“Jack the Ripper?” Seven asked. “I’ve only been gone for three days. What the hell have you gotten into?”
“Long story,” Oliver said. “Do you know what the Nether Lands are?”
“Of course.”
Seven always seemed to know more than he and Tyler. Oliver wondered why Artemis trusted him more than them. “Well, the barrier fell and Jack the Ripper got out. I hope that makes sense to you. It was related to the timequake…”
“Jack the Ripper is nothing,” Seven said. “He’s just a killer. If the Nether Lands were breached, even if only for a moment…” He went silent. “Oh, bloody hell…”
“What?” Oliver asked. “What is she afraid of?”
“Listen, I am going to the Vault,” Seven said. “The key is gone, but there must be something else in there we can use to send him back.”
“Who?” Tyler asked. “The Ripper? Why don’t we just shoot him?”
“The Ripper isn’t the problem,” Seven said. “He doesn’t have the intellect to understand how the barrier works. He’d never have gotten out on his own. It’s Armitage she’s afraid of.”
“Armitage?” Oliver asked.
“He was one of us a long time ago. Go find Artemis. She can’t have much of a head start on you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up before Oliver could ask his next question.
“Who the hell is Armitage?” Oliver asked Tyler.
“Never heard of him,” Tyler said. “He used to be one of us? I’ve seen files going back a hundred years and I’m sure I’ve never seen that name before.”
Oliver glanced at the speedometer and decided to push the car another ten miles per hour over the speed limit. “We can’t just have one ordinary day,” he muttered. “Just once I want to tell someone how boring my day was and be telling the truth about it.”
“Nah,” Tyler said. “You’d get sick of that in a hurry. Besides, you go home to a talking cat. Your day is never ordinary.”
That was true, Oliver thought. Still, it was a nice dream to have, once in a while.
Chapter 8
Oliver decided it was worth trying to call Artemis again, although he had a suspicion she wasn’t going to answer the phone this time. He was right. Her phone rang four times and went to voicemail.
Next he tried the office’s main number. Bruce answered immediately. “Is Artemis there?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Bruce said. “She had Mr. Teasdale waiting in the conference room for a couple hours, then she left with him a few minutes ago. I was about to close up, actually. She told me to take the rest of the day off.”
“She left with Teasdale?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah. They walked out together, anyway.”
“Did she seem okay?” Oliver asked.
“Not really. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. I wasn’t going to interrogate her about it, though.”
“I don’t think it’s a ghost she’s worried about,” Oliver said. “Any idea where they were going?”
“No. She was telling Mr. Teasdale they needed to make a stop, though. She needed to pick something up.”
Oliver nodded. That meant she was most likely headed south to Santa Clara. “Go home, Bruce,” he said. “You should probably take tomorrow off, too. In fact, wait to hear from one of us before you come back. Call it a vacation.”
“What’s going on?” Bruce asked. “Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know,” Oliver admitted. “I’m pretty sure things are going to get messy, though.” He hung up.
“You think she went to Vault 3?” Tyler asked.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Oliver said. “If she wants to pick something up, that’s the only place to go.” He thought about that. “That we know about, anyway. I guess she could have things stashed pretty much anywhere.”
They were approaching the Golden Gate Bridge now, but that still put them a good hour away from Santa Clara and the Vault. Oliver tried Artemis’s cell phone, but it went unanswered. Whatever she was up to now, she clearly didn’t want the rest of the team involved. He didn’t know who the hell Armitage was, but he’d never known his boss to spook easily. Nor had she ever had any reservations about putting the rest of them in danger. This had to be something she thought they couldn’t handle.
Once they got through San Francisco, Oliver pushed the car up to 80. There wasn’t much traffic; rush hour was still a few hours away. They’d make good time for the rest of the trip, Oliver thought. Tyler made a quiet whining noise as they passed one of the Palo Alto exits. There was a restaurant he liked down there, Oliver knew. Lunch was just going to have to wait. It would take Artemis a while to enter the Vault, get whatever she needed, and then get back out. Hopefully that would be enough time for them to catch up with her.
