by A. J. Mayall
Emma held the knife behind her, letting Caroline stay in her shadow. “Joel, you’re sick.”
“Of course I’m sick. I’ve been stuck in this fucking room with you for what? How long do you think it’s been? My guess is about a month. No one came a-lookin’ for us, Emma Emma Emma. Only person who knows where we are is just up there a-listenin’ and feeding us and watering us.”
He giggled, before breaking into a tearful howl of anguish. Thrashing against the wall commenced afterwards.
“You can’t stay awake forever…sooner or later you’ll both be too tired to keep me away from my ticket out of here.”
Emma stamped her foot to the ground. “There is no proof that we’re supposed to kill each other in here!”
“Caroline was right! Three dead bodies. They need three new dead bodies.”
Todd looked over to Emma, who whispered faintly. “I’m sorry about the handcuffs…”
Suzette DiMarco looked to her grandmother. With Jack gone, they needed to discuss what to do next.
“Listen, if Jack is out there, he’s going to need someone to keep an eye on him.”
“I thought you were waiting for a sign from Phoenix.”
“Jack storming off was the sign,” Suzette replied, nonplussed.
“Very funny, Suzette. I mean from Phoenix.”
“I’m not joking. He pulled me aside when Jack was out of the room. Pack mentality is a strong thing. Phoenix said as a last ditch, we could rely on Jack’s pack bonding.”
“You put that poor boy through hell, grooming him up to be your signal flare?”
“Yup.”
“That’s my girl.”
She called for the elevator and turned to hug her grandmother. “Okay, game face. How do I look?”
“Most likely like I did when I followed Sebastian Gerard: a force beyond reckoning. Give them hell, and don’t you let up. Do me proud, sweetie.”
She crossed the threshold of the elevator and held her hand out, briefly holding the thin skin and strong grip of her grandmother, who simply nodded as the door closed. Once downstairs, she headed through the employee areas toward her scooter. The buzz from her phone irritated her, but it was to be expected from leaving an area that out of sync with local reality.
She pulled up the seat of her scooter, finding her spare arsenal waiting for her. Pepper spray, a few sonic grenades she picked up cheap from the local surplus store, smoke bombs and of course, The Boys. She wasn’t sure how much of them would be needed, but it’s always better to go with as much as needed, especially when dealing with The Bastard. She learned that lesson the hard way two years ago.
It came flooding back to her as she drove off to her apartment. She knew she might need a bit of body armor for what was coming up, and she wanted to make sure Angelique was safe in the event things came back to her doorstep.
She made it in record time, throwing open the door and finding her younger sister on the couch, drinking soda from a two liter bottle.
“Angel, I need you gone, and I need you gone twenty minutes ago.”
“Jack coming over?”
“This is serious.”
Angelique knew that voice as the rushed deadpan, when her sister’s need to be a bitch conflicted with her need to ensure things weren’t going to hell in a handbasket. She was upright in a moment, screwing the lid back on.
“What’s going on? Can I help?” Angelique looked at her older sister, imploringly.
“Phoenix is in a lot of trouble. If you don’t hear from me within the next three hours, I need you to take this key,” she said, pulling the brass key from her pocket and tossing it to her younger sister. “Go to Grandma’s hotel and put this in the service slot.”
She nodded and backed away, scared of the suddenness of the whole thing.
“What are you doing, Suze?”
“Saving Phoenix’s sorry ass.” She shook her hair out and pulled it back into a tight bun. Soon, she donned arm and leg guards, finished with the bulletproof vest she had invested in after dealing with Empty.
“Suzette, why don’t we just call the cops?”
“I’m sure Jack’s on the scene. God damn, Phoenix. Now I gotta go and deal with him myself.”
“Which one?”
Suzette paused and gave her sister an incredulous look, and then ruffled her hair. “Go. Get outta here; bad guys might be coming in the next few hours.” She reached around for her phone, to check the time and realized she had messages waiting for her.
“Son of a bitch. Okay, gotta go! You too.”
