by Jamie Davis
“I think we should initiate our own search for Gibbie,” Dean said. He decided to break the silence and say what he hoped they all were thinking. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“I’m not sure there is anything we can do,” Brynne said. She set her fork down and looked around at the others. “No one knows where they are staging their attacks from to begin with. All we know about them is they drive dark SUVs, but heck, there are hundreds of those driving around the city.”
“I can’t believe there is nothing we can do, though,” Dean continued. “Isn’t there some sort of magical search we can do, some way to divine their presence?”
“We used that route once, Dean,” Ashley said. “It pointed us to Fire Headquarters and confirmed Artur’s involvement. It did not uncover their hideout, though. The coven is still recovering from the blast, and even were they receptive to trying again, they will be unable for some time to make the attempt to pierce whatever concealment charms Artur has put in place.”
“I still refuse to believe that there is nothing we can do to help,” Dean said. The police were no help. If there were a magical concealment spell on the hideout, humans would not be able to locate it. The police would literally drive right by it and see nothing. Dean knew that, but it didn’t resolve his feelings of helplessness.
“We have to be patient, Dean,” Ashley said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze under the table. “I sense no change in the future possibilities; there is still a major event to come that will require both you and James to act. That has not changed.”
“Still no clue as to what that event might be Ashley?” James asked.
“No, it is still hidden, but that is not unusual to me. I’ll not know it is directly imminent until almost the moment the event happens,” Ashley replied. “I can steer you and advise you on what I think you should do, but I’m not sure what effect any action you take will have until after it is done.”
Brynne snorted a sarcastic laugh. “So we can have help, but not help that really gives us any real assistance. Typical.”
“Brynne,” Ashley said. “I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m a support network, to make sure you can make the choices required of you all when the time comes. But it still comes down to free will. You must arrive at your decisions on your own, without interference.”
The female paramedic held up her hands, exasperated. “Ashley, I’m sorry. I’m not attacking you, I’m just frustrated like Dean and James are.”
“No offense taken,” Ashley said with a smile.
“So,” Dean interjected. “We are back to square one. We have no inkling what is happening and who we need to be dealing with next. Gibbie is still taken and needs our help. We have to do something more than sit here and bemoan our lack of solid plans.”
“We may have a lead to follow-up on,” said a male voice from across the room. The group looked over towards the entrance to the penthouse apartment. Dean experienced a glimmer of hope as he recognized Rudy, the werewolf pack leader, and James’ second. Rudy was leading the Unusual side of the investigation, informally at least.
“What do you have, Rudy?” James asked. “Do we know where they are staging their attacks from?”
“Close, boss,” the werewolf said with a feral grin. “I’ve been following up on the attack last night and the abduction of our friend. I decided to go and talk with each of the CERT team members who witnessed the attack. I started with the twins, and they didn’t remember anything different from what they had told the police. But, when I went to chat with Marian, I could tell that she was holding something back from me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I could tell that there was something. I eventually had to go all alpha wolf on her to compel her to tell me what she was hiding. She told me about this.” He held up a smartphone, triumph showing in his face.
“Whose phone is that? Is it hers?” James asked.
“No it’s mine,” Rudy answered. “But it is not the phone itself that is the clue. It is what is on the phone. Our little counter-culture wolf-child hacked Gibbie’s phone when he wasn’t looking. She wanted to follow the CERT team calls at night, even when her parents wouldn’t let her out. She installed a spyware app on Gibbie’s phone so it would send its location to her phone. Not only that, but she also can remotely access the phone’s camera and microphone.”
“But that means that we can tell where Gibbie is, right?” Dean said, holding back his rising excitement.
“Maybe, Dean, maybe,” Rudy answered. “We have to take this slow. I’ve installed the spyware client on this phone, and I’ve got a team working to follow-up on the information I have so far. It can give a general GPS location and then we need to see if the phone can send video and audio of his surroundings, provided the phone is still on his person.”
“If you have an approximate location, we should still go there and see what we can find,” Dean said.
“I already have a few of my more discreet pack members following up on it. Let me find out more about what we are facing. Then we can know who and what we are going after. There’s no upside to just rushing in. That is how people get hurt, Dean.”
“How long will it take to get your people in place?” Brynne asked.
“They are on their way there now, but they have to take their time. It’s in the warehouse district, and there is not a lot of traffic down there this time of night. A car driving by at night would be noticed, so they need to be very careful how they approach the area.” Rudy looked at James. “I just wanted to give you a heads up, James. If we find Gibson, what do you want us to do? I heard they had silver chains on him. That will affect us, too. I don’t want to lose anyone else trying a rescue.”
“Why can’t we just call the police?” Dean asked. “They aren’t allergic to silver.”
“Think about that for a moment, Dean,” Rudy said. He paused before going on, letting that sink in. “If we involve the local police, we involve all the local authorities. That includes the leak we suspect is going on inside the dispatch and response system of the city. I think we are going to have to extricate the hostage ourselves without local help. Calling the police will only serve to alert them we are coming and give them the opportunity to foil our attempt – or worse.”
