Small Things (Out of the Box Book 14)
Page 37
“Caveat emptor,” Jamal said, and I just shot him that look for being a showoff know-it-all. “What? Can we talk about the other thing now? The elephant in the room?”
“Uh, yeah,” Reed cleared his throat.
“I’m not an elephant,” Guy Friday said, all hulked up almost to the ceiling, “and that’s not a trunk!” He burst out laughing, slapping his knee because he was doubled over. “Oh, I slay me.” He straightened up, all serious again. “But really, guys, hey, it’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.”
“So, most of us know Friday already,” Reed said, looking like he had swallowed a really big, bitter pill, maybe one that was designed to be taken rectally, I dunno. “And for those who don’t, uh … what’s your real name, Guy? I’ve only ever heard you called Friday, and I’m pretty sure Sienna stole that from somewhere.”
“Marshall,” Friday said. “Matherson. And remember the ‘son’ part because it’s super important.”
Scott frowned. “Isn’t that Eminem’s real name? But, you know, without the ‘son’?”
“Nooooo,” Friday said, “it’s totally my own. But I’m a huge fan of ‘Love the Way You Lie.’ That song is so kittens!” He shouted the last word, like it was supposed to mean something.
“This feels like as good a place as any to leave off,” Reed said, a faint aura of exasperation hanging over him. “Everybody welcome, uh, Marshall, or whatever his name actually is … and try and get that paperwork done so I don’t end up having to walk around like the guy from Office Space, whining about your TPS reports.” With that, he disappeared into his office and shut the blinds, probably to continue his emotional breakdown, since he’d already gone and hired Friday.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Angel said, extending a hand to Friday.
“Not as nice as it is to meet you, sexy legs!” Friday said as I started to walk away. I’d known Angel for a few months, and I didn’t need to see what was coming next.
Crack!
“Good thing metas don’t scar easy,” Jamal said, cringing away from what I was sure had been a truly righteous strike by Angel against Friday’s masked face.
“Hey, I got a question for you,” I said, undeterred by the sickened look on Jamal’s face. I didn’t want to look back, because for all I knew, Angel was about to take all the paperwork in the office and insert it into Friday the way Reed should have taken his enormous pill this morning. “How do we prove Sienna Nealon innocent?”
My brother looked around like he was expecting someone else to come flying through a window. He motioned me over to his cubicle and fiddled with his phone for a second, then sat down heavily, beckoning me to lean down. “Look … ArcheGrey swore there was some kind of evidence out there but … there’s a whole can of worms from that, and not earthworms, either. Like acid-spewing worms from Star Trek.”
“Like a horta?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Jamal said. “The evidence is being actively covered up. And after LA, you’re going to have a hell of a time finding anyone with any kind of signal boost who’d be willing to get the word out there, even if you did find it.”
“Isn’t that what the internet is for?” I asked.
Jamal just laughed. “You are so charmingly naïve, bro. The internet’s just a repository. It could already be posted on YouTube for all we know. Unless anyone can find it, it would just remain an incredible snuff film with zero views, and Sienna would continue to languish in the wilderness.”
“So … there’s got to be something we can do,” I said. “You know, we’re detectives, technically—”
“Did we get a PI license with this gig?”
“—so it’s kind of our jobs. Right?” I waited for him to say otherwise, though I didn’t think he would.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jamal conceded. “And … I’ve done a little digging, but … I ain’t found an end to the wall, if you know what I mean. It keeps going down, no way out.”
I stared at him blankly. “I don’t know what that means.”
“I means I haven’t found anything yet,” Jamal said. “But I have looked some. And … we could ask for help, if we had the funds. Cassidy Ellis is out there. Or Arche, if I could ever find her. Doubt she’d help for free, either, though.”
“Naw,” I said, “for now, this is just us. We do this. A conspiracy of two.”
Jamal screwed up his face at me. “… ‘Conspiracy’?”
