Hell Bent

Chapter 21

We ordered in lunch. Terric and Clyde eventually went into the closed-off office to talk about responsible Authority things. Which was what Terric and I had planned.

That left me and Dash to dig into old Authority files on Thomas Leeds. I was hoping something in there would give me a little inside information on Dessa.

Not a lot on Thomas I could use. An old photo of him, looked like it was taken in a sports bar with friends. I didn’t see much of the family resemblance, except maybe around the eyes and forehead. Otherwise, he looked like a guy you’d expect to be running a small but useful business of some sort, who spent his weekends watching football.

All of the addresses on his file were in the Seattle area, the phone was disconnected, and when it came down to the list of family and friends, the file had been wiped.

Thanks, Victor.

Bored, I went outside to smoke and pace. Hadn’t even gotten a puff off my cigarette before I heard a voice behind me.

“Four sugars, four creams?” Dessa said.

I grinned, turned.

She had on jeans, a white collared blouse, and a short black jacket. No purse, shoes she could run in without breaking bones. She also had a cup of coffee in each hand.

“Dessa,” I said. “How did you know it was time for my coffee break?”

“I bugged the office.” She smiled, held the coffee out for me.

“That kind of behavior will get you in trouble,” I said.

“Bugging your office?”

“Ex-office and no, telling me about it. And I prefer six sugars and six creams, thank you.” I took the cup.

“I know.” She reached into her pocket and handed me extra sugars and cream.

“Why are you here?” I popped the cup lid, stuck a thumbnail in the creams, poured, and tore sugar packets with my teeth. Didn’t bother to stir. I liked a sweet kick at the end.

“You make it sound like I want something.”

“Because you do.”

She took a drink of her own coffee. “Yes, I do.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s hear it.”

“I want you to take me to whoever is in charge of the Authority.”

“So they can tell you who killed your brother.”

“Am I that predictable?”

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I think you already know who killed your brother. And you know why he did it.”

Everything about her stilled, tensed. If she had a gun smuggled somewhere on her body, all signals pointed to her pulling it.

“Who told you that?” Her voice had gone from playful to dead serious.

“Do you know a woman named Brandy Scott?”

Her brows tucked down, folding a line between them. “The name sounds familiar. But I’m not placing it. Should I know her?”

“Thomas’s killer thinks you should.”

“You talked to his killer?” That drunk ’em and trunk ’em look flashed in her eyes.

“We heard from him.”

“You know giving me a name—Brandy Scott—is enough to lead me to him.”

“Might be if you can find the connection. That’s not how I want this to play out.”

“How you want it? You had your chance, Shame. I asked you to help me, remember? You said you didn’t want to get involved. So I don’t see why you should have a say in what I do or don’t do with this information.”

“Wouldn’t dream of having a say. I want to make you a deal. You help me find Brandy Scott and I will cut you in on all the info we have on the killer.”

She hesitated. It was a tempting offer. “I’m supposed to believe you’ll do that?”

“I’m not a man who makes a habit of lying.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay. Yes, fine. But this is the truth.”

She drank coffee, thought about it. Then, with regret, “You’re still holding all the cards, Shame. And I know you don’t really want me involved and you’ll find a way to go around me. Sorry. I need to do this on my own.”

I don’t know why, but I hadn’t expected that. “Really? We had pizza together. I thought we had a certain something.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “We did. We do. It’s why I’ve changed my mind. I started this alone. I think it needs to stay that way. Then whatever we have . . . or don’t have, we can figure that out on its own terms.”

“Dessa.” I reached over and touched her arm, but I could see that she had made up her mind. I pulled my hand away. “Be careful.”

“I’ll let you know how things turn out.”

“Unless we find her first.”

That got a smile out of her. “I suppose that could happen. Did you look into that thing with Jeremy Wilson yet?”

“We spoke.”

“Is he dead?”

“Not yet.”

“But what I said about him was correct? That he’s a part of the Black Crane and using Terric?”

“Yes.” I knew the point she was making. She’d held up her end of the deal, and she wanted me to hold up mine.

“So, please don’t follow me,” she said. “Please don’t come after me. Good luck, Shame.” She turned and walked down the street, dropping her barely touched coffee in the nearest garbage bin.

Eleanor had been leaning against the building. I glanced over at her and she shook her head. She mouthed, Stupid.

“She’d have found out anyway,” I said. “She bugged the office. I’m sure she’s bugged my room by now too. This way I’ll know what lead she’s following and I can follow her. I’m going to put a Hound on her.”

Eleanor rolled her fingers outward and shrugged in an obvious “why?” pose.

“I don’t want her hurt in the cross fire.”

She cupped her fingers together to make a heart shape, and raised one eyebrow. I turned my back on her.

“Not listening.”

I pulled out Terric’s phone I’d nicked and called Zayvion.

“Hello?” Allie’s voice, not Zay.

“Hey, Al. Where’s the man?”

“Sleeping. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to check in on you two. What did the doctor say?”

“That he’s lucky the knife missed his lung. It’s going to hurt for a while, and they gave him antibiotics, but he’s going to be fine.”

The relief in her voice was an almost tangible thing.

