Lady Superior

by Alex Ziebart

  Jane reclaimed the briefcase and slammed it shut. “Then let’s consider this go-time. Kristen, Todd, you two can go ahead. Gabby, Cole, hang around a little longer. Let’s talk drops and extractions. Our earpieces won’t be active until I’ve left this floor, so I’ll give you a heads up when we’re live.”

  Eager to leave, Kristen jumped from her chair. That room had felt claustrophobic—Gabby and Cole were unknown factors, and the deal with Nenet made her extra twitchy. She went straight for the elevator and could feel Todd’s imposing presence at her back. Once inside, Kristen spoke with the same urgency. “I have a problem. We need to talk fast. I think I’m being followed, and this ride down might be the only alone time I have.”

  Todd looked down at her, his brows furrowed so deeply they became canyons. “What’s wrong?”

  “The changelings have my sister. They want a trade—Emma for the ring. If we get this ring away from Delphi, and you get your hands on it first, I need you to give it to me, not Jane.”

  “Oh, shit.” Todd looked down and away. He slammed an elbow into the elevator wall. “You got my family away from them. Why can’t you get yours?”

  “Because they learned from last time. She’s surrounded, guns at her head, in the middle of an open area. They’ll see me coming.”

  “You convinced me to leave Delphi. You convinced me to sign up with Temple.” He looked at her again and met her eyes. “I need Temple right now, Kristen. I need this job. I can’t lose it in one day. I know we had an agreement, but I can’t break it before I’ve made a dime. If I do that, I’ve thrown away both of my chances.”

  “I’m not asking you to throw anything away.”

  “Then what is this? You think Temple will keep paying us if we give this ring to the people who stole it in the first place?”

  Kristen shook her head. “It isn’t like that. I’m not going to let them manipulate me. Temple’s going to get the ring, and I’m going to take these people down. They want me to come alone, so all I need is a head start. I’ll call Jane and tell her what’s happening once I’m on the road. I can’t risk them blowing this—I don’t know those mercenaries. How far will they go? Will they stop at Delphi? Will they try to take me out? Chase me down? I just don’t know. My plan is I get there first, I make the trade, get Emma out of harm’s way, and then the cavalry arrives.”

  Todd cursed through clenched teeth. The curse seemed to calm him; he gathered himself. “Alright. I owe you. Is there anything more I can do?”

  “Your teleport was pretty flashy the night I met you. They’ll see it coming. You can’t get close faster than anyone else.”

  “I’ve known about what I can do since I was a boy. I’ve been practicing for a long time. I’m only flashy when I want to be, and I wanted the changelings to follow me. I thought it might draw them away from my wife and kids. Obviously, that didn’t work.”

  “So you can do it without the fireworks?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kristen felt a thrill of excitement. A smile came to her unbidden—she could actually do this. “And you can take things with you when you move, right? Your clothes, your gun, the ring. Can you move people?”

  “It’s harder, but I can.”

  “When I make the trade, can you grab Emma and go?”

  “Emma’s your sister’s name?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Perfect.”

  The elevator doors slid open. Kristen and Todd stepped out and parted ways, off in the direction of their downtown quadrants.

  Chapter 14

  Hours crawled. Kristen spent most of her first shift on a bench along the rippling Milwaukee River. Though downtown in the heart of the city, she found the Riverwalk a place of simple serenity, absent of the sounds of the city, only the occasional morning jogger suggesting there was anyone else for miles but her. She stared at her phone in silence and ate breakfast to-go from a café. Kristen expected a message or a phone call from Bernice at any moment. She hadn’t heard anything from them yet, and she couldn’t help but try to run what would happen at the scrapyard through her mind. The Emma she’d seen in that garage with Nenet wasn’t the Emma, she was sure. Kristen knew if she put herself in Nenet’s shoes, she wouldn’t have risked that. The real Emma, her sister, must have been somewhere else—which, Kristen decided, was perfect. While she made the trade, Todd would blink into wherever the real Emma was being held, and blink out before anyone could react.

