“And what exactly is this operation?” I asked.
“Mr. Trang is in the import and export business.”
“No offense, Mr….?”
“I am Quan.”
“No offense, Mr. Quan, bu—”
“Not mister,” he corrected. “Only Quan.”
“Okay, Quan.” I tried to figure out how to put this delicately. “I don’t mean to imply that your boss is into anything illegal, but I’m not getting involved in anything to do with trafficking of any kind. Can you offer me any assurances that Mr. Trang’s import/export business is above board?”
“Trang Enterprises is the foremost dealer of mobile chipsets in the South Pacific,” said Quan. “Our warehouse contains nothing but mobile telephones and electronic components. You have my personal assurance that our operation is one hundred percent above board, as you say.”
I shot a glance at Chase to get a feel for what he thought of Quan and his request, but all he did was raise his eyebrows in a gesture that I interpreted as I have no idea what’s going on here. Whoever this Mr. Trang guy was, he’d have to be pretty convinced magic was a factor in the theft if he was looking to hire someone like me.
“Chase, have you had a chance to run a quote for this job?” I asked.
“Mr. Trang is prepared to offer you five thousand dollars for an initial inspection of the warehouse,” Quan interjected before Chase could reply. “Should you choose to accept the contract, you will be provided with a one thousand dollar per diem. Successful resolution of the issue, defined as identification of the criminals and the means by which they were able to breach our security, pays an additional twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Yeah, that was about what I was going to say,” Chase said hastily.
“I suppose we could swing by and take a look,” I told Quan. “Unfortunately we are working on another case at the moment. Is tomorrow too late to come by the warehouse?”
Quan nodded sharply again. “This is acceptable. I will inform Mr. Trang of your acceptance of terms. This is my personal line. Please contact me when you are ready to inspect the warehouse.”
I took the proffered business card and shoved it into my pocket. Something about the way Quan’s eyes followed my hand the whole time made me think it was probably the wrong thing to do, but how the hell was I supposed to know proper etiquette for dealing with a powerful businessman’s henchman?
“Okay. Guess we’ll chat tomorrow,” I said.
Quan tilted his chin only slightly before slipping his sunglasses back over his face. He turned with military precision and walked to the front door, not waiting for either of us to see him out.
“That was weird,” I said.
“But profitable,” said Chase. “This job could pay for that magic pantry you want to install in the basement.”
“It’s a little more than a magic pantry. And besides, hiring someone to do that won’t cost us cash. The kind of people who can build a warded storage room don’t have a lot of use for money. I’ll most likely be trading favors for that particular job.”
“So long as you’re not going to make me sell my body, I don’t care what it costs. We can use the cash from this Mr. Trang job either way.”
“Let’s worry about that later,” I said, nodding towards his computer. “Right now we’ve got more pressing matters to focus on. It’s nearly noon, and if we don’t have a location soon, someone’s going to die in about twelve holurs.”
Chapter Five
“I think I’ve got it narrowed down,” Chase said over his shoulder.
I tossed my e-reader on the coffee table and sat up on the couch. Chase clicked his mouse rapidly, bringing up several different windows which he resized and spaced out across his monitor. From what I could tell as I peered over his shoulder, he had maps of the first three body locations on the left side of his screen. On the right were seven other maps with red circles highlighting what were most likely the antipodal nexuses Karyn had told us we were looking for.
“Not that many options in the end,” I said. “But still too many for us to cover tonight. It’s already six o’clock, and we don’t have time to find people to watch all seven spots.”
“I don’t think we’ll have to,” said Chase. “I had my program do a lot more than just locate the power nexus coordinates based on Karyn’s instructions. Isolating the potential power sources was the easy part. Most of what I was doing was comparing the available data from each of the three known locations. I figured if we could find a commonality between them, we might be able to predict the next location. All of this is, of course, assuming the sites weren’t chosen at random.”
“So? Did your program find anything?”
“No.” Chase grinned broadly. “Not a damn thing.”
“Then what’s with the smug face?”
Chase ticked a checkbox on the filter window in the bottom left corner of his screen. A familiar pattern was highlighted on several of the maps.
“The SkyTrain line,” I said.
“Exactly. I don’t know how it took me so long to realize it, but these three nexuses are located near three subsequent skytrain stops. They’re not so close as to be blatantly obvious, but if you zoom out and look at the big picture, it’s easy to connect the dots.”
“I take it one of our potential locations lines up with the SkyTrain line then?”
“There’s the problem.”
Chase clicked on two of the windows, enlarging them to fill the screen.
“Two of the potential nexuses are near SkyTrain stops. The first three bodies were found near the Expo line, but these other spots are located along the Millennium line.”
“Can you bring the existing sites up in order?”
A new screen popped up above the others, this one a larger scale view of the whole region. Chase clicked the button three times, bringing up the three locations where bodies were discovered in the order of their deaths. He then clicked again, enabling differently colored markers to show the two potential sites he’d isolated.
“That one,” I said, tapping on the marker closest to the hub where the two SkyTrain lines intersected.