“And you? Honest, now, love. How are you?”

“Shaken. I’m okay now, but when he came in the door, Shame . . .” She paused.

I lit another cigarette, ignored Eleanor, who had come around to stick her tongue out at me.

“When he came in the door,” she went on, “I froze. I’ve never frozen in my life. All I could think was I was going to lose the baby.”

“You did fine. Just fine. And the baby’s okay, right?”

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“So it’s all good. Just like it should be. Is Stone there with you?”

“He showed up after the police left. He’s next to me right now. Hasn’t left my side. And Nola’s here too. With her shotgun.”

I had to grin at that. You could take the girl out of the country, but you couldn’t take the country out of the girl.

“So you don’t need anything?” I asked. “Anything I can bring you?”

“No. We’re good. I’m good. Thanks, Shame. For being here earlier. When we needed you.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else. Say, Allie, did you know Thomas Leeds?”

“I don’t think so. Was he a Hound?”

“No. Closer. I don’t suppose you knew a Dessa Leeds?”

“My memory’s pretty sketchy, but neither of those names rings any bells. Why? What do you want them for?”

“They’re tied to Eli. I’m looking for someone to follow Dessa. You got any spare Hounds I could borrow?”

“I don’t really do that anymore. You could talk to Davy.”

“Can’t find Davy.”

“Then check in with Sunny. She’ll know where he is.”

“I thought Sunny was in Florida or something. Visiting family?”

“Maybe,” she said. “I don’t remember Davy mentioning anything, but I haven’t seen him since last week.”

“Maybe I’ll stop by the Den, see who’s running things while she’s gone and he’s wherever he is.”

“That’s a good idea. And, Shame, I’m really sorry you lost your job. And that you had to . . . that you and Terric had to break magic for us. Because we couldn’t. Because I couldn’t.”

“Allie, those are not your worries. It is what it is. And it worked out fine. We used magic together and I didn’t have a single moment of wanting to snog him.”

That got a short laugh out of her. “He wouldn’t have argued.”

“He would have had a coronary.”

Terric stepped out of the building. Spotted me. “Speaking of, I’ve got to go now. I’ll try to come by soon. Stay in touch.”

“Be careful, Shame.”

“What, and ruin my streak?”

I thumbed the phone off and held it out for Terric.

“You really have to get your own phone,” he said, taking it from me.

We started toward the car.

“I have a phone. It’s at the inn. In my room. With my clothes. And my coat. And my boots. All of which I’d love to have, but you won’t take me there.”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll take you there. Did you and Dash find anything?”

“Not a clue. Checked on Al and Zay. He’s fine, she’s fine. She doesn’t know anything about Thomas or Dessa.”

“What about going to a bar?” he suggested. “Dessa picked you up at a bar last night. Picked you up the night before, come to think of it. You might run into her there.”

“Not without my coat. My good coat.”

“Two-year-olds have more patience than you.” He slid into the driver’s seat.

“That’s because two-year-olds have coats,” I said, getting in the other side. “Also, I saw Dessa. She doesn’t know who Brandy Scott is, but now she’s looking for her.”

“Alone?”

“I offered her our side of the sandbox. She said no.”

He shook his head and drove. “We’ll need to track her.”

“I’m already on it.”

We pulled up to the inn a few minutes later. The drive had made me realize how damn tired I was. I didn’t know if it was from breaking magic with Terric, Zay practically snapping my neck, or just the last couple days of way more activity than what I’m used to, but right now sleep sounded better than a bottle of booze.

“You want me to wait while you get your coat?” Terric asked.

I yawned hugely. “No. I’m going to catch an hour of sleep.”

“If you go out looking—”

“I’ll call you.” I got out, opened the back door, took the statue and the baseball bat I’d nicked from the office. Started walking.

Stepped into the inn, and waited until Terric pulled away. Then I stepped back out again, walked around to the back of the building, and got in my car. Keys were in the glove box. So was my phone.

Dialed Sunny. She had been a hell of a Blood magic user, studied under my mum for a couple years. Fell in lust with Davy Silvers, and sort of moved in with him. She and he managed the Hounds in the area, making sure security, info, and tracking jobs were fulfilled, that the Hounds stayed clean, and that paychecks got cut.

“What do you want, Shame?” Sunny answered.

“Nice to hear from you too, Sunny. You back in town yet?”

“Just got in a couple hours ago. Is there a reason you’ve suddenly crawled out from under your rock?”

“Ouch. Also, yes. I need a Hound to follow a woman by the name of Dessa Leeds. She came into town a couple days ago. Ex–government spy of some sort. Packs heat. I don’t want anyone to engage or get in her way, but she’s looking for someone I’m looking for, and I want to know if she finds her.”

“Who do I bill?”

“Me.”

She laughed. “Right. Who do I really bill? Terric?”

“Sunny. This is my thing. It’s not the Authority’s thing, it’s not Terric’s thing. Bill me.”

“If you don’t pay—”

“I will.”

“I know where you live, Flynn.”

“I know. Just call me if you find out anything.”

“I’ll call if you keep your phone on.”

“Promise.”

I could hear her sigh. “Anything else?” she asked.

