“And yes. I’ve been reading your mind, memories, and thoughts since the first time we met. It’s a bad habit, sorry. Yes, we know you’re a Boogieman, but that’s neither here nor there.
“Now… act normal. Or do you want everyone to know you were trying to take a peek?”
As gentle as a breeze, Gus felt his mind set back down as if it were made of glass.
Coughing once, Gus turned his head to the side.
“Sorry,” he said, trying to cover up his shock at what’d just happened. “Anyways, yeah. They’re all working to expose the Para world to the normal world. They want equality and recognition, and they want it now. They’re not going to wait.
“They’re just going to force it all into the open and let the world deal with it.”
“Idiocy,” Leanne said with a shake of her head. “How can we help?”
“Uh, I’m really just wondering if you’ve seen any groups splashing around a lot of money lately,” Gus said. He wasn’t entirely over the fact that Kat had just manhandled him as if he were little better than a baby. She would make even his dad look like a kitten. “Buying people, favors, whatever they can with a lot of money. Anything at all out of the ordinary in the last two years.”
“Mmm,” Leanne said, turning to look at Kat.
Immediately, the telepath—because that was obviously what she was—shook her head. It made a lot more sense now why Kat didn’t talk much. She was busy reading everyone’s minds and trying to keep a hold on everything.
Leanne looked back at Gus and shrugged.
“Nothing that stands out to us at least,” she said. “And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the Para world and real world existing together. We’re part of that group and make considerable donations to it. We’re also part of a number of different associations with that goal.”
“And you haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary?” Gus asked.
“No, not really,” Leanne said, shaking her head.
Frowning, Gus looked down and to the side.
He’d really been hoping there’d been a new player making moves. It would’ve given him a place to start.
Right now, he really didn’t have much of anything to work with.
At all.
“We’ll ask around,” Kat said. “Maybe we’re not seeing something because of how low a profile we keep.
“Oh, and before you ask… yes, Michael Fitz was working on a way to separate the two portals. He really was just an innocent bystander in all of this. He had a brilliant mind.”
Fitz. The Troll.
Guess that closes up that little loose thread and explains a whole lot, too.
“We should leave,” Indali said, her thoughts coming across to Gus. He was always listening to her now. Day, night, morning, evening—they were always in contact. “They’ve told us all they can. It would be rude to remain.”
“Alright.” Gus nodded his head at the two women. “Thank you for your time. If you happen to hear anything, let me know.”
“Of course, of course,” Leanne said with a grin. “Technically you’re sort of family now. You’re married to Trish, right? It’s all distant in-law relationships, but it’s still family, isn’t it?”
Gus chuckled at that, shaking Leanne’s extended hand.
“Yeah, it is,” he said. Leanne surprised him then by pulling him in and hugging him with one arm.
“Good. Good,” she said, patting him on the shoulder before moving over to talk to Trish.
“Offer’s open,” Kat said as she shook Gus’s hand. “Feel free to drop by whenever.”
“I look forward to training you,” she added inside his mind.
Uh, yeah. Sure. I imagine it’d be beneficial.
…
You’re still listening, aren’t you?
“Of course I am,” Kat said, and then she laughed inside his head even as she moved over to shake Trish’s hand, not even looking at him anymore. “I always am.”
Holy fuck.
Gus now had an inkling of how Chloe must feel at all times.
And probably Indali.
Five minutes of goodbyes found Gus on the street, wondering what to do next.
Sighing, he put his hands in his pockets and shook his head.
The sun was starting to move just past noon now.
“You know,” Chloe said, covering her eyes. “It’s nice to be in the sun again and all that, but I’m still pretty freaked out by it. I know the lotion works, but what if it doesn’t? What if it’s defective?
“What if I suddenly just burst into flame?”
To be fair, it was rather odd that Vampires could walk around during the day providing they had enough cash to buy the appropriate lotions.
“I’d have to find a new orphan Vampire to take care of and feed,” Gus said.
“Har har, just for that you can come feed me before my shift starts. I’m suddenly feeling petty and peckish,” Chloe said.
“That sounds fun,” Trish said. “Let’s get lunch and head over to your place.”
“I think I’ll head back to the building—work to do,” Indali said.
Gus got the impression Indali and Chloe would probably never see eye to eye. For one reason or another, he felt a strange coldness from the Construct when it came to Chloe.
“Great,” Chloe said. “Lunch at my place, and then I’ll take a nap. This is way later than I’m normally up. We’ll go in Trish’s car, and Indali can take Gus’s car. You trust her with it, don’t you Gus?”
“Course I do. Trust her with my life,” Gus said immediately, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
Turning toward his car, Gus found a young man standing next to it. With him were several young women.
They all looked to be between the ages of seventeen and nineteen. The young man was staring at Gus with a smile.
It gave Gus the impression the young man was waiting for Gus specifically.
As he walked over, Gus had the distinct impression that he wasn’t in danger, but he wasn’t safe either. Which was a very strange feeling to get from a kid who couldn’t even buy alcohol.
“Good afternoon, Agent,” said the young man.
