Tricks and Traps (Gray Spear Society Book 7)

by Siegel, Alex

  "Who do you work for?"

  Tears were running down his cheeks. "Shkotovo Company."

  "Who is that?" she said.

  "Mercenaries."

  "And what are Russian mercenaries doing in Indiana?"

  "It's a job," he sobbed.

  "Tell me about the monkey machines."

  "I can't! I just guard the factory."

  She sent some shadows up his nose. He shook his head violently and tried to blow them out, but it was no use. The darkness was destroying his mucus membranes.

  "You were saying?"

  "They tell me nothing," he whimpered. "I'm paid to follow orders, and that's all."

  She believed him. "When you meet God, tell him I said thank you for the gift." She filled his lungs with shadows which oozed like tar.

  He died of suffocation while she watched.

  She turned to Smythe and Norbert.

  "I have to admit," Smythe said quietly, "that was quite frightening."

  Norbert nodded slowly with wide eyes.

  God's anger faded from Tawni's body. She suddenly felt cold and spent, and she considered lying down on the grass. The most intense experience of her life was over.

  "How are you feeling?" Smythe said.

  "Tired," she said.

  She drew a circle in the air with her finger. The streak of darkness she left behind evaporated after a few seconds. It was like painting with greasy smoke.

  "You can't rest," Smythe said. "We have to get back to the factory and continue to observe."

  "Yes, sir." She straightened up.

  * * *

  Tawni looked out the window of the minivan as it passed the pinball machine factory. A fire had reduced the structure to a burned out shell. Fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars were in the parking lot, but the emergency personnel were just standing around. Apparently, the excitement was over. Red and blue lights dazzled her eyes.

  Smythe was driving, and he continued without slowing down. Norbert ducked his head away from the window.

  "This blood is on our hands," Smythe said in a soft voice. "We fucked up tonight. We were sloppy."

  "I'll tell Aaron," Tawni said.

  She took out her phone and made the call.

  Aaron answered immediately, "Report."

  "The factory is destroyed, sir. They set fire to it. There is nothing left."

  "That's upsetting news. We will have a full debriefing when you get back. How did the interrogation go?"

  "The guards are Russian mercenaries," she said, "something called the Shkotovo Company. They're real soldiers. That's all I could get out of him."

  "You performed the interrogation?" He sounded surprised.

  "Smythe wanted me to. I had trouble at first, but then I got a gift. It was easy after that."

  "A gift? That's tremendous! Congratulations."

  "Thank you. I'll show you when I get back."

  "I'm eager to see it. The three of you might as well go home. We'll have a meeting first thing in the morning."

  "But, sir," she said, "we may not get back to Chicago until dawn. We'll be exhausted."

  "Part of the job."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Good night," he said.

  Tawni put away her phone.

  "What are our orders?" Smythe said.

  "Go home. Meeting in the morning."

  He nodded.

  * * *

  Aaron knocked on the door of one of the guest rooms in headquarters. There was no response. He knocked again loudly and still heard nothing.

  Suddenly worried, he opened the door and turned on the light. Bethany and Leanna were lying side by side in bed. They were staring fixedly at the ceiling.

  Aaron rushed over and shook Bethany. "Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

  She looked at him. "Yes, sir."

  "Did you hear me knocking?"

  "It didn't seem important."

  He settled back on his heels. Both girls had good color and were breathing normally. His panic subsided. They were just acting weird again.

  The twins had spent the night in headquarters. They couldn't go home without Norbert there to protect and care for them. They were like children in that regard.

  Leanna rolled over to face Aaron. "Where is Norbert?"

  "He went back to your apartment to sleep for a couple of hours," he said. "He was out all night."

  "Why didn't he come here, sir?"

  "He didn't want to disturb you."

  She frowned.

  "It's time to get up," he said. "It will be another busy day. I already have some work for you."

  "We feel bad," Bethany said. "We want to stay in bed."

