Shadow

by Jan Stryvant

  “Well you sure pissed someone off. I think you better lay low for a while Shadow.”

  Shadow shook his head, “No, I can’t. But I will take some precautions. Thanks for the warning. What can you tell me about the hitter?”

  Tomas shook his head, “Nothing, not even a code name. They’re that good.”

  Shadow pondered that. “Later, Tomas,” He said and headed out of the alley by the back way.

  Tomas shook his head and went back into the coffee shop. He didn’t hold out much hope for Shadow, he’d never seen the cat deal with anything at this kind of level, but at least he’d been able to warn him.

  Shadow pondered the situation. He stayed in his stealth form without a second thought, this was going to make life difficult, someone getting that much money might even have super powers. That meant that killing them would be dangerous, if he ever even got the chance. His powers had grown considerably since he first got here years ago, but he still had a ways to go until he was happy with them. He’d had only four forms when he showed up here, his original, his cat, his healer, and his fighter. He’d only added the lover and the stealth since then. He still had plans for agility, and weapons forms, and was currently working on a defensive one. At least his new defensive form was almost finished. He was sure he’d need it.

  Shadow did what he could to get a defense going. He figured his best bet was to set up the first attempt so that it failed. All he had to do was get the hit man to cooperate. His next step would be to track them down and ambush them back. He spent a considerable amount of money in those efforts, getting some decoys made, setting up some remote cameras, as well as hidden motion detectors on the best vantage points. He also made some minor changes in his daily routines.

  The first attempt came two weeks later; he was apparently sitting with his back to the window at his favorite coffee shop. He’d been sitting there for only a few minutes, he rarely sat there more then fifteen, when a bullet drilled though the window and hit him knocking him to the floor.

  Of course it wasn’t him, it was a decoy he’d had made, one of several. He’d been making sure that only at a few places he was visible, to try and force the assassin to hit him at a place of his own choosing. Apparently his little plan had actually worked. Going out the back he used the available cover to slink out of there and circle around to where he suspected the sniper was. It took him a while, and he had to watch out for traps. When he finally got there he found the spot was clean, but several hours of scenting around in his full cat form eventually found him a strand of hair with a trace scent. It was a woman! He was surprised by that, most heavy hitters were men. He memorized the scent and then went down to ground level and tried to do some tracking.

  Six hours later Shadow found some more faint traces, if he didn’t have specially enhanced tracking abilities he would have missed them. As it was it was only the second time he went by that he picked them up. He’d never seen anyone who could move without leaving any kind of a trace before, it was definitely interesting. He also found she was on a motorcycle. That would definitely help narrow things down.

  Shadow went back to the coffee shop next and paid the owner for the window. He’d moved the decoy to a back room after the shooting. Looking at it now it was pretty trashed, the bullet had been custom designed for penetration and maximum expansion. Definitely nasty business.

  For the next few days he laid low, but spent a lot of time sneaking around looking for a motorcycle with that scent on it. He didn’t have much success however. On the fourth day since the attempt he started going out again, quickly putting the end to the rumor that something had happened to him.

  He was very cautious that first night, and snuck out several times to search the area for that scent or any motorcycles. Again he had no luck, but the next night he caught her scent several times, though it was an hour old each time. She was stalking him again. He went home then and took Karen to a safe house he had set up for helping Tomas with kidnapping recoveries and told her to stay home from school for a few days, he didn’t want any sort of a hostage situation on his hands.

  Shadow pondered this challenge, he expected her to try again soon, probably tonight. He secured his apartment, so far she hadn’t been around it, but he wasn’t so foolish as to think she wouldn’t be eventually. He did his utmost to keep its location secret, but too many people had been there for it to truly be so. He didn’t know what she looked like, but at least he had the home field advantage. He’d set up a few cameras in selected spots, and went out twice more to snoop before actually going out for the night.

  He was poking around an alley when he got lucky. He found a motorcycle, hidden behind a dumpster to hide it from the street. Interestingly it had no scent on it, not even the woman’s. That was wrong, people couldn’t hide their scents, but he knew already that she must have found a way, and for hunting him that would be beneficial. He put a small timed tracking device on it, one that wouldn’t activate until much later.

  He went back to his place then and tried to figure out where she would try to hit him next. Would she even use a rifle this time? He doubted it, but then again, maybe she’d try for a headshot. However he was going to be a harder target now, she’d expect it, so he’d have to deliver on it.

  He finally decided on a small bar he occasionally frequented. It was dark, it was smoky and he always sat way in the back. As shots went, it would be a tricky one for her to make, and she’d have to do it from street level. He made a few calls and had one of his dummies delivered, then made sure he was seen going there. That part made him nervous, she could try to pop him on the street, but he moved fast and limited his exposure. Once he got inside he went to the back and sat down. He made sure his table was private, and he had the dummy stuck under the table. Pulling out his phone he checked the screen, one of his cameras did have a view of the street. He watched and waited, until he saw a likely candidate. She was tall, and had long blond hair.

