"Standard procedure for someone with a neck injury," he said. "She's probably going to be in a brace for awhile, at least until the muscles heal."
Chloe nodded.
"Why don't you take a seat in the waiting area, and I'll come get you when she's done with imaging?"
"Sure," Chloe said. She went over to the waiting area, and glanced through the magazines. She finally settled on a beauty magazine, flipping to the quiz on whether or not she was hot in bed. She counted up the points on her fingers, deliberated, added more points, and then confirmed that she was smoking in the sack.
After she'd wasted time reading articles on everything from losing weight to which lip gloss style would go best with her skin tone, the doctor reappeared.
"You can go see her now," he said. "She's in room seven."
"Thank you," Chloe said, hopping to her feet. She tossed the magazine down and hurried into Sarah's room. She was propped up on the hospital bed. She had stitches in her forehead and was in a neck brace, but other than that, she looked just fine. "Oh my God, Sarah. I was so worried."
"I'm fine," Sarah assured her. "No internal injuries, no broken bones. They said I was very lucky. Just stitches here, and some stitches in my leg. Looks I'll be hanging out with you instead of going to the gym for awhile."
"Damn right you will," Chloe said. "In fact, why don't you stay with me for a couple of days? I can make sure you're alright and that you don't move too much."
Sarah waved a dismissive hand. "I'll be fine," she said. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Have you been discharged?"
Sarah nodded. She stood up, winced, and followed Chloe out of the hospital room.
"We're going to have to call a cab," Sarah told her. "My poor car..."
"Do you think it's totaled?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know yet," Sarah said. "But I'm betting that it is. You know, that poor car has been through a lot. First Harper runs it into that guy who was going to hit that kid... and now this. Why do you think someone came at us like that? Do you think it could have been an attack?"
Chloe blinked. She hadn't considered that, but maybe she should have. After all, they were infamous in the underworld. Finally, she shook her head. "We can't assume everything is an act against us," she said. "I think it's most likely that some idiot wasn't paying attention."
"But he came right at us."
"Maybe he was drunk," Chloe said. "I mean, demons usually attack with powers, not cars."
"I guess you're right," Sarah said. "Come on, let's call that cab."
Chloe nodded. She slipped her rose colored phone from her purse and found the number for a taxi service. She gave told them which hospital they were at and then hung up. They played rock-paper-scissors while they waited for the driver to arrive. They greeted him, got in the car, and gave him the address to Afterlife. Throughout the entire drive, Chloe kept up a constant stream of chatter, about everything from the goblins, which she referred to as the pesky little brats, to wondering whether or not Harper and Brittney were back at the club yet.
She'd always talked a lot when she felt nervous, and she felt nervous now. She knew it was a normal feeling; they'd just been in a car wreck and Sarah had come away injured, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something she was missing. She just didn't know what.
After they paid the driver and went into Afterlife, they were both astonished by the crowd that had gathered in their absence. Usually, Afterlife only got truly busy in the late evenings when everyone wanted to go out and party but it was only four in the afternoon.
She shook off her disorientation and headed towards the back. Before she could get very far, someone stepped out in front of her. He looked vaguely familiar. She struggled to remember his name.
"Hi... Nathan."
"Nick," he corrected.
"Right."
"I heard about your accident," he said. "Are you alright, Chloe?"
Chloe blinked at him. "What? Yes. I'm fine, thank you. I have to check in in the back, though, Nathan. Excuse me."
She brushed past him, and heard him call out It's Nick! She shook her head, grabbed her keys, and unlocked the back door. Alec and Conner were sitting comfortably around the table, each one with a beer in hand. When they saw Sarah, both of them stood, concern written all over their faces.
"What happened?" Alec demanded.
"Some idiot hit my car," Sarah said. "Trust me, it looks worse than it is. Though if you want to get me one of those beers, I wouldn't say no."
Conner went to the mini fridge, grabbed one, and slid it down the table to her. "So you were in an accident."