Before long they were approaching Santa Clara. Vault 3 was located deep underground beneath a gated retirement community called Casa de Flores, not far from the freeway. The Araneae Group owned the entire complex, and Artemis had selected the residents by hand. They were for the most part impoverished, desperate senior citizens with no families and little to look forward to besides a lonely death. Artemis gave them a place to live, and in return she got somewhere to bury her secrets in a place nobody would ever look at twice. On top of that, the residents had strict instructions to call the security office if they saw anything that looked out of place, and Oliver knew from experience that they never hesitated to do so. A community of nosy seniors was better than any security system money could buy. Of course, there was quite a security system in place, too. It included at least one M1A1 tank hidden in a garage that was disguised as an ordinary house.
They were about a hundred yards from the front gate when Oliver saw a long black hearse pulling out of the complex. It turned away from them and started down the street.
Tyler shook his head. “Aw, that’s too bad.”
Oliver slowed the car before they reached the gate. “What would a hearse be doing here?”
Tyler gave him a skeptical look. “You know most of these people are pretty old, right? They must die all the time.”
“Hearses are for funerals,” Oliver said. “If someone had just died here they’d be in a medical examiner’s van.” He hesitated for a moment, and then hit the gas, speeding past the gate to Casa de Flores. “That’s them.”
“You sure?” Tyler asked.
“Can you think of a better car for Mr. Teasdale?”
“Well…no, actually. That would fit his style pretty well.”
“Exactly.”
Oliver didn’t have a great deal of experience at tailing cars, but the hearse never exceeded the speed limit and was distinctive enough that he wasn’t likely to lose it in traffic. Nor did he need to be concerned that they’d spot him. He wanted to be seen. Catching up with and talking to Artemis was the entire point of this adventure.
They were out of Santa Clara and heading north on El Camino Real when the car’s phone rang. Oliver hit the button to answer it. “Hello, Artemis.”
“Mr. Jones,” Artemis said. “You do not appear to have followed my instructions.”
“Are you surprised?”
“I suppose I should not be,” Artemis said. “However, I must insist that you do as I say now. Go to the house on Filbert Street and remain there. You are not safe in my company.”
“We’re not going anywhere until you stop and talk to us,” Oliver said. “Pull the car over and let’s sort this thing out. You owe us some answers.”
“Yeah,” Tyler said. Oliver glanced over at him and got a sheepish look in return. The other man had clearly been trying to sound stern, but he’d sounded more like a child scolding his mother.
Artemis was quiet for a long moment. “Very well, Mr. Jones. I do not think we could outrun you in this vehicle. If you are so insistent that we speak, we will speak. And when we have finished speaking, you and Mr. Jacobsen will do as I say and go to the house on Filbert Street. Do you agree to my terms?”
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“Sure,” Oliver lied.
“Follow us, then.” She hung up on them.
Oliver trailed the hearse for another few miles, until they came to a multi-story parking garage next to an office complex. The hearse turned in and Oliver followed. They proceeded up a series of ramps until they reached the roof level, which had very few cars scattered about. There were no people in sight; most of them wouldn’t be getting off work for another hour or two.
The hearse parked at the end of the lot furthest from the elevators, where there were no other cars nearby. Oliver pulled in and stopped right behind them. Artemis stepped out of the passenger side of the hearse. Teasdale had been driving, of course. He’d added a black trilby hat to his somber ensemble. Somehow it made him look even more grim than usual.
Mr. Teasdale nodded as Oliver and Tyler stepped out of their car, but he didn’t approach them. Artemis crossed over to Oliver immediately. She wore a light jacket now in addition to her jeans and t-shirt. “Mr. Jones,” she said.
“Artemis.”
“I am quite vexed with you.”
“Hey, boss,” Tyler said.
Artemis turned to him. “Hello, Mr. Jacobsen.” She looked at Oliver. “I appreciate your concern for my welfare, Mr. Jones, but I must insist that you leave me to handle this matter myself.”
