Queen of Avalon (Broken Throne Book 3)

by Jamie Davis

  “I don’t know. But my brother thinks it’s awfully strange how fast this whole open house thing came together. There was nothing said a month ago during the regular planning meeting, then all of a sudden, BOOM. There’s a major event and the building is gonna be open to the public for the first time.” His voice fell to the softest whisper. “My brother says Kane’s laying some sort of trap, though who would be crazy enough to cross that guy is beyond me.”

  “I know what you mean,” Danny whispered back.

  Terry laughed, then poked Danny in the arm with a conspiratorial wink. “I hope they save some of the fun for me. I miss thumping chanters. Even thought I’d try and transfer to one of them camps for guard duty.”

  “Yeah,” Winnie agreed. “The world is getting boring.”

  “You said it, Fred. Who knows? Stick with me and maybe we’ll get to knock some heads.”

  The bus lurched to a start and pulled into traffic. Terry turned back around, eyes front.

  Danny found Winnie’s hand. She grabbed hold and squeezed.

  ———

  Tris stepped off the tour bus and looked up at the massive granite and marble building stretching into the sky. She recognized the structure from the news. There were always reports by journalists from the different news agencies, standing out in front of the Department’s grand entryway. Now that she stood here herself, Tris was unprepared for how big the building was. She wondered how they would ever find their way around, even with the maps and floorplans she and her team had studied.

  A tug on her sleeve returned her to the street. James was standing beside her with a pair of techs.

  “It’s a lot bigger in real life,” Tris said.

  “Sure is,” James agreed. “How are we supposed to find our way to the control rooms?”

  “We’ll stick to the plan.” Tris looked around at the other techs; Beth-Anne, Katie, and Monica. “Right?”

  They nodded and Tris offered what she hoped was a confident smile, making a mental note to give Winnie a piece of her mind once this was over. She should never have agreed to help Artos.

  She gestured for James and the other techs to follow her as she turned and joined the rest of their tour group. The leader had a stiff, triangular flag on a stick and was waving it around to gather the group’s attention calling, “Follow me, follow me.”

  Tris followed at the tail end as the tour led them through the doors to the first checkpoint. This was where Morgan’s alternative IDs would be tested. The tour was supposed to be a group of teachers in town for a convention, but the only thing Tris knew about being a teacher was that she didn’t want to be one. She hoped no one asked her any questions about her classes in Jacksonville, which was where her fresh identity was from.

  The entry door guards looked bored as the group filed through metal detectors, inspecting them all with their handheld spectrum cameras. Tris almost laughed as the guard scanned her for illegal magic.

  “You catch many people with that thing?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood with the taciturn guard. “I can’t imagine anyone would be stupid enough to bring a charm into this place.”

  “You’d be surprised, lady,” the guard said without breaking a smile. “People are dumber than you think. Move along.”

  Tris nodded her thanks, then moved through the checkpoint. She noticed some sort of commotion in another line as a member of their group argued with one of the guards. They’d found something on her and she didn’t want to give it up.

  “I don’t know why I can’t have that. It’s a baby monitor. It lets me hear my kids back home with my husband.” The woman was holding what looked like a standard set of earbuds.

  Tris tuned her vision to the magical spectrum, examined the earbuds, and immediately saw the telltale glow of a charm laid atop the object in the woman’s outstretched hand.

  “No magic enters this building, period, ma’am.” A Red Leg sergeant took hold of her arm. “You’ll have to step out of line for a more thorough search.”

  “But my tour group — ” The woman stammered.

  “I’m afraid your tour is over for today. Come with me.”

  The woman grew frantic, trying to pull away from the guards now flanking her either side. One pulled out a stun gun and touched it to her neck. She spasmed, then went limp in their grasp.

  The other members of the group gave the guards a wide berth as they proceeded away from the checkpoint. Others standing in line began to surreptitiously dump items from their bags into the nearby garbage bins. Tris shook her head — middlings could be such idiots sometimes.

  “Did you see what they did to that woman?” Beth-Anne whispered.

  “I did,” Tris replied. “She was an idiot and got what idiots get when they don’t know what trouble they’re in. Don’t gawk, for God’s sake.” She reached over and nudged Beth-Anne forward. James and Monica fell in beside them. The tour guide was saying something. Tris strained to listen over lobby’s clamor.

  “… We’ll be heading upstairs for our special tour of the building systems that keep our operations constantly moving. Then we’ll return here for a speech from Director Kane himself at noon. Follow me, and no wandering off.”

  The leader waved her little flag, then turned and headed for a broad staircase leading up to the second floor.

  Tris looked at her watch: 10:15. Right on schedule. If everything went according to plan, Morgan should have already dropped their building maintenance uniforms and IDs off in the second-floor store room.

  Things would be kicking off soon.

  CHAPTER 40

  Garraldi checked his watch and looked around the empty office at his team. They were all dressed in Reg Leg uniforms and looking every inch the part. It helped that they had all been enforcers for their various organizations before joining Winnie’s crew. Cleaver and the other bosses had all been asked to send their best to watch over to the woman the New Amsterdam boss called “Queen Bee.”

