by Michelle Fox
Chapter Twelve
With my house watched by the Witch Council and my car stolen by Sheridon, I hoofed it to the nearest big box store. First, I bought and activated a new phone using the emergency credit card tucked into my leather vest. That was the other thing the Council Guard had missed. Then, I trawled through social media sell groups for a car.
It was the middle of the night, most car rental agencies weren't open and they'd be able to track the car. Rentals had high tech trackers now and I didn't want to be found.
Buying direct was safer, but not everyone wanted to sell a car after last call. I messaged people on social media, one after the other, until someone got back to me. I offered an outrageous amount of money for them to bring the car to me.
I paid for my new car—a two door hatchback with a couple of big dents and almost bald tires—with a Visa gift card from the big box store because no way would my card let me withdraw that much cash from the ATM. Buying the car almost maxed me out, but I didn't care. I needed to catch up with Vitor and have that talk he'd been promising me.
I also needed to not be in the area if the High Priestess happened to utilize modern investigation methods and pull my credit card activity.
The seller, a bartender just getting off work for the night, was a little suspicious, but I let him test the card at the store. When it checked out, we were good to go.
Using the tracking app designed especially for bounty hunters, I discovered Vitor was already an hour west of Cleveland. Probably on the turnpike headed for Chicago. I pushed my new dinged-up wheels as fast as it would go.
The drive to Chicago was uneventful. I thought they might stop at dawn, but while there was a ten-minute period without any movement, they kept going. They'd probably put Vitor in the trunk to keep him out of the sun. Dawn already blushed the sky, soon there'd be too much sunlight to keep a vamp safe.
At their current rate of travel, we would reach Chicago around noon, which meant we'd have to wait until night. I smiled because their down time gave me an advantage. They didn't know I was coming and now I had time to prepare.
Although what exactly I was going to do, I had no idea.
***
I stopped for more gas and a large coffee around ten a.m. Traffic was heavier now that I was closer to Chicago. I drove and ate, not wanting to stay still for too long. Vitor had continued to move. They were about an hour ahead of me, which meant they'd arrived and would soon be stopping at whatever their destination was.
I tried to come up with some options regarding my next step and drew a blank. They hadn't covered anything like this in my bounty hunting classes. Humans could call the police, but us supernaturals were on our own. No police support. Just other bounty hunters.
And I did happen to know one in Chicago. Kind of. Sort of. We'd met once years ago at a law enforcement convention. Maybe she'd help. Maybe not. I guess I should find out, right?
I pulled over and made the call.
"Pluhm Investigations," answered a clipped voice. "Jane Pluhm speaking."
I fell silent for a second, unsure of what to say. If I told her the truth, that gave her time to call the High Priestess or cause other trouble. The shifters had said everyone was looking for me. Maybe I should go incognito on this one.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
"Yes. Sorry. It's Stephanie Sevens." My heart revved at the lie. Okay, that was only the most famous supe bounty hunter in the world. I should've gone with someone more obscure, but it was too late. I owned it now. "From the Alaska region."
"I know who you are. You did an amazing job on that vampire gang."
"Yeah, thanks. That was kind of crazy." I dove into a topic I could control "Anyway, I've got a skip trace who missed his court date in Juneau. I could use some help tracking him down."
"Sure. What's his name?"
"Well, I'm almost to Chicago. I've got his file. He's kind of a tough one, but worth it."
"How much are we talking?"
I pulled a number out of my ass."A hundred Gs."
She gave a low whistle. "Damn."
"You interested?"
"Hello. My name is now Yes, I'm Interested."
"Great. When can we meet?"
"I've got an opening at one this afternoon."
"Excellent. I'll see you at your office."
"Great. Just remember, I want my cut no matter what. You're taking up my time."
"Oh absolutely. Fifty-fifty." Of nothing, but she didn't need to know that yet. Hopefully, I would be gone by the time she realized there was no cut. I'd always heard Jane had a temper. I didn't want her foot up my butt.
