“Oh.” She’d forgotten that, in this world, Tulimad wasn’t dead. “Right. Well. I don’t...I don’t exactly know. I must have blacked out.”
Danny reached out and traced his thumb down her cheek. “We’ll find him, Kyla. I’ll make sure.”
Before she could speak, Danny bent down and brushed his lips over hers. The kiss was quick, light, and nowhere near innocent. The door opened and a nurse walked in, talking cheerfully about getting Kyla’s tests going. Danny stepped to the side and Kyla was halfway down the hall before she could get her shocked brain in gear.
Danny’s kiss, while it had been perfectly nice physically, was a complication she didn’t need. She was dealing with a lover in another world, a pointless investigation for a fugitive that was already dead, and a barrage of medical tests when she felt perfectly fine. Kyla sighed and rubbed her temples as they prepared her for x-rays. Maybe she should have stayed in Khaytab after all.
******
Two days later, Kyla read over the official report she was filing on the incident at the university. She hated that it was mostly lies, but she couldn’t think of anything else to do. She couldn’t tell them that she’d fallen into another world where a king who shifted into a massive tiger had killed Tulimad. At least, not unless she was willing to undergo major psychiatric evaluation.
The tests hadn’t found anything abnormal, but that didn’t surprise her. She felt fine. Everyone in the department was getting a lot of mileage about Kyla’s ability to “land on her feet”, but she was happy to let it go. Danny hadn’t said anything about their kiss and neither had she. Maybe it had been prompted by relief. Weren’t southern guys supposed to be a lot more physical than their northern counterparts, anyway?
“Hey there,” Danny said from behind her. “Got it all finished up?”
“Yep,” she confirmed, signing the report. “I guess I’ll go drop it off.”
“You can walk with me,” he said. “Captain wants to see us.”
Her heart stuttered. Captain Evans was even more shrewd than Danny. Did he know something?
“You look pale,” Danny said. “Are you sure you should be back?”
She pushed herself upright. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Danny knocked on the door and gave Kyla a smile. “Cheer up. You might be getting another commendation.”
“For not landing on my head?”
“You never know. They could call it the Kyla Dean commendation for extraordinary luck. Or is it skill?”
He’d moved just a little closer. Not close enough to start rumors, just enough for her to notice.
“Of course it’s skill,” she said lightly, keeping her tone friendly and nothing more.
“Of course,” he agreed, his voice solemn, but his eyes teasing. “Kyla, I wanted to ask you--”
“Come in,” Captain Evans called and Danny made a face.
“We’ll talk later,” he said in a low voice as she pushed the door open.
She pretended not to hear as she took a seat in front of the captain’s desk.
“Good to see you back,” Evans said briskly. “I’m putting the two of you in charge of a deeper investigation into what happened at the university. I want to know if there are other deaths and how they might be linked.”
He’d never been the type to waste time, but even Kyla was surprised at how fast he’d made the decision.
Danny leaned forward eagerly. “Yes, sir. I’ve been hoping to be able to do some more on this case.”
Kyla put a smile on her face when the two men looked at her. It was going to be completely pointless. Tulimad was dead and she had his transporter device. There was no way that the Seeban terrorists could infiltrate Earth again. But, with the lies in her report, she had no choice but to follow up.
******
Kyla had just gotten out of the shower that night when her cell phone rang. She’d barely said hello before Danny’s drawl was in her ear.
“Hey, I was trying to catch up with you after work,” he said.
“Sorry, I had a follow up appointment with the doctor,” she lied. “What’s up?”
“Thought we might wanna strategize about the investigation. It’s a big one.”
Kyla dropped her towel and collapsed to her bed. “Sure, I guess.”
“Are you sure you’re--”
“Do not ask me if I’m okay, Danny Isaacson.”
“All right, all right, don’t get your feathers ruffled. It’s just not like you to be so laid back on an investigation.”
“I know. I’ll do better. Be thinking about it tonight and we’ll get started tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He paused and she could hear that he wanted to say more.
“See you tomorrow,” she said firmly before she hung up.
She didn’t have a problem letting a man know that she wasn’t interested, but the thing was, she would have been open to it not long ago. For Danny it had been less than a week ago that she was flirting with him. How could she explain that she wasn’t interested now?
After a mostly sleepless night, she wasn’t exactly in the mood for enthusiasm when Danny met her at the station doors.
“I got us a lead,” he said, his southern accent deepening as it always did when he was excited. “Come on in and look at this.”
She glanced at her watch. “How do you have a lead this early? I haven’t even had my coffee yet.”
“I was working on it last night,” he said. “You know, like you said.”
“Oh. Right.”
He looked sideways at her. “You come up with anything?”
“No, sorry.” Kyla looked down, pretending to check her phone. “I...fell asleep.”
“Did you? You sure don’t look like you did.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly. “That’s helpful. Tell me what you found.”
“This.” He handed her a folder. It was fairly thick with police reports. “There aren’t any other instances of violence, but there has been a string of break ins at universities over the past few weeks. They’ve all had items stolen, but the items have been pretty minor.”
