by Karen Lynch
“Follow me, please,” he said with an impatient air, as if I’d been the one to keep him waiting and not the other way around.
He led the way to a small office, and I took in his crisp black suit and athletic build. The Agency required their agents to dress professionally and to stay in top physical condition. If I’d joined them, this would have been my life in a few years. The thought held even less appeal now than it had when they’d tried to recruit me.
“You are here to inquire about the case involving the missing bounty hunters?” Agent Curry asked once we were seated.
“My parents,” I said, not appreciating his disdainful tone.
“And you are a bounty hunter as well?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” His mouth turned down in the beginning of a sneer as he opened a file folder and read from the top page. “Patrick and Caroline James, last seen on November twenty-six. Reported missing by bond agent Levi Solomon.”
“Yes.”
He shot me a disapproving look for interrupting him before going back to scanning the page. Closing the folder, he clasped his hands together on top of it. “This case has been transferred to our special crimes division.”
“Special crimes? Why?”
“Recent evidence suggests your parents were involved in illegal activity.” He gave me an accusing stare. “The Agency does not take lightly to bounty hunters breaking the law.”
“My parents would never break the law,” I declared, letting my anger get the best of me. “What kind of illegal activity are you talking about?”
He pressed his lips together. “Drug trafficking. Goren to be exact.”
I relaxed a little, knowing this was all a big misunderstanding. “The job they were working on was to find a goren dealer. You can ask Levi Solomon, and he’ll tell you.”
“We’ve interviewed Mr. Solomon,” the agent said sharply. “He echoed your sentiments, but the evidence doesn’t support your opinion.”
My indignation flared again. “It’s not an opinion. And what evidence are you talking about?”
Agent Curry didn’t answer immediately and seemed to be deciding how much to tell me. I was preparing for an argument when he spoke.
“Your mother’s vehicle was found in the Bronx outside the residence of a drug den that was raided by the NYPD two days ago. They impounded the car, which is how we located it in their system.” He opened the folder again and sifted through the pages until he found what he was looking for. “When the car was searched, they found a large sum of money and vials of goren with a street value of fifty thousand dollars.”
I shook my head in denial. “They were hunting a goren dealer. He must have put that stuff in her car to set them up.”
“Or they were in business with the dealer and something went wrong.”
“No,” I shot back vehemently. “If you knew them, you’d never say that. Talk to the other bounty hunters. Everyone likes and respects my parents.”
The agent tapped his fingers on the desk. “We will interview their peers during the investigation, but it would not be the first time people have been fooled by someone they know.”
I ground my teeth in frustration. This man had already decided my parents were guilty, and he wasn’t looking to clear them.
“If you’re so sure my parents are drug dealers, why haven’t you or the police come to our home yet with a search warrant?”
Agent Curry shifted unhappily in his seat. “We have protocols to follow. Rest assured, that will happen soon.”
His tone was accusing, but I caught a flicker of uncertainty in his expression. He might be ready to condemn my parents, but whomever he reported to wasn’t convinced.
I pulled my mother’s bracelet from my pocket and laid it on the desk. “This is my mother’s. An employee at the Ralston found it there the morning after she and my father disappeared. I went there and spoke to a bellboy, who said my parents were there that night.”
He reached across the desk to pick up the leather bracelet. “How do you know this is hers?”
I pulled up my sleeve to show him my identical bracelet. “My mother had these custom-made for us. My father has one, too. It’s a protection against Fae glamours, and she would never take it off. The ties on hers are broken, and I think it came off in a struggle.”
Agent Curry studied the bracelet. “This just proves she was at the hotel that night. It doesn’t mean she didn’t leave there and meet up with the drug dealer.”
“But you will check it out, won’t you?” My jaw hurt from clenching it to keep from shouting at him.
He tossed the bracelet back onto the desk as if he were discarding a piece of trash. “We’ll look into it, but I assure you, if there had been any kind of disturbance at the Ralston, we would have heard about it by now.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m due for a meeting in a few minutes. If there is nothing else, we need to wrap this up.”
I snatched up the bracelet and stood. He’d made it quite clear finding my parents was not an Agency priority. If I ever wanted to see them again, I’d have to find them myself.
We walked back to the reception area in silence. I hit the elevator button, and Agent Curry headed back toward his office. The elevator doors opened, and I stormed inside.
“Miss James.”
I turned to find the agent just outside the doors. “Yes?”
“I understand you are worried about your parents, but this falls under Agency jurisdiction now.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning do not interfere in an ongoing Agency investigation.”
“Ongoing?” I echoed scornfully. “You’ve already written them off.”
The doors closed on his scowling face, and I hoped it was the last time I’d ever have to see it. If he thought I was going to sit at home twiddling my thumbs while the Agency did nothing, he was out of his mind.
I called Levi as soon as I left the building, and he confirmed what Agent Curry had said. The Agency had taken over the search for my parents, and bounty hunters were being told to stay out of it.