Dean sat back in his chair. He hadn’t thought about that. He knew there was a leak inside headquarters somewhere. Since the events on the fire ground the previous evening, he now suspected it was deputy fire chief Compton. The bad news was that the chief could monitor police frequencies as well. If he was the leak and he overheard a police operation heading to the site of The Cause’s safe house, he could warn them to bug out, or prepare to repel the assault on their hideout.
“Dean, at least we know more now than we did a few minutes ago,” Ashley said. “We were just saying we had nothing to act on. Now we have a possible location of The Cause, and that means for Gibbie, too. Be patient, it will work out.”
“What did you tell Marian when you figured out what she had done?” Dean asked Rudy. “Does she know that what she did could help us?”
“I told her that it was very fortunate, even though it was a violation of personal privacy,” Rudy said. “We lycans are an honorable people, Dean. I’ll not have sneaks and thieves in my pack. I impressed that on her. She was appropriately chastised over it.”
“You should reward her, not punish her,” Dean exclaimed. “Sure, she overstepped her bounds and invaded Gibbie’s privacy, but when you look at what it enabled us to do, it turned out alright. We should teach her the right things to do, but encourage her to expand her skills in this area. It’s a useful skill, especially in today’s security conscious world.”
“The ends don’t justify the means,” Rudy said. “At least not to me.” He shot a glance at James and Dean got the sense that he and his leader had had this discussion before.
“I agree with Rudy that she took the wrong actions, and they worked out for us this time, mostly due to luck,” Brynne said. “I do t
hink that we should talk with her and encourage her to develop these skills further. The world is changing and having an Unusual with this type of security and computer expertise could be a good thing. James, you have scholarships you give out to members of your community. You should think about sending her to a top-notch computer programming school. She could become a huge asset to you and the rest of the Unusual community.”
“You may be right,” James said. “We will look into that when this all blows over. It could be a moot point if we don’t make it through this intact. I may not be in a position to award anyone a scholarship unless we catch a break. Let’s hope the information she enabled us to find works in our favor.” He looked up at second. “Keep us in the loop, Rudy. We’ll be here if you find out anything.”
“Will do, boss,” the werewolf replied. “I’ll get you hourly updates by text message and call you directly if we find anything solid on Gibson’s whereabouts.” He nodded to the rest of the group, turned, and left them sitting over their dinner while he headed back down the hallway towards the elevators.
Dean and the others looked around meeting each other’s eyes. The mood had changed. They had a solid lead, and things were not quite as hopeless as they were a few minutes before. There was a chance they’d get their abducted friend back. Dean started to eat with renewed vigor. He was hungry now, and he might need the extra energy if they ended up going on a rescue mission to retrieve Gibbie. He thought about what he might do if he encountered the attackers in person again. He wasn’t a violent person, but these guys needed to be stopped, and a little vigorous persuasion might go a long way to stopping the attacks and finding out who was controlling them from the top.
They knew it was Artur on an unofficial level, but it would be much better if they were able to turn up proof of his involvement. That would force him to drop his plans, lest they be exposed to the higher Unusual leadership. Dean got the sense that, while they did turn a blind eye to some of what had been going on, if James came forward with direct evidence against Artur, he would be forced to back down and would be discredited. That was Dean’s goal. It wasn’t just to stop the attacks. It wasn’t just to discredit and expose Mike Farver and Chief Compton at Headquarters; he wanted to make sure that the one who was ultimately responsible was punished. If they proved Artur was at the heart of it, he wanted to hurt him as much as possible.
22
Dean and Ashley left dinner feeling much better than when they had when they arrived an hour and a half earlier. As they stepped off on their floor, they laughed at a shared joke Dean brought up on the elevator. Their laughter stopped when they turned the corner of the hallway and saw Artur coming the other way.
The vampire looked at them with a puzzled expression, then assumed a sly smile and said, “I am surprised to see you two in such good spirits. Surely there are things to be concerned about this evening that don't merit such elated behavior.”
Dean knew the vampire lord was fishing for information. He wanted to know what they were up to in their efforts to counter him. Dean should have just passed the creature by without responding, but he could not resist taking a dig at the old vampire.
“Artur, we’re on to you, you know. We will stop your efforts to destroy what we’ve started here.” Ashley laid a cautioning hand on his arm to stop him, but Dean kept going. “And when we get finished foiling your little plot here in Elk City, I am going to enjoy hunting you down and helping some friends of mine drive a stake through your heart.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed to slits, but the grin never left his face. He and Dean stood nose to nose in the hallway outside Dean’s apartment. Artur looked first at Dean and then turned his attention to Ashley. “Perhaps you should teach your trained puppy some manners towards his betters, Eldara. He needs a leash to keep him in line.”