“You know what I mean. We do this alone. Secret-society style. Because if you’re right, and someone’s trying to hide this stuff …”
Jamal nodded. “If they’re willing to bury her …”
I nodded. “That’s right. Then they’ll more than happy to bury us. We keep this tight for now. Secret. And we find out what’s going on, who’s behind this.” I looked around, half expecting Scotty to stick his head over the cubicle wall any second. “And maybe … just maybe … we’ll figure out a way to clear Sienna’s name.”
83.
Sienna
I made the Atlantic Coast without incident. No missiles shot me down. No planes blew me out of the sky. No one flew alongside me and yelled at me over a speaker, warning me to turn back and return to American airspace, or else.
If the US Government knew I was leaving, it seemed they were pretty content to see my ass go.
The air turned colder, belting me in the face like a punch as I went “feet wet” over Newfoundland, and started crossing the ocean. I cast a look back at the Canadian coast, which was receding quickly, then lapsed into thought.
Harmon, you ass.
You needed something to do, Harmon said, and I could hear a weary sort of self-justification in his voice. We hadn’t talked yet about Friday’s little revelation of who had brought him to my door.
You needed direction, Sienna, Wolfe said.
Purpose, Gavrikov added.
“I didn’t need to have everything go to hell in the United States,” I said out loud, disappointment outweighing my anger. “You blocked me at every turn so I could do it myself, but your trail of breadcrumbs ended up being liberally doused in nitroglycerine that blew up in my face.”
An unfortunate side effect, Harmon said, and one I am truly remorseful for. I was … worried about you.
“And you didn’t see the nuke coming?” I asked, my teeth already chattering. It was only getting colder the farther I got from land.
No. I would have warned you if I had. I didn’t have a truly solid grasp on Greg’s mind until after that.
“So were you the one responsible for his sudden change of heart?” I asked.
Not entirely, no, Harmon said, a little cagily. He was destroying his own life, and he knew it. He lacked the capacity to change as fully as he might have wanted to. He’s an inflexible fellow. I … helped him to bend a little more than he might otherwise.
“Well, at least you knew enough to stop digging once we were well and truly buried in the hole,” I said. “What about Wexford? Did you send for him?”
No, Harmon said. I’ve never met him before that I recall. Telepaths don’t really have much sway on each others’ minds, unless they grossly outclass each other in terms of power.
“Like Zollers does with you?” I took the opportunity to grind a little salt in that wound while I could.
He’s not that much stronger than me, Harmon said, but he caught me at a time when I was trying to control a great many minds. He was trying to control none. I was overmatched.
“And Friday?” I asked. “Did you know he was my uncle?”
He didn’t know he was your uncle, Harmon said. And no, I didn’t dumpster dive into that brain, I stuck to the surface and teased out only the most applicable secrets while letting you do your—your thang, he sounded really weird saying that—for the rest of them. And just so you don’t doubt … I concur with your assessment of his last confession. What he told you about that castle in Revelen … as near as I can tell, it’s real. And the level of fear that man made him feel …
<
br /> Yeah, I said. I picked up on that. He’d never felt anything like it in his life.
To say the least. Friday, while a great many things … dullard, pitiful fashionista, compulsive liar … he is not an obvious coward.
“Adds another cherry on top when it comes to my reasons to go to Revelen for a little visit, though, doesn’t it?” I asked.
I would not suggest that, Gavrikov said.
You don’t know what’s waiting there, Wolfe said.
“Do any of you?” I asked.
Silence.
“Fine,” I said. “They lost all their US goodies anyway. I can wait until another day to deal with them, I suppose.” My cheeks felt like they were frozen blocks of ice. “I’ve got a flight across the Atlantic anyway. Might as well set down somewhere friendly and just chill for a bit. Relax, maybe. See what Wexford has in mind for me. Kick it old school for a while, take out some dumb, street-level meta criminals.”
Sounds like fun, Wolfe said.
“Yeah,” I said, “it ought to be a ball.”
I looked back as the continent of North America started to fade from my sight, disappearing over the horizon as I flew into the grey skies ahead. I looked back for as long as I could, even though I knew I was looking at Canada, not the USA, because … for my purposes, it was near enough.
Feeling homesick? Harmon asked, gently.