Kyla stopped and poured a cup of coffee, then lightened it to blonde and gave it a heaping helping of sugar. Danny made a face and poured his own cup, adding just enough cream to turn it from jet black to mahogany.
“Don’t know why you bother putting coffee in your sugar,” he said as she flicked through the reports.
She didn’t answer. The evidence was there, but what good was it? She rubbed her forehead. On the other hand, what had Tulimad been looking for? She knew that the Seeban army came to Earth for weaponry, but they wouldn’t have found that in a university lab. The weapons must have been only part of the plan. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
“What were they looking for?” she muttered under her breath.
“That’s just it,” Danny answered. “I don’t have a clue what all of this stuff adds up to.”
She glanced up at him, wondering why he sounded so cheerful.
“But I know someone who does,” he finished with a smile. “I faxed him the list, and he’s gonna get back with us sometime today.”
“That’s fast,” she said, surprised.
“Yeah, well, he’s the smart one in the family,” Danny said. “If there’s a common thread, he’ll find it.”
“You’re smart too, Danny.”
He grinned down at her. “Coming from you, that means a lot.”
Damn. Why had she said that? She dropped the file onto her desk and began to catalogue the thefts.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said after about an hour. She’d been googling the items stolen and they didn’t seem to add up to anything.
“Not to me either,” Danny admitted. “But Steve will--” His computer suddenly dinged. “Speak of the devil,” he said. “Come sit on this side, so he can see us both.”
Kyla moved around, aware of how close she was to Danny. He answered the call and a man with the same dark blonde hair
appeared on the screen. “Hey there, big brother,” he said cheerfully.
“Hey, kid. This your partner?”
“Yeah. Kyla Dean, this is my brother Steven Isaacson. Steve, this is Officer Dean.”
“Kyla is fine,” she said, giving Danny’s brother a smile. “What do you think of the list?”
“Well,” Steve said, rubbing his chin. “It’s pretty weird.”
“That doesn’t help,” Danny informed him. “I was just talking up how smart you were.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t know,” Steve replied indignantly. “I said that it was weird.”
“What makes it weird?” Kyla asked.
“The ingredients haven’t ever been combined before,” he said. “Not by any American or European company anyway. So it can’t be someone trying to duplicate anything. What’s weird is that they add up to be pretty lethal.”
Danny’s face grew serious. “Lethal? Are you sure?”
“Positive. But I don’t know how worried the cops need to be, because they’d only be lethal to cats. I don’t think it would do much to a human. Not without additional components anyway.”
Steven stopped talking. “Officer Dean? Are you alright?”
Kyla gripped the edge of Danny’s desk. “Yes, fine. What would it do to cats? I mean, I know you said it would be lethal, but...”
“It wouldn’t be a pleasant death,” Steven said cautiously. “I guess it would compare to strychnine poisoning, but slower.”
“Is there an antidote?” Kyla asked tightly.
“No,” Steven said. “One could probably be developed, but until there are clinical trials--”
“Of dead cats?” Her voice rose. “That’s sick!”
“Do you think you could start trying to counteract it?” Danny asked, seeing Kyla’s breathing grow quicker.
“I don’t know, Dan. I’ve got--”
“Come on, man. I helped you move.”
“Five years ago!” Steve sighed. “Fine. I’ll look into it. I’ve gotta get back to work. Good luck, you two.”
Kyla pushed herself back from the desk when the call ended. “I’m going to talk to Evans,” she said in response to Danny’s questioning look. “Wait down here.”
“No way in hell,” he said indignantly, chasing after her. “When are you going to tell me what’s really going on?” he asked as the elevator doors closed behind them.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on. You know more about this than you’re telling me. Why?”
Kyla chewed on her lower lip. “I...can’t tell you. I have an idea, but I’d rather you let me work on it on my own.”
“So you can take another header out of a window? What kind of partner do you take me for?”
“I didn’t land on my head, Danny!”
“And you’re not working this on your own, Kyla!”
She sighed and pushed past him when the elevator doors opened. Danny’s teeth were clenched, but he backed her up to the Captain. Kyla left with the answer she wanted.
******
Kyla tapped her fingers on the desk as she read the short, poorly spelled text on her burner phone. She had to answer calmly; too much eagerness would look suspicious. She was already two days past her deadline for meeting Nameer, someone was working on a way to mass murder felines, and her partner was breathing down her neck. Calm was a little hard to come by.
“I’ll be at Level 12 tomorrow night,” she replied. “Guess we could meet up there.”
The reply was much quicker than hers had been. “See you in the alley behind it. Midnight.”
Her lips quirked as she texted back in the affirmative. How very cliché.
“Taking a few steps back, technology wise?” Danny asked, putting a cup of coffee on her desk.
She thrust the phone into the pocket of her jacket. “Mine got wet.”
“Looks fine to me.”
Damn. She’d left it charging.
“This is getting old, Kyla,” Danny said, his voice equal parts annoyed and hurt. “If you don’t want me to be part of this investigation, just say so. I’m happy to request a new partner. Especially if this is because of...because of what happened at the hospital.”
