“If my years of ferrying the dead have taught me anything,” Reaper said in a morose tone of voice, “the quiet ones are often the most dangerous.”
I didn’t really know Deagan. He’d worked here for a few years, and I nodded at him in the hallway whenever we passed each other, but we weren’t fast friends or anything. I wasn’t really one who did the “friend” thing very well, after all.
“How did you find out it was him?” I asked.
“Video footage of him going into the basement portal room a few minutes before the event,” the chief answered. “Never came back out.”
“So he was the one who activated the portal to allow Keller and his crew to come through,” I mused.
“That’s the assumption, Piper.”
“Wasn’t there a camera in that room?” asked Reaper.
“Yep,” replied the chief. “Deagan did something to freeze the frame. Since the room rarely had any activity, none of the camera guards thought anything of it.”
“Ah,” I said with a sniff. “Smart.”
Reaper looked at me. “I don’t get it.”
I turned to my partner. “Setting up the static picture would allow Keller to fill that room with his first wave of attackers, get them in place, and then have them pour out into the basement of the PPD while bringing in the next batch. Nobody would be the wiser because they’d just see the room as it always was.”
“Ah.” Reaper adjusted his hat. “Obviously, this was well planned out.”
“Up until we imploded the building, anyway,” I was quick to note.
“True.”
“Any chance we captured Deagan?” I asked, hoping to be able to interrogate him.
“No,” the chief replied. “The final footage in the building showed him as one of those running toward the main portal seconds before the place imploded.”
“Ah well.”
The three of us sat in silence for a moment, thinking things over. It was obvious that Keller wasn’t about to give up now. Yes, we’d thwarted him yet again, but he’d spent too many years seeking revenge for not getting his way when he was younger.
He’d damn sure try again as soon as he regained his footing.
“The officers that you brought back from topside were…interesting,” the chief interrupted our silence while scratching his white beard.
“They were the only ones available,” I replied, “and Harvey gets full marks for getting the drone moving, even if he merely had to flip a switch.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” the chief clarified, “I think they did a fine job. Leland spotted the oncoming crowd, Cletus and Merle were fantastic with range weapons, and you just pointed out that Harvey managed the drone without a fuss.”
“Again, it was just flicking a switch, but…” I trailed off.
Chief Carter was holding a piece of paper, scanning it as though he’d done so multiple times.
Finally, he held it up to us.
“Well, it looks like there’s a new team being set up in Seattle, and they’re interested in those four officers.”
“Washington?” Reaper asked.
The chief nodded. “Correct. They’ve asked for Leland, Harvey, Cletus, and Merle to join them.”
“Why?” I asked. “They were barely out of their offices for a day, and part of that was reintegration.”
“I don’t know, Piper,” the chief replied with a shrug. “But knowing what I do about the bureaucracy in the vastness of the PPD, I’d guess their bosses weren’t happy with them.” He sniffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Chances are someone reached out to them, looking for officers, and they responded faster than a lightning bolt.”
I frowned at this. “Is the new team aware that those four aren’t exactly the best cops in the world?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea,” he responded. “They are nice fellows, and we just agreed that they performed adequately. I hope they do well.”
They were nice, yes. Great at being in the PPD, though? No. It just seemed like they needed the right person to help them along and whip them into shape. Whoever that turned out to be, I sure hoped they had a thick skin. I was just really glad it wasn’t me this time.
The chief set the paper aside and folded his hands, looking back and forth between us.
“Keller’s going to come back,” he said in a sober voice. “This was just another stepping stone for him.”
That’s when I sat forward and said, “Then maybe it’s time we go after him instead, Chief.”
Carter eyed me for a few moments. It was clear that he’d had the same thought about the Keller situation, but he had no choice but to play the party line. His Directors wouldn’t approve such an action because the cops topside were just as touchy about jurisdictional play as the ones down here.
Retrievers typically got a pass on that, though.
It was our only angle.
But Keller was too high profile now. He had attacked a few places topside, killing cops up there and Retrievers who had been sent up as well. Every cop wanted the guy dead, and whoever finally strung the bastard up by his nethers was going to get some serious recognition for doing it. I couldn’t give two shits about the recognition, I just wanted to kill that prick.
“I can’t authorize it,” the chief finally said. “The brass is trying to coordinate the topside cops to track him down, but they’re catching a lot of flack.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” I stormed, not even caring about the fact that I’d used foul language this time. “There are a lot of good cops up there, sure, but they’re not used to handling assholes like Keller.”
