Changeling Hunter

by Frank Hurt

  Ember’s gaze dropped. “No, of course not.”

  “You’re a terrible liar, lady. You’re too much like him. Quick to accept blame, slow to take credit.” Anna hunched and settled into one of the two chairs in the room. “It’s going to be a full-time job keeping you two from beating yourselves up.”

  “I’ll feel a whole lot better when we catch the bastard, I can admit that much.” Ember slid into the other chair. Its square wooden arms were unwelcoming, its padding too thin. “We’re not having much luck so far. I know what the guy looks like, but we’ve gone through the personnel files of every single Druw who has been a guest of the Magic City Spa for the past two months. Bugger all.”

  “You haven’t even gone home yet, have you?”

  “No, not yet. I’m this close to finding the perp.” Ember held up her thumb and forefinger. “I just know it. We just hit a roadblock, that’s all. I know I saw the bastard visit the Parker though. I’ll need to start going through security camera footage, minute by minute if I don’t find him in the files. I told Jackie to take a nap, and I was going to go down and check on everyone before I return to my database searches.”

  “Stephanie’s snoozing in the other room next to Arnie. I’m taking this first watch with Rik. Everyone else has gone home until morning. Maybe you should do the same? It’s almost 4 am.”

  “I can’t. Knowing the bad guy is out there somewhere, I can’t rest. I already let him get away once.”

  “There it is. Taking the blame, huh?” Anna nudged Ember with the paperback.

  “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.” Ember squinted in the dim light. “What’re you reading?”

  “It’s ‘The Shadow Riders’ by Louis L’Amour. I know you’re a fan of his work.”

  “Brilliant. I very much am. Are you, too?”

  “Not so much,” Anna admitted. “Rik and Arnie like him. He’s a little too predictable sometimes. The good guys always win. A little too unrealistic if you ask me.”

  “That’s why I love his stories. The real world is full of uncertainty. In L’Amour’s world, the good guy always beats the bad guy in the end.”

  “If only real life were more like that, huh?”

  “If only,” Ember agreed. “And with that, I had best get back to it. I think Jackie is buried under a pink zebra print blanket in the staff break room on the Third Floor. I’ll have her help me expand our search. Every hour that passes is one more for the bastard to get away.”

  Even in the dim light, Anna’s smile was reassuring. “With you on the case, I have a feeling he won’t know freedom much longer.”

  Ember stood and turned to the Restoration Chamber. She touched Alarik’s arm and muttered, “I have a feeling you’re right.”

  She was surprised when the elevator car climbed only one floor before stopping. The doors yawned open to accept another passenger from ground level. A short, young woman and her perky ponytail hopped into the car.

  “Oh! ‘Ello, Guv’ner! Fancy seein’ you ‘ere!”

  “Good morning, Joy.” Ember pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s not even four in the morning. How can you be so bloody spunky?”

  The changeling woman held up a cardboard carrier with three tall Styrofoam Caribou coffee containers. “I’ll give you three guesses!”

  “I can’t believe they let you drink this stuff,” Ember peered through her fingers with one eye. “How many have you had already?”

  “Just started sipping, actually.” Joy held the carrier at arm’s length in Ember’s direction. “One of ‘em’s for you. If’n you want, that is.”

  Ember raised an eyebrow but accepted one of the two closed coffees. She plucked the black plastic lid open and pinned it back. It was hotter than she liked and too-dark roast, but she pressed it to her lips anyway.

  “I’ve got sugar and two types of creamer—”

  “Black is fine. Cheers,” Ember murmured against the cup, her nostrils filling with the scent of roasted beans. “What are you doing here so early?”

  “Senior Investigator Duncan called me in,” Joy chattered. “He sounded exhausted. He said it was ‘all hands on deck’ or some such. I think that’s a naval reference, don’t you?” The young woman started marching in place and singing. “In the navy. In the navy.”

