by L. S. O'Dea
“Give me the details,” he said.
“It’s in the middle of a busy, city street and I don’t mean one run by House Servants or Guards. That section belongs to the Almightys and we have to consider any Servants or Guards in that area as loyal to them.”
“Go on,” he said.
“It’s locked down and guarded by House Servants, not Guards.”
“That’s a problem,” said Trinity. “The Servants would smell Sassy a mile away and they won’t like stray Guards.”
“I can’t think of any way to break into the facility,” said Sassy.
“How many doors? Windows?” he asked.
Sassy shrugged. “I don’t know. I got my information from a guy I met once. We were talking about the different shelters. My mom had been in one and this guy had been in three, Midtown being one of them. He’d said that he’d been lucky to have been there when they still adopted Guards out of that shelter. If he’d been picked up a month later, he’d be dead.”
CHAPTER 41: HUGH
“MAYBE TOWNSEND CAN HELP.” Hugh strode into the living room, Trinity and Sassy behind him. He wasn’t giving up. There had to be another way besides trading himself for Reese. “Where’s Townsend?”
“Take these to your room and share with your brother.” Libby handed her daughter a plate of sandwiches. “Don’t come out until I call you.”
The little girl ran past them down the hallway.
Libby’s eyes narrowed for a moment at Sassy and then she smiled, but it was forced. “I was just getting ready to get him. There’s someone outside. I think he may be with you.” Her voice was calm, but her claws were out.
Libby had good reason to be worried. She and Townsend had a lot at stake. If they were caught giving shelter to him and Trinity they’d be arrested and possibly executed. If the authorities so much as suspected the children were mixed, both Doma and Leelee would be killed. Those in power couldn’t allow any mix-breeds to live.
“Where?” He wasn’t expecting anyone and by the look on Trinity’s face neither was she.
Libby pointed to a door at the back of the house.
“My vision is better.” Trinity pushed in front of him and peeked through the curtains covering the window in the center of the door.
“It’s daylight. I can see fine.” He tried to look outside around her head. She elbowed him in the stomach. “Ouch. Stop doing that.” He glared at Sassy when she snorted, hiding a laugh.
“Then back up.” Trinity stepped away from the curtains, her face relaxed. “It’s Say.”
He’d forgotten all about the little Servant.
“What’s he doing here?” asked Sassy. “Forget I asked. The little pest is always trailing after you.”
Trinity opened the door. Say sat mostly concealed in a tree in the backyard. She waved for him to come inside. He shook his head.
“Will your neighbors notice him?” he asked.
“They might.” Libby’s face paled a little.
“Trinity, you need to get him inside. Now.” They didn’t need this hassle.
“I’m trying.” She turned and looked at Libby. “Is it safe for me to go outside?”
“I’m not sure,” said Libby.
Trinity took a deep breath and glanced around the yard. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Wait.” He grabbed her arm. “We can’t take a chance on someone seeing you. Send Bruno.”
“He’s a Guard. Say won’t listen to him,” said Trinity.
“I’ll go.” Libby walked to the back door. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“Tell him that it’s not safe for us if he hangs around your yard. Someone might see him. If he doesn’t want to come inside then he should wait for me somewhere else. We’ll be going to the Midtown Shelter soon.”
Libby nodded and put on her gloves and hat. Sassy flopped down on the couch as he and Trinity watched Libby through the curtains. The Servant walked into the yard and began weeding the flower beds, taking her time as she made her way to the tree where Say waited. After a few moments Libby brushed the dirt off her hands and came back inside the house. Say slipped from the tree and disappeared into the bushes.
“He’s leaving,” said Libby, not realizing that Say had already gone.
“Thanks...for everything,” he said. “I know we’re putting your family at risk and I promise that we’ll go as soon as we can. Where’s Townsend?”
“In his study.” Libby nodded toward a back room, as she touched her own cheek. “Townsend told me, but I guess I never really believed him.”
