by Shawn Keys
Outside, the animals suddenly yowled and cried out, then scattered. Angelica’s control over them had been scrambled.
From his angle, Zahn saw Kaylee stagger backward and hit her head hard against the back wall. She crumpled to the ground and was knocked senseless. Angelica crawled over to her under cover. Cradling her lover close, Angelica was nursing a large splinter that had jammed into her upper arm.
Zahn lost his head. Swirling his cloak around his shoulders, he activated his time-relic and the world turned to syrup. He leaped over his own shield and darted across the lawn into easy firing range of the mercenary who had thrown the flash bang. Leveling his pistol, he pumped half a dozen rounds into the man’s chest. Too many. A waste. But the sight of Kaylee laying on the ground had blotted out his good sense.
Still a ghost under his cloak, Zahn spun and fired the last three bullets in his magazine. Two pinged off the windshield of the car hiding Lars, while the last dug into Lars’ shoulder. The impact numbed his whole arm, making him drop his compact assault rifle.
Zahn hadn’t come loaded for prolonged combat. He hated this sort of thing. Thinking ahead to a reload hadn’t been part of his preparation. His pistol’s chamber was wedged open, ready for a new magazine that Zahn didn’t have.
And the world was already starting to grind back toward full speed.
Sprinting back across the lawn, Zahn dove through the air and rolled back behind the metal track of the garage door, hoping it would give better cover. A couple bullets skipped across the dirt behind him, but the last remnants of his supernatural speed and invisibility made him too hard a target.
His azure shield over Burt had failed. Burt had rolled as best he could behind some stacks of paper thick enough to maybe stop a shot.
Lars was out of his mind with fury. Holding a rag to staunch the blood on his shoulder, he managed to wrestle one of the assault rifles away from the goon nearest to him. That mercenary was desperately cupping his left eye torn out by the earlier squirrel raiders. He didn’t put up much of a fight. With a snarl, Lars turned the rifle on the garage and recklessly opened fire. He emptied an entire magazine in a single staccato rip. Supersonic rounds tore up the place, bouncing erratically as he sprayed the area.
One round pierced the railing of the stairs, showering the home owner with splinters. She screamed again in helpless terror.
Another shattered on the concrete base of the back wall. Angelica and Kaylee escaped a direct hit, but shrapnel from the shattering bullet burned a hole through Angelica’s dress. Hot metal seared her skin in a long line down her side. Another shard dug right through Kaylee’s foot, making her whimper in pain from the depths of unconsciousness.
By far the worst, the papers in front of Burt proved totally unable to stop a high-powered rifle round. It punched through the stack and into his chest. Burt heaved in an ugly jerk, and he coughed blood onto the ground beside him.
Zahn flashed with anger again. But this time, he had nothing to answer with. He didn’t even know how many gunmen were out there, but there were at least three. The odds were totally not in his favor. Summoning his courage, he sprinted to Burt’s side. Sliding into him, he conjured another shield to ward off any more of the erratic fire.
Burt clutched at him, then let out a manic, pained laugh. “Son… of a bitch… said he wanted me… alive! This fucker can’t do any… anything right!”
Zahn laughed in spite of himself, shock letting him appreciate the dark humor. They were pinned down and torn up. Kaylee had the pansalve, but getting to her was like crossing a minefield! Even Angelica breaking cover to throw it over to him would probably get her killed. Nothing is worth that. Sorry Burt.
But Burt’s mind was on something else. He clawed a leather pouch that had been concealed near the small of his back. He shoved it into Zahn’s hands. “My journal. All my notes. Use what’s in them. Don’t… don’t let this fucker get the Staff.” He pointed weakly at the back of the house. “Ask the woman… ask her where the family tomb is. Not in any registry. Not in any record. Must be… private. Hopefully not in… in the damned basement here. Get her out, too. Keep her safe. She’s the key we didn’t have!”
