“No police?” I said.
“No police,” she said. “No way. I’ve been down that road too.”
What else could we do? I guess we had to trust her. It was her house after all.
“So you stay here, call in your favors, and the rest of us … what?” said Dan. “Wait with you?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “We shouldn’t all split up, but we can’t all stay here. I think the least risky thing to do is for the rest of us to stick together and get out of here. Brigit can follow when she’s done doing whatever it is she’s going to do.”
Nobody said anything.
“Okay?” I said.
Everyone nodded, said yeah-ish things. Shell shocked. Every one of us.
“Last question,” I said. “In town or out?”
“Not even a question,” said Dan. “In town. We leave Pittsburgh, and they’ll nuke us.”
“Who’s ’they’?”
“I dunno,” said Dan. “There’s always a ’they’. Plus, we have you. Your tech works with really low levels of magic, so it’s always good. You’re our ace in the hole.”
Brigit sniggered. “You said ’hole’.”
“Wow,” said Gwen. “Just, wow.”
I looked down at Babd. “Any objections?” I said.
“No,” said the dog.
I noticed the look on Dan and Brigit’s faces.
“Oh, guys, this is Babd. Say Hi.”
They did. So did Babd. Okay then.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
The four of us limped around the side of the mansion while Brigit got out her phone. My ears were straining, listening for the sirens that I knew had to be coming at any time. But they didn’t. We piled into my car and headed toward the city like nothing had ever happened.
Chapter 6
We passed a bunch of cars on the way into the city and got passed by just as many. I kept expecting sirens or to have people pointing out of their cars and looking at us. The universe must know when you’ve been a part of something horrible, right? Apparently it doesn’t.
Everyone around us just kept on keeping on.
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“Somewhere safe,” said Dan. “Out of the way.”
“Is there actually somewhere safe?”
“Where would the most amount of residual environmental iron exist?” said Babd.
That was a good question.
“Probably in one of the old steel mills,” said Gwen. She got out her phone.
Dan was in the back seat sucking on a Gatorade that we’d gotten when I stopped for gas. I had a pile of questions for him about magic now that I’d never thought to ask, but I figured it wasn’t the best time. Or maybe him not being at his best was the best time.
“So, Dan,” I said. “That ever happened to you before?”
“You mean did a crazy bitch ever try to murder me and a friend because she thought we killed her boss before?”
“No. What you did.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yeah, that.”
He took a long drag on the Gatorade.
“A couple of times. It’s a well-known effect.”
“Any idea how it works?”
“How the hell should I know?” he said.
“Is it preventable?” I said.
“Sure. That’s what you train for. You build up a tolerance against it over time, like drinking. When you first start out, you could maybe sling that much power, but it would just fry you.”
“And that’s what happened to you? Just out of practice?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I hadn’t had a drink in a while, and I reached for the Everclear.”
“Don’t do it again,” I said.
“No shit.”
“Guys and, uh, dogs?” said Gwen. “I think I found a place. 31st Street Studios. It’s an indoor film studio in the Strip. It’s in an old steel plant, and it’s closed for construction.”
“So it probably has somewhere I can lay down,” said Dan.
“And heat, and electricity and bathrooms,” I said. It would probably be empty on a Saturday night. It was in the Strip. I owed Gwen an explanation of that whole thing, seeing as how she’d just had the shit kicked out of her because of it.
“It’s worth checking out,” said Gwen.
We agreed.
* * *
We drove past the place three times before I was convinced there was no one there. There were some cars in the lot, but I saw people parking then heading down to the bars and restaurants. I took an alley that ran behind the place. The whole area was really big, a bunch of old steel fabrication buildings. Long, low warehouses that were once home to one of the big manufacturers, probably U.S. Steel. And now they were using the space to make movies and do special effects.
There was only one car in the lot behind the place, off the alley, and it was booted.
I parked, and we got out.
We walked up to what looked like a rear business entrance. Inside the window, I could see a reception desk. The lighting looked like “maintenance only” and strongly suggested that no one was in there.
For the hell of it, I tried the door, but of course it was locked.
A lot of people think that locks are there to keep the bad guys out. That’s not true. A well placed kick or two will blow normal knob-and-bolt locks right through a door frame. I mean, they’ll prevent your casual intruder just because they are a slight hassle. But they aren’t there to actually keep you safe from a determined opponent or to prevent someone from breaking in while you’re gone.
Locks are there to let you know after the fact that someone has gone through the door who shouldn’t have.
If we wanted to hole up here at least for the night, the best thing to do would be to get inside without tripping any alarms or breaking any locks.
One of the things I had on tap for Fox would have helped. It wouldn’t work tonight, but it would be possible once the AI was in place. Fox had sensors based on magical properties, and he would be able to scan the shape of the tumblers in the lock and make me a key. Of course, even if I did that here, there would be a security system to contend with that was most likely set to alarm if the door opened, key or not.