My anger had turned to anxiety by the time I made it to the Jeep. If the Agency wasn’t taking my parents’ disappearance seriously, I really was on my own. The enormity of that revelation felt like a heavy yoke across my shoulders, and I didn’t know if I was strong enough to carry it alone.
As I started the Jeep, I received a text from Violet. Coffee? My treat.
God yes! I wrote back. Where n when?
Oliver’s. 20 min?
Oliver’s was a hip coffee house in Brooklyn that had survived the bean shortage. They’d had to hike up their prices, but they catered mostly to young professionals who didn’t care as long as they got their coffee.
I calculated how long it would take me to get there from here. Make it 40 and I’m there.
Her reply came seconds later. See you soon.
I was just entering downtown Brooklyn when the traffic slowed to a crawl. I craned my neck to see a bunch of flashing red and blue lights up ahead amid a sea of people. I leaned forward to peer up at the buildings, expecting a fire, but I could see no sign of one. Whatever was going on, I was stuck here until it was over.
Groaning, I picked up my phone to let Violet know I wasn’t going to make our coffee date. The phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked down to see an incoming message. I almost rear-ended the car in front of me when the words LEVEL 3 BULLETIN flashed across the screen.
Sometimes, a situation arose that couldn’t wait for it to go through the process of being assigned to a hunter, like when that hobgoblin had gone crazy in Manhattan a few years ago. When that happened, the Agency sent out a bulletin to the phone of every licensed bounty hunter in the city, and the first one to make the capture earned the bounty.
I clicked the alert and quickly scanned the message. I had to read it again to make sure I was seeing it correctly. A bunnek was on the loose in the Hatten Building, and there had been attacks on several people. The police and fi
re department were on site, but their job was to get the people out of the building and tend to the injured. They were leaving the capture of the bunnek to the bounty hunters.
A bunnek in New York? The Fae Enforcement Agency had a list of Fae creatures that were restricted from entering our world, and bunneks were near the top of that list. In Faerie they were harmless animals, but in our world, they turned into monsters with the temperament of a wild boar with a ravenous appetite. I shuddered, thinking it was probably just as well that I was stuck in a traffic jam.
I looked up at the buildings again, trying to figure out the cause of the commotion, and that’s when I saw it – a giant ornate H at the top of the building closest to the emergency vehicles. As in H for the Hatten building.
Sinking back in my seat, I stared at the message on my phone. I was authorized to go after the job, and by a stroke of luck, I had arrived here just as the bulletin had gone out. Unless there were other hunters nearby, I would be the first one on the scene.
I let out a long breath. Was I really thinking about going after that thing? I had a ton of gear in the back and a head full of knowledge, but facing a bunnek in real life was nothing like reading about it in a book.
A bulletin update appeared on the screen. Threat elevated to level Four. Multiple human fatalities expected.
I chewed my lower lip. I wasn’t obligated to respond to the bulletin, but people could die. Could I live with myself if I didn’t try to help them?
I eyed the entrance to a parking garage a few feet away. Unfortunately, the car in front of me wasn’t going anywhere. I looked around to make sure no police were close by, and then I drove over the curb and into the garage.
Pulling into a parking spot, I reviewed all I knew about bunneks. After doing a quick inventory of my gear, I hefted the heavy bag onto my shoulder and set off at a fast walk.
I had to push my way through the people crowding the police barriers. A uniformed police officer intercepted me when I climbed over a barrier, but he let me pass when I showed him my ID.
The scene when I neared the building was one of utter chaos. Police officers yelled to each other over the noise of the crowd and the sounds of crying. EMTs from two ambulances were busy treating the wounded, and I sucked in a breath at the sight of the blood coating one man’s white shirt.
“I’m out of my freaking mind,” I said under my breath as I entered the building.
In the lobby, I found four officers with their guns drawn and looking too trigger-happy for my comfort. I had to flash my ID again before they’d let me by. They filled me in on the situation and told me the bunnek was confined to the top floor, which housed a law firm. At least twenty people were still up there, barricaded in a conference room.
“Don’t you have a partner?” asked a portly, gray-haired officer when I headed for the door to the stairs.
“He’ll be along soon,” I lied because the older man would try to stop me from going upstairs if he knew I was alone. Hopefully, other hunters would arrive soon, and I wouldn’t be up there alone for long.
I adjusted the duffle bag strap on my shoulder and started up the twenty flights of stairs to the top floor. By the tenth floor, I was wishing I’d spent more time at the gym with my parents, and by the twentieth, I was vowing I’d start endurance training tomorrow… or as soon as I recovered from this.
I was sweating when I reached the top floor landing. I set the duffle bag down quietly and bent over with my hands on my knees. The elevator would have been a lot easier, but the noise would have attracted the bunnek. I wanted to be prepared before I faced off against this one.
Removing my jacket, I hung it on the stair rail and rummaged through the bag. I pulled out a small bottle and made a face as I sprayed myself with a nauseatingly sweet fragrance that was made from a variety of Faerie flowers. I’d found it when I went through the supplies at home, and it was supposed to mask a human’s scent from faeries. I was about to find out how well it worked.
