by Tom Keller
I grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water and sat down on the couch next to Diantha. All I really wanted to do was go home and top off a bottle of tequila. Hey, it'd been that kind of day. But I needed to set a few things in motion before I could return to my not so normal anymore life.
I explained my deal with Meredith for some of Siegfried's time and a few other things I needed, including a discussion about what I could tell Mal. I had the feeling I was gonna want him involved in whatever I was going to be dealing with. Other than that it was pretty simple: I needed Siegfried to make sure Diantha got settled and then give me a few days to figure out my next step and get my mortal life in order. I still wasn't sure where all this was going to lead. Business concluded, and with a kiss from Diantha; I headed back to my car for the drive home.
****
I slept the sleep of the dead. Well, it would have been the sleep of the dead had it lasted a tad longer than only 4 hours. But at least I slept undisturbed. Needless to say I was tired and a little cranky this morning.
I poured fresh coffee into my newly washed Venus brothel cup and sat down at the kitchen table. Slowly inhaling what was in my opinion the mortal realms closest equivalent to nectar of the Gods, I savored my first sip. Then reality set in. Bastard King of the Faeries, now what the hell am I supposed to do? Oh, hell with it, it is what it is. I was gonna have to deal with it no matter what.
A couple other things were bothering me. Where was Bernd? I figured he'd pop up when something new happened. Yesterday had certainly been something new, that's for sure.
"Charlie!" I yelled, standing up to look around for him. Hearing the doggie door I turned to see him coming into the house, his tail wagging away. "Charlie," I asked, have you seen Bernd?"
"No Bernd," he said, and then turned around and went back out to the yard.
I was gonna have to work on his conversation skills. I was about to look for Lucy when I felt something familiar. Looking down, she stopped rubbing against my leg and sat down, just staring at me.
"Have you seen Bernd?" I asked, suddenly feeling like I was in a scene from Doctor Doolittle
She just sat there for a second. "He will come when he is needed," she said and then she, too, headed for the doggie door and into the backyard.
I take it that means I'm on my own. Fine, I thought to myself as I grabbed my cup for a refill. I was just getting the pot ready for next time when my cell phone rang, I looked at the number. "Siegfried, what's up," I said as I answered.
"I know you said you needed a few days, but I thought you'd want to know that your final payment for returning the necklace is ready for you."
"Great," I replied, thinking a few extra bucks in the bank never hurt. "Does that mean Mr. Milagre is back?"
"No, he called me this morning. At his direction it will be at the cage for you to pick up," he answered. "He also said he is most anxious to speak with you when he returns."
"I'd like to speak to him as well. I'll pick it up on my way into work. Thanks."
"You're welcome, oh yes, Diantha is settled in and further arrangements, as discussed, are in progress."
"Sounds good, give me a day or two to complete what I need to do and we can go over the details."
"As you wish," he replied and then disconnected.
I finished getting the pot ready and cleaning up then grabbed my keys and headed for the Neptune to pick up my check.
As promised, there was an envelope waiting for me at the cage. But it wasn't a check, it was cash. God, I love casinos. And it saved me a trip to the bank. Money in my pocket I headed to the office to arrange a week or two off to get this Fae thing under control.
Hailey was sitting behind her desk as I walked into the office. She looked up and smiled.
"The prodigal son returns," she said. "I hear you talked to Mattie, how did it go?"
"It went ok," I answered, if only to hear her ask for more details.
"Ok, what does that mean? Did you find the woman, or not?" She stood up and went to refill her coffee cup, muttering something about me being ungrateful.
"As a matter of fact, I did. Oh, I almost forgot," I said, reaching into my pocket and removing her portion of the money I had split up while still in the car. "If I remember correctly, I promised you a finder's fee, didn't I?"
"Hmm, I do seem to remember something about that," Hailey replied, batting her eyes. She reached over and took the offered envelope. "So, I take it your chat with Mattie was at least helpful," she said as she opened the envelope and peered inside.
