by TR Cameron
She asked, “Do you have time to take on a gig?”
He shrugged and swiveled his chair away from the monitors to face her. “Maybe. Depends on what it is.”
“I want you to collect as much data about criminal activity in town as you can.”
“Wouldn’t be too hard. Public-sector databases, mostly, and they rarely have the strongest defenses. Why?”
She kept her expression blank to hide her slight deception. “It’s for my family. They’ll pay your normal rate, no problem.”
He chuckled. “Corporate espionage?”
She shook her head. “More like self-defense. You heard about the attack on Deep Woods, right?”
“Yeah. That sucks.”
“It does. That’s why we need all the information we can get. I’m not sure if all the threads are being examined as a whole, or if Ely PD is looking at local crime, and the sheriff is looking at bigger stuff, and the Paranormal Defense Agency a whole set of other things. I need someone who can pull that all together.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’m in. I should be able to have most of the raw data by tomorrow if I work overnight.”
She stepped over and patted him on the shoulder. “You’re the best. And I’m not saying that in hopes of a discount.”
Demetrius grinned and barked a laugh. “Good, because I don’t do discounts, not even for friends.”
She waved as she departed, then hustled to her room, locked the door, and opened a portal back to her bedroom in the kemana. It took only a moment for Idryll to step through, and Ruby let the opening close. She pulled clothes from the dresser for the shapeshifter, then veiled her and led her out of the house, not stopping to talk with anyone. Once they were outside, they headed for the garage so she could create another portal. Idryll asked, “Where are we going?”
“I have one more thing I need to put in place before we can really get started. We need an emergency hideout, and I know just the spot.” She created a portal to the bottom of the hill and sighed at the long climb leading to the abbey. A quick burst of magic transformed the tiger woman into a normal-looking human, and they walked up to the building at the top. A request to speak with the Abbot resulted in an escort to the man’s office, located in a part of the abbey Ruby hadn’t yet seen. He rose from behind his desk and smiled, extending a hand to shake both of theirs. “Ruby, so good to see you again. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Idryll. Idryll, Abbott Thomas.”
Her partner said, “A pleasure. This is an amazing place you have.”
He nodded with a proud smile. “It’s astonishing what a group of like-minded people can accomplish, given enough time and motivation.” He gestured them to seats across his desk and returned to his own. “Now, what can I do for you?”
Ruby asked, “Before, you mentioned that if someone sought sanctuary here, you would provide it. I wondered if that would extend to actively helping people in danger, or people who were injured.”
A concerned frown replaced his smile. “Of course. That’s the very essence of providing sanctuary, aiding those in need.”
Ruby nodded. “I had to ask. Idryll, you can show him.” Ruby let her illusion fall, hoping her words would lead the Abbott to conclude that her partner was the one who’d created it. His eyes widened at the sight of her in her tiger-woman form, then he smiled.
“You’re beautiful. I especially like the colors in your hair.”
Idryll replied with a smile, “Thank you. I am pleased you’re not frightened or shocked at my appearance.”
Abbott Thomas shook his head. “We’ve seen many kinds here, and welcome all.”
Ruby asked, “Do you have a place we could portal to in an emergency? Somewhere out of the way, where anyone visiting won’t see?”
He rose and gestured toward the door. “Yes.”
“You’re fine with us using this? It wouldn’t be except as a last resort, to get innocents out of trouble. I promise we won’t abuse the privilege.”
He nodded as he led them down a short hallway and showed them an empty room. “Of course. Totally fine. We’ll put a bell in here so that anyone who comes in can ring for help.”
Ruby felt a weight lift from her shoulders. “Great. Do you have a healer here?”
“We have people with medical training, and we can always call for help. You can count on us, Ruby. We’ll take care of anyone you feel the need to place into our hands.”
“Thank you, Abbott Thomas. I’ll find a way to repay you.”
He laughed. “No matter. If there’s a reason we exist, helping people in times of need is it.”