We hung up and I did a little fist pump. I had backup. Together, we'd get the relic, corner Vitor, and I'd make him tell me everything he knew.
***
Pluhm's office sat on the outskirts of Chicago's supernatural district in an old brick building. The elevator was out-of-order, so I climbed the stairs to the third floor office. A receptionist greeted me with a warm smile as I entered.
"I have a one o'clock appointment."
"Of course. Jane's office is down the hall. Go have a seat, she'll be right with you." The receptionist waved to my left. I headed in that direction and entered a large office in the corner of the building. Plants lined one wall and a sleek desk made of glass and chrome sat in front of the window. All the chairs were black leather. One behind the desk and two in front.
Cramped from driving so long, I walked the perimeter of the room, stretching my legs and idly gazing out the window. There was a nice view of downtown Chicago, the skyscrapers gleaming in the summer sun as they reached for the blue sky.
"Freeze right there." A stern female voice sounded behind me.
I moved to turn around, confused.
"I said freeze." There was an audible click of a gun safety being released. I heard that a lot in my line of work. So far, I'd been able to talk my way out of being shot.
I put my hands up to show I meant no harm. "Can I turn around?"
"Slowly."
I inched my way around and came face-to-face with Jane. She wore black leathers, same as me, and had short, spiky blonde hair. Her blue eyes glittered with the warning that she'd seen everything and I'd better not make a wrong move.
"Oh hey," I said, flashing a friendly smile. "Thanks for meeting with me."
"Sevens died last week. Did you know that?"
I blinked and my mouth formed an O. "She did?"
"A vamp got her." Jane stepped closer to me and peered at my face. "So you're not her."
Crap. I'd been outed. I took a deep breath. Well, here went nothing. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I needed an in that didn't reveal my identity."
She motioned for me to sit with the gun. "You go there. I'll go here." She marched over to her desk, still keeping the gun on me. Pulling a piece of paper from a blue file on her desk, she tossed it to me. "Explain yourself."
I looked at the paper and my own face stared back at me. I'd made the wanted list for theft. Someone had dug up my bounty hunting license photo, the one where I wasn't allowed to smile and that made me look like I was a grumpy bitch who would cut you. Awesome. Although...if I smiled a lot, maybe no one would recognize me.
"They're looking for this vampire, too. Also for theft." She shoved another piece of paper across her desk. Lacking a picture, they'd had a sketch made. His handsome features took on a sinister edge in black ink, like a bad tattoo. Maybe that was the real Vitor. "You're wanted by every witch on this planet, did you know that?"
I shook my head. "No. I didn't."
"And that reward...it's a lot of money. I could retire. So you'd better have a ducking good story, and you'd better tell me now."
"You're not going to turn me in?"
"We'll see. I want to know what you're up to." She wagged the gun at me. "So talk. Fast."
"Well, first, I didn't steal anything. But this vampire seems to know something about what's missing. I'm just trying to clear my name and get the relic back
."
Her eyebrows went up. "Relic?"
I looked at the wanted bulletins more closely. It just said theft, not what was stolen. They'd kept that part secret."Supposedly, there's a relic from the First Witch, but I've never heard of it or seen it before."
"Why are you here in Chicago?"
"Vitor and I escaped and then these shifters showed up. He told them he knew where the relic was and they took off. I managed to slip my cell phone into Vitor's pocket and I tracked him here."
Jane gave an approving nod. "Smart. You think on your feet."
I shrugged, not feeling particularly smart at the moment. This whole thing had started with not wanting to pay out fifty k to the courts. Now I'd count myself lucky if that was the worst that happened.
"What did you want me for?"
"I need help. I don't have any resources here. I need to get Vitor away from those shifters and find out what he knows."
"So you figured a fellow supe bounty hunter might be a good buddy?"
