by Shawn Keys
“Nice.” He was impressed, though not surprised. She was exploring her relic’s powers with as much effort as she did with the stunts in her movies. It made sense she would master it rapidly.
Zahn went back to scanning the street through the window with his far more mundane binoculars. He kept carefully hidden behind the curtains, though there wasn’t much chance of being spotted. He was dressed in black tactical gear, from his long-sleeved, form-fitting shirt to the cargo pants. His vantage was limited, but he couldn’t help that. The Eye of Ra couldn’t pick out relics over video feeds or if they were blocked by thick, solid objects like walls. Past the roof of a car or in someone’s pocket? He would get a faint outline. Through anything thicker, and it would be obscured.
His odds were even lower since Ash was using that suppressor of hers. He was hoping that one of her lackeys had his own item and might be operating outside of her sphere of control.
Once again, he ran through their plan. On the surface, it seemed solid.
They had returned to LA via train, travelling in a private suite bought and paid for using Dame Heather’s credit cards. She had extended them what amounted to a robust line of credit which they could pay back later using their own funds. This way, they could make some substantial purchases without depleting Angelica’s or Kaylee’s bank accounts (which were being watched). Zahn’s own resources were a little more difficult to get to; staying off the grid meant he had stashed some precious metals around the country. He’d do his part to re-pay Dame Heather once he had the chance to retrieve one of those stashes and cash them in. For now, he could stand to be in the woman’s debt.
Once in town, they had bought the computer and AV equipment needed to set their trap. Locating two hotels across the street from each other, they had bought two rooms. One was on the Dame’s expense account. The other was paid in cash. Using Angelica’s credit card would look too obvious.
Then, they used Angelica’s credit card to buy dinner, rent a car and what would look like replacement clothes at a local department store. They were trying to make those purchases look like mistakes; like beginners who had screwed up their effort to stay off the grid. The stores they chose were in a loose ring around the cash-paid hotel.
Zahn wasn’t worried that Ash would miss the bread crumbs. But she was fully capable of smelling the trap and springing it back on them. They needed a light touch here.
Angelica spoke from the couch, her eyes still closed as she gazed through the eyes of her spies. “This may be more difficult than we think. We found out how huge this organization is. And she’s the only one we’ve all seen. Maybe they won’t send her, since technically we should bolt as soon as we notice her.”
Zahn mused, “They might not. But her crew are the only ones who have seen all of us.”
“You’re the only one who matters. Leea and I are going to be recognized by anyone they send.”
Zahn couldn’t argue. “We’re ignoring an important part of human nature.”
“Oh?”
Zahn pictured how Ash must have reacted when her team woke her up and untied her in the cottage. He’d be shocked if she hadn’t burned the whole place to the ground. “I don’t imagine Ash is the type to forgive or forget.”
Kaylee cut in. “Got her.”
She immediately had the attention of the other two.
Angelica asked, “Vector me in, love.”
“She’s walking up the sidewalk from the east. Hoodie up, holding hands with one of her goons. Both are acting like a punk-rocker couple with street in their blood.”
A moment later, Angelica said, “I have them. They’re walking into the hotel. I don’t have time to jump a bug on them. I’m going to position a few around the entrance to snag a hold when they leave.”
Zahn caught sight of them as they entered the hotel door. Either Ash’s suppressor relic was in use, or neither of them was armed with magic. He went away from the window and over to the bed. “Do you have an interior camera that can see them?”
Kaylee frowned, pointing at the one screen with a shot inside the hotel foyer. “I had two in there, but I wasn’t able to tuck the first one into the corner well enough. A cleaner swept it away a few hours ago. This one doesn’t have a perfect angle, but you can just make out Ash at the front desk.”
Zahn allowed himself a smile. “That was fun creating the fake name and getting the hotel staff to promise to not betray the fact that ‘the famous Miss Laviolette’ is on the premises. I honestly think they will do their best.”
