Maria chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that.” She shook her head.
Trey circled James with a frown and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “You’re all burned, big man. Damn, that shit looks like it hurts like a motherfucker.”
“I’ve had worse.” James frowned and looked around for his healing potion. The shattered remnants of the bottle were scattered near the cooling mass of metal that used to be his .45. “Fuck, I lost my potion when I hit the ground. That was my favorite .45, too.” He grunted. “Got others back at home, but still, fuck that asshole.” He winced.
Maria cleared her throat. “Not that I’m eager to tell Shay about this, because she’ll probably slit my throat, but you’re also naked, Brownstone. Might want to do something about that.”
He grunted. “I’ll borrow some clothes from one of the dead guys. Fucking CIA grenade.”
“No way in hell,” shouted Calabrese, standing by what remained of the second-floor railing.
Half of it had been burned away. Massive scorch marks covered the walls, floor, and ceiling all the way to the top of the stairs. Smoke floated up from smoldering and charred wood.
He stared down at Brownstone, his mouth agape. After a few seconds, he crossed himself and shook his head.
James glared up at the man, extra annoyed that the bastard was asking for help from Above when he was a criminal piece of shit.
“You just made my day very fucking annoying, Calabrese,” James shouted. “That was one of my favorite guns. Get the fuck down here before I break every damn bone in your body. The bounty says alive, but it doesn’t say shit about uninjured. You should feel lucky I don’t fucking kill you for making my life more complicated.”
The mobster swallowed and tossed his gun to the floor. He hurried to the stairs, bounding down two at a time while Maria and Trey pointed their weapons at him. Calabrese hurried over to Brownstone, collapsed to his knees, and spun around, his hands on his head, surrendering.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the mobster shouted. “I fucking threw some super-grenade at you and you’re not dead. How the fuck does that happen? That shit would have fried AET in full armor.”
“I’m not fucking AET.” James chuckled.
Maria snickered and rolled her eyes. “That’s for sure.”
Trey laughed. “You dumbass motherfucker, you think the big man taking on all those badasses before was just a dream or something?”
The other man shook his head. “I don’t care anymore. Take me to the police. I give up.”
“What’s the matter?” Trey taunted. “Not a big shot now? Thought you came back to Vegas to settle some scores?”
Calabrese shook his head. “I’d take on every hitman in the country before I take on Brownstone again after what I just saw.”
James snorted. “About fucking time you got it, dumbass.” He borrowed a zip tie from Trey and secured the prisoner. “You move without my say-so and I’ll break something.”
The bounty nodded quickly.
“You check the survivors for bounties,” James rumbled. “I’m gonna put some fucking clothes on.”
He looked around in search of an alternate outfit. There was too much blood on all the men he’d shot, not to mention the holes from the bullets. It was time to raid the closets.
3
Aiyn sighed as she stared out at the ocean. Her status reports flowed across her ocular implants, bringing her nothing but continuing disappointment. She’d hoped for something positive, but the last couple of months had trained her to expect the message before her now.
Interunit nanite bonding past sustainable levels. Batch bonding failure beyond critical mass. Nanite regeneration cycle reinitiated.
She took small comfort in the fact that the nanite regeneration was only slowed, not halted, but a delay meant her enemy had time to grow stronger while her best weapon remained unavailable. Given the time that had passed, she should have already been close to replenishing her supply, but it would be months before she had a workable supply, let alone enough to take on Brownstone again directly.
Maybe if I adjust the parameters and field strengths again, it’ll improve speeds? There has to be something I can do. If only I could ask for engineering support.
Aiyn took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to fight off the frustration screaming to spill out. She’d been so close in Canada, without leaving any real evidence. Once she’d handed Brownstone’s corpse over to the Alliance, any punishment she received would have been minor and the Earth would have been safe.
But she’d failed. Completely and utterly failed.
The mighty Forerunner had been wounded, not killed, and going after him again without a nanoform would be suicide. She didn’t mind dying, but only if she took him with her.
Aiyn dropped into her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose, hoping to ease the slight ache in her forehead. Nanoforms were always temperamental, but she’d never expected to have so much trouble replenishing her supply.
Her reports to the Alliance had conveniently left out her attempt on Brownstone’s life, and asking for direct resupply would lead to the discovery of what she’d done. Whatever hope she might have had of the Alliance solving the problem had long since vanished.
Whether it was bureaucracy, arrogance, or simple cowardice preventing them from heeding her warning she couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t change the fact that she was one of the few beings on Earth or Oriceran who stood a chance of staving off their destruction.
Aiyn shook her head. She couldn’t be taken from Earth until she completed her task. It was time for lateral thinking.
Most of her scenarios that would guarantee a victory over Brownstone involved too much collateral damage. She would not sink to the level of the Vax and kill innocent people. She was a Shepherd.
I will protect them, even if I die without them ever knowing I existed.
But I failed to convince Shay Carson to turn on him. Now he’s on defense, and he has an advantage because he probably knows that an advanced race is hunting him
I’ve made mistakes, but I still have a chance. No new Vax have arrived. That has to mean something. He isn’t ready yet, which means he feels he’s vulnerable. I must exploit that window of vulnerability.
