"Hello Charlie," said Felix, certain the caller ID displayed on Charlie's phone.
A pause. "Who's this?"
"This is Felix, Charlie. You said I'd be hearing from you. I hope you don't mind me calling first. Care to tell me whose phone I'm calling you on?"
Felix hung up the phone and smiled wryly. "I don't think he was very glad to hear me."
"Can't imagine why."
Felix put the phone away and finished searching. All he found remaining was a few more dollars, which he put back.
"What, you think he needs the money?" Brian asked.
"No," Felix said as he stood. "But we don't exactly need it either. Might as well leave it for someone who does."
Brian was about to say something more when he stopped short. After a moment he said very softly, not moving his lips, "There's someone watching us."
Felix froze, then rethought and pretended to fish through his pockets. "Where?" he whispered.
"Behind you. Lying on the fire escape."
"So where do you think the other two ran?" Brian asked a moment later in a louder voice.
"I don't know," Felix said in his regular manner. He turned around, trying to appear casual. "They could've just as easily went one way or the other." His gaze swept the alley, sliding across the fire escape about thirty feet away. A figure lay there in the darkness, just barely visible, and Felix turned his eyes skyward a moment after spotting him. "Though I suppose they could've gone up. . ." He looked down, once again passing his gaze over the face to get a better look before turning his back on the watcher to address Brian.
"He must've followed us from The Arena," Felix whispered. "We brushed past him twice on the way out."
"So. . . what do we do?"
Felix paused to think. The man hadn't seemed too threatening before. If he'd wanted to kill them, he'd had plenty of time already. That was some comfort. "Follow me," he mouthed. He then turned and moved down the alley towards their watcher. "Maybe the others aren't far away," he said aloud. "C'mon, let's see."
Brian moved in closer to walk behind Felix in the alley. They approached the fire escape and pretended to concentrate their search at ground level. Felix fought the urge to look upward. The man made neither move nor sound as they neared him. Felix reached into his jacket.
When they were under the platform, Felix pulled his gun and aimed up at the man on the wire mesh. The figure above was startled and flinched visibly, but moved no more and said nothing. Between the grating and the shadows, Felix could make out nothing beyond the eyes looking down at him.
"Hi," Felix said sternly. "My friend has sharp eyes and I don't like being watched. Who are you, and why are you following us?"
The man above slowly shifted up onto his knees.
"Ah!" Felix declared in warning. "Slowly. Come down here." The silent figure hesitated. "Now."
Time stopped.
Felix waited.
Brian waited.
The man ran. He stood and leaped down from the platform in a fluid motion that caught Felix so off guard that he was watching the man take off running down the alley before he realized it had happened.
"Stop!" Felix yelled only to have the man ignore him. "Damn!" he whispered, putting away the gun. "He called my bluff. Come on!"
Then he was off, with Brian following.
They raced through the alleyway. The figure ahead of them, half-cloaked in the darkness beyond, soon turned a corner that led back out to the main street. Felix charged after him, now a little less worried that they were being led into a trap. The clatter of trash cans and the rattle of a fire escape ladder echoed around the corner, but Felix rounded it just in time to see their eavesdropper run out of the alley and around onto the sidewalk. He ran past the decoy fire escape and leaped the overturned cans, breathing hard and hearing Brian right behind him.
Felix turned out of the alley and stopped. This street was more crowded than the last. He looked helplessly in the direction the man had gone, but blinded by headlights and chaos, he saw nothing.
"There!" Brian pointed and took off again. Felix followed, still unable to spot the man himself. They ran one block down, across an intersection, and around a corner. Felix was starting to get winded.
Brian stopped and cast about. "Do you see him?"
"I didn't see him the last time." Felix caught his breath and looked vainly for any sign of the man. Cars passed by and a few people wandered down the sidewalks, but their spy was gone. "I think he lost us."
"I bet he doubled back on us. That or he's somewhere very close, watching us right now." Brian peered around again.