Before Zahn could ask what Burt intended to do, the other relic-diver lurched away from the magic shield and ran away from the garage. Keeping to the lawns of the other houses nearby, Burt cracked off shot after shot from his heavy pistol. Yelling as best he could as his life-blood pumped over his shirt, Burt harangued the mercenaries, “Come and get me, assholes! It’s me you want!”
Indeed, even Lars’ irrational anger was broken by the sight of his quarry in the open. “After him!” But his men were in rough shape. They couldn’t split their focus and be sure to get Burt. So they all set off in pursuit.
That was Zahn’s opening. He darted deeper into the garage and slid on his knees to Kaylee’s side. “Where’s the pansalve?”
Angelica gave him a pained smile. “She’s a smart girl, love. It’s already doing its work.”
Zahn pushed up the lycra tank top Kaylee was wearing to find the pansalve where they had put it – nestled into her navel, held in place by a stretchy band that circled her stomach and side. It was already glowing, working at repairing whatever damage had been done to her. The wound on her foot was closing. How long she would stay stunned unconscious was uncertain, but it wouldn’t be long.
Breathing easier, Zahn said, “As soon as she wakes up, we’ll get you patched up. Can you move?”
Angelica hissed as she tested the splinter and burn wounds. “Yes, but not fast.”
“Do what you can. I got Leea. We need the home owner on our side, too. Can you speak to her?”
Angelica nodded, then stood with another hiss of pain .
Tucking Kaylee into his arms, Zahn moved up the stairs and kicked open the door of the house. He activated the ear-bud radio and spoke into the air, “You’ve been following everything, Heather?”
“I wish I had a delete button on Lars. What do you need? ”
“Layout of the neighborhood. Quickest way to a place we can hide.”
“On it. ”
Behind him, he heard Angelica cajole the woman out of her hiding place. “They’re gone, but not for long! They might be back. Please, we need to run.”
It was easy to get the woman inside, but then she shoved away from them. “No! I’m not going anywhere with you! I don’t know what those animals wanted, but they were after you !”
Zahn hated to put more pressure on the woman now, when things were this bad. But if she stayed, Lars would come back for her. Then, she was as good as dead. He rounded on her, leveling his most deadly serious tone at her, “You need to listen. We were all here to talk to you . We don’t have time for that right now. But you need to let us take you to safety.”
“The police will be coming!”
“Do you hear sirens yet?” Zahn clenched his fists. “You’re right, someone’s probably called them. But you can’t risk them showing up in time! That madman is coming back. Soon! Is there anyone else in the house? He will kill anyone left alive in here!”
She shook her head hard. “My husband’s at work. My son is at his friend’s place all day!”
Zahn wasn’t worried about them. The police would be here before they got back. They’d be locked up in a prescient all day answering confusing questions they didn’t have the answers to. “Trust us. We’ll let you go to the police as soon as they show up. But let us get you out of here for now. We don’t have any weapons left to stop them.” Zahn was down to only a single charge on his gauntlet for several hours, and his time-relic was still a long way from being refreshed.
Conflicted, the woman finally nodded frantically.
Angelica tried to calm her down. “What’s your name?”
“Sambo.”
“Alright, Sambo. You stay close to me. I won’t let you fall behind.” Angelica was looking a little white herself from the loss of blood, but protecting the woman was giving her purpose.
<
br /> Zahn switched to his radio channel again, “What do you have for me, Heather?”
“Out the back door and through the fence gate. There’s a forest area not far off. Lots of trees. Better yet, lots of friends for Angelica to play with. ”
“I like how you think. We’re on our way. Too bad we can’t see Lars and his idiot band. Following them as they chase us would be great. Remind me for next time – get a drone overhead. Can you fly one?”
“I can learn that a lot easier than hacking into camera systems and such. Get going! ”
All of them were a little ragged with injury. They made it to the backdoor, across the yard, and through the gate in the fence. Seconds later, there was the sound of gunfire behind them as Lars’ mercenaries opened fire at the house.