  "Are you sick?"

  "No, sir. We're just... depressed. The project is failing."

  Aaron put his hands on his hips. "Your teammates and close friends risked their lives last night. They had to kill five people. Now, it's your turn to carry the ball. I will not allow this entire investigation to stall just because you lack motivation."

  "But the project..."

  "Is something you and God will have to work out. I can't help you. I have my own problems to deal with."

  "But..."

  "Enough!" he roared. "You two will drag your depressed asses out of bed. You'll go through your little morning rituals. You'll powder your nose or do whatever you do to get ready for the day. In exactly one half-hour, you'll be at your computers and prepared to work. Or there will be consequences."

  She bit her lip.

  "You haven't met the mean, nasty Aaron in a while. He's still here though."

  He leaned over her. Her eyes grew wide.

  He stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

  * * *

  Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned as he walked to work. It had been a rough night. He had slept maybe two hours. He couldn't stop thinking about the monkey machines no matter how hard he tried. The jingling sound had become his internal theme music.

  He was so distracted he almost walked into a light pole. At the last instant, he pulled up short.

  He looked around and realized he had missed a turn. He had wandered into one of the little neighborhoods in Rosemont. Modest, single-family homes made of brick or stucco ran along both sides of the street. The front yards were nice and big. Tall trees broke up the bright sunlight.

  He pounded his forehead. The jingling was driving him nuts, but he didn't know what to do about it. He just had to sweat it out.

  He retraced his steps until he was back on his normal route to work. The Rosemont Tower Hotel was straight ahead. The exterior was made of brown glass that appeared featureless, but he knew it was just a façade. Weapons could pop out from a number of places. He mentally identified the locations of the concealed turrets.

  A new billboard caught his attention. He walked the same route every day, and he hadn't seen this advertisement before. It read, "Claim your treasure at the Pot of Gold Casino! Grand Opening is June 20th!"

  That's today, Jack realized.

  The billboard showed a monkey machine rendered in vivid colors and intricate detail. He sighed with longing.

  No. Bad idea. Terrible idea.

  He continued his long trudge to work.

  Eventually, he arrived at the entry chamber of headquarters. Glaring light reflected from white concrete walls.

  Kamal was sitting behind the glass. Even though he had spent the last eight hours alone in the security booth, he was still well dressed. A starched white shirt was buttoned all the way up to his bowtie.

  "You're late," he said. "My shift ended twenty minutes ago."

  Jack nodded. "I'm sorry. I had a bad night."

  "Don't expect me to wait here while you have breakfast. I want to go to sleep. You know how much I hate night shifts."

  The side door buzzed. Jack went out into the hallway, turned, and entered the darkened security booth. Most of the light came from video monitors. Kamal left without saying another word.

  Jack settled into his chair
. He quickly reconfigured the complex controls to match his preferences.

  He focused his attention on the main monitor in the center of his station. It automatically cycled through the most important surveillance cameras. If any of the thousands of sensors in or around the building picked up something unusual, the monitor would immediately switch to that view. Normally, he didn't have to touch a button.

  He adjusted the volume on a speaker. It combined audio from microphones within headquarters, local police dispatchers, and regular hotel security. The mix was confusing, but he would rather hear too much than too little. Tone of voice carried as much information as the words.

  He grabbed a pack of playing cards from a shelf. While his eyes and ears were searching for trouble, his hands would be practicing card tricks. It was a harmless way to make the long hours pass a little more quickly.

  A flashing red light drew his attention. Somebody was trying to use the front elevator. He checked the monitor and saw it was Sheryl. A scan confirmed her biometric readings were correct, and she was carrying a Society phone. He pressed a button to allow the elevator to come up.

  A moment later, the elevator doors opened, and she stepped into the chamber. She was wearing a flowing blue dress made of layers of gauzy material. Golden beads decorated the hems. She was a beautiful woman and very much to Jack's taste. It was a shame he had no shot with her.

