Volatile Bonds

by Jaye Wells

  “Did she mention a name?”

  “Nope. Just ‘my boss’—Krystal was a bitch but she wasn’t dumb, you know?” She paused. “Except I guess she wasn’t so smart if she got herself offed, right?”

  I withheld my opinion on the matter. “Did you see the man after that?”

  “Nah. I assumed she delivered the package as promised. And she never said anything to me about it after that. Like nothing happened.”

  After that, we wrapped up the interview after asking her to stay available in case we had any more questions. We were rising to show her out when a knock sounded on the door and Mez stuck his head in. “Got a sec?”

  We handed Felicia off to a uni in the hallway, who led her back to the lobby. “What’s up?” I asked Mez.

  “Gardner wants to see you guys outside.”

  I frowned. “Does that mean Duffy’s taking over?”

  He shook his head. “Eldritch wants us to continue to take point, but we have to keep Duffy updated on the regular. Shadi and McGinty are doing door-to-doors, and Dixon’s reviewing the CCTV footage.” He laughed. “Poor bastard.”

  Remembering what Krystal had filmed on those cameras, I winced on Dixon’s behalf. “We’ll definitely owe him lots of beers for that.”

  “Franklin’s about to wrap up. He found the note in Krystal’s bra like you suggested.” He held up a baggie with the card inside. It was rectangular and blue, and someone had typed,

  * * *

  To Good Fortune and a Long Life

  -A

  * * *

  “I’m taking that with me to run prints,” Mez said. “Also found the gift box and a tea tin. I’ll let you know what I find once I run all the labs.”

  “Who you think this A is? And why did they kill her?” Morales asked.

  “Asshole in the massage parlor with the poisoned tea?” he deadpanned. “Once I run the tests, I’ll be able to track down what kind of poison was used. The why is your job.”

  After that, Mez ran off, leaving us to go look for Gardner outside. I didn’t have to ask why she preferred not to talk inside the parlor. Who knew where else Krystal’s cameras were broadcasting?

  We found Gardner out in the alley on her cell phone. As we approached, she ended the call. “That was the commissioner. Apparently, Mayor Volos is threatening to pull the plug on the whole coven investigation and give the murder cases back to Duffy.”

  “Mez said Eldritch agreed to letting us continue,” Morales said.

  “He did. Last thing he wants is another murder added to his stats. But apparently, Volos isn’t too keen on letting the MEA get the win on this one now that it’s looking like a bigger case. Luckily, the commissioner held him off, but we don’t have long to get this wrapped up.”

  I blew out a breath and looked up at the sky. The sun was going down, and the moon was starting to rise over the Steel River. Only a couple days until the full moon. Since there’d be an eclipse to go with it, the power would be amplified, and that always causes problems in a town filled with beings capable of wielding magic. “Did Shadi and those guys find anything on Hung?”

  “They didn’t have a chance to get too far before I pulled them off to come help out here,” she said. “But McGinty traced his name to a deed for a Chinese restaurant.”

  “The Jade Moon?” I asked. “That’s where he went when Shadi and I followed him the other night.”

  “He’s one of the investors,” she said. “Otherwise, Shadi got a tip that Hung’s staying in one of Volos’s properties while he’s getting Waidan up and running in town.”

  “Probably the Phoenix,” I said.

  “Start with the restaurant. The longer we can put off being on Volos’s radar with this, the better.”

  Morales cocked a brow at me. “You hungry?”

  “I could go for some cashew chicken, yeah.”

  “All right,” Gardner said in her enough-of-the-funny-business voice, “you two watch your asses. Corpses are piling up, and if Hung is responsible, he’s also got the mayor’s ear.”

  We sobered up. “Yes, sir,” we said in unison.

  “Don’t hesitate to call in the cavalry if shit starts going pear-shaped.”

  “Got it.”

  “And, Prospero?” she said.

  “Yeah?”

  “You might also be interested to know that your uncle is part owner of Jade Moon too.”