That woman has to be the key, but how can I manipulate her? Even if she’s serving him, she’s close to him in a way we’ve never seen before. That has to be useful in some way.
Probing further into Shay’s background didn’t turn up much Aiyn didn’t already know. She’d been a professional killer and left that life behind to become a tomb raider after faking her own death. The cover-up of her past had been clever and thorough, but enough strands had remained for the determined Shepherd to uncover the truth.
Shay’s choice of clients and interaction with some of her less violent tomb raider competitors suggested she was no longer the ruthless killer she’d once been. There were more than a few hints of a conscience, which wasn’t consistent with serving a vicious alien who would bring on an invasion and genocide.
Could I turn her if I explained the whole truth? Even if she knows that he’s an alien, I doubt he told her that he plans to bring his people here to lay waste to the Earth.
That afraid of magic, are you, Vax? The Oricerans have forced you to crawl around and hide. So proud, but brought so low. But you can’t maintain that, can you? It goes against your nature, and it’s just a matter of time now, isn’t it, before you destroy and murder like you always do?
Aiyn tapped her AllBand a few times to check the status of some of her dark web searches. The presence of magic presented the same disadvantage to her technology as it did the Vax’s, but that meant it also gave her opportunity not available anywhere else she might encounter the enemy.
There has to be something I can use. Something even better than the nanites.
Her breath caught as results filtered in.
“That could work,” she murmured, looking at the search results. “I just need to time
this correctly.” Aiyn smiled. “This will be satisfying in ways you can’t begin to imagine, Brownstone.”
Trey waved at James from his front porch. It was good to be back in LA.
The team had had to stay overnight in the Vegas Brownstone loft. By the time they’d dropped Calabrese off and made it through the paperwork associated with the non-bounty fatalities, it had been too damned late for a road trip.
Several of Calabrese’s crew had turned out to have their own bounties, but James’ enthusiasm for killing people had reduced the rewards they’d received since none of the men’s bounties were dead or alive. Despite that, due to his sheer volume and Maria and Trey capturing more than a few level twos in the back of the house, the whole day had ended up profitable enough.
The roads were nice and clear early the next morning, so the bounty hunters made good time returning to LA.
James looked at Maria in the passenger seat. “Dropping you off at your place or Tyler’s?”
Neither was all that close, but it wasn’t like he had anything all that important to do that morning other than go get a new phone.
Maria smiled. “My place for now. Tyler’s already at the Black Sun.” She chuckled. “Maybe I should be happy that he’s at least in LA this week.”
James pulled his truck away from the curb. “Seems like he’s in Vegas a lot lately. Funny that he wasn’t there when we were. I don’t know if he’s experienced Jessie Rae’s yet.”
“Both he and Kathy are hard at work getting the White Sun ready to open. Tyler likes a good deal, but the building they bought was cheap for a good reason. It needs a lot of work, even before considering all the basic redecorating and remodeling. Both of them are micromanagers, so the work’s taking longer than it should.” Maria chuckled. “Despite how much he bitches, though, it seems like he’s having a good time. I’ll admit a lot of that is just about him thinking he’s proving some grand point to you.”
“Me?” James grunted. “What the fuck do I have to do with the White Sun? I know Kathy mentioned something about giving discounts to my guys, but I haven’t even driven by the building, and I haven’t said shit to Tyler about it.”
“The thing is, I think Tyler still can’t decide whether he hates your ass or is grateful to you.” Maria shrugged. “He loves competing with you, though. He likes it far more than is healthy. You’re a worthy adversary who isn’t likely to slit this throat in his sleep. That kind of thing.”
James turned at an intersection and frowned. “I’m a bounty hunter. He’s an information broker. How are we even in competition? I’ve done some shit with him, but it was still me doing bounty hunting, and him doing his thing.”
“No, you’re not getting it,” Maria replied. “You don’t understand how Tyler views himself.”
“How is that?”
She shrugged. “Not as a bartender or an information broker, but as a businessman. You used to be nothing but a bounty hunter who worked alone, and now you have an agency, employees, and influence in two cities and even with the federal government. How many people have a senator who’ll answer their calls? You’ve even got a witch on the payroll, and a hot ex-cop.” She grinned. “You’re a genuinely successful rich businessman, even if you don’t think of yourself that way, and you live in a modest two-story house in a working-class neighborhood.”
James grunted.
Maria held up a hand. “Yes, I know you had tons of money from your bounty hunting, but just your last name is scaring most people now, even if Calabrese’s guys were dumbasses. No gangs dare to mess with your neighborhood, even though Trey’s whole gang spends more time in other parts of LA and Vegas than patrolling their turf. People are more afraid of them as bounty hunters than they ever were as gangbangers. All that influence can and has made a certain man jealous.”
“Huh. Never really thought about it that way. Kind of fell into the agency because I couldn’t be everywhere at once.” James furrowed his brow. “Not trying to be a businessman or piss Tyler off.” He chuckled. “Not trying to piss him off with the agency, anyway. Plenty of other times, I was trying.”
