by Martha Carr
“Break into unmarked doors in the subway,” Lisa finished. “You used to do this all the time, didn’t you?”
He shrugged and opened the door. “There’s a better entrance at Spring Street but I don’t feel like takin’ a ride.”
“Entrance to what?”
“You’ll see.” Johnny slipped through the door into the dark passage beyond.
All the light vanished as soon as the door closed behind Lisa. She pulled her phone out, meaning to bring the flashlight app up, but a sharp crack made her stop.
The dwarf turned and waved a thick red glowstick at her with a smirk. “This is better.”
“You carry glowsticks in your pockets, too?”
“I carry a lotta stuff on me, darlin’. It shouldn’t be that surprising.” He hurried down the corridor until they reached another set of stairs leading into a darkness so thick, the glowstick only reached four feet in front of them. “You can put your phone away. That kinda light won’t exactly get them rearin’ to come say hi.”
Lisa frowned and returned her phone to her pocket. “Is there anything else I should know before we reach— Wait, who?”
He smirked and moved quickly down the stairs. “You had no idea who I was talking about the first time, did you?”
“Johnny, you’ve completely lost me.”
“I gotta hand it to you, Lisa. You have a damn good poker face.”
“Thanks. I think.”
The staircase seemed to descend forever before they finally reached the bottom. He cracked another red glowstick and stepped onto the set of tracks that ran miles below the active New York subway. “Did you know this was here?”
Lisa studied the abandoned subway tunnel, eerily quiet with no running trains or pedestrians milling around and waiting to catch their next ride across Manhattan. “I’d heard a few things. These tunnels were abandoned decades ago.”
“Not completely.”
The farther they walked down the empty tunnel, the more the air was filled with small, rustling echoes, thumps, and what sounded like claws scrabbling across the stone and dusty cement.
She turned and reached for her firearm when a pair of eyes glinted in the red light from the glowsticks before they disappeared. “Johnny…”
“Shh. Hold on.” The dwarf scanned the darkness, then tossed one of the glowsticks down the tunnel. The red light jerked on and off as the stick sailed end over end and vanished in mid-air. “Bingo. Come on.”
“Is that—”
“An illusion charm? Yeah.”
“Who would need to put an illusion charm down here in an abandoned tunnel?”
“Merely a few friends who like to keep to themselves. My kinda magicals for the most part. Have you ever been to a kemana?”
Lisa walked along the raised tracks beside him and raised an eyebrow. “I’m a federal agent, Johnny.”
“So no. You wanted to see the city, right? This should’ve been on your tourist list.”
When they reached the place where the glowstick had disappeared, he stepped forward and vanished too.
“Hey!” She darted after him and stopped, momentarily blinded by the magical lanterns on the tunnel walls. The light was soft and dusty but intensely bright after the darkness behind them. Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Lisa reached for her firearm again but stopped when Johnny clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“You won’t need that. We’re only here for a chat.”
She lowered her hand and stared at the small shack-like homes built of metal scraps and boxes and old crates. Groups of three-foot-tall, brown, rat-like magicals stood and sat on piles of junk all over the tunnel, talking in low, scratchy tones. She turned to ask where the hell they were, but Johnny had already strode down the tunnel toward the encampment that looked more like parts of the Bronx in the 1970s without the skyline.
The agent hurried to catch up with him. “This is a kemana?”
“One of the run-down parts. You won’t find a Willen in the busy places unless they’re tryin’ to lift something. But what they keep here? That’s the real valuable stuff.”
“All the junk, huh?”
“Naw.” He tapped his temple. “It’s all up here.”
The Willens, dressed in a hodgepodge of incomplete outfits—one with mismatched shoes, another with only a pair of gym shorts, and two others wearing nothing but baseball caps—paused their conversations to stare at the dwarf and the half-Light Elf who walked down the alley of their camp in the abandoned tunnel.