She looked at him blankly. “What happened at the hospital?” she repeated.
Danny huffed out a bitter half laugh. “Clearly it’s burned into your memory.”
“Oh...the kiss?” She honestly hadn’t thought about it lately. Danny had pulled back after she refused to tell him why she was so worried about his brother’s information and all she could really focus on was finding out who needed the toxin and whether they knew about Khaytab. “No, it’s not that. I mean, I’m not planning on going after you for harassment.”
“Good to know.” He sat down across from her. “But that didn’t answer my question. Do you want me off of this investigation?”
More than anything, but she couldn’t tell him that. “No,” she lied. “I’ve got a lead. Actually, two of them.” Kyla reasoned that a lie to keep him safe wasn’t as bad as other types of lies. “I’ve gotten two hits on our story about the ingredient. They both want to meet tomorrow night. Why don’t we split up?”
“Or why don’t we meet them both together at different times?”
“Because I’m afraid that two of us would scare them off,” Kyla answered with total honesty this time. “You said it yourself. The other thefts were nonviolent. We have no reason to believe that this one won’t be.”
Something flashed in his eyes, but he nodded. “Sure thing. Just tell me where to go. And where you’re going to be.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. It was procedure. “I’ll be in Level 12,” she said. “On the roof, actually.”
“Isn’t that kind of crowded? A nightclub?”
“Hey, it was thief's choice. What could I do?”
That night, just before 11, Kyla stationed herself in the alley so she could be sure to see her target approach. Her hoodie was pulled up around her ears to keep the cold wind out and her heart was racing. The last time she’d encountered a member of the Seeban army, she hadn’t come out so well. She hadn’t had a 12 gauge shotgun then either, though. Those were pretty much guaranteed to put anything down.
It was past midnight when she saw a figure approach. Tall, broad shouldered, moving with confidence and purpose...
“Danny?”
“Hey there,” he said. “Got tired of the wild goose chase, so I thought I’d come find you.”
“It wasn’t a--”
“Yeah right. I checked your phone. There was never another contact. Now, you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on, or I’m going straight to the Captain about this. Hell, I’ll go straight to the Commissioner.”
“Shhh!” The side door to the alley was opening. Kyla stepped forward. “Eric?”
The man grinned at her. “That’s me.”
She heard Danny expel his breath in disgust. The man was high as a kite.
“Let’s get this done,” Eric said cheerfully. “I’m nearly out of the good stuff.”
“Oh yeah?” Danny asked. “What makes it better than what I’m getting?”
Eric gave a high pitched laugh. “Everything. I used to fuck with it all. Pot, heroin, meth...none of does what this does. It’s like....” He paused, groping for words to explain his bliss. “I can finally see. But what I see doesn’t matter. I’m part of everything and it’s all a part of me. And all I have to do to get it is get these guys what they want. Just little ingredients. Like what you’ve got.”
She hadn’t even told him that she had it, but he was grinning companionably at her.
“And what do I get for it?” she asked bluntly.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, right.” Eric patted his pockets for a few moments and then pulled out a stack of bills. “Take it. Not sure how much it is, but they said people would like it. I would have. Before.”
“You don’t want money now?” Kyla asked as she took the s
tack. It had to be close to 25,000 dollars. She’d heard that some divisions out west were working on a string of bank robberies. Money, weapons, toxins...the things Khaytab and Seeba didn’t have. The things Seeba was desperate for.
“Nah. What would I use it for?” Eric shrugged. “They take care of me.”
“Who are “they”?” Danny asked. “Maybe I want in on this.”
Eric only shrugged again. “Can’t remember his name right now.”
“Is it Tulimad?” Kyla asked, making Danny stare at her.
“Nah,” the man answered lazily. “It’s like that though, weird sounding. His eyes are weird too. Orange. They stare right into you. And his tattoos...those things get into my head.” He fumbled through his pockets again and came up with a small square. He placed it on his tongue and his face went back to its affable calm.
“His tattoos? Did he say where he’s from? Is he Seeban?” Kyla demanded.
“Hey, yeah, that sounds familiar. Yeah, I think that’s what he said. Seeban. Yeah.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Danny asked in a low voice.
Kyla didn’t take the time to answer. “Do you want to stay here?” she asked. “I have to--”
“Hang on,” Eric said. “I gotta call them. You can stay and see ‘em for yourself.”
Kyla’s heart was pounding. She drew back into the shadows as Eric pulled something out of his pocket.
Danny followed. “Kyla!”
“Danny, I don’t have time to explain! Just...do you believe in other worlds?”
Her partner stared down at her. “Other...are you sure you’re not taking whatever our little friend is on?”
Eric held a device up and pushed a button. A shrill call made Kyla and Danny clap their hands over their ears. It didn’t seem to affect Eric, who was still grinning. For a moment, nothing happened. Danny had just relaxed when a shimmering blue light veiled everything behind Eric.
“What the--” he began.
The light solidified and four men stepped out of it. Kyla recognized them instantly as Seeban. Tattoos climbed their arms and wrapped around their necks and their eyes were cold.
Realm Shifters Page 5