  “I’ll be damned,” I said.

  “Looks like we need to make a trip out to Crowley soon,” Morales said.

  “Oh, joy. Something else to look forward to. Come on, let’s go.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The Jade Moon was only a couple of blocks away. That meant it sat squarely in Votary territory, which was interesting, all things considered.

  “I wonder when this place opened,” I mused aloud.

  We drove over and parked a few doors down. Morales checked his cell while I watched the front entrance. “According to the notes Dixon just emailed me, February.”

  “Interesting. Two months ago. That means Abe was setting up a Fangshi partnership a lot earlier than we thought.”

  “How you want to play this?” he said, nodding toward the restaurant.

  “Well, we don’t know if he’s there, so busting in with guns probably isn’t a great idea.”

  “How about we play it casual? Couple on a date or whatever?”

  I cocked a brow at him. “I love how you wait until we’re on the trail of a murderer to ask me on a date.”

  “You want poetry?” he said. “Fine. Roses are red, corpses are blue…”

  I held up a hand to prevent another horrifying stanza. “You’re not right, son. But since this a work date, you’re paying.”

  He grinned. “If it’s a work date, then Gardner’s paying.”

  “It’s a date, then.”

  We exited the car and walked arm-in-arm down the road. Since we were only pretending to be on a date, we’d automatically relaxed some of our no-affection-on-the-job rules. Even though I’d given him hell about it, the date idea was pretty solid. Flashing badges in a place like this would mean an automatic circling of wagons in the Fangshi. Us pretending to be grabbing a romantic dinner would buy us some leeway to case the joint before we decided on the best move.

  He steered me toward the entrance. The door was tucked under a pagoda-shaped overhang. Wind chimes hung on either side of the doorway, and when we walked in, an invisible gong sounded.

  “Nice,” I said.

  The interior of the restaurant seemed awfully nice for the Cauldron. Considering we were only a couple of blocks from the massage parlor, it felt weird to see a sit-down place instead of a drive-thru.

  “Only the best.” He winked as he showed me toward the host. I noticed that his demeanor had softened from his normal workaday gruffness. Of course, once upon a time, Morales had worked undercover in Los Angeles, which meant he could be a good actor when he wanted to be. Now, apparently, was one of those times, as he pretended to be a man trying to woo a lady.

  It was a disorienting feeling. Since we’d never actually been on a date, it was fascinating to get a glimpse at his date behavior without actually being on one with him.

  “Welcome to Jade Moon,” said the host. He was Chinese and wore a white coat with a Mandarin collar and black pants. “Table for two? Right this way.”

  As we made our way through the restaurant, I noted a few important details. First, it was almost six o’clock, well into the dinner rush, but only two other tables were occupied. One booth in the far corner had another couple in it, and a table near the kitchen held four men in business suits, having what looked like a meeting. None of them were Alexander Hung, though.

  The other thing I noticed was that even though the entrance was pretty nice, the dining room itself had vinyl tablecloths and the general air of a place pretending to be nicer than it actually was. Once we were seated, a waitress rushed up and instructed us that we were there for happy hour, and that when we w
ere ready, we could just help ourselves to the buffet in the other room. Morales ordered us a couple of Tsingtaos.

  Once she went to go get the beers, he leaned on the edge of the table. “So, now what, Nancy Drew?”

  I smiled at him from under my lashes. “The businessmen are all packing.” I’d seen the outline of their shoulder holsters through their suit coats.

  He reached across the table and took my hand. “There are four cameras set up around the dining room.”

  “I noticed another two on the way in.” I winked at him.

  The waitress dropped off the beers. Once she was gone again, he continued.

  “What do you say we go hit the buffet and see what we see?”

  “Not yet. I want to go powder my nose first and see if there are any secret rooms in the back.”

  “Take your phone.”

  “Be sure to watch my ass as I walk away to make it convincing.”

  “I was planning on it.” He lifted his beer to his lips. Before he took a swig, he said, “Hit the panic button if something goes south.”