"He's a sneaky one," Felix agreed. It had been nicely done. Creeping to that vantage point on the fire escape without them hearing couldn't have been easy. He looked around at the area, mentally mapping their location. "Hmm."
"Hmm?" Brian asked. "Hmm, what?"
"Hmm, hmm," Felix answered. "Follow me."
He half-walked, half-jogged down one more block to a side street. A light rain whispered down on them and coated the streets in the glare of reflected lights. Felix took Brian past a cement staircase that led down to a basement door, glancing down at the door as they passed. It was closed. He ran across the street then and ducked into a door doorway to crouch in the shadows. Brian settled in beside him.
"What are we doing?" Brian asked with audible impatience.
"Shh. Watch across the street."
Brian scowled but said nothing. They crouched and waited. For a few minutes, Felix only watched as cars and pedestrians passed. None noticed them there in the doorway, but none was their quarry, either. Another few minutes ticked away. The reporter shifted nervously. Felix was about to give up when he spied their man walking to the stairwell and going down. Felix grinned. He did love being right.
"How'd you know he'd go down there?" Brian whispered.
"Know who The Scry are?"
"I think so. They're kind of information gatherers, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Competitors to me, in a way, though I talk to them from time to time. C'mon, looks like now's one of those times." Felix stood and started to cross the street.
"Maybe I'm missing something here, but if they're spying on us, wouldn't it be a little stupid to go knocking on their door?"
"Nope!" Felix said. "I mean, even if they are collectively spying on us, which isn't really a guarantee with how their own little hierarchy works, they won't do much beyond tell us to go away. They're pacifists." Felix trotted down the stairwell with Brian at his heels, rapped against the iron door, and then added, "Well, pretty much."
"Pretty much?" was all the reporter got out before the metal shutter in the door slid open. A pair of eyes scrutinized them.
"Yes?" a woman's voice demanded.
"Ah, hello," Felix said. "I'm wondering if you can help me find something out."
"And what is it that you seek, Felix Hiatt?"
Felix smiled back, surprised neither that the gatekeeper knew his name, nor that she chose to use it. The Scry tended to have a love for flaunting knowledge that rivaled his own. "Well, for starters, I'd like to know just why one of you was tailing us."
"We follow people. Other people follow people, too. If someone was following you, congratulations for noticing, but why assume it was one of us?"
"We trailed him here. And I need to know: was it business or pleasure?" It was perfectly feasible that, being known to The Scry as a kindred spirit, one of them may have just decided to follow him and see if they could learn anything. If one was being hired to watch him however, knowing who had done the hiring could offer some valuable answers.
The gatekeeper's eyes glanced from Felix to Brian and back. The shutter slammed shut without warning.
"So, is this how they usually do things here?" Brian asked after a moment.
"Ah, if she comes back in a few moments, yes. If not, then no."
A few moments passed. "That'd be a 'no,' then?"
Felix scowled.
"I get the distinct impression we're being ignored." He knocked at the door again.
The shutter slid open. "Go away."
"Look, I—"
The shutter closed before Felix could say more.
"Not terribly friendly, are they?"
Felix turned to Brian. "You're enjoying this, huh?"
The reporter smirked.
"Third time's the charm." Felix knocked again. The shutter didn't open.
"Apparently not."
"You know, if anything this just makes me even more suspicious."
"Why? They could just as easily lie to you if they were being paid."
"The Scry don't lie," Felix told him. "Pardon the rhyme. A reputation for honesty is what keeps them paid."
"'Trust no one' is a good rule to live by."
Felix shrugged. "Your loss."
"So what now?"
"Not sure," Felix answered truthfully, "but there's not much we'll accomplish standing here."
"We could wait here until one of them comes out—or sneak in another way."
Felix shook his head. "Pretty sure they could outwait us. Even if we did sneak in, I don't think we're likely to discover anything that way." He made a move to the staircase. "We'd better get back to the floater. At least for the moment."
