Hunted (Scarlet Dawson Book 1)

by Nicola Chadwick

  “Make that two Miguel and tell us which booth is ours.”

  Miguel points to a booth on the far side of the bar with poor light quality but it had a good view of the stage and the only exit.

  We take our drinks over and sit down. Aylesbury looks thoughtful for a minute. “If this guy is as much a ladies man as he thinks he is, why don’t you use that angle?”

  “This coming from the man that a few hours ago wanted to take me back home because my skirt was too short?”

  “You might get more out of him that way and you could take this guy, whereas the guy’s at The Pit would eat you alive.”

  “Have you met my sword recently, I can assure you I am quite confident in combat.”

  “No Red, you’re reckless.” He sighs and looks at the stage.

  I use the sudden silence to mull over my plan of action. Do I approach JT as an investigator or as a groupie? Mm decisions, decisions.

  Aylesbury’s phone rings and he snaps it open. “Hello?”

  His eyes lock on mine. “I’m on my way.” He snaps his phone shut. “Sorry Red, you’re on your own again. Do not go doing anything rash.”

  I didn’t bother answering as my plan has just formulated and him leaving made it all the easier. He rolls his eyes and walks off just as the band walks on stage for their last set.

  JT was the lead singer with three others, two guitarists and one drummer. They were okay but not the best I’d ever heard, which was probably why they were playing a seedy bar just outside the industrial district.

  There were quite a few people in already but half way through the first song JT finds me in the audience and never takes his eyes off me, I was hoping he found me attractive in some way so that my plan would work. I smile and he smiles back at me crooning the words to his song.

  I watch JT intently through his set and when he finishes singing his last song he jumps down from the stage and walks straight over to me. He stands at the side of me and bends down so that he can speak over the noise of the crowd.

  “I know what you’re here for, and I can tell your some sort of cop so while I might do you the justice of a quickie out back I will not be giving you anything else.”

  He’d made me and he was hiding something big enough to be cautious but what? “What makes you think I’d want anything from you?”

  “You stick out like a wolf at a tea party, and from the minute I hit that stage you had eyes for me only. You are attracted to me but you want me for something else. The question is what?”

  “You’re dreaming and I’m out of here!” I stand up and brush past him. Well hell, my plan had failed, which left stalking my new found prey until he led me to what I wanted. The only problem with that was my stalking skills were not the best in the industry. Not much I can do now, so I decide to head back home.

  Chapter Seven

  As I reach my building I head into Dave’s and grab a slice before walking through the back door. Dave looks up from his position at the dough counter and gives me a quick nod before getting back to his dough. He wasn’t much for conversations.

  As I walk through and lock the back door I notice that my office door is ajar. I roll my eyes up to the ceiling and cautiously draw my sword, pushing the door open I step forward hoping the intruder is caught unawares.

  I relax and lower my sword when I see Bryn leaning against one of my desks and a teenage girl sat on the sofa facing me. Bryn smiles and saunters over to me.

  “Scarlett, I hope we haven’t startled you too much.” He flashes his pearly white teeth and reaches down to hold my hand. “I’ve brought you something better than the phone numbers. One of Brook’s friends stopped by to see if she had arrived back home, so I asked if she would accompany me to see you.”

  He walks over to the sofas and sits across from the girl on the coffee table, much has he had done with me. I sit with the girl and study her for a moment while collecting my thoughts. She has one of these funky hair do’s, streaked in bright colours, but quite obviously a dye job from her inch long mousy brown roots. Other than her hair she was quite plain of face and had no piercings. Most of all I noticed how afraid she was, this girl had at one point worn eyeliner or mascara but only a faint trace was smudged under her eyes.

  “Don’t be afraid Arianna, you can tell Miss Dawson anything she’s here to help us find Brook.” Something in Bryn’s voice just wasn’t quite comforting to the human girl then again she was sat in front of a Prince of Faerie. Hell I’d be afraid if I had some sense about me.

  “I just need to know what happened during the last few days that you saw Brook, even the most obscure of details may help me figure out which avenue to follow in my investigation.”

  Arianna looks at Bryn and he inclines his head ever so slightly, I feel like she is gaining his permission before answering.

  “You know we can do this without Bryn here if that would make you feel more comfortable?”

  She squirms then says. “That’s okay Miss Dawson, I’ve already spoken with His Highness about his sister, he was the one that urged me to aide you in your investigation.”

  “Tell me first what happened the last day you saw Brook and we’ll work from there.”

  “We had been hanging around The Pit with a guy who knew The Destroyer, he was only young and harmless more of a flirt than anything else, he told us he could get us into his dressing room so we kept hanging with him waiting for the opportunity to get into his room.” She pauses and glances at Bryn again, who’s face was unreadable, she was looking for something. She flicks her gaze towards me and carries on. “We’d been hanging around with JT for about a week or so, he really had a way with us, he laid on the charm, and I can honestly say we all fell for it. Brook more than me and Liz, she seemed a little naive and lapped up the attention. It became pretty obvious that we weren’t going to get into The Destroyers dressing room so we staged a break in.