Suzette grabbed Angelique by the wrist and pulled her out the front door and out to the parking lot. “Call a cab.” She fished a few twenty dollar bills from her billfold and passed them over. “Go to a cafe or something, three hours from now if I don’t call, you go to the hotel. Not a second before.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you use that key, I want it to be after I’m dead so I don’t have to deal with Grandma being pissed I gave it to you.”
Guess Levicia examined the computer setup, then checked the latest messages on her phone. With an operation like this, sticking to a plan was paramount. She turned it off and pocketed it as she plugged thumb drives into the computers. Time was of the essence.
She twisted the end of her Skeleton Key, until the end lit up. While it was designed to work only on unlocking AGI computers, she knew the algorithms could make short work of most high-end security. She watched the security programs try to stop the skeleton key, desktop flickering on and off, only to jump to base operating system, then back, until the screen went black.
Guess paused, looking at the thumb drive; the light was still on. It flickered, and the screen came up, flickering between password screen, the desktop behind it, and the security program UI. She gripped the mouse, making sure she had her timing down. A few clicks to deactivate the security, the computer in a state where it was assuming its User was past traditional login.
“I have to admit, Mr. Basseri,” she said to herself, “yours is a talent going to waste here.”
A moment later, the security went away, allowing the skeleton key full access.
“Mr. Gemini. I’m in Basseri’s system, and moving the files as we speak.”
“That’s wonderful news, Ms. Levicia.”
“I think we need a copy of his computer sent to our security subsidiary.”
“Why is that?”
“It resisted the Skeleton Key. I had to go manual.” Her eyes flicked across the screen as she explored the various subfolders, activating the thumb drives as needed. So much information, so little time.
“Impressive! Send a report to Cerberus.”
“Understood.”
“Do you have the information on where Mr. Bennington is?”
“Not quite, but I know where Phoenix is, now. He may need some assistance.”
“I trust your judgment, Miss Levicia.”
“Thank you, sir.”
She watched as the progress bars for the various files filled up, taking notes where she could. It was a beautiful system, if slightly rough around the edges. So much information at her fingertips.
It took a minute to restore the system to Basseri’s setup. She then inserted a HubKit into a data slot and hit another contact on her phone.
“This is Kramer, Cerberus.”
“This is Levicia, siphon Ashura Delta Three Seven Three Dot Delta Seventeen. Autokill Protocol.”
“Yes, Ms. Levicia.”
She watched the black nub, counting from ten under her breath. At three, a red light came on. The job completed, she left the basement, stopping to take a few of the burner phones left in a pile for good measure.
In her black sedan, she plugged in the address of the safe house and drove off.
Phoenix hung on the edge of consciousness, Gypsy standing by his side. Basseri clicked his tongue and lit another cigarette, putting the pack on the workbench behind him.
“If I knew internal bleedin
g was your weakness, I’d’ve had a lot more fun with you two years ago.”
“You don’t scare me, Dominic,” McGee said weakly, leg twitching uncontrollably. The pain faded into a dull ache, trying to pull him under like an undertow of suffering.
“I don’t need you to be scared of me. I need to know what you know.”
“I know you got a problem; you don’t have a tight grip on your people. Now, where are the missing people?”
“Mr. McGee, you know me well enough to know I’ll never tell you my plans.”
“Then, tell me where Jeremy and Margaret Benton are.”
“If I had to guess, they’d be where everyone else you’re looking for is.”
“You really are a prick, you know that?”
“Yeah, takes one to know one. I gotta say, it’s kinda sad seeing you like this. When you die, I wanna see the life leave your eyes.”
Phoenix screamed out as blinding light filled his vision, the bag ripping open wounds on his face where the clotted blood had matted into the fibers. He looked up at Basseri, who grabbed the baseball bat.
“You know, internal bleeding may be your weakness, but I’ve always been privy to external bleeding if I can help it.” He walked around the room, the various power tools in sight now. “You feeling the pressure, McGee? Maybe you need me to cut you open and relieve you of that pressure.
