by Siobhan Muir
I growled over my tablet and sipped from the latte beside it. Today I’d finally left the compound and ventured to coffee shop away from my usual haunts. The barista had very kindly decorated with a cream heart, but it didn’t cheer me up. I had to figure out this pattern and do it soon before someone recognized me and alerted the powers-that-be.
Michael had been gone damn near three days, though he’d called and texted often when he wasn’t “threatening miscreants” or “renegotiating deals.” He hadn’t offered details and I hadn’t asked. I had enough problems with my own puzzle.
Someone had passed the word to the rest of the Concrete Angels’ membership that I was now Michael’s woman and should be treated as the “old lady” of the VP. I’m about as much “old lady” material as a bundle of sticks is a lovely bouquet in a flower vase. But I wasn’t going to argue with them treating me well. At least I hadn’t had to fight for my place.
The best part is I’d made some real friends with some of the women in the club. Apparently my snarky comment about my ass won over Calhoun and the woman had defrosted a little around me. She’d introduced me to Viper, a sharp-featured white woman with raven-black straight hair who reminded me of the lead from a sci-fi TV show with her dry wit and gravelly voice. She loved romance novels as much as I did and we bonded over our favorite series.
The other person I’d connected with was Quan-Yin, the guard at the front gate. She reminded me of a wolf, wise, patient, guarded, mysterious, watchful but playful when the situation required it. I got her to laugh at something I said and it totally transformed her face and showed me the mischievous amusement in her dark eyes. I counted my connection with all three of them to be a victory.
Which is the only victory I got going on right now.
I groaned and brought up the names on Tori’s list again, searching for any and all ties between them. Jeff’s research on Granby Resort Town had helped a lot. Almost all of the names on the list had either visited in the last three months or had returned there multiple times. I still couldn’t find Mr. Butler or the Thug-in-Charge’s names, but everyone else lived in GRT.
Wait, no. That’s where they were seen together.
I flipped through my screens to see what I’d written down. It was a little swanky resort town located just south of Lake Granby with its own private airport, which made clandestine meetings between the wealthy very easy. The sheriff in town had been accused of losing evidence and crime coverups, but nothing had come of the allegations. I narrowed my eyes.
“Come on, let’s get funky.” I dug into the notes I had on the place people like Mitchem and O’Donnell, along with a lot of district court judges, liked to go for weekend jaunts. Not your usual beer keggers crowd. No, these were the wheelers-n-dealers setting up contacts.
“Oh my glory, it’s a chessboard.”
I stared at the ever growing list of names—judges, cops, lawyers, a couple of businessmen, FBI agents, Marshals, hell, even Canadian Mounties—that Tori had compiled and Jeff had verified, and the pattern they made. Move one piece and another would take their place to help the whole. All of the pieces spread out like a mosaic to show their bonds like chemistry models and who owned whom. The connections seemed to show this group owning that one, but in reality there was a big fat invisible spider at the center of the web, pulling on all the threads. The Thug-in-Charge. The head of Backlog? Or just a local boss?
How the hell had Tori put all this together? She’s a marvel, that’s how. “She’s a fuckin’ savant at this stuff.” She might have been only the paper’s layout manager, but the woman had research skills.
And Jeff just added to her baseline.
I swallowed hard as I stared out at the afternoon sky, a light snow swirling past the coffee shop’s windows. If anyone found out how much Tori and Jeff knew, how much I knew, it’d be lights-out for all of us. With how powerful some of the chess pieces were, it wouldn’t take much to make them disappear.
Or me, for that matter.
The weight of the juggernaut of corruption settled onto my shoulders. How was I going to expose this and not end up dead? I saved everything and closed my tablet, seeking a path through the landmines and pitfalls.
I’m gonna need an alias and a makeover. And help from someone bigger than me in the news scene. I sat back in my chair and considered my options. It was hard to know whom to trust in the news networks. Between selfish glory hounds who’d steal a story just to make themselves look good to those who were on the take from the wealthy corruption dealers, the choices were few and far between.
