He’d find them any second.
Turning into another room, Gus entered what looked like a study. All around were maps, diagrams, and papers filled with handwritten notes.
Gus had seen the like before. He’d had a study of his own with Mark for a few cases in their years. This was where plans were made.
Plans that really shouldn’t see the light of day.
Across the room, sitting at a desk and staring into a monitor, was his target. It was a woman that had magic bleeding off her in every direction. A large amount of magic that Gus knew was planar only because of what he’d learned from Sam.
The spell that’d led him here faded and fizzled out. Just as Sam had said, it lasted up until the moment he found his target.
The woman at the desk froze up, and her shoulders slowly inched inward.
Shit, did she feel that?
Gus moved off to one side and slunk down low into the corner. He desperately wanted to catch this person alive and read her thoughts.
To tear her mind apart, to be honest.
Reaching out with his thoughts, Gus started to push into the woman’s mind.
And that was apparently the wrong thing to do.
The woman smashed her right hand into the top of the computer beneath the desk and tore the front of it off.
Standing up, Gus drew Indali.
Before he could draw her completely, the woman had ripped something out of the computer.
“Freeze!” Gus shouted, leveling Indali at the woman.
Moving even as Gus considered pulling the trigger, the woman literally dove over the desk and right through a glass window.
Rushing over, Gus lifted Indali up and scanned the area.
The woman was gone and had left no trace of herself. Nor could Gus see any portals, which he knew from his past experience he could see even without the tracking spell.
It meant the woman had bolted on foot.
Grabbing his cell phone, Gus went to dial Melody.
“Already telling Melody what’s happening,” Indali said. “There’s a helicopter and a squad of PID en route to your position.
“Melody wants you to secure whatever you can in the house.”
Gus grimaced at the idea of letting his prey get away, but he couldn’t fault the logic. If the woman was determined enough to protect whatever was on the computer that she’d smash it, then whatever was left in the room and the computer was worthwhile.
More so than chasing a planar being alone through a suburb without backup immediately available.
Boogieman or not, Gus wasn’t immortal.
“Right,” Gus sent back to Indali.
“I don’t like it either, Bearer. I wanted to let loose and end her as well. To feel your finger stroke my trigger and end her life. But that’s not how this one is to play out, it would seem,” Indali said.
Sighing, Gus moved to the corner of the room.
He’d sit here and wait while camouflaged.
Maybe the planar will return if she thinks I left.
He didn’t actually believe that for a moment, but it was better than just writing her off as escaped.
***
“Gus?” called a muffled female voice from the front of the house.
Melody.
Standing up, Gus sighed and holstered Indali. He really did hope the planar being would return, but she hadn’t.
Giving himself a physical shake, he reverted back into his human-looking self. The hunt was over, and it’d ended in failure.
He’d tracked his prey back to her den only to lose her at the last second.
Next time I need to somehow break the spell before I get within a certain distance. Didn’t think she’d feel it.
Walking over to the front door, Gus opened it.
Standing there was Melody. She was wearing a Fed vest and had her weapon out. It was an odd look, considering she was still wearing a dress.
Behind her was a squad of Fed agents. Trish, Vanessa, and Janelle were all with her as well.
“Hello there,” Gus said, holding the door open. “Come on in. I followed a suspect in through the back door in an active chase. I—”
“Got a warrant,” Janelle said, holding up a piece of paper. “Mark and Miss Dresch both signed off on it and got a judge for it.”
Well. That makes it easy then.
Some of the agents began filing in and trooping past him while others started back to their cars to collect items from them.
The rest of Gus’s household, however, remained outside with him.
Joining them, Gus stepped down off the porch and onto the grass.
Trish came over and gave him a tight hug, her Fed vest making her feel like an armored post rather than a person.
“I was worried,” she said, pushing her face into his neck.
Uh.
Feeling awkward about this obvious display of affection in front of both people who were in the know and people who weren’t, Gus patted her on the back.
Then Trish pulled away and gave him a bright smile. He couldn’t help but admire the Elven Dryad and the way she made even the Fed vest look good on her.
Forcing his eyes off her and to the others, he gave them a sad smile.
“I lost her. Was a woman. Was a bit of a trip, too,” Gus said. “They travel from… portal to portal. It makes more sense we have such a hard time tracking them. Figuring out where they’re going. On top of all that, I’m pretty sure these portals can go to other worlds.”
“They can,” Melody said. “My mother’s family is from a different plane.”
“That’s what it was?” Gus asked. “A different plane? It was like something out of a documentary. It was literally like being in the past.”
“Yes… there are some planes that are… very behind, I guess you could say. Not every plane developed in the same way. There’s one that’s beyond our technology, you know,” Melody said.
“Oh, we should go get some of it and bring it back,” Trish said, looking at the others. “Though I’d suggest we use it only for ourselves. No sense in letting others benefit.”