"Whoa, are you kidding me!" she blurted out as she removed the 25 hundreds. "Since when did we hit the big time?" she asked, giving me a look as if I had just handed her a million dollars.
"Big clients, big pay-offs," I answered, waiting for her to say more.
"I should say so! First you start bringing in A-list attorneys, then you tell me you and Eddy Milagre are new found friends. Now you're paying me 10 times the normal referral fee. If I didn't know better...," she replied, shaking her head. Sitting down at her desk she picked up her purse from the floor and placed the money into a zippered pocket. Then she opened a drawer and put the purse inside.
"Seriously, Robert, what the hell are you up to? Do I have to start worrying about you?"
Grabbing a Hailey's Legal Services cup I poured myself some coffee and then leaned against the service window, looking over at her as I stirred. "Hail, I'll admit it, it's the damndest thing. But you know me better than that; it's just that my client list seems to have jumped up a class or two."
"I guess so...but I just want you to be careful," she replied, giving me one of her worried mother looks. "Besides, you might actually start making real money and then where would I be? I'd have to find a new tenant while you move into the towers or somewhere."
"Never happen," I said, laughing. "You're stuck with me."
"Well, alright," she replied. "But remember to drop a few of my business cards. I could use some of those high class clients myself."
"I always do," I answered, and then I turned and headed into my office to see what kind of damage I could do to my inbox. Besides, I figured I'd better let her calm down for a few before I tell her I'm taking a couple of weeks off.
"We'll see when they start calling," I heard her yell from the front.
I sat at my desk and booted up the computer. Except for the latest few minor inquiries that needed a rush job done, most of what I had left wasn't urgent. Some of the other stuff I'd farm out to a few other P.I.'s that I frequently worked with, the rest could wait. Once the computer was up I went through my caseload and divvied a few things up and sent out some emails. A few phone calls, invoices, and hours later, I was done.
Business concluded, I had some time to think. I wanted a couple weeks to let all that had been happening play out; I couldn't believe nothing would change, hell, it already had. I also had to decide what to do.
I sat there for a moment. I would have thought that my trip with Meredith would have sent up a few flags. It seemed like everything else I had done had. But why hadn't Bernd shown up? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Shit, I had no idea.
I guess I could have put all the good things on one side of a paper and the bad things on the other side, but that old trick never worked for me. So instead I thought about what I would do with any problem.
I know I had to deal with people, well, Fae anyway. But the concept was the same; I needed people I could trust in case things got out of control. Well, at least more out of control then they already were. I guess they didn't have to be people, either. Now that's just a weird thing to say, be it true or not.
But I was going to have to be careful; I didn't want to be noticed any more than I had to. Just a few friends would do. Obviously, I already had Siegfried and Diantha, and Chibeaux would surely help out. Was that enough? If I included Mal I'd at least have some folks with a variety of skills, assuming I could get him involved. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I should get him involved. Es
pecially since Siegfried had said that Milagre probably wouldn't like bringing a human in. But what the hell, it's good to be a king, or at least thought of as one, so it was something to consider. I shut down my computer and walked out of my office.
I told Hailey that I was going to take some time off, explaining that I needed a break, she laughed at that one. Then I decided to go for a walk.
"I'm gonna walk down to Starbucks before I leave, you want anything?" I asked her as I stopped by the doorway.
"No, I'm good," she replied.
"Ok, see you when I get back," I called out as I walked out the door and into the street.
Without realizing it, I ended up walking northbound towards Fremont Street, totally forgetting about Starbucks. Before I knew it, I was standing across the street from the El Cortez, one of Las Vegas' downtown landmarks.
Actually, I was standing on the corner of 6th and Fremont next to what had once been the JC Penney building. Catty-corner across the street had been where Sears and Roebuck had once stood. Of course, that was in the early days of Vegas, before the corporations and massive building boom of the 70s, 80s and 90s. But I wasn't really thinking about department stores or Las Vegas' past as I stood here, I was thinking about mine.