He ran his hand across his face, glancing at Trinity out of the corner of his eyes. “As a female, you should believe your mate. Males always know best.” He winked at Libby and laughed, hurrying toward the study before Trinity could claw him.
He stopped at the door, Trinity and Sassy behind him, and knocked. They stepped inside on Townsend’s command. The room was small with a desk, a couch, a few chairs and shelves filled with books and papers.
“Glad to see the three of you awake.” Townsend shoved the papers he’d been reading aside. “Are you hungry? Do you need anything?” His eyes were on Sassy.
Sassy shook her head, a bit nervous with the Almighty’s attention.
“Do you have the building plans for the Midtown Shelter?” asked Hugh.
“No, but I have Bruno.” Townsend stood and paused, his eyes on Hugh. “The treatment wore off fast.”
“I think they skimped on the dosage. You know how cheap the Council can be.”
“I find the exact opposite in my investigations.” Townsend left the room and returned a few minutes later with his Guard. “Please everyone have a seat.” He motioned toward the chairs and couch as he sat behind his desk. “We may be here for a while.”
They all sat. Bruno stared at Hugh.
“We grow hair just like you.” He tapped his cheek. Explaining this to everyone was getting old.
Bruno glanced at Townsend who nodded and said, “Hugh would like to know the layout of the Midtown Shelter.”
“What do you want to know?” The big Guard’s voice was raspy as if from disuse.
“Can you draw the facility?” asked Hugh.
Townsend handed paper and pencil to his Guard and Bruno began sketching.
“Don’t leave anything out. The smallest detail may be what we need.” He stood and leaned over the Guard’s shoulder. “How do you know the place?”
“Lived there,” said Bruno.
“Bruno spent about three weeks there,” said Townsend.
“I didn’t think anyone made it out of there alive anymore.” Sassy looked at Bruno with a bit of respect.
“I wasn’t supposed to.” Bruno looked over at her, his face unreadable as his gaze roamed up and down her frame. “They kept me longer than most. At first, I think it was because I wasn’t handling the place well. The damn Servants like to keep the ones who are scared. I’m sure that’s why they took Skippy before me. He was a rock.” His lips turned up in a snarl.
Useless chatter wasn’t going to free Reese, but losing his temper wouldn’t help either. Guards were easily sidetracked. He needed to keep Bruno focused. “How did you escape?”
Bruno glanced at Townsend who nodded. “I didn’t. One of the Servants who worked there let me go.”
“Why would a Servant help you?” By her tone, Sassy didn’t believe a word Bruno was saying.
“He needed me to do a job for him. His daughter was in a relationship with an Almighty. The Servant wanted me to kill the Almighty.”
“Is the Servant still there?” He began to pace. This was their way inside. A Servant like that could be bribed or blackmailed. “We may be able to—”
“Nah. Libby’s dad died two years ago,” said Bruno.
“Instead of killing me, Bruno learned to love me.” Townsend grinned.
Hugh dropped onto the couch. They were back to having no plan.
Bruno finished the drawing. “This is the main entrance.�
� He tapped the map. “Here’s the back. These are windows, but they’re always locked.”
Hugh studied the drawing. There was nothing that stood out as an easy entry point but he wasn’t giving up. He put the map aside. “Tell me everything about your stay at the shelter.”
“When my friend, Skippy, and I were picked up”—Bruno’s jaw tightened, making his tough face even harder—“we weren’t doing nothing. Just hanging around, but we’d crossed into the park and...it was an Almighty park. We didn’t have no papers. We didn’t belong to no one.”
Hugh had to struggle not to shift away from Bruno as hatred wafted off the Guard in waves.
“We tried to leave but the Almightys’ Guards wouldn’t hear none of that.” He clenched and unclenched his fist. “We should’ve fought, but Skippy said to just go along with them and that everything would be okay.” He glared at Hugh. “It wasn’t.”
