The round went to me; Rob sighed, set the bag on the counter, and opened it up. He pulled out two small cases designed for handguns, setting each one down in turn before cracking them open.
As a general rule, weapons fell into two categories: military-grade and recreational use. Hunting rifles, bows, crossbows, and sport guns were permitted to those of the middle and higher castes with special permits. The prohibitive costs of the permits limited the possession of weapons further, and the punishment for carrying any weapon without a license tended to be steep.
When I carried, it was a small gun I could easily conceal. Knives were the weapon of choice within the fringe, since they weren’t restricted. If the government could figure out how to ban people from cooking for themselves, I’m sure they would ban kitchen knives just to put an additional stranglehold on the populace.
The handguns Rob had procured looked old, dating back from the United States prior to the crackdown on gun ownership. I whistled, my eyes widening as I looked over the black steel.
“Beretta M9. They’re old, but they’re functional, accurate, and lethal. Military-grade, and it comes with another present.”
“Ammunition, I presume.” I resisted the urge to take one of the guns out of the case. I’d seen a few Berettas around, although the ones I had handled were more modern, very illegal, and equally lethal. Not even Kenneth owned one, although he smuggled them from time to time. When he got his filthy hands on one, his street-hunting bitches all took turns with them, myself included.
While Kenneth was rich, he wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t rated for military weapons. His personal weapons were even older than the Berettas, antiques the government chose to overlook as part of an eccentric elite’s prized collection.
All of us had learned how to handle those, too.
“I have sufficient ammunition for all of the weapons, but no, that’s not the sort of present I meant. Perhaps this will entice you into allowing me to accompany you.” Rob held out an envelope.
I snatched it out of his hands, opening it to peek inside. A plasticized card waited for me, and with a puzzled frown, I pulled it out. It was a weapons permit, and when I flipped it over, my full name and picture was on the other side. It was the same image that was on my college identification card. “What the hell!”
“Temporary; it’s valid for the next two weeks. I suggested it might be prudent to grant you access to a firearm you could conceal until your kidnapper is found. The police were in agreement and suggested a permit for a Beretta, which is easy to use. I’m to teach you how to fire it so you aren’t a threat to yourself.”
“I’m sure I can figure it out.” I set the card on the counter, and emboldened by the fact I had a permit, however temporary, I grabbed one of the guns and went to work dismantling it. Rob was right; they were old, but someone had taken very good care of them. I reassembled it, grabbed the single magazine in the case, and loaded the weapon. I chambered a round, engaged the safety, and gingerly set it back in the foam.
Rob gawked at me, and with smug satisfaction, I watched him try to gather his wits. I filed his surprise at my familiarity away for later use. “The rifle?” I asked, allowing myself a smile.
The rifle was in a dozen or so pieces in another case, and Rob assembled it with the confidence of someone who had handled guns many times before. When he was finished, the barrel was longer than my arm, and I had a feeling the rounds it fired were designed to take out vehicles rather than people.
“This one’s mine. Even if you had a permit, the only way you’d be able to fire it without breaking your shoulder is with a tripod or mount.” Rob smirked at me, giving the weapon an affectionate pat. “Sometimes there are benefits to being a strong man.”
I believed him; all guns recoiled when fired, and the more power it packed, the harder it kicked. While tempted to prove him wrong, I’d let him keep the rifle.
I valued my teeth, and I didn’t want to eat the recoil of such a ridiculous weapon. “Point that thing at me and I’ll kill you myself. That’s not an assault rifle. It’s a miniature rocket launcher.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. There’s only one dae I intend to hit with this weapon.”
“He’s mine. You’re there as backup,” I reminded him.
“Negotiable.”
“Non-negotiable.”
“Mommy,” Colby complained, oozing its way to the fridge. I had no idea how it managed to get the door open without help, but with a disgruntled huff, it yanked out the entire bag of apples and pulled them to the floor.