“Have you seen Davy since you got back?”

“No. He said he’s on a job.”

“Who’s shadowing him?”

I heard the clicking of a computer mouse, as she looked up the job records.

“I don’t know.” She sounded concerned. “Do you know something about this?”

“Eli Collins is in the area. Davy knows it. There’s a chance he’s trying to hunt Eli on his own. When you find Davy—as I am certain you will—tie him down somewhere and keep him out of this, okay?”

“I will,” she said. “Shame?”

“What?”

“It’s nice to have you back.”

We both thumbed off our phones since that was about as much mutual affection as either of us could handle.

I sat there for a second thinking out my next move. I really was tired, but it wasn’t my most pressing problem.

That was how to deal with Jeremy before he harmed Terric.

I needed Jeremy out of the picture. But he was just a cog in the machine that wanted to use Terric. It made more sense to take out the mainspring of the operation. Which meant it was time for me to deliver a personal message to the Black Crane.

I’d been out of the loop on the criminal activity in the city for more than a year. I had no idea where the Black Crane was headquartered now, and it wasn’t really something I wanted to ask the police or the Hounds.

I needed someone who knew the dark side of the city and wouldn’t rat me out to the law, or anyone else, for that matter.

I knew just the man. I dialed. Waited. He picked up on the fourth ring.

“Cody Miller.”

“Cody, this is Shame. I need a favor.”

Back in the day, Cody and I had been young, reckless men. His terrible gambling skills had nearly gotten him killed, but his amazing ability with art and magic put him under Allie’s dad’s employ for a while, where he’d made wondrous things like Stone, the gargoyle. He had also been the best damn forger of magical signatures in the States—maybe in the world. That caught the attention of all sorts of unsavory folk and he eventually managed to get in the way of people, living and dead, who wanted to rule the Authority and magic.

To make sure he wouldn’t ruin their plans, he’d been Closed, several times. Finally his mind had broken. For several years, he’d been nothing but a childlike shell of a man. But when our last-ditch effort to save the world included trying to join light and dark magic, he had volunteered to be the Focal—the vessel in which magic would be joined again.

It should have killed him. Instead it mended his mind and destroyed his ability to use magic. Joining magic had changed him in good and strange ways, just like the rest of us. Just like the world.

“A favor? You owe me, Shame. I should be collecting from you.”

“What’s stopping you, mate?”

“Well, you don’t have a job.”

“Employment is overrated. This will be worth saying yes.”

“What are you up to?”

“I need to go make a point clear to some people.”

“People.”

“Black Crane.”

Silence, while he rolled that over. “Why?”

“It’s personal.”

“I’m going to need more than that if I’m getting into this with you.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“No, it’s a why.”

“They think Terric is their own personal bucket of magic they can dip into any time they want to.”

“Please tell me that’s not a euphemism.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “They are using him for the magic he can access, jackass. Life magic. And they want me to stay out of their way.”

“So you’re going to get in their way.”

“What can I say? I have a contrary nature.”

“They kill people, Shame. They make people disappear.”

“I know. And they think they own Terric.” I didn’t say any more. Didn’t have to. Cody could take the next logical step. As soon as Terric decided to turn on them, to leave Jeremy, or to refuse to do what they wanted, they’d kill him. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“You know I can’t use magic,” he said evenly.

“Not what I need you for.”

“Why do you need me?”

“I want what you know about who’s running the syndicate. I want your contacts. That’s all.”

“Come by. I’ll have what you need.”

“Thanks.”

He hung up. I checked the gun in my pocket. I’d never really used it much, but it was a great attention getter when people lost focus. Yes, it was loaded.

I started the car and took the shortest route to Cody’s place over on the east side of town. He’d taken the art scene by storm over the last three years and had made enough off it he’d never have to work again. He might not be able to use magic, but there was something about his art that drew a person to it, and made that person willing to empty out bank accounts for it.

Instead of living big, he had bought a quirky little place on southeast Thirteenth Street, not too far from pubs and coffee shops.

And he’d apparently painted it several shades of purple, blue, and yellow since I’d last been by.

I parked the car in front of the place and Eleanor drifted into the backseat of the car.

Cody was already walking down the porch and past the rosebushes. He was yellow haired, tan, muscled, quick to laugh, and, if I remembered correctly, just a little older than me. He had on several layers of shirts and jackets in browns, oranges, and blue, a dark green scarf tossed over his shoulders that should have looked messy, but somehow came across as fashionable, and was carrying a bowling ball bag.

He opened the passenger door, and ducked down as he got in. “You’ll want to head back over the river. West.”

“I need an address, I don’t need a passenger,” I said.

“You need both.” Cody slid the seat belt over his shoulder and snapped it in place. “And I want to see you.” He turned toward me. “I want to see what you’re about to do. With magic. With death.” Those blue eyes were just this side of madness, and when he smiled, I realized magic might have done more than just change him.

“Cody,” I asked before I put the car in gear, “are you sane?”

“Oh no. But then, neither are you. That’s what makes this so fun.”

I slowly removed each of my Void stone rings and dropped them into my cup holder. Then I drove west, because damn it, he was right.