Zahn had no idea if they were trying to kill or just scare them. It didn’t matter. They needed to vanish. Pushing hard, they got over to the next street using the neighbor’s yard. Cutting straight across, they kicked open another fence gate, scrambled awkwardly over the next chain-link fence, and stumbled down into a wooded ravine behind that house.
They got deep enough so they weren’t immediately visible, then hunkered down.
A minute later, they heard the mercenaries scouring the edge of the woods. Zahn could heard more than three of them now. Lars had called in his second line reinforcements. They were pausing, not coming into the woods.
He heard Lars bark at them, “Well, what are you pussy-footing around for? We got a minute or two at best before the cops are on us!”
Nervous shuffling was his only response. Then, “Ahh… umm… boss, the forest… you know how many animals are in there?”
Zahn smirked, and caught Angelica’s eye.
She grinned back wickedly, then closed her eyes to block out the pain. Her necklace shimmered with awakening power.
A small hawk dipped out of the trees and perched right in front of the mercenaries. Staring right at them, it squawked. Zahn swore it sounded like a death threat .
One of the mercenaries pointed a rifle at it in fear, but another goon deflected the tip high. “Don’t do it! These creatures are full of voodoo! I’m done with this!” He turned and fled.
Lars saw the game was up. He knew the police’s response time was nearly up, and the heart was totally gone from his men. He waved them off. While they ran, he stayed in position. Staring at the hawk, he spoke to the bird for lack of other prey. “This isn’t over, Zahn. I’ve come too far to quit. Keep getting in my way, and you’re as good as dead. You’ll be lucky if I don’t hunt you down anyway. Hear me?”
Then, he left the scene.
Zahn coughed away the slight rasp in his throat caused by the run. “He isn’t selling me on going away if he’s going to kill us all anyway.” He glanced at Angelica. “Do you have animals out front? Is Burt…?” He trailed off.
She gave a somber nod. “I’m sorry. He made sure they didn’t take him alive. Killed two of them along the way.”
Zahn clenched his jaw. “I didn’t really know him. And I don’t owe him anything. But…” He searched to describe what he was feeling.
Angelica put a supportive hand on his arm. “I know. This is becoming more personal by the second. It isn’t just any old relic-dive now, is it?” Kaylee groaned in her arms, and she turned to tend to her lover a little more closely.
Concerned but seeing Kaylee in the best of hands, Zahn refocused on the woman under their protection. “Thank for trusting us this far, Sambo.”
The woman was terrified. “I don’t trust any of you! Someone just shot at me! And my whole house is destroyed! Why? Why was that maniac there? And…” She grew even more puzzled as she realized who the woman was talking to Zahn. “And why is Angelica Laviolette here? Is this a movie set? Is this all fake?”
She was firing off questions and comments faster than Zahn could fully follow, much less answer. He jumped in, “No. This is not fake. It’s crucial you believe that. Once we leave, you need to stay under police protection for a while. Don’t let them brush you off. These men think you know something worth killing for. They were here to get that information out of you. Our friend – the one who died – he was going to ask you a simple question. That bastard out there wanted the same thing, only he would have hurt you to make sure you weren’t lying.”
Sambo teared up. “I don’t understand. I don’t know anything like that! I work at a hardware store! I’m a sales clerk!”
Zahn tried to make the whole matter sound unimportant. “They were trying to learn more about your family. Their past is a bit of a mystery. They couldn’t even find you family burial plots to fill in the holes from before there were computer records.”
“What? But why? My family is all at the local cemetery. We’re all from around here.”
“Your whole family?”
Sambo looked puzzled, and then shrugged. “Oh, well, I guess not my mother’s mother. She claimed to be from the Tongva tribe if you followed history way back. I remember she said the remaining tribe had a place to bury their own. She called it the family tomb. But my mother was buried with my father around here. But she swore she wouldn’t be buried in the family tomb. She said it exactly like that, many times.”
Zahn nodded. “I have no idea why they couldn’t find the local cemetery. Is it run by a private corporation for some reason? Do they refuse to answer questions on family histories?”
“I…” Sambo broke down, shaking her head helplessly. “I don’t know! Who cares?”