They were gone in less than a minute without a single trace. Colby ate the bag, too, which concerned me. “You’re going to get indigestion.”
Could macaroni and cheese suffer from stomach aches? I frowned, once again puzzled by how my roommate ate.
“Mommy.”
“You need more than an apple,” Rob said, dismantling the rifle and returning it to its case. “It’s going to be a rather long evening.”
“Fine. You cook, I’ll make plans.”
“I already made plans.”
“I’m changing your plans,” I informed him, digging through the case until I found the compartment holding the weapon’s shoulder holster. I slipped into it, stowed the gun, and stretched to test my range of movement. “I’m going to need a coat.”
“Already got you one, and I picked it to help conceal your gun and holster,” Rob replied.
“You’re not half as clever as you think you are,” I grumbled, grabbing hold of the duffel and pulling it towards me. I grabbed several extra magazines and stowed them in the holster’s pockets. “Give me Moore’s data so I can plan.”
The way Rob smiled at me sent a shiver running through me, and for one heart-stopping moment, I wanted to drag him back to the bedroom. I blushed, which made his smile widen into a grin. “How badly do you want it?”
I unholstered my Beretta, and in a smooth motion, disengaged the safety and aimed the weapon at his head. “I could use some target practice.”
Rob lifted his hands in surrender. “Back pocket.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, sighed, reengaged the safety, and stowed the gun. I stepped to him, slid my hands under his jacket and went on a hunt for his back pockets. I found several folded sheets of paper, which I liberated from the dae. “If you value your life, you’ll just hand me the papers you owe me without being a pain in my ass next time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good.” I returned the counter, smoothing the sheet out over the marble. Several addresses in neat handwriting awaited me, along with several names and dates. I flipped to the other sheets, which proved to be map printouts of the locations.
One of them was on Gibson Island, and I nodded my satisfaction. “We’ll do this one first. I doubt we’ll find anything, but it won’t take long to check.”
Rob leaned over my shoulder. “Waste of time.”
“No, the real waste of time is leaving stones unturned. If he was smart, he wouldn’t have left his drugs or his money out in plain sight; elite hide things in hidden stashes all the time. They can get away with a lot, but a drug conviction would ruin him. Last thing someone like Terry Moore would want is an eviction to the fringe. Elite are always like that,” I grumbled, and my resentment over the system flared. The elite benefited the most, but unless they were of the highest tier, even they were prey to those above them.
“That’s fair. Okay, we’ll check the estate first. What then?”
I relaxed at Rob’s question, turned over one of the maps, and hummed. “I need a pen.”
Rob opened a drawer, shuffled through, and tossed me a pencil. Catching it, I held it between my teeth while I flipped through the maps to look over the other addresses. Unlike Kenneth, who preferred townhouses or estate properties, Terry Moore seemed to enjoy apartment and condo life. Three of his in-city residences were in skyscrapers in the heart of downtown, with one of them close to the college. According to the dates, Terry had owned the unit for at least
four years.
The most expensive of them, located in the most wealthiest part of Baltimore, had been acquired for his use six months ago, which lined up with when he had bought the drugs from Kenneth. “This one is promising.”
“That one?” Rob frowned, tapping his finger against the listing for the property closest to the college. “That’s his residence.”
I took the pencil out of my mouth and jabbed it at the paper. “And the first place someone like Kenneth would look for him and his stash. It would also be the first place the college administration would conduct a random search of students. If he kept his drug stash there, he’s either really brave or exceptionally stupid. Now, while exceptional stupidity wouldn’t surprise me, if he’s evaded Kenneth, he can’t be that stupid.”
“So why this one? That’s not going to be easy to get into.” Rob frowned, grabbing the map to stare at it. He pulled a cell out of his pocket, turned the scanner at the image, and stared at the display. “It’s fully private, heavily guarded, and I don’t think I have any contacts living there.”
