to crack down on brothels in Churchton and Deale.’
Jacob smiled behind the darkened glass of his helmet’s faceplate. ‘That’s my partner. Always there with the data.’
Heather shrugged. ‘I’ve got a good memory. Anyway, the change in MO is worrisome. Could mean he’s escalating.’
‘He?’ The three turned at the sound of the hollow voice and, sure enough, Night Shift was walking into the room with Brent and Caldwell trailing in behind him. ‘Where were you last night, Dannon?’
‘At home,’ Jacob replied.
‘With me,’ Twilight added. ‘I got there around eight.’
Brent narrowed his eyes. ‘And when did you leave?’
Twilight smiled at him. ‘When we got the call to come here. You need another suspect, agent.’
‘You’re his alibi?’ Night Shift asked. ‘I’ll take it under consideration.’ Twilight rolled her eyes and turned her back on the armoured figure. ‘Why hit a crusading councilman?’ Night Shift went on. ‘Does the killer like brothels?’
‘When we find him, we can ask him. Maybe it was personal. There’s no evidence of forced entry, so Mole let the killer in or the killer had a key.’
‘We’ll run known associates,’ Caldwell said. ‘Something might come up.’
‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Heather said. ‘Never a hint of scandal with this guy. Of course, sometimes those are the worst, but I don’t think he knew his killer.’
‘It’s what we’ve got to work with, at least until forensics comes back.’
Heather nodded. ‘Yeah. Yeah it is.’
~~~
‘You’ve had a thought,’ Jacob said as he drove Heather back toward her apartment.
‘I… There’s one suspected victim, right at the beginning and not in the usual pattern.’
‘The dismembered body.’
Heather nodded. ‘That’s the one. I think that was personal. I think that victim did know the killer.’
‘But that’s a John Doe.’
‘Agreed, but if we could identify him… I want to look into that. I’ll go through the unsolved missing person reports for that time period and see whether I can get a name.’
‘That sounds like it’s a constructive use of your time. I guess I’ll keep looking around Deale. It makes me feel useful at least.’
Heather smiled. ‘Good Christmas?’
‘It had its moments. You?’
‘Quiet. That’s not a bad thing. I watched It’s a Wonderful Life and drank too much.’
Jacob grimaced. ‘Now I feel guilty for spending the night with Andrea.’
‘Ha! Don’t. If I wanted someone to spend Christmas with, I’m sure I could find someone.’
‘Yeah, pretty sure you could.’
‘Of course, all the really interesting people are taken, but you never know when you might meet someone worth your attention.’
‘Right.’
‘And in the meantime, there’s always meaningless one-night stands.’
‘Somehow, Heather, you don’t stri
ke me as the type for meaningless one-night stands.’
‘Ah, well, that’s where the logic kind of fails…’
~~~
‘Someone else has been busy over Christmas,’ Twilight shouted over the noise of sirens and screams.
‘Looks like it,’ Cygnus shouted back. They were standing in the atrium of an Uptown mall, Cygnus’s suppression field holding back the flames which were still consuming part of the upper floors. ‘This is the second to go up in an hour.’
‘Yeah. Post-Christmas shopping really sucks this year. They’re evacuating all the other malls in the city.’
‘Certainly good targets at this time of year, but… I think he might do another mall, but he’ll switch to other targets. Oh God! Where are they taking the casualties?’
‘Calmly, partner. Friendship General, and Andy thought of that. I got Red to go sniffing around there with Jacob as backup.’
‘Andy thought of it?’
‘Uh-huh. It’s based on the assumption that the bomber knows the procedures for handling large-scale emergencies.’ Twilight turned at the gibbering from behind her. An imp was there, looking vaguely irritated though that was hard to tell with their faces. Twilight gave it a nod. ‘Thank you. Go get a cold drink, or whatever you lot do when you’re not here. The place is empty. No one trapped anywhere.’
‘Okay,’ Cygnus replied. ‘Can you ask someone what they want to do with this place?’