Zahn held up a hand in a calming fashion, “I won’t ask anymore. Tell the police these men wanted to know about the cemetery for some reason. Maybe they can figure out why. Alright?”
Sambo nodded miserably.
Zahn looked back to his two lovers. Kaylee was slowly rousing from unconsciousness, looking shaken but whole. Angelica had slipped the pansalve into her shirt and was breathing easier as it did its work. Zahn would have to caution them again later. The healing crystal was doing its work, but the more it switched owners, the less it would attune to either of them. Not that he blamed them; Kaylee had been unconscious, after all. But it would have been more effective if Kaylee had used it on her instead.
He figured they had about five minutes before they would be healed enough to run. He faced Sambo and encouraged her, “Go on. The police are probably at the house now, and the other men have left the area. Go on. Tell them what you saw.” He paused, then asked, “But if you will, can you leave Angelica’s name out of it?”
Sambo flickered her gaze at the actress. “Ummm…”
Zahn pressed, “She doesn’t need this kind of press. I’m not asking you for anything else. We saved your life. I hope you know that. And all I’m asking is to forget she was here.” He didn’t mention Kaylee, since Sambo hadn’t seemed to recognize her.
Still nervous, Sambo gave a jerky nod. “You’re sure the ones with the guns are gone?”
“Yes. And you don’t need to hold back when it comes to them. Tell the police everything. Describe them. His name is Lars Mueller. If the police can make his life a living hell, so much the better.” Zahn made sure Sambo could describe the killer well, and then encouraged her again. “Go on home, before they call your husband and worry him.”
She nodded, gaining strength at the idea of seeing her husband again. Then, suddenly, she wrapped a hug around his neck. “I do know you three saved me.” She then switched and hugged Angelica, then backed away as if aware she was bugging a celebrity. “Sorry. And I won’t tell them you were here.”
Angelica beamed a smile at her. “Thanks. I’ll remember you, Sambo.”
A few last nervous smiles, and Sambo fled.
Watching her go, Zahn asked, “Leea?”
Kaylee groaned, finally opening her eyes. She had purposefully stayed quiet, hopefully beneath the woman’s notice. “That sucked.”
“Could have been worse. You two held it together well in there. But we were all outgunned. Quick thinking with those animals, Angeli
ca.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.
Happy with the praise, she noted, “You kept asking about her family graves. But you didn’t care, did you?”
Zahn shook his head. “I hope she’ll mistakenly think the graveyard is what this was about. She’ll tell the cops, and they’ll maybe try and stop a grave-robbing attempt for the next few nights. Best case, if Lars has a detective in his pocket to buy the police report, he’ll think that’s the answer too. I didn’t want her thinking we cared about the Tongva reservation. That’s the next step. Has to be.”
He pulled Burt’s journal from his pocket. “He said this held the other clues we’d need. But the most important link was the spot her ancestors were entombed. I didn’t think Native Americans built that sort of thing, but who knows? We need to get to their tribal lands and ask around. Heather, are you still with us?”
“Loud and clear, love. Already on it. I’ll see if there’s any mention of that sort of thing on their websites, then call the tribal office and ask a few light questions. Nothing too obvious. ”
“You’re beautiful and I love you.” Zahn said it lightly, but was surprised how much he meant it. Knowing Heather was behind them, watching out for them and ready to support with unquestioning loyalty was amazing. The same with Kaylee and Angelica: having two partners he could trust absolutely and completely was a heart-warming rush in dark times like this.
Kaylee groaned as she tried to move. “Are we heading there now?”
Zahn shook his head again. “I need time to read this journal so we aren’t stumbling around blind. Plus, we’re getting to the point where we promised to include Carter and Ash.” He grunted a wry laugh. “Normally I’d hate that, but maybe it won’t be so bad to have a few extra guns along.” He tossed his head toward the deeper woods. “Come on. We need to clear out of here before the police expand their perimeter and scoop us up for questioning. Then we’ll call Ash and link up as soon as possible.”