Kaylee smiled in fond memory. “Yeah, but you saw them giggling and carrying on. I’ll bet the rumor spreads within an hour. Every staff member in there knows what room she is in. And probably every noise that’s been heard coming out of that room since she went in.”
Zahn huffed thoughtfully. “You know, what surprises me is that none of them sold that information to the media.”
Angelica said absently from the couch. “Of course, they have. Don’t you see all the reporters?”
Zahn’s mouth opened as his brain glitched. “Excuse me?”
Kaylee pointed at the screen. “Angelica’s right. See? That’s Marco Roulette from the ‘National Press’. Dirty little tabloid rag. Pretty sure that’s Ernie Schlep in that couch.”
Angelica groused quietly, “I haven’t seen him with any of my critters, but the cats all smell Kevin Mipps’ cologne on the air.”
Zahn wished he had asked earlier. He had no idea there was an entire other level of surveillance going on. “Seriously? I thought locations with hidden celebrities got mobbed.”
Kaylee shrugged. “Eventually. If Angelica keeps that room long enough, word will get around. You can’t have a hundred tabloid reporters hiding in the lobby. It’ll turn into a mob. That would happen faster if Angie was in the middle of a scandal.”
Zahn figured it out. “Ahh. Right now, they’re in the ‘selfish’ phase.”
“Yup. They’re hoping to catch Angelica in a scandal so they can scoop the story. Then they can be the champions with the exclusive sound-bite before it hits the main-stream. They all know each other. Sort of funny to watch them eyeing each other, wondering who will make the first drastic move.”
“Ash and her friend will beat them to it. Look, they’re taking to the stairs.” Zahn checked his watch. “I’d give them five minutes to decide no-one is in the room, pick the lock, and figure out that we’ve vacated the place. Hopefully, they’ll rush back to report.”
“And hopefully in a foul mood after wasting their time. The more pissed off they are, the less they’ll be paying attention.” Kaylee checked her cameras again. “They walked into my camera coverage. I won’t be able to pinpoint their car.”
Angelica jumped in, “I’ll be able to follow them. But not if they move beyond my range. We should get down to the jeep and be ready to move.”
Zahn knew she was right, but didn’t want to miss this chance. “I might be wrong about how long they’ll be up there.”
Angelica opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “If you carry me, I can keep my mind on the animals. I won’t miss them leaving.”
Zahn paced over to her sofa and lifted her into his curled arms. He hugged her close.
She tucked her arms around him and nuzzled his neck with a soft kiss. Grinning at him, she cooed with exaggerated emotion, “My hero.”
Oh yeah. These two are waaayyyy too easy to love. Zahn kissed her warmly on the lips, then moved for the exit. “You coming, Leea?”
She was packing her tablets into her bag. “Right behind you.”
They hustled down the stairs and into the underground parking lot. Their transportation was a non-descript grey jeep with tinted windows. It wasn’t as obviously a surveillance vehicle as a van, but still had a decent amount of space. The dark windows kept the famous faces of the women out of sight.
They piled in and Zahn took the wheel. He inched out of the lot, not wanting to get noticed. Angelica was already tuning in to her animals while Ka
ylee was cracking open one of her tablets to call up the best camera feeds.
It was Kaylee who spoke first. “Here they come. Not looking happy, either.”
Zahn had pulled off to the side with the engine turned off. It was a risk, but he parked close enough to have a sight-line to the front of the hotel. He was being petty, but seeing Ash storm off was something he longed to see.
She exited with her sidekick a minute later. Fuming mad, she gestured out into the city, as if indicating that the trio could be anywhere.
Zahn willed her to keep thinking along those lines. Come on, Ash. Keep believing this was a fake-out to waste your time. This isn’t us turning the tables on you or anything.
The argument between Ash and her underling continued for a few more seconds. Then, she slashed her hand back the way they had first appeared. Both strode off filled with purpose.
