“You’re no fun, Reap,” I whined.
“How do you consider it fun to do the wrong thing?”
“Hard to explain,” I replied. “You’ll just have to try it sometime.” Then I thought better of that. This was a guy who was learning to appreciate humor via conversations with his turtle, after all. “Actually, scratch that. Doing the wrong thing isn’t all that fun. I was just…uh…joking.”
“Ah!”
His giggling began again.
“Okay, okay,” the clerk said as he put down the phone. “Seems you two are legit. Makes me wonder about the Netherworld thing, though, and what the hell a paranormal is.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I replied quickly. “My partner here will be filling out paperwork and such to get you properly educated on the point.”
“I will?” said Reaper.
“You will,” I affirmed. “Unless, of course, you’ll reconsider the use of your particular memory skill?”
He frowned at me. “I’ll do the paperwork.”
“Roger,” I called to our base AI, “send up a containment person to The Wharf Inn, please. We have a clerk here who needs education. Officer Payne will fill out all necessary paperwork when we return.”
“Request affirmed, Officer Shaw,” Roger replied.
The clerk looked even more freaked out now than when I had put the gun to his head. I can’t say I could blame him. I was only five when I was introduced to the Netherworld and it was a serious mind-fuck even then. Whenever adult normals caught on to the realities of the world, some of the them went bat-shit crazy.
“What are you two talking about?” the clerk asked in a shaky voice. “I don’t want to be properly educated.”
“Just give us the key to the room and we’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“But—”
“Do not worry,” Reaper said, stepping closer to the man. “Education doesn’t hurt. In fact, it will open an entire new world to you. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised and you may even go on to achieve dreams you never thought possible.”
“Who are you, Tony Robbins now?” I said, smacking Reaper on the arm and then snagging the keys from the clerk. “Come on, we have bad guys to kill…erm, catch.”
Chapter 10
We snuck up to the door with key in-hand, but I could hear them talking inside, so I put my hand out to stay Reaper as I pressed my ear to the door.
“Did you get them?” asked a sinister-sounding voice.
“No, my lord,” came the whimpered response.
“Why not?”
“The group leader underestimated them, my lord. He was slain.”
“Good,” hissed the guy I assumed was Bane. Then he grunted. “If he hadn’t been killed, I would have ended him myself.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Gah! We will just have to try again, and this time any failure will be met with the complete annihilation of all wolves involved. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my lord,” the chorus of three voices said.
“I leave you in charge,” Bane hissed. “Failure for you will result in a long and painful death.”
“My lord,” affirmed whomever just got placed in charge.
It got quiet for a few moments, which told me that the conversation had been disconnected, unless Bane was also in that room.
“Are there three or four bodies in there, Reap?”
“I only sense three.”
If Lucien Bane was able to strike this much fear into a bunch of wolves, he had to be tough. I’m sure I’d fought worse in my time, but going up against bosses was never fun. Seeing as how he wasn’t turning up on my tracker, I could only imagine that he wouldn’t turn up on Reaper’s either.
“This is all Steven’s fault,” one of the three said. “He should have planned better. Now the boss is angry with all of us and I just got stuck being in charge of it!”
So then Bane wasn’t in there with them.
Good.
“Get your stun thing ready, Reap,” I said as I carefully slid the key in the door.
It wasn’t exactly quiet, but the three wolves were too busy griping and moaning to hear it.
I glanced over my shoulder to see if Reaper was ready. He gave one slow nod as he held out his arm, aiming it straight ahead. I dropped down so he’d have a clear shot and then I spun the key and pushed the door open.
“What the—” was all the first guy got out before Reaper stunned him.
The second stun struck and the third…did nothing.
“It’s not working,” Reaper said as the third guy in the room was moving back and forth as if trying to dodge whatever was coming his way. “It just makes a clicking sound.”
I pulled out my gun and aimed it at the dude. He stopped jumping around and put up his hands.
It was odd to see the two other guys standing there frozen. I would have expected them to fall over, but they literally just went catatonic right where they stood.
“Move and I’ll stick a Death Nail right in your chest,” I said darkly as I moved into the room. “You’re obviously no longer shielded, so don’t push me.”
“I don’t understand why this isn’t working,” Reaper mused, sounding a little frustrated. “Pecker said to push these two gears together and it should fire.”
I glanced at him and saw his hand pointing directly at me. I jumped to the side.
“Don’t do that while you’re pointing at me, idiot!”
“Huh?” He looked up at me and then winced. “Oh, sorry. It’s not working anyway.”
I know Reaper and I had only been partners for a short time, but there were some things that should just be innately obvious. You always brought a gun when chasing bad guys, you avoid jumping on explosives whenever possible, you never walk around in the dark on a stakeout with eyes glowing like a set of high beams, and you don’t fucking shoot your partner!
“Anyway,” I hissed, turning back to the guy I’d had my gun trained on, “we want some answers. You tell us what you know and you’ll spend some time in jail. You don’t and you’ll spend an eternity dead.”