Maria turned to smile out the window. “Sure. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I think it’s funny half the time, and the other half, I like that you’ve lit a fire under his ass. Plus, the more he expands his business interests, the faster he’s going to end up going legit, even if it’s by accident. He’s not nearly as much of a scumbag as he used to be, if only because the bar’s neutrality means cops are always around and he’s got to cater to them as well.” She laughed. “A little clean ambition is attractive. Don’t know if I would have started dating him if he had the same old dingy Black Sun. What can I say?”
James nodded, his hands tightening on the wheel. “Didn’t realize all that shit was going on.”
“You have to understand the kind of influence you’re having on the people around you, Brownstone. Not just Trey or Shay, but the rest of the people you deal with.”
“Sure,” James rumbled, his thoughts drifting in another direction entirely due to Maria’s word choice.
Attraction, huh? Maria’s a badass woman and Shay’s friend. She might have some good ideas about what would be fucking epic enough for a proposal to Shay. How to ask, though? Shay might know it’s coming, but she still wants to be surprised. Got to play this one close to the chest.
James sniffed and rubbed his nose. “So, I was listening to a podcast the other day. It was interesting.”
Maria glanced his way. “Let me guess. It was about barbeque.”
He shook his head. “It was a relationship one. It’s one of the things I do to help me understand Shay better. You women are too complicated.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have to listen to podcasts if you’d just say what you mean.”
“Maybe men are too simple, but I see your point.” Maria nodded and rested her cheek on her hand. “Shay has mentioned the podcast to me. You’re a good guy and a badass, Brownstone, but you’re clueless in a lot of ways, so it’s probably a good thing you’re using any tool you can find to help your relationship. It’s one area of life where you can’t succeed by applying more force.”
“Sure. Yeah. That’s the point.” James cleared his throat. “So you ever think about your future with Tyler?”
She frowned and sat up straight, looking his way. “What about my future with Tyler?”
“Just, shit, it’s a lot to think about.” James shrugged. “You were a cop who started dating a crook. You stay at his place a lot, so, you know, gonna move in together sometime, then next thing you know, he’s going to take the next step.”
Maria blinked several times. “Next step? As in, what, proposing to me?”
“Yeah, yeah. That kind of shit.” James nodded. “Ever thought about that?”
This was going well. He could get the information he needed without anything getting back to Shay if he continued with his stealthy interrogation. He almost grinned. He could be subtle when he needed to.
Maria shook her head. “Thought about what? Marriage?”
“Sure, well, no,” James replied. “The proposal itself.”
She frowned. “The proposal itself?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Like what you want from it, how it’s supposed to go down, where. That kind of shit.”
Maria’s eyes widened. A huge grin spread on her face. “Oh. I see.”
James glanced her way.
Why the fuck does she look so excited?
Maria cleared her throat. “You know, I actually haven’t thought a lot about it. I’ve always been so focused on my career that I kind of figured I’d end up with a cop, and it’d be some sort of proposal in the station.” She shrugged. “Dated cops, but we just didn’t come together. Now, though, I don’t know.”
“No idea at all? Maybe something fucking epic?”
Maria laughed. “Fucking epic?”
James brought the truck to a stop at a light. “Yeah. Fucking epic. The podcast I listen to has some episodes on proposals,
and women are complicated; seems like they want different shit. Some women care more about the ring, others more about the proposal, and others don’t care unless it’s about the ceremony.”
Maria didn’t respond for a long moment. The light changed and James accelerated, casting a few quick glances her way.
“Maria?” he asked.
She let out a long, pained sigh. “This isn’t about Tyler, is it?”
“Tyler? No? Why the fuck would it be about… Oh shit.” James groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You thought I was asking for Tyler?”
Maria crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “We haven’t even moved in together, so taking the next step does seem kind of dumb, now that I think about it.”
“Marriage isn’t dumb,” James rumbled.
She side-eyed him, a grin eating her frown. “Oh, I see. That’s what you get for trying to be subtle, Brownstone. You could have just asked my advice and asked me not to tell Shay rather than doing this embarrassing dance.”
He rolled his shoulders to loosen them. “It’s not like it’s really secret or whatever. I kind of tried already, but she cut me off before I could and told me it needed to be fucking epic.”
Maria barked a laugh. “Yeah, that sounds like her. If it’s not a secret, why didn’t you just ask me?”
“I still want the actual proposal to be a surprise, or it’ll be fucking weak.”
She nodded. “Okay, fair enough. Has she seen the ring yet?”
“What ring?” James furrowed his brow.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You tried to propose to her, and you don’t even have a ring yet?” Maria rolled her eyes. “I get that Shay’s non-traditional, but she’s still a woman.”
“I don’t get it,” James replied. “So you’re saying this is about the ring?”
Maria tapped her forehead. “It’s about proving you understand her. Shay’s got tons of money. It’s not like she needs you to buy her a fancy ring, but you choosing the right ring will help demonstrate that this isn’t just James Brownstone bumbling around because of a relationship podcast, but James Brownstone knowing exactly how the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with thinks.”
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