  “We didn’t get far, his friend was there and shot us down. Later we saw JT and he said that he and some friends got together for big parties in the mountains, kind of like raves but so much more fun. He said there’d be drugs, alcohol and plenty of good looking college guys out to party. He asked us to join him, but at this point he was all Brook and we didn’t want to be the third wheel. So we left them to it. That was over a week ago now.”

  She finished and looked towards Bryn, then cast her eyes down and began to slightly shake. What was she so afraid off?

  I reach out and touch her hand, she flinches but accepts me once she realises the touch is gentle. “Arianna there’s no need to be afraid, you can tell me everything and I’ll make sure that your okay.”

  She looks me in the eye and the look she holds is like looking into a pit of despair and desperation. “I...I’m just afraid for Brook, I haven’t known her long but she was my friend.”

  I stand up and pull Bryn to one side of the office. We stand close and he has to stoop to listen to me, my voice low I say. “There’s something not right here, what is Arianna so afraid of, I definitely see desperation in her eyes and she’s shaking with fear but why would she be that scared? She hasn’t once cried like teenagers usually do when faced with a situation that challenges their hormone levels and comfort zone.”

  “Maybe she is afraid her parents will find out or she will get into some sort of trouble for being in this place The Pit.” Bryn assures me.

  “Maybe you’re right.” But I wasn’t buying it yet, too many things over the last few days just didn’t feel right and I was always told to trust my instincts. I just wish I knew what they were telling me.

  “I’m going to take the girl back home. I hope this has helped.”

  “It’s certainly given me a few things to think about.”

  “Come Arianna I will take you back home.”

  She gets up and just as they have almost gotten through the door I shout to Bryn. “One more thing Bryn, do not break into my office again, I will report you even if you are royalty.”

  He smiles
at me and closes the door leaving me to decide exactly what to do next.

  The next morning I get up early, I grab the paper work I was holding off on filing regarding Brook’s case and head to the nearest post box. I know the minute I step into The Guild building someone will dump a case on me and I’ll never get out of there. Once that’s done I call into the coffee shop where I’ve asked Tony from the General Crimes Division to meet me.

  I open the door and I’m greeted by the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee with a hint of spice. I take a deep breath and find a table. I called Tony last night once I decided to go after JT. I needed to know if we had anything at all in non sealed records relating to anyone with those initials. Tony was an IT technician and the best at what he did, as such he could get into a hell of a lot of records and run searches us mere mortals couldn’t even dream up.

  We met in initial training when he tripped and broke his ankle on a simulation, I stayed with him and dragged both our asses to the finish line, we barely passed the assignment but since then he’s always been willing to help me, so long as I don’t make him do anything too illegal.

  I order two coffees and watch Tony walk in and make his way over to the table, he was your typical geek, short curly hair, wire framed glasses, three day’s worth of stubble, and clothes that hung from a skinny frame, he even stumbles over a chair leg as he works his way over.

  I smile as he sinks his lanky body down on the chair visibly harried by whatever the day had already thrown at him. “Anthony, please tell me you have found something?” I ask shoving a coffee into his waiting hands.

  He grimaces as he opens his laptop and pulls some paper files from his satchel. “Well that would be the problem now wouldn’t it Scarlett, you asked for a search on any known criminals with the initials J and T, a search like that normally has more components but no, you only ask for the complicated. Firstly I factored in the fact there could be people with these initial with sealed records, the ratio was so high I’m not even going to tell you the realm of possibility for that, but then you asked me to expand the search to encompass the entire globe...”

  He went to take in a breath and I cut him off there. “Tony, seriously, I know I’m asking a lot but this is important.”

  “Well we have twelve in the city and another fifty eight spread out through the globe.”

  “Twelve’s not so bad, let’s start with them the others you can mail me and I’ll look through them later.”

  He opens the first file and passes it over, the face that greets me was not that of JT but of some small old man that had been terrorising his neighbours. As he passes me each file I was confronted with more unfamiliar faces until we got to the last file.

  “Where’s the picture?”

  “Picture and part of the file are sealed and when I looked a little further into the seal it goes all the way up to the Council.”

  Great, I scanned through the top sheet most of his vital statistics were missing. The file could only tell me this guy was a male Lazarus Demon named Jonas Theodore. His crimes were listed as pimping, petty theft and assault. Why would The Council only seal part of his records and not all?

  I flipped the page and saw that Warren the council member for the Lazarus had personally bailed Jonas out on three separate occasions. So that would be why his records have been sealed but for what I’d never find out. I wasn’t sure whether this was JT or not, the crimes wouldn’t surprise me for what I’d learned of JT but a Lazarus? He didn’t seem the build for a Demon. He was lean but not muscled like most of The Demons were.

  I sip my coffee and stare at Tony for a few moments, he becomes fidgety under my gaze. “I believe I’m going to be visiting the bar of the moment, The Opal.”

  “Why would you go to a place like that?”

  I just smile and drain the last of my coffee. “I need an address.”