“Actually,” began Reaper, “it really doesn’t quite work like that. You see, there is…” He trailed off once he realized I was giving him the stink-eye. “Oh, you were being dramatic.”
I sighed.
“I can’t tell you anything,” the bad guy said. “He’ll kill me…painfully.”
I grunted, feeling seriously bugged by this. I just wanted to shoot first and ask questions later. Why wasn’t that a thing? I looked at the two stunned dudes. Okay, so maybe it was a thing, but not with this last guy.
“Do you have any idea how many times we hear that shit? ‘The big boss will kill me,’” I mocked. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ll kill you if you don’t answer my goddamn questions.”
“Yes, but he’ll make it seriously painful.”
“Death Nails aren’t exactly fun, pal,” I pointed out.
He looked at the gun and swallowed, making me think I had a talker. But then he seemed to gain some resolve on his face.
“No,” he said, instantly growing stoic. “I can’t do it. Our mission is important. More important than my life.”
Now that I couldn’t compete with. I’d almost had him when he was just worried about being killed, but once he decided that his life was worth the mission…well, there’s that.
It was at this point, when I was momentarily distracted, that he pressed the tattoo on his arm and dived at his fellow werewolves.
I went to fire, but there was no point.
They all melted in an instant, leaving a pool of green goop on the carpet.
“Ew,” I said, covering my mouth.
“I’ve never seen that happen before,” stated Reaper. “And, remember, I’m a reaper.”
I holstered my gun and groaned. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy?
“Roger,” I called down, “we need a clean-up crew. There’s green goop on the carpet.”
“Acknowledged.”
I fished around for any clues that may have been available, but there was nothing. Obviously they just used this place as a base for targeting whatever Retriever unit got sent to the Wharf tonight. Any identifiers these guys may have had was now in liquid form.
“Now what?” asked Reaper.
I glanced at him. “Now, we talk to the chief.”
Chapter 11
The chief wasn’t in the best of moods when we returned. It was a rare thing to hear a foul word crest his lips, so when I tell you that he said “damn” twice to whomever he was talking to on his connector right then, that’s saying something.
“Fine,” he said, looking somewhat relieved as he waved us in, “but it’s not exactly peaches and cream up here, either. You just do your job and I’ll do mine.” He nodded a couple of times. “Yeah, yeah. I love you, too.”
Ah, so that meant he was speaking with his wife, who happened to be in charge of the containment department. It was her group who had to clean up the werewolf goop at The Wharf Inn, and they also had to educate the clerk. But these were normal requests that she shouldn’t be griping about. Ones where we blew up entire buildings or knocked out bridges were definitely complaint-worthy, but nothing this minor.
“Sorry, Chief,” I said while taking a seat.
“About what?”
“Sending the containment folks up to the—”
“Bah,” he interrupted, “that’s piddly. Edith is just mad because I’ve got her people running all over the place topside.” He let out a long breath. “Frankly, I’m happy to see you two made it back alive.”
I was taken aback by that. “What do you mean?”
“It’s been a bloodbath topside, Piper,” he moaned. “Already lost eleven Retrievers tonight.” He slammed the desk while yelling, “ELEVEN!”
Reaper and I both jumped at the outburst and the revelation of what he’d just said.
“What the hell happened?” I asked.
“Ambushes,” answered the chief, looking at me. “Everywhere. Wolves, vampires, fae…even pixies, for crying out loud!”
So this was a massively coordinated event, just as the chief had expected. It made sense to think that, of course. There were just too many call-ins at the same time for it to be coincidence. But for it to result in attacks against Retrievers?
“We were ambushed, too,” Reaper said. “They lured us onto Fisherman’s Wharf. Everything was quiet.”
“Too quiet,” I added.
“Yes. And they somehow managed to cut off our ability to use our tattoos and the connector. Even my personal abilities were tainted.”
“Damn it,” the chief seethed. “This is the same basic report I’m getting from everyone. Lured, blocked, attacked. Obviously, we’ve got a bigger problem than we’d expected.”
He had stared at Reaper when he’d said that last bit.
I found that interesting.
“I’m guessing this only adds more evidence to your assumption that Keller is involved?” I asked.
The chief shifted his gaze to me and nodded.
“I should have expected this,” he mumbled. “It’s damn near the same thing he did a long time ago.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Chief,” I said in his defense. “These things happen. It sucks, but you know we can’t dwell on it right now. We have to stop his next round. What did he do after these ambushes the last time he was fucking with…” I paused and looked up, remembering the chief was not fond of my using foul language either. “Uh…I mean, what did he do next the last time this happened?”
“Full-on attack of the Netherworld PPD,” he answered soberly. “But we had a lot fewer numbers then. Our tech wasn’t as good either. We now have blocks in place to stop him from getting to us.”
“But that doesn’t stop him from hitting the topside PPD groups,” I pointed out. “They should be notified immediately.”
Reaper shook his head slowly at that. He had his glasses off and his eyes were closed. I don’t know if he was suffering from a headache or if he was doing some weird reaper-type thing, but his face was definitely drawn.