I’d considered talking to Ryan Sutton, my mentor, but I hadn’t wanted to come to him with anything less than proof of a real story. He didn’t suffer fools, and that included overeager newbie reporters who wouldn’t know a real conspiracy theory if it bit them in the ass. I didn’t want to hand him this until I was sure.
Well, I was sure now, but I hadn’t spoken to Ryan in a while and I didn’t know if the news had jaded him enough to let him cut corners of any kind. I couldn’t imagine him doing something like that, and he’d been an old pro when he took me under his wing. But it had been years.
I sipped my latte as I tapped my cellphone. To call or not to call, that is the question.
I watched the cars outside the coffee shop pass by for a few moments as my phone buzzed in my hand. A couple of black SUVs with tinted windows slid past the front of the coffee shop looking like official FBI type vehicles, but they rolled out of sight and I dismissed them as I opened the phone.
Almost to Fort Collins. Fancy a cuppa joe with me at Jitters?
I couldn’t help the giddy smile at Michael’s text and the jubilant voice in my head squealing, He’s coming home! Yeah, I wasn’t smitten at all. I thought about the call I had to make.
Yeah, that would be great. I missed you. See you there in about 35 minutes?
As I waited for Michael’s response, Viper, Calhoun and Quan-Yin came into the coffee shop and waved to me. I waved back as they ordered drinks and remembered to stuff my tablet in my bag with my purse and keys. My phone buzzed again just as Viper and Quan-Yin sat down at my table.
Brilliant. I’ve missed you, too. I have some big news I need to talk to you about when you get here.
I bit my bottom lip and excitement made my stomach flutter. Oh yeah? Me too. I think I’ve figured out how to break this story. I’ll tell you more when I see you.
“What’s that smile for, girlfriend?” Viper tilted her head. “Did you get a text from the old man?”
I laughed. The club’s referrals to everyone totally didn’t fit. Michael wasn’t old by any stretch of the imagination. I suspected he was in his late thirties, a little older than me, but nothing incompatible. Despite that, I acted like a teenager with her first crush.
“Can I plead the Fifth? I gotta make a call.” I winked at them and took a deep breath before I dialed Ryan Sutton’s number. It was an old cellphone number he’d given me years ago, but I hope it still worked.
“Sutton here.”
I swallowed hard and took a moment to calm my nerves. “Hey, Ryan. It’s Haley Michaels.”
“Haley! Wow, blast from the past. How the hell are you?” At least he didn’t sound disappointed to hear from me.
“I’m good, well, crazy busy but good. Hey, I wanted to run something past you if you have time. Have you got a minute?”
“Sure.” I heard him get up and close a door. “What’s going on?”
I grimaced as Calhoun joined us and pinned me with her intense stare. “I got a huge story brewing. I haven’t told anyone because I needed to get my facts straight before I came to anyone. But it’s big, Ryan. And I suspect Colorado is just the tip of the iceberg.” I dropped my voice and covered my mouth with my hand, cupping it around the mouthpiece. “It involves all levels of law enforcement and the judicial system, and murder of the local ADA who wouldn’t play ball.”
Ryan’s voice sharpened. “And you have proof of all this?”
&n
bsp; “I definitely have proof of the ADA’s murder, and connections to all the rest. But I already have guys after me and I need a signal boost.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’ve been laying low and keeping my head down, but I gotta get this to someone I can trust so I’m not the only one who knows. I can’t let the story die with me.”
There was a short pause. “You’ve always written fluff pieces, but you never struck me as a person who sensationalized things. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“You’re the only one I can trust to do it right and run with it.”
“All right, I’ll help you, but I need to know more before I’ll take over.”