“What exactly is this matter?” Oliver asked. “Seven told us you’re worried about someone named Armitage, and that he used to work for you…”
“Quite right,” said another voice. Oliver turned, surprised. He’d been so intent on confronting Artemis that he hadn’t noticed another car approach and park nearby. A man in a black trench coat stood a short distance away. He was Oliver’s size, thin, and had jet black hair to his shoulders. The coat was adorned with metallic gold symbols that looked like they’d been painted on. The symbols reminded Oliver of Chinese kanji and he suspected they might be words of some kind, but it wasn’t a language had ever seen before.
Behind him stood a taller man, lean and lanky. He had a hook nose and a crooked grin on his face. A wool topcoat reached to just below his knees, and his black boots looked like they’d seen better days. In his left hand he held a knife that looked to sport around a six-inch blade.
The shorter man was the one who had spoken. He nodded pleasantly at them. “Hello, Artemis. Have you missed me?”
Artemis stepped forward to put herself between him and Oliver and Tyler. “Hello, Armitage.” She smiled grimly. “How long has it been? Three hundred years? You have barely aged.”
“And you haven’t aged at all,” Armitage said. “I’m so glad to find you intact. Shall we see if I can change that?”
Artemis glanced back at Mr. Teasdale. “It seems we do not need to search for our target. They have appeared before us.”
“How terribly convenient,” Mr. Teasdale said. He put his hands in his side pockets and came out with two long, curved knives.
“It really was,” Armitage said. “I was able to determine that your base was somewhere in the San Francisco area, but I couldn’t pinpoint you.” He smiled at Oliver. “Luckily, your devoted servants led us right to you. Poor little lambs. Don’t be too angry with them, Artemis. They don’t deserve your wrath.”
“He was waiting for us in Vallejo,” Tyler said. He looked as if he’d just bitten into something sour. “The Ripper killings were just bait.”
“He knew Artemis would send someone,” Oliver said. He nodded, remembering the sound of rushing water he’d heard outside the police station. That had to have been something Armitage was responsible for. “We must have been pretty easy to spot.” He’d developed a sinking feeling in his stomach when the other two men had appeared, and Armitage had just confirmed his suspicions. Running straight to Artemis was the one thing he shouldn’t have done.
“You were very easy to spot,” Armitage said. “Although you shouldn’t feel too bad about falling for my little ruse. This is Jack the Ripper, after all. He is a thoroughly disagreeable fellow, but I needed someone with his singular talents. An ordinary killer would never have gotten her attention.”
“Indeed,” Artemis said. “I suspected your hand in this from the first, Armitage. I will admit I did not expect you to find me so easily, though.” She gave Oliver a stern look.
“Sorry,” Oliver said.
Armitage smiled. “Mr. Jones, is it? Mr. Jacobsen? I have no ill will for either of you. You are just as much her victims as I was when I served her. Leave now and you won’t be harmed.”
“Enough,” Artemis said. “Mr. Teasdale, if you please.”
Mr. Teasdale rushed forward, moving much more quickly than Oliver would ever have suspected he’d be capable of. The man was like a spider, going from motionless to full speed in an instant. Armitage held up a hand in response and said a word Oliver couldn’t understand. Mr. Teasdale stopped mid-stride as if he’d just run into a wall covered in flypaper.
Armitage clucked his tongue. “Is that the best you could do, Artemis? Your assassin is wanting.” He took a moment to appraise Teasdale. “And what are you, exactly? Daemonite? Bone child?” He frowned. “No, but it hardly matters. You’re strong, but your weakness is fire.” He pointed at Mr. Teasdale, said two words, and then a jet of flame shot from his hand toward the helpless assassin, engulfing him at once. Oliver recoiled, the sound of rushing water filling his ears. The noise had come on in an instant and started at an almost deafening volume, rather than starting softly and building to an eventual crescendo the way it usually did. Mr. Teasdale shrieked, a high-pitched noise that sounded like a dozen jet engines revving up together. For a moment he writhed like a burning scarecrow in a hurricane, and then collapsed.
“Good god,” Tyler said.