‘I can answer that, Cygnus,’ Denny said over the radios. ‘The fire department will do what they can. You and Twilight are needed in Friendship. There is an apartment block on fire. One of the large ones on Beranger Street. There are people trapped and Svetilo needs your assistance.’
‘Great. He’s shifted to housing. Tell Svetilo we’re on our way, Denny. Twi, could you stop off and let the guys outside know? You’ll probably get to Friendship before I do anyway.’
‘On it,’ Twilight replied, and she started running for the doors.
With a sigh, Cygnus lifted off the ground and began to follow. Above her, as her control withdrew, the flames began to retake lost ground.
~~~
‘Nothing in the utilities room,’ Red Huntress said. ‘I was expecting something there. That seems to be his favourite trick.’
Jacob, walking beside her down the stairs to one of the sub-basements, nodded. ‘Yeah. Agreed. However, Denny says the schematics show the main power feeds coming in through the auxiliary generator room. If he blows that, he takes out all the power in the building in one go.’
‘And it’s less likely someone would be down here, yes.’
‘That nose of yours picking anything up?’
Red made a show of sniffing. ‘I can smell people. Someone’s been down here recently, but there’s nothing to say…’ She frowned. ‘There is a slight chemical overtone. Let’s pick up the pace a little.’
‘Your back’s okay with that?’
‘Today’s a good day, thankfully.’ Red began to trip faster down the steps. ‘And if I have problems, you can always carry me.’
‘Huh. I guess I can at that.’
The door to the generator room was locked, but Red had been given a bunch of keys to handle that kind of eventuality. It was just a case of finding the right one. ‘Labels,’ Red muttered as she checked keys. ‘Why does no one ever think of putting labels on these things?’ She opened the lock and Jacob pulled the metal door aside, and they walked in to see the two large generators set in a concrete-walled room. ‘Chemical scent is stronger.’
Jacob walked further into the room until he could see between the generator units. ‘Yeah. He’s been down here.’ Jacob walked closer to the three large drums sitting between the units. ‘Three drums and something sitting on top. A timer. It’s counting down from… Shit! Five seconds!’ Jacob bolted back the way he had come.
Red was turning for the door, but there was no way they would get through it and get the door closed in time. Running up behind her, Jacob wrapped his arms around her, folding her into his chest as he pressed on toward the door. He was a big man and his suit was at least moderately fireproof. There was a chance they would be able to take at least the initial blast of flame when the drums were ruptured. Maybe not much chance, but some…
A few seconds later as Jacob hustled Red out of the door and nothing had happened, Red dug her heels in to stop him and said, ‘Much as I appreciate the hug, Jacob, I am gay.’
‘Huh?’
‘You said five seconds. It’s been ten and no boom. Stop.’ Jacob stopped, frowning. ‘And you can probably let go,’ Red added.
Unwrapping himself from around Red, Jacob gave her a sheepish grin, which was a little lost in his visor. ‘I’m a bit new at being a hero. Call it overenthusiasm.’
‘I’m going to call it bloody lucky if, as it seems, that device failed to go off.’
‘What do we do? Could just be delayed.’
‘Agreed. We give it five minutes and, thinking about it, we will back off a little more. Denny, could you get the bomb squad on standby?’
Denny’s voice came back immediately. ‘I have notified them, Red Huntress. They have a unit ready and waiting outside the hospital. I have also notified Fire Bug that his assumption was correct.’
‘Yeah. That was a good call.’
‘May I also add that I am glad you appear to have survived finding another of the bomber’s devices. I have let Skadi know that you are okay.’
Red grinned. ‘Thanks, Denny. I’m glad we survived it too. Now we just wait a few minutes to see whether the hospital is going to survive the experience.’
~~~
‘What do we have, Denny?’ Cygnus asked as she dropped to the ground with a man who had to be in his seventies or eighties in her arms.
‘Two office buildings in Downtown and an apartment block in Uptown,’ the computer replied. ‘Twilight is searching one of the office buildings and will move to the other one once that is completed. Neither are thought to have occupants.’