Dean lurched towards the vampire at the insult, but Ashley barred his way with her arm, demonstrating surprising strength as she stopped his advance without much effort at all. Dean stopped and looked at her. It was like he had run into a chest-high iron bar.
She shot him a glance and said, “If you lay hands on him, Dean, my protection is negated. As long as you do not initiate violence against him, my aura extends over you. Remember that you are a healer, not a warrior.”
Artur smirked at the exchange. Dean could see he thought he had won the encounter, and struck at the pair with more of his smug words. “It’s too bad your girlfriend’s protections can’t watch over everyone you care about, Mr. Flynn. If you are not careful, you might lose your entire little response team.” He finished with a wide grin, exposing his sharp, elongated canines. The grin abruptly disappeared with Ashley’s next words.
“My sister sends her regards, vampire. I would think that you would steer well clear of any Eldara and her friends, considering how anxious she is to have words with you again.”
All semblance of calm humor was wiped away from Artur’s face. Dean now saw something else in his eyes. Was it fear? He couldn’t be sure, but their adversary took a step backward before he stopped at the wall. His eyes darted up and down the hallway as if looking for something, or someone.
“No,” Ashley said. “She’s not here. At least, not yet. She has another task to complete, but she wanted me to tell you that she hasn’t forgotten the Crimea, or Antietam, or Saigon for that matter. If I were you, I’d conclude my business here quickly. I don’t know how soon she will be finished with what she is doing, but I’m assured she will be coming here next.”
Artur looked thoughtful for a moment. “You are telling the truth. I know you cannot lie, but why tell me this? Is it perhaps because you want me to hurry my plans for Elk City?” He paused and matched Ashley’s determined stare for a time before continuing with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I care not. My plans are all in place and will proceed with or without me at this point. I will be leaving town soon anyway. Nice try, Eldara.” He waggled his finger in the air at her, then moved past them in the hallway gliding towards the elevators.
Dean watched him go and when the vampire turned the corner, started to say something, but Ashley laid a finger on her lips and shook her head. She took him by the hand and led him the rest of the way down the hallway to their adjacent apartments. Dean took out his keycard and unlocked his door. She pushed past him inside and pulled him in after her. Once the door was shut, she waived a hand in the air over it and then turned to him.
“We can talk now, no one can hear us,” she announced. She looked squarely at Dean. There was anger in her eyes. “What were you thinking out there? You can’t take him in a straight up fight. Artur would tear you apart before I could do anything to stop him. My protection is very specific and peaceful in nature. Were he to attack you first, my lingering aura would cause him great injury. Even then he would destroy you with little thought if he wanted to. He knows he would heal eventually.”
“I couldn’t let him just walk by without knowing what I want to do to him,” Dean argued. “He needs to know that I’m on to him, and I will hunt him down. That was not an idle threat.”
“Men!” Ashley said, throwing her hands in the air and walking across the living room to the large window. She turned and glared at him. “I just told you that you aren’t powerful enough to stop him on your own. He is a very ancient vampire. James and Rudy together would be hard-pressed to best him, and the two of them are extremely powerful.”
“But you could take him, right?” Dean asked.
“I’ve told you, Dean. I’m a healer,” Ashley explained. “My powers give life; they don’t take it. I can defend myself, and to a limited extent, defend you from his attacks, but that is all.”
“But he seemed very afraid of what your sister could do, would do to him.”
“That is different,” Ashley said. “Ingrid is a warrior angel, a Valkyrie. Her powers are all about fighting and strength and war. She would defeat him handily, and make it look easy. That is why I invoked her here. I wanted him to think she was aware of
where he was based on her previous encounter with him. It was enough to get him to back down.”
“So, she’s not coming?” Dean asked.
“Oh, she is coming now,” Ashley said with a laugh. “I told you. I invoked her. When I told him my sister sends her regards, it connected her to the conversation. I could feel her amusement as she sort of jumped in to overhear the conversation. Based on the response I could sense from her, she is definitely on her way. She has a very old score to settle with Artur.”
“Well good, then she’ll take care of Artur for us,” Dean said.
“No, Dean, we don’t want that. Ingrid brings a certain, uh, level of turmoil, shall we say. When she visits somewhere, it is usually because of a war and the chaos that war brings with it. She can be much more direct than I have to be under normal circumstances. No one notices when strange things happen in a war zone. When she gets here, it is going to take all my energy to keep her from razing the center of town trying to get to Artur.”
“Oh,” Dean said. “I didn’t realize she had that kind of power. When will she get here?”
“She’s somewhere in the Middle East right now,” Ashley said. “People have been fighting each other there for millennia, so she likes to hang out there. I did sense she is annoyed, so that means she has to finish some task there before she can leave to come here to renew her feud with Artur. My guess is it will be somewhere between a few days to a few weeks until she arrives. That means that we have that long to finish what needs to happen here before she gets here and really messes things up. Like I said, she is anything but subtle.”
“And this is my fault?” Dean asked. “What did I do?”