"I have nowhere else to go. At least you know what this job is like, what can go wrong. Maybe you'll give me the benefit of the doubt?" I didn't get on my knees and beg, but I thought about it.
She snorted. "Oh, yeah. This job goes to shit all the time, but not like this. Not with the First Witch involved."
"If you won't help me, at least let me go."
"Shh. I'm thinking." She set the gun down but kept it within arm's reach. Leaning back in her chair, she looked at me through narrowed eyes. I held still, afraid to move and break her concentration.
"You know, I looked you up when I saw the wanted bulletin. You've got a clean record."
I nodded. "Yes. I do."
"Your clients don't complain about you, which means you're fair. And your magic is for shit so I'm sure you know stealing a First Witch relic would never end well for you."
I nodded again, hoping to encourage her.
"So I'll help you."
"Oh, thank—"
She cut me off. "For now. I'll turn you in the second I think you're playing me. Got it?"
"Absolutely."
"And you're going to wear my tracking charm so you can't sneak off."
"Okay." I was less enthusiastic about that.
"You got a phone?"
"Yeah."
"Give me the number. I'll call you so you have mine."
I did as she requested and a second later my phone rang. I saved her number in my contacts. "All set."
"Let's get the tracking charm on and then we'll scout out this vampire's location. Any idea what the shifters want?" She stood and led the way out of her office.
I followed her down the hall. "They want the relic too."
"Interesting."
"They seem to think they can use it."
She gave a low whistle. "Must be some relic."
"I guess. Have you ever heard of anything like this?"
She shook her head. "Nope. All I've ever seen is that travelling exhibit that goes around to all the high schools. There's nothing there for anyone to get excited about. This sounds like way more than that."
I nodded. The same exhibit had come to my school junior year. The idea was to teach us about our history as our own powers manifested. There'd been a bit of fabric from a dress, some bowls, pottery shards, and what they thought were remnants of wands. I'd touched one and gotten in so much trouble for it that I'd never told anyone I'd felt a little tingle. My rep as the world's worst witch had already set like concrete. No one would've taken me seriously.
The memory of that tingle made my palm itch. I scratched it and shrugged at Jane. "But I don't think this relic is like the others."
"Me either. So let's try to figure out what's going on." She pushed open a door at the end of the hallway opposite her office, revealing a kitchen in all white. The cupboards were white and the floor and counters were made up of white marble. Even the sink was white. The sun coming in from the window made the room appear to glow. For a second, I felt like I'd come out of a dark movie theater at noon.
Jane picked up a pair of scissors sitting in a white container. "I need a hair sample."
"From the side." I turned my head. "It won't show as much."
"So long as it's your hair." She gave a little tug. "You don't have a weave or anything, do you?"
"No."
"Any dyes?"
"No. Nothing. It's all me."
"Good. Makes the magic easier." She snipped off a piece about three inches long.
I winced. My straight hair would make it difficult to disguise the gap. On the bright side, I was due for a trim so, if I ever got out of this mess, I would go in for a haircut and even it all out. For the moment, I fished an elastic hair band out of my pocket and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.
"Just give me a few minutes and we'll be out of here. There's some food in the fridge. You must be hungry, help yourself." She moved around the kitchen, setting up her supplies. A mortar and pestle, a Bunsen burner, and a silver bowl appeared on the counter. She added several dried herbs and then a big bottle of vodka. The last thing she laid out was the silver bracelet I would have to wear.
I dug around in the fridge and pulled out some cold pizza. "Is it okay if I eat this?"
She paused in her work to look at me. "Yeah. That's from yesterday, so it's pretty fresh."
Grabbing a beer, I settled on a stool at the kitchen's island and stuffed deep-dish pepperoni pizza in my mouth. I was so hungry my stomach had stopped growling.
If my body decided to liquidate any fat stores, I hoped it came from my hips. I had a big booty that resisted any efforts to confine it to a smaller space. When I said efforts, I meant thinking about exercise, not actually doing any, but tomato, tomahto, right?
