“That doesn’t make any sense.” I restrained myself from going any further. I felt like screaming, but that seemed somehow uncouth in the presence of whoever or whatever this was. “Those guys are evil, there’s no chance they’d ever change.” Is there?
“There is always the possibility of redemption. And we’re in the possibility business.”
I shook my head and tried not to laugh. “What about the boys? Are they going to be all right?”
“That’s up to them. But they’ve got a better chance than most.”
I stared at Evan. The paramedics had wrapped the twins in blankets, and he had one arm thrown up over Ethan’s shoulder. Even now, the other brother stared at the ground, completely isolated from the hubbub around them. “I could make them forget. Everything bad that happened to them, all the horrors they saw.” I snapped my fingers. “Like that, I could make them normal boys again.”
“You could.”
“But that wouldn’t really fix anything, would it? Their mom and dad would still be dead, and they’d still have the trauma of finding out about it.”
After a moment, Faux Dad said, “Sometimes, knowing when not to use power is the hardest thing of all.”
“I thought about making myself forget about what I saw when you—when my dad died, I mean.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I thought about it for a long time before I answered. My initial thought was to say so that I could remember why Mother was evil, but that wasn’t it, not really, though it came close. “Because it helps me remember how far I could go if I let myself. It reminds me of how dangerous this magic is, and how I can’t use it try and solve all my problems.”
“We are the sum of our experiences,” my companion agreed. “Both good and bad.”
My cell phone rang, and I answered it without thinking. It was probably rude of me, but hey, so is pretending to be someone you’re not. “Yeah.”
Carlos was out of breath. “Dude, are you headed back yet?”
“Not yet, what’s up?”
“Kent’s house is on fire. The whole neighborhood is filled with cops. We cruised on by, but we got a pretty good look.”
“I’ll be right there,” I said, hanging up on my friend. “Did you know about this?” I demanded.
Faux Dad’s smile was a little sad. The fact that I’d seen that expression before made my reaction that much worse. “All things serve—”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. What does it serve, keeping me here? Isn’t that restricting my free will?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “There are times when certain outcomes are more desirable than others. Like, say, getting you released from jail so that you could reach Phoenix in time to meet the woman, Angie.”
I sat and blinked for a moment. “You got me and Cassie out of jail?” My heart jumped into my throat. Cassie!
“I got the ball rolling, yes.”
Standing up, I shoved my cell phone back into my pocket. “If she’s hurt, you wasted your time. How about you quit helping if you can’t explain yourself, huh?”
I stormed away, searching for a squad car that still had the keys in the ignition. On one hand, there were plenty to choose from.
On the other, something told me I was already too late.
Paxton
Phoenix, Arizona—Saturday night
Sikora’s house smoldered, and his Suburban was folded in half as though an angry giant had sucker punched it from above. I wanted to scream in frustration but doing so would bring unwanted attention. The baseball cap and jacket I wore were enough to lend me the camouflage of legitimacy for now, but they wouldn’t pass more than a cursory inspection. There was a wrecked U-Haul laying on its side in the middle of the road, and I parked the ‘borrowed’ police car there and tried to avoid the impulse to sprint as I moved through the cordon blocking off the neighborhood. I’d found the police department baseball cap in the front seat and exchanged it for my shotgun. Between the hat and Kent’s windbreaker, I thought I’d be fine so long as I acted as though I belonged.
I skirted the edges of the collection of manpower. There weren’t as many marked cars as I’d expected, which I suppose made sense. The majority of them were probably still back at Upward Path. Most of the vehicles were unmarked sedans or SUVs, which made me wonder if this hadn’t turned federal for some reason.
There weren’t any ambulances, and the sick feeling in my stomach got worse and worse as I strolled past clusters of police and suited men and women, pulling tidbits of conversation out of the air along the way.
“…towed the RV out of here first thing, the inside was a damn mess…”
“…figure out a cover story yet?”
“…going to have to go door-to-door with the neighbors, got a report from one that some woman ordered her husband to give her his car…”
My blood went cold. Of course. Mother had found us. I don’t know how she’d managed it, but it was the only thing that made sense. Donnie had been too surprised to see us to spring any sort of trap.
My knees buckled, and I forced myself to keep my feet and refrain from screaming out in frustration. After I’d whisked the book out from under Mother’s nose last week, I should have been better prepared.
A lone ambulance sat on the curb in front of Kent’s house, and I abandoned any charade of stealth and headed that way. Please, let them be okay.