  Hauling up the dummy he moved into another seat and using a few pieces of fishing line made it look like the dummy was him. He himself was in his human form, so he wouldn’t be recognized. Ten minutes later as he made the dummy move like it was about to get up, the head exploded and he threw himself to the floor. Pulling the dummy down people started to yell and run out of the bar. Which was good because a grenade flew in through the window shortly there after. Vaulting the seat and running to the back door he got into cover and shifted into his stealth form just as the grenade went off.

  The grenade started a fire, it must have been an incendiary grenade, and it took a while for it to be put out. He left the body of the dummy there, he didn’t care if it burned really, and on close examination it wouldn’t look like a real body. Thankfully Shadow saw that no one else was hurt, it had been a slow night at least. He snuck out in his stealth form and found a high spot to survey the situation. He saw something on a roof across the way, and slipped into the shadows to stay hidden. It was most likely her.

  He settled down and waited to see what she would do. She watched for about an hour, until the firemen dragged out the dummy wrapped in a blanket on a stretcher. Then she left. Shadow watched her motor off heading up town then went and recovered that camera. He took the tape out, and replaced it. He took that back to his apartment and after checking for traps he played it back.

  On the larger screen he got a better look at her face, and printed out a picture of her. He then took a nap and around four in the morning headed uptown to go find that motorcycle. The tracking device he used was an interesting little bug. It took a chemical reaction eight hours until the unit powered up, which made it invisible to any scans. And even then it lay passive until it received a certain signal, then it would ping just once each time it got the signal. In his human form he was quite the engineer.

  It took him a while but he found the bike eventually. Or at least the garage it was in. He scented around and found her scent, it was a few hours old and he tracked it to an apartment building. In t
he morning he’d come back and grease a few palms to find out just where she lived. For now however it was time to call it a night.

  It took him two days, it was a large building, and he had to make sure she was out. But he found her apartment, and even got the manager to cough up her cell phone number for a nice bribe. He thought about casing her apartment, but decided that would give him away, odds are she had it rigged with something he’d never find. So he waited until she got home then made a call.

  Nance sighed and closed the door behind her. She’d been searching for word on Shadow Cat for two days now and nothing had come up. The Fire department and the Coroner’s office weren’t talking about what or who they’d pulled out of the bar, and she didn’t want to press it less they started asking her questions. She had seen the head explode, and nothing furry had come out the front. She didn’t have a good count on the back door though, and the first time she hit him the bastard got better some how. She’d hit a lot of supers, good and bad over the years. A few had gotten away the first time, one had taken three tries. She was almost positive she had gotten him. But something just made her worry.

  Her phone rang then and she pulled it out.

  “Hello?” she hadn’t had this phone long; it was only for this job.

  “Why hello Heather, how nice to hear your voice!”

  She blinked, Heather was her cover name of course, but she didn’t recognize the voice.

  “Who is this?”

  “Why, Heather dear,” she heard a slight purr in that voice, “or whatever your real name is, I feel so slighted to be forgotten so quickly after our little affair the other night!”

  Nance growled in to the phone, “Shadow!”

  She heard him laugh, “The one and only.”

  “How, no scratch that, why are you calling me?” she fumed.

  “Simple I have a little proposition.”

  “Can it, Kitty. I’ll get you yet.”

  “You haven’t even heard my proposition yet,” he taunted.

  “You don’t have anything I want!”

  “I was wondering if perhaps you might want to go out to dinner, all those late nights hunting me down, I’m sure you’ve not had a chance to try some of the nicer restaurants in town. I though perhaps I might rectify that situation.”

  “Yeah right! I’m not going to walk into any traps, Kitty!” Nance went over and pulled out an MP5 if he had her phone number ....

  “It’s simple, you give me your word that until our little date is over you don’t try to kill me, and I won’t try and kill you.” And this time she definitely heard him purr.

  “How do I know I can trust you?” This whole thing just sounded absurd to her.

  “Curiosity. I want to know who’s trying to kill me.”

  “And how do you know I won’t kill you?”

  “I’m willing to take your word; I suspect you’re not the type who breaks it.”

  She thought about that, at close range he could undoubtedly handle anything she threw at him. Besides, the more she knew about him, the easier the job would be.

  “This is crazy, I’m going to kill you, you know.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. Besides, after your last two hits on me I thought maybe you might want to call it even,” Shadow laughed.

  “Not likely. So where do you want to meet for this dinner?”

  “I have your word then?”

  “Yes, crazy feline. Do I have yours?”

  “Of course.”

  “So where do we meet?”

  She heard someone knock on the door.

  “Now would be good!” she heard him laugh and she went over to the door and opened it. There he was.

  “Is that a sub machine gun in your hand? Or are you just happy to see me?” he purred.

  “I should just shoot you, you know.” She growled.

  “Ah, but then you’d miss out on some of the best Italian food in the city.”