Felix trotted up the stairs with Brian following. No sooner had he arrived at the top than a purposeful clearing of someone's throat behind him made Felix turn. Leaning on the railing around the top of the stairwell was a woman Felix hadn't even noticed. Short, dressed primarily in dark blue denim and without any visible piercings or tattoos, she looked rather ordinary for the area. Even her hair, though no less attractive for it, was merely a natural brown and pulled back in a ponytail. Her hands clasped, her eyes calm, she watched them.
In a poor attempt to hide his intrigue with how this woman had presented herself so stealthily, Felix glanced at Brian. The reporter seemed equally surprised. "And how long have you been there?" Felix asked her.
The woman smiled slightly. "What," she replied, "would be the point of being so quiet if I were to tell you that? Rather ruins the effect, wouldn't you say?" Her voice, deeper than he'd have expected from her size, was different from the one at the door and held a UK accent. Welsh most likely, Felix thought. The woman remained where she was, smiling confidently with one eyebrow arched.
"Point," said Felix, "but it rather ruins the point of getting our attention if you don't tell us anything at all."
"Who are you?" Brian shot.
"Caitlin," the woman answered. She straightened and then walked towards them into the light that showed enough of her features for Felix to put her in her early thirties. Felix caught his guard dropping and readied himself for any sudden movements.
"Felix's name I know by reputation," she continued, speaking to Brian. "Who in the bloody hell are you?" She stopped, still smiling, and tapped her fingers on the rail.
The reporter hesitated a moment. "Brian."
"Mmhmm," she said. Felix got the feeling they were being looked over.
"Would I be right in assuming you're one of The Scry?" Felix asked.
"A good assumption," said the woman called Caitlin. She turned and indicated with a wave of her hand for them to follow.
"What do you think?" Brian asked.
"Don't know." The woman was walking away. Felix noticed that her hair was actually braided and likely longer than it looked. "But you know what they say about opportunity."
"And curiosity."
"Okay, so we'll be careful," Felix said, following after.
She led them up the street a short distance to an empty bus shelter and sat down. Felix checked to make sure the bench was clean and sat a moment later. Brian apparently preferred to stand.
Caitlin spoke before Felix could say a word. "You're partly right. The Scry haven't been hired to follow you, but those two freelancers you were with. You just happened to pick up a tail when someone saw you with them outside The Arena. You're working for them?"
Felix nodded. "I guess that's pretty apparent, yes."
"To do what?" she asked.
"I was under the impression that you led us here to tell us something, not the other way around."
"Your impression is accurate. You're looking for the vigilante, the. . . 'Wraith.'" It was a statement. "Why?"
"If I tell you, will you be telling me something in return?" Felix asked.
"If your answer is what I expect it will be."
From how much they'd been watched, Felix guessed that The Scry already had a pretty good idea. "Those two freelancers were hired by someone who thinks he's behind the warehouse arsons. So we're looking to find him."
"He's not," she said. "Behind the arsons, rather."
"And how do you know that?" Brian asked. Felix nodded his approval of the question. Something made him want to trust this woman, but he tried not to let his guard down too much. She did have very nice eyes, though.
"Because he's had us keep our ears out for information as well."
"He's who hired you to follow us," Felix stated.
"To follow your friends, yes."
"Why?" Felix pressed.
Caitlin shook her head. "I don't know. He's not the kind of bloke that takes to telling us much at all. Matter of fact, I get the feeling he knows a lot more about the bloody arsons than we do."
"Sounds like he has The Scry do a lot of things for him?" Brian asked.
Caitlin looked at both of them sternly. "I need your promise that what I'm going to tell you doesn't go beyond us. I hear you're trustworthy, Mr. Hiatt, and I'm willing to risk that. Can you vouch for your friend here?"
Felix glanced at Brian, wondering. "I think I can," he said. Brian nodded. "And call me Felix."
