Sleight

by Tom Twitchel

  So it was me he was pissed at. “I didn’t do that Danton. That guy…”

  Waving a hand he frowned. “Not the issue. The problem is that this morning we pulled more video from several cameras in the vicinity. Normal for a traffic fatality. Not to mention a shooting.”

  I just nodded.

  His mouth twisted. “So, this morning we’re slogging through video feeds and guess what?”

  I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

  “Lots of video was missing or screwed up. I figured that was Goodturn covering your tracks, but it pissed me off anyway. When everybody else got busy with paperwork and interviews I took advantage and kept looking. I went back several days, and then for grins I went forward, to last night. Guess who showed up?”

  “Who?” I asked hoarsely.

  He tapped the tabletop with his index finger. “Kenwoode. He wasn’t hard to ID seeing as how I spent time with all of you earlier in the evening. Now what do you think he was doing?”

  “I don’t know.” He’d supposedly been dropping everyone off at random locations.

  Danton leaned forward jabbing at the tabletop with his finger. Using it to punctuate what he was saying. “He was sneaking into the building, using the emergency stairwell. They fixed the security cameras that had been messed with. I got a good look at who he was escorting.”

  I tasted acid in the back of my throat. “Who?”

  “They were bundled up, but there’s no doubt in my mind. It was the high society woman in the gray dress, and the bald guy, the one that shot Justine Winters. He smuggled them in together.”

  SIXTY-NINE: RECRUITED

  MY STOMACH LURCHED. Why on earth would Kenwoode smuggle both of them into the condo building where Weller lived? I had been blindsided by so many betrayals that my mind spun. He’d told us that he was going to drop them off at random locations.

  But he’d lied.

  “So what do you think about that, Benny?” Danton asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. Then I made a decision. I needed to trust him. Danton was a cop, but he didn’t have an agenda. All he wanted was to do the right thing.

  And that’s what I wanted too.

  I told him about my earlier conversations with Constance and her history with Kenwoode. I touched on Kenwoode’s personal philosophy on knacks, mentioned his vague comment that he’d been a fixer, and that his jargon often sounded like a former member of the military.

  I’d thought I would feel guilty sharing details about Kenwoode’s background, but when I finished, I felt lighter. Like a heavy load had been lifted off my shoulders.

  Danton just sat and listened. He pulled his cigarettes out and stuck one in his mouth, but didn’t light it. Stretching his legs out in front of him he blew out a breath, almost losing his ciggy.

  “That parallels some of my concerns. I’m planning on visiting that condo. I want to know what the hell is going on down there. And I have another problem: I want an answer as to why people are still showing up in the streets practically dead.”

  It was my turn to be surprised, I raised my eyebrows.

  Nodding he took the cigarette out and stuck it in the opposite corner of his mouth.

  “Yeah. You guys told me that Sonja was responsible for the Zombie Deaths. I saw Kenwoode toss her in the bay last night. She’d looked so wasted that she couldn’t have been hurting anyone. But people have still been showing up in the streets looking like old laundry. Wasted, and practically unable to breathe on their own.”

  Swallowing hard I wondered who could of been responsible. He was right, Sonja hadn’t looked like she had been feeding on anyone’s knacks. My scalp tingled with apprehension.

  Watching me he frowned. “I want you to come with me,” he said.

  “Me? Why?”

  He ran his hand through his hair again. “Because I don’t want to walk in the front door. I don’t want a record of my visit since I’m not authorized to be investigating anything down there. You can help me around that, you know, with your magic.”

  “I don’t know Danton. I think Mr. Goodturn—”

  Holding up a hand he gave his head a quick shake, like he was shrugging off a fly. “Stop right there. I know you want to trust him. So do I. But there’s some slippage here. One of those guys, maybe both, hasn’t been telling us everything. I want to find out which. And why.”

  “It has to be Kenwoode,” I said.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Maybe, but I don’t see it as clear cut as you. You’re telling me that Goodturn has never withheld some information? That you haven’t run up against something that he didn’t tell you?”