“Sorry, Piper,” he replied, “my hands are tied. The Retrievers who were killed by Keller and his army gave enough ammunition to topside chiefs that we couldn’t handle things any better than they could. You know how regular cops aren’t exactly fans of Retrievers.”
“It’s still bullshit.”
“Be that as it may, I can’t authorize you and Reaper to go up there and track him down. That would go against my directives.” He then leaned back and crossed his arms. “The New York PPD would have a field day, if you stepped in on their turf.”
“New York?” I started but then paused, seeing the twinkle in the chief’s eye.
“I don’t understand,” Reaper replied. “There must be some way we can do our part, Chief Carter?”
“The answer is ‘no’,” the chief stated with a wink as he began jotting down a note. “You are hereby formally disallowed from going into Manhattan to hunt down Keller and his goons, do you understand me?”
He grabbed and lifted the piece of paper he’d written on as he nodded his head at us.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, reading it, “we understand.”
“Right, Chief,” Reaper answered a second later. “We got it.”
The paper the chief was holding read, “GO UP THERE AND KILL THAT BASTARD!”
Chapter 33
We walked out into the night, getting a good distance away from the new PPD building. I had everyone shut off their connectors before telling them what had happened with the chief.
“So he does want us to go up there, right?” asked Kix.
We all gave him a concerned look.
“Right,” he said, after a moment. “Sorry.”
“This is to stay completely quiet though,” I pointed out in a firm voice. “Nobody is to know about this. Are we clear?”
They all nodded, including Methkins and Pecker, who were standing with us as well. That’s when I noticed a little movement just above Reaper’s pocket. Squinting, I saw that Agnes had her head out and she was nodding too.
“And we’re not bringing all of you with us,” I was quick to point out. “That said, we will need your support while you’re here. Pecker, you’ll be keeping Agnes with you. I need you both to put your heads together and find ways for us to be sneaky, including how we speak with the team. We can’t be tracked or the Directors will come down hard on the chief.
”
“Got it,” Pecker said.
“You’d better not abandon me again, Pecker,” Agnes hissed as Reaper handed her over. “I’ll bite your tiny goblin foreskin off, if you do.”
“Tiny?” Pecker shot back.
“Anyway,” I continued, “the rest of you will be joining us.”
Methkins pointed at himself.
“Yes, Meth, that includes you. We may need your magic, so bring your A-game. Anything less and I’ll send you back down without a second thought.” After a deep breath, I added, “Now, everyone go get ready. Brazen and Kix, I’m counting on you two to work with Pecker to get us a lot of gadgets for this mission.” I pointed at Pecker. “Primo stuff only.”
Pecker rubbed his hands together. “You got it. I have a few interesting items I’ve been working on for a while now.”
“Great.” I gave them all a final nod. “Let’s get to it, then. I want to be topside by the end of the week.”
After the rest of the crew departed, I turned to my partner with my arms firmly crossed.
“Why did I lose all my energy when Keller and I looked into each other’s eyes?”
“Mutual attraction?” he suggested.
Great, Reaper was trying his hand at comedy again.
“Reap?”
He glanced away. “How should I know, Piper?”
“Your face betrays you, partner,” I answered.
“I’ve already told you everything I know,” he responded, turning to look directly at me.
“Have you?”
There was no response.
To be fair, I wasn’t really expecting one.
The End
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John P. Logsdon
www.JohnPLogsdon.com
John was raised in the MD/VA/DC area. Growing up, John had a steady interest in writing stories, playing music, and tinkering with computers. He spent over 20 years working in the video games industry where he acted as designer and producer on many online games. He’s written science fiction, fantasy, humor, and even books on game development. While he enjoys writing lighthearted adventures and wacky comedies most, he can’t seem to turn down writing darker fiction. John lives with his wife, son, and Chihuahua.
Christopher P. Young
Chris grew up in the Maryland suburbs. He spent the majority of his childhood reading and writing science fiction and learning the craft of storytelling. He worked as a designer and producer in the video games industry for a number of years as well as working in technology and admin services. He enjoys writing both serious and comedic science fiction and fantasy. Chris lives with his wife and an ever-growing population of critters.
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by John P. Logsdon & Christopher P. Young
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Published by: Crimson Myth Press (www.CrimsonMyth.com)
Cover Art: Jake Logsdon (www.JakeLogsdon.com)
Major Feeding: A Piper & Payne Supernatural Thriller (Netherworld Paranormal Police Department Book 4) Page 11