Maybe it was the Fae thing, hell, maybe it was just a sign of getting older, but all I saw as I stood there was my past. There, by the side door of the El Cortez, I recalled a car stop of a big time pimp back in the early 80s.
I caught myself laughing. What was funny about it was that my partner and I had backed up a couple of the Organized Crime Unit guys when we made the stop. Out of the car with our guns drawn we watched as they pulled the pimp and two of his girls out of the Rolls Royce as probably a hundred tourists watched on. After ordering them to the ground and putting them in handcuffs we went to help them up.
I grabbed one gal and my partner, long since retired, grabbed the other. As if choreographed, we stood the two girls up and almost simultaneously their breasts popped out of their loose tops to the awe and enjoyment of the tourists watching. We wound up arresting them and putting them in our car to their applause. I had been just a rookie, but some calls you never forget.
I went west, past the new downtown bars toward the Fremont Street Experience. Here and there wisps of memories collided. On that corner I'd arrested a wanted murderer. The warrants had said he was armed and dangerous but he'd cried when I put the handcuffs on. Things aren't always what they seem. Something I was quickly being reminded of.
By the time I made it to Casino Center the canopy was playing Frank Sinatra's Luck be a Lady. I smiled as I remembered the Fremont Street of the 70s. In those days there was no canopy and the street was two way. This was where we'd drive up and down and meet girls. I'd met Kathy, my ex, here one night after a university toga party. Damn but wasn't I becoming nostalgic? I paused and looked around. Here, the casinos are all open to the street. Something was missing, and then I saw it.
Tendrils of magic started to appear. They were barely visible, but just as I'd seen at the Neptune, they were here. Once again I was seeing the magic that was Vegas. Wishes, dreams, whatever you want to call them, wafted through the air here. More than that, they fueled the magic within me. Like my Aunt had said, the bottle could be refilled. This was why the Fae had come here, Vegas really was magic.
I walked back up Fremont and noticed others as well. Fae...damned if I knew what kind they were, but they were there. A girl at the casino entrance, some kind of Faerie, and further inside, at the tables was another. I even felt what had to be a few roaming around with the other tourists, none of them noticing me. I guess that's a good thing, especially when you're trying to keep a low profile.
Suddenly, I stopped and looked around. Something wasn't right. It was just a wisp of something but...how do I describe it? It just didn't smell right. I tried to find it again but it was gone. I felt goose bumps down my spine.
My gun was on my back but I reached for the seax, its weight comforting me. What the hell had that been? I tried to reach out with my magic but nothing else jumped out at me so I started walking again. By the time I got back to the office I had almost convinced myself that I had imagined it. I took a last look around before I got into my car. Nothing, hell, maybe I had just imagined it.
Damn, I wish I knew for sure. That was the problem with this magic stuff, I didn't know enough to know what to do. I'd thought the connection to the Fae world I'd felt would be of more help, at least as far as my magic was concerned. I don't know what I had been thinking last night. How was I going to resolve all this if I still didn't really know what the hell I had gotten in to?
King of the Faeries, yeah right!
Once in in my car I started driving with no destination in mind. I've often done this when I need to think. Actually, it's one of the few times I talk to myself, and answer back. It's a technique I've used to work out problems, that or maybe I really am crazy. Werewolves, Faeries, Lil, Norse legends, how was someone supposed to deal with all this? I drove in silence for a while and then the answer came.
I am such an idiot. I was letting all this unknown get to me way too easy. I mean what would I do if I needed to know the answer to something. Duh! I've been doing investigations for thirty years for God's sake. Maybe it was time to do just that, but where to start?
Then I smiled as a snatch of a ditty I'd recently heard came to mind, "Little Lilly needs my willy." Well, you have to start somewhere, so I turned my car back toward downtown and headed for Danu's.
