by Tom Larcombe
“You see, Charles and I have been active for a long time. When we take out a group we don't want to leave the weapons for someone else to find. I've destroyed a lot of junkier weapons, but I just don't have it in me to destroy the better ones.”
“That explain that other wall also?” Amber said, gesturing to another wall that was filled with knives, swords, and other weapons.
He shrugged.
“Guilty as charged. They're beautiful though, aren't they?”
Amber shook her head in wonder, gesturing towards a third wall.
“Ammo cases?”
“Filled ammo cases. I like to pick up a couple of thousand rounds for any of the guns I keep. They're beautiful, but they're also functional. I've used a few of them from time to time.”
She opened her mouth, about to ask when and why.
“No, don't ask. I won't tell you since you're better off not knowing. Even Charles doesn't know about some of those times. Some situations require a response that is quick and brutal. I don't tell Charles about those since that isn't a style he can adapt to. I just take care of the problem, maybe with another friend or two, but sometimes alone. And that's all you get to know about it.”
“Uhhh... okay?” she said, looking at Greg in a new light.
And I used to think he was a coward? Looks like he's running a con, pretending to be a peaceful coward in his life when he's really a lot more than that. He sure fooled me!
“So, did you want something concealable or full-sized?” Greg asked again.
Wait, he's going to give me a gun? Just because I told him I was going to try to get one?
“Can I look?” she asked.
“Sure, just don't pick them up without asking.”
Amber walked over to the wall and started looking. When she saw the swastika on the handle of one of the pistols, she turned to Greg with an inquiring look.
“Far as I know, that one's an original. It's old enough anyhow and it has the precision inner workings I associate with German craftsmanship. It's a sweet piece.”
She knew there had to be a story behind that.
“But where did you get it?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“You don't get to know, at least not yet. Maybe one day I'll think you're ready to hear some of my stories, but not yet.”
Amber turned back to the wall of weapons and pointed to something she thought was a nine millimeter pistol similar to the one she'd fired before.
“Can I try that one?” she asked.
Greg nodded and reached out to pull the gun down. He racked the slide to make sure it was clear then dropped the magazine out into his hand.
“Here you go,” he said, handing it to her. “That's a more recent weapon. Maybe about ten years old. It's a Ruger nine millimeter, they're pretty dependable if a bit on the heavy side.”
“It looks a lot like the one I shot before when I was learning about them.”
“Probably a different model Ruger then, they're pretty popular and they've made a lot of different nine millimeter models, most of them are fairly similar though. So it makes sense that this one might remind you of that one if it was a Ruger also.”
Amber racked the slide herself, checking to see if it was loaded and eliciting a grin from Greg. Then she lifted the gun with both hands and sighted on the far wall.
“I'm glad to see you checked for a round in the chamber yourself,” Greg said. “I was going to quiz you on gun safety, probably still will, but seeing you do that made me a bit more comfortable with my decision.”
“Your decision?”
“Yeah, to give you a gun. I agree that that old revolver is way too big and heavy for you, it's hard to control a gun like that. So since you insist on using one, I was willing to find something that was a better fit for you. There are several conditions though.”
Amber raised an eyebrow as she turned back to him, careful to point the gun at the floor first.
“Oh? Like what?”
“First, I'll quiz you on gun safety. Once you pass that, you'll go to a range with me and I'll see how you shoot, maybe give you a few tips. Finally, I want you to let me know when you have the gun with you, at least when we're together. It's nice to know if I can call on some armed backup. Charles won't take a gun, I've tried.”
“Why not?”
“I don't know, he's given me about twenty different reasons, but I don't think he's ever told me the real one.”
She shook hear head.
“That's just... I don't want to say it, but that's just dumb. I'd think you'd want every advantage you can when you're in a situation like we were recently.”
“I agree, but it's not like I can force him to carry a piece. He's solid though, I'll give him that. Even when the other guys have guns I've never seen him back down once the shit has hit the fan.”
“Okay, so you're just giving me this?” Amber said, pointing to the pistol.
Greg held out his hand and she returned the pistol with a sigh.
“Yes, I am. But not at this moment. Once you pass my quiz and I take you to the range, it's all yours, plus a couple hundred rounds of defensive ammunition.”
“Defensive ammunition?” she asked.
“Hollow points, as opposed to full metal jacket?” Greg replied
“Um, you've got me this time,” she admitted.
“There's different types of ammunition. FMJ, which is full metal jacket, is mainly for target shooting, but hollow points are for when you're using the pistol for real. They've got more stopping power to them and you don't have to worry about the bullet passing through whatever you shoot and bouncing around after.”
“Okay, so maybe I do have a little to learn about guns still.”
“Stick with me kid, nothing an hour or two of discussion can't clear up and like I said, I like having someone else on my side with a gun. I didn't bring one last time because I thought we were just scouting things out, I didn't realize we were going to get caught in a fight. Silly me, I never used to think that way, and I won't in the future. If there's a chance we'll be in a fight, I'll have a gun with me.”