“Hey! Johnny Walker!” A skinny Willen with an open bomber jacket over nothing else poked his head out of a precariously balanced stack of old packing boxes. “I thought you were dead.”
“Well, now you know.” The dwarf jerked his chin at the Willen and kept moving.
“You look like crap, Johnny,” another rat-like creature shouted as he sorted through a pile of old computer parts in front of him. “It’s good to see ya.”
“Yeah.” He raised his eyebrows and that was it.
“Not the friendliest, are they?” Lisa muttered.
“Being honest and being friendly ain’t exactly the opposite.” He grunted and returned the fading glowstick to his pocket. “You can’t buy a Willen's flattery, either. Not for all the shiny shit in New York.”
“Well, if they live like this, I wouldn’t think they’d feel like flattering anyone.”
He snorted. “It’s ʼcause they don’t lie. Everything that comes out of a Willen’s mouth matches exactly what they’re thinkin’. That’s why I’m a fan.”
“I see.”
Johnny studied her for a moment and shook his head. “It’s like you’ve been livin’ under a rock, Agent Breyer. Federal agent, sure, but you were a magical first.”
Lisa cast him a disconcerted glance and swallowed. “Not everyone’s been around as much as you have, Johnny.”
“Huh. Ain’t that the truth.”
“Johnny Walker.” A Willen wearing gold-and-black Nikes at least two sizes too big flashed the dwarf a snaggle-toothed grin. Gold-plated teeth glinted behind the magical’s curling upper lip. “I heard you lost your mind and threw yourself into a pit.”
“Only the Everglades, Brody.” He stopped in front of the Willen and extended his hand. The creature shook it briefly and sneered at the dwarf. “It looks like you got yourself an upgrade.”
“What, this?” Brody slapped a hand at the tinsel and round silver ornaments hanging over the extended roof made of two-by-fours that served as the front porch. “It’s my Christmas present to myself. You’d be amazed at what can go missin’ from Times Square without people noticin’.”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all.” Johnny slid his hand into his pocket and paused. “I’m lookin’ for information and decided you’d be the best magical to help an old friend.”
“Aw. Ain’t that sweet.” Brody ran his tongue over his glinting gold teeth. “I’m not gonna lie, Johnny. I thought you was outta the game.”
“I was. And I will be.”
“We’re trying to get into the Monsters Ball tonight,” Lisa said. “It’s down at Falcon Towers, and all the East Coast’s biggest—”
“I know what the damn Monsters Ball is, lady.” Brody’s beady black eyes flicked toward her and his already wrinkled, rodent-shaped snout puckered even more. “I don’t know you.”
Johnny gestured vaguely toward her. “Agent Breyer with the Bounty Hunter Department. She’s taggin’ along.”
She leaned away from him and raised her eyebrows. “Tagging along?”
He shrugged.
Brody scrutinized her and chuckled. “You got anything to pay for that little tidbit, sweet cheeks?”
She tilted her head warningly at the Willen. “Careful.”
“Shit, I don’t mean no disrespect, lady. But I gotta get what’s mine, don’t I? You know how things work down here.”
“I honestly don’t.”
Johnny smirked. “She honestly doesn’t.”
�
��Huh. But you do, Johnny, don’tcha?”
“Yep.” The dwarf drew his hand out of his pocket and let the end of the gold chain drop from his fingers.
“Ooh… Ain’t that a nice piece a’ shiny?” Brody reached for it, and the dwarf lifted it out of the way.
“Everything you know about the Monsters Ball tonight?”
“Yeah, yeah. Gimme.” The Willen grinned when the gold chain fell into his outstretched clawed hand. He pulled aside a fold of brown skin below his ribs and secreted the chain within before he gave his belly a quick pat.
Lisa wrinkled her nose and stared at the creature’s bare stomach. I don’t even wanna know what else he has stashed away in all that skin.