“Maybe you need to use contacts to get in places, but I don’t,” I murmured, flipping over a sheet and making a list of equipment I’d need to bust out of a secure, glass-fronted property. I eyed Rob, frowning as I tried to guess his weight and height. Did muscular dae weigh more than humans? “What’re your numbers?”
“My numbers?” Rob blinked, and his eyebrows rose. “Are you propositioning me, Miss Daegberht?”
“No, I’m trying to figure out how much you weigh so you don’t end up a flattened smear on the sidewalk when you fall from the fortieth story of a skyscraper. Your height and weight will do.”
“One-ninety and five-eleven,” he muttered. “I’d rather be propositioned.”
“Bad luck for you,” I replied, and with a happy whistle, I added enough scaling gear for both of us. “I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”
“Not at all. With contacts, you realize we could walk in through the front door, correct?”
“Oh, we’ll be walking in through the front door,” I reassured him. “If all goes well, we’ll be leaving through it, too. But, a girl always goes prepared. The nice thing about these skyscrapers? The window cleaning systems are all electromagnetic, and you don’t need to use the building’s power to activate them.”
“I’m not sure if I should be worried or not.”
“I’ll be the one with the primary controller,” I murmured, smirking at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall. You might be obnoxious, but you have your uses. You can prove your worth by getting me everything on this list—on your dime. Get it right, and you can carve your share out of Mr. Hasling’s hide.”
“You have a very nasty mouth, Miss Daegberht, and I think I like it.” Rob snatched the list out of my hand and folded it up. “I trust you’ll tell me where to buy these things.”
“Maybe, if I’m feeling nice,” I replied, my attention shifting to which contact I’d send Rob to—and whether or not they had survived the Dawn of Dae.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It annoyed the hell out of me that Terry Moore’s Gibson Island summer home was two driveways away from the one Rob had procured for my recovery. It wasn’t worth driving to, although Rob took fiendish delight in showing off his sporty car. Colby dove out of the vehicle as soon as Rob opened the door, leaving us alone.
The dae leaned towards me, sliding his hand along my neck to pull me towards him. My eyes widened, and he brushed his lips to mine in a teasing caress. “If you promise you won’t push me off a skyscraper tonight, I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” I muttered, opening the door and getting out. “A lot better than that.”
Rob pouted. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
I leaned over so I could glare at him. “Unless you want me to push you off a skyscraper tonight, be quiet and do your job.”
“I’m still not entirely sure what my job here is,” the dae admitted.
It was going to be a long night. I sighed, waited until I could speak without snarling at him, and said, “Look pretty, follow me, and don’t touch anything.”
“Couldn’t you at least say I was handsome? Pretty is so…”
“Effeminate?”
Rob scowled at me, but said nothing.
I headed towards the estate’s front door, shaking my head. Ringing the doorbell, I waited, listening for any noise within. It was silent. I whistled a merry tune, and with Rob shadowing me, I circled the property searching for evidence of an alarm system.
Terry Moore, as I suspected, was an idiot. He wasn’t just an idiot, but he was a cheap one. While someone, once upon a time, had installed a system, the cables had been cut or frayed over the years, and when I found a motion detector, its solar panels were so encrusted with dirt there was no way it could function. Shaking my head, I went to the most secluded window I could find, grabbed a rock, and cracked through the glass with two firm blows.
“That’s noisy,” Rob commented, glancing over his shoulder at the neighboring property.
“Mommy,” Colby added, and without waiting for me to open the window properly, it squished through the hole, shedding noodles as it went. The leftovers wiggled and followed after my roommate, oozing through the jagged hole.
“That’s pretty creepy, Colby,” I muttered.
“Mommy.” It sounded pleased with itself, and I couldn’t really blame it. I’d be pretty pleased, too, if I could hop through a broken window and reform on the other side with no sign of injury.
