Other Places 1: Shortcuts

by P. S. Power

  "No, thanks. I let her in and helped hide the body so that she wouldn't have to kill anyone to cover it up. I have to admit that Baconni wasn't exactly grateful about it all, but he still doesn't deserve to die over it. Not yet. Nikki should at least try to get that settled first, you know? Maybe take him to dinner and try explaining again. Sleep with him until he forgets the other stuff... He won't get it, not really, but if he thinks she's insane enough, he'll probably let it all go. I know that almost always works for me."

  Lenore smiled again and asked how he liked the new dish.

  "It's pretty good. Not up to the standards of the things from the other day somehow..." He realized that he was being rude, but the girl gestured at it with a dismissive air.

  "I'm trying out prepackaged baked goods. They don't smell as fresh, but I wasn't certain if humans could tell the difference or not. Back to the drawing board on that one then. I'll see if I can find a bakery that delivers or something. Not that we need that much, since most days I don't have any customers in the early part of the day. Still, the busy season is here, so I want to be ready. I see that you're doing the same, which I can't help but like. No one comes down to this end of the mall without a reason. Most of the shops are on the upper level or the other side."

  Then without moving at all, her face became very sly. It was a subtle thing, but one that he couldn't help but miss. It was a powerful enough thing that he stopped with the long handled plastic spoon in his mouth.

  "So... Edom mentioned that you... took Mr. Jameson through the node here and then picked him back up from ours when it was safe? That's impressive. Very much so. What do you normally charge for such services?"

  That was strange enough that Zack nearly laughed, but after a few seconds he shrugged, holding his face still.

  "What do you normally pay for such things?" When in doubt, toss the question back. His grandfather had taught him that.

  The woman twisted her hair and took a deeper breath than normal, as if trying to buy time.

  "For something like this? Normally we wouldn't have bargained for it at all. Nikki didn't even realize what you'd done at first, even after you went back through the node to get her package. At least she didn't understand what it might be worth. Edom has more experience however, and informed her what it really means. How much debt she incurred. It's done now though. I suggest we barter, if possible, since passing around great sums of cash can draw attention."

  Mirror Him chortled from a ways away, in the glass of the front counter. The inside of that needed a display too. It had a false back to it, but it was kind of boring looking. Just white and silver.

  "I know, tell her that she can do you in the back room. Vampires can get it on, right?"

  Zack studiously ignored the voice and smiled at Lenore, noticing that she was pretty cute, for a killer from way back.

  "Let's call this one free, since we're such good friends. The node part. I still expect cash for the candles. Those are back here, so you know, you guys get them, after you pay."

  That seemed reasonable to him, but Lenore looked almost like he'd just offered to open a vein for her.

  That couldn't be a good thing.

  Chapter five

  The morning was spent re-cleaning everything, even though it was edging toward as clean as it was going to get. It took all of five minutes to straighten most of the store for instance, since no one had shifted anything. He played with the new display table for a while, and finally, at about ten-thirty, had to admit that he was pretty much just wasting time. The store looked fine, true, but it lacked any holiday spirit and he really needed some props to make that work. Some other ones.

  Garlands and gold stars, that kind of thing.

  At ten after eleven, just as he was about to try and re-mop again, a man walked in, wearing a well worn, but nice, dark blue suit, along with a red and black striped tie. His hair was a little thin on top, made worse by being blond, but his face looked about thirty-five or so. Just inside the door he stopped and stared at the room carefully, his eyes un-focusing after a few seconds, searching the whole place again, clearly using Mage sight.

  "Very nice. It's all real too, not just an illusion." He turned and walked to Zack, his hand reaching over the glass top of the counter. "Bob Millhouse. We spoke on the phone the other day? The Hiram Stone matter?"

  It took a few seconds to make all the information click together, since he didn't care about it at all.

  "Right. How's Evelyn doing?" He thought he had the name right, the man smiled, but it looked a little sad.

  "She's doing as well as can be expected. Pancreatic cancer. It's not something that either magic or science has conquered yet. We're doing what we can. Thank you for asking." He waited a beat and picked up the introductions again. "You said your name is Zack? Hartley wasn't it?"

  He smiled and nodded, wondering if Hiram had managed to pitch a big enough fit to have him fired or something, but that wasn't the case he realized. Indeed, the man had totally different news.

  "We have some high ranking officials coming in later today, so I just came to make sure everything was in order. It's not an audit or anything like that, just business. I don't think our storefront has ever looked better. I was almost convinced that it was an actual store for a moment." The man kept talking his eyes looking around the room a little more.

  "So, the guild head is coming, with several of her officers. A state visit of sorts. Can you help me set that up? It's a bit short notice, but we should try to have our best foot forward. Something special, some food and drink ready perhaps? A small bar in the back? Whatever you can think of. We can spend a little on it if we have to. A few thousand." He sounded distracted, but sincere enough. "I'm supposed to pick them up in an hour, from the airport. This was on the way, so I thought I'd stop by and chat with Lisa about it. Is she in? I know that she's been working almost nonstop on the Rebecca Soars situation."

  Not knowing anything about that Zack shook his head, just a little.