  That certainly hit home. As much as I cared about Mr. Goodturn, his life had been one giant onion, with the layers peeling back slowly.

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said.

  He stood up and grabbed his overcoat. “Grab your coat. I want to do this now.”

  “Now?” I asked.

  Yanking the cigarette out of his mouth he held it between two fingers and pointed it at me. “Can you think of a better time?”

  I guess he had me there.

  Because there was NO good time to do it.

  SEVENTY: B & E

  DANTON’S ABILITY TO slalom through the snowy hills of downtown Seattle left a lot to be desired. The fact that it was already dark out made it even more unsettling. His front-heavy two-wheel drive sedan slid and spun around turns with a sickeningly loose feel. Once or twice I felt like we were going to slam into a snow covered parked car.

  On my side.

  “You okay? You look nervous,” Danton said.

  There was no doubt he knew why I was gripping the seat with both hands, he was just trying to be funny.

  Hilarious.

  “First time driving in the snow?” I asked, as the car’s wheels spun free on a frozen patch of ground and I gritted my teeth.

  “Nah, I’ve done this a bunch,” he said, the sedan narrowly missing a curb. “But it’s been a while.”

  By the time we pulled into a parking spot a couple of blocks from the condo building I was more than happy to get out. I reached for the door handle, but Danton grabbed my sleeve.

  “Hang on speedy. Let’s talk this through. I want to get in and not be seen. Then we’ll need to get out the same way. That’s why you’re here. I figure if you can help me finesse this I’ll still have my job at the end of the evening.”

  “Why? I mean, what are we doing here at all? Especially if it puts your job on the line.” I asked, watching the windshield slowly disappear under a blanket of snow.

  He hadn’t lit up in the car which I appreciated, but he started patting the pockets of his jacket trying to locate his pack of cigarettes. Rolling his eyes he gave up. “Fair. That’s fair. This may not mean anything to you. To anyone who isn’t a cop, but I felt drawn to this job. When I gave Goodturn my word to keep all this magic mumbo jumbo to myself it bothered me. First it’s just frickin’ weird. Second, I can’t discuss it on the job. Third, and this is a big one, there’s lethal B.S. going on in my city and it bothers the hell out of me.”

  He pulled his keys from the ignition and cleared his throat. “If I’m going to sign on with all this crazy business I need to know I can trust the men that are calling the shots.” He looked at me. “Right now I don’t. That makes this little expedition worth it.”

  It made complete sense to me. My own reservations with blindly counting on Kenwoode, and Mr. G’s past history continuing to reveal new layers had me in a very similar place. “I get it. But what are we doing? What do you want to accomplish?”

  “Let’s get in that penthouse and see what there is to see. He smuggled the Weller woman into the building. It’s a lock that he’d stash her in her own condo, otherwise why bring her here at all? I can’t imagine that he’d dump the bald guy somewhere else after toting him into the building. We’ll take it from there. With any luck we’ll pick up some clues.”

  I smirked. “Clues, haha.”

  Fro
wning he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t get cute. A word is just a word and when it fits it just does.”

  My segue toward levity evaporated. It sounded simple, and that was what worried me. “What if she’s home?”

  He grinned. “That’s why we won’t knock first.”

  Oh, well sure. We could do that, just walk right in to who knows what.

  ‘For Pete’s sake’

  That would be my mother’s voice echoing in my mind with another amusing and unhelpful phrase. Once again I didn’t thank her memory for offering country witticisms at a less than ideal moment.

  I explained how we’d left the building unobserved the day Silver had tried to make himself a hood ornament, and Danton sketched out our plan for getting in unnoticed. We walked to the screening hedge of bushes, Danton with his collar up and a fedora pulled low over his face, me in complete camo mode.

  When we skirted the hedge, I used my telekinesis to tilt the camera so that it was focused up.