But you know, magic worked in the physical plane with mental intent, so why couldn't body sculpting? Someday someone would figure that out and I would be first in line to buy it.
Jane set her circle in salt and whipped out the charm in a matter of minutes. My cheeks went hot when I compared that to the hours that it took me to do the same. Longer if I had to repeat the charm.
Making my tracking charms was super extra fun because I had the privilege of fumbling the magic in front of my clients. If anyone thought the rumors about my low wattage magic weren't real, once they got arrested and couldn't make bail, they found out it was all true.
"Okay. It's all done. I just need your wrist."
I shoved the last bit of pizza into my mouth and held out my arm. My stomach had remembered I was starving and manners had gone out the window. In fact, I would've face planted into a vat of ice cream given the opportunity.
Jane fastened the cool silver around my wrist. I shivered as a tingle of magic shot up my arm and down my spine.
"What's next?" I threw away my garbage and went to stare into the fridge some more. Thinking about ice cream had just made me hungrier.
"We find Vitor." She paused, watching as I took a big bite of pizza. "Or did you want to find an all-you-can-eat buffet first?"
I chewed and swallowed. "Sorry. I don't think I've eaten for almost two days."
"Grab the rest of the pizza then. You can chow down while we drive."
"Sounds good." I snagged the last remaining pizza box and a can of soda. Peeking inside the box, I discovered it was Hawaiian deep dish. Pineapple and ham with cheese wasn't my favorite combination, but I would make do. I always did. Somehow.
Chapter Thirteen
Jane insisted on driving, especially once she saw my beat up wheels. Her car was a sleek SUV painted a sparkly grey. I settled into the leather seat on the passenger side, also grey, and between bites of pizza, I gave her directions from my phone. We drove, not into the city, but around the fringes of it.
The shifters had holed up in a warehouse a few miles from the airport. I spotted the muscle cars first. "Over there." I stabbed the window with my finger.
"Flashy cars for people hiding out." Jane drove past the building and then circled bac
k, finally parking a few warehouses down.
"Shifters." I spoke as if that explained everything, which if you knew shifters, it did.
"They always think they are too badass for anything to touch them." She reached back and grabbed a small messenger bag. "It's like they forget witches exist."
"What's in there?" I nodded to the bag.
She gave a sly smile. "Some stuff the shifters will find more...memorable."
We snuck up to the front office entrance of the warehouse, which was opposite the parking lot. The door was locked, but Jane charmed it open with a whisper. We tip-toed through a maze of empty cubicles covered in dust. The warehouse didn't appear to have been occupied recently.
"How did they find this place?" I whispered.
"The lions own most of the warehouses in this area. These shifters must be connected somehow."
As we neared the back of the offices, low, male and angry voices growled from the warehouse area. An argument was in process.
Jane located the door to the warehouse and cracked it open. We listened for a few moments.
"What if he doesn't know anything?" The question was a growl from a deep, bass voice. "We should've grabbed the girl, too."
"I'll have the wolves pick that witch up if we need her. She's not going anywhere," said a more tenor voice.
"Something doesn't feel right," complained the higher-pitched voice of a woman.
"Just stick to the plan. All of Shifter Nation is working on this. We're not gonna let this one slip by us." This was the tenor voice. He must be the alpha.
I exchanged looks with Jane. Shifter Nation was an underground organization that pushed for shifter rights. Witches held the highest rank, then vampires, and after that shifters. Magic, immortality and shape shifting made up the trinity of our powers, but they weren't all equal. Not by a long shot.
Given that I'd had a taste of being nobody all my life, I could understand how coming last would chafe. I didn't like it either, but the Shifter Nation people had been implicated in murder and blackmail to further their agenda.
Publicly, pack alphas disavowed the group, but privately, things were a lot more muddled. If a witch got loud about shifters staying in their place, that witch was liable to disappear. And no one ever saw a thing.