He held Bruno’s gaze. He considered apologizing but it seemed wrong somehow, as if an apology from an Almighty would make it right and it wouldn’t. Nothing would.
Bruno took a deep breath, nodded slightly to Hugh and continued, “Anyway, they took us to the Midtown Shelter and shoved us in a cage.” He glanced away. “At least we were together. For a little while anyway.”
“I know this is hard but can you tell me your daily routine?” He didn’t want to force the Guard to relive this but Reese’s life was at stake. He couldn’t do anything to save Skippy but he could save Reese.
“There was no routine. We sat in the cell.” Bruno glared at him, all the hatred flaring back to life. “At night the House Servants would bring us dinner. In the morning they’d make us empty our pail and clean our cells. Then they’d take the one whose time was up.”
“Anything else?” he asked. “Was there a weekly routine like baths or walks?” He needed to know when the Servants and Guards were spread the thinnest.
“We didn’t get none of those. All we did was sit in the cage and freeze. The damn House Servants like it colder than us and I swear they kept it extra cold on purpose.”
“How did you become friends with Libby’s father?” he asked.
“We weren’t exactly friends. It was after they took Skippy. I fought them when they came for him.” Bruno rubbed his fist. “Took out a couple of the Guards too. They had to see a doctor after I got done with them.”
“You took a beating as well,” said Townsend.
Bruno looked at the Almighty, adoration in his eyes. “Yeah, but I’d do it all over again just for the chance to save Skippy.”
Townsend nodded. “I know you would.”
Bruno turned back toward Hugh. “Phelecks, Libby’s father, saw me fight. He waited a few days for my temper to cool and then he approached me.”
“How did he get you out?” he asked.
“One night he came to my cage, unlocked it and then sent me out the back door.”
Hugh leaned back in his chair, trying to figure out how to use this information. “Is there only one House Servant on duty at night?”
“No. Usually, there are four but that night I only saw Phelecks.” Bruno glanced at Townsend. “I think he got them to leave or look the other way. Not sure. Phelecks and me was never friends and he sure wasn’t happy when I didn’t kill Townsend.” He grinned at the Almighty.
“But Libby and I are very happy,” said Townsend. “Very happy indeed.”
Hugh stood and began to pace. “I hate to ask you this but can you tell me where they took the Guards...when their time was up.”
Bruno inhaled deeply, his eyes filling with anger again. “Every morning the Almightys’ Guards would come into the shelter. They was all big and all mean. They’d make the Guard who was gonna be killed walk the hallway. Let us all see who was going. I remember this one young Guard. The poor kid pissed himself he was so scared but they made him walk up and down each aisle, his britches wet.” He looked at Townsend. “There was no reason for that.”
Hugh continued to pace, his mind whirling. The answer was there. He just had to piece it together.
“After the Guard walked the hallways, they took him to a room in the back. We knew what happened there. We could smell it.” Bruno’s eyes moved to each of them as if in challenge. “I’m no coward, but I was terrified as soon as we entered that place. The stench of death was everywhere. I’ve never experienced anything like it before and I hope to never again. Skippy and I knew our fate the minute we stepped through those doors. No one comes to adopt at the Midtown Shelter. There’s no way out but in a bag.”
“You saw the bags.” Hugh stopped pacing. “They drag the...remains past your cells to—”
“Nah. That’s just a saying. They burn the bodies out back in another building. I figure the easiest way to move dead Guards is in bags.”
“They burn them?” Trinity’s tone was horrified.
“After they was dead, yeah.” Bruno gave her an incredulous look. “What else was they supposed to do with so many bodies. They kill a Guard a day there. They can’t bury them all.” He laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Not enough dirt for that.”
“Why are you surprised?” asked Sassy. “They eat your kind.”
“I’m not, I guess. It’s just...I got used to what they did, do to us. I never thought about what happened to anyone else.”
“So, once the Guards were taken to the back room you never saw them again, not even their bodies,” said Hugh.