Both of them nodded. Chloe sat down and picked up the remote that controlled their main screen. She fiddled with it for a moment, and then set it back down. "We have information, though. The men stealing the paintings aren't men. They're--"
"--goblins," Conner and Alec said at once. They grinned at each other. Chloe was still astounded by Alec's turn of face. She didn't know what to make fun of this smiling man. She'd never seen him smile so much, not even when Harper was living with him.
"Yes, goblins" Sarah said. "They've hit up several museums to steal treasure in the form of expensive artwork."
"That's what my sources told me too," Conner said.
"Well bully for you," Chloe said, rolling her eyes skyward. "It's not like we didn't go through a lot of trouble to get that information, you know. Sarah made me box. It was super tiring." Conner snickered and Chloe shot the finger up at him. He snickered even louder.
Sarah turned to Alec. "Did you find out why the FBI is so interested in solving this case?"
"Yes," Alec said. "Apparently, Eklund is up for a big promotion. If he can solve this case, it's pretty much in the bag for him. So he's pulling out all resources to try and solve it, and that includes us. Now, where do goblins live?"
"In the sewers," Chloe said, wrinkling her nose. "Filthy little beasts."
"So we're going to have to go down there, confront them, get the art back, and give it to Eklund without damaging it," Alec said. "This should be fun."
"You're kidding, right?" Chloe said. "You want us to go down to the sewers? Do you have any idea how bad it smells down there, Alec? It's horrible. I had to go down once to stop that water demon... I never want to repeat that experience. Besides, it's so easy to get lost down there."
Alec shrugged. He took another sip of his beer and said, "We don't have much of a choice. We'll wait for Harper and Brittney to get back, but I think we should try to get down there tonight. Sooner that we wrap this up, the better. Obviously, Sarah can't come because of her neck..."
Sarah glared at him. "I'm perfectly fine to go," she said. "In fact, I'll go as a wolf. Then I can track our scent so if we need to backtrack, we know where we're going."
"You'll still be injured, even in your wolf form," Alec said. "What if we have to fight?"
"Goblins don't fight," Sarah said. "They're too chicken. They'll just run away, and leave their treasure for us to take back. We'll threaten them a little, make sure they know we won't be so lenient next time they decide to go robbing Vegas museums. Put some fear into them."
"Where are Brittney and Harper?" Chloe asked. "Shouldn't they have been back by now?"
Alec shook his head. "They just texted. They're going to be a while longer. They just reached the police station. They had to stop and help some kid who wrecked his bike."
Chloe sighed.
"I know," Alec said. "It slows us down a bit, but it's not that big of a deal. It won't take more than a couple hours for them to find out what they need to from the police and hopefully send them in another direction."
Sarah sighed this time. Chloe glanced at her and shook her head. "Alright," she agreed. "I suppose a few more hours of relaxation never killed anyone."
"Actually," Alec said. He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it over. It was a list of grocery items. "I was hoping you might do some shopping while we wait."
"Someday you'll get tired of running errands," Alec said. "Yes, we all know that song and dance. You know I can't go out during the day, and I can't go grocery shopping at night. We have too much to do."
"Fine," Chloe said. She folded up the list and slid it into her purse.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Sarah asked.
"No, it's fine," Chloe said. "You need rest. Look, I'll be back in a bit, alright? You guys hang tight. Text me if you get any new information or if the girls get back before I do."
"Yes ma'am," Alec said. He tipped her a two-fingered salute, and Chloe just shook her head and left.
FOUR
Harper and Brittney glanced at each other, outside the police station.
"Do you think that kid will be alright?" Harper asked. She couldn't get him out of her mind. He'd been young, perhaps ten or so, and he'd crashed his bike while trying to go down a hill. He'd wound up with a nasty cut on his leg, and a few other scrapes and bruises.
