“What do you mean? I have business there.”
“You have people you mean to kill there. Your agenda is known to us, Happy. But as I said, your quest is futile. The ones you seek are already dead.”
A series of emotions flashed across Happy’s face. Disbelief. Anger. But mostly she looked stunned at the news. “No. The intel I got was good. You don’t know who I’m looking for.”
“Our organization knows New Haven intimately. Particularly its residents and visitors. And yes, even when the Haven is infiltrated by HSSC operatives. Three of your former comrades came to New Haven. Franklin Newman, Mike Trudo, and Natalie Whitman. None of them left alive. New Haven is an unforgiving place, even more so to spies and assassins employed by the government. We can still take you with us if you wish. But you will not find solace in your mission there. You can thank the Troubleshooter for that.”
“Who?”
“Mick Trubble. He's the person responsible for their deaths. He’s a remarkable man.” Kelly’s eyes flicked to Jinx’s body. “She met him once, I believe. He might have been the one to help her escape the Haven. All which led to us being here now.”
Happy dropped her head. “I’m not interested in the Troubleshooter. If the Agents are dead, then there’s no reason for me to go with you.”
“Then our business is concluded.” Kelly turned, following the other Wildcats into the shadows of the forest.
Cash waited for the sound of their footsteps to fade before he scooped Jinx up and jogged to the Battle-Cat with Happy and Mateo. "Is the adrenaline shot prepped?"
"Of course."
"Good. Looks like her jamming signal worked on their vitals detector too. Let's wake her up and get out the hell out of here while we can."
Mateo ran to the door and activated it. "Hey, Cash. Are we gonna tell Jinx that the Gutter Girls want her to join up with them?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Let's keep that one to ourselves, okay? What she doesn't know won't hurt her, know what I mean?"
Mateo nodded solemnly. "Yeah, Cash. I want her to stay with us too."
$$
The Florida coastline was a picturesque display of white sands and sparkling, blue-green ocean waves. It was blazing hot, but Cash stayed cool laid back in a lounge chair under a wide umbrella on the deck of a local bar and grill called the Crab Grab. He relaxed in shorts and sandals, a bottle of Horse Piss lager in one hand, dripping condensation onto the faded wood of the deck.
He adjusted his sunglasses and grinned. “Don’t get much better than this.”
“Tell me about it.” Jinx finished applying suntan lotion to her legs. She lay in a hammock nearby, her formidable curves on full display in a yellow swimsuit. Leaning back with a contented sigh, she picked up a shrimp cocktail and nibbled. “For the first time in years, I can finally relax without worrying about someone trying to put me in cuffs.”
“Yeah, courtesy of the guy who put you in cuffs.”
She playfully threw a shrimp at him. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t gonna turn me in, papi chulo. It’s a good thing you’re such a bad Nimrod.”
He plucked the shrimp from his chest and popped it in his mouth. “Hey, that hurts my feelings. It all came together in the end, right?”
“Yeah, can't argue with that. We make a pretty good—aaugh!" She squealed when a cascade of sand sprayed over her from a rumble bike that slid to a halt right in front of them.
Mateo pushed his goggles up on his head, staring at Jinx in dismay. "Sorry 'bout that. Still getting the hang of this baby." He patted the handlebars of the brand-new fat-wheeled, fusion-powered rumble bike. A slender, long-legged woman in a tiny pink bikini sat behind him, tanned and beautiful, dark hair flowing in the wind like silk.
Jinx leaped to her feet, using both hands to dust sand from her hair. "Do you know how long it's gonna take to get this out?"
Cash gave Mateo a thumb's up. "Nice bike, kid. Who's your new friend?"
"This is Esmeralda. She's my girlfriend."
"Your girlfriend? That's…kinda quick."
Mateo grinned. "She said she'd be my girlfriend all day and night for two gold bulls. Isn't she nice?"
Cash groaned, slapping a hand against his forehead. "I think we need to have a talk, Mateo."