  The button he was referring to could be found on the protective amulet we all wore when we were on the job. Mez had made them, and they’d saved my ass more than once. The circular amulet had a bubble of glass filled with a green liquid. All I had to do was break the glass and it would alert the rest of the team of my GPS coordinates.

  “You got it,” I said. “Grab me an eggroll.”

  As I walked to the back, I was very aware of my rear end, which I might have swayed bit more than usual. I also made sure to take note of all the exits and that the couple in the booth were having a humdinger of a whispered argument.

  Past the kitchen doors, there was a hallway that held extra high chairs, two restroom doors, and a set of swinging double doors. Since I had the hallway to myself and I didn’t see any camera there to witness my snooping, I went for the double doors. I pushed one in a couple of inches and peeked inside.

  Rows of metal shelves hinted that the space was used as a storeroom. But remembering that Hung had come in through a rear entrance to the restaurant, I wondered if there was more back there. Naturally, instead of wasting the opportunity by doing something smart like going to get my partner, I went through the doors on my own.

  The room had the musty-sweet smell of uncooked rice, which made sense, given the dozens of large bags lined up on some of the shelves. There were also thick metal doors leading to what I assumed were walk-in freezers.

  I passed the shelves, careful to listen for voices and look for cameras. I walked down a row formed by two shelving units. As I neared the end, voices reached me. They were speaking in Chinese, so I had no idea what the words were, but based on the volume and velocity of the words, the man and woman were arguing. I peeked between the shelves to see them each wearing the uniforms of waitstaff.

  I stopped to listen in case they suddenly decided to switch to English. Unfortunately, they selfishly continued to argue in their mother tongue. Plus, I’d been gone too long for a normal potty break. I backed down the aisle again and went to the other end of the storage room. There, I found a metal door that had some high-tech security keeping it on lockdown.

  It was only when I turned around to go that I saw the camera pointing at that door, and the damning red light that blinked to indicate I was being filmed.

  With my heart thumping, I scurried out the double doors and back down the hall. I ducked into the bathroom, smeared on some lip balm—the closest thing I had to makeup—and went back out. It wasn’t easy to act natural when you’d just been caught snooping, but I gave it the old college try. I slowed my steps to a normal pace and tried to look like a woman who was headed back from the john.

  However, the instant I sat back down, Morales said, “What did you do?”

  I made a show of pulling a pair of chopsticks from their paper. “Nothing, why?”

  “You’re a terrible liar.”

  I sighed. “A camera caught me snooping in the storeroom.”

  “We should go.” He started to rise, but I grabbed his arm.

  “Not yet. For all they know, I wandered back there by mistake. We need to find Hung, and my gut’s telling me he’s here. There’s a door back there with enough security on it, it practically screamed ‘villain’s lair.’”

  He looked about as thrilled by that plan as he would have if I’d suggested we get his-and-hers colonics. “Did you know I never had high blood pressure before I met you?”

  I smiled. “It’ll be fine. Come on—I’m starving.”

  As we passed through he archway to the buffet room, I whispered, “By the way, there’s a back exit to this place, so if something happens, run like hell.”

  He nodded. “Also, the bartender’s armed.”

  “Good to know.”

  “And while you were gone, the couple in the booth broke up and the woman is now getting loaded at the bar.”

  I looked back across the restaurant to where the bar was located, and sure enough, the blonde was slumped on a stool while she attacked a cosmo and told her sad tale to a thin, stoic Chinese man behind the bar. He looked like he was trying to figure out whether he should shoot her or himself just to end it.

  I piled some cashew chicken on my plate. “This is fun, right?”

  Morales focused on scooping some rice on his plate, but his brows rose in a contrary manner. “Your idea of fun worries me.”

  “I mean the date part. Maybe we should try it for real some time.”

  He set down the rice spoon and turned to me. “Yeah? You’d be into that?”

  I frowned at him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He shrugged and busied himself piling more food on his plate. “You just seemed like you wanted to keep everything casual.”

