Swing Shift: Book 2

by William D. Arand

  “Dandy,” Mark said. “Now we just need more information.”

  “I can reach out to the Curator,” Gus said.

  Fin’s eyebrows shot up to the top of her head at that.

  Mark had just the barest of winces on his face before he smoothed it out.

  Damn. He was protecting me. She didn’t know.

  “You know the Curator,” Fin said, her smile becoming quite predatory. “You know where he is and can reach him?”

  “Ah… yes,” Gus said.

  “Then yes, by all means. Please reach out to him. See if he knows anything,” Fin said.

  “Okay, can I have one of your cell phones?” Gus asked.

  Fin and General McArthur stared blankly at Gus.

  Mark pulled his phone out and set it down in the middle of the table.

  “Thanks,” Gus said. Picking up Mark’s phone, he tapped in Dave’s number and waited.

  The line picked up, but no one answered on the other end.

  “Hey, Dave? This is Gus,” Gus said. “Got some new information I wanted to share with you. Don’t have my cell on me, though. Using Mark’s.”

  “Oh!” said Dave on the other end, then followed up immediately with a laugh. “Is everything alright?”

  “Yeah, just broke into and then out of a prison.” Gus looked up at the three people across from him. “Meeting with a general, the director, and the deputy director. I owed you a favor, so I thought it’d be good to give you an info dump.”

  “Oh?” the Curator asked. “Hah. That’s rather amusing, actually. Put me on speaker.”

  “Sure, one second,” Gus said, then put the phone down in the middle of the table and pressed the button. “All set.”

  “Hello Mark, Fin, and most likely Bennett,” Dave said.

  “Hello Dave,” Mark said immediately, grinning. “How ya doing?”

  “Pretty good, pretty good,” Dave said, clearly smiling on the other end of the line. “Just settling.”

  Mark’s talked to Dave on the side as well. Smart man.

  Probably used Mel as a channel.

  “Ah,” Fin said, clearly unsure. “Good morning, Mr… I don’t…”

  “Dave is fine,” Dave said. “So, information?”

  “Yeah,” Gus cut in. “Prison up north I dug Chloe out of.”

  “Uh huh.” Dave clearly knew which one.

  “Secret prisoners there, all arranged by the same people who blew up the Fed and tried to spike the bowl,” Gus said. “Looks like they’re also behind a drug ring in the army. Everything vanishes the moment we get a hint of anything. Also… they used some type of portal to get from one location to another.”

  “Oh,” Dave sounded somewhat shocked. “A planar lord or something like it.”

  Planar lord. Planar lord?

  Never heard of it.

  “I’ll keep an ear out for you. Sounds like I was right to get out, though,” Dave said with a sigh.

  “I take it you don’t know anything?” Gus asked.

  “No. What I do know is that this is… I’ll put it in a different way that might make more sense. I don’t know about them,” Dave said. “I know nothing of them, about them, or what their intent is. I can’t even honestly tell you it’s a ‘they’ or a ‘them’ or a single person.

  “Whatever this is, whoever this is, avoided even me and all my networks and abilities.”

  In other words, we’re fucked.

  Chapter 20 - Plots

  When he walked into the hangar that’d been assigned to his department, Gus saw Hailey first. As usual, she was torso deep in a vehicle.

  He knew it was her due to the rear-end of coveralls sticking out of the engine. It looked like she was working on a much older jeep.

  As long as I’ve known her, that’s been her thing. Buy broken vehicles, fix ’em up.

  I wonder if she was paying for college like that.

  Certainly wasn’t making enough working for her parents.

  Hailey came out of the vehicle as Gus and Janelle walked up to it.

  “Hey there,” Gus said. “A jeep, huh? Looks like an old army surpl—”

  He was cut off as Hailey slammed into him and hugged him tightly.

  With far more force than he was expecting.

  Groaning, he tried to keep his right arm away from her death grip but didn’t succeed.