  Chapter Eight

  An hour later I find myself outside JT’s apartment building it had cost me a stupid amount of cash to bribe Miguel at The Opal for JT’s address, he’d also made me promise not to come around for at least two months, apparently I was bad for business.

  JT’s apartment building was right on the edge of the industrial district bordering the seedier part of the city. I look up at the building, I was assured from Miguel that he wouldn’t be home until the earlier hours of tomorrow and that was only if he didn’t get lucky with the ladies. Still as I looked up I tried to figure which window was his, for all I know Miguel was sending me into a trap of some sorts.

  The majority of the windows were dark, but that didn’t mean anything in daylight so I headed in. At some point in time the building had been secure and you would have had to call up to be buzzed in. As I walk past the intercom I notice it was smashed beyond all repair and any lock on the outer door had been ripped away. The lobby was squalid and smelled of urine and other unidentifiable nasties. So I hurry through and up the stairs that are littered with rubbish and hell knows what else.

  Outside JT’s door I take a steadying breath and knock. After a few minutes and no reaction I set to work on the lock. I’m midway through my fumbling when a young man taps me on the shoulder. I jump and hold my chest my heart pounding.

  “What are you doing?” He asks. He is slightly intimidating but not as scary as some people I’d met recently.

  “Well JT has some of my stuff and seen as he’s know knocking off my friend behind my back I thought I’d try and break in grab my stuff and maybe mess with his head a little.” I reply in my most girlish voice. I look down and sniff trying to add to the lie. I hoped he believed me.

  “Well missy I don’t really like the sounds of such a pretty little thing like you being mistreated like that.” He grabs the door knob and twists it pushing it at the same time as twisting the pin I had stuck in there.

  “There you go missy, just push the door to on your way out and the lock will re-engage.” Then he just walks up the stairs and out of sight.

  I frown and walk through the door careful not to let it close behind me. I needed to be quick.

  His room was a mess, it was an open plan area with a small shower and toilet behind the only door. He had clothes, newspapers and garbage everywhere. I started working my way through the piles of crap in his kitchen, I find receipts for food and drink purchased in Booth a small town in the mountains. Other than that the kitchen just held the usual soured milk in the fridge, a half-eaten takeaway and various glasses half full with liquid.

  His sofa and living space fared pretty much the same, although it was looking like this was more a place he came and went from but never actually stayed in. On his bed I found some more receipts, vials purchased from Old Orleans and some camping supplies form Booth again. I reach for the small waste paper basket near the bathroom door and upend it. There were only a few pieces of actual paper but the one that interested me most was a shipping receipt. It stated that he wanted two boxes of vials delivered to a shop keeper in Booth. Maybe the same vials ordered from Old Orleans.

  What where the vials for? I was betting that he was doing something illegal in the mountains and Brook was there too.

  I popped back to my apartment and changed into a pair of jeans, a vest, a loose fitting shirt and a pair of boots. If I was going to be traipsing around the wilderness I wanted to be comfortable. The drive to Booth took an hour, thankfully living on the edge of the city I hadn’t had to drive through midday city traffic.

  Booth was a village dotted in and around the forest, it was spread over a few kilometres but the population was only small. The town centred on a small clearing which held the main shops for the village, the local residences branched out from there into the surrounding forest. I pulled up on the road at the side of the first shop I came to.

  I got out and reached over to the passenger side to grab my sword. I’d opted for a hip sheath which I already wore. I sheathe my sword and spin around to find the Hulk stood staring at me his arms crossed over his massive chest. He was with three o
thers, none of which I’d seen before. He left them and swaggered over to me.

  “I’d ask you why your here but give it a few minutes and you’ll be in some sort of situation you need rescuing from.” He said, his deep voice rumbling every word.

  “So far I’ve managed to get myself out of every situation you seem to think I need rescuing from.” I snipe back at him.

  “I haven’t the time to make sure your going to be okay stumbling around doing idiotic things, so in future think before you do anything stupid.” He grinds out, stepping closer so I have to look up at him.

  “What is your problem? I don’t need or want your help I’m quite capable of looking after myself.” I pull my sword out and take a step back, pointing it at him. “Now as you can see I’m armed and you’re pissing me off so step out of the way so I can go about my idiotic business.”

  His friends have moved closer but didn’t move any further, they seemed unsure as to whether their friend was really being threatened or not.

  The Hulk steps into the point of my sword and says. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  I push the point so it digs into his stomach through his t-shirt, not quite penetrating. “Believe me I would.” Instead I sheath my sword and push past him before I did something stupid like kill a man in front of witnesses. I didn’t look back, just walked straight into the store behind him.

  Luckily this was the store that was listed on the shipping receipt. I walk straight over to the counter, where an old man is sat on a stool reading a paper. He looks up. “Well hello there young lady what can I do for you today?”

  “Hi, I’m actually after some information. I’m looking for a young man who may know the whereabouts of a girl I’m looking for.”

  “That be the thing most people come up here for, looking for the missing they are on account of those blasted Fallen.”

  I eye him curiously. “Fallen? As in the soul sucking monsters that live high up in the mountains?”