There were times when Gus forgot that Trish wasn’t from this world. She’d explained a bit more to him that the place she’d come from was far more violent. A world where it was kill or be killed and eat or be eaten. That there was very little in the way of sympathy or empathy for anyone or anything.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already gotten us a deal with Sam,” Melody said with a wave of her hand. “He just wanted a few files on people from the Fed database, so I handed them over in exchange. We get a free round trip to any plane we want in the future. I was thinking we’d hit up that plane I was talking about and come back with truckloads of stuff.
“They have this really neat device that—”
Gus cleared his throat and then smiled when everyone turned to look at him.
“Not the best time or place, is it?” Gus asked. “We should probably be looking at what we found here. This is the best lead we’ve gotten so far. And one of those rooms back there really looks interesting.”
“Yes, that’s right. Indali mentioned that,” Melody said. Then she walked by Gus and gave him a quick kiss before vanishing into the house.
Trish was a step behind her, also collecting a kiss from Gus.
“So far,” Janelle said, stepping up to Gus, “I find this line of work far more… safe… than my previous line of work.”
“I imagine,” Gus said with a grin.
“Though, I did hear news from my family while you were out this morning,” Janelle said, turning her eyes to look at the house. “I’ve officially been disowned by them. Then I did as everyone suggested and released all the information I had. My agreements with ‘the Hunter’ and several deals you signed with me personally. Thank you for those, by the way.
“The noble house of the Elves has been devastated by the fallout from all of that. Apparently no one wanted the Hunter to come back, and the royal family risked that. Disown
ing me was probably the best thing for me, since it gave me the leverage to strike back.”
With a frown threatening to break free, Gus did his best to keep his emotions in check. He could only imagine what Janelle was going through. If his family had cut him out of their lives, he wouldn’t know how to handle it.
“And so, I am without family,” Janelle said, turning her eyes back to Gus. “Though… to be fair, what they asked me to do was simply criminal.”
“It was, and I disagree,” Gus said, realizing what he needed to say. What he wanted to say.
“You disagree,” Janelle repeated, not sounding very sure.
“You have a family. Me, Trish, Vanessa, Melody. We’re your family now. Your contract is for the rest of your life, you know,” Gus said. “Blue.”
Janelle snorted at that, half of her mouth lifting in a what looked like a smirk.
“Thanks for reminding me, Indigo,” Janelle said. Then she leaned in and left a soft kiss on his lips. Reaching up as she pulled away, she patted his cheek gently. “I’m going inside now.”
Her fingers lingered on his cheek for a second before she turned and went inside as well. Gus’s mind went straight back to the thoughts she’d had about him and certain Elven rituals she wanted him to partake in with her.
Suddenly he knew for a fact where this was going, and he had no way to really pump the brakes anymore.
And on some level, he didn’t want to.
“You’ll need to include me in that family description next time,” Indali said. “I officially accepted the Orange contract. I’m to be brought in later this week or next week. Though not as a wife. Contract only. Serafina is close to accepting the Violet contract.”
Sighing, Gus put a hand on his brow.
“Ah… and… Chloe is taking Green,” Indali finished. “Mel was discussing it with me while we were on the phone earlier. The contracting will be spaced out, one every week or two. Mel said having too many orgies too close together would wear you out.”
“Yeah. That’s… one way to put it,” Gus said, then shook his head.
It didn’t matter.
He didn’t want more women in his life, but Melody wanted her contracts filled. One way or another, that was going to happen.
He could at least be thankful that she’d picked people who were friendly and workable.
Still, though… Chloe is a criminal. She’s destined to end up back in jail.
How do we even approach that one?
Giving up on the whole thing because it was a pointless worry right now, Gus went back into the house and straight for the study. He wanted to know more about what they’d found.
When he walked in, he found Melody standing in the middle of the room. Her Orange and Violet contracts were burning on her face like LEDs. Her head was slowly turning as she surveyed the room.
“Nothing magical in the house that we were able to detect,” Trish said, coming up beside him. “Mel and I both did a quick sweep.”
“Okay,” Gus said, shrugging his shoulders. He was feeling a bit drained. He’d gone on a hunt that had gotten him nowhere, and with almost no fear involved at all.
It was like going to the grocery store and coming back with nothing but cleaning supplies.
“Don’t you worry,” Trish said, laying a hand on Gus’s back. “I’ll get you lunch in just a bit. You look a little pale. Does this help at all for now?”
Fear began to faintly ooze out of Trish.
It smelt of the fear one would feel for a loved one in danger.
Gus smiled and nodded his head, feeling flattered and annoyed with himself. He said nothing further, just ate up her fear as it escaped from her.
With each minute they stood there as Melody did her crazy Contractor shtick, Gus felt better and better.
“Oh…” Melody said, now standing in front of the desk. She was gazing down into one of the drawers. “Apparently all I needed to do was come check the desk.”
She reached into the drawer she’d opened and fished something out of it.
When she held it up, it looked to be a piece of paper. She unfolded it for everyone to see.
“Look familiar?” she asked.
It was the same set of propaganda slogans they’d seen back at the convenience store. That congresswoman Newbin needed to be killed.