"I got this." Jinx stalked over, speaking in Spanish so rapidly that Cash couldn't make sense of anything, except the word puta used repeatedly. The woman cringed under the onslaught, hastily shoving the bulls in Jinx's hand before leaping off the bike and running across the beach, throwing anxious looks over her shoulder to make sure Jinx wasn't following.
Mateo's eyes widened, staring at Jinx in confusion. "What did you do that for? She was beautiful and extra nice!"
"And extra expensive," Jinx said, handing his gold cards back to him. "Trust me, Mateo. You don't want what she's offering."
He scratched his head, staring after the fleeing woman. "I sure thought I did."
"Tell you what—you give me a ride on your new bike. I'll watch your back and keep the leeches off of you."
"Yeah? Okay, cool. I don't like leeches. Hey—does this mean you're my girlfriend now?"
"No, more like your bodyguard." Jinx hopped on behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Don't go too fast, okay? I’m not crazy about bikes."
He slid his goggles on with a grin. "What's that? Can't hear you."
She shrieked when they took off in a burst off spraying sand.
Cash snorted with laughter, watching them zoom away. "Jeez. Look at them. Just kids having fun." He glanced over at Happy. "Hey—you okay?"
She sat quietly in a beach chair, a bottle of whiskey in her lap. In a T-shirt, shorts, and with her auburn hair down she could almost pass for an ordinary beachgoer. But the scars and bionics marked her as anything except ordinary. Her stare was unfocused, her mind a million miles away.
She blinked at his question, turning his direction. To his surprise, a tear slid down her cheek. "I don't think so, Cash."
"You seemed to take Kelly Crimson's news pretty hard."
She nodded, scrubbing a hand across her cheek. "I wanted to see him. Look him in the face and ask him why."
"Who?"
"Mike Trudo. There was a time when…it doesn’t really matter now. All that matters is that I thought I could count on him. I trusted him with my life. And he betrayed that trust. Ruthlessly. I've never been the same since that day. All of this—" she gestured to her synthetic parts. "This isn't the worst of it. The worst is what he did to me. All I wanted to do is kill the others. Make them pay for what they did. It's justice. It's fair. I didn't get to kill Natalie and Franklin, and I'm okay with that. Either way, they got what they deserved. But Mike…I had to know. I didn't feel like I could move on unless I saw him face-to-face one last time."
Cash sighed. "I guess I'm the last person to talk about moving on. I'm the guy who just put his dead fiancé's brain into a prototype synoid, after all. But she died because of the trust I put in my partner. So believe me when I say I know how you feel. But one thing I've learned is that life goes on whether you want it to or not, Happy. You can't control the things that happened to you. All you can control is how you cope."
"How do I cope, Cash? Every time I look in the mirror, I see what they did to me. Every night I relive it in my dreams. What if I can't move on? Then what?"
"Then you keep trying. That's all any of us can do."
She shook her head, a crooked smile on her face. "Your optimism is really aggravating to someone determined to be depressed; you know that?"
"Yeah, I tend to do that." He glanced at his holoband when it buzzed. "Well, looks like Deejay's download is complete. Wanna come and see her wake up?"
"No. Feels like an intimate moment for the two of you. I'm just going to sit here, watch the sunset, and kill this bottle."
"Have fun." He eased out of the lounge chair and headed for the Battle-Cat.
"Hey, Cash."
He stopped, turning halfway around. "Yeah?"
/>
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"I was fading in and out on the rooftop with Kilgore. But I remember what you did. You could've shot Kilgore and collected the bounty. You chose my life over bringing him in. I'm…not used to that. It's been a long time since anyone chose me."
"I should never have left, Happy."
"Well, I appreciate you coming back. Just want you to know."
He nodded, thrusting his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the Battle-Cat. The sun set in the distance, tinting the waters in rosy colors. The wind picked up, cooling the sweat on his bare chest. He picked up his shirt from the door handle of the Cat and put it on as he entered. His heart beat faster as he approached the cargo bay. It was strange. Like the flutters he felt when he went on the first date with Deejay at Mangia e Bevi, the Italian restaurant she loved so much.