“Like your lady friend said, Johnny. The party’s goin’ down at Falcon Towers in the penthouse. Kicks off at eight thirty and probably goes until two or three in the mornin’, if you ask me. Those bastards know how to party. But it’s invitation-only, and all those pretty little invites have already been sent out. Pure gold, Johnny? You believe that? All engraved and shit. Good luck gettin’ anywhere near that ball without one a’ them cards.”
The dwarf nodded and folded his arms. “Who has the invites, Brody?”
The Willen uttered a high-pitched giggle and stared at the watch on the dwarf’s left wrist. His tongue ran over his gold teeth again. “That’ll cost you extra, Johnny. It’s a whole different ballgame. You know how it works.”
Without looking away from Brody, he unfastened his watch and dropped it into the cupped paws.
“Ha! You always bring the good stuff. Yessir.” The watch vanished into another fold of brown skin on the left side of the creature’s chest this time, and he grinned. “I know one guy who got hisself one a’ these gold invites. Mid-level thug who married up into high society. What a douche. You could take his. The guy strides around callin’ hisself the Artful Dodger. He made his mark as a cat burglar, yeah?”
“I reckon he’s got nothin’ on you, though,” Johnny muttered.
“Damn straight he don’t!” Brody cackled. “But the Artful Dodger ain’t snaggin’ the same pretties I got comin’ my way. It don’t mean he ain’t a wily bastard, though. He’s never been caught. I hear he used his burglin’ money to buy into that Monsters Ball. If you want one a’ them gold cards, Johnny, you go through him. The guy’s in Queens at the Three Brothers Municipal Waste Company.”
Lisa slid her hands in her jacket pockets. “If you’re so good at stealing things—”
“Stealin’? Stealin’?” Brody leaned away from her and patted the folds of skin at his chest where Johnny’s watch wasn’t even visible anymore. “Lady, I’m a collector.”
“Right. Is there any chance you could collect this golden ticket for us?”
The Willen shivered. “No way. That type barbeques Willens for fun. Uh-huh. I ain’t shimmyin’ down no hidey-hole to so much as touch the guy. You’re on your own.”
She glanced at Johnny. “What if we had a few more shiny things for you?”
“Nope. There ain’t enough watches on either of yous to get any Willen to snag that card for you. I’m done talkin’, Johnny. I hope you don’t die.” Brody spun away, slapped the tinsel and Christmas ornaments hanging off his roof, and dove into the dark hole of his home.
“Come on.” The dwarf nodded toward the illusion charm at the entrance of the Willen camp. “We’ll take a taxi when we get up top.”
“Do we need to stop at the hotel first?”
“For what?” he nodded at the other gathered Willens who studied them as they headed down the abandoned tracks. “You have enough ammo on you, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah. I only meant if you need to get anything.”
“Nope.” He patted the black case the size of a lunchbox that thumped against his hip. “I have everything I need right here and I’m takin’ it to Queens.”
Chapter Eighteen
They had the cabbie drop them off ten blocks from the Three Brother Municipal Waste Company and walked the rest of the distance. The commercial building was set far enough away from the surrounding neighborhoods that anyone could walk around the place doing whatever they wanted and not draw any attention.
The two partners crouched behind the open gate in the multi-layered chain-link fence surrounding the building.
“It looks like the Willen’s information was accurate,” she muttered.
“’Course it is. Brody used to be a second pair of ears and eyes for me back in the day.” He sniffed and leaned sideways for another glance at the front of the building. “It feels like back in the day’s catchin’ up with me damn quick.”
She counted the magicals and low-level thugs who moved in and out of the building. “It’s hard to get a good read on them when they all move around like that. But I count at least thirty-five.”
“Did you? I had twenty-nine but wish it was thirty, though. I like a nice round number.”
She frowned at him as they drew back behind the gate. “There are probably more inside. Either way, they’re heavily armed.”
“Yeah, so am I.” Johnny squatted on the cement and pulled the strap of the black case over his head before he unzipped the top.
“With a knife and those exploding beads? I don’t think that’s gonna be enough.”
