The Unbelievable Mr Brownstone Omnibus

by Michael Anderle

  “Of course.” The cop took a deep breath. “The thing you need to keep in mind is that the Red-Eyes Killer was murdering parents in front of young children. That monster was creating orphans, and Brownstone’s an orphan. I believe that he was—”

  The government lawyer shot up. “Objection. Supposition.”

  The judge slammed his gavel. “Sustained. I must direct you, Detective, to testify only to what you have directly seen and heard. You know better than to testify to the state of mind of someone else.”

  Detective West frowned. “Yes, Your Honor. Anyway, Brownstone met with the daughter of the first victim. He was visibly upset by it. He made it very clear in later statements that he wanted to make sure this killer was taken down. Because of the difficulty of dealing with an enhanced threat, discussion of the necessity of potentially killing the Red-Eyes Killer came up, and you have to remember, at the time, the bounty wasn’t dead-or-alive. Brownstone seemed more concerned with ending the threat than the money.” He shrugged. “And he’s not even a Vegas man. He told me he’d come to Vegas just to get some barbeque at Jessie Rae’s. Great place, by the way.”

  Silverberg chuckled. “I’m sure it is, but what you’re saying is that James Brownstone got involved in tracking down a serial killer when he didn’t have to, and even though he knew it might end in an altercation ending with him making little to no money.”

  “Yes, that would be an accurate summary of what I witnessed. He’s also continued to be useful in Las Vegas in terms of bounty hunting.”

  The lawyer’s face grew grave. “But isn’t it true that you can’t normally afford to hire someone of Brownstone’s skill? You had to get special funding to put a bounty on the Red-Eyes Killer according to your signed statements submitted into evidence.”

  “That’s true, but it’s also true that we negotiated with Mr. Brownstone to have bounty hunters from his agency work on some critical bounties for the city of Las Vegas. These are all lower-level bounties, but Brownstone still cares about them being taken care of. It’s not like he needed to take guys from Los Angeles and send them to Vegas. I mean, if you think about…” He turned to the judge. “I’m not saying I know what’s going through Brownstone’s head, but it costs money to maintain office space in Las Vegas, then there’s gas, and those guys aren’t available for Los Angeles. Lot more bounties in LA too, so if anything, it seems like Brownstone’s not making as much money as he could by helping Vegas out.”

  Davis frowned at his table. It looked like he was going to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

  Silverberg glanced the other lawyer’s way for a second as if daring him to object. “That’s interesting, Detective. Is this help from the Brownstone Agency of that much use to the city of Las Vegas? I mean, just a few men cleaning up a few bounties here and there can’t be that big of a deal, right?”

  The detective laughed. “His team has already cleaned up twenty percent of the backlog of bounties in our city.”

  Several excited murmurs broke out among the people in the gallery. Several reporters furiously scribbled in their pads, their phones not allowed to be on by the judge’s order.

  The lawyer scratched his cheek. “Interesting. Very interesting. And do you see any of these bounty hunters here today?”

  The detective pointed to Trey and several of the others. “Mr. Garfield and several of his team members are over there, of course.”

  “Let the record reflect, Your Honor, that the detective is pointing to the men my esteemed colleague complained about being dangerous criminals and gang members earlier.”

  The judge nodded. “Duly noted.”

  Detective West smiled. “They’ve been a great help. I don’t personally work with them much because I’m not involved in bounty processing, but Sergeant Choi has submitted a statement about them.”

  “Yes, I submitted that statement into evidence earlier. So it is your professional opinion, then, that your relationship with James Brownstone, both direct and indirect, has made the city of Las Vegas a safer place?”

  “Certainly.” The detective locked eyes with Davis. “And anyone who says otherwise is snorting too much dust.”

  Scattered laughter broke out in the gallery.

  19

  James enjoyed the look of defeat on Davis’ face. Detective Lafayette’s testimony following his partner’s further wounded the ruthless mercenary theory the government lawyer had been pushing. Hell, even the bounty hunter was impressed by the cops’ stressing that he didn’t care about money.