“Right. The back room and then nothing. We’d smell the burning though and that was almost as bad as the death.” Bruno looked down at his hands. “The days that the fires wouldn’t start were good days. No burning then, but once the fires were fixed the burning would start again and go on and on, until there were no more bodies to burn.” His lips and nose twitched as if he could smell the odor now.
“Where is this back room?” He handed the map to the Guard.
Bruno pointed to a corner on the south side of the building.
“Where is the crematory?” At Bruno’s confused look he added, “The place where they burn the bodies.”
The Guard pointed to an area directly behind the south side of the building by the execution room. Hugh’s eyes met Townsend and they both smiled.
“That’s it,” said Hugh.
Townsend nodded. Trinity and Sassy moved to stare at the map and then glanced at each other, confused.
“There has to be another door where they take the bodies outside.” Hugh pointed to the map. “It’s probably around here.” He turned to Townsend. “What’s near the crematory?”
“An alleyway.” Townsend’s smile grew wider. “And across the street is an office building which I just happen to have the keys to. We can stakeout the place to see if anyone is waiting around the area that shouldn’t be.”
“I don’t want you and your family taking any more risks.” There was no way he was putting those kids in danger. “You’ve done enough already.”
“This is important to us too. Do you think we like living like this?” Townsend’s eyes were hard for the first time since they’d met.
“I understand but at least you still have your family. If they even suspect that you helped me—”
“They won’t know.”
“Once we free Reese, they’ll look into the entire area. Check all the buildings. Your name will come up.”
Townsend laughed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t clear. I don’t have anything to do with that building, at least not on paper.”
“I thought you said you had an office there.”
“No. I have the keys to the building, not an office, the entire building.”
“How? Why?”
“There was an incident a few years back.” Townsend glanced at Bruno. “The incident was actually outside of the building. A garbage man had a heart attack. A new supervisor put someone else on his shift. This new garbage man found a dumpster full of female House Servants. They were all between the ages of nine and seventeen.” His eyes met Hugh’s.
/> “Sex trade.” The words were bitter on his tongue. It’d been going on for years and he’d never understood how they couldn’t catch the people involved.
Townsend nodded. “No proof, but it’d appear that way.”
“What happened to them?” asked Trinity.
“Don’t know. They were taken to a shelter and then nothing. I wanted to interview them but when I visited the shelter where they should’ve gone, the Servant in charge said that they’d never received the females.”
“You Almightys are disgusting,” said Sassy.
“Not just Almightys,” said Bruno. “There are places where Guards and Servants go for these things too.”
“Then you males are disgusting,” corrected Sassy.
Bruno laughed. “We can be.”
“You never found any of them,” asked Hugh. “There had to be a record somewhere. Someone had to know something.”
“I looked. Trust me. The colder the trail, the more I dug, which led me to the building. I began researching the people who rented office space but they seemed legitimate and they all said that part of their rent covered garbage pickup. I decided to talk to the owner of the building.” Townsend leaned forward. “The problem was, I couldn’t find out who the owner was.”
“That’s documented. It has to be. There’s no way the Council would lose the tax money,” Hugh said.
“I know, but it’s buried deep. I was getting close but another story came up and I got distracted.”
“What? I’d think a story on the sex trade would be quite lucrative.”
“It is, but some young, up-and-coming Almighty started telling tales, spouting treason and got himself arrested.” Townsend’s voice was laced with humor. “I was told to write about that instead of chasing a story that’d gone cold.” He shrugged. “I have to follow my orders too and in my spare time...Well, I’ve been busy drumming up stories to keep the rebellion going.”
“Yeah. I can see where that story would be front page news and right up your alley,” he said.
“I’ll get back to the sex trade story.” The humor fled from Townsend’s voice. “It’s important to me and Libby and I was getting close. As I followed the paper trail, someone must’ve realized what I was doing because soon everyone moved out of the building and now, it sits empty and perfect for our use.”
