by Martha Carr
The gnome scowled at her.
“Look. Here’s everything I know.” Lisa tapped her fingers on the table. “Those dumbass dogs are as close as he gets to having family. Johnny lost his mind after his kid was gunned down fifteen years ago. I know you all know about that. And he hits the bottle every night like it’s still fifteen years ago. He tries to fill his time pretending to be useful with all his stupid fucking gadgets, but he’s still hung up on how badly he failed to keep his kid from eating a bullet.
“And if you intend to keep asking me about all those clips of me and him, then yeah. I’m playing the ‘go straight to Johnny’s heart’ card. Hell, I may even be the first living being on two legs instead of four that he’s opened up to in fifteen years. And when he opens up all the way, which he will, his guard will be completely down.”
It took everything she had to not grimace at the way she twisted Johnny’s pain and his past merely to make it look real in that context. He knows what I’m doing. I only hope he doesn’t get so pissed about it that he forgets the plan.
“Why you?” Kellen asked. “Specifically, I mean. Why would he take some Light Elf he bagged in ’16 under his wing for this failure of a show trying to crawl its way back into the public eye now?”
“Because I told him what I thought he wanted to hear.” She forced herself to not look at the boar ring on the shifter’s hand when he lifted it to stroke his chin. “His team was holding interviews for an assistant in this stupid thing so I called in and got myself a slot to talk to the bastard. I told him to his face how he’d ruined my life back then and sent me off to spend ten years behind bars, and that I’d come full circle to recognize how he saved me.”
The witch snorted.
“Yeah, I know. It sounds like a load of shit.” Lisa nodded at her. “And it was. But he was so desperate to feel like he’d done something good in his life that I had him eating from the palm of my hand after the first five minutes. I told him I wanted to work with him on the side of justice and all that crap, and that I admired him for what he was doing and how he got the job done. I convinced him that I decided this was the best way to repay the dwarf who tore my life apart and helped me to turn it around and he still believes that’s exactly what happened.”
The other thugs sniggered around the table. The witch didn’t seem all that convinced, but she assumed the woman had come in there looking for someone to tear down anyway and it happened to be aimed at Stephanie Wyndom.
“Fair enough.” Kellen leaned forward at the head of the table and folded his hands. “It sounds like we have an in, then.”
“Sure. And we get to go over all this with Lemonhead too, right?” Lisa gestured toward the other criminals. “He wants to see the dwarf burn as much as we do, doesn’t he?”
The shifter smirked. “He couldn’t make it tonight. I could. And I know he’ll be especially grateful to hear more details from someone who’s done more than spend the last decade or two stewing over a revenge plot. It looks like you’re the only one who’s taken any action.”
“Yeah. I spent enough time doing jack shit behind bars.” She grinned.
“I bet. So where’s he staying?”
Lisa paused for a second. Careful. This could turn south very quickly. “We’re both at the Sagamore Pendry right now with the whole film crew.”
“Uh-huh.” Kellen pulled his phone out and typed something into it. He didn’t look up at her when he asked, “What room?”
Shit. “424. Fourth floor. Right across the hall from me in 427.”
The shifter’s gaze flicked up to meet hers and he nodded. “Well, that’s a start.”
Yeah, and we’ll have to move quickly to get whoever’s staying in those rooms the hell out of there before the Red Boar shows up. At least we’ll have the element of surprise.
“We should go after him tonight,” the half-wizard said. “Now.”
“Yeah.” The gnome with the eyepatch pounded a fist on the table. “While he’s curled up with his dumb mutts and has no idea this Light Elf turned on him.”
A round of shouted agreement rose from the other criminals and some of them banged on the table in their excitement.
Kellen studied Lisa with a raised eyebrow, and she shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on tonight, but I sure as hell won’t object if that’s the way you want to go.”
“Then let’s grab that bastard in his sleep and tie him up like the fucking animal he is,” the Crystal woman shouted and pushed from her chair.