  Ember closed her eyes and watched the sugar glider subform march in step with its human counterpart’s aura. Ember groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “Joy, can we not—”

  “Oh, right. Right right right.” Joy straightened her spine and stood still. “Duncan said that I should come in and do whatever I could to make myself useful to you and Jackie. He told me some of what had happened, and how he’s out at the site now, performing cleanup detail with Roseanne and the Security people.” Joy leaned forward, her voice hushed. “So there won’t be any evidence by morning for NonDruws to find.”

  “I’m not sure how much help you’ll be, Joy. Jackie and I just have to go through personnel files, really.”

  “I can run and grab you both something to eat? I can help you search? I could even just sit quiet and wait for you to tell me if you need something.”

  “You can do that?” Ember managed to smirk. The elevator doors opened on the Third Floor. The passengers both stepped out and stood by Joy’s post at the floor’s front desk.

  “You have no idea how terrified I’ve been since word about the Changeling Hunter came out.” Joy shook her head, oblivious to Ember’s remark. “And to think that you saw him. You shot at him. He shot at you!” The young woman’s voice trailed off. She studied Ember with an expression of awe.

  “Right. But he got away.” Ember plucked at the plastic lid. “And despite our efforts, we’ve not been able to find him in the database yet.”

  “Duncan said that the guy you saw, you recognize him from the lobby?”

  “That’s right. I thought I’d be able to find him in the personnel files, but we’ve gone through months of Spa guests so far. I’m starting to worry that his personnel photo doesn’t match his current appearances.”

  “That’s so scary!” Joy’s eyes were wide. “So he could be anyone! I might have seen him one day and wouldn’t have known it. Maybe I even shared an elevator ride with the Changeling Hunter.” The young woman whimpered and shot an accusing look at the closed elevator doors.

  “No, that’s not possible. To use the elevator he would have to be escorted or have security clearance. The only way he could have that…” Ember’s mouth stopped moving and her eyes went out of focus.

  “Uh…Ember?” Joy sat the coffee carrier on her desk and stepped behind it. She waved her hand in the mage’s line of sight, but from a safe distance. “Are…are you okay?”

  Ember blinked. She whispered, “he would have to be an embassy employee. I’ve been so convinced that he was a guest at the Spa. What if he’s an employee?”

  She hurried down the hall, leaving a sugar glider changeling frozen mid-wave in wide-eyed fear. Ember ran past the break room where her counterpart slept on the couch, snoring softly. She ducked into the Senior Investigator’s office and pushed Duncan’s office chair aside. Leaning over the desk, she tapped the keyboard, entering a query for Magic City Embassy employees.

  Even before she filtered the results further, a thumbnail image of one of the senior staff members drew her attention.

  She hovered the cursor over the man’s name, feeling the anxiety build. When she clicked it, the full-size staff photo made her gasp—it was doubtless the man who had taken Rik and Arnie captive, the same man who she had seen on the street exiting the Parker Building. A pair of taupe irises stared back at her, magnified by thick farsighted spectacles. Ember tapped CTRL-P to send the personnel file to the office printer.

  As the laser printer clicked and whirred out of hibernation, Ember’s fire-blue eyes scanned the computer screen. Excited rage boiled within her, leaving no room for anxiety or caution.

  She growled at the man’s image. “Marcus Charles Sha
w. I’m coming for you, Changeling Hunter.”

  36

  He Really is a Monster

  “Are you sure we should be doing this by ourselves?” Jackie cradled the Caribou coffee in both hands. She looked at her reflection in the passenger side window. “We could wait for Heywood and Nelson. We could’ve at least grabbed one of the Security guys. I mean, it’s not even daybreak yet.”

  Ember drove with her head at a slight hunch, peering beneath the jagged crack which ran across her line of sight in the windshield. The hail storm had been brutal to her rented SUV. “They have to finish cleaning up the crime scene while it’s still dark. Then they need to drive the Schmitt’s welding truck back to Plaza. Then, they’ll come join us. All the Security personnel are with them, so that option is moot. Plus, this Marcus guy knows he’s been seen. He might already be halfway out of the country by now.”

  “Or he might be in bed. Or waiting by the front door with a gun.”