Ruby and Idryll wandered slowly back down the hill, side by side. The tiger woman asked, “So, are we ready?”
Ruby nodded. “Definitely. Tomorrow, we start putting the pieces together and seeing where they lead.”
Chapter Eighteen
Demetrius was as good as his word, and by the next morning, Ruby had a memory stick with all the data he could find. She called the number Diana had given her and was surprised when someone different answered. A female voice said, “Ruby?”
“Yeah, who is this?” As an afterthought, “How did you know it was me?”
The person on the other end of the line laughed. “Well, first, caller ID. Also, when the boss hands out cards, the numbers are unique, so this number will always be you. I’m Glam, or Kayleigh, whichever you prefer.”
“Yeah, then, this is Ruby, obviously.” She paused for a second to get her mouth to stop leading her brain. “I have some data I was wondering if you could take a look at, maybe help me sort through.”
“Oh, I think that’s something we can do. Hang on a sec.” The line was silent for half a minute, then her voice returned. “The boss says she’ll pick you up outside the Drow’s shop, whatever that means, in a half-hour. She’ll bring you over here, and we’ll work on what you have.”
“Perfect.” She said her goodbyes and headed for the meet. A half-hour later, she stepped through the portal into the agents’ secret base. They arrived in a room that seemed like it was designed specifically for that purpose, based on the lack of furniture. It was all metal and strange shapes and looked like something that would have been a perfect set for a science fiction movie.
Diana apologized and left for a meeting. Rath escorted Ruby into a highly technological workspace. Brightly lit, clean, with lots of metal and plastic, it was the sort of workshop she could appreciate. A woman with blonde curls that fell below her shoulders popped up from a desk in the corner and said with a smile, “You have to be Ruby, obviously. I’m Kayleigh. Over there is Deacon.” She raised her voice and called, “Deacon, say hello.” The man in the office to their right lifted a hand and obediently shouted, “Hello,” then went back to his computers.
The other woman waved her forward to a set of monitors mounted along one wall. “You said you had some data?”
Ruby nodded and held out the memory stick. “One of my roommates is a really good infomancer.”
“Excellent. Always good to have extra people around to carry the load, right? Even Deacon and I find it challenging on occasion to handle all the investigation we’re asked to do.”
Kayleigh sat at the keyboard in front of the monitors and called up the data. “Okay, pretty standard stuff, database of locations and events, categorized. I can work with that.” She tapped the keys, and a map appeared on the biggest monitor and started to populate with markers in various colors. Text boxes materialized beside them and filled in the details. A robbery here, a break-in there, plus the big events marked in bright red. Each icon glowed with a different intensity, and it only took her a moment to realize it was a reference to the timeline, and more recent things were brighter. Once new data stopped popping onto the map, Kayleigh said, “Okay, we have a good baseline here. Now, what specific information are you looking for?”
“There’s a black market in magic items going on in town, as you know, at least partly located in pawnshops. Since the same person owns
several of these businesses, I wondered if there might be a distribution point or something like that. Somewhere that stuff from out of town lands before they put it out into the individual locations.”
Kayleigh looked back over her shoulder with a frown. “That’s a bit of a leap, at least based on this data. Why do you think it exists?”
“I guess it’s instinct. Maybe I heard something I’m not consciously aware of. It feels like a strong possibility.”
The tech turned to her computer and drummed her fingers on the desk for a moment. “Okay, if a storage location does exist, we can assume there would be repeated traffic between that site and the pawnshops in question. I don’t suppose you know which ones they are?”
Ruby replied, “Only one.”
Kayleigh gave a small snort. “Never mind then, that wouldn’t be useful.” She picked up a headset and put it on. “Deacon?” She paused, then continued, “I need access to all the traffic cam records for Ely, Nevada. Say, for the last month.” She paused again, clearly listening, then said, “Now, of course.” Another pause, this one accompanied by a shake of her head. “No, I don’t care if you’re in the middle of an arena battle, do it.”