  “I said a date, not a wedding.”

  He snorted. “Understood.”

  Behind us, a door opened and a kitchen worker came out to refill one of the food trays.

  “Does it seem odd to you that they have so much food coming out when there are so few customers?” I asked.

  “Maybe they have a late dinner rush.” I piled some beef and broccoli on my plate and tried to move down the line, but I ran into Morales’s back. I went up on my tiptoes to see what the problem was and spotted a man in a black suit barring our way.

  The man dipped his chin in a mockery of a bow. “Detective Prospero. Special Agent. Please come with me.” There was no question in his words, no request. He was clearly sent to deliver a command. “She’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”

  Morales and I exchanged a look. There was no time to debate. The smart side of my brain—the one that kept me alive all those years—wanted to cut our losses and run. But the other side of me—the cop side that wanted to solve the case by any means necessary—was in charge. She told my smart side to pipe down and pay attention.

  “Lead the way,” I said.

  As I expected, he made his way toward the ornate door on the side of the restaurant farthest from the buffet. I tried not to imagine a gang of martial arts experts waiting to ambush us on the other side.

  “Guess this answers the question of whether anyone was watching the camera’s feed,” Morales observed.

  The man walked in front of us, seeming unconcerned that we might run. I glanced behind me and finally understood the reason—the four businessmen from the other table with suspicious bulges under their jackets had situated themselves in front of each of the restaurant’s exits.

  I got Morales’s attention and jerked my head toward the closest guard. His expression grew even grimmer.

  I should have felt comforted that they hadn’t requested that we surrender our weapons, but we were so outgunned, it didn’t matter. I reached up to break my amulet, but Morales grabbed my arm.

  “Bad idea,” he whispered.

  “Why?”

  “It’ll only anger her.”

  I wanted to ask who her was, but I had a bad feeling I already knew.

  “Wh
atever you do,” he continued in a low tone, “don’t stare directly at the horn.”

  I’d expected our host to lead us into a private dining room. Instead, he took us back down that dark hallway and through a pair of swinging doors that led into the massive kitchen. After the empty dining room’s calm, this place was a riot of noise and movement. Even the air was chaotic with the warring scents of hot oil, sizzling meat, and the delicious aroma of sautéed ginger and garlic. But instead of making my mouth water, the scene we walked into made my tongue go dry.

  Four women in matching embroidered tunics made of green silk and black pants stood in a line. Their hands were folded in front of them, and no weapons I could see. However, I got the definite sense that they’d be able to kick both our asses easily if we made a wrong move.

  They parted like a green tide to reveal the petite figure of a woman who looked like someone’s grandmother. She stood behind a butcher block that was shiny from age and stained from use. She wore a simple black tunic and wide-legged pants. She wore no makeup and her hair was pulled back into a bun. No frills, no fuss.

  Of course, she didn’t really need to accessorize with the horn jutting from her forehead like a crooked jade finger.

  Remembering Morales’s warning, I tried really hard not to stare at it, but even for the Cauldron, a woman with a horn was pretty bizarre.

  “Do you have a warrant, Special Agent Morales?” Her voice was deeper and more resonant than I expected. She also clearly had not forgotten Morales. That didn’t seem like a good development.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” he said. “We’re just on a date.”

  “A date. Of course.” She smiled but the emotion didn’t reach her eyes. “In that case, you have to try our house specialty.” She nodded to one of her handmaidens, who removed a roasted duck carcass from the row of hooks over the counter.

  “You ever have Peking duck, Detective Prospero?”

  “You have me at a loss,” I said. “You know who I am, but I haven’t had the pleasure.”

  She bowed over the duck. “They call me Yü Nü.”

  I tipped my chin. Not a bow, but not a rejection of respect, either. I had a feeling she took that sort of thing pretty seriously. “You know what? Thanks for the offer.” I placed a hand over my belly. “But I’m really not hungry. We were just about to leave, in fact.”