  He had to admit, Winnie was a formidable woman in many ways. That had been evident from their first meeting, when Cricket had picked her up in Baltimore. She’d constantly proven herself to be the type of leader he was happy to follow ever since, so Garraldi hadn’t minded a bit when Cleaver’d asked him to join her security team.

  Cricket hadn’t even minded being put under Cait, after getting to know her. But now, he was in charge and was desperate to make sure he didn’t let Cait down or drop the ball in any way.

  “You guys all know what you’re here to do. When the shit hits the fan, we’ve gotta be ready to hold the exits open so Winnie and the rest of the team can get the hell out.” Garraldi looked around at the assembled team. “You wait until the all clear signal from me, Victor, or Morgan. Then clear out as best you can and get back to the rendezvous. Any questions?”

  “Yeah, Garraldi,” said a red headed brute from Philly, raising his hand. “Who’s buying the beer when we get back after this crap-fest falls apart?”

  “Vincent, that’s an excellent question from a smart ass like yourself,” Garraldi said. “The last guy back buys the beer, so do your job and then get the hell outta here when the time comes. Lord knows, once the alarm starts ringing, this place is gonna come down on us all like a ton of bricks.”

  He met each of their eyes, gauging their resolve, ending his sweep with Vincent. The Philly enforcer nodded back at him.

  “Alright, you all know what to do. Victor made sure you were all added to the duty rosters at the assigned exits. Take your places and wait for the signal. Now get outta here.”

  The last of them left the room and Garraldi checked his watch one last time. It was 10:59 — everything should be in place by now.

  He picked up the special comm unit given to him by Morgan and in a low, even tone said, “Team two heading to positions now.” Anyone listening would think it was just another Red Leg team working the event.

  “Copy, team two. All operations are GO. Repeat. All operations are GO.” Morgan’s voice came
calm and clear over the radio. Garraldi didn’t know her well, but she was Winnie’s sister, so he supposed she could be trusted.

  He checked to make sure his sidearm was fixed to his hip. If felt weird to be carrying openly. His weapons were usually tucked away, out of sight in various places on his person. Now, he could wear most of them on his belt. He still had a few odds and ends stashed in his clothing, because it never hurt to prepare for any eventuality.

  Garraldi closed the door then headed down to the lobby.

  He had to get there early, and into position before the Director addressed the open house.

  ———

  “What do you mean ‘it won’t open?’ Try again!”

  Tris stood beside Monica, watching the corridor for any sign of someone coming.

  “I mean, it’s got some sort of magnetic latch holding it from the inside,” Monica said. “I’ve never seen a lock like this on a simple access hatch. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Kane’s a paranoid freak. He’s made this place harder to access than any building I’ve ever seen. Try again. But this time, with elbow-grease.”

  It was 11:30, and they were running behind. It had taken longer than expected to get James and Beth-Anne into position. Now she and Monica were being delayed by another needless obstacle.

  Who had locked the access port to an air conditioning duct? Tris shook her head. A paranoid freak, that’s who.

  They had retrieved their maintenance uniforms and IDs a half hour ago. Since then, they’d encountered a series of unexpected setbacks. She was lucky they’d padded their schedule. Problem was, they’d used their cushion up and had to move fast if they expected to help Winnie and the others escape.

  “Got it,” Monica’s triumphant voice rang from behind her.

  Tris looked over her shoulder and saw the access door open. Monica was already stooping to crawl through. Tris turned to follow. She was about to join her colleague when someone tapped her from behind.

  “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? There’s no work planned on this system today. Everything’s locked down until this ridiculous open house is over with.”

  Tris stood then turned to see a tall, thin man in a uniform like hers. He stood with his hands on his hips, glowering down at her.

  “What do I know?” Tris shrugged. “Some bigwig’s got his panties twisted because he can’t get comfortable in his office upstairs. I was ordered down here to make some adjustments.”

  She waited for the supervisor to answer while thinking of another way to deal with him. Fortunately, the man was alone.

  He scratched his head. “It’s that idiot Hanson on the 10th floor, isn’t it?”

  Tris shrugged again. “You want me to stop, I will. I don’t know who gave the original order — just that no one wanted to miss the big speech, so it fell to me, the new girl.”

  He looked around, then back at Tris. He leaned forward to read her ID. “Alright, Lewinski, hurry up and finish the job. I’ll check on you after the speech. Don’t screw up. Hanson is friends with the Director, and he’ll rat you out if you make a mistake.”

  “Good to know. Thanks for the tip. Have fun listening to the speech.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the supervisor said, waving her off as he turned to leave. “It’ll be the same old crap about service and patriotism. Finish the job, Lewinski. Screw up, it’s your ass.”

  The man walked back down the corridor then turned from sight.

  Monica poked her head out of the access hatch. “Is he gone?”

  “Yep, he’s lazy, like most supers. He didn’t want to miss his chance to hobnob at the Director’s speech.” She looked down at Monica. “It’s down to the wire. Make room. I need to get in there with you before someone else comes along and wonders what we’re doing.”