  In truth, it wasn’t as if Davis were completely wrong. James did sometimes take on jobs for something other than money, but he was still far from a do-gooder. He’d destroyed the Harriken because they wouldn’t leave him alone, and he’d helped take down the Nuevo Gulf Cartel because it was a threat to Shay, not because he couldn’t stand the existence of criminals.

  Red Eyes was different. He’d taken down that monster as a father representing a daughter who had not been strong enough to do it herself. Maybe that was a type of selflessness to some, but he figured it was more straight vengeance. Not exactly the kind of thing Father McCartney would encourage at church.

  The government lawyer sat at his table for a moment, his face in his hands. Someone slipped in from outside the courtroom and hurried through the gallery until he was right behind the lawyer. He leaned in to whisper to Davis.

  The lawyer’s face brightened, and his smug grin returned.

  What the fuck is he so happy for?

  The judge frowned. “Something you need to share with the court, counselor?”

  Davis nodded. “Your Honor, I request a sidebar.”

  “Very well. Mr. Silverberg, please join us.”

  The two lawyers walked over to the judge. Davis started speaking quietly and gesticulating wildly. Silverberg frowned and shook his head, clearly upset by something. He pointed toward the doors several times.

  Alison and James exchanged looks, but neither said anything. Until they knew what was going on, it’d be pointless to worry.

  Several minutes of discussion between the lawyers and the judge followed before the two lawyers headed back to their tables and sat. The judge motioned the court clerk over and whispered something to him.

  Silverberg sighed and shook his head. “This might get ugly, but I have to warn you, James. No matter what happens, keep your cool. We can still win this, I promise you.”

  The bounty hunter blinked and looked at Davis. “What the hell?”

  What trick does that asshole have up his sleeve now?

  Alison reached over to squeeze James’ hand, and he gave hers a comforting squeeze back.

  The judge cleared his throat. “We have…an unusual request, but this is an unusual situation. Let the record reflect that Her Royal Highness Laena, Queen of the Drow of Oriceran, has requested entry into the proceedings. She will be testifying as an expert on Drow.”

  Alison gasped.

  The gallery erupted into a din. The judge slammed his gavel down several times until people quieted.

  James snorted. “At least she asked.”

  Silverberg shook his head and frowned.

  Yev’s face scrunched so much that James wondered if he’d developed spontaneous kidney stones. A regal-looking elf next to him whom James didn’t recognize didn’t look any happier.

  Who’s that, Yev’s boss?

  The judge banged his gavel. “We’ll take a small recess to prepare for the logistics of this matter.”

  Silverberg frowned. “They’re going to try and push the idea that the girl belongs with her own people. They are going to say a lot of things that might upset you.”

  “I’m her people,” James rumbled. “And this whole hearing upsets me.”

  The lawyer nodded. “If this were a normal proceeding I’d get this tossed right out, especially this late in the game, but the Oriceran connection changes everything. Nothing about this case has been normal, and now I understand why.”

  Jam
es grunted. “Yeah, at least now we know who’s been behind all this shit. The same fuckers who keep trying to kill me.”

  Alison swallowed and bit her lip. “You don’t think she’d try anything, do you, Dad? And if she does…do you have it with you?”

  The bounty hunter almost laughed. Bonding with the amulet and taking on a Drow queen in the middle of a courthouse would be ballsy even by his standards. He didn’t want to risk it, not when Alison and so many other innocent people could get hurt.

  Neither he nor Shay were armed and the cops present had only small handguns, not the armor, arms, and magical equipment AET would need to take on a Drow. Still, he needed to make sure Alison was comfortable.

  James patted his chest where his amulet hung, separated from his skin by a thin piece of metal. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Okay, I’ve got to hit the head before the woman who kept sending people to kill me shows up. Wouldn’t want to have to go in the middle of a fight.”

  Alison rolled her eyes, and Silverberg chuckled.