“In other words… the group behind the scenes isn’t just taking the first attempt on her life in stride,” said Janelle. “They’re actively working to drum up a second attack. The Humanity First group is… actually working for our target?”
“But why?” Gus asked, shaking his head. He really didn’t get it. “She’s working for Para rights, isn’t she?”
“Well, yes,” Melody said, folding the paper back up. “But what if we’re looking at it from the wrong angle? What if they don’t care that she’s working for Para rights? What if they just wanted to buy her and she refused to be bought?”
Gus shrugged at that.
“Congress doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to purchase to me,” Gus said. “Or maybe I’m disenfranchised with our government.”
“No… Gus,” Melody said, holding up the folded paper in one hand. “They’re not just trying to kill congresswoman Newbin, they’re trying to kill presidential forerunner Newbin.
“And don’t act like you don’t know. We’ve talked about her. In fact, I know you and Chloe talked about her back at the convenience store.”
“I… yeah. You’re right. I just… forgot. Even though I met her,” Gus said. That didn’t quite feel right, though. There was something he was missing with those thoughts. “I just… didn’t really think about it, I guess.”
“That’d make sense though,” Janelle said, looking at the others. “Last I heard, she was actually the lead candidate. First woman ever to get so close. Election is… next month, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Melody said, lowering her hand. “Everything in this room is mostly about things that already happened. I mean, all those newspaper clippings over there are just straight-up victory trophies.
“There’s nothing here at all to tell me what they’re doing next. But this… this ties back in to the other cell we found. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. They tried to buy her, failed, and have been working to kill her ever since.”
Gus didn’t quite believe that, but he couldn’t think of an alternate theory. It actually made the most sense when you considered it as a whole.
The only piece that still didn’t fit was the SA coven. But as previously stated, that could have been simply looking for a way to push the drugs faster and through a cleaner market.
“Then I guess our next course of action is to find the owner of this home,” Gus said. “Figure out what they’re doing, find them, stop it, and if possible, bring them in for questioning. See if we can’t get them to explain how this whole thing is connected to our ‘council’ working behind the scenes.”
“Right,” Janelle said, nodding her head.
“Go ahead and call it in to Mark, Indigo,” Melody said as she turned back to the desk. “I’m going to keep looking. This is a good direction, but I want to see if I can’t confirm it.”
Pulling out his phone, Gus called up Mark immediately.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Hello Gussy-poo,” Mark said. “All things good?”
“Yeah,” Gus said. “Though it looks like another planned assassination of our favorite congresswoman.”
“Seriously?” Mark asked, sounding flabbergasted. “Damnit. I’m going to have to give Fin the fucking of her life before I tell her about this. She’s going to lose her shit. Newbin has been the only thing supporting the Fed lately. We really can’t afford to not keep her in our pocket, or to lose her.”
“Uh,” Gus said brilliantly. He still didn’t feel great about Mark and Kelly’s separation. Gus really liked Kelly as a person. She’d been a good friend to him.
Hearing Mark talking about banging Fin was s
till really weird to him.
“Yeah, sorry,” Mark said, clearly realizing the problem. “I’ll get Fin on board. What else you need?”
“Information on this house we’re in. So I’ll probably need to get some low-level agents digging around for information,” Gus said.
“Done,” Mark said. “I’ll have a few people assigned to your department as juniors.”
“Thanks,” Gus said. “I’m also going to text you an address we need to have hit with the Para special forces, more or less, followed by the Para national guard. As soon as possible.”
“What? Shit, alright,” Mark said. “That’s… different. Okay. Why?”
“Lovely little building they’re working something that felt a lot like a waystation out of.”
“Waystation,” Mark repeated.
“Yeah, they were traveling portal to portal from there,” Gus said. “Got the impression it was a really large outpost and fallback point for them.”
“Got it,” Mark said. “In other words, I need to not send in the Para special forces until I get in contact with McArthur and have him send in real spooks. People like Mel.”
“Yeah, probably,” Gus said, shaking his head. “They’ll start hitting the portals as soon as they think they’re made.”
“Alright. I can take care of all that. I need to go butter up Fin first. I’ll get back to you once I have more. That it?”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Gus said. “Sorry. Not trying to just ruin your day.”
“You’re not ruining it. Just giving me a reason to get into Fin’s pants. Oh, and speaking of getting into pants. I had to deny your entry into the best couple competition. It’s not meant to have four people as a couple, just two. Wouldn’t be fair.”
“Ha, thanks. If anything, I appreciate it,” Gus said.
“Of course, of course,” Mark said. “So I just entered you and every woman in your department as separate couples. You and Chloe. You and Janelle. You and Melody. You get the picture.
“Anyways. Looks like you and Chloe are in the lead for some reason. I think it’s because of the photo she took of herself. The one with her in that lovely little dress. I think it was right before she went to the club. You were in the background of the mirror, so it worked as the ‘couple photo.’ Chloe gave it to me to submit for you two.
Swing Shift: Book 2 Page 33