  Kristen flexed her fingers. She balled them into a white-knuckled fist—a grip that could crush steel—and slowly relaxed. For once, there was real risk involved in being Maiden Milwaukee. Thrilling and terrifying. It meant the things she did had meaning. It also meant people could get hurt—people she loved.

  She looked out over the river and took a drink of her iced latte—toffee nut—and watched an empty tour boat float past. Too early for tours, but never too early for advertisement: a banner hanging off the side announced Sunday Bloody Mary River Tours. Kristen rolled her eyes. The distraction didn’t last long—her mind snapped right back to the problems at hand, perhaps even eased along by the words Bloody Sunday. Cole had been confident Delphi would show, but Kristen had to admit, she seriously doubted it herself.

  “Change places.”

  Jane’s sudden, too-loud voice in her earpiece made Kristen jump. “Can you be a little less Mad Hatter next time?”

  Gabriel’s deep singing voice came through a second after. “A very merry unbirthday—”

  “Shut the fuck up, Gabby.” Cole.

  Jane cut back in, affecting a deep, formal tone. “All agents, proceed to the next quadrant. That meet your standards, Kris?”

  Kristen hopped from her bench and set off to the southwestern quadrant. “A-plus banter, guys. Talking to ourselves isn’t weird at all. I’m sure nobody will find any of this suspicious.”

  Todd grunted.

  Moving away from the river, the reality of being in a city returned to her. Traffic had picked up for the morning, though Sunday lacked the Monday through Saturday chaos. She caught a glimpse of the Allen Bradley Clock Tower to the south. Not even 8 a.m. yet. If her mental math was right, she had until 4 p.m. to get the ring to Nenet.

  I’ll give Jane until noon. If Delphi doesn’t show up by noon, I’m hunting her down myself.

  Kristen put her head down and continued to her quadrant. The area of the city framed by 10th and State Street could have been described as Milwaukee’s civic quarter: the courthouse, the county jail, and other municipal buildings filled the skyline with their neo-classical limestone columns. She checked her map; if it was later in the day, she supposed she could have burned time at the Public Museum or Central Library, but neither would be open for a couple of hours yet.

  “Hey, Cole?” she whispered over the headset.

  “Sup?”

  “Did you find anything to do during your last shift?”

  “Yeah. Act like a tourist. Look at your map a lot. Take a bunch of pictures. You’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks.”

  Kristen performed the act of the gawking tourist, taking pictures throughout the civic center. In the process, she realized she’d never really paid attention. She’d been there countless times before, but always passed through without so much as a glance. For all the grief she’d heard people give the smartphone generation, she realized she never bothered to enjoy the scenery until she had a camera in her hand. The architecture offered a vision of ancient Greece brought into modernity, and the waters of the Spirit of Polonia fountain splashed a brilliant, rippling blue. Unfortunately, not even the thundering fountain could drown out the rumble of machinery ventilating the underground parking. As pretty as the area might have been, it was no place for peace and quiet.

  The more time Kristen spent there, the less comfortable she felt. In addition to the courthouse, the police department’s headquarters and the county sheriff’s office were among the municipal buildings. Police cruisers swarmed the
immediate area like bees in their hive. She shivered as her eyes wandered across the sea of parked cruisers. If Delphi decided to strike right there…

  Kristen shook her mind clear and dismissed the line of thought. Before long, she grew bored of the same few blocks and wandered outside her quadrant and onto Marquette University’s campus. She’d only been there a few minutes before Jane came over the earpiece. “Kristen, you’ve wandered too far.”

  “You’re tracking us?” Kristen whispered.

  “Of course I am. If something happens, I need to know where all of you are.”

  Todd grumbled. “I felt better about this before I knew you were tracking us.”

  “You get used it,” Gabby chimed in. “She’s right, though. Something goes down, we know where to go.”

  Kristen walked back and stopped just within the borders of her quadrant. In a small act of petty protest, she found a bench and sat.

  She texted to Bernice’s burner. Anything?

  Maybe. Tara’s doing some technomagic or whatever. Will have something for you soon.

  Yes, please.