“Now, I just need your help getting the story beyond the small papers and stations. I don’t want you to get the blowback, but this has to go nationwide.” I bit my lip as I glanced out the windows again. The snow seemed to have stopped. “I don’t really need you to take over. I need you spread it far and wide and credit a confidential source. This is too big and too entrenched to identify the people who’ve put this story together.”
“Whoa. What have you gotten yourself into, Haley?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t have done, but when I first started looking at it, it was one dead FBI agent and a dead US Marshal. Digging proved it was much, much bigger.”
“Okay.” I heard something going on in the background and shot a look at Viper who tapped her wrist. “Don’t tell me over the phone. I’ll text you an email address that is secure where you can send stuff and I’ll look it over.”
“They’re just notes, but the connections are clear.” Unease coursed through my veins. “There’s something else. There’s a guy I’m pretty sure is at the center of this local tangle, but I don’t have anything to identify him with. He’s hiding in plain sight and is so well disguised, I have no proof of him being the puppet master here. But I’ll send you what I’ve got and we’ll talk about it more.”
“Good. I’ll text you the email. Be safe.”
I snorted. “I’m definitely trying.”
I ended the call and looked at the time. The conversation had taken fifteen of my thirty-five minutes and I had to get going. The phone buzzed with Ryan’s text and I nodded before forwarding it to Jeff, with an additional note of, “Hold onto this for me until I get back.”
“All right, I gotta get going to meet Michael.”
“See, I told you he’s her old man.” Viper raised her chin with a smug smile. “Pay up, Calhoun.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She flipped Viper a ten spot.
“Did you really bet on whether Michael and I are a committed couple?”
“Damn straight, we did.” Viper nodded. “He’s never brought anyone back to the compound and he doesn’t take advantage of the honeys, ergo…” Viper spread her hands.
I laughed. “Did you just say ‘ergo’? Seriously?”
“Just because you don’t know how to use the language right, doesn’t mean I should stop.” She winked as we all gathered our things to leave.
I’d learned earlier that week Viper actually had a Masters in Romantic Literature and had once won a national spelling bea. I had no doubt she knew how to use our language. In fact, if I wrote this news story, I considered using her as an editor.
“You still speak American English, you know.” Calhoun sniffed with perfect disdain though her eyes twinkled with amusement. “And you get the names for things wrong quite often. Like boot and bonnet of the car, a warm jumper, and what we’re walking on now is pavement.”
“Ha! Boots are for feet, bonnets are for your head, and jumpers are for little kids. And this is the sidewalk.” I could tell this was an old argument between them as we strode down the “pavement” toward our vehicles.
“What kind of rubbish is that?” Calhoun glared at Viper. “Your lack of knowledge is appalling.”
I was laughing at their antics when the screech of tires made us all look up. The black SUVs with tinted windows I’d seen from the coffee shop skidded to a stop beside us, making us all step back and stop.
“What the fuck?” Viper yelled as men boiled out of the closest SUV.
“Holy shit!” They came straight for me and I just had the presence of mind to toss my bag at Viper as Calhoun moved with militaristic precision to intercept the nearest thug. “Oh my glory, let go of me!”
I tried to twist away, but though I ducked one thug, there was another behind me to yank me off my feet. One arm snaked around my waist while the other jerked my head back, his hand sealing my mouth as he hauled me against his chest. He smelled like old tomato sauce and garlic with a hint of oregano and I could taste the grease of the pizza he’d eaten from the hand over my mouth.
Especially when I bit him.
“Mudfucker! The bitch bit me.”
He yanked his hand away and cuffed my head, making me see stars.
“Just get her in the truck.”
I was shoved into the back of the SUV and had to scramble out of the way as the thug followed me. I kept going, hoping to open the opposite door and launch myself out the other side, but that door opened and another mean-looking brute got in, drawing me up short. He gave me a nasty smile as I found myself sandwiched between two creeps.
I tried to make myself as small as possible. My heart pounded in my chest and tears burned in my eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was from the Garlic lump next to me or panic reaching up from my gut.