Zahn glanced into the backseat, needing to know if he was going to be following close or far. “Angelica?”
The actress was silent a moment longer as if checking, then said, “Got a cricket into her pocket, but the little guy wants to keep singing. Couple ants dropped onto the guy’s ball-cap from the hotel awning. I’m sure I got him, but who knows when she might ditch him?”
Zahn had a feeling she was right. “They’re keeping close, trying to look like a couple. See if one of the ants can transfer over to her. How’s the range?”
“They’re simple creatures, so I can’t see or hear much. Their brains can’t process anything I can understand. But I can keep a sense of where they are for a while.”
“Alright, so no eavesdropping. That would be too much to hope for. I’ll follow far enough back that they can’t see us. Let me know if we start to lose them.”
Zahn pulled into the light traffic and took a side-street. Following along parallel to where Ash was walking, he tried not to overshoot the walking pair.
Angelica looked confused, then said, “They just picked up speed. I think they just got on the metro rail. Train is leaving the station.”
Zahn accelerated, no longer needing to worry about pacing them. “Perfect. I thought we were going to be creeping along like that the entire way across town. Have your birds picked up the train they are on?”
“Yup. I’ll try and find some new feathered friends as we go along.”
Kaylee sounded impressed and a tad jealous. “That must be amazing.”
Angelica reached out and caressed Kaylee’s leg without opening her eyes. There was nothing to say, really. Giving up the relic wasn’t an option, and anything else would be an empty platitude.
Zahn didn’t have an answer either. He simply promised himself to give Kaylee the education to find her own relics as soon as possible. Then, she could put in whatever effort she wished. Empowering the proud, competent woman was the best gift he could offer.
But that was for later.
Now he needed to focus. He was doing the opposite from before. Instead of inching along, now he had to weave through traffic and push the boundaries of the law to keep up with the light rail train.
Ash and her partner helped a little. They made two transfers. That cost them time, which helped Zahn keep close enough for Angelica’s animals to remain with them. At one point, Ash chased away the cricket which decided to chirp despite Angelica’s wishes. Then, on the third stop, the pair of mercenaries split up. The underling carried on toward the downtown core, while Ash took the yellow line toward Santa Monica.
Neither of the ants had managed a switch to Ash, but Angelica’s newest sparrow helper caught the two shaking hands and parting ways. Even better, a little spider was lingering nearby while Ash was waiting for the doors to open on her new train. Soon, a brand-new hijacker had her pinned down.
The rest went smoothly. Soon, they were watching Ash strolling down a back alley and entering a non-descript warehouse behind a military surplus store. At first look, one was part of the other. But Zahn caught sight of the fence separating the two grounds. “It’s camouflage. That warehouse is its own entity. No markings. No advertising to connect it to its company. That’s their headquarters.”
Kaylee offered, “Bet that they run the surplus store, too. Traditionally, people who run stores like that don’t like strangers creeping around asking questions. They like their freedoms and anonymity. The store workers could run off anyone lurking around without breaking character.”
Angelica continued to sense Ash’s passenger. “She’s going deeper into the warehouse. Feels like she’s here to stay. My friend can’t understand her, but I get the sense of her being at ease. Friendly voices. Laughing. She thinks she’s safe and at home.”
“Which means this is either her hideout, or where she came to connect with her boss like we hoped.” Zahn chewed on that. “If this was hers, why not bring her lackey? ”
Trying to be a good ‘devil’s advocate’, Kaylee offered, “Maybe he had another task. Maybe he’ll come by later.”
Zahn hated how rational that sounded. He wanted to believe this was the target. “You’re right. We’ll have to hope for the best. Let’s assume this is who hired her. What do we do with that?”
Angelica listed off, “We could watch. Or cause a little havoc with them. Maybe tip off the police on a raid and see what they do with that?”