‘It’s getting crazy,’ June’s voice added. ‘The bomber has to have been working on this for weeks.’
Cygnus did her best to gently prise the man off her as medics arrived. He seemed very reluctant to let go. ‘I’ll take the apartment block with Svetilo. And you’re right, June. I think he’s trying to make a point. This isn’t just a maniac with access to unstable chemicals.’
‘No,’ Red interjected, ‘he’s got access to increasingly sophisticated equipment too.’
‘You found something at the hospital?’ Cygnus asked.
‘And the bomb squad have just finished making sure it doesn’t go off.’
‘Except that it didn’t go off when intended anyway,’ Jacob said. ‘The team aren’t sure why yet, but the components here don’t match the remains they’ve found at the previous scenes. It’s possible he’s got a new source of components and just… isn’t as familiar with them.’
‘When you say “didn’t go off when intended,”’ Twilight cut in, ‘what does that–’
‘The important bit is that it didn’t blow up in our faces.’
Taking off, Cygnus started toward Uptown. ‘How lucky were you?’
‘Very lucky,’ Red replied. ‘Maybe anyway. There’s something weird about this. I’m going to try to hook up with Andy and talk to him about it.’
‘I’m at the apartment block fire in Uptown,’ Fire Bug said. ‘It’s crazy over here, but I’ll talk if I can.’
‘I’ll put on a fire suit and come talk in the building if I have to. Jacob can carry me.’
~~~
‘I just find it weird that this guy has managed to put together a lot of fully working bombs from scratch,’ Red explained, ‘but he screwed up with some advanced, packaged components.’
With Cygnus there to handle the fire suppression, it had not been necessary for Jacob to carry Red through a burning building. Fire Bug had come out, leading a band of survivors, and was supervising the fire crews as they worked with Cygnus.
>
‘Unfamiliarity can lead to mistakes,’ Fire Bug said.
‘Agreed, but the reduction in complexity should have compensated for that. What he used at the hospital was basically plug-and-play. I think it’s going to be worth paying a lot of attention to the forensics on this one. If he made one mistake, maybe he made more.’
Fire Bug nodded. ‘They’re putting a rush on it. Hopefully, if they find anything, it’ll confirm…’ Trailing off, he looked up at the building. ‘Maybe I should’ve moved faster.’
‘You know who it is?’
‘No. I’ve got four suspects. Well, suspect isn’t even right. I’ve got four people who might be responsible and no real evidence to point a finger at any of them. I’m not that much of a detective.’
‘That kind of situation,’ Jacob said, ‘is hard to handle. Have you got enough to question any of them?’
‘I don’t think so. It’s all pretty circumstantial. Conjecture and theory really.’
‘So they might crack if you brought them in, but more likely you’d just tip your hand to them. Surveillance would be your best option, if you can arrange it.’
Fire Bug’s eyes dipped away. ‘Maybe that’s what I should’ve done then. Twilight’s good at that.’
‘At night, sure. If this guy is somehow managing to work during the day…’
‘Huh, yeah. I suspect he is doing most of this in daylight.’
‘Then you’re down to the normal ways of doing it, and with four of them it would take a lot of manpower. Hard to persuade an underfunded police department to put in that kind of effort.’
Looking up, the fireman smiled. ‘Thanks. You’re almost making me feel better.’
‘Right now,’ Red said, ‘the who of this doesn’t really matter. I doubt he’s out there setting more of them. Everything’s on a timer and what we need is Fire Bug with his head in emergency management. You can kick yourself, and the bomber, later, Andy.’
‘Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get on with saving lives.’
27th December.
Cygnus stood in the middle of the Uptown North Precinct building, quietly fuming. On the plus side, it was not a huge building and her field covered it entirely. Firemen with foam chemical dispensers were rushing around neutralising the chemicals the explosion had spread around the place. On the negative, five cops had been caught in the initial fireball. Two were dead and the others were on the critical list with severe third-degree burns.
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