  “Give me a minute to lose the hardware,” she grumbled and disappeared to do just that.

  Shadow liked what he saw up close, she had a nice athletic little body with a large set of tits and a rather tight ass on top of some very long legs.

  Nance came back out and closed the door, “Okay, let’s go.”

  Shadow took her arm, starting her for a moment and led her down the hallway to the elevator. “So, shall I call you Heather? Or will you grace me with your real name?” he purred teasing her.

  “Sure why not? I’m Nance.” She noticed that he had a rather well muscled body, at a distance the fur blurred the lines, and with her arm tucked in his she could feel a good deal of heavy muscle in that arm. She was impressed.

  Shadow nodded, “And of course, I’m Shadow Cat, or Shadow. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nance, even under the current circumstances.”

  Nance laughed, “I’m not yet sure I want to return that pleasure.”

  Shadow smiled at her as they entered the elevator, “Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to change your mind in time.”

  “Don’t be too sure about that! They’re paying me a lot of money to kill you.”

  Shadow shrugged, “Time will tell, I daresay you haven’t had much success yet, have you?” And he grinned at her.

  “Oh I’ll figure out your secret eventually, don’t you worry.”

  “Ah but I do, Nance, I do. I’m starting to think that it would be a real shame if I had to kill you.”

  Nance looked up at him as the doors opened and he led her out to a waiting taxi.

  “You’re not serious, are you?”

  Shadow smiled, “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

  “Ah, but you haven’t tried to kill me yet either.”

  “Exactly. So how long have you been doing this?”

  “A number of years, you?”

  “A very good number of years. Any idea as to why you were sent after me?”

  “Not really, as long as the money is good I don’t care much.”

  “Paid in advance, or on delivery?”

  Nance smiled, “Delivery. So be a good boy and let me kill you already.”

  Shadow laughed, “Not hardly! I happen to be quite attached to living thank you!”

  “Spoilsport.”

  “I’ll make it up to you, I’m sure.”

  The trip passed rather quickly, and Shadow again escorted Nance into the restaurant to a table in the back that gave a nice view over the restaurant and the other diners.

  “Nice,” Nance admitted looking around. “Smells good in here too.”

  Shadow nodded, “One of my favorites, though I suspect I’ll have to avoid it until we settle our little bit of unpleasantness.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?” She looked at him.

  “Because you have a tendency to upset such places. Burning down O’Mally’s was truly undeserved.”

  “How did you survive that? I know you didn’t survive that headshot.”

  “Ask me when you’ve agreed to stop trying to kill me and maybe I’ll tell you. Not before.”

  “Well that isn’t going to happen.”

  “All I’m asking if for you to keep an open mind.”

  They paused a while then as a waiter approached, and Shadow ordered for them both.

  “I still can’t understand while you’re doing this you know,” Nance said. “In your shoes I would have just killed me in my apartment.”

  “Ah, but I am not you.”

  “Then why?”

  “Curiosity of course.”

  Nance put her elbows on the table and her hands together, resting her chin on them and looked at Shadow’s face; this was the best view she’d had of him yet. She had to admit he was rather handsome, even if he did have a feline head. And fangs, she noted absently. She suspected there were claws in those fingertips as well.

  “Didn’t curiosity kill the cat?” She pondered.

  “Yes, but knowledge brought him back,” Shadow countered.

  “So what have you learned so far?” She grinned.
r />   “That you smell nice, you don’t panic easily, you’re determined, experienced, and have a really nice ass in those pants.”

  Nance smiled, “Thanks. So tell me, what’s it like being a cat man in a human world?”

  “Rather nice actually. I’m stronger and faster than everyone else, have better eyesight, smell, hearing. But you know what’s even better?”

  Nance leaned forward curious, “What?”

  “Women just love cats,” he purred and gave her a wink.

  Nance blushed slightly; she suddenly suspected that a lot of women had found their way into his bed. “Point taken.”

  After the dinner things devolved into small talk and chatting about events in general. The food was good and the company enjoyable for both of them. After a few drinks Shadow took her home to her apartment.

  Nance opened the door and smiled wistfully, “I hate to say it, but I did have a good time.”

  Shadow purred, “So, going to invite me in for a good night kiss?”

  Nance hesitated, “Ummm, I don’t think so.”

  Shadow smiled, “Well how about I just give you one anyway?” and stepping forward he pressed Nance back against the wall and lowered his head to hers and kissed her.

  Nance struggled just a little once she realized his intentions, and discovered just how strong he was, and then he was kissing her and she had to admit, he was a rather good kisser. She let her hands run over his body, slipping them inside his jacket and feeling the warm fur as he slipped his tongue past her lips. A surprisingly long tongue she realized as it filled her mouth!

  She only then realized his paws had undone her belt and pulled her shirt out and were sliding up to cup her breasts.

  “No, no ...” she gasped pulling back and breaking the kiss, “We shouldn’t.”