  It was probably for the best. Dating a legionnaire was a dangerous way to live. They instinctively responded to any provocation with violence. The women were just as bad as the men, if not worse. Jack admired the legionnaires but preferred to keep a safe distance from them.

  "Hi, Jack!" Sheryl said.

  "Welcome to your second day."

  "I've never been inside your security booth. Can I check it out?"

  "Sure," Jack said. "I don't mind the company."

  He pressed a button that allowed her to leave the entry chamber. He opened the door of the security booth, and she joined him inside. She smelled like rose petals. Kamal now had competition for the title of best dressed member of the team.

  "Wow!" Her eyes opened wide. "This is amazing. There are so many controls. How can you remember what does what?"

  "You're going to learn all these controls. Everybody on the team has to take at least two shifts a week, except the twins. I can't be on duty all the time."

  She looked down at the weapons section of the huge console. "Missiles, land mines. What is VX gas?"

  "Nerve gas. We can flood any floor of the hotel."

  "Why would we want to do that?"

  Jack shrugged. "It's one of our defenses. Obviously, I hope we never use it, but you can't be too prepared for trouble. Aaron is a firm believer in contingency planning." He sat at his station and grabbed his deck of cards. He focused his attention on the main monitor.

  He started practicing one-handed cutting. He pulled off one third of the deck and stuck it in the middle of the other two-thirds using only his right hand. The move took just a second, and he repeated it several times.

  Sheryl stood close to him and watched. "That looks slick. Can you do any card tricks?"

  "Lots of them. I practice all the time."

  "Let me see you second deal."

  He showed her the top card, dealt ten cards rapidly, and showed the top card again. It was the same card.

  She smiled. "Nice. Can you do a false riffle?"

  He pretended to shuffle the deck three times but left all the cards in the same order.

  "Pretty," she said. "Now, load and unload."

  He took five cards from the top of the deck and fanned them out. Secretly, he slid one card up his sleeve. He put the rest back. He repeated the procedure, except this time he took the hidden card out and added it to the hand.

  She nodded. "Like a pro. Have you ever thought about doing a show for the team?"

  "I'm not an entertainer." He shook his head.

  "I'll work with you. I'll give you some patter. I'll even be your assistant."

  "No. I appreciate the offer though."

  She frowned.

  "As long as you're here," he said, "do you mind if I give you some advice? It's personal. If you don't want to hear it, I'll understand."

  "Please." She sat down on another chair and looked at him eagerly.

  "We all know you want to make a move on Tawni."

  "Crudely stated, but accurate. I think she's beautiful and fascinating. Why? Do you have a problem with it?"

  "No." He shook his head. "What consenting adults do with each other is their business. God knows I've done some things. I just want you to be very careful."

  She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

  "All legionnaires are expert killers, but they kill for different reasons. Guys like Smythe and Norbert do it because it's part of the job. They're serving the greater good. Tawni is the other kind of legionnaire."

  "Which means what?"

  He took a deep breath. "Let me put it another way. Before I was a member of the Society, I worked in the United States Secret Service."

  "Really?" She raised her eyebrows.

  "Around here, everybody has a story to tell. I was good at my job. I received awards and honors. Then, one night, it all ended."

  "What happened?"

  He looked down. "A bottle of tequila, a prostitute, and some very poor judgment. That's all I want to say about it. The point is that I'm trained to read body language. I can separate the sheep from the wolves just by looking at them. Tawni is pure wolf, right down to the bone."

  "I'm still not sure what you mean."

  "If you push her buttons, she'll rip out your throat."

  "She scares you," Sheryl said.

  "Hell, yes," Jack said. "She's still just a rookie, but I recognize the signs. There is a whole lot of darkness in her. She's almost as bad as the legate."

  "I hear you, and I'm sure you mean well, but I'll still take my chances."