Chapter 22
I pulled around the corner from the old fire station and parked my car. Walking towards Danu's I once again felt goose bumps. I stopped and looked around but there was—nothing. Not satisfied, I closed my eyes and tried to reach out with my new found magic.
Still nothing. Ok, maybe there was something, but it was just the normal things you find at night in any downtown area. I didn't feel anything suspicious but I still felt a bit uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if there was nothing there or if I just wasn't doing something right. Hoping it was just the result of a rough day, I walked the rest of the way to Danu's and then went inside.
The place looked the same as it had the last two times I'd been here. It was quiet; there was only one table occupied with an older couple and one guy sat at the far end of the bar. As I walked in I saw Bart at the bar, Delia wasn't in sight. He didn't look happy to see me but I walked to the bar and sat down anyway. I waited as he spoke with the other patron at the bar who apparently was leaving.
As he got up and headed for the door, Bart walked over to me, stopping at the tap and pouring a beer. He placed it down in front of me. "Listen, I don't want any problems with the other Fae," he said as he set the beer down. "I don't know what you want but I have tried hard to make a place for her kind here." He gestured toward a door in the far end of the room.
I took a deep drink and placed the mug down. Interesting, from what Bernd had told me, and what he was projecting, I had a guess that Bart must be an Elf. "It's Bart, right?"
He didn’t say anything.
"Ok, I'm not here to cause you, or her, any grief, and quite frankly, the disagreements between her kind and the Fae don't interest me." So I was being less than truthful. "I'm just here to have a beer." Ok, so I was a liar as well. So sue me
Bart gave me one of those 'yeah, right' looks. "As you wish, just so we don't have a repeat of last time."
"About that, since we're just talking here, I know what I did to piss him off, but what do you have against the Weres?" I asked as I took another drink.
Bart leaned over the bar towards me as he picked up some mugs and wiped them with a towel. "I have no quarrel with any of the races but that cannot be said for individuals. That one is evil."
I looked back at him, incredulously. "Evil, if he's so evil then why are you upset with me? Hell, I agree with you," I said as I took another swig from my mug.
"That one knew he was not welcome here. Your incident with Delia must have set h
im off. He is seldom so bold. Threatening his pup was not wise."
I started to laugh and then caught myself. "Yeah, well, as I recall he didn't fare so well."
He put down the mug he was wiping and looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "Were's travel in packs, I would prefer not to have the local pack causing me, or her, problems. Make an enemy of one and you often make an enemy of them all," he explained.
I just held my mug up near my eyes, swirling what was left in the glass. "I don't think that will be a problem," I commented, putting down the almost empty mug. I was going to say more but Delia chose that moment to come out from the back.
She didn't seem to see me. Instead she walked toward the other couple who were still seated. Speaking to them for a moment I could see that they were settling their tab. As they got up she picked up their now empty glasses and began to walk toward the other side of the bar where the gate was. I watched them amble toward the doorway. Then, without warning, my magic kicked in.
Bart had started to pick up my mug when I reached out and grabbed his hand. "Hold on a moment," I said, sensing something. Then I almost gagged as the feeling washed over me. Looking over at the door I knew something was coming, and it was evil, pure evil. I looked up at Bart and asked, "Do either of you have a weapon?"
He was clearly startled, although if it was simply because of the question or if it was the fact that I was pulling out my gun, I wasn't sure. "What are you doing?" he asked, then his face twisted and he jumped up. "What the...Delia, behind the bar, MOVE!"
He ran around the bar area racing toward her and pulled her back. I saw them leap over the bar just as several figures burst through the front door.
I don't know who or what the two folk that just waved goodbye had been but they never made it to the doorway. There was a burst of light and they were down before I could take cover. The Mage who had taken them out was standing over them, a wand in his hand. I recognized him immediately. He was the one that got away. There were at least two others behind him near the doorway. Call it instinct, call it rage, but I owed this guy.