  “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.” Hailey took a step back and looked at him. “Trish said you were after Janelle.”

  Her eyes darted to one side, apparently checking Janelle. “Glad to see you found her. We were all worried, though. You could have let us know you were fine.”

  “No phones,” Gus said with a grimace, turning his right arm away from Hailey. “Trish has it. No idea where Janelle’s went.”

  “That’s… you know I should probably start canceling my credit cards, buy a new phone, and get that all put back together.” Janelle sighed. “Not going to be fun. Bad enough without my mask. I hate wearing a cover.”

  Reaching up, Janelle adjusted the military cap she was wearing. Without her mask, her ears were very visible, and very obviously not human.

  “Mark said he’d take care of it—he’ll take care of it,” Gus said. “Now, I miss anything?”

  “We found some very basic leads at the other location, nothing big,” Hailey said. “Mel was workin’ through some pattern stuff to see if she could figure out if she could predict the next shipment coming through. No luck so far, last I heard.”

  “Great, thanks,” Gus said. Nodding at Hailey, he continued toward where he figured everyone would be. The “office” part of the hangar.

  Opening the door with his left hand, he stepped inside.

  Melody, Trish, Indali, and Vanessa were all there on computers. Working on one thing or another.

  “Before anyone tries to hug me,” Gus said by way of greeting. “I’m pretty sure my right arm has a break in it. So take it easy until Trish can patch me up.”

  Trish was out of her seat in a flash. Both her hands were on his face, and Gus lost himself in her slightly glowing eyes. By the time he could break away from her gaze, he found himself sitting on the couch.

  “There,” Trish said, patting his cheek. “It was a hairline break, but it was definitely broken. Just take it easy with it and you’ll be fine. It was much easier to heal than that bullet wound from your dinner date.”

  “Didn’t try to use fear to heal it,” Gus said. “Seems like if anything else is used on a wound, you have a harder time.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” Trish said, smiling at him from inches away. Her eyes hadn’t lost their glow, and her fingers were lightly stroking his jawline. “I’m so glad you’re alright. When you didn’t show up for the flight, we got worried.”

  “Yeah, long story,” Gus said. “The short version of it is that this drug ring, the Fed bombing, the bowl game, and Janelle’s vanishing are all connected. It’s all the same group.”

  “Really?” Melody asked. Looking over to the Contractor, he could see her Orange contract was glowing.

  “Yeah. I called Dave just to give him a heads up,” Gus said. “Mark’s boss agrees with that assessment. All the same group. The worst part is that prison we got Chloe out of is involved. They were using it as a recruitment center and staging ground. It’s where they tried to dump Janelle.”

  “Indeed,” Janelle said, standing near the door. She pulled off her cap and set it on the coat rack nearby. “I didn’t even really ask any questions. Didn’t learn anything. They just decided to ghost me because I was there.”

  “I see,” Melody said, leaning back in her chair. She reached up with one hand and lightly began to run a finger back and forth over her lower lip. “It makes sense, in a way. We’ve found they’re not just secretive, but devilishly so. To the point that even their employees have almost no information.

  “And speaking of that, my niece says the hitwoman from the basement took the job offer. Her real name’s Michelle Dennis,” Melody said.
“She really didn’t know anything. Not a thing. The allegory of the cave applies here pretty strongly. Her entire sense of the world is pretty screwed up.”

  Trish gave Gus a firm kiss and then went back to her desk. She immediately got back into whatever she’d been working on.

  Looking around the room, Gus found Indali working through a mess of papers, seemingly going through them one by one. Sitting next to her on her desk was her case. Which likely held her body in it.

  Need to get her back. Glad I didn’t take her, though. Could have gone bad.

  Vanessa was watching Gus quietly when his eyes found hers next.

  She gave him a small smile and waved a hand at him.

  “Glad you’re alright, Gus,” she said softly, more for him alone. “Was a little scared.”

  “Heh, me too,” Gus said just as quietly.

