Swing Shift: Book 2

by William D. Arand

  “Man… I bet a Vampire can really give some amazing head, with so much practice sucking. Be sure to tell me about it later. See ya,” Mark said, then hung up.

  Fucking ass-hat.

  Chapter 31 - Perspective

  As he walked into the large open room directly before the department offices, Gus was surprised.

  A good number of the desks were filled now, and people were hammering away at keyboards, working through stacks of paper, or on the phone.

  Several people looked up at him as he walked in, but in general most people ignored him.

  Okay. Mark said a few people.

  Not an entire department.

  Whatever.

  Walking through the clearly designated path that went around the whole area, Gus headed for his office. He needed to see if there’d been any updates from Michael. Then it was checking in to see if they’d gotten the information on who owned the home and where they were.

  With so many databases having been destroyed, data and information would take a bit longer to get a hold of.

  Walking past the first two offices in the hallway, he found Serafina staring into her computer on one side and Janelle on the other.

  She was in her service uniform, which was rather common for her. Didn’t hurt that she looked really good in it.

  Great even.

  Gus moved down the hallway and found Indali and Melody working at their computers. After that was Trish and himself.

  Which meant Vanessa and Chloe were at the end.

  As he walked into his office, Gus felt strange. Things were moving far too fast for him. Changing much too quickly.

  But trying to drag his feet wouldn’t change anything. It’d just prolong the limbo period in the middle.

  Come on, Gus. You’re a grown-ass man. You’re married on top of that. Thrice over.

  Kids are a valid conversation topic.

  You can handle change.

  “Hey,” Indali said. “Someone dropped something off in your office and then left. Looked like one of the analysts.”

  “Thanks,” Gus said, pulling his coat off and putting it on the hook behind his door.

  He saw a manila folder on his desk that looked rather thick.

  Walking over to it, he flipped it open and looked at the first page.

  It was a rather standard-looking cover page. It listed what one could find inside the report, who had requested it, who it had been made for, and who had done the work.

  Raising his eyebrows, Gus got the feeling he’d greatly underestimated his position in the Fed. The title listed the report had been written for Senior Agent Gustavus Hellström.

  In the end, it’s pretty much what Melody said would happen.

  Picking the report up with both hands, Gus sat down in his seat and started to read it over.

  He moved quickly through the first chapter and found it was mostly everything Melody had already told him. Everything they’d found in the home was documented.

  Each and every item was given a quick analysis with any links that could be made to it, then given a summary.

  Flipping into the next chapter, Gus found what he was looking for.

  The house is primarily owned by one Patrick Jay. Two other names on the mortgage but they’re both… dead.

  That’s not very helpful.

  Moving past the title for the home, Gus read on to the information about the owner.

  Male, Asian, fifty-four years old, no living family, lots and lots of aliases and accomplices. A few other known hideouts.

  Shit.

  Going to need to do some legwork to start talking to people.

  Frowning, Gus kept moving through the profile and into the criminal history portion of the report.

  Aggravated assault with a modifier as a hate crime and a weapon. Simple assault. Disturbing the peace.

  The list went on with a list of minor offenses and plea deals. It read exactly like what Gus would expect for someone doing low-level goon work for what was basically a terrorist organization.

  And you’re moving up to assassination, huh?

  Gus reached the end of the report and then flipped the whole thing closed. With a flick of his hand, he tossed it back onto his desk.

  Turning to his computer, Gus grabbed the mouse and gave it a spin.

  The monitor turned on.

  Taking a moment, he quickly typed in his credentials and watched the lock screen cycle for a second before it went to the home screen.

  His background image had been changed.

  Instead of the Fed logo and motto, it was now Chloe. Standing in front of a mirror, taking a picture of herself, wearing the dress she’d put on for the club.

  Gus stared at it for several seconds and then let out a sigh. He was indeed in the background, looking like a bored boyfriend waiting for his date.

  He couldn’t remember her taking the picture; he must have missed it.

  She did look really good in that dress, though.

  Right-clicking the desktop of his screen, Gus went to change the background. Only to find he couldn’t. His ability to modify his computer was restricted.

  Really? Mark? Really?

  You fucking asshole.

  You’re just pissed off because you fucked up and you’re taking it out on me.

  Growling, Gus smacked his mouse and then locked his computer. He didn’t want to work on it anymore.

  He picked up the report and tucked it under his arm. If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t need to do anything on the computer anyways.

  Everything had already been put together for him. He just had to do the legwork now.

  He looked into Trish’s office at found it was empty.

  “I’m afraid I’m occupied,” Indali said before he could even think to ask her to join him. “Going over some pre-academy coursework. I’m sorry, Bearer.”

  Gus nodded. He couldn’t fault her for that. He knew her goal was to become an official Fed agent. Not someone just working on the sidelines, which was what she was doing now.

  Turning to the left, Gus stuck his head into Melody’s office.

  “Hey babe,” Melody said, not looking up. “What’s up?”

  “Going to do some legwork,” Gus said. “Need a partner. You busy?”