“Allow me,” Rob said, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeve before shoving his arm through the hole to unlock the window. Once he shoved it open, he brushed aside the broken glass. The shallow cuts on his arm faded while I watched. With wide eyes, I touched his skin. His blood stained my fingers, but none of the wounds remained.
“That’s a handy trick,” I muttered, wiping his blood on my jeans.
“What a waste of good blood,” the dae complained, scowling at me.
Snorting, I slapped my hands to the windowsill, eased my way through, and rolled onto the hardwood floor. I came to a halt in a crouch, narrowing my eyes as I took in the residence.
The place was empty; no furniture, rugs, wallhangings, nor keepsakes were present to show any sign of the estate’s owner. “That’s not normal.”
“Explains why there isn’t an alarm system attached,” Rob commented as he eased his way into the house. “Why waste money protecting an empty building?”
“Why pay for a summer house you’re not using?”
“That, Miss Daegberht, is the real question.”
Rising to my feet, I tapped at the floor, listening to the way my foot thumped against the hardwood. I prowled the entire room, aware of Rob’s gaze on me.
“What are you doing?”
“Compartments under the floor make a different sound. Sometimes the wood is thicker. Sometimes it’s thinner. Sometimes there’s metal. Depends on how it’s built, but listening is a good way to find things people don’t want you to find.”
“Mommy!” Colby charged off down a hallway, disappearing before I had a chance to stop my overenthusiastic roommate.
“I’ll go keep watch,” Rob offered, draping his jacket over his shoulder and shoving his hands into his pockets.
Once both dae were out of sight, I sighed my relief. Working alone was so much easier. With them gone, I focused on my job, which was finding everything Terry Moore wanted to keep hidden. When I found nothing in the floors, I turned my attention to the walls. Brick offered clever homeowners a lot of opportunities to create hiding holes. I ran my hands over the rough surface, seeking loose bricks or gaps lacking mortar.
I found two promising spots, and I huffed my triumph when one of the bricks popped out of the wall to reveal a small hole. It wasn’t large enough for Kenneth’s missing drugs, to my disappointment.
It looked empty, but I ran my fingers over th
e inside, I sucked in a breath when I found something taped to the top of the cache. Peeling it off, I discovered a small velvet bag. I stuffed it into my bra for safekeeping and closed the hole. I did another check over the room before heading deeper into the house.
Rob and Colby found me when I was searching my fourth room. Neither seemed pleased.
“What’s the point in this?” Rob demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. “This place is empty.”
“Mommy,” Colby agreed.
Chuckling at the two amateurs, I pointed at the loose brick I had found on my first pass. Rob’s brow furrowed, and he leaned forward to check the spot. “This is a brick, Miss Daegberht.”
There was something satisfying about yanking the brick out and whacking the infuriating man upside the head. I didn’t use much force, just enough to make him aware of the rough material touching him. “If I had wanted to kill you, I could have, and you wouldn’t have been able to stop me,” I informed him.
Colby flattened itself to the floor. With a dumbstruck expression, Rob stared at me, his mouth hanging open. I returned the brick to its place and headed for the next room. I halted in the doorway, turning to face Rob. “You’re going to catch flies like that if you aren’t careful.”
I left Terry Moore’s estate with a small fortune in ancient United States currency, all issued before the establishment of the caste system. While Rob and Colby seemed puzzled by my delight in the find, I knew what I had—and how much someone would pay for a piece of American history.
It was tempting to keep the bills for myself. Some of them were over a hundred years old, and they showed little sign of damage from their stay in a dusty wooden box. I also found two other pouches similar to the first, which were all stashed in my bra for further examination.
“For finding nothing of actual use, you seem quite happy with that box,” Rob stated, sliding into the car. “It’s old money.”
“Worst case, I can use it to appease Kenneth,” I informed him, buckling in. “If he’s patient, he can probably recover most of his lost funds by selling it.”
The Dawn of Dae (Dae Portals Book 1) Page 24