  Kristen’s phone rang in her hand and, startled, she jumped. She peered at the number and didn’t recognize it. Fingers of fear gripped her heart. Had Nenet’s people seen the message? She scanned the road and glanced over her shoulder. “Hello?”

  “Hey.”

  Kristen sighed in relief at the sound of Gabby’s voice. “Gabby? Where did you get my number?”

  “Jane gave it to me. This is your…work phone, right? I asked for it after you and Todd bailed, got you both just in case.”

  “Yeah, alright. Something wrong?”

  “Nah, nothing’s wrong. I wanted to make sure you’re holding up. This hurry-up-and-wait business is old news for me and Cole, but I don’t think you’ve done it before. I was nervous as hell my first time.”

  Kristen checked her surroundings again. “I’m doing alright. Thanks for checking, I guess.”

  “Want to grab a coffee or something? Not gonna lie, I’m tired of shopping.”

  “Hey, at least you can do that. I’m staring at the ass-end of a jail.”

  “Let’s grab coffee, then.”

  Kristen wrinkled her brow. “Aren’t we supposed to stay separated?”

  “You’ll be northwest next, right? I’m southeast. There’s a café in the middle, I think we can get away with it for a few minutes.”

  Kristen placed a hand over her mouth while she thought it over. Gabby might have been making an honest offer to hang out. Or it might be Nenet laying a trap—some sort of threatening reminder. If the former, she supposed that wouldn’t be too bad. If the latter…

  I’m on a team. I have to make sure he’s okay.

  She moved her hand. “Text me the address and I’ll be there.”

  “Will do. Hey, I’m pretty close to it, want me to order for you?”

  “If you want, sure. Iced low-fat toffee nut latte, no cream, light ice.”

  She could hear the shit-eating grin on his face. “Iced toffee nut latte. Cool.”

  “Maybe I’ll order it myself.”

  “Nah, I got it. See you in a bit.”

  He hung up. She stared at the phone until the address arrived, then she set off.

  Moving through downtown took longer than it had earlier in the morning—not only was the sidewalk full of foot traffic, but red lights at crosswalks weren’t suggestions anymore. As she went, she fought with herself not to tug off her wig. The temperature had risen with the sun and was only getting worse. The wig was stifling, as were the double-layered clothes. Walking through downtown as Maiden Milwaukee—no, Lady Superior, she reminded herself—would draw more attention than she could ever want, but at least she wouldn’t be so sweaty.

  Kristen found Gabby standing on the sidewalk with a cup in each hand. The café was only a few feet to his right—an outdoor roadside stand rather than a walk-in restaurant. She approached cautiously, already feeling a lance of adrenaline. “Oh, no wonder my GPS didn’t say anything about a café here. I figured it’d be inside.”

  “Oh, yeah. Guess that’d make sense. Maybe they get out of paying rent this way.”

  “They probably pay something. Which one’s mine?”

  He looked at the drinks in his hand as if to think about it, then held one out. “Probably this one.”

  She arched an eyebrow, smirking as she accepted the latte. “Probably?”

  “It all tastes the same to me.”

  “That’s what people say when they’ve only tasted one thing. So…are we seriously only here to waste time?”

  Gabby motioned north with a lean of his head. He turned and walked in that direction, slowly enough to ensure Kristen followed. “That right there’s the Seidel building. If we had more people, I’d keep eyes on it. Maybe put Cole up in The Moderne.”

  Kristen looked west and up at the thirty-story ivory white high-rise apartment complex. She drew a line from its top floor, down to the older, shorter Seidel Tower, and decided he was right. Anyone up there could see everything. Not that there was much to see—the Seidel building was old and not all that pleasant on the eyes. Darkened by age and pollution, its old cream bricks looked urine yellow, and its shoddy attempts at art deco accents didn’t help. “That’s the ugliest building I’ve ever seen.”

  “The Moderne? Really? I like it. I’d live there if I could afford it.”

  “No, the Seidel building.”

  “Oh. Well, yeah. It’s historical or whatever, though.”

  “Milwaukee calls a lot of things historical. Some of them are real pieces of garbage.”