“All right. We got her. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I wanted to demand who they were and what they wanted with me, but I didn’t want to give them my voice. I knew who they were from. Backlog. It looked like my time had just run out.
****
Michael
I settled into a chair around the table near the window of Jitters and checked my phone. No new texts from Haley since the last one that said she’d meet me at the coffee shop twenty-five minutes ago. Apparently she had some news to share. I swallowed hard and tried to let the snowy afternoon calm my nerves.
I have some news to share, too.
At least I’d told her it was big news. I was going to take a chance on her and tell her who I really was. I wasn’t supposed to do that. Humans didn’t deal well with the Elder Races. They either feared us and tried to kill us—something that rarely worked out for them—or they tried to use us for some sort of inane power-grab. The human intending to grab power usually ended up taking a dirt nap.
But Haley was my true mate, the one who’d won my heart and held it in her hands, and we’d never be truly together if I didn’t reveal who I was. Mom had been right. It would be scary to bare this secret to her, but it would be worth it in the long run. The problem was, I still hadn’t come up with a good way to say it.
So, right, you know all those stories about the winged beings called angels and one of the most powerful being Archangel Michael? Brilliant, that’s me.
Somehow that didn’t sound nearly as plausible at the moment in a coffee shop in Fort Collins. And that didn’t even begin to cover the frustration of having to wait three extra days to tell her, thanks to Loki. I’d figured out what he’d been up to and remembered what he’d done to both Scott and Karma when they’d found their loved ones.
Just before we’d headed out to ride, I’d pulled Loki aside and looked him dead in the eyes.
“I know what you’re doing. You want all this drama for you to watch. But mark my words, Loki. Your own personal drama is coming like a storm just over the horizon, and it’ll make our tribulations fade into insignificance.”
He’d given me his patented self-assured smile and wished me well on our endeavor. I wanted to kick the living shit out of him, but the knowledge of the upcoming storm of karma took some of the fury away. Now I was done with his meddling errands and I could focus on Haley.
Despite having made my decision, nervousness ricocheted through me and I checked my phone. Eleven minutes until she’d be there. I rubbed my hands on my jeans and tri
ed to find my smile as the barista brought over two coffees. I suspect it came out more like a grimace. She didn’t seem to notice and sauntered away just as my phone rang.
I hoped it would be Haley, but it was Viper’s ringtone. I frowned and answered the call.
“Yeah, Viper, what’s up?”
“Holy shit, Michael! They just snatched her, right off the street. You gotta get here.” She sounded angry and scared, not a good combo in Viper.
“What? Slow down. What are you talking about? Who got snatched?” I was already on my feet and moving toward the door, coffees in hand.
“Haley!”
My gut sank and I went cold all over.
“They just grabbed her and took off in these ugly ass SUVs. I didn’t see the tags, but Calhoun might have caught them.” Viper’s voice was breathless. “Holy shit, we couldn’t get to her before they were peeling away. I’m so sorry, Michael.”
I swigged as much of my coffee as I could before I tossed the cup in the nearest rubbish bin. No point in wasting good coffee.
“Who, Viper? Who took her?”
“I don’t know, dumbass. The SUVs didn’t have any biz decals.”
I snarled something only my brother Luke would understand and jumped on my bike, connecting my phone to the new Blutooth speaker in my helmet.
“Where were you when they took her?” I started the bike and tore out of the parking lot, leaving spooked pedestrians in my wake.
“South of campus. They took off toward the industrial complexes.”
“Fuck!”
“I’m really sorry, Michael. They came outta nowhere.”
“Get Torch and Samurai on it, and tell Neo to start tracking the tags when Calhoun remembers them.” I sped south through traffic with a sinking feeling. “If it’s who I think it is, they’re headed to an out of the way spot.”
“Who do you think it is?”
I snarled. “Backlog.”
“Fuck.” I heard her own bike start up. “How the hell do they even know her?”