  “My beloved Indigo, if you asked me for a quickie, to get under your desk, or for you to get under my desk, I’d say yes in a flash,” Melody said, looking up from her computer to give him a beautiful smile. “But anything lasting longer than ten minutes and I’m afraid I can’t. I’m digging through the T2 stuff with Serafina.”

  “Ah, okay. Thanks Mel. Love you,” Gus said, moving away.

  “I love you too!” Melody shouted from inside her office. “So much! I love hearing you say it!”

  Wincing at the volume of her shout, Gus considered who to ask.

  Vanessa would go, wouldn’t she?

  Moving to the end of the hallway, he glanced through Chloe’s door, finding that she was out. Then he turned and moved into Vanessa’s office.

  “Hello Indigo,” Vanessa said, leaning back in her chair with a grin.

  “Morning Yellow,” Gus said, grinning back at her.

  Melody’s way of addressing them all by their contract colors was clearly starting to rub off on them.

  It didn’t help that their orgies were always led by Trish. And she always addressed everyone by contract color as she orchestrated the debauchery.

  “I heard Mel,” Vanessa said. “She turn you down for a quickie? You could probably talk me into one. Just promise to be as tender with me on the desk as you were last night.”

  As he coughed into his hand, Gus suddenly realized he wasn’t the only one whose sex drive was rapidly changing.

  Trish is messing with us, isn’t she? She’s changing how we all feel.

  “Mind doing some legwork with me? I need a partner,” Gus said. “Running down known haunts of our primary person of interest. After that, probably accomplices.�
��

  “Oh, that’s considerably more boring than I thought,” Vanessa said, standing up. “Of course I’ll join you.”

  “Thanks, Ness,” Gus said.

  “Of course,” she said, pulling her weapon out of her desk drawer. “Though I was kinda hoping you’d ask me for that quickie.”

  Gus made a snap decision and closed Vanessa’s office door after stepping completely inside.

  When Vanessa looked up at him, Gus made sure to deliberately lock her door, and then he smiled at her.

  Why not?

  ***

  Walking up to the door, Gus sighed and then knocked hard on it. Three solid thumps that no one could ignore.

  A policeman’s knock.

  “Ever notice you can’t knock any other way now?” Vanessa asked.

  “Huh?” Gus asked, looking at his partner.

  “Went to my cousin’s the other day. Just to say hi, see how she was doing,” Vanessa said. “I knocked on her door like I was a cop. Freaked her out.”

  “You are a cop,” Gus said, grinning at her. “How’s your cousin, by the way?”

  “She’s fine. Kinda annoyed I’m a Fed now, but… it’s actually kind of nice. We can talk again. I think the fact that I know she’s a Were now opened some doors.”

  “Ah, that makes sense,” Gus said. Then he pounded on the door again three more times. “We should invite her over for dinner when we invite your mom and dad.”

  “Definitely,” Vanessa said, then cleared her throat. “Hello? Could the homeowner please come to the door? My name’s Vanessa Flores, and I’m with the federal government!”

  There was no response from inside.

  “Mm, let’s see if we can’t see anyone from a window,” Gus said.

  Legally, the homeowner wasn’t required to come to the door. They didn’t have a warrant nor a summons.

  Lot harder to not talk to me if I see them, though. Never had someone say no once I see them.

  “It’s so weird,” Vanessa said, following Gus as he started to walk off the porch. “The more it changes, the more it’s the same. PID and Fed seems just like the normal job.”

  “I mean, yeah?” Gus said. Walking along the side of the house, he peered in a window. “PID, Fed, and norms all do the same job, just different aspects. TVs on and the volume is pretty loud. Can almost hear it.”

  Gus moved away from the window and walked up to the next one on the side of the house.

  “Oh, well, I guess that means this one’s a dead end,” he said, staring through the window. Sprawled out in the center of the floor was a man in a pool of blood around his head. It looked like he’d been executed, but Gus wasn’t sure.

  “Why’s that?” Vanessa asked.

  “Cause I’m pretty sure that’s a dead body in there.” Gus pulled Indali out of her holster. He hoped she wouldn’t mind being used like this, but he needed to attempt to reach the person on the ground. He tapped the barrel against the window twice. “Sir? Are you okay?”

  “Really?” Vanessa asked, coming over to him. “Yeah. That looks like a corpse. I’ll move around to the back of the house in case someone is still inside and tries to make a break for it.”

  Gus sighed and tapped the window once more.

  “I’m not averse to you banging me around a little or roughing me up a touch, but I expect you to care for me later. You’ll need to make amends until I’m satisfied,” Indali said.

  “Yeah, sorry. I will,” Gus said. He’d been doing his best to absolutely take care of Indali’s needs. She was the single best firearm he’d ever had the pleasure of carrying.

  He’d even gotten used to her trigger pull.

  “Don’t bother calling it in. I’m already working on it,” Indali said.

  “Thanks. You’re a great partner. Even when you can’t be here in person,” Gus said.

  He got the distinct impression Indali was rather flattered at that comment.