After a few minutes, the data she wanted appeared, and she set the machine to analysis. Lines began to draw on the display, paths from place to place by vehicles, the tech explained. They watched as tracks covered the image, then she hit some buttons and only the thickest ones, representing the frequently taken routes, remained. When she highlighted the pawnshops, it became clear that a path connected a bunch of them back to the same small warehouse at the edge of town. Kayleigh laughed. “Well, look at that. If there is one, that’s the spot.”
The other computer wrangler wandered in at that point, apparently having finished whatever game he was playing. Kayleigh surrendered her seat, waved at him to take her place, and asked, “Can you whip up some real-time satellite on that place?”
He shook his head. “You say that like it doesn’t involve hacking a national security satellite to do it.”
Kayleigh looked at Ruby and rolled her eyes. “Come on, don’t complain. You know you love messing with the government.”
He laughed. “She’s not wrong.” A few moments later they got an image showing a warehouse in an industrial area surrounded by several similar constructions. The top-down angle wasn’t particularly useful, and the tech accessed Google Street View to show more views of the spot.
Rath commented, “You should learn how to fly. You could land on the roof from one of those nearby buildings.”
Ruby laughed. “I’ll get right on that. Know anyone who can teach me?”
“I can fly. I have a flight suit.”
She blinked. “Really?”
Kayleigh replied, “Yep. He flies really well. It’s basically a box with retractable wings and a harness. More glider than anything, but he has great body control and can make it work almost like it was under power.”
Ruby smiled down at him. “Well, okay. I’ll put that on my to-do list, and maybe you can teach me.”
He nodded with a grin. “Will. Fun.”
Kayleigh said, “So, I imagine you’re going to take a look at this place in person, is that right?”
“Yeah. I’m not happy about what’s happening in town, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the people who were behind the black market had a role in the other stuff as well.”
The tech crossed to her work area in the corner and pulled a small box off the shelf. She turned and set it on one of the room’s plastic-covered tables. She opened it to reveal an earpiece tiny enough to fit completely inside her ear. “The boss is giving you access to our comms system. You won’t be able to hear our communications unless we want you to, but you can call us with it at any time. Deacon and I will give you a hand if you need computer or technical support while you’re in the field, assuming we’re not already on some other task.”
She handed over the device, and Ruby turned it over in her hands. “It’ll connect all the way to here?”
The tech nodded. “We piggyback on some other stuff, but yeah, there’s really nowhere you can go on the planet that we won’t be able to connect with you. Well, except maybe New Atlantis.”
Ruby laughed. “I don’t think I’m set for an ocean vacation anytime soon. They don’t exactly encourage tourists.”
Kayleigh nodded. “That, they do not.” She closed the box and returned it to the shelf. Turning back, she said, “If you use the code word Aries, that’ll be essentially a nine-one-one call to us. Whoever we have available will come in force to help you. If we do, we’ll all probably wind up on the PDA’s radar. It seems like they’re taking quite an interest in the goings-on in Magic City.”
Ruby frowned. “You’re the second person to tell me that in the last few days.”
“They’re not exactly subtle. We don’t have any information on what their goal is, but those folks cast a wide net.” Her scowl showed her opinion of their methods. “You’d be wise to keep an eye out for them.”
“Will do.”
Kayleigh grinned. “Well, I think we’ve done all we can do for you. You have a half-hour or so before Diana gets back, and I know she’d like to say goodbye. So, Rath, how about you give her a tour?”
The troll swept up in a somersault. “First stop, come meet Max.”
That night found Ruby and Idryll fully outfitted and ready to go. They were in matching clothes consisting of black boots, black tactical pants, black long sleeve shirts, black jackets, and the white masks Shentia had provided. Her partner wasn’t thrilled with wearing the outfit but agreed it made sense to do so, at least for now. Ruby guessed the tiger woman would eventually abandon the disguise, but that was something they’d have to figure out once they got there. In truth, as long as they didn’t appear in public both out of disguise, it wouldn’t matter if anyone saw her. Still, it felt like keeping things under wraps for the moment was a good idea.