"Sure," Brittney said. "He'll have to get stitches, and I bet his parents won't let him on that bike for a while, but yeah, I think he'll be alright. Kids are resilient. They bounce back."
Harper nodded. "Let's go get this over with then."
Together, they entered the police station. Immediately, one of the men sitting in the cubicles got to his feet and approached them. "What can I help you ladies with?"
"We're Special Agents Conley and Hawthorne," Brittney said, showing her badge. "We were sent down by Special Agent Eklund to check in on a case you're working. Two men. Ivanov, and Petrov. Known loan sharks, drug traffickers, and arms dealers. Can you update us, Mister...?"
"Detective Ryan Moore," he said, "and I'd be happy to show you what we've worked up on the case. Conley, you said? That's strange. One of the suspects of the murder was Peter Conley. Any relation?"
Brittney nodded. "That's my brother," she said. "You said he was a suspect? Does that mean he's not anymore?"
"If you two will follow me back to my desk, I'll update you on what we've found out."
"Right," Harper said. "Lead the way."
They followed Ryan back to a cluttered looking desk with a bunch of photos blown up and pinned to a corkboard behind him. There were several of George and Michael, one of Peter looking quite shady, and another of two figures that you couldn't see except from the back. Harper sucked in a deep breath. Obviously they hadn't made the connection yet, but the photo was of Harper and Brittney near their new home.
"So, we had Peter Conley down as a suspect," he said. "He reported a break-in not long before the murder. I think it was a couple days. He came in severely beaten, bruised, and bloody. Gave descriptions that meet our murder victims. Said they were robbing him, and he tried to stop them. We were working on a theory that he owed them money and they were coming to threaten him."
Brittney and Harper both nodded.
"Sounds like Peter," Brittney said. "He's always had a little bit of a problem with gambling. I remember when he was a kid, and he kept losing all his lunch money over cards. I kept having to give him mine so he could eat."
Ryan smiled a little, and said, "So we were running a theory that he took the men out to avoid paying back his debts and because of the state they left him in. Not to mention reporting them to the police -- he must have known how that would look to them."
"But?" Brittney said.
"But it doesn't make any sense," Ryan said. "Peter was in bad shape when he showed up. These two men were found with broken necks. That takes a lot of raw strength, and we don't believe Peter had that kind of strength at the time. Not to mention both men had guns on them. They could have shot him before he killed either of them. They were both extremely skilled in shooting. Coming up against a twenty-year old--"
"Twenty-one year old," Brittney corrected.
"Yes," Ryan said. "Coming up against a twenty-one year old kid who was severely beaten shouldn't have been a problem for them. So for now, we're taking Peter off the suspect list."
Brittney gave a relived sigh. Harper glanced at her, smiled, and then turned back to Ryan, her expression growing serious once more. "So who do we have left on the suspect list?"
"Well," Ryan said, "the security cameras in the area show two women leaving the area right around the time we project the murders to have taken place. Unfortunately, we only got them from the back. Not much to go on. The problem with this theory, again, is that these are two slender women, both dressed casually as you can see. What are the chances that either of them could have broken two thugs' necks?"
Harper shook her head. "Not likely," she said. "So if not Peter, and not these women, then who?"
"I don't know," Ryan said. "That's where we're stumped. I'm leaning towards the idea that it was a gang-related killing. They pissed off the wrong member, maybe tried to steal a shipment, and they were taken out for it. The reason I'm keeping these women up on the board is because they might be witnesses. I'm hoping that by finding them, we can find the killer. If they were in the area at the time, then they might have seen something."
"Good thinking," Brittney said. "Let's go back to the idea of a gang-related killing. What gang did they belong to?"
Ryan pointed at a picture that of a hand. There was a star tattoo on it with each of the points of the star pointing to a circle. On one hand, three of the circles were colored. On the other hand, all five were. There was also a sixth, added above one of the filled in fives. "That's the sign that the Trinity gang uses. Each of those circles represents someone they've killed. We've got George down for three, and Michael down for six."