He activated the pod door with a trembling hand. It slid open silently, exposing Deejay in her white jumpsuit. His chest shuddered at the familiarity. She looked so much like the woman he fell in love with, as if she somehow cheated death and made her way back to him.
This is a mistake. A stupid, foolish mistake…
He placed a hand on her cheek. It was warm to the touch. Soft. Tears welled in his eyes, trickled down his face.
"You're right, Deejay. This was for me, not you. I know I should just let you go. Move on with my life. But I'm not ready. Not yet. And if this is a way to keep at least a part of you…I'll take it. I might be the world's biggest fool, but I love you too damn much."
Her eyes opened.
Chapter 16
Kilgore walked through the streets of Oakland, California. Once a densely populated metropolitan city, the forests of oak trees, coastal terrace prairie and scrub had reclaimed much of the territory post-Cataclysm. The city that remained and was reconstructed was tied to the coastline, jealously staring at the glittering Francisco Haven across the bay.
He passed by ports and shipyards, industrial squares and manufacturing districts before heading up to the hills where most of the residences were arranged. He continued his trek, bypassing congested neighborhoods to houses built further apart. He finally stopped in front of an ancient house positioned on a street corner. Victorian style, olive paint, small but cozy. A black and white tabby sat on his haunches on the top step, gazing suspiciously.
Kilgore strolled around the boundary of the chain link fence, looking into the backyard. It was an odd mixture of order and chaos; complimentary patio furniture clashing with workout equipment. A hardwood Wing Chun dummy erected next to a manicured rose garden, a zip bike carelessly thrown down near a koi fish pond.
The house was built on the side of a hill that sloped down into the flatlands. A teenage girl was on the hillcrest, practicing martial arts forms with a bō staff. Her skin was almond-colored, her thick black hair in-between straight and curly. Slim but athletic, she worked out in snug-fitting sportswear. The staff whirled in her hands, blurring as she flowed from one stance to the next. She focused on her forms, beaded in sweat, flawless in her movements.
The muzzle of a pistol jabbed against the back of Kilgore's head. His lips curled back in a grin.
"You're one of the few still capable of sneaking up on me, Daiyu."
"Kilgore. When I received word of your death on Mars, I didn't believe it. You are the jiangshi, undying and monstrous. I sensed you when you entered the city. I smelled the foulness on the breeze, felt your presence crawl across the streets like a spider. Has the monster returned to feed on his young? What else would bring you here, the one place you swore you'd never be?"
"I came to see her. I went through great pains to be here, Daiyu. To find her. You can't deny me the sight."
"You've seen her. Now leave before she sees you and all of our pains will have been for nothing."
He turned around. The pistol was inches away from his face, but he didn’t flinch. He was surprised to see that Daiyu looked different. It wasn't her clothes, although they were the ordinary sort, not the tactical leathers and stealth gear he was used to seeing. The Chinese woman was still beautiful, but lines were visible in the porcelain of her face, and strands of gray adulterated her otherwise jet-black hair.
"Yes, I have aged," she said to his unspoken question. "Gracefully as I can, but time spares no one. Except you, it seems. You look as you did before you left for Mars. Only your hair has changed."
"My hair is the equivalent of Dorian Gray's portrait, I suppose. Why did you name her Merlin?"
"Because the name has power. And a boy's name might fool anyone looking for a girl. I had to be especially careful when she was young and defenseless." She gestured with the pistol. "Now walk. Or I see whether or not you're as unkillable as they say."
He focused on the weapon. His hand tingled, flashing with light. She gasped when the gun vanished from her grip. He held it up, watching her astonishment.
"Threatening me doesn't work very well, Daiyu. I am much more than the man you knew." He extended the weapon to her. She accepted it gingerly, disbelief on her face.
"So I see. You always were full of surprises."
He scanned their surroundings. "I imagine you've installed a surveillance shield over the property."
"Over the entire street. You know I don't take chances."