He was a good-looking young man. A green-eyed and brown-haired youth that seemed far too self-confident. He had a good physique even if he didn’t look muscular.
Standing to his right was a woman who looked extremely mature and incredibly well put together, looking closer to twenty-one than a teenager. She had long brown curls that tumbled over her shoulders. Her clear brown eyes had a look Gus had seen often enough. They were the eyes of someone who didn’t value anyone for anything.
On the man’s left was another young woman.
Perhaps only seventeen years old, she was clearly still growing. Gus got the impression she was going to be tall. Tall and muscular.
Very tall, in fact, given that she was already as tall as Gus. She had sharp crystal-blue eyes and blond hair cut short in a pixie style. A silver pendant hung around her neck with a center that looked like a locket.
The last woman looked pregnant, with both hands on her belly. She was probably in her late teens or very early twenties.
She was a pretty brunette with calm brown eyes. There was a smugness to the look on her face, which was reflected in the self-satisfied way she was caressing her stomach.
“Help you, kid?” Gus asked.
“Alex,” said the young man.
“What?” Gus asked.
“The name’s Alex,” said the young man. Then he gestured to the large girl. “And this is… well, her name is Five. Like the number.”
Then he indicated the pretty woman next to him that seemed to look at Gus like he was a sack of meat.
“This is my wife, Anna,” Alex said. “And lastly, my… well, she’s mine, and her name is Nine.”
Bobbing her head, the pretty pregnant woman smiled at Gus.
“Uh huh,” Gus said. None of them had masks on, and he didn’t get the impression any of t
hem were Paras.
On top of that, the one called Anna had no fear about her. Not in any way, shape, or form.
It was disconcerting to the point that Gus idly wondered if she was even alive. Everyone had fear on them in small amounts. Always.
This woman had none at all.
Gus met her eyes and immediately regretted it. It felt like he was staring into the face of one of the serial killers he’d met.
“I wanted to make you an offer,” Alex said.
“What kind of offer?” Gus asked. Then he tried to slip a thread of power into the young man’s mind.
Only to find it missing. Just as Leanne’s had been. As if he didn’t exist.
Anna, Nine, and Five all felt the same. His power simply slid off them. Their minds locked away and unreachable by him.
“Well,” Alex said, holding his hands up in a neutral gesture. Then he held out a small plastic card he had in his palm. “An offer you probably won’t want to hear and that will make you very suspicious of me. One that’ll send you scurrying to a database to put my name into it and see what there is to know about me.
“I’ll make it very easy for you. Here’s my driver’s license, though it’s technically out of state. Feel free to write it down or check it, whatever you want. May I pitch my deal now?”
Gus took the license and gave it a quick once-over. It had a mask attached to it as well. A very powerful one.
Alexander Winters.
Home address is in… Larimer?
He’s… sixteen. Sixteen? Moving fast for a sixteen-year-old.
Whatever. Age of consent is sixteen in his home state.
“Go ahead. I’m listening, kid,” Gus said.
“His name is Alex,” growled the woman who was named Five. It made Gus’s skin prickle. Her tone had a threat of violence in it that many killers likely couldn’t match.
Gus looked at the big young woman.
“Right,” he said, then looked at Alex.
“She’s just very protective of me,” Alex said, laying a hand on Five’s hip. “Now, my offer. I’ll tell you who you should look into about your case. It’ll put you in the right direction at least.”
“What?” Gus felt like the floor had been pulled out from under him.
“I’ll give you a name to look into. It’ll help your case,” Alex said, smiling at Gus. “Though I have a price for this name.”
“And what’s that price?” Gus said. Nothing about this situation made sense to him. Not at all.
Today fucking sucks.
“In the future, I’m going to need a favor from you,” Alex said. “I don’t know how simple it’ll be, but it’ll be a favor, that’s for sure. I’d also need you to swear it on the name of a goddess that’ll hold you to your side of the deal.”
The fuck?
Like some damned Faustian deal.
“Nothing too onerous, I assure you,” Alex said. “Nothing that would directly cause anyone harm or ill. I swear to that.”
“Fine,” Gus said.
“Grand, you’re a peach,” Alex said with a grin and then held up a hand. “I swear on the goddess Leah that the information I’m about to provide, for the assurance of a favor in the future, is accurate and actionable. On pain of death and forfeiture of my soul.”
Alex let the hand he’d been holding up drop.
“Your turn, Agent,” Alex said.
WHAT THE FUCK!?
“I… swear on the goddess Leah to provide a non-harming, non-fatal, non-damaging to other parties favor in exchange for the information,” Gus said. He really didn’t have any other leads right now. And right now, he’d believe anything from anyone.
He’d been told the truth behind the biggest mystery the world had ever known, met people from other planets, one being his contract wife, discovered that an urban myth was real, and found a psyker who was leagues ahead of him in power.
Nothing made sense right now.
A sudden and unrelenting pressure pushed down on Gus’s shoulders. It felt like the weight of the world was suddenly his to hold up.
Witnessed.
The voice was heavy, female, and demanding.
Godly.