“Dan,” I said. “You ever done anything like this before? Ideas?”
“I’m fried,” he said.
“Gwen?”
“I’m a good girl, Lincoln,” she said and kind of gave me a look. I tried to give it back, but I didn’t even really know what it was.
“Bide a moment,” said Babd.
“Bide?”
“Please do not let this animal go. I enjoy it. I will be back shortly.”
“Um, okay?”
I knelt down. Babd looked at me for a moment, then something shifted in her gaze. Her face relaxed.
“Babd?”
Nothing.
Okay. She was gone.
Several minutes passed. We tried to look casual. I scratched the dog’s head. It seemed to like it.
“Lincoln,” said Dan. “What’s the deal with the dog?”
“I’m not completely sure. But my best guess is that she’s not the dog. It’s some kind of being or creature or I-don’t-know-what that isn’t native to Earth. Or our reality. I’m not sure. But wherever it’s from, it can inhabit dogs. Any idea what that might be, oh expert of Arcane Lore?”
“Nope,” said Dan. “That sounds pretty fucked up.”
“Not exactly what I’d call it,” I said.
“I like her,” said Gwen.
I did too. I wondered if I’d feel the same way if Babd had inhabited goats or fish. As I’d come to realize in the last two days, dogs were apparently a trigger point for me.
We kept waiting.
“I’m getting a little antsy,” said Dan.
“Follow me,” said Babd. She was back.
The dog trotted off along the lengthy rear face of the building. Most of the back of the place had been renovated, w
ith a new brick facade and nice windows. About thirty yards down though, it was more like the old industrial look. Dirty concrete, old brick, rusted steel and crummy windows with milky glass. One had a small hole in it from what was probably a BB gun.
“This window has no wires extending to it and is now unlocked.”
“Now?”
It sat a little higher than the rest of the windows, and I had to get on tiptoe to touch the bottom corner of it. Although I’m average height, things like this make me feel short.
Dan reached up, easily grabbed it and pulled. The window swung outward on a set of nearly bound hinges. He gave me a huge, triumphant grin. Asshole.
“Any idea what the police response time is around here?” I said.
“About two minutes. It’s Saturday night in the Strip,” said Gwen. “There are cops all over Smallman.”
“So let’s take a drive,” I said.
“Clever,” said Dan.
We walked back to the car, hopped in and fired it up. We went a few blocks down the alley, turned left on Liberty because Penn was one way here and made a full circle that took about five minutes. No sirens. No one running around waving torches or pitchforks.
We parked and went back to the window which was still, of course, open.
“So Dan,” I said. “Levitation spell? Springy feet?”
“I’ve got nothing. I could lift us with raw power, but I don’t think that’s going to work here.”
“Old fashioned way,” said Gwen. “Lincoln, get on the ground.” Another look.
I laughed and got down on all fours. Dan used me like a step and was able to get his whole arm over and through. He struggled to get himself in. I had to stand up and push.
“Sue me,” he said from inside. “I’m in terrible shape.”
I got back down. Gwen went next. She’s tall and strong, and I think she used to run a lot. She was up and in before I knew it.
I got back up and turned to Babd.
“Okay, girl.”
She came over to me, and I picked her up.
Gwen poked her upper half out of the window.
“Pass her up,” she said. As I lifted Babd over my head, the dog started to squirm.
“Sorry!” said Babd. “Reflex!”
Gwen finally got hold of her and pulled her inside.
I looked up.
“Am I just going to jump and someone grab me?” I said. “I don’t think that’s going to end well.”
Dan poked his head out of the window. He pointed behind me to the left.
“There’s a bunch of packing crates over there. You could just stack a few of them and climb in.”
I looked around. There were several crates that would be perfect for such a thing.
“Did you just notice those right now,” I said, “or did you see them before I got down on the ground and had you guys walk on my back?”
“Uh, maybe,” he said and ducked back inside.
I stacked a few of the crates and was able to easily get myself in the window.
We all stood in a darkened machine and storage room. I could make out a water heater and electrical box. On the floor, something moved. I looked more closely, and once my eyes had adjusted to the darkness a bit, I could see a large rat. It lay on its side and twitched every now and then.
“My vessel,” said Babd.
“I thought you said you were only compatible with dogs.”
“That is accurate,” she said. “The incompatibility results in damage, not an inability to be used.”
“You used this rat to unlock the window?”
“I did,” she said.
There was a smear of blood on the floor, and the front of the rat’s face was wet and dark.
“If it’s not going to recover,” I heard myself say, “you should kill it.”
“Hey Florence Lincolngale, it’s just a rat,” said Dan.
“Babd,” I said, “will it recover?”
“It will not.”
“Then please kill it,” I said.
“Very well.”
The dog stood over the rat. Her head darted forward, and she made an almost comic-book-like chomp sound. She pulled her head back and observed. The rat moved again. She hit it twice more. It stopped moving.
“Thank you,” I said.