  James smiled at Alison. “I’ll be right back, kid. You stay here. “ He inclined his head toward Yev and the elf beside him. “I’m guessing that as long as they’re around, the queen won’t try to snatch you.”

  “Okay, Dad.” Alison took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

  The bounty hunter stood and made his way toward the back.

  Fucking Drow. Why can’t you just leave us the fuck alone?

  A few minutes later, Silverberg gave the girl a smile. “It’ll be okay. This is just more testimony. This isn’t as simple as Drow demanding custody. This is still America, and you were born here, not on Oriceran.” He chuckled. “That said, Alison, we’re in uncharted waters and probably about to help establish precedent.”

  “I don’t care to be honest. I just want to stay with my dad.”

  “I understand, and I’m doing everything I can to make that happen.”

  Alison turned toward the gallery. “What do you think, Aunt…” She frowned.

  Shay was nowhere to be found. It didn’t seem like her to just up and leave without saying anything.

  Alison turned toward Silverberg. “Did you see where Shay went?”

  The man shook his head. “Sorry, Alison. I’m sure she’ll be back before the recess is over.”

  Just as the lawyer said that James pushed back into the courtroom and made his way back to the table. Shay popped back into the room a few seconds later and went to the gallery.

  “Where did you go?” Alison asked.

  “Was just talking with Peyton about who on the human side of things was responsible for this mess.” A dark grin appeared on her face. “We’ve almost narrowed it down, but it might be a few more days before we can figure it out.”

  Alison was just about to ask another question when she gasped. One of the most powerful yet twisted souls she’d ever seen strode through the door. Laena. Drow flanked their queen.

  “It’s her,” she whispered.

  James sighed. “Yeah. Damn it.”

  Shay sneered. “We all owe that bitch a punch or three.”

  “So much anger, so much hatred.” Alison shivered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I’ve never seen anything like it, even from…” She sighed and shook her head.

  James frowned. “It’ll be all right, kid. I promise. No matter what it takes, it’ll be all right.”

  Alison leaned forward to whisper into his ear. “Use the wish if you have to.”

  James nodded slowly. Most people present reflexively stood as the queen strode forward, but Shay, James, and Alison remained seated. There was no way they’d grant that woman any respect. Silverberg also remained seated.

  The queen’s guards peeled off and moved to stand along the wall on either side of the room.

  “Interesting,” Laena murmured, her voice accented in an odd way that seemed exotic but was not easily pinned to any Earth accent.

  Davis hurried over and bowed, of all things. Alison rolled her eyes, and James grunted his disapproval.

  “Your Highness, if you’d just go to the witness stand.” The lawyer gestured in that direction. “And we’ll swear you in once the proceedings get started.”

  The queen all but glided to the stand, turning to face Alison as she sat, laying one hand over another. Swirling eddies of negative energy wrapped around her soul, the sight almost making Alison nauseated.

  The court clerk moved forward. “All rise. Court is in session, the Honorable John Matthews presiding.”

  Everyone in the courtroom stood except Laena.

  Alison sighed at the flashes of fear spiking through the clerk’s soul. What kind of woman inspired that kind of fear?

  Was it just her power? Two of the Light Elves in the room felt as if they held something near that kind of power, but the girl honestly wondered if the queen could kill everyone in the room except her dad.

  The only thing Alison could be sure of was that no matter what happened, she didn’t want to leave LA to go with that woman.

  You’re a monster, Laena. I’ve read all about you Drow, and I want nothing to do with you.

  The judge moved to the bench and sat. “You may be seated.”

  Everyone complied.

  The court clerk walked over to Laena and lifted her right hand. “Your Highness, please raise your right hand.”

  The queen complied.

  “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you, God?”

  Laena snorted. “I have no need to tell falsehoods, but I don’t recognize your human god.”

  James muttered something under his breath.

  The court clerk looked at the judge. He nodded back, and the court clerk moved away from the witness stand. Laena, Queen of the Drow, was about to testify in a California family court.