I peeked inside and tried to hide my disappointment. The only occupant was a tired-looking man with a shaggy haircut. There was enough gauze and cotton wrapped around him that he could cosplay as a mummy. They must have had him on some good painkillers because he stared at the roof of the ambulance with glazed eyes and didn’t react as I moved across his line of sight.
The mild Southern accent brought me to a halt, and I cocked my head in confusion. Where have I heard that voice, before?
“I want the survivors sequestered until we can confine them to a secure medical facility. How long until we can move them?”
“Paramedics said it looked to mostly be smoke inhalation—I’d say no more than a day or two, Val.”
I stepped closer. I couldn’t see his face, but the first voice belonged to an average-sized man in a dark suit. He stood next to a redhead, wearing the female equivalent. As they spoke, they kept their eyes on the collapsed rubble of Kent’s house.
“I’ve got Anjewierden pulling the registration on the neighbor’s sedan. If I know Helen, she’ll swap plates, soon, so we need to get the BOLO out sooner rather than later. Two blonde women, traveling to parts unknown.” He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “The only thing I can’t figure is whether the girl was in on it all along, or if Locke wants her for some other reason.”
“What did you say?” I blurted. I’d closed half the distance between myself and the mysterious pair before I realized my mistake. My mom has Cassie. The other possibility was so unbearable that I couldn’t bring myself to consider it.
The woman turned and regarded me with wide eyes. The man moved at a much more languid pace, but somehow, by the time he’d turned to face me, he had a massive pistol in one hand, pointed right at my head.
“Well, well. How about that. Nice to see you again, Mr. Locke.”
I blinked. That voice. Something made me look down, and I realized that he was wearing cowboy boots with his suit. Of course. “You were at the hospital. Doctor—” I fished through memories made murky by IV painkillers. “Valentine,” I remembered. “Doctor Valentine.”
He sketched a salute with the forefinger of his free hand. “Agent Valentine, actually. Nice of you to join us. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
I glanced at the gun again, decided if he wanted to talk he was bluffing, and said, “Some other time, maybe.” The De La Rosas were waiting at a convenience store down the road. I made a quick check. Despite the agent holding me at gunpoint, everyone in the immediate area seemed too consumed in their own activities to notice. That wouldn’t last forever. I opened my mouth to push the tw
o agents to be quiet so I could walk out—and realized that Agent Valentine had moved, faster than I’d ever seen anything or anyone move in my life. A split second after I’d taken my eyes off him, I was down on the ground with his knee in the small of my back.
“Let me go!” I demanded. Valentine’s grip was like iron, and my plea had no effect. I hesitated for the barest of moments, then threw caution to the wind. “Let me go. I need to find my girlf—my Cassie.” The push was based more on desire than words so the stutter shouldn’t have affected it. But nothing happened. I twisted my neck around, trying to get a good look at him. “Let me go!” With a frown, the Fed leaned down close, his forehead wrinkled in annoyance. He brought his lips close to my ear, and I could smell mint chewing gum on his breath. “Who are you?” I managed. “What are you?”
His slow drawl was smooth as silk. “This is only the second time we’ve met, so I’m going to let your little parlor trick slide. You try it again; you and I are going to be cross. As for who I am? Some wiseacre thought he was funny and put Valentine on my badge, back in the day.” He pulled my arms behind my back. Handcuffs ratcheted shut around one wrist, then the other. “My mama named me John Henry Holliday. But you can call me Doc.”
Paxton Locke will return
In
Come, Seeling Night
ABOUT
DANIEL HUMPHREYS
Daniel Humphreys is the author of the Z-Day series of post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers and the Paxton Locke urban fantasy series. His first novel, “A Place Outside the Wild”, was a 2017 Dragon Award finalist for Best Apocalyptic novel. He lives in Indiana with his wife and family - not far from the Hoosier National Forest.
Find him online at
Blog - Daniel-Humphreys.net
Facebook - facebook.com/DanielHumphreysAuthor
Twitter - twitter.com/NerdKing52
MORE FROM
DANIEL HUMPHREYS
PAXTON LOCKE
Fade
Night’s Black Agents
Come, Seeling Night (forthcoming)
Z-DAY
A Place Outside the Wild
A Place Called Hope
A Place For War (forthcoming)
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PAXTON LOCKE
BY DANIEL HUMPHREYS
Fade
Night’s Black Agents
Come, Seeling Night (forthcoming)
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Landmarks
Cover
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Night's Black Agents (Paxton Locke Book 2) Page 25