“No.” Kellen turned a warning gaze onto her and pointed at her seat. “Sit.”
“You want us to wait even longer?” the witch hissed. “I thought we were here to do something—”
“We will do something but not tonight.” Kellen slipped his phone into his pocket and stood. “I’ll take this information to Lemonhead, and he’ll call the shots from there. The rest of you sit back and wait for us to reach out.”
“This is ridiculous,” the one-eared gnome growled. “Why should we wait for instructions from some asshole who won’t even show his face here when we already have everything we need?”
The shifter hissed at him and his eyes flashed silver in warning, although he didn’t shift. “Because unlike the rest of you, Lemonhead has outsmarted Johnny Walker at every turn, and the dwarf hasn’t laid a hand on him, although not for lack of trying. And because if anyone moves on that dwarf without getting the go-ahead from me first, you won’t live to see the day when we take the bounty hunter down ourselves. If Johnny doesn’t kill you for moving in on him before it’s time, Lemonhead will. And I could be wrong, but I assumed everyone in this room would be a little smarter than they were when a fucking dwarf with an overinflated ego tossed you behind bars the first time. On camera.”
The other thugs grumbled and shifted in their seats, but no one argued any further.
Lisa glanced furtively at those around the table. They know Lemonhead’s reputation, at least. Probably not the Red Boar, but it doesn’t matter if they know who they’re taking orders from. We do.
On the fourth floor of the Sagamore Pendry, Phil waved his crew onward down the hall toward the front door of Johnny’s suite at the very end. Cody stalked quietly behind the director, followed by David with the boom mic, Alicia in her bandana carrying lighting gear, and Fred and Brad as backup.
“We’ll go at this from a different angle, people,” Phil whispered and pointed at Johnny’s door. “He’s had all day to simmer down from that little outburst at the park. And I’m willing to bet he’ll be much easier to handle at the end of the day.”
They stopped outside the door and he knocked briskly three times. “Johnny? It’s Phil.”
One coonhound barked inside, then the other.
The director smirked. “Well at least we know he’s awake. Johnny! Come on, man. Only a few more questions. You’ve been in there all day.”
The dogs barked wildly.
“I ain’t interested,” the dwarf shouted.
“I know things went a little south earlier today,” Phil said. “But I’d like to get a final wrap-up of the day, Johnny. We’ve come up with a few talking points we think the viewers would enjoy hearing straight from you.”
“Get outta here before I come throw you out.”
Phil stepped away from the door and glanced at his crewmembers. “Hang tight. I’ll get him to come around,” he said quietly, then resumed his usual tone. “Okay, Johnny. I’ll be honest with you. I know I pushed a little too hard when we began to dive into your past. That’s okay. This new season isn’t about your past, though. It’s about the present. And we merely want to highlight—”
Paws thumped against the door and scratched furiously as one of the hounds barked over and over.
Staggering back in surprise, Phil stared at the door. “Jesus. He needs to bring those attack dogs under control.”
“I don’t like havin’ to repeat myself,” Johnny called from inside. “It’s none of your business.”
Phil s
ighed, took his phone out of his pocket, and pulled Lisa’s number up. He glanced at Cody. “Are you rolling right now?”
The cameraman nodded without saying a word and panned the camera toward him.
“Not me, man. Focus on the door. He might still answer.” Phil made the call and lifted his phone to his ear.
Lisa’s cell rang inside Johnny’s suite.
“This ain’t what I call fun,” Johnny said as the hounds barked wildly.
“Johnny, we know Li—we know Stephanie’s in there with you. I can hear her phone.” Phil knocked again. “Come on and open up.”
“I’d rather be huntin’.”
Phil frowned. “Well, yeah. We get that. But we’re here now, so—”
“You look like you’re about to shit yourself. Get movin’.”
“What?” The director called Johnny’s number next, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Johnny, what’s going on?”
“I ain’t interested. Get outta here before I come throw you out.”
“Yeah, you already said that.” Phil scratched his head.