“It’s. A. Rat.” said Dan.
Gwen grabbed a box of pencils off a storage shelf and emptied it. She opened a roll of toilet paper and lined the box with it. Using a little wad of paper, she scooped the rat into the box. I watched her lips form silent words.
“I thanked her for helping us,” she said, and gave Dan a look that dared him to say anything else.
He found the door.
We went out cautiously at first. There may have been a janitor or something walking around. I didn’t see anything that looked like motion sensors or cameras. We were in an office hallway, lit only by maintenance fixtures at the ends. It was a big place, and I figured we could find some interior space with no windows where we could hole up. After a couple minutes of walking around, my constant fear of being discovered started to fade.
“Babd,” I said. “Did you see anyone around in here when you were scouting?”
“No,” she said, “but I did not search the entire building.”
We passed a number of large heavy doors with labels like “LG INT 01” and some hallways that lead to even more doors. I gave up trying those after we found that the first few were locked.
“So,” said Gwen, “if anyone catches us in here, we need to pretend to be drunk and trying to find our way out.”
“Smart,” said Dan.
“I thought you said you were a good girl?” I said.
“Well,” said Gwen, “a good girl is always prepared.”
Okay.
We eventually came to one of the larger frames whose door had been removed and rested against the opposite wall. Long strips of heavy clear plastic hung in the doorway, providing a walk-through barrier. We went through into a large industrial studio space.
Construction dust was everywhere. It looked like the kind of place where you would film a warehouse shootout scene. I was really hoping that we wouldn’t be featuring ourselves in one of those tonight.
It was a little cool but not unpleasant. I looked toward the far end of the space and realized that it was much bigger than I’d originally thought. About forty yards down, it took a left into what was probably another space about as large as this one.
Babd trotted off into the semi-darkness.
Like many warehouses, it had a row of ventilation skylights along each side of the roof. Several of them were open. The city lights outside made the dirty windows glow pink.
A few minutes later, Babd returned.
“Come this way,” she said.
“This place is cool,” said Dan. “I want to live here.”
We followed Babd toward the far end of the space. In a corner, cordoned off by a bunch of shelving, someone had made a little office/waiting area. Two couches and a couple of chairs were covered by dusty sheets. Someone had laid out a large carpet. There was a little fridge.
Dan opened it.
“Jackpot,” he said.
He pulled out two beers, popped the cap off of one and chugged it. He rolled up one of the sheets from a couch, cracked the other beer and plopped himself down.
“You want to check on Brigit and let her know where we are?” I said.
He took another drink and dug out his phone. The blue glow lit his face, the brightest thing around.
Gwen walked toward an end table and reached for the lamp on it.
“I think we’d better not,” I said.
“Yeah, you’re right. I guess we don’t really need it.” My eyes were quickly adjusting to the dull pink glow from the windows in the ceiling high above.
“She’s done and on her way,” said Dan.
“That was fast,” I said.
I saw Dan shrug in the low light. “She’s got some juic
e.”
He put the second beer bottle on the floor, and it fell over empty.
“Peace out,” he said. He put his feet up on the couch and closed his eyes.
Gwen was fiddling with something on the ground. I saw her phone light up. She had brought a charger and was plugging in.
“If I’m not going home tonight,” she said, “I need to take care of a couple things. I’m not going home tonight, right?”
“I don’t think you should,” I said. “Do what you need to do.”
She used her hand and one of the sheets to brush some of the dust away from a corner of the carpet, then sat cross-legged in the newly cleaned spot. Her face lit up too, and her thumbs started flashing across the bottom of her phone.
I wondered who she was talking to and about what. Her parents? Some guy? Roommate? A neighbor who could check on her place? She was awesome and had a great family, so maybe it was one of them. I estimated the number of people she probably kept in daily contact with in the dozens, with hundreds more she could talk to on a moment’s notice without missing a beat.
It could be anyone. It was probably more than one person. It was not like I should care.
But the one person I knew for sure that she wasn’t talking to was me.
“I’m going to take a walk,” I said. She gave a silent nod without looking up.
I started to wander around the large open floor. It was huge. You could play two simultaneous games of football here and not run into each other. There was a click click click of claws on the concrete floor, and I turned to see that Babd had followed me.
Against one of the interior walls, we found a set of metal service stairs that led up to a system of scaffolds and walkways. They probably used them to set cameras and other equipment for specialty shots. Staying within the main area, we found more and more sets of stairs, leading up nearer the ceiling. A catwalk ran around the entire upper perimeter.
I’m not a huge fan of heights, but the railing was solid and had strong meshwork below it. The dust from the construction didn’t seem to have made it up here, and the diamond plate floor panels were dry and clean. Babd and I followed the catwalk to the far end of the building. A set of large, dirty windows faced the gable. The mechanisms on them were old, and I found one that was broken. I was able to force it open against the rust on the hinges.
Lincoln, Fox and the Bad Dog Page 8