Phoenix McGee watched the digital crime lord grip the aluminum bat in a vise, then grab an angle grinder. The whirr of machinery was deafening; Phoenix was soon showered in sparks, white-hot flecks of metal cutting and burning themselves into his cheek and neck as he twisted.
Basseri reveled in drawing it out. “What’s the matter? Thought machines were your specialty…” He did another pass, showering the detective once more before the bat fell to the ground, the tip cut at a forty-five degree angle to a sharp tip. Basseri gripped the bat at the handle and prodded the sharp tip at Phoenix’s shoulders, before poking it lower at his abs. The red-haired man sucked in his gut to keep the razor-sharp edge from penetrating his belly.
“Now, the question I have for you is this: what the fuck is all this bullshit you’ve now looped me into, McGee?”
“You win, Dominic. I don’t know. I got no fucking clue what your endgame is. Are you happy?”
Dominic Basseri snorted and turned away, only to brace himself on his left leg and swing with all his might with his right. The bat struck Phoenix in the jaw, cutting in and exposing bone. The spray of blood dirtied the detective’s coat, and covered Basseri’s chest.
“You’re smarter than this, so I’m going to ask you again. The fuck am I doing here?”
Phoenix spoke in garbled vowels, “Uhhhck ooo. Iuhhnnoo. Oooouh eeeiin.”
Basseri inhaled through his nose, reversing the grip on the bat and bringing it up like a knife, driving it down into the detective’s left shoulder.
“You fucking stupid son of a bitch…”
Phoenix slumped forward, blood and spit flowing thickly, his shoulder twitching as he fell into blackness.
Suzette sped down the alley, narrowing her gaze at The Pack’s van. Lee stood out in front of it.
“Fucker, you’re mine,” she said through gritted teeth. She revved the engine and screamed, “Damn the torpedoes; ramming speed!”
Lee’s jaw dropped as the scooter plowed into him at high speed, sending Suzette rolling to the ground. She reached to her belt, grabbing one of the pepper sprays. She only had a moment to get Lee before he could shift and regenerate. She pounced on him, raining blows.
Her left hand moved to his eyelids and pried them open before filling them with the pepper spray. She sprayed up his nostrils and down his throat. A four-second spray down the front of his pants was to ensure he would be too pained to shift up for a good five minutes.
She patted him down and grabbed his cuffs, wrestling his arms behind his back and securing him, driving a knee to the back of his head. His gun became her gun. She crouched, knowing the sound would attract others. When Dorian emerged, she dropped the clip from the pistol, and pocketed it, looking at him.
“Just the man I was hoping to see.”
“You don’t know what you’re stepping in, bitch.”
“I know more than you think, Officer.”
He rushed her, throwing a series of jabs and hooks. Suzette hooked her arm under his elbow, following up with a kick to the back of the knee to send him to his side.
She knelt in close, and twisted his arm, harder.
Jack came running shortly after, seeing Suzette whisper something in Dorian’s ear, the man giving a thousand-yard stare.
“Suzette!” Jack yelled, running over to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Dorian took the opportunity to shift into his hybrid form, rage filling his eyes as he looked at the two of them.
“I think it’s time your girlfriend sees what’s happened to her friend.” Dorian motioned for the two of them to enter the building. “I’ll take care of Lee in the meantime. Get everyone ready; if our location has been compromised, we gotta get everyone out of here.”
“Dorian, Lee’s in no condition to drive. I’ll do it.”
“No, I will. You’re on thin ice. Your girlfriend miraculously shows up here? I think we need to check your phone.”
Jack, nonplussed, grabbed Suzette by the arm and tugged on her. “Yeah, I got her here. So we didn’t have to go looking for her later.”
“Sure, whatever.”
Jack roughly led Suzette through the safe house, taking enough turns to fill the quota for a pretzel factory.
Under hushed breaths he muttered in her ear, “I hope you got a plan, hon.”