“What makes you say that?” asked Chase.
“The other nexus is sitting smack dab in the middle of Brentwood Town Center. I don’t know who’s doing this, or why they’re murdering old people, but I doubt they’re going to try anything in the middle of a giant shopping mall complex. This other spot is less urban. Look at the huge greenbelt along the line over here. Plenty of places to stash a body when you’re done with it.”
“Alright. I guess that’s our spot. What now?”
“We go out there,” I said. “With luck, maybe I can use my sight to detect someone tapping power in the area. We’ll just have to hope we can stop them before they finish whatever it is they’re doing in those casting circles.”
“If only we had an old person to act as bait,” said Chase. “Too bad Viktor never leaves his house. I bet we could totally trap them if Viktor shuffled around looking all frail and tempting. We need old man candy.”
“Chase, you’re a genius. We may not have an old person to use as bait, but there might just be a way to make our predator think we do.”
“I don’t know if I like where his is heading,” Chase said with a sigh.
Too caught up in my own thoughts to address his concern, I grabbed my phone and started typing out a message to Karyn. If this was to have any chance of working, I’d need her help again.
“So what do you think?”
Karyn considered the question, surveyed the area around her, then spoke without facing me.
“There’s no way of being absolutely certain, but this feels right. The nexus is only about a hundred yards from here, and it’s crackling like a bonfire. An amateur with only a passing knowledge of the Craft could do some serious work if they built their circle on that spot. I’d hate to be nearby if someone with actual talent chose to draw upon it.”
“So you’re
saying we should stop them before they get to the nexus?” asked Chase.
Dressed in black shoes, black jeans, black t-shirt, and a light black sweater with the hood pulled up over his head; Chase looked more like a mugger or stalker than I was entirely comfortable with. I’d challenged him on the outfit before we’d left the house, worried someone was likely to call the police on him before we could spot our suspect or victim. He’d cooly reminded me that he was more practiced at reconnaissance and surveillance than I was, so I let it slide. Standing in the shadows at the edge of the walkway which ran beneath the elevated SkyTrain line, I wasn’t so sure I’d made the right choice. The three of us looked like we were either in the middle of a drug deal or holding a job interview for an amateur assassin.
Karyn looked at Chase, her eyes narrowing slightly. “How you could have been smart enough to figure out that this is the most likely spot for the next attack is beyond me. The answer is yes, you do want to stop this guy before he’s able to tap any power. I was just down at the nexus a few minutes ago, and there’s no circle ready to go. You two should have plenty of time to disable him before he’s able to properly close the circle.”
“Us two?” Chase seemed utterly unperturbed by her insult. “You’re not staying to help?”
“Not getting paid nearly enough for that,” she said. “Besides, it might be someone I know. I may not agree with their methods, but professional courtesy prevents me from sticking my neck out until I know who’s holding the axe.”
“It’s fine,” I said. I’d already known Karyn wouldn’t stick around. “You’re still down to do that other thing we talked about, right?”
“What other thing?” asked Chase.
“Yeah, I can still do it.” She ignored Chase as though he wasn’t standing right next to her. “This is on top of our old deal though.”
Chase shuffled from one foot to the other. “What’s this other thing you’re talking about? Why don’t I know what’s going on right now?“
“Agreed,” I said to Karyn. “I’ll be in debt for another favor to be called upon at your discretion.”
“Wait, I thought you said you didn’t like to owe favors to witches,” Chase interjected. “What’s going on here?”
Karyn nodded. “Deal. I’ll do the thing, then I’m out.”
“Hello?” Chase waved his hand in front of my face. “I am still standing here, right?”
Deciding he’d had enough, I finally acknowledged the poor guy.
“Remember that idea you had about using bait to draw our predator to us instead of waiting for him to strike?”
“Umm… yeah?”
“You’re the bait, bub,” said Karyn, gleeful smirk on her lips.
Understanding slowly dawned on Chase’s face. He looked from Karyn to me, then back again. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and he put his hands up in protest.
“Nuh uh,” he mumbled. “You’re not turning me into an old guy. Fuck that. I know how this goes; you make me look a hundred years old, then the spell gets stuck and so long handsome youthful Chase. Why don’t you be the bait, Alex? Can’t you magic yourself up a disguise?”
“I’d be surprised if she could magic herself a new hair color,” scoffed Karyn. Her hand snapped out to grab Chase by the front of his shirt. “Into the bushes. I’m not being paid by the hour here.”
I tried to act as inconspicuous as possible while Karyn dragged Chase off the pathway and into the strip of greenery that bordered it. With luck, she’d explain that the plan was to perform a small glamor that would only make Chase look old instead of actually aging him, but he’d figure it out either way. As blunt as her choice of phrasing had been, Karyn was right about my not being able to perform that kind of magic. It was theoretically possible for me to do it — most better trained mages my age would have been able to pull it off with little effort — but it was outside the scope of my abilities. The one time I had tried changing my appearance had resulted in me not leaving my apartment for a week until I’d figured out how to get rid of the second nose I’d accidentally conjured onto myself. Unable to function properly, the damn thing had run like a faucet the entire time. Only the threat of blowing through every last scrap of tissue and toilet paper in my apartment had finally motivated me to leave the house long enough to seek help.