  “What if this drug ring is more than just a drug ring then?” Melody said, her eyes slowly turning toward the ceiling. “Last time their whole goal was to expose the Para world to the real world.”

  “What?” Janelle asked sharply at that. “You’re kidding.”

  “No, that’s what we figure their goal was,” Trish said, glancing up from her screen with a smile. “They really want the two worlds to be one world.”

  “That’s just stupid. I thought it was just a terror attack.” Janelle shook her head. “Why would anyone want the two to meet? There are stories of massive cullings that go back to the First Elves. Never have the two worlds joined at any level.”

  “And yet there it is,” Melody said, putting her hands behind her head. “So, do we assume the same? The drugs are some way of making it so the Para world becomes obvious? If so, how?”

  “Could it be something like what happened with the bowl game?” Indali asked, looking up from the papers. “Are people overdosing or dying?”

  “Good question,” Melody said, then turned to Vanessa. “Anything on your end, oh mistress of the streets?”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes at that, but with a smile on her face.

  “Not that—actually, now that I’m taking a moment to think about it, there might be something there,” Vanessa said. “Let me check a few things and I’ll get back to you.”

  Gus stood up and walked over to Melody.

  “Hey, Mel,” he said as the Contractor turned her eyes up toward him.

  “Hello, my handsome Indigo,” she said, smiling up at him. “Did you m—”

  Leaning down, Gus kissed Melody with far more passion than he’d shown her previously.

  His hands locked on to the side of her face as he held her there. Kissing her. Even going so far as to tilt her head slightly and push his tongue into her mouth.

  When he finally broke the kiss ten seconds later, he laid his cheek against hers.

  “I love you, Mel,” he murmured softly. “I’m sure I worried you. I’m sorry.”

  Melody was breathing hard and heavily, her hands hanging on to his coat.

  “Yeah, sure, no worries,” she said a bit breathlessly. “Just make it up to me some more.”

  Chuckling, Gus kissed the side of her head, leaned her back into her chair, and then stood up.

  “Of course. What kind of Indigo contract would I be if I didn’t make sure of that?” he asked.

  Melody’s contracts were all on fire right now. Each and every one of them glowed with an inner light as she gazed up at him.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  Grinning at that, Gus tapped her chin with a finger and then left her there. He sat down in the chair next to Indali’s desk and pulled over her case.

  “Don’t leave me behind next time,” Indali said as he opened the case.

  “I didn’t want to risk you,” Gus said simply.

  “I think that’s my choice to make,” she said, her eyes finally looking at him instead of the paperwork. “And I’m telling you, don’t leave me behind next time.”

  “Okay, got it. Message received,” Gus said. “Can’t deny I missed having you at my side. Felt weird.”

  Immediately taking Indali out of her case, he thumbed open her release and checked her barrels.

  She wasn’t loaded, but she was in the exact same condition he’d left her in.

  Reaching into the case, Gus began to immediately pull out all the bits and pieces he’d need to get her back in working order.

  Indali opened the bottom right cabinet of her desk and pulled out her holster and belt.

  “Thanks, Indali,” Gus said, taking them from her. “You really are an amazing weapon, by the way.”

  “Why thank you, Gus. You’re a very good partner yourself.” Indali gave him a wide smile. “Your trigger pulls always give me butterflies. We should go to the firing range soon. I’d really like to put some rounds downrange with you.”

  That… sounds very different than what it sounds like.

  I wonder if… no. Maybe?

  Glancing over, he found Melody, Janelle, Trish, and Vanessa all gathered around one computer. Going through something together.

  “Does… someone firing you make you happy?” Gus asked softly.

  Indali’s cheeks took on a faint red tone, and her grin grew wider.

  “Not normally. But when you fire me, it definitely does things for me,” Indali said. “I want you to take me to a range and fire me. A lot. Until I tell you to stop. That isn’t a request.”

  “I… understand,” Gus said. Indali was still in his right hand. And against all reason and training, he had his finger in the trigger guard. He was stroking the trigger itself.