  “Yeah, but history has a lot a garbage. Lots of cool stuff, but a lot of garbage.”

  “Jane would have an aneurysm listening to us.”

  Gabby flashy a toothy smile. “Yeah, she would. Anyway, we’ve get these rocks, but I’ve been taking a look at this place whenever I can get away with it. Cole’s been looking, too. We don’t have enough people to keep eyes everywhere, so I’m doing the best I can.”

  Kristen took a pull of her latte and held it in her mouth. It tasted right, so she swallowed. “What’s the deal with that, anyway? Jane gave me the impression Temple was this big, powerful group. All we have is five guys?”

  “Technically you have three guys. Cole and I are freelance until Michael gets tired of us overcharging him as contractors. We’re the reserves.”

  “Alright, three guys. And two of us are brand new. Doesn’t seem like a powerful organization.”

  Gabby kept his tone light and conversational; no one passing by would think to eavesdrop. “This summer’s been bad. Real bad. The money’s good, because Jane’s calling us up every other day, but I’m starting to feel guilty about it. People are dying, and I’m getting paid. Everybody else is tied up.”

  “What’s going on that I don’t know about?”

  “For one, did you know Jane is doing all this while she has a death curse on her head from another job she’s working on?”

  Kristen peered at him. She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “A death curse?”

  “Yep. That girl hasn’t slept in days. She hides it pretty well.”

  “Is there something I can do to help with that?”

  “Probably not. My sister’s working on it. So’s her girlfriend. She’s new to this, too. Kinda looks like you, actually.”

  Kristen shrugged and looked toward the Seidel building again. They’d pass it soon. “So are we just walking past this place or what?”

  “I figure we—”

  Cole’s voice came over their earpieces. “My stone’s got something. Pointing south.”

  Gabby pulled the stone from his pocket. Kristen, seeing that, retrieved her own. Gabby touched a finger to his earpiece. “I’ve got west.”

  Kristen looked at hers. East. She looked to Gabby. “West? You sure?”

  He held it where she could see it. He was right: west. Kristen checked hers again. East. She touched her earpiece. “Mine says east
. That doesn’t make sense. Gabby’s right next to me.”

  Jane spoke up. “Todd, do you have a direction?”

  “West.”

  “Exactly west?”

  “Yeah.”

  Kristen stared at the stone in her hand and tried to remember their locations in her head. She didn’t need to, because Jane jumped back in. “Cole, you’re in the northeast quadrant, correct?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And yours says south. Gabby, you’re southeast. You’re getting west?”

  “Right now I’m mostly in the middle. But like Kristen said, we’re standing next to each other and we have two different directions.”

  Kristen grabbed Gabby’s arm and pulled him aside, trading places with him. She watched the needle of her compass stone snap the opposite direction—west. Gabby’s stone flipped east. She switched places so hers pointed east again and touched her earpiece. “We just tried switching places. We’re still pointing in opposite directions. So much for your magical MacGuffins.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense.” Jane’s frustration came through the comm loud and clear. “These came straight from the czarownica. They should work. They’re sending you in completely opposite directions?”

  Kristen winced as she asked, “Could she have gone bad?”

  Cole. “The czarownica doesn’t play that game. She picks a side in everything and stays there. Jane, you said there’s more than one ring. Could we be dealing with four of them?”

  “I really hope not.”

  “What’s the plan?” Gabby asked. “If these rocks point to the closest Mu-thing, Kristen and I are right between two of them.”

  “I—” Jane stuttered for a second. In that instant, her sleep deprivation became clear. “Cole, Gabby, you’re the boots on the ground. What do you want to do?”

  Cole jumped in. “This might be a trap, but if the four-ring theory is legitimate, we don’t have time to sweep as a unit. Everyone, follow your stones and report their final location. Get visuals of your target if possible, but do not engage without my explicit permission. Todd, Kristen, you’ll be receiving drop-point coordinates right now. I don’t want the two of you to get cocky and think you can take whatever you find. The two of you can get to me and Gabby faster than we can get to you. We might need that.”