“All that’s simply the icin’ on the cake, darlin’.” His hands moved quickly as he took piece after metal piece from the case and attached them one after the other. “I brought a little somethin’ extra this time.”
Lisa folded her arms. “A telescope?”
He clicked the last component into place and lifted what looked very much like a telescope with both hands. “It’s not your fault you haven’t seen a masterpiece like this before. It’s one of mine.”
When he flicked the safety off and took two extra magazines out of the case to store in his jacket pocket, her eyes widened. “You built a gun.”
“Yeah.” He zipped the case again and slung the strap over his head and shoulder before he stood. “They won’t know what hit ʼem.”
“You won’t either firing something like that.” Lisa smirked. “Your high-tech potato gun must have a hell of a recoil.”
Johnny snorted and patted the side of his weapon. “Not for me.”
“Okay, can’t we simply slip in and out this time? You know, use a little magical finesse without blowing anything up?”
Shaking his head, he adjusted the components of his highly portable weapon. “You obviously don’t know how this is done.”
“Fine. I’ll go around back and keep an eye out for the target. If he is as artful a dodger as he thinks he is, that’s where he’ll head first. You distract the muscle.”
“Sure. A hole in the chest is a hell of a distraction.”
She stared at him. “Is that seriously your plan?”
Johnny smirked. “Maybe.”
“Give me a little head start, okay?” With a small smile, she shook her head and moved around the side of the fence to head to the back.
Hefting his weapon, the dwarf stepped through the open gate and strode toward the magical thugs who carried heavy firepower of their own. Not as heavy as mine.
He got halfway to the front door before a Crystal rose from behind a stack of crates and noticed him. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doin’?”
As the creature turned to aim a huge gun at the dwarf, Johnny lifted his weapon and grinned. “It’s playtime.”
He squeezed a shot off before his adversary had taken aim. The stacked crates exploded in a shower of splintered wood and icy fragments as the Crystal was launched back with a roar. Two seconds later, the charge fired from his blast detonated a second time. The area erupted in a column of fire and smoke, and the other magical thugs outside turned their weapons onto the bounty hunter.
“Don’t move, dwarf!”
“I don’t know who you think you are, asshole, but—”
Johnny switched the setting on his portable firearm and unleashed a spray of aut
omatic fire. The bullets themselves were slightly modified—not to punch through flesh but to leave his targets stunned and breathless before the rounds detonated on their own. One by one, the dozen thugs still out front were hurled against the wall as he swept his weapon’s fire across their scattered line and the tiny explosives did what they were designed to do.
One wizard managed to raise a shield in front of him before the exploding bullets could hit home. With wide eyes, he hurled a fireball at the dwarf before the bullets exploded on his shield, then turned and raced through the door.
The bounty hunter ducked the fireball and drew an extra magazine from his pocket. “Yeah, keep runnin’. I was takin’ this party inside anyway.”
He marched toward the door, which was now shut and locked. Squaring his feet, he switched the setting to rampant explosion and fired a shot at the barrier. The metal squealed and collapsed, careened through the doorway, and clattered to the floor in a cloud of dust, smoke, and metal shards. His expression smug, he inserted the new magazine into his weapon and headed inside.
The wizard who’d tried to lock him out lunged at him and another fireball materialized in his hand. Johnny ducked beneath the attack and cracked the end of his heavy modified rifle against the side of his opponent’s knee. The magical fell with a shriek, and he elbowed him in the side of the head.
As the wizard sagged, the sound of two dozen firearms locked and loaded and aimed at the bounty hunter filled the room.
He jerked his chin at them, raised his gun, and switched the setting again quickly. “How’s it goin’, assholes?”
His weapon fired faster than any of theirs and this time, sprayed real bullets that didn’t explode but drilled through stacked crates and folding tables piled high with locked briefcases. A money-counter exploded and rained hundreds of fifty-dollar bills all over the thugs who took cover behind pallets and the steel support beams spaced evenly through the main room every twelve feet.
In the next moment, the thugs returned fire.