  “And stop fingering my trigger,” Indali said, looking directly at his hand. “It’s rather nice as far as foreplay goes, but unless you’re going to fire me off, quit it.”

  Gus immediately jerked his finger out of the guard. “Yeah, sorry. Got it.”

  He stuffed Indali into her holster, then stood up and belted her into place. Taking up the ammo can of rounds she’d pulled out as well, he began loading up the belt and the speed loaders.

  Never heard of someone bonding to a Construct. Because that’s what this feels like.

  A bonding.

  Like how some types of wizards have bond mates or familiars.

  Gus walked over to the computer everyone was clustered around and set down the ammo can. Pulling them out one by one, he started putting them into the belt and holster.

  “See? It’s an uptick, but it only started the day after the crate was found,” Vanessa said, pointing to a number on the screen. “Before that, everything looked normal. But it’s only been like two weeks since then. It’s not enough to really say it’s real. Could just be a really bad week.”

  “I don’t know,” Trish said. “That seems an awful lot like something these people would do given their past record.”

  “I would agree,” Melody said. “Not to mention, these are just incidents that were reported to hospitals, right? There’s no telling how many happened that weren’t diagnosed or reported.”

  “I mean… yeah,” Vanessa said with a sigh. “That’s always the problem, I guess. How many of these occur that no one ever reports due to fear?”

  “Quite a few,” Gus said as he stuffed rounds in their place. “Saw it when I was enlisted. They’d rather suffer it out than report it. Literally death was a preferable option for some people. They didn’t want to lose their careers.”

  “Which means… this is likely the same,” Melody said. “Assuming that, it means this could just be a higher week of reports on top of that. Not that it’s an actual increase.”

  “Call up your CIs,” Janelle said. “Start asking around. See what they say. Chances are they’d have a better idea if there’s some bad stuff going around.”

  “Any chance of there being military CIs, Colonel?” Gus asked, glancing at the freshly minted colonel. “Kinda hard to believe all these drugs are going through and no one’s popping them open and selling around base.”

  “As far as we can tell, that’s actually w
hat’s happening. No one is stealing from the crates, selling, or distributing,” Janelle said, shaking her head.

  “Which lines back up with everything else we know about this group,” Melody said. “They have an absolute control over everything.”

  “Oh,” Gus said, suddenly remembering a critical piece of information. One he couldn’t really say aloud because Indali was there.

  Then again, she already knows I’m a telepath. She took that conversation pretty well.

  Why wouldn’t I tell her all about me? At this point, I can’t really imagine putting her away.

  And if she’s coming with me forever forward, she’ll find out eventually.

  Everyone was staring at him now, wondering what he was going to say. His “oh” statement having been followed by silence.

  Clearing his throat, he looked at Indali, who lifted her eyes from the paper she was working on.

  “Indali, I’m not human,” Gus said.

  “Of course you’re not.” Indali looked confused. “That was obvious from the telepathy.”

  “I’m a Boogieman,” Gus said without any buildup or warning.

  The room became deathly silent.

  “I… see. Okay,” Indali said. Then she licked her lips, clearly processing what he’d just told her. “Okay. I suppose we’ll be working together for a very long time then. I met a Boogieman while I was in prison. He said he was over nine hundred years old. Looked like he was only thirty.”

  Suppose having met one previously makes it easier for her. We’re not ‘kill on sight’ everywhere, are we?

  Maybe we are.

  Too much has happened for anyone to really trust us. It’d be naive to think a government would want to give us a chance.

  It’d be like trusting nuclear weapons to not explode when detonated.

  “With that said,” Gus continued, looking back at the others. “There was someone watching us in the yard. That’s who I sent Janelle to look at. Another Boogieman.”

  “A Boogieman,” Melody repeated, tilting her head to one side. “That’s… curious. Other than you, our friend I gave to my nephew-in-law, your mother, and your sister, I’ve never met another. Not even heard of another.”