“I don’t like havin’ to repeat myself. It’s none of your business. This ain’t what I call fun.”
Alicia cocked her head and scowled. “I don’t think that’s him.”
Phil pounded on the door again. “Johnny! You better open this door right now or I’ll call the front desk and tell them your dogs are on a rampage in that suite!”
“I’d rather be huntin’.”
“Dammit. Did he seriously record himself on a loop?”
“That’s definitely what it sounds like,” David muttered.
“I know what it sounds like.” Phil whirled around and scanned his team. “Todd, go down to the front desk and…Todd?”
The other members turned around to search for their second camera guy.
“Where the hell is he?”
Dave shrugged. “I thought he was here.”
“Shit.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Johnny tapped the earpiece that synced with his spy bug and scowled at the plain brick wall as he listened in on the private meeting inside the staffing agency office. I oughtta head right in and wring that fucker’s neck, whoever he is. Make him rat out the Red Boar right here and now.
He took a deep breath and pressed a hand against the wall. This isn’t the time. She did it right. After this, we’ll either find the asshole knocking on the wrong hotel door, or she’ll get all the details on his next move. And we’ll be ready.
The shifter’s voice continued in Johnny’s headset. “And I could be wrong, but I assumed everyone in this room would be a little smarter than they were when a fucking dwarf with an overinflated ego tossed you behind bars the first time. On camera.”
The shuffle of slow footsteps rose from behind the dwarf, and his hand went to the hilt of his utility knife at his belt. A whole city full of idiots.
Johnny whirled, drew his knife, and flicked it out. “You picked the wrong night, asshole.”
“Whoa, whoa.” The man Johnny recognized from the film crew took one hand off his phone—which he kept aimed at the bounty hunter’s face—and raised it in surrender. “Hey, man. I’m only here to catch the action.”
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” Johnny stormed toward the man and tried to slap the phone out of his hand. “Turn that shit off. You ain’t even supposed to be out here.”
“And you aren’t supposed to leave without telling us. That’s the deal, right?”
“Deal’s off. Gimme that.”
“No.” The guy ducked away from Johnny and lifted the phone again. “What is this place anyway?”
“None of your business. Dammit, you… What’s your name?”
The guy raised an eyebrow. “Todd.”
“I swear on Sheila’s diesel engine, Todd, if you don’t get that damn phone outta my face and hightail it back to that hotel, I’ll—”
Static crackled in his earpiece, then multiple voices rose again from inside the meeting.
“You hear that?”
“Someone’s outside.”
“I bet this Light Elf bitch brought backup with her.”
“Hey,” Lisa said, her voice even and level. “I’ve been nothing but straight with you guys.”
“Then go check it out,” the shifter said. “Alone. We’ll wait.”
“Shit.” Johnny hissed and lunged for Todd. He managed to wrap an arm around the guy’s neck and pulled him close. “Gimme that fuckin’ phone.”
“No! Get off me!”
The front door to the office building opened, and Lisa stormed outside. She rounded the corner to see Johnny holding Todd in what was almost a sleeper hold. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Johnny frowned at her, and she nodded toward the building with wide eyes.
Yeah. We’re puttin’ on a show, then.
“Hey, I just came to see what’s going on in there,” Todd started. “And now this—”
“Shut up,” Lisa spat. “I don’t know who you are, but you picked the wrong night and the wrong place to play super spy.”
“What are you—ow! Ah! Get off me! I’m—” Todd choked and crumpled when Johnny stabbed a pressure point at the base of the man’s neck with two fingers.
Lisa shot a fireball at Todd’s feet for added effect, and the unsuspecting cameraman stared at her with wide eyes.
“Why are you—”
The click and hiss of Johnny’s tranquilizer gun unloading a full dose into the guy’s neck were fortunately quiet enough to not travel through brick walls. Todd thumped to the sidewalk beside the building when Johnny released him and the dwarf looked at Lisa and shrugged.
“Stupid,” she muttered.