  20

  James stared at the Drow queen, the sight strange given the context—an ancient elven queen sitting in a witness stand. Her dark skin and the deep blue of her elegant and elaborate gown contrasted with her bright white hair.

  Everything about her screamed regal, but also dangerous. Her slightest movement spoke of confidence and power. Even the bounty hunter found himself twitching a little and aching to bond with his amulet just in case she decided she wanted to make trouble.

  Why do I get the feeling she could kick the asses of those three Drow who went after me?

  He glanced at Alison. The girl’s gaze had been locked on the queen since her arrival, and her frown had been stuck on her face for nearly as long.

  What do you see, Alison? Whatever it is, you don’t like it. I can tell that much.

  The bounty hunter took small, controlled breaths, hoping nothing violent happened. Protecting Alison would have to come first, even if it meant becoming the vicious killer the government lawyer kept accusing him of being.

  He’d also seen what Drow could do, and he didn’t want a roomful of people to be cut down by some crazed elf.

  Davis cleared his throat. “Your Highness, we’re here today to settle the matter of James Brownstone’s adoption of Alison Anderson. While it’s the state’s primary contention that he’s an unfit guardian, her status as a half-Drow also leads us to believe that she would be better off with her own people, and we wanted to explore that with you.”

  The queen gave a curt nod. “I agree. The Drow are an ancient and proud race. Her magical potential cannot be maximized under the guidance of that thuggish bounty hunter.”

  James snorted.

  I’ll show you thug.

  She smirked at him. “And that is an important point to realize—the difference between humans and Oricerans. An Oriceran, especially a Drow, is a magical being. It’s misleading to simply look at the similar shapes some of us have and not accept how important magic is to the essence of our very souls.”

  Davis nodded. “On Oriceran, if someone were half-Drow, what would happen?”

  Silverberg stood. “Objection, Your Hon
or. We’re in the United States of America on Earth, not some Drow Kingdom on Oriceran. Drow customs and laws hold no sway here.”

  Davis shook his head. “United Nut Company vs. the Thirty-Second Willen Collective clearly established that Oriceran customs must be taken into account when evaluating reasonable reactions from Oriceran citizens.”

  The judge nodded. “I’ll allow it.”

  The queen smiled, although there was something unsettling and hungry about it. “On Oriceran, unions resulting in half-Drow are quite rare, but the parties involved would normally understand that it would be better for a partial Drow child to be with the Drow people because of our unique magical and cultural needs. Even Light Elves would agree.” Her voice dripped contempt as she glanced at Yev.

  Davis followed her gaze. “Of course, of course. Another question. Are mothers important in Drow culture?”

  “Extremely so. It would be one thing if her mother were still alive to help raise her, but the idea of this single male human raising a Drow girl is, from our perspective, completely absurd.” She shook her head. “It would be like…you giving a human child to be raised by one of your monkeys. The creature might manage to raise the child without killing her, but she’d not grow into her capacity, and she’d meet only a fraction of her true potential.”

  If I was a monkey, I’d be throwing some shit at you about now, bitch.

  James frowned and Alison squeezed his hand, even as she kept her attention focused on the queen.

  The government lawyer glanced at the judge and the queen. “Your Highness, we’re still getting used to magic on Earth. As an expert on magic, could you give us some insight into the dangers of uncontrolled magic, and how Alison might have to deal with that issue?”

  The bounty hunter allowed himself a smile. Davis had screwed up with that line of questioning. Judging by the huge smile on Silverberg’s face, he’d realized it too.

  Laena let out a grim laugh. “Oh, I think I need to explain the dangers of uncontrolled magic. Your poor planet has already experienced it. The presence of men like Brownstone—” she flicked her wrist in her direction—“already proves what it’s like. If young Alison isn’t properly trained, she’ll never learn how to properly control her magic, and Drow blood is powerful. She’ll become a threat to herself and others, and even if she’s not trying, she risks hurting people.”