  “That’s why you’ve got your pistol, right?”

  Jackie’s gel-coated nails instinctively felt the holster on her belt. “Don’t think I use this often, Wright. I sure as heck haven’t ever shot a person before. Do you really think it’s wise for us to get into a shootout with a known killer?”

  “We won’t get in a shootout. We just need to keep him from getting away.” Ember combed her hair with her fingers. “You’ve got your power back, yeah?”

  “My power?” Jackie frowned at the driver. “Oh, you mean Memory Washes, Sleep Spells, all that? Yep, I think so anyway. I haven’t exactly tried on anyone since you got me out of that…Deference Spell.”

  “What about Containment Nets? You can cast them, right?”

  “I could before, even with that horrible Deference thing. I’m not as fast as Heywood is with Containment Nets, but I can nab a suspect if they try running away, sure.” Jackie shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like to be in that…that shadow. Nine years, that dirty Higginbotham had me under his influence. Nine years! That’s longer than any of my marriages. What a creep that man is. I really owe you, Wright. I don’t know how you were able to do it, but I owe you.”

  “I just wish I would’ve lifted it sooner.” Ember squinted at the road signs as the Toyota’s headlights revealed them. “Carpio. We’re almost there. From Carpio, we have to turn north on, what, County Road 28, right?”

  Jackie planted the coffee cup into a drink holder and picked up the roadmap. She reached up and tapped the overhead light. “Twenty-Eight. Yes. Then it’s another twelve miles north, then a short stretch of gravel to the perp’s property.” She wrinkled her nose and glanced back at the cargo area. “I really don’t think you’re going to get your deposit back for this rental. I mean, the hail damage might have been unavoidable, but you’ve got blood and mud all over the nice carpet. I don’t think you could fit enough air fresheners in here to cover up the stench.”

  “I can’t worry about that right now.” Ember guided the SUV onto the paved county road. As the Highlander turned, its headlights swept the ditch. A pair of mirror-like eyes briefly caught the light before fleeing into the weeds. “Read Marcus Shaw’s file to me.”

  “What, again?”

  “Yes, again. It’ll help us get our heads in the game.”

  Jackie picked up a pinch of papers. The 20-pound paper had been hastily stapled in the upper left corner, the front page emblazoned with the Changeling Hunter’s name and photo. “Marcus Charles Shaw. Local guy. Born in 1955. Graduated high school in Minot, 1972. Married his wife, Nancy, in 1976. They have one child together, a daughter born in 1978. Marcus graduated from college at MSU with a computer programming degree. Hired on with the Magic City Embassy Department of Information, where he rose to Deputy Director.”

  Jackie turned a page and continued reading in a monotone voice. “His wife left him about 13 years ago, took their daughter with. They moved to Lago Ranco, Chile and haven’t been back.”

  “The South American Druwish colony.” Ember glanced at the odometer. “Wonder why she moved there.”

  “Probably to get as far away as possible from her husband. Maybe she knew what kind of man she married.”

  “Right. Maybe.”

  “Anyway, there’s really nothing of note in his file to suggest violence. No arrests, no violations. He’s pretty straight-laced—”

  “He’s been skilled at covering his tracks, that’s all.” Ember took her foot off the accelerator. “Here’s our turn. Flip off the map light. I’m turning off the headlight as we idle into the yard so our eyes can adjust.”

  They quietly exited the Highlander, though the piercing door chime made Ember wince. Next hired car I get, I’m going to find one that’s a lot less talkative.

  It didn’t matter, as they appeared to be alone. A single overhead mercury light buzzed in the calm, damp predawn air. Mosquitoes and moths fluttered above, drawn to the only source of illumination for miles. The weedy yard looked abandoned, but for worn tracks leading to an open single-stall garage. It was empty.

  The narrow, two-story farmhouse was set a dozen yards away from the garage, and to the north was a wooden shed. Beyond that was a hip-roof barn which at one time might have been a source of pride for its owner. From what the moonlight revealed, the barn was in an advanced state of decay.