  "She should be in around noon or so, I think. I can tell her that you came in and what to expect. What time will people be here? I guess I can try to have something ready."

  How he was supposed to do that he had not real clue, but he could manage something. Maybe. Some chips and dip?

  The man nodded, as if Lisa not being there was pretty normal. "That sounds fine, they won't be in for a little over an hour, as I said, figure half an hour to get back here, longer if they have checked bags. So, let's call it between two and three in the afternoon?"

  Then, without waiting to see if Zack was going to freak or not, the man left.

  For a half second he just stood, baffled, but Mirror Him started laughing, as if it was hilarious or something.

  "No big thing, Zacko. Call the food court and get that guy Conrad to throw something together. I'm betting you won't be disappointed. Then get with your new boyfriend Edom and see if he might be able to set up a bar in the back here. He runs a freaking nightclub. He'd probably pay you just to put people in the room to listen. Then when drug girl comes in, if she does, you can use the node in the back to step over to the craft store and do your little pretty-pretty thing that you love so much."

  Inside the insults there was actually a plan, so Zack decided to ignore the negative parts and go with the rest, as fast as he could. Food first.

  That was actually remarkably easy. He called it in, and a very kind sounding woman asked what he wanted, and when he froze not knowing what to say, she provided some suggestions of things that they could have ready. Crab puffs and caviar. Pâté and half a dozen other things he didn't recognize, but that he suspected were both very nice, and gross, at the same time. She promised that it would be there by two, and she could arrange for some tables and chairs to be brought in as well.

  Lenore chuckled and waved at him through the window when he called over, her voice friendly and conversational, with very little accent.

  "I already took the liberty of contacting Edom and he's
on his way as we speak, along with a bartender. A human. I didn't catch the name. Most of our employees are too young to be awake at this time of day. He said to expect him personally however."

  "Oh, thanks! I had this dropped on me and don't have a clue what to do. Hopefully this will all be enough. Especially since the closest I ever came to a real party like this was my twelfth birthday. No one came. The hazard of home schooling."

  The Vampire chuckled sweetly as if that had been a joke and hung up without saying goodbye. She waved a little though and then got to work, cleaning the already sparkling place.

  The tables and chairs came first, a stern looking man that looked Middle Eastern rolling in a large cart with two stacks of white metal chairs and two big stacked tables. He unloaded them in the back and returned with three small round tables as well. Zack had to arrange them all, but there were white table cloths for everything which looked pretty sharp. The man didn't speak, but he did smile and give a small bow when he was thanked.

  At one-thirty Lisa came through the door, looking panicked and almost running. She didn't look around or anything, just heading to the back at a jog, fighting for her keys. After a few seconds she walked back out.

  "Zack? You got tables?"

  "Right. Food too. We have that coming in half an hour. The Vampire's are bringing in a small bar for us, and a bartender. Edom is doing that. You know him?" It was possible she didn't but Lisa nodded, eyes a little wide. "The people are due between two and three. If you're here for a bit I need to use the node to head over to the craft store."

  That got a smile and a nod, "sure, I can hold down the fort here. This is really great. More than I was planning. Anyway, go, I've got this."

  He grabbed his jacket and then spent a minute finding the right place, going to the Michael's. It was actually about a block away from the building, closer to the Pizza Hut, but close enough for him to get there in a few minutes. He stepped through, then looked back and realized he'd have to return the hard way. This rift didn't link to the node directly. Some did, some didn't, it seemed. It still wouldn't take him long, he didn't think.

  He had an idea of what kind of thing he wanted, so that part went fast, and Lisa had given him way more than enough money, so he could pay for it all without worry. The down side was how heavy everything was. Zack had to set it down a couple of times and rest on the way back, even though it wasn't that far. It was a slightly odd route, going from the rift near Michael's to one in Seattle, in the back of an alley, which was near one he could use to get into his backyard. From there he used his normal path and got everything to the mall about three minutes later. He noticed Edom's cream colored car in the lot already.

  He wouldn't have time to put it all out, of course, since it was already well after two when he got back, but no one had come in yet. He risked getting caught working and started to set up the little display he wanted on the covered boxes. It wasn't all of it, because he had a little train set too, but the little village theme looked nice enough to start with. It was colorful. He just got the boxes hidden behind the checkout counter when the group of five people came in.

  Bob he recognized from earlier, but the others were new, except for an one lady that was a friend of his grandparents. Enough that she'd often came around for various holidays with her husband, before they'd divorced, about seven years before.

  Not waiting to be introduced he moved around the counter, just as Lisa came out, her face looking fresh and clean, thanks to make-up. Bob smiled at them both and waved toward them so that everyone would know who he was talking about.

  "This is our sub-director for the area, Lisa Weise and her lieutenant, Zack Hartley." One of the older men, who looked about the same age Lisa did, walked over to her, a slightly cold smile on his face.

  "Lisa. Your mother and I haven't heard from you for a while, I trust everything is well? Other than this current crises I mean, of course." A few slightly hard looks later he turned on Zack and settled on a firm hand shake. "Eric Weise. I'm the legal counsel for the guild. Nice to meet you."