He led her back up the stairs after replacing the gun on the wall. Then, after opening the store up again, he sat her down near the cash register and started talking.
I'm not gonna remember half the stuff he's telling me, Amber thought. So I'd better try to figure out what the important parts are and remember those.
An hour or so into their talk, the phone rang.
“Second Chance Books, Greg speaking.”
After a pause.
“Oh yeah, I do. She's here with me Charles. She said she went back to check on some friends in the building and found that it'd been raided by the police. First time ever according to her. That tell you anything?”
“Will do, I close in another twenty minutes so how about I walk her home after that?” Greg said.
“See you in a bit.”
Greg hung up the phone.
“Charles was a bit worried that you'd disappeared. He said that you said you'd be in your apartment and was worried when he didn't find you there.”
“I said I'd go back to my apartment and try to figure out something to do. Once I figured it out, I did it.”
Greg grinned.
“Charles can be a bit of a mother hen, can't he?”
Amber nodded.
“Not that it's a horrible thing, most of the time, but not only am I an adult, I even look like one now. So he'll have to get used to the idea that I don't need to babied and watched over.”
“Good luck with that,” Greg said. “Although he should have some rights as your teacher and mentor.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Well, let me close down here and we'll get you home. And as an added bonus,” he said with a smile, “I won't have to cook my own dinner tonight.”
Amber kept her eyes open on the walk home. She'd given some thought to what Greg had said about someone maybe watching her and the idea
creeped her out. Despite looking she didn't notice anyone watching her. It didn't feel like anyone was either, but she was still on edge.
When they got back Charles served dinner. Throughout the meal he and Greg speculated about what had happened to the building. Ted had an occasional comment to add, but mostly kept quiet.
“I really don't see how anyone could be watching her,” Charles said. “I think one of us would've noticed.”
“Then that leaves the less savory option,” Greg replied. “That the police and a lot of the utilities and the like have people subverted at their upper levels.”
“It might not be the upper levels for the utilities or anyone else, but I agree that it would need to be someone high in the police department to get that ignored for so long.”
“He has many important people that he's gotten his claws into,” Ted said. “I don't know the names but I heard him talking about his influence in the city.”
“Maybe a politician giving the police their orders,” Greg added.
“Don't make it any worse than it has to be,” Charles said.
“Why would that make it worse?” Greg said. “We'd finally get to nail a politician. I've always wanted to do that.”
“Greg!” Charles said, “What's gotten into you? I thought you agreed to be a little more peaceful around Amber.”
“She knew me before. Besides that, she's the one that took a gun to the last magic fight. That's my kind of attitude and you know it.”
“And I'll add that I'm very glad she did,” Ted interjected. “I was exhausted and about to collapse.”
Charles shook his head.
“Don't encourage her,” he said.
Greg looked at Amber, then Ted, and the three of them broke into laughter. Charles just let his head sag into his hands which made the others laugh even harder.
* * *
* * *
Chapter 19
Ted was talking about what he could remember again. As he regained his health he'd been remembering back further and further.
I know that's got to be painful for him since he just tried to forget all the years he'd been there, Charles thought, but we've already gotten a few nuggets of information from him that we wouldn't have found otherwise.
“There was this one time he came in pissed off and complaining,” Ted said. “It was about five or six years ago. The Earth Wizard we had at the time had claimed that he'd found a better way to put the hooks into the conservation spell, but he was wrong. The master... and I've got to stop calling them that, how about I call him the asshole?”
Charles glared at him. Ted had already found out Charles' opinion on cussing so he just sighed.
“Okay, how about the jerk?”
Charles nodded.
“The jerk just offed the Earth Wizard, just like that, you know? Then he was muttering under his breath about how he'd just wasted an hour to get down to the factory and another one to get back. So, assuming the jerk lives at this other factory, or in that area, it's about an hour away. And I already mentioned it was to the north, right?”
“Yes,” Charles said. “You'd said it was north of the city before. So it's about an hour drive?”
“That's what he was muttering about. So roughly an hour-long drive to the north.”
Charles booted up his laptop and pulled up a mapping program. He picked out the towns to the north and started inputting them as driving destinations with the factory's address in the city as the starting point. Any that were between fifty and seventy minutes, he made a note of.
Switching to another mapping program that allowed him to make notes and color in areas, he started shading in the possible areas that were an hour drive north of the city. A couple of hours later, he was done.
Ted had been watching over his shoulder as he worked.
“That's an awful lot of ground to cover,” he said.
“It's a lot less than it was before. Thank you for talking to me. I know it's painful to pull up those memories.”
“It'd be more painful to know that the jerk was going to keep getting away with all of this.”
“What is he doing anyhow?” Charles asked.