  Ember hissed, “garage is empty, but let’s go clear the house.”

  Jackie nodded, her eyes wide. She pulled the pistol from its holster and racked back the slide.

  A painted, undecorated wooden porch wrapped around one side of the small farmhouse. An unattended rocker sat sentry near the screen door. Ember called up mana from the Leystone pin in her pocket, using it as an external battery so she could reserve her own stored energy. She held the magic energy in her shoulder and arm, ready to direct it to her fist as a Containment Net if needed.

  The door was unlocked. Ember entered first, quickly stepping to the side to let Jackie in. They were careful not to stand in the doorway any longer than necessary—no sense in presenting an easy target if someone was home.

  I wish I had Rik’s night vision. Instead, Ember reached for the light switch and flipped it on.

  “Dang it, what’re you doing, Wright?” Jackie blinked at Ember. The woman brought her handgun up and pointed it at the narrow stairway. “If he didn’t know we were here, he does now.”

  “I don’t think he’s home,” Ember whispered. “His pickup’s not in the garage, and there weren’t tracks anywhere else in the yard.”

  “So why are we whispering then?”

  “I don’t know. Seems like the right thing to do.” Ember shrugged. “Come on, let’s finish clearing the house.”

  It didn’t take long to confirm that nobody was home in the small house. The undecorated rooms were tidy. Typical of an Analytic mage to keep an organized home.

  “This house gives me the creeps,” Jackie declared. “I’m going back outside. I’ll be on the porch if you need me.”

  “I’m going to look around some more.” Ember surveyed the living room. The only decorations were a set of photos propped on a shallow shelf along one wall. “We’ll have daylight soon. We can search the outbuildings then.”

  “You sound disappointed, Wright.”

  Ember glanced at the scarlet-maned Investigator. “A little, yeah. We were too late to catch the bastard.”

  While Jackie paced the porch, Ember studied the photos on the shelf. Most of them were of a little girl in various stages of growing up. Two family portraits flanked the collection: the first showed a young couple and their baby girl. The second was later in life, when the Shaw’s daughter was a young teenager.

  Ember picked up the older photo by the edge of its frame and propped it next to the younger version. Marcus’s hair had receded over the years, but otherwise, he hadn’t changed much. His wife, on the other hand, had grown thin, even emaciated, between the first photo to the second. In the first photo, she was smiling, her infant child beaming at the camera. In the second,
the teenage girl wore a forced smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Nancy Shaw’s lips were pressed together, not even the pretense of cheer to be found.

  “Not exactly a happy home you made for them, Marcus,” Ember muttered. “How badly did you treat Nancy that she had to flee?”

  The photo frame slipped on the shelf, falling against the second family portrait to take it down with it like a pair of dominoes. Something shiny skidded out from behind the fallen frames, shooting out from the shelf and falling to the carpeted floor.

  Ember leaned over a worn recliner to retrieve the object. Her fingers found a thin, metal chain woven through a tarnished, brass locket. She pried the locket open with her fingernail to reveal a photo of a young Marcus on one side and a twenty-something Nancy on the other.

  She held the smooth locket in her hand as she studied the attractive, young woman. Ember murmured, “Nancy Shaw, what I wouldn’t give to ask you a few questions right now. I’m going to track you down and see what you can tell me about your monster of an ex.”

  “He…really is…a monster.”

  Ember’s hand closed around the locket to form a fist. She spun around on her heel and called on her mana, ready to cast a Containment Net at the unfamiliar voice.

  Nobody was there.

  Ember felt goosebumps form on her arms as the air temperature in the house dropped twenty degrees. Her fire-blue eyes flicked from one end of the room to the other. “Jackie,” She whispered, “is that you?”

  She stepped over to the window and saw the Investigator sitting in the rocker on the porch, casually buffing her fingernails.

  Ember unfolded her fingers and looked down at the locket. She studied the woman’s portrait. “Nancy? Nancy Shaw?”

  A thin, quavering voice answered, “yes.”

  Ember swallowed. She looked around the chilly living room. “Where are you?”