Once I was doused in the perfume, I strapped on a custom weapons harness and armed myself with whatever I could use to snare a bunnek. In addition to shackles, I grabbed some strong rope and a net with tiny iron weights sewn into it. The net made one side of the harness sag slightly, but I couldn’t go after the bunnek without it.
I was almost ready when I heard someone running lightly up the stairs. Glancing down, I spotted a figure four floors below, and I exhaled in relief. I waited for the person to reach me, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan when Trey came into view. Of all the people to show up first, it had to be him.
His face registered his shock when he saw me at the top of the stairs. “Jesse, what the hell are you doing here?” he asked in a loud whisper.
“Same thing you are,” I answered, annoyed to see he didn’t look nearly as winded or sweaty as I’d been after my climb. I was definitely hitting the gym tomorrow.
He set his gear bag beside mine and put his hands on his hips. “Listen, I get that you’re trying to prove yourself or something, but you’re in over your head with this one. It’s not worth getting hurt or killed over.”
“And how many bunneks have you hunted?”
Trey flushed. “None, but I’ve worked with Dad on other level Three jobs.”
“Is Bruce here?”
“No. He and Mom are over in Jersey for the day.” Trey unzipped his bag and began loading up on gear. “I was working on a job nearby when the bulletin went out. I’d say we have less than twenty minutes before anyone else gets here, and I plan to have that bunnek bagged by then.”
“Does he know you came here alone?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. Bruce would have ordered Trey not to come here without him.
Trey scowled. “I don’t have to check in with him on everything I do. And you came alone.”
“Yes, but I was hoping others would show up and we could work together.”
He pulled a net similar to mine from his bag. “I’m not trying to be mean, but you aren’t ready for this. Stay out here, and let me handle it.”
“I know as much about bunneks as you do, probably more.” There was no probably about it. Trey hadn’t liked to study in school, and I was betting he’d never taken the time to read his father’s reference books.
He laughed quietly and shook his head. “Jesse, being book smart will only get you so far. You need real street smarts to make it in this business.” He adjusted his harness and took a step toward me, only to stop and wrinkle his nose. “What is that smell? Are you wearing perfume?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s scent blocker, and you better put some on if you don’t want that bunnek taking a bite out of you.”
Trey looked uncertainly down at his bag and back to me. “I don’t have any with me.”
Of course not. I fished the bottle from my bag and sprayed him liberally. He might be the most annoying person in my life, but I didn’t want him to get hurt.
He put a hand over his mouth to smother a cough. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” I tossed the bottle into my bag as a distant scream came from somewhere beyond the door.
Unless more bounty hunters had arrived and taken the set of stairs on the other end of the building, we were the only hope those people had.
Trey grasped the door handle. “We’d better get going before other hunters show up and take the bunnek from us.”
“Wait,” I whispered harshly. I pushed past him and put my ear to the door, listening for movement on the other side. Hearing nothing, I pushed down on the handle and eased the door open an inch. When nothing charged at me, I opened it wide enough to slip quietly inside.
I found myself in a corner of the reception area. From here, I could see overturned chairs and papers strewn across the floor. Streaks of red drew my gaze to the white marble reception desk, and I shuddered when I realized it was blood. There was more blood smeared on a wall, and a trail of blood on the tile floor that went all the way to the elevator.
It w
as official. I had lost my damn mind.
Chapter 8
“Shit,” Trey whispered from behind me, reminding me he was there.
I put a finger to my lips to shush him and then tapped my ear, indicating we needed to listen. He nodded, and we cocked our heads, trying to locate the bunnek. From somewhere in the depths of the large office space came a faint rustling sound, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It could be the bunnek or one of the people trapped up here.
Trey heard it, too, and he started to walk past me. I grabbed his arm to halt him, and he gave me a questioning look.
“I’m serious, Trey. We should work together on this one.” The sight of all that blood made me sure we were in over our heads. I had no problem splitting the bounty, and we’d both be credited with bringing in the bunnek, if that was what he cared about.
“Okay,” he readily agreed. “But I get seventy-five percent of the purse because I have more experience. Plus, you took that goblin that should have been ours.”
I scowled at him. “That job was mine fair and square. I didn’t take it from you.”
“It would have come back to us because your parents didn’t finish it,” he said in a low voice.
“Do you really want to argue about this now?” I hissed. “Are we equal partners or not?”
He shook his head and started to say something, but a crash somewhere in the office made us jump.
“Fine. Good luck, then,” I told him before I left to quietly make my way deeper into the office. As I rounded a cubicle, I looked behind me and saw Trey was gone.
For a moment, I stood there torn by indecision as my conscience argued that I should go after him. The sound of glass breaking and a woman’s scream decided my course of action for me. The best way to keep Trey from getting himself eaten was to catch the bunnek. I just hoped I wasn’t about to serve myself up instead.
The law firm was laid out in a large rectangle with offices and conference rooms along the perimeter. The interior of the space was full of cubicles, a lunchroom, and a printer room. I was grateful for the tall cubicle walls, and for the Chucks I’d worn today, as I ran quietly toward the noise.