"And what do we know about the Trinity gang?"
"Not a lot, unfortunately," Ryan said. "We know they're bad news, though. They deal in drugs and weapons. They have a fairly large operation that operates out of Las Vegas. If someone were to have killed them, I'm going to have to say it was this man--"
He paused and pointed to a picture of a tall man with dark hair and a grim expression. He was extremely muscular and had a full mustache. "This is Ken Rhodes. He's the hit man for Trinity. We have him down for at least a dozen murders over the last ten years, but we haven't been able to make any of the charges stick. He's a slippery one."
Brittney and Harper both nodded. Already, Harper was trying to figure out a way for them to get out of there without causing some sort of scene. They didn't need anyone making the connection between the women in the photos and them. They'd also got what they'd been looking for; proof that Peter wouldn't be accused of the murders Sarah had committed.
"So, you two have experience in undercover work," Ryan said. "That's great, we could really use some new faces who know what they're doing if we're going to infiltrate Trinity."
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, that's why Eklund sent you, isn't it? His memo says that the two of you served as undercover agents for several years. He gives very good, glowing recommendations. In fact, I haven't heard of Eklund giving anyone a recommendation like what he gave you."
Silently, Harper cursed Conner. Of course he would tell Eklund to make them sound good. Now he was making them sound too good.
"So you're here to help, right?"
Brittney fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well to be honest with you, we're already working several cases, and I don't think we'd have time for the kind of undercover work this would entail."
Ryan's face fell. "But... okay, look, I'm going to get Eklund on the phone right now. I'll tell him that we need the two of you, and see if your cases can get passed onto other agents."
Brittney and Harper glanced at each other. They both knew they couldn't stop Ryan from calling Eklund. Harper folded her hands and crossed her fingers behind her back that he wouldn't be able to reach Eklund, or that Eklund would tell him they were too busy.
When he got Eklund on the phone, though, the man told him exactly what he wanted to hear: that Brittney and Harper were exceptional officers and that he didn't mind
lending them to Ryan for a few weeks.
"A few weeks?" Brittney mouthed at Harper. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed.
"We don't have a choice," Harper whispered back. "Unless we want our cover blown, that is."
"That would be almost preferable," Brittney told her. She grabbed Harper by the arm and led her a short distance away while Ryan chatted with Eklund. "Do you realize what's going to happen? They're going to make us go undercover. Neither of us are trained for that. We could get killed."
"I know," Harper said.
"And you want to do it anyway?"
"Like I said, we don't have much of a choice."
Brittney shook her head at Harper and then let out a low curse. "Fine," she said. "Fine, we'll do it. But we're doing it on our terms, and that means making use of your Sight, and of the Afterlife crew. They're going to need to know about this."
"Can we even tell them?" Harper asked. "I mean, how does it work when you're undercover? From everything I've seen on TV, you don't get to talk to your family and friends. It's a twenty-four seven kind of job."
"You watch too many cop shows," Brittney said. "Of course we'll get to talk to them. It's not like we're going into witness protection or something. We're just going to be handling a quick case. We'll probably have to wear wires and such."
Ryan hung up the phone, ending their conversation. They both stepped back over to him.
"Alright," Ryan said. "So here's the deal. We already set up a operation for tonight. Two of my officers were going to meet them there to do a trade. They want guns, they're giving us drugs. The goal isn't to arrest them tonight, but to win their trust. We want to infiltrate their gang and find out who the top dog is."
"You already set it up?" Brittney asked.
Ryan nodded. "Two of my detectives were going to handle it, but there was a problem, and we've been trying to figure out who could take their places."
"What was the problem?" Harper asked.
"Detective Cartelle found out she was pregnant," Ryan said.
"Oh."
"Yeah," he said. "She backed out of the mission at the last moment because she didn't want to endanger the life of her baby. Not much I could say about that."
Kinda Like Van Helsing (Afterlife Book 4) Page 3