“You should look into the company T2,” Alex said. “Or Test and Trial, as they’re commonly known. Though I strongly recommend you do it with as little pressure as you can manage.
“Until next time, Agent.”
Alex bowed his head partially to Gus, then left. He headed straight into the C&C marketing building and vanished inside. The women followed him inside. Anna paused at the door, however.
She gave Gus a flat stare, her eyes boring through him.
“Don’t fail my Alex,” she said with a sweet face and dead-eyed smile. Then she went inside as well.
“What… the fuck was that?” Chloe asked.
“Dunno,” Gus said. “But… today has been really messed up.”
“I’ll run the company name. You three have lunch,” Indali said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Gus said. “I’ll call Mark and—”
Gus’s phone suddenly started vibrating in his pocket.
Pulling it out, he looked at the screen. It was a message from Melody.
I swear to god, I really can’t handle this right now, Mel.
I swear it better—
Gus froze as he read the message.
Hey! I just found an interesting link while going through all the records that were sent over. Eric Mill, the convenience store, the crates that the drug ring got through the military, and even the damn DMV all used a company to do some of their quality testing.
A company by the name of Test and Trial.
I’ve already started looking into them, and it definitely doesn’t look quite right. There are just a few things that don’t really add up and make me rather suspicious.
I’ve contacted their office and set up an interview for you and two others.
Love you, baby! My sweet Indigo.
We’re contracting Janelle tonight. She’s not part of our marriage, just a contract, so she won’t be joining us in our contracting festivities. I decided to make her Blue in the end. I think that’s where she’d best benefit me.
We’ll probably have to reset the contracts afterward, so bring your A game. Trish is going to work her special orgy magic, and she always hyper-focuses on you.
I hope you destroy her again like you did the first time. It was amazing to watch you th—
Gus thumbed the message closed and put his phone in his pocket.
“Melody is looking into Test and Trial. She just found them,” Gus said, feeling like he’d been swindled. He’d gotten more or less nothing from Alex.
Actually… I’m not even mad.
In fact, I’d say I’m impressed.
Chapter 27 - Small Gains
Gus felt oddly great.
He’d expected to feel tired, emotionally drained, and run down from their “contract celebration,” must as he had the first time.
Except he didn’t.
He felt refreshed, free of stress, and ready to take on everything.
Maybe I’m getting used to being in a four-person orgy. I mean, that wasn’t even the fifth time we’ve done that. It’s… easier every time.
The elevator doors swung open, and Gus found himself looking at Mark’s secretary.
“Ah! Agent. Director Ehrich is waiting for you,” said the secretary, looking back at her computer.
Gus nodded and walked straight into Mark’s office.
Thankfully, when he opened the door this time, he didn’t find Fin on Mark’s desk with her feet in the air.
Instead he found Mark working away at his desk. He didn’t look that great, either.
“Hey Gussy,” Mark said without looking up. He was typing away at his keyboard.
“Hey Durh.” Gus closed the door behind him. As he walked into Mark’s office, Gus glanced off to the side. The couch there had several blankets draped over the arm that hadn’t been there the
other day. There were also several suitcases next to the couch.
“I left,” Mark said. “I told Kelly everything. Everything. Apologized, told her everything, then said I’d sleep here for a while, while she figured things out. She took it rather well, honestly. Kinda… kinda strange.
“That or our marriage was far rockier than I thought. Maybe she was considering divorce herself.”
Gus only nodded as he walked over and took a seat in front of Mark’s desk.
He didn’t know what to say, but he was glad Mark had manned up. Kelly deserved to know the truth rather than have Mark sneaking around behind her back.
It was odd to think that they were having a rough go of it. He’d never even considered that angle until he’d found Mark trying to split Fin in half.
“I mean… we hadn’t had sex since I got shot,” Mark said, no longer typing. He was staring at his desktop. “Hadn’t had sex, didn’t really talk anymore, mostly just argued.”
“Uh huh. Don’t they usually send you to therapy when you get shot?” Gus asked.
Mark laughed at that and looked at Gus.
“You mean like going to therapy for having your back broken or what we did out there in the sand?” Mark asked.
Yeah… not much room for me to comment there. Not like I did it right either.
“So… you’re just going to hang out here? You could come stay at my place,” Gus said.
“I… appreciate it, but no,” Mark said. “I’ll stay here for now. Fin’s trying to get me to move into her place, but I think I just want a week or two here. In the office.
“Suffer a little while Kelly decides what she wants to do. And yeah, I know… it doesn’t justify it. But it’ll make me feel a bit better.”
“And what does Fin think about this, other than wanting you to move in with her?” Gus asked.
“She’s really excited,” Mark said, and a slow smile curled his lips. “I get the impression she’s actually been single a really long time. Sirens age incredibly slowly.”
Nodding his head, Gus leaned back in his seat. This felt like a good time to change the subject to him.
“Mel dug up some stuff,” he said. “Sounds like we might have a coincidence or a lead. Test and Trial systems was apparently a vendor for… well, everyone. They did quality assurance. Going to go talk to them today. Mel got an interview with some people for me. Going to see them and what I can peel away.”
Swing Shift: Book 2 Page 29