“You mean you don't know? I thought I told you that already. He wants to be the ruler of all the wizards in the country. He's got compulsions that defy belief and I don't know how he managed to get them. Some of the things he does are so complex and powerful that the Fire Magic equivalent would have to be duplicating a nuclear bomb or something like that.”
“I got the ruler part, but my question was more along the lines of how does he plan to do it? He'll never get those crystals to every wizard in the country.”
“Yeah, but think of what he's doing already. Now add in the powers of everyone who does get one of those crystals. When he sinks those hooks in, he'll be able to draw power from any of them. If he focuses on any one wizard in particular he'll be able to control them completely, without them even being aware of it. Think of the havoc he can create and how many wizards he'll kill because they didn't get those crystals and aren't willing to acknowledge him as ruler.”
“So he's going to declare war on those of us who don't acknowledge him?”
“He never said it in that many words, but you've said he has extraordinarily influence over this city. What's the population here, a quarter million or more? If he's not satisfied with that, you can be sure he's going to keep going after more.”
I wish I knew how to handle this better. It's crazy to think of taking on someone this powerful with just our small group. But I can't trust anyone else. I'm worried that I tipped the guy off by clearing out all his crystals from their sellers. I'm sure he can tell when someone uses one, and the ones we acquired were all destroyed and never used.
“Well, not if we can help it,” Charles said.
The door swung open and Greg and Amber came in. She was all smiles when she walked in, but when she looked at Ted, the smile grew larger.
“You look like you're almost better finally,” she said.
“I'm feeling a lot better than I was.”
He glanced down at his body.
“I've still got a lot of physical recovery to go though. I'm down about thirty pounds from my old weight still. It'll take a lot of exercise to put all that back on.”
Amber glanced at him appraisingly.
“I'm assuming you aren't talking about plumping up with junk food?”
“No, I'll need to find someplace to work out to get back to where I used to be,” Ted replied.
“Sorry, I can't help you with that one,” Charles said.
“You've done enough for me already, I wouldn't accept any more even if you offered,” Ted said.
“Well, I'm going to offer more anyhow. I've got a one bedroom apartment that came available recently. I'm not offering it for free, mind you, I'll charge you normal rent. But I'll give you three months before you have to start paying me anything for it and you can slowly pay the back rent for those three months over time. At least if you're planning on staying in the city that is.”
Ted looked at him for a moment.
“Can I get back to you on that in a few days?” he asked. “I haven't started making any plans yet, at least not anything solid.”
“I'll give you a couple of weeks. I haven't had anyone else asking about it, so that's not a problem,” Charles said.
He turned to Greg and Amber.
“Please tell me you've found anything else out from that paperwork.”
“I'm about finished decoding it, but the only other thing I found that might be useful is the name of a small store. The papers said they needed to augment a supply run that was a little short and the store's name was listed along with a receipt for the amount spent there.”
“And?” Charles said.
“I looked up the name of the place online. It's in a little town about fifty miles to the northeast of here.”
Charles eyes flashed. He stalked over to his computer and pulled up the map he'd
created earlier.
“Is the town on this map? Check the shaded areas first.”
“Yeah, right there,” Greg said, moving the cursor so it rested on a shaded section.
“Bingo,” Charles said. “Now we know where to start looking.”
* * *
Three days of research allowed them to discover quite a bit.
“This area here,” Charles said, highlighting it on his computer, “it's a small bedroom community, but from what I can tell, no-one there actually works in the nearby city. The entire community commutes to this factory right outside the community.”
The small grouping of five buildings included one larger one that looked like a warehouse or factory, and four smaller ones. One of the smaller ones appeared to be a home, while the other three were offices.
“The company that owns these five buildings also owns the entire bedroom community, renting it all out. As best as I can tell, every last person in that community either works at the factory, in one of the stores between the community and the factory, or not at all. The stores aren't normal chains either, they've unique names and signs that say 'Members only'. But get this, the one company that owns it all? That company claims it's doing research into exotic energy sources, but has been in existence for over fifty years and has zero patents to its name.”
“Sounds like what we're looking for, except for one thing,” Greg said. “Weren't we theorizing that they were all prisoners? That doesn't look like a very secure prison.”
“We don't know what things are like there. That's just the information I got from online plus a single drive through the area,” Charles said. “But with what Ted's told me, I'm leaning towards them not being in a physical prison, but the prison being their own minds.”
“Wait, so they think they're free even though they're all trapped there?” Amber asked.
“Think about it,” Charles said, “how could you make a more secure prison. If you control people's minds, you can tell them what to think. Even hypnotists can give post-hypnotic suggestions, so imagine what kind of suggestions a truly powerful Spirit Wizard could give. Plus, if they all work in his buildings, he can be constantly reinforcing those suggestions. He could even be treating it like programming a computer and programming their minds. Brainwashing exists without magic, imagine what he can be doing with it.”