“No,” I said, lying blatantly and daring him to call me on it. I blinked icy tears out of my eyes as I took my last look at the place of my birth.
Not last look, Wolfe said. Just leaving for now.
“I know,” I said, but when I blinked again, more tears rushed down my cheeks, and I looked again, though now all I could see was ocean as far as the horizon stretched.
Something about it felt final to me, in spite of what they’d said.
Like I’d never see home again.
Sienna Nealon Will Return in
Hunters
Out of the Box, Book 15
Coming July 25, 2017!
Amazon.com - http://amzn.to/2pttpHp
.UK - http://amzn.to/2ppwshv
.AU – http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.CA - http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.DE - http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.FR - http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.ES - http://www.amazon.es/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.IT - http://www.amazon.it/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.NL - http://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.IN – http://www.amazon.in/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.JP – http://www.amazon.jp/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.MX – http://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0716CFQ8D
.BR – http://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0716CFQ8D
Author's Note
Thanks for reading! If you want to know immediately when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by CLICKING HERE. I don't sell your information and I only send out emails when I have a new book out. The reason you should sign up for this is because I don't always set release dates, and even if you're following me on Facebook (robertJcrane (Author)) or Twitter (@robertJcrane), it's easy to miss my book announcements because...well, because social media is an imprecise thing.
Come join the discussion on my website: http://www.robertjcrane.com!
Cheers,
Robert J. Crane
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Editorial/Literary Janitorial duties performed by Sarah Barbour and Jeffrey Bryan. Final proofing was once more handled by the illustrious Jo Evans. Any errors you see in the text, however, are the result of me rejecting changes.
The cover was once more designed with exceeding skill by Karri Klawiter of Artbykarri.com.
The formatting was provided by nickbowmanediting.com.
Once more, thanks to my parents, my in-laws, my kids and my wife, for helping me keep things together.
Other Works by Robert J. Crane
World of Sanctuary
Epic Fantasy
Defender: The Sanctuary Series, Volume One
Avenger: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Two
Champion: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Three
Crusader: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Four
Sanctuary Tales, Volume One - A Short Story Collection
Thy Father's Shadow: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 4.5
Master: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Five
Fated in Darkness: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 5.5
Warlord: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Six
Heretic: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Seven
Legend: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Eight
Ghosts of Sanctuary: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Nine* (Coming 2018, at earliest.)
The Girl in the Box
and
Out of the Box
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1
Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2
Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3
Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4
Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5
Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6
Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7
Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8
Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9
Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10
Limitless: Out of the Box, Book 1
In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2
Ruthless: Out of the Box, Book 3
Grounded: Out of the Box, Book 4
Tormented: Out of the Box, Book 5
Vengeful: Out of the Box, Book 6
Sea Change: Out of the Box, Book 7
Painkiller: Out of the Box, Book 8
Masks: Out of the Box, Book 9
Prisoners: Out of the Box, Book 10
Unyielding: Out of the Box, Book 11
Hollow: Out of the Box, Book 12
Toxicity: Out of the Box, Book 13
Small Things: Out of the Box, Book 14
Hunters: Out of the Box, Book 15* (Coming July 2017!)
Badder: Out of the Box, Book 16* (Coming September 2017!)
Southern Watch
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Called: Southern Watch, Book 1
Depths: Southern Watch, Book 2
Corrupted: Southern Watch, Book 3
Unearthed: Southern Watch, Book 4
Legion: Southern Watch, Book 5
Starling: Southern Watch, Book 6* (Coming June 2017 – Tentatively)
The Shattered Dome Series
(with Nicholas J. Ambrose)
Sci-Fi
Voiceless: The Shattered Dome, Book 1
Unspeakable: The Shattered Dome, Book 2* (Coming 2017 – Tentatively)
The Mira Brand Adventures
(with a Co-Author to be named later)
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Mira Brand and the World Beneath: Mira Brand Adventures, Book 1* (Coming April 2017!)
Mira Brand and the Tide of Ages: Mira Brand Adventures, Book 2* (Coming April 2017 - Tentatively)
*Forthcoming, Subject to Change
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
&n
bsp; 42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
Author's Note
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Other Works by Robert J. Crane