  Gus wasn’t going to wait, though. He knew he could enter without permission to save a life. He wasn’t completely sure this man was dead, and if he could save him, Gus would do what he could.

  Pulling back his hand, he brought the butt of Indali down onto the glass. Right where the fastener was for a lanyard to go through her handle’s bottom.

  With a crash, the glass shattered and sprayed out into the house.

  Pushing a few larger pieces out of the way with his left hand, he reached up and unlocked the window. He grabbed the frame with one hand and shoved it upward. He didn’t want to crawl through the broken window glass if he could avoid it.

  Once it was fully raised, Gus went through the window and over to the man.

  Not holstering Indali, as there was no way to know whether he was alone, Gus immediately pressed his left hand to the man’s neck.

  Once he saw him up close, Gus didn’t really think for an instant the man was alive.

  At first glance, Gus had thought it was just blood covering the man’s face. This close, he could see now it wasn’t just blood—the man’s face had been bashed in. Then he’d been shot in the forehead once he was down on the ground.

  “He’s dead,” Gus said aloud, then got to his feet. “Hello? Is there anyone else in here?”

  He didn’t hear anything. There was no noise anywhere in the home.

  Not really wanting to go through a house by himself, Gus slowly began backing up to the window again. There was no point in doing something stupid.

  He’d learned a long time ago that it was stupid to do anything indoors by yourself with someone who had a gun. Even if he was a Boogieman.

  A bullet to the back of his head behind his ear would be just as lethal to him as to any human.

  “If someone’s in here, you need to call out now,” Gus yelled. “I’ve got a dead body here. If someone is in the house and not answering, you’re probably gonna be the one who catches the charge!”

  Once again, there was no response to his challenge.

  Gus didn’t like that. Didn’t like it at all. It meant the culprit was either long gone or hiding and wouldn’t be coming out until a team came in to rip the place apart.

  Chewing at the inside of his cheek, Gus kept Indali leveled at the doorway. He wasn’t about to drop her after having made his location so obvious to anyone in the house.

  Outside he heard a car try to start.

  Looking over his shoulder, Gus frowned. He’d seen a small shed but hadn’t thought much of it.

  Is it a single-car garage for a teeny tiny car?

  No fucking way.

  Before he could respond, Vanessa came running by the window headed straight for the shed.

  Okay, damn.

  Looking back at the doorway, Gus wasn’t sure how to proceed.

  Then he decided and exited the house through the window.

  When he hit the grass, he immediately chased after Vanessa. She was standing on the far side, aiming toward where he heard a car trying to turn over. She was shouting something Gus couldn’t understand.

  Sliding up alongside Vanessa, Gus lifted Indali up without even seeing what it was.

  Inside the shed, which really was a very small single-car garage, was a car. Though it was a very old car. One that looked like it belonged in a different century.

  It fit the garage with just barely enough room on one side for a driver to get in and out.

  “Driver, stop!” Gus shouted at the top of his lungs, more than likely repeating what Vanessa had been calling out.

  There was a man in the car, one who looked distinctly Asian.

  Gus couldn’t be positive, but he was fairly sure it was Patrick.

  Then the engine turned over and roared to life. Lowering his pistol toward where the engine should be, Gus did something he knew he wasn’t supposed to. He fired several times through the hood.

  The car lurched forward as soon as it got into gear and then sped out of the garage.

  Then there was a massive clang as something went very wrong inside the engine
compartment. Slowing down momentarily, the car made a strange hiccupping motion before it started forward again.

  Then it made another hideous bang and stalled out completely.

  The man got out of the car as it rolled onward, and he went running away with his hands in the air.

  Fuck. He’s unarmed and there’s no way to actually know if he killed whoever that was.

  I can’t shoot. I just can’t. I can’t.

  Gritting his teeth, Gus began chasing after the man. There was only a faint trace of fear coming from him. Not enough to indicate he really cared whether he was shot, or going to jail for that matter.

  It was very abnormal. And something that usually didn’t bode well for a peaceful end to a chase.

  The man took off through the neighborhood, moving rapidly down the hill beside the road. Far faster than Gus would have expected.

  “Foot chase, need backup,” Gus said to Indali.

  “I’m aware, and working with Melody and Mark,” Indali said. “There are some problems though. Both helicopters on site are disabled, and most of the vehicles aren’t running.

  “Hailey loaded up the stryker and is driving it to your location now.”

  “The shit?” Gus said.

  That’s not good. That’s very bad, in fact.

  There’s no way that could happen. No way at all. Not for all of it to go wrong at the same time.

  They don’t want me to catch him. They’re trying to protect him and prevent me from running him down. Which means maybe he isn’t human? Not completely?

  Shit!

  Gus moved down the hillside, sprinting as fast as he could to keep up with his target.

  The hunt was on.

  Chapter 32 - Not Right

  Faster than Gus wanted to believe, his target was outpacing him.

  Outpacing him while giving off almost no fear at all. There was nothing for Gus to latch on to or boost himself up with. There was nothing for his horror-magic to hold on to.

  Pushing himself on, Gus continued to chase.