“Keller won’t attack the local forces,” Reaper said, “unless he’s doing so to pull more cops up from the Netherworld. But it wouldn’t be worth it. Setting up an ambush like this takes a lot of work. For him to have another plan unfolding simultaneously is unlikely, and it doesn’t fit his history either.”
His history? So Reaper did know a lot more about this than he’d let on before.
“What do you think he’ll do, Reaper?” the chief asked. “You’ve seen…” He cleared his throat. “What do you think?”
“He’s going to continue trying to thin the Retrievers,” Reaper stated, opening his eyes. Then he tilted his head and his mouth fell open slightly. “Chief, did all of the Retrievers make it back?”
“No, I said that eleven—”
“Sorry, Chief,” Reaper interrupted, sitting forward, “I mean did all of the bodies return?”
“No,” the chief cursed, clearly fighting to contain his rage. “We lost two of them.”
“Then we may be in trouble after all,” Reaper mused. “If he’s got access to the tattoos, he can hack them.”
“Shit,” I said, ignoring the chief’s rule against the use of adult language in his office. “Pecker said that the person or people who handled the tech for Gallien Cross were very good.”
“Exactly,” Reaper concurred. “This means they may soon find a way to bypass our security.”
“Damn,” grunted the chief. “I’ll get word to the squads right away. You two go and work with Pecker to change codes and lock things down. We have to avoid a run on the station. The last time that happened…” He trailed off.
“We’ll take care of it, Chief,” I said, jumping up and heading toward the door with Reaper in tow. “Let us know if anything changes.”
“I will,” the chief replied and then went full broadcast on his connector. “Officers, stop what you’re doing and listen carefully. We have lost eleven Retrievers this morning, and we have reason to believe that our station may be in danger of a direct attack. We are working to lock things up, but I want everyone armed and ready, and I want the portals monitored and guarded at all times until further notice.”
We hit the elevator and I pressed the button for the lowest level.
“You’re holding something back, Reap,” I stated on the ride down. “You know more than you’re letting on about this Keller guy, and you’re not telling me what it is.”
“There honestly isn’t that much to tell that wasn’t in the records, Piper.”
“Then tell me what was in the records,” I shot back as the doors opened, dumping us in Pecker’s domain. “I can’t effectively do my job without information.”
“Later,” he said, stepping out. “Right now we have to protect the station.”
Chapter 12
Pecker was already at the computer, typing away like mad.
“Pecker,” I started, “we were told to—”
“I already heard,” he interrupted, “and don’t take offense, but I don’t have time to hit on you right now, Piper. I’ll make up for it later.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
His fingers were flying like mad. It was amazing that he didn’t wear out keyboards on an hourly basis. Seriously, there should have at least been smoke pouring from his nails.
“I’m going to need your tattoo,” Pecker said, snapping his fingers at me. “Bring it over.”
I wasn’t all that fond of being treated as such, but seeing that the circumstances were a bit dire, I let it go.
“Do you need mine, Pecker?” asked Reaper.
“Not yet,” he replied while putting my arm under the light. “Yours is unique. The Retrievers who were taken had the same thing Piper’s got.”
So the chief had called down to let Pecker in on the full deal, including the missing Retrievers. It made sense, but why bother to s
end us down here?
“You talked to the chief, obviously,” I said.
“Yep,” he replied while moving my arm slightly as he studied the screen. “Told me what was going on and said you two were coming down to help me.”
“And how are we supposed to help you?” I asked.
He looked up at me, tapped my tattoo, and then turned back to his screen.
“Oh, right.”
“Reap,” Pecker said after a moment, “do we know if all the topside Retrievers have returned? Aside from the ones who were killed, I mean.”
“I’ll find out,” Reaper replied. “Give me a few moments.”
Pecker turned back to his station and started his speedy typing again. He cursed more than once as he did his thing. I never quite understood all the stuff that went into making the tattoos and the technology. Programming was never an interest of mine. Using technology was great, but making it? No.
“This is going to hurt a lot, Piper,” Pecker said without turning from the screen. “I’m going to have to thoroughly wipe out your tattoo and redo it from scratch.”
I gawked, remembering how painful getting the damn thing put on in the first place felt.
“What?”
“Sorry, there’s no other way.” He grabbed my wrist and pressed a button. An arm came up and locked me in place. “I can’t risk just changing a few elements. This is a complete redraw.” He pointed at the screen. “I have a number of these at the ready in the event that something like this ever happened.” He sighed. “Well, it happened. That means everyone has to be reset.”
I gulped. “You’re kidding right?”
Pecker looked at me seriously. “No.”
“Shit.”
“All of them are back, Pecker,” Reaper announced.
“Tell them to get down here for a full re-printing in an hour,” Pecker commanded. “And I don’t want to hear any shit about it. The chief ordered me to secure this place and that’s what I’m going to do.”
I’d never seen Pecker like this before. He was being deadly serious. Honestly, I rather preferred this to his normal demeanor. Not in a sexual way, of course. I just wasn’t into goblins, but on a professional level this was nice.
Bane's Edge: A Piper & Payne Supernatural Novel, #2 (Netherworld Paranormal Police Department) Page 4