  ———

  Winnie looked around the grand entry hall, smoothing her tunic with one hand. The entry was massive, with a broad stairway winding up to the second level. Large projection screens allowed everyone to see the Director’s speech from any spot in the room. Winnie nodded to the second level balcony. Danny looked over and saw the stairs, too. They only had to get away from Terry, their erstwhile tour guide. The New Amsterdam Red Leg had taken it upon himself to show the visitors from Philly around, and introduce them to his brother.

  They couldn’t pull away without arousing suspicion. Now, he was dragging them around the lobby, showing off this trophy or that statue, all on the way to his brother’s position in the main hall. Winnie pulled out her phone — 11:35. She had to think of something or risk losing their window. Cricket was surely already waiting.

  “Let’s go up there and get a picture of the crowd,” Winnie said to Danny, pointing to the balcony.

  “Great idea.” Danny tapped their guide on the shoulder. “Terry, why don’t we meet up with you and your brother after the speech? We’re going to watch from the balcony.”

  “Great,” Terry said. “We can bust skulls another time. You’ll see a lot better from up there. Have fun.”

  Danny smiled and shook the sergeant’s hand. “Thanks for everything, and good to know you.”

  Winnie watched Terry thread his way back through the crowd, then breathed a deep sigh of relief.

  The express elevator to Kane’s office was located on the second floor. People moved out of their way as they pushed through the crowd. Soon, they were standing on the second level, looking down at the crowd and small podium located on a small stage set up for Kane’s speech.

  “We need you upstairs before Kane gets down here.”

  “I know,” Winnie replied. “You see Cricket anywhere?”

  “No,” Danny said, searching the crowd. “He should be here by now. Should you go up without him?”

  “I can’t search that office alone.” She craned her neck, looking around. “Stay here. Watch the speech from this location. You can use the comm Morgan gave you to call me when he starts back up to his office.”

  “But you don’t have Cricket,” Danny objected.

  “We’re running late. He’s probably already upstairs waiting on me. Stay here and watch for Kane. I’ll be fine.”

  Winnie gave Danny’s hand a squeeze of reassurance, then she marched off to find the elevator that would take her to Kane’s inner sanctum.

  CHAPTER 41

  Winnie stepped off the elevator and looked down the long hallway. Doors were evenly spaced along the wood-paneled walls. Kane’s office should be at the far end.

  A voice spoke from behind her. “I thought you got lost, Boss.”

  Winnie spun around to find Cricket in a Red Leg uniform, a bit too large for his diminutive frame. “Aren’t you a little small for a Red Leg?”

  “Oh, sure, make fun of the short guy.”

  “Have you seen Victor?”

  “He went down to Kane’s office to see if he’d left. He was going to signal me when you stepped off the elevator, in case we had to go on without you. You got here just in time.”

  “Better late than never. I hope all the others are in place. It’s time to check in with Morgan.” Winnie pulled the small radio from her belt and dialed the special frequency Morgan had programmed into it. “Top floor, checking progress.”

  After a brief pause, Morgan answered. “All arrangements in place and progress is satisfactory.”

  “Copy. Top floor out,” Winnie answered, then killed her radio.

  Morgan had given the all-clear. It was time to get moving, retrieve the files from Kane’s office, and get out of here.

  Winnie turned towards the end the of the hallway, wondering where Victor was. A woman in a smart blazer and skirt stepped out of one of the doorways. Victor stepped out a moment later and waved a hand in their direction.

  “Time to go, Boss,” Cricket said, starting toward Victor.

  “I saw him. Let’s go.” Winnie followed Cricket down the hall.

  Her heart pounded as she entered the Director’s office. Victor was already inside.

 
“I just sent Kane’s assistant off on an errand. She should be a few minutes. Kane is downstairs.” Victor glanced at his watch. “His speech should be starting soon.”

  Winnie smiled. Their plan was going to work.

  ———

  Tris and Monica watched Kane approach the podium. Video was being fed to monitors in every part of the building. They could watch from their position in the small control center — an emergency control point in the event of a major disaster such as a fire or bombing, where responders could control the elevators and send firefighters or other responders to the pertinent floors. Tris had used a backdoor into the building’s magic systems to access the main controls without the computer password usually required. She now controlled all access, up and down.

  Kane’s voice came through the small video monitor mounted on the wall. Tris glanced at the screen as the Director spoke. A text box faded below, displaying his name and title.

  “Citizens of the United Americas, I am Director Kane. I welcome you to this first ever open house to view the inner workings of your Department of Magical Containment. This video broadcast is being sent to screens within the building and our capital at large, but it’s also being beamed to televisions across the country. We want you all to see our hard work on your behalf. This department works tirelessly to serve you all, keeping you safe from the dangers of unfettered magic. This danger is true and ever-present. As you shall soon see, this country is under assault from subversive terrorist elements, even as I speak to you now.”

  Tris got a queasy feeling. It was as if Kane knew they were in the building. She picked up her comm to call Morgan.

  Monica reacted to something behind her.

  The door opened and four Red Legs poured into the small room.

  A hand holding a stun gun reached out and touched Tris on the arm before she could pull away. Every muscle spasmed. She dropped her radio and slipped from her chair to the floor. Two of the guards swung clubs at Monica as she screamed.