As Oliver watched something that looked very much like the skeleton of some kind of gargoyle emerged from the flames and scampered away on all fours. Oliver couldn’t be sure, but he was almost positive the thing had the remains of wings on its back. The skeleton scurried for the side of the parking lot and then climbed hastily over the wall, bones still smoldering. In an instant it was gone.
Armitage shook his head. “It’s not like you to recruit monsters, Artemis.”
“I recruited you, did I not?” she said.
The magician grinned. “Oh, ho! A touch! A touch, I do confess it! How I’ve missed our banter, my lady.” He narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down as if he were searching for something. “Am I really so fortunate? Did you bring it with you?”
“Bring what?” Tyler asked. “What did you bring?”
Oliver rubbed at his ears. The sound of rushing water was still there, but it was much quieter now. Armitage was still using magic. He tried to focus on the other man. Armitage was definitely looking for something. Something he thought Artemis had.
Armitage nodded. “There it is.” He raised a hand and a blue gemstone the size of a large marble rose out of one of Artemis’s jacket pockets. It flew quickly into Armitage’s outstretched hand. He rubbed the gem between his thumb and forefinger. “Just as I remember it.”
Oliver had never seen the stone before. “What is that?”
“Run away, Mr. Jones,” Artemis said quietly. “You, too, Mr. Jacobsen. Just run.”
The Ripper stepped forward and peered at the stone in Armitage’s hand. “What is that?” he asked. “That’s what you’re going to use to kill her? A tiny rock?”
“As with most things, appearances can be deceiving,” Armitage said. “How I’ve missed you,” he cooed to the stone. He looked to Oliver like a man who had been reunited with an old lover.
“Look,” Oliver said. “I don’t know who you are, but you got what you came for. Can we talk about this?”
Armitage glanced up at him, eyebrows raised. “Are you still here?” He shrugged. “Ah, well. I did give you the chance to run.”
Oliver went for his pistol. Practice had given him the ability to draw fairly quickly, even if he still wasn’t the world’s best shot. He pointed the weapon at A
rmitage. “Just stop this now,” he said. “I’m betting I can hit you before you flambé me.”
Armitage spread his arms wide. “Do your worst.”
Oliver grimaced and pulled the trigger. The pistol fired. Oliver couldn’t see the bullet as it flew toward Armitage, of course. He did see it, though, when it hit the man’s coat, stopping as if it had hit a wall, and then fell to the pavement harmlessly. Armitage didn’t appear to have even noticed the impact.
Oliver looked at his gun, wondering if it had misfired somehow. “That’s not good,” Tyler said.
“Bullets will not touch him,” Artemis said. “His magic has seen to that.”
Armitage tossed his gem in the air and caught it like a toy. He looked at Oliver and narrowed his eyes again. “What are you?” he asked. “You’ve got a costume on, like that thing I just burned. It’s different, though.” He frowned. “Maybe what pantheon are you would be a better question.” He traced an invisible symbol in the air with his index finger and Oliver heard the sound of rushing water again. A moment later he seemed to feel the water hit him, hard, as if a wave had just slammed into him. He staggered back a step.
“Oliver!” Tyler shouted, grabbing his arm to keep him from falling. Oliver shook his head. That hadn’t hurt, whatever it was, but it had made the world spin around him.
“I’m fine,” Oliver said. “I just…” He stopped abruptly. He felt hot now and the sound of rushing water was louder. It wasn’t coming from the magician this time, though. Something had been unleashed inside him.
“Oliver,” Tyler said. “Your hands…”
Oliver held his hands up in front of him. Tendrils of blue flame ran through his fingers. This was something new; he’d never seen it before.
“I’ve got this,” Tyler said. He took a deep breath and stepped forward. “You picked a bad day to attack my friends.” Now Oliver could feel power rippling through Tyler’s body. He was about to take his werewolf form, Oliver realized. He’d seen that transformation a dozen times or more, but he’d never been able to sense it before it took place. What was happening to him?
Interesting People (Interesting Times #3) Page 8