The front door burst open again and this time, released the full dozen criminals gathered to bash on Johnny Walker and plan his demise. The dwarf darted into the shadows and used the thugs’ clamoring footsteps to hide the sound of his own as he headed toward the back of the building.
“Did you get him?”
“Who the fuck was it?”
“I bet she let him go. She’s too soft.”
Lisa snatched Todd’s phone from where it had toppled to the sidewalk and turned and raised an eyebrow at the criminals. “Some dipshit thought he’d come take a look at what’s happening. I got him and his phone. So we’re good.”
“Is he a friend of yours?” the witch asked with a scowl.
“Yeah, I wipe out all my friends with magical attacks and leave them dead on the side of office buildings,” Lisa quipped. “Come on. I’ve never seen him before.”
Kellen guided the front door closed gently and peered at Todd. “So you got him.”
“It sure looks like, doesn’t it?” She folded her arms and glared at the shifter. “Does anyone else want to keep questioning whether or not I am who I say I am?”
“No, you’re all right.” The gnome with the eyepatch hawked and spat and the wet glob landed just in front of Todd’s face. “Now you get to clean up your mess.”
“Yeah, and I will.” Lisa turned toward Kellen. “So what’s next?”
“The rest of you fuck off and wait to hear from me.” He sneered at Todd, then turned and roared at the criminals, “Now. Do I need to throw you out on your asses or what?”
The dozen thugs scattered away from the office building and disappeared into the shadows beneath Baltimore’s city lights in the middle of the night.
Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. “I need at least ten minutes to get rid of the body.”
“Do what you gotta do.” The shifter stepped toward her and handed her a burner flip phone. “Then wait for the call.”
“Do you hand these out to everyone else too?”
“No. You’re the one with Johnny Walker eating out of your hand. Lemonhead will wanna talk to you. So take the phone, Stephanie. Wait for the call. And don’t fuck this up.”
“Yeah, I get it.” She took the phone and stuck it in her b
ack pocket beside Todd’s smartphone. “Anything else?”
Kellen nodded at the body on the sidewalk. “Make sure no one sees you.”
“This isn’t my first time, but thanks for the tip.” She waited for the shifter to leave, but he stood in front of the building and made a call on his phone instead. Shit. He wants to see me toss a dead body that isn’t even dead too?
“It’s Kellen.” The shifter shot Lisa a sidelong glance, then stepped away across the front of the building. “Yeah, all of them.”
Lisa turned toward Todd as the man’s fingers twitched and he groaned quietly. No, no, no.
“Yeah, hold on.” Kellen turned toward her with a questioning frown. “Is there a problem over there?”
“No. The skinny asshole’s heavier than I thought.” She waved him off and tried not to stare at Johnny creeping toward the corner with his tranquilizer gun in hand. When she took Todd’s arm, he groaned again.
“All right, what the hell?” The shifter strode toward her.
“Back off. I got it.” She snarled belligerently to cover up the sound of Johnny dosing the cameraman with a second tranquilizer. Kellen fortunately didn’t seem to notice.
“Have you ever done this before?” he asked.
“I said it wasn’t my first time. I’ll handle it.”
Johnny whipped a disk from his belt, activated it, and launched the explosive with a sidearm toss up and over the side of the office building.
“Do you know any severing spells?” the shifter asked.
“What?”
“I have a good one for choppin’ up big hunks of meat and making them disappear a hell of a lot easier than—”
Johnny’s disk exploded on the other side of the building, rattling a trashcan and setting off the alarm of a car parked on the other side of the cross street.
“What the fuck?”
Lisa gritted her teeth. “I’d offer to come check it out with you, but I have my own cleanup right here.”
He growled and turned toward the site of the explosion. “Hurry the fuck up already. And keep that phone on you.”
“Yep.”
Kellen jogged across the front of the building toward the car’s blaring alarm and lifted his phone to his ear again. “I don’t know. Some asshole playing with homemade explosives, probably. You never know in this city…”