Kaylee shook her head, “They’ve got to have an escape protocol. If they see sirens, they’ll scatter like cockroaches. Even if some stay to take the heat, the boss will be long gone.”
Zahn suggested, “We could literally walk up to their gate and demand an audience. They wanted to talk before. Now we can force a discussion on our terms.”
Kaylee continued to play her role, shooting holes in their ideas. “Same problem. They might let us in, but Ash will be the one who comes out to do the talking. The boss will stay hidden or leave since we’ve tipped our hand. For the really worst case, they might decide we haven’t cooperated, shoot us with a tranquilizer and ship us out of the country. Or they might decide they are fed up with us and just bury us.”
“We wouldn’t be that easy to take down. But I get your point. We need to force the issue. Get the boss cornered so there is no option except to talk to us. We need whoever is in there dead to rights.” Zahn growled. “From what Ash said, I am guessing they aren’t native to LA. The boss we’re talking about probably sleeps, eats and works all in that warehouse there. We need to get right into his face before we reveal ourselves. Then we either talk, or we fight our way out.”
“And how exactly are we going to do that?”
Zahn admitted, “I can get in on my own. The relics I have are made for this sort of thing, and I’ve done it before. But you two will have to trust me. I’ll call you in once I’ve guaranteed our safety. Then, it will be your choice to walk in behind me.”
Kaylee scowled. “I don’t like you risking yourself all alone.”
He smiled fondly her way. “I’ve done it a few times in the past.”
“Yes. But you didn’t have us. We’re yours, remember. That’s a lot of responsibility to look after us.” She flashed him a grin, playing up the role a little to leverage the guilt.
Zahn knew she was having fun, but that didn’t make her point any less real. But he couldn’t wrap himself in bubble wrap, either. He intertwined Kaylee’s fingers with his own. “You’re going to have to trust me. This is what I do.”
Angelica had opened her eyes, very much intent on being part of the conversation that would keep him safe. “Fine. But I’m sending a passenger along with you. You can be invisible to them, but I want to know where you are. That way we can pull you out of the fire when things go bad.”
Zahn fished around in their bags until he found a small plastic cup with a sealing lid. Meant for samples of anything he found, it worked well enough to house a peaceful daddy-long-legs he found skittering along the street.
“Don’t forget the airholes,” Angelica reminded him.
Zahn smiled as he punched the top with a pin. He had nothing agai
nst the critters, but he could tell Angelica was going to grow a whole new level of empathy toward the animals she could now sense. “He’ll be alright in there?”
Angelica nodded, pleased that he didn’t fight her on being so sentimental.
Zahn ensured his time-relic was seated on his finger, his gauntlet was fitted well and his cloak was draped along his shoulders. He debated about leaving Ash’s pistol behind, but holstered it on his belt anyway. There was an off-chance he could score points by handing it back to her. Focusing his gaze through the Eye of Ra, he scanned the compound for any external magic. Nothing.
As a test, he looked toward Angelica. Her necklace glittered radiantly in his magically enhanced vision. Good. That means I’m either out of range of Ash’s relic, or she isn’t using it right now.
He traded kisses with both his lovers, then slipped out of the car. Aware he could cross the boundary of Ash’s magic at any time, he didn’t rely on the invisibility cloak completely. Stealing along the walls and keeping out of sight, he crept up to the security gate. Fortunately, it wasn’t very advanced. Just a vehicle arm and a few cones. Apparently, they were trying to keep under the radar. Four guards lingered nearby. That was more than enough to deal with anyone who tried to walk through. Two were standing inside the shack, full-automatic weapons out of sight but in easy reach. They weren’t messing around.
In this case, they were outclassed. Even if they had an infra-red scanner pointed at the gate, Zahn would slip through like a ghost. He had long practice moving under his cloak’s protection. He had bonded with the relic completely. It didn’t have a complicated core. Nothing like the Fountain. It wanted to hide, and he wanted to hide. The two blended together and he passed by the guards like the wind.