He took a last look at the girl. She still worked out, oblivious to the world around her. He nodded to himself, surprised at the flood of emotion that threatened to upset the expressionless mask he worked so hard at developing. Turning, he strode back down the street. Daiyu followed like a diminutive shadow.
"How did you find us? I made sure that wasn’t possible. There shouldn’t be any way of tracking either one of us."
"There's always a way," Kilgore said. "If one is willing to take the greatest of risks to achieve it."
"Why? You told me her life would be threatened if anyone found out she was yours. Why risk everything now?"
He paused, gazing at a grove of towering oak trees. A brisk wind swept through and he closed his eyes, inhaling the fresh scent. "It's true that I went to Mars to die. All I knew was death, and I was sure I would infect her somehow, bring some unspeakable tragedy upon her if my enemies discovered she was my blood. Unfortunately, Death had plans for me. I can't tell you what happened on Mars. Only that I entered a threshold of nightmares, where madness spoke a language I recognized. Time, reality—they didn't exist there. Not the way they do here. I saw the future, Daiyu. The end of all of our hubris and transgressions. And I saw Merlin. Over and over, I saw her. The myriad of choices that lies ahead of her. And every one of them leading to her death."
Daiyu hissed, turning to scan the surroundings as if expecting an attack from the shadows of the woods. "How can you be so certain, Kilgore? What if all you saw were reflections of your own shattered mind? Your own madness?"
"I wish it were madness. But it's not. It was a vision. Another Cataclysm approaches, Daiyu. Worse than the first one. The Aberrants won't rest until we're destroyed. Or they are. And I will do anything to reverse the future I saw. Kill anyone who gets in the way if it means saving her life. Nothing else matters. That's why I had to see her. If we meet face-to-face, she will die. I've seen it. But I wanted to look at her in person just this once. Before I take the path I won't return from."
Daiyu looked him in the face; her expression wavering between sympathy and determination. "You know I will die before letting anything happen to that girl."
"I know. But even your skills won't be enough. There's only one slim chance she survives if I can unmake the future I saw."
"What do you want me to tell Merlin?"
"Tell her nothing. The less she knows, the better. The greatest gift I can ever give her is my absence. Keep doing what you've always done."
"I do my best. But she grows older every day. More restless every day."
"She will test you. She will test her limits. And she will leave you, Daiyu. Like the boy you took on and trained, she will have to
leave the nest to learn how to fly."
Surprise flashed across her face. "You met Mateo?"
"Our paths crossed. He was a formidable opponent. You taught him well."
Her eyes narrowed. "Did you kill him?"
"I saw body armor under his jacket. He'll live. I spared his life because he was yours. And only because of that."
She exhaled softly. "That is good. For a few years, they grew up side by side. She loves him like a brother. Had you killed him, you would have taken that from her."
"I can't promise I won't kill him should he stand in my way again. I will kill anyone, Daiyu. Even you if that is what it takes."
"I would expect no less." She glanced up the road. "Merlin will be wondering where I am."
"Not to worry. I'm leaving. Goodbye, Daiyu."
"Goodbye, Ethan."
"Ethan died on Mars. I don't use that name anymore."
"You will always be Ethan to me." She smiled sadly, taking a lingering look at his face before swiftly turning and striding up the hill. He watched until she topped the crest and vanished.
He knelt, planting a fist against the ground. Concentrating on where he needed to be. Lightning forked around him, and the world vanished in a flash of blinding light.
The End Beginning
More in the Havenworld Universe
Havenworld began with the Troubleshooter, so here's your chance to get into the game.
Being the private eye of the future ain't easy. Especially when you got a bad case of amnesia and a good case of stumbling into trouble. But the rent's gotta be paid and booze ain't for free, so Mick Trubble takes cases. When folks find themselves in a particular sort of bind, they don't run to the cops. They find themselves a Troubleshooter.
Purchase at Amazon
Imagine a world broken. Where humanity believed their only chance of survival was hibernation in stasis chambers until the day arrived to claim the world as theirs again.
Nimrod Squad Page 16
