Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives

The question earned me a swipe across the back of the skull with the gun, hard enough to make me realize this was no human. I wound up sprawled face down, spitting blood from kissing the concrete. “Do not toy with me, wolf. Why else would you return to the tunnel?”

She knew I was Sazi? That lowered my brows and made me push off hard from the floor to try to take her feet out from under her. Her reaction was fast enough to avoid my leg sweep. That told me she was either a cat or a spider in her animal form. But it did give me enough time to get my feet under me and face her. She should have an aura, but didn’t. No scent, no magic aura, but a shifter? That was just wrong on so many levels.

We squared off in the small space, but neither of us attacked. Yes, she could shoot me, but she didn’t seem inclined. Apparently, she thought I had information. Unfortunately, all I had were guesses. I was betting she had actual answers.

I took off the gloves, both metaphorically and physically. All I had to do was get close enough to touch skin and she was mine. But then the hammer cocked back and her eyes narrowed.

“You will put the gloves back on. Now!” I paused and then dropped them to the floor. She backed away. “We have heard of your Sazi mind tricks, seer. I am willing to shoot you if I must and find another way to get the information.” She raised the Taurus she’d taken from me and likewise cocked the hammer. One gun was aimed at my head now, the other at my chest. Simultaneous shots would put me down permanently. She motioned with the barrel pointed at my heart. “Pick up the gloves and put them back on.”

I did as I was told. But as they say, you can’t stop me from thinking bad things.

I threw open the door in my mind. Sue’s consciousness slipped inside of mine seamlessly. I didn’t need to speak. She’d be able to see the guns pointed at me and know instantly where I was. Call Lucas on his cell. Tell him the nice lady with the guns wants some sort of box and thinks I know where it is.

I don’t have to. He’s here with me. Carmine too.

Good. Tell Lucas to lean on him until he spills whatever the hell he’s hiding from us. And tell him to hurry.

It was even money that my former boss knew exactly what the Russian was talking about, and I was pretty sure that even as a lowly human, Lucas was tough enough to drag it out of him.

Being in two places at once isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s a lot like trying to hear one person inside a crowded party. It can be done, but it takes concentration. Sue and I were in the same boat. She was listening to Lucas and Carmine argue, and I was trying to hear through her ears. She was also going to try to learn as much as we could from my opponent. “What makes you think I know where it is?”

She laughed. It had a harsh edge that told me she wasn’t buying the stall technique. “You are friends with Leone and came here at his request. We know he has been in the tunnel recently. Either he took something out to give you, or put something in. But the photograph does not show which brick the box is behind.”

Ah! That’s what the photo of bricks was — the inside of the tunnel under the hotel. It’s a map of sorts. Take the photo into the tunnel and hold it up until the pipes line up. Then just pick the right brick and there’s a hidey-hole. And it was something his father hid. Interesting.

“You can’t just sniff it out?” I asked the question with a slightly sarcastic tone, just to see how she’d respond. It might tell me what sort of shifter she was. Cats have pretty good noses. Spiders have none at all.

“Do not play dumb, wolf. You know he defeated that by putting his hands on each and every brick in the picture.” She motioned with the guns toward a batch of boxes in the corner. “Go. You will show me where it is, or I will give you to my comrades … for dinner.” She paused when I glared instead of begging for my life. “It will be a slow meal.”

I shrugged, which made her blink. “Whatever. I’ve been tortured more than once. Snakes, spiders and even a dragon have taken chunks of my hide. I’m getting pretty jaded to threats.” She just motioned a second time. At the moment, I was getting more information than I was giving. But I was starting to hear bits of information through Sue’s ears now, so I turned and walked to where she was pointing. I was hoping a doorway would become evident as I got closer, and it did.

The tunnel was dark, but wolves see in the dark really well. Still, the comrade behind me apparently wasn’t willing to risk me disappearing into the blackness, so she turned on a pen light. A quick glance behind revealed it was held in her mouth. Damn. I was hoping she’d put down one of the guns.