  "Nice to meet you too." The funny thing there was that he wasn't totally certain of that after the words left his mouth. Luckily they'd gotten out before he realized that.

  The man looked like a lawyer and smelled of too much cologne, but that wasn't what was turning him off. It was that he kept ignoring his daughter. If he wanted to understand why she wasn't calling to chat, he didn't need to do more than look in a mirror. Everything about him radiated shame for his little girl.

  Without missing a beat Maddy stepped forward and hugged him. She always had when they'd met, and for all that he thought of her as "old" she didn't look it at all. From what he'd heard she spent most of her time doing protective and healing magic. She was at least eighty and looked young enough for him to ask out on a date. It gave him an odd perceptual overlay, holding the two ideas at once.

  "Zack! I wasn't expecting to see you here. How have you been? Well, busy, I imagine, given the current situation. Are you willing to help us with this? I know that it might be a sensitive area for you..." It sounded like it was half in code, because it was.

  He figured out what she meant though. This issue would be about Rebecca Soars, and it would be sensitive for him, because she was a kid? She had to be. He'd been taken as a child and everyone just assumed that meant he was a basket case on that issue. Maddy was also asking if he could use the node, like he did other shortcuts. It wasn't what she said, but how she didn't say anything else on the topic that clued him in.

  "Yeah. I mean, if I can. Of course. I kind of have a narrow range of things I can do." He shrugged. She probably wouldn't get it all, but she knew enough to just ask if she really wanted to know. She'd been around him more than enough to know he couldn't lie after all. Everyone else was just staring at them, baffled.

  "Does it work like Brad and Lynn thought it would?" She sounded like she was being cryptic which got everyone to act like it was a big deal. It was all just about his shortcuts though. His grandparents had thought that he could walk the nodes without making a big deal out of it. He could.

  "About like that. I think they thought it would be harder than it is. I can only do it with what I can carry, so it's not as useful as all that. I've been thinking that I might get a gym membership, bulk up a little. I mean now that I have food and all that."

  No one asked what they were talking about and Maddy Morse took Lisa's hand like an old pro, smiling at her warmly. They exchanged a few words and she gestured toward the back, where everything was set up. Not knowing what else to do exactly, he followed along, figuring that he could watch the front after a few minutes, so that he wouldn't be in the way. He was kind of hungry though, so he wanted to get in on some of the snacks, since it felt wrong to bug the food court people twice in one day. What they'd set up was incredible. It looked like they'd hired a team of professional caterer's and given them weeks to get it ready. Edom and Troy stood behind the table they'd set up as a bar, both men dressed in white shirts with black bow-ties, looking sharp. The big difference there was that Troy smiled when he noticed him.

  "Zack! Hey, I got a call for an extra gig. I hear that we each get two hundred for this?" He grinned, but Lisa heard him and walked over, her black dress looking a little loose in places, thanks to the drugs no doubt. She smiled at him and stuck out her hand.

  "Thank you both so much for arranging this on short notice. Just stop by my office there on the way out for that payment." She looked over at Zack and smiled. "So, who don't you know? My counterpart from the Vampire section, the head of the guild, and the bartender too? I had no idea you were so well connected." Patting his arm with a small smile she wondered off then.

  Troy pretended not to hear the funny titles, but he was used to doing that kind of thing. No one seemed to really need Zack, so he got a plate of food and took it, along with a Shirley Temple that Troy made for him without asking, with lots of ice, and headed back to the front. It didn't take long to eat, so he start
ed hanging the decorations. About an hour into that a rather worried pair of women came in.

  "Excuse me, I'm Erin Soars. This is my partner, Ginny Mossberg... We were told that we might find Lisa Weise here?" There was a worn look to the woman, and her friend seemed to be nearly as dragging, as if neither of them had slept for days.

  "In the back. I'll take you. The guild council is here, if that means anything to you. Some of them at least. Maddy Morse came and a few others. About Rebecca. No one has told me anything about that, but Maddy asked for my help. Can you get me up to speed on it?" Not that a store clerk really needed to know, but it was obvious that these people didn't have much of a clue as to what they needed to do, if people who knew him at all were asking for help.

  Mirror Him seconded that one.

  "Right in one kid. What the hell is the old bag thinking? She knows for a fact that you and reality rarely mix. Hello straw, your name must be Zack." In the shine from the counter the image made little grasping motions, as if he wouldn't get the reference.

  It was the dark skinned woman that spoke, Ginny, her voice so rough it sounded a bit like she'd been screaming for hours.

  "Erin's ex-husband, Rick, he took Rebecca five days ago. Took her out of state. We don't know where, but he... is not a good man. A Satanist and blood Mage. He and his group of wacko's are trying to summon a demon and have been for years. We think that he'd planning to sacrifice his daughter... It's worse than that. If we have it right..." She looked at Erin and a look passed between them. "Go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."

  The black woman in the deep blue long coat waited for her lover to hit the door before going on.

  "If we have it right, he intends to have her raped by all the men in his group, then they plan to kill... and eat her. We're not certain that the order is right however." There was a dead quality to her voice when she said it.

  Mirror Him responded first, real anger there for once, not just sarcasm or bluster.