She deserves it. I don’t know why she’s so set on that girl, but whatever small light helps keep her moving forward is fine by me.
Trey chuckled as he eyed the huge stuffed angel in the backseat. His aunt had been stingy when he was younger, but he understood that the Charlyce sitting next to him now and the woman he had known years ago were very different people.
Give a hand up and not out, and don’t focus on the past. Maybe that’s the only way anyone can move forward.
From what Trey understood, Dina hadn’t been placed in a foster family or in a group home yet only because the police were still concerned about her being targeted by the Red Eyes Killer. The CPS building was close enough to the police station that they didn’t need to station any personnel to guard her, but could still intervene if the killer showed up.
If Aunt Charlyce didn’t visit her now, there might not be a good chance for her to do it again. He doubted a new foster family would want her hanging around, even if she no longer looked like the homeless woman she’d been for so many years.
They arrived at their destination and Trey parked the truck in front of the building.
“You ready?”
Aunt Charlyce smiled. “More than ready.”
They made their way inside to the front desk, his aunt lugging the angel.
Trey adjusted his tie and flashed the receptionist a smile. “I’m Trey Garfield. The police should have called ahead about our visit.”
The woman nodded. “Yes, Detective West contacted us about Dina.” She stood with a smile. “Just let me show you the way, Mr. Garfield.”
She led them down the hallway to the playroom. Another CPS employee stood outside and nodded toward the door.
The woman sighed. “Please try and avoid talking about the incident.”
Aunt Charlyce held up the angel. “I just want to give her this. I want my little angel to feel good and know that there are a lot of people who care about her.”
The woman gave a shallow nod, slight discomfort still on her face.
Trey and his aunt stepped inside. He moved to the corner and crossed his arms, just watching quietly. His family was involved so he couldn’t say it wasn’t his business, but it still felt like it should be a private moment between his aunt and the girl.
Dina sat at a table coloring a picture. Aunt Charlyce set the angel in front of the girl and smiled. “Hey, my little angel. Do you remember me?”
The little girl’s eyes widened, and she ran over to hug the woman. “It’s you! The nice lady who helped me out of the vent and called the police.”
“I told you I’d be nearby.” Trey’s aunt slid the angel toward the girl. “Here’s your angel, honey. Not only is he soft, but he’ll also protect you.”
The CPS worker frowned behind Aunt Charlyce. Trey resisted the urge to flip her off.
That girl is happy to see my aunt. You better not mess this moment up.
Dina snuggled the toy. “But what about Mr. Brownstone? Isn’t he gonna protect everyone?”
Trey grinned. “Mr. Brownstone is going where big angels fear to tread to make sure little angels can sleep well at night. He’ll protect everyone, and he’ll make sure the bad guys are the ones afraid.”
The green arrow grew increasingly bright as the cops and James barreled toward the edge of town in his F-350.
What the fuck? I spent all that time talking to people, and he’s nowhere near central Vegas anymore.
“Guess this is what I get for trusting someone who admitted they were high when they made a deal,” James grumbled.
“Huh?” Detective West asked. “What are you talking about? Was that redhead high?”
“Who knows? She’s a friend of Zoe’s. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
The detective looked even more confused than before. “Who’s Zoe?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not important.” James shook his head. “I’ve been wasting a lot of time in Rancho Charleston, and we’re driving away from there, so all the information I had on where the killer was, was wrong.”
“Not wrong, Brownstone, just outdated. We thought we had an MO on this guy, but he keeps changing things. Maybe that was part of his plan all along. At least we’re heading toward him now.”
James grunted. “I wish I had some fucking clue where we were going.”
Detective West glanced down at the glowing vial in the cupholder and then up the street. “Actually, I know exactly where we’re going.”
He looked at his partner and the other cop nodded back.
James spared a glance at the detective as he changed lanes. “Care to share with the rest of the fucking class, guys?”
“We mentioned three guys who died to you.”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“We didn’t give you all the information about them. They died in a central Vegas warehouse, but they weren’t random victims. We traced them to a lab on the edge of town. They worked security at the place, Anders Laboratory. We interviewed the top guy there as well as another scientist, but they stonewalled us. They came off slimy as hell, but we didn’t have enough to get a warrant.”
“Laboratory? You telling me these fuckers did some sort of magical experiment and made a magical serial killer?” James growled.
The detective shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but you heard what that hot redhead said. And she’s magic, right?
“Something like that.”
“Then we’re talking about evil assholes who are messing around with dark magic and shit. Not exactly the wheelhouse of homicide detectives.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken down all sorts of magic users and creatures.” The bounty hunter’s hands tightened around the wheel. “If these guys had security douches going after Red Eyes, that means they knew where he was. They fucking knew and could have told the police so you could send AET…” he gritted his teeth, “or me.”
“When we interviewed them they had a creepy-ass vibe. It’s like they only cared that we were taking up their time. They didn’t even seem to care that their guys had been killed. If what that woman said was right they are more evil than the Red Eyes Killer in a way, because they’re supposed to be normal humans.”