She had the toys Margrave had provided strapped onto a wide belt, except for the potions, which she’d hidden in her thigh pockets. The throwing knives were stuck in the belt, too; she hadn’t had a chance to come up with a better solution. The dagger was in a sheath at her hip, and she carried her sword in a scabbard on her back. She would coat it with force magic to turn it into a blunt object when battle permitted, but she was prepared to do real damage if the situation required it.
They were crouched on a taller building across a small lane from the warehouse and had used the listening device to identify the opposition within. She knew several guards patrolled the structure, both on the bottom floor and on what was at least a catwalk, to judge by the ringing sound it made, or possibly a whole upper level with a metal surface. She pointed at a fire escape that ended at a door on the second floor. “I think that’s our entrance.”
Idryll nodded. “Works for me. Take out the ones on the top quietly, then go after the rest?”
“Excellent plan. Do your best not to kill anybody, but if it’s them or us, then it’s us. Assuming they’re armed or whatever.” She could never quite get a handle on her partner’s threshold for serious violence but figured the tiger-woman generally reached it much faster than Ruby hit hers.
“Don’t worry about me. Just keep yourself alive while we’re working on opposite sides.”
“You know it. Okay. Let’s do this.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ruby created a force slide, inwardly cursing her inability to simply portal to a spot she could easily see, and she and Idryll slid over to the fire escape. They landed with a light clatter and froze in place, waiting to find out if anyone discovered them. When no response came, Ruby tried the handle and found it locked. She stepped aside, and the tiger-woman extended a claw and raked it down through the small opening between door and jamb. Fortunately, the warehouse’s defenses weren’t high tech, and the barrier popped free. Ruby pulled it open enough for her partner to slip through and followed her in.
It was a catwa
lk, but twice as wide as a normal one, with boxes scattered here and there. It ran around the entire rectangular skin of the warehouse, with a metal ladder descending at about the midway point on each side. This level was poorly lit, only some dim lamps hanging from the ceiling. Below, the main floor was awash in light from fixtures on the walls, and loud conversations echoed through the space as a handful of men opened crates and moved boxes.
Idryll had gone to the left, so Ruby crept to her right, staying low and being as quiet as possible. If she’d been in charge of the building’s defenses, the guards on the catwalk would be walking a rotation. Instead, each was looking down at the first floor, the notion that someone might come in from above clearly never having entered their defensive plans. One more thing for the list, something to knock people out quietly without killing them. Lacking such an option, she crept until she was about five feet away from the man who leaned on the railing, his forearms resting on it as he bent to look below.
She moved forward in a rush, reached out to put her hand over his mouth, and wrenched him backward with it. He slammed into the back wall with a muted clang, and she stepped across and delivered a right hook to his temple. She caught him as he went down and lowered him gently to the metal floor. Thank heaven these morons have their weapons holstered. The man’s rifle was on a strap, but if he’d been holding a pistol, there’s no way it wouldn’t have fallen and given her away. She disarmed him and hid the weapons behind some nearby boxes, then peered over at where Idryll had gone and saw the guard from that side had vanished. Now the challenge would be getting to the remaining two before they noticed their friends had disappeared. Ruby called up a veil and moved quickly, confident after taking a quick look at the downed guard’s gear that the criminals didn’t have magic detectors.
Her target’s head whipped around at a clatter from across the room, and Ruby was still too far away to cover his mouth. She reflexively blasted him with lightning, hoping to lock up his muscles and keep him quiet. The noise from below masked the crackling sound and the first part of the plan went off perfectly as her target stiffened but didn’t shout. Part two, where she got close and took him down quietly, wasn’t quite as perfect. The man leaned to his left, balanced on the railing for a minute, and tipped over. It was almost like watching a slow-motion action movie, how his tumbling body moved through space on the way down. When he crashed into a low stack of boxes at the bottom, things snapped back into full speed as shouts and gunshots rang out.