  "It's your funeral." He shrugged. "I need to get back to my job. The surveillance system doesn't watch itself, at least until the twins give it another upgrade."

  She stood up. "I'm sorry I distracted you. It was nice talking to you. Keep practicing those card tricks!" She left.

  He shook his head. That has trouble written all over it, he thought.

  He heard the jingling of the monkey machines again. He couldn't get the damned noise out of his skull. It was making him crazy.

  He clenched his jaw and tried to focus on his monitors. It was going to be a very long shift.

  * * *

  Sheryl walked into the kitchen and found the other legionnaires eating breakfast. Smythe had a bowl of shredded wheat. Norbert had two slices of dry toast and a cheese wedge. Tawni just had a cup of coffee and an apple. All three of them were slumped over with slack expressions.

  "You guys look like crap," Sheryl said.

  "We were out all night," Tawni said, "and it wasn't a good night. We killed five people and barely got any information."

  Sheryl stared. "How many did you kill?"

  "Two for me. Norbert got the rest." Tawni made the statement without emotion, as if it were just a tedious fact. "One of mine was self-defense."

  "What about the other?"

  "I interrogated him and then finished him off."

  "You tortured a man to death? How do you feel about that?"

  Tawni shrugged.

  Sheryl sat down at the table. She wasn't sure how to react to such a casual description of gruesome acts of violence.

  "Hey," Tawni said, "watch this."

  She used her finger to draw the word "Sheryl" in the air. The tip of her finger left a smear of darkness which lasted for several seconds before dissipating. The texture was like black grease paint.

  Sheryl's jaw dropped. "How did you do that?"

  "I don't know. It feels normal. It's like I could always do it, but last night, God reminded me how."

  Tawni held up her hand, and it was wrapped in shadows. The darkness squirmed around he
r fingers like a living thing. Sheryl was blown away.

  "Impressive," Aaron said, "but is it more than just a special effect?"

  She looked towards the door. Aaron and Marina had walked into the kitchen.

  "It's a weapon, sir," Tawni said. "It can cause painful injury and death. I used it to perform the interrogation last night."

  "What's your maximum range?"

  She pointed her finger at the ceiling. A jet of blackness shot up about a foot before breaking apart.

  "Still," Aaron said, "it's a very good gift. You'll never be disarmed. I want to see how you use it in the field." He looked at the group around the kitchen table. "We might as well have our meeting here. I'll go get the twins." He left.

  Sheryl was shaken. Jack had warned her that Tawni was very dangerous, and already, his prediction was becoming a frightening reality.

  Marina sat at the table. She was wearing thick, gray robes with braided hems. The costume looked like formal medieval attire.

  "Congratulations," she said to Tawni. "It's very unusual to get a gift after only two months. Most legionnaires have to wait years. Did it hurt?"

  Tawni nodded. "Like my whole body was on fire."

  "It hurt a lot when I got these." Marina held up her pointed black nails. "I still feel the pain sometimes. Of course, you'll have to spend even more time training now. You must learn to control the darkness perfectly."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Aaron returned. He was pulling Bethany and Leanna by the wrists like a pair of reluctant children. When the girls saw Norbert, they ran to him. He hugged both of them at once.

  Aaron sat beside Marina. "Let's get started. First, tell me what happened last night."

  Smythe delivered the report with occasional elaborations from Norbert and Tawni. Sheryl couldn't believe how calmly they described life and death situations. It was just another day at the office for them. The description of the interrogation was particularly troubling for Sheryl. It was a side of Tawni that Sheryl didn't want to know about.

  After the report was done, Aaron sat back with his arms crossed. Everybody else waited silently.

  "Not surprisingly," he said at last, "the junior member of the team made the worst mistakes. Tawni, you almost got killed in the woods, and then again in the factory. We're going to focus your training on stealth and awareness. The enemy must never see you first. You even had the advantages of darkness and camouflage last night, and you were still caught. For a legionnaire, that's unacceptable."