  I knacked the door, twisting the tumblers for the alarm first and then the latch. We got to the top floor unnoticed after I duplicated my camera disabling maneuver at the top floor.

  “Which one?” asked Danton, staring at the three doors that opened onto the hall.

  I pointed to the one at the end. “That one.”

  Not wasting any time we went to the door. Pausing before I knacked the lock I looked at Danton.

  “You’re not going to go in there shooting are you?”

  ”Benny, we’re here because I don’t want people to die. Not the other way around,” he said.

  Rubbing my sweaty hands on my pants I nodded. “What are you going to do if it gets crazy though?”

  Lifting his coat out of the way he pulled a Taser. The real deal, not a stun gun like I carried.

  “How far does that shoot?” I asked.

  He tapped the barrel. “Thirty feet. So I have to be fairly close, but it’s non-lethal.”

  I grimaced and turned to the door. Knacking it open took one second. Danton made a face and shook his head as we stepped over the threshold. He closed the door carefully behind us.

  “Where’s the room where you rescued the Winters’ girl?” he asked.

  I nodded toward the long hall that was visible to our right, just beyond the large living area with the fancy bar and ginormous TV.

  “Okay. Typically I would go first and have you stay here, but with your invisibility thing we’ll have you go first. But slowly. Before you open any doors or breach a doorway look to me. Got it?”

  “It’s not invisibility. It isn’t perfect. And slow is good because it works better that way,” I said, my nerves jangling.

  Holding his Taser in a two-handed grip he motioned me down the hall. Having been in the condo before I was more confident in moving forward, even if I was as sweaty as the first time I’d been there. When we neared the end of the hall I heard noise coming from the room where we had found Justine. The door was closed and the sounds were muffled and hard to make out.

  Looking over my shoulder I raised an eyebrow at Danton.

  Holding a finger to his lips he pointed at me then at the door handle. I nodded and he hugged the wall immediately to the left of the door, pointing the Taser at the floor.

  Invoking my camouflage I reached out with my telekinesis and quietly opened the door. As it swung inward the view of the room expanded until I could see everything, which turned out to be more than I had bargained for.

  SEVENTY-ONE: REVELATION

  PUSHING THE DOOR wide with my knack I did a double take. Danton swung around the door frame levelling his Taser then dropped the barrel to the floor as he sucked in his breath.

  There were four people in the room. Justine was standing in the middle of the room, facing the chair where I had found her the week before. Her head was bowed, her hair falling forward and hiding her face.

  In the chair, Weller had been shackled in place. The chair restraints were covered in melting ice. Her chin rested on her chest. She still wore the formal dress she’d been worn the night Kenwoode had taken her away. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.

  Sprawled on the floor behind the chair was a bald headed body. Griff.

  But the biggest surprise was Constance, bound and gagged with her back against the wall opposite the door, just below a window that had a heavy curtain drawn over it.

  The noise we had been hearing was Constance struggling and banging her head against the wall. Her eyes were wide and streaming with tears. Even though her mouth was covered with duct tape I could still hear her muffled screams.

  When I was ten I had been walking home from school and seen something thrashing around on the lawn in front of a neighbor’s house. I’d been confused by what I was seeing and had to stop and process for a minute to realize it was a dog covered in blood, tearing into a rabbit it had killed. Looking into the room and its occupants was like that. Everything in it was familiar but their disposition was so unusual that I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.

  Shouldering past me Danton raised the Taser and swept the room, and moved quickly to Constance’s side. I followed behind him and stopped next to Justine. She wasn’t giving off any emotional current at all, as though she was asleep.

  “Justine,” I said, touching her arm, “Are you all right?” My nerves were frazzled. The lack of any vibe coming from her was freaking me out.

  She slowly raised her head in a loose roll and tried to focus glazed eyes on me. Her face was flushed and the fire scarred flesh on the left side now showed no signs of injury. Her hands fluttered at her sides. “Benny...you don’...”

  Her voice trailed off and her head drooped again.