“Get me to Phoenix.”
“Basseri is having his way with him, as we speak.”
“He’s here? Fuck this night.”
Jack went to the door, inputting in his access code, Suzette looking at the other lycanthropes in passing. He roughly pushed her through the door, looking to Basseri. “Look who showed up!”
Basseri stood over Phoenix’s unconscious form, his breathing shallow. His body language changed when he saw Suzette, almost having an exasperated worry.
“Sorry about the mess, Ms. DiMarco, I was just cleaning up some trash. You look good.”
She glared at him and walked to Phoenix, kneeling by him. “McGee, it’s me. C’mon, wake up.”
“He’s a bit beyond your help, sorry to say. You got here a bit late. Shame too, because I was just getting started. I suppose you’re here to fix all that.” Noticing the various bandoleers of tools on her chest and belt, he extended a hand. Suzette, rolling her eyes, unclipped them and handed them over, seeing the telltale bulges of several guns secured on his person. Superior martial skill and body armor didn’t stop a point-blank headshot from a man who wasn’t even going on an adrenalin rush like she was.
“Ah ah ah. The gun as well,” he said, waggling his fingers. She took the gun from her pocket, setting it on the floor and kicking it over to him. “Good girl. Tell you what, he’s unconscious and we have guns, so I’m confident enough to give you some time alone together.”
He walked out, arms full of Suzette’s cache of would-be weapons.
She looked at him and knelt, looking him in the eye. “Go on, wake up, you gotta get to The Cloister…we don’t have much time.”
Phoenix stirred and he swung his eye that wasn’t swollen shut in her direction. “Ehtt ougghha eere…”
“Not without you. Can you get to the Cloister?”
He shook his head slowly and without rhythm. “Rrrrtts ooh muuush.” He groaned and went limp in the chair again.
Suzette paused and looked around the room.
“Okay. Can you give me time?”
“Uuuhhhhh?”
“I got an idea, but I need time. You said time was one of the easiest things you can do. I need…ten minutes in a few seconds.”
He cried out and clenched his broken jaw. Then he nodded.
Suzette closed her ey
es and felt the air around her thicken, it was like trying to walk though gelatinous air. when she opened her eyes, the world had taken on a slightly navy blue hue.
“Ooo eeht wiieehk,” Phoenix sputtered.
Suzette reached into her pocket, pulled out the gun clip and went to the vise.
It was thirty seconds later when Dominic Basseri walked back into the room, seeing Suzette standing behind the chair, the angle grinder in hand.
“Sorry, Ms. DiMarco. Not going to be letting you free him before I kill him. Or you, for that matter.”
She dropped the grinder and hung her head, seemingly defeated and leaning over Phoenix.
McGee groaned and nodded back at her. “Ooooh eehd oour beesh. Rowda oooh.”
Basseri chuckled and walked over to the two of them. Reaching into his side holster, he produced a large handgun, pointing it to Phoenix’s head.
“Wait!” Suzette said. “Listen, I’ve had a bad day and I got a headache. Can I at least have a smoke before you kill him?”
Basseri chuckled and felt in his pockets, before looking to the workstation where he left his pack. “Nah, but I tell you what, I could sure use one. You know I was gonna kill you; why not just take one when I was gone? See…this is what trying to free your friend gets you.”
“You didn’t leave a lighter behind, asshole.” She groaned, gripping Phoenix on the shoulders as Basseri smacked the case, one of the cigarettes popping up. He put it to his lips and flicked his lighter, cupping the hand holding the pack near his mouth to hold the flame.
When the pack lit, and exploded, Basseri screamed, holding his face, and fell to the floor. Suzette took the charge, grabbing a cut length of chain off the floor and whipping the criminal over the neck with it.
“You fucking shit! You think I need a gun to kill you?!” she howled to the open air. Donatello ran in, seeing Basseri, his lower face and upper chest looking like flash cooked hamburger and ran in, only to have Jack force him to the ground. Dorian ran in soon after.