James took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He eased up on the steering wheel.
“Well, the fucking Prodigal Son is returning home, and I doubt he’s going there to beg forgiveness if he already sliced up several of their guys.”
Detective Lafayette shrugged. “Maybe we could get a warrant based off this tracking? We could argue eventual discovery.”
His partner snorted. “Not with the judges around here. We show up smelling of magic and they’ll throw everything out.”
“No warrant means they have no reason to let us through the gate.”
“Guess we’re working this off the clock then until we see something with our normal-ass eyes.”
James would have preferred that the cops weren’t there, but they seemed as interested in taking down Red Eyes as he was. They needed to understand how shit was going to go down, though. He didn’t need some Las Vegas AET getting pissed with him when he sent Red Eyes to hell.
Guess it’s a good thing I have a backup healing potion in my truck. If I have to take on the lab assholes and Red Eyes, things are gonna get rough without my amulet.
“Look,” James rumbled, “when we get there and know what the fuck is happening, we’ll make plans. If he’s going back to this lab, it’s not to swap recipes. There might not even be anybody at the gate to stop us.”
Detective West winced. “Those scientists may be assholes, but we can’t be sure that everyone there is. Maybe we should get some AET over there.”
James shook his head. “If AET shows up it might make things explode. Like I said, let’s check the place out and then figure out what the fuck we’re gonna do. If you need to call in more cops or AET then, I’m not gonna bitch too much.” He stopped at a red light and stared at Detective West. �
�And just so we’re all on the same page, I’m not planning on taking this guy in, cops or no cops.”
“Like I said, we’re not going to stop you, but you might lose your bounty money.”
“Whatever. I’ve got plenty of money already. The only reason I even fucking came to Las Vegas was for barbeque.”
The light turned green, and he accelerated.
An uneasy silence settled over the trio, and the green arrow grew brighter by the minute. They were closing on the enemy, a monster James had targeted at the request of a little girl.
James’ thoughts drifted to how much his life had changed since his simple days with Leeroy. Even with Alison, his initial actions hadn’t been altruistic. The girl helped him, so he wanted to repay the favor. Now, though, his fist twitched to smash into Red Eyes’ face. Everything about the early killings felt as personal to James as the death of his dog.
Once upon a time, this job was just about getting pricks off the street and making some money. Now I have my own angel, and no amount of money is worth more than her. Is that why I’m so amped up about this shit?
“You better hope they kill you before I do, Red Eyes.”
Red Eyes chuckled darkly to himself as he stared down at the top of Anders Laboratory from a mountain ledge. After killing the bounty hunter, he’d had an epiphany. Making angels cry satisfied his hungry soul, but to become death he needed more fear. Purer fear. Las Vegas needed to choke on its terror. Only in a sea of true chaos and panic could his victims experience such fear.
Once Death walked every street corner, he’d have his pick of victims and feast on both their fear and DNA. But as strong as he was, he needed a few more tools for his symphony of death, and not the meager rifles strapped over his shoulders. He needed something dangerous without an operator.
He needed living weapons.
Red Eyes laughed. The fools in the lab had no idea he was coming back.
So many twisted projects sat inside the dark little slice of hell calling itself Anders Laboratory. What good was a science project if it were never shared with the world?
You wanted to become gods, but you’re just men playing with a fire you don’t understand. I will become a god, and I will first punish your arrogance.
Red Eyes leapt off the ledge, cackling.
22
Detective Lafayette glanced down at the magical tracker. “Maybe they captured him.”
“Who?” his partner asked.
“The Red Eyes Killer. We’ve been assuming he was going back for revenge or something, but maybe they got him? That’d explain why things got quiet after the last killing.”
“Doesn’t make a difference. If they captured him, then they need to hand him over to us. It doesn’t matter if he’s a freak. He’s a murder suspect and needs to face justice, and the people responsible for creating that freak need to be tried as well. I’m not going to just let them blow this off and dissect him so they can figure out how to make the next one smarter and stronger.”
James chuckled. “And what will you do if they refuse to turn him over or claim he’s not there?”
“I guess we’ll just have to look the other way while a private citizen makes a ruckus.”
“Works for me. All I care about is taking down the Red Eyes Killer. The rest of this shit with this lab you guys can figure out. That’s cop work, not bounty-hunter work.”
“Fair enough, Brownstone.”
The bounty hunter’s phone announced a call from Shay. Normally, he would have put it on speaker, but he didn’t want the detectives overhearing anything embarrassing she might say. If he told her she was on speaker, she’d probably purposely try to embarrass him.
James grimaced at the thought as he lifted the phone to this ear. “Hey,” he answered, trying his best to sound casual. No reason to give Shay any ammunition.
“You lied to me, didn’t you?” Shay accused.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“There’s something off. I can tell it by the way you’re talking.”