  “Get away from her!”

  Surprised by the warning I spun to look at Constance who Danton was helping get to her feet. Her appearance was ragged. Her mouth had a rash around it where the tape had been and her eyes were puffy and red. A large bruise that was starting to turn green and yellow discolored her left cheek.

  “Constance? What?” I asked.

  Pushing Danton away from her she ran to me. Grabbing my arm she started pulling me from the room.

  “He’ll be back any second. She’s still recovering from her last transfer.” She glanced at Justine.

  Danton walked over to us and placed a hand on Constance’s shoulder, looking warily at Justine. “Easy, you’re safe. Let’s get our bearings and move from there.” He gave her a grim smile.

  “No, we don’t have time! We all need to leave right now!” Constance said, her voice cracking.

  “I’m not leaving without Justine,” I said.

  “I’m afraid it’s already too late for that,” a deep voice boomed from behind us.

  SEVENTY-TWO: KENWOODE

  WE ALL TURNED and saw Kenwoode standing in the doorway. His bulging muscles and enhanced size made the doorway he was standing in look small and out of scale. Bringing the Taser up, Danton placed himself between us and Kenwoode.

  “Move away from the door. We’re leaving,” Danton spat.

  Squaring his massive shoulders Kenwoode sighed, his voice tinged with resignation. “I’m afraid not.”

  Resisting the need to use my hands to focus my knack I started to concentrate on the space around Kenwoode, waiting for an opportunity to manifest my ability and support whatever it was that Danton was preparing to do.

  Turns out I didn’t have to wait any time at all to figure out what was going to happen next.

  Danton shot Kenwoode with the Taser.

  The spring coils launched from the gun, twin darts lodging in Kenwoode’s chest. Electrical current ran along the wires still attached to the gun. Looking down at the darts, a wisp of smoke drifting from his chest, Kenwoode grabbed the wires with his bare hands and pulled the barbed darts from his body. His shaggy brows furrowed into a scowl.

  While Kenwoode focused on Danton, I used my telekinetic knack. Applying pressure at the back of his knee joints, I also directed a concentrated force to the center o
f his torso. His knees buckled and he fell back, but his hands shot out as he began to fall and he grabbed the door frame, keeping himself upright.

  Not exactly what I’d been hoping for.

  Danton hadn’t stopped moving when his Taser shot failed. He ran forward, ejecting the wired cartridges from the Taser and threw himself at Kenwoode. Using his grip on the opposite sides of the door frame Kenwoode catapulted himself toward Danton.

  As soon as his feet left the ground I saw my chance. Focusing on his forward momentum I influenced the space on his right to throw his headlong lunge off and direct him to the left. Danton passed him on the right as I ran forward and wound up a haymaker, putting every scrap of knack influence I could muster behind it.

  As Kenwoode veered away from Danton I landed my fist right on his jaw.

  Pain exploded in my hand. Kenwoode flew to the side and slid on the floor getting tangled up with Weller behind the weird medical chair. Changing the direction of his attack, Danton leaped on him and jammed the Taser into Kenwoode’s stomach and pulled the trigger again.

  A loud ‘bramp’ noise emitted from the gun and the smell of burning metal and cloth filled the air.

  Kenwoode rolled away from Danton toward the window, and reared up. Focusing my influence on his face I attempted to poke at his eyes with a concentrated burst of telekinesis.

  Shaking his head and waving his hands in front of his face he rolled again and tried to get to his feet. Danton followed him. I yanked Justine by her shirt and pushed her behind me. Constance hung back, her eyes wide. I felt a sense of protection surge in my chest.

  Rushing at Kenwoode, Danton pushed the Taser at him again.

  And that’s where our seconds of combat glory went seriously askew.

  Instead of attempting to dodge Danton, Kenwoode met him head on. He threw one massive arm in a wide loop, catching Danton in the side of the head. The force of the blow threw Danton backward and flipped him over the chair. He landed on his stomach and lay still.