The woman paused, thinking. "He gets a lot of information from us, to the point where he's become an honorary leader to some. He's done favors for some of us—helped some of us out of a bollocks or two. I think he regards The Scry as his flock. What I've gathered is that a lot of what he gets is news on other gangs and uses it against them. Which is why I don't want this to get out. It could send the wrong kind of attention our way. I have the luxury of being in the city by choice, though I've got some friends who aren't as lucky."
"No one's going to hear it from me, I give you my word," Felix said. "Or from Brian." He turned to the reporter, still speaking to Caitlin. "I'm sure he knows that I could make things very difficult for him if he tarnishes my vouching." Felix suddenly rethought how that sounded and patted Brian on the shoulder genuinely. "But I'm not worried."
"Thank you," Caitlin said. It came with what Felix read as a faint smile of relief despite the hint of uncertainty in her eyes. "So what do you think about the arsons?"
"Seriously starting to doubt that it was him."
"He's hinted that he might've been set up. He hasn't said by whom."
"Maybe by whoever's behind it." Felix opted to keep his suspicions about RavenTech to himself for the moment. He guessed Caitlin had approached them for more than she'd told so far.
Caitlin nodded. "Or maybe just an enemy who'd like to pin it on him."
"Maybe both," Brian added.
"Someone who'd hire two freelancers to go after him," Caitlin finished.
Felix looked down, uncomfortable. "Apparently he had the chance to take out Diomedes last night when he attacked him. He doesn't seem like the kind not to take that opportunity if he felt threatened. Any thoughts on that?"
"As I said, the bloke doesn't tell us much. I suspect he knows something about your friend. He needs him, or wants him alive."
Brian spoke up again. "Why should we even believe you?"
The woman arched an eyebrow and shot Brian a glare that Felix thought could have stopped a bullet. "You're a bloody obnoxious sod, aren't you? Don't believe me, see what good it does you!"
Felix attempted a disarming chuckle before Brian could say more. "I, ah, do get the feeling that you have something more to tell us, though," Felix said.
Caitlin looked down from her glare. She nodded silently, seeming to compose herself. "Well, first of all, he goes by Gideon. At least it's what he has us call him. And secondly," she paused again, looking to the ground for just a moment, "we—I—know where he lives."
Neither Felix nor Brian said a word. Felix leaned in closer.
"You're still bound by your promise," she confirmed. Felix nodded. Brian did the same. "It's an older flat on the corner of Fortieth and Twelfth in the University District. I don't know which unit, but that's where others have met him. He's told us to look for him there if need be."
"Not exactly the safest place in the city," Felix said. "I wonder where he keeps his floater." Caitlin didn't respond. "At the risk of offending," Felix continued, "why are you telling us this?"
"Because The Scry are the only ones that know, and if you find out, I think he's paranoid enough to suspect that one of us told you. I want him to stop trusting us."
"To stop trusting you?" Brian repeated.
"To stop using us. He's getting too controlling. Putting us at too much risk for his own purposes. As I said before, putting the wrong kind of attention our way. I want it to stop. I don't want to harm him, just his trust in us."
"By telling us where to find him."
Caitlin nodded. "He wants a meeting with your Diomedes anyway. All I'm doing is letting you find him first."
"You realize that Diomedes may be trying to kill him," Felix said. It seemed only fair to warn her.
"Oh, hell!" Brian blurted. "Not before I get my interview, he's not! I thought he was just trying to find him! You didn't tell me he was going to kill him!"
"I don't know that!" Felix declared. "But it's a possibility."
"Oh, great, so Diomedes goes out there and offs him and then where am I?"
"Crikey," Caitlin said in the middle. "You said you didn't think he was the arsonist!"
"We don't! But Diomedes doesn't know yet," Felix told her. Brian's outburst had caused Felix's own voice to rise. He tried to bring it down. "He even thinks Gideon torched his apartment."
"Bloody hell," Caitlin cursed under her breath.
"But we don't have to tell him," Brian said hurriedly. "We can just go there ourselves, I can get my interview, and—"
"Diomedes is still going to be looking for him," Felix argued.
A Shadow in the Flames (The New Aeneid Cycle) Page 21