What the fuck? I don’t know what she’s thinking half the time, but she can figure out what’s going on with me by my voice over a cell phone from halfway across the world?
James grunted. “I’m talking like I always talk. What’s different about it?”
“There’s something there. I can hear it. Let me guess. Are you in the middle of killing all the Mafia in Vegas off? Am I going to see a big news report about some casino getting blown up?”
“Nah. Still just trying to track down the bounty. I…” James glanced down at the glowing arrow. “Uh, I only know the general direction of the guy, so still in the tracking part of the job.”
“The direction? Some sort of magic tracking like I suggested?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“Glad to see you can be reasonable every now and again, James,” Shay replied. “The important thing is taking this guy down, not preserving your precious sense of simplicity.”
James grunted. “Whatever. You won, and I’m using magic to track the asshole down. Then I’ll keep it simple as I beat his ass.”
Shay snickered. “By the way, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s just about…we’ll call it personal growth. So, where are you now? You tracking this guy back to California or some shit like that? What’s going on around you?”
The two cops watched him, their brows furrowed in concentration. They obviously were trying to reconstruct the part of the conversation they couldn’t hear.
James cleared his throat. “Just… Vegas still. Dry desert. I’m actually at the edge of town, now, heading toward some mountains. Nothing special.”
“Just making sure you’re not driving into a trap.”
“No traps. I don’t think the guy I’m following is even paying that much attention to me.”
Shay laughed. “Poor baby. That has to hurt the old male ego.”
“I don’t give a shit if he knows I’m coming. It won’t stop me. It’s not even important he knows who I am when I take his ass out. This is about helping the girl.”
“You’ve got a real soft spot for helping orphaned little girls, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.” It wasn’t exactly news to him.
“Anyway, what you’re describing doesn’t sound like an area where a bunch of Mafia guys would hang out. I guess I’ll let you go then. Don’t want to distract you from the single guy you’ll be beating up.” Shay snickered. “Talk to you later.”
“Sometimes it’s ten guys, and sometimes it’s one. Just the way the job works. Talk to you later.” James hung up and set his phone down.
The cops continued eyeing him, and James realized he had no clue if there were local ordinances against talking on your phone while driving. Had they been pissed off by his flagrant disregard for their traffic laws?
No, that didn’t make sense. They were bending far more important rules in this investigation than traffic laws. This was about them wanting to invade his privacy.
“Something you need to know?” James rumbled.
Detective West nodded toward the phone. “Who was that? It sounded like you were talking about the investigation with her.”
“This isn’t an investigation to me. It’s a hunt.”
“Same difference.”
“I don’t have the kind of rules you guys have.” James shrugged. “It was my girlfriend. She just wanted to know what I was up to. She’s overseas right now on a job. We like to talk to each other when we’re out of town doing shit. Keeps us from getting as worried and all that crap.”
“So she was asking about the Red Eyes Killer just now.” The detective frowned.
“Not exactly. Not at first. She just wanted to know if I was about to do something dangerous and if it’d involve the Mafia.”
“The Mafia?”
James nodded. “Yeah, because of my history of having loud disagreements with organized crime.”
“Is that what you’re calling wiping out the Harr
iken?”
The bounty hunter offered a quick shrug in reply.
The detective chuckled. “You’re going to age that woman prematurely.”
“Huh?”
“It sucks dating or being married to a cop, but you take rough jobs to the next level. It’s got to be very hard on your girlfriend to date a man with such a dangerous job.”
James chuckled. “Doubt it.”
The two cops stared at him for a moment.
“Why do you say that?” Detective Lafayette inquired, breaking into the conversation. “Is she some sort of danger junkie? Is that why you two get together?”
“Nah. She’s not afraid of danger, but she’s not a danger junkie. Her job’s pretty dangerous, too. I think she’s just worried that I’m having more fun than she is.” James furrowed his brow. “Huh. Maybe she’s more of a danger junkie than I thought.”
The detective laughed. “Your girlfriend is a nutjob, Brownstone, like you. But I mean that with respect.”
James shrugged. “She has to be to like a guy like me.”
“Doesn’t look that big,” James commented as the laboratory grew closer. It looked like a small building to him, but he wasn’t an expert on biotech companies and their typical facility layouts.
“It’s all inside the mountain,” explained Detective West. “The front part’s basically just a huge-ass reception area with elevators. Don’t know how far it goes in or down.”
“Oh. A weird place to build a lab. Were they afraid of getting hit by a nuke or something?”
“Who knows?”
James slowed and pulled off the road. The gate was visible in the distance, but still far away. The revelation of the true size of the lab reinforced that he needed to approach the situation with more information in hand.
“What are you doing?” Detective West asked.
James grabbed his phone. “I don’t want to go in there blind. Gonna call a buddy. I sent him a text earlier to ask if he could check out this place for me once you told me about it. I’m sure he’s got all sorts of useful shit for me now, especially since I’m paying him a decent chunk of money.”
When Angels Cry_An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure Page 17