Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Riverdale, NY 10471

www.baen.com

ISBN: 978-1-9821-2528-8

Cover art by Todd Lockwood

First printing, September 2021

Distributed by Simon & Schuster

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Green, Simon R., 1955- author.

Title: Jekyll & Hyde Inc. / by Simon Green.

Other titles: Jekyll and Hyde Inc.

Description: Riverdale, NY : Baen Books, [2021]

Identifiers: LCCN 2021029297 | ISBN 9781982125288 (hardcover)

Subjects: GSAFD: Horror fiction. | LCGFT: Paranormal fiction.

Classification: LCC PR6107.R44 J43 2021 | DDC 823/.92--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021029297

Printed in the United States of America

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Whatever happened to all the monsters?

For as long as there have been people, there have been creatures who preyed on them. Lurking in the least-traveled parts of the forest, or hanging around on street corners in the worst parts of town; watching for the weak and the vulnerable, with hungry eyes . . . The drinkers of blood and the tearers of flesh, the things that reek of the tomb but aren’t nearly dead enough, the hunters and the liers in wait.

The really wild things, without conscience or limits.

Everyone knows the names: vampires, werewolves, ghouls. Monsters who preyed on Humanity for centuries, striking from the shadows and then disappearing back into the night . . . But as first gas and then electricity filled the world with light, shadows became harder to find and the night concealed less and less.

By the end of the nineteenth century, it had become clear to the monsters that they couldn’t hope to survive the sharp clear light of the scientific age. Growing mass communications meant everyone knew about garlic and wolfsbane, wooden stakes and silver bullets. So the monsters went underground, disappearing into the underworld of crime; civilization’s shadow. Looking for new ways to prey upon the weak and the vulnerable.

And everyone forgot that monsters had ever been real.

In the white-hot glare of the twenty-first century, no one believes in monsters any more. But they’re still here, more dangerous and more powerful than ever. Someone has to save us.

It takes a thief to catch a thief . . . And a monster to kill a monster.

Chapter One

THE CHOP SHOP

Late-night cafés stand alone, like campfires holding out against the fall of night. Offering solace to their customers, from endless empty evenings and mean rooms no one ever visits. Daniel Carter, tall and lanky, dark-haired and dark-eyed, sat alone at his table in a café in old Soho. Outside it was cold, inside it was warm; but that was really all you could say in its favor. Daniel hadn’t been there long, and already he was wishing he were somewhere else.

He glanced casually round the café. This late in the evening there were only a handful of customers, all of them quietly intent on their own business. Daniel sipped some more coffee he didn’t want, and shifted uncomfortably inside his suit. He hadn’t been in plainclothes long, and he was still getting used to it.

He had thought ditching his uniform, and moving up in rank would mean he finally got to work the kind of cases that mattered, but all he did was sit behind a desk, moving papers from one pile to another. Not at all what he’d had in mind, when he first made the decision to join the police.

Daniel allowed himself another quick glance at his watch. He’d arrived early, because he’d been too impatient not to, but someone should have joined him by now. For want of anything better to do, he studied the two waitresses in their shocking pink uniforms. Angels of mercy, sisters of the night, dispensing cups of coffee in place of benedictions. The senior waitress was leaning heavily on the counter, defiantly smoking her cigarette right under the Thank You For Not Smoking sign, while the junior waitress darted in and out of the tables, doing all the real work.

Daniel looked round sharply as the door opened, and was surprised to see Paul Mayer, of all people. Easygoing, lazily handsome, and always that little bit overweight, Paul had never been known to give a damn about anything. He looked quickly round the café, dismissed everyone but Daniel, and sat down opposite him. They barely had time to nod to each other before the young waitress came bustling over with her jug of steaming coffee and a new cup.

“Black,” said Paul.

“Like your heart?” said Daniel.

“Maybe not that black,” said Paul. He waited till his cup was full, and then slapped a handful of change on the table. “Don’t hurry back, love.”

The waitress scooped up the money and retreated to the counter. She knew a lost cause when she heard one. Paul tried the coffee, pulled a face, and put the cup down.

“So, Danny boy, it’s been a while since we last got together. I take it you’re also here for the highly secret briefing?”

“You don’t think I’m drinking this stuff by choice, do you?” said Daniel.