Fifteen minutes passed with only a few muffled protestations emerging from the bushes. Out of curiosity, I activated my second sight and peered through a gap in the leaves where Karyn was busy weaving her illusion. The magic was clearly visible to my enhanced sight, but the form was so different that trying to make sense of it was like a toddler trying to read ancient Sanskrit.
“This better not stick,” Chase said when he emerged from the greenery a few minutes later. “I may not have powers, but I’m not afraid to beat your ass if this doesn’t wear off by the time the sun comes up.”
Karyn chuckled. “You know, fighting you might actually be fun. My Krav Maga instructor keeps paring me with tiny bitches that don’t put up much of a fight. I’d love watching you crumple to the ground after I knee your balls up into your throat by way of your lower intestines.”
Chase sputtered wordlessly, his now ninety-year-old features contorting with indignity. Karyn’s glamor was flawless. The illusion transforming Chase’s thirty-year-old face into that of a senior citizen was so cleverly woven I could only see the cracks with my mage sight because I knew to look for them. I had to hope it would be enough to fool our potential murderer into seeing Chase as a viable target.
“Chase, let’s get down to business,” I said sharply. “We’re trying to save a life here, remember? You two can flirt later.”
“Dammit, Alex. I’m not flirting. I’m legit pissed off right now. You’ve got to let me in on this kind of thing in the future. This is so not cool.”
“We didn’t have time for me to talk you into it,” I told him. “And it’s not that bad. You look very distinguished.”
Chase plucked his phone from his pocket so he could use the front-facing camera as a makeshift mirror. He turned his head left, then right, running his hand through the practically nonexistent gray hair that failed to cover several large liver spots on his balding pate. He pushed his finger into his cheek, glaucoma-white eyes widening with amazement at how the illusion moved as realistically as if it was his own skin.
“This is actually pretty cool,” he said softly.
“Alright, I’m out,” Karyn announced. “Don’t call me. I’ll call you when I need something.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second,” I said under my breath as she walked away.
Having done a thorough inspection of his new face, Chase turned his phone off and put it away. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then rolled his shoulders forward and adopted a stooped posture. Bit by bit, he let himself fall into the role of being nearly sixty years older. Eyes open now, he walked off down the path a few steps, adjusting his movements until he found a slow labored shuffle that managed to make him appear significantly more compact than his heavyset six foot three frame usually made him look.
“One last touch,” I said, removing a corduroy jacket with worn leather elbow patches from my jacket.
Chase took off his hoodie, not breaking character while he twisted and sighed through what was now a laborious process of getting into the new jacket.
“How do I look?” he asked, his breath even wheezing slightly from the effort of speaking.
“Perfect. Now get out there, and shuffle around like a tasty snack for whoever wants to tattoo you, perform a ritual sacrifice, then dump your body by the side of the road.”
Chapter Six
After garnering a few stares from passers by, I realized I was getting a little old to get away with loitering aimlessly. As a teen, I could probably have sat my ass down in the middle of the road and not had anyone pay attention to me, but now I was catching sideways glances simply by leaning against one of the SkyTrain track supports while pretending to stare at my
phone. One woman even shuffled her little kid around to the other side of her body as if to shield her from my bad influence. I don’t know what the hell she was doing out with a child this close to midnight, but somehow I was the troublemaker in whatever ridiculous scenario she’d concocted in her head.
Chase had been ambling about the station for nearly an hour by this point, so I made my way towards him as casually as I could manage. He stood near the ticket vending machine, pressing buttons and pretending to be perplexed by the array of options. I’d watched him do this a dozen times now, and I knew he’d soon turn and head towards the fare gates. He’d then climb the stairs with agonizing slowness, stand on the platform until the next train came through, then pretend like he’d made a mistake and shuffle all the way down and up again to the other track.
I intercepted him by the fare gate.
“See anyone suspicious?” I asked quietly as I swiped my pass over the gate behind him.
The station was completely empty, and I was beginning to have serious doubts about my plan.
“Not really,” he mumbled without turning around.
I paced him on the stairs, walking just behind him so he could still hear me easily.
“I haven’t seen anything either.”
“Everyone looks normal,” he said with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to spot a magic user before they use a spell or potion to incapacitate me. How do we know they’re not killing the old guys before they do their voodoo circle dance?”
“Sacrificial magic doesn’t work like that,” I assured him. “The power comes from the snuffing out of a life force. I can’t think of any kind of ritual that would benefit from killing you so abruptly.”
“You better be ready with a lightning bolt or fireball either way. I don’t want to die looking like this, Alex. You don’t know my folks, but I guarantee you don’t want to be the one explaining why their son has to have a closed casket funeral.”
“Burial, huh? I always figured you for the cremation type.”
Black Market (Black Records Book 2) Page 5
