Play Dead (13 page)
My sense of relief lasted only a second. A noise behind me made me flinch, and before I could react someone bolted past me and out toward the gate. I started to go after him, but something else was close behind, moving past me like a breath of cold wind. Lou jumped two feet back, then moved up closer to me. I got a vague look at a shadowy something evaporating into the darkness.
The sight of yet another figure moving slowly toward us was not reassuring. It was more solid, large and menacing, scarcely human, gnarled and twisted and powerful. But I recognized it.
“Rolf?”
The figure seemed to diminish in size, subtly shifting and looking suddenly more human. Rolf came out of the shadows and looked at me in disgust.
I didn’t know if I was glad to see Rolf or not. He’d been a lot of help to me in the past and although I certainly didn’t consider him an enemy, I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend, either. An interesting acquaintance, perhaps.
He looked the same as always—except for those times when he didn’t. A rough face, wild hair, a stained army jacket, and a long beard plaited into dreadlocks. When people passed him on the street, they swung a little wider as they walked by without even realizing they’d done so. He wasn’t a threatening figure, not exactly, but he made people wary, like antelopes passing by a well-fed lion. No real danger, but you just never know.
“Rolf,” I greeted him.
“Mason.” He looked down gravely. “Lou.” Rolf took matters of formality very seriously, and to him, Lou was as worthy of recognition as I was. More so, probably. “You been playing with the pool?” he asked.
“Not by choice.”
He looked carefully at me. “Been somewhere?”
“Just took a short vacation. What day is it?” Rolf looked baffled. Keeping track of time wasn’t one of his strong points. “Never mind,” I said. He peered at me in the darkness.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he said. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. There could be an accident. And what the hell was that?” He gestured out toward the darkness. “Friend of yours?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so.”
Rolf came up closer and smiled, showing his disquieting collection of strong teeth. “Anyway, it’s good you dropped by. I got some information for you if you’re interested.”
“Always interested.”
“Got anything to trade?”
Another little quirk of his. Rolf was willing to provide information, but not from the goodness of his heart. Although sometimes it really was—but he refused to admit it. So he always demanded something in return.
“Not offhand,” I said. “Anything you particularly want?”
“Can’t think of anything. Shame, really.”
He hesitated. I could see he wanted to tell me, which meant whatever it was probably impacted him as well as me, but he still couldn’t get past his barter obsession. And I couldn’t offer him money, even if I had any to spare. That would have been a deadly insult.
“Come on,” he said. “You’ve got to have something.”
“Tell you what. Anything that helps me, I’ll return it in kind. You tell me what you know, and anything I find out that might affect you, I’ll make sure you know about it, too.” Rolf looked doubtful. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” I reminded him. “We’ve helped each other out before. A trade doesn’t need to be all at once to be a valid bargain.” That argument was weak and probably wouldn’t have swayed him if he hadn’t wanted to tell me anyway. But he did.
“True,” he said, pulling at his dreadlocked beard. “Okay, it’s not that big a thing anyway. A while back I was sleeping in my spot, right over there.” He pointed back in the darkness. “Then something woke me up, a surge of energy like I haven’t felt for a while.”
“From a person?”
“No, not exactly. It was coming from the energy pool. You guys had tamped it down pretty effectively, but this felt like it was coming to life again. I could sense it from all the way across the area. So I got up and quietly drifted over to where I could see.”
The thought of Rolf drifting quietly made me smile—he was large, bulky, and rock solid. But he could be hard to notice if he didn’t want to be seen.
“And?”
Rolf stared at me, his aspect subtly changing with a hint of his other, troll-like persona. He didn’t like to be interrupted, and my smile wasn’t helping.
“You want to hear about this or not?”
“Sorry,” I said. He waited a few moments until I’d been properly chastened.
“The pool was roiling around, almost like it had been before. And walking around it was a young woman, attractive, but I could tell she was a black practitioner, and a strong one at that. None of your evil wannabes.”
Jackie. If she’d been playing with singularities, it stood to reason she’d be interested in a gateway like the pool as well.
“Was she causing it?” I asked.
Rolf paused, considering whether this was a legitimate question or just another interruption.
“I’m not sure. She was walking around it, and every so often spoke a few words and made a few gestures. Each time she did, the pool jumped a little. But I don’t know if she was trying to build it up or shut it down, or just experimenting.”
Experimenting, I’d guess. But that wasn’t the only question. Normal people can’t perceive the pool at all, which wasn’t surprising, but practitioners couldn’t either, for the most part. Jackie must possess some real power, as if the illusion she’d set up hadn’t already told me that.
“Did you follow her?” Rolf pulled on his beard.
“Saw no reason to. I could find her again if I needed to. Once I get a look at a practitioner, I can catch their vibes anytime I’m near. The stronger the practitioner, the easier they are to sense.” He showed his teeth in what might have been a grin. “Kind of like Lou here, but nowhere near as accurate. But since you guys have been so interested in the pool, I thought you might be interested that a black practitioner was sniffing around it.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s something to think about.”
“Thought so. And that woman, the practitioner? Quite a looker.”
“I know. And she never noticed you?”
“Nope. Or if she did, she thought I was just some homeless guy. Kind of like you did the first time we met, remember?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“But I’d be careful if I was you. You might be able to deal with her, but I’m not so sure about her Ifrit. Damnedest thing I ever saw.”
“What Ifrit?”
“Didn’t I mention it? A big-ass snake, and poisonous to boot, I’m guessing.”
SEVEN
SO JESSIE, NOT JACKIE, HAD BEEN THE ONE MESSING around with the energy pool. I remembered Jessie asking me questions the first time I’d seen her. Having more information was supposed to make things clearer, not more confusing, but it wasn’t working out that way.
Rolf didn’t ask me any more about where I’d been. He doesn’t like to reveal much about himself and as a result he doesn’t ask many questions himself, either. If nothing else, he’s consistent.
He walked me out to the front gate. Unlike in the singularity, the padlock on this one would be real, and Rolf’s better at opening locks than I am. I certainly didn’t want to climb over that fence again, especially now that it would be topped with actual barbed wire. But the lock was already open and the gate slightly ajar. More questions.
It would have been a long walk home, so I walked over to Mission Street and hopped a bus. I should have thrown an illusion spell over Lou; dogs are not welcome, even off-hours, unless leashed and muzzled. And they pay full fare. But it was late, the bus was almost empty, and I was tired and not in the best of moods. When I boarded, the driver shook his head.
“Sorry. You need a leash for your dog.”
I put a couple of bills in the fare box as Lou ran down to the back and wedged himself under a seat.
“What dog?” I said.
He shrugged and closed the door. He had a long route to finish. He wasn’t looking for a hassle over a dog.
I walked the last few blocks to my house, needing some time to mull things over. How had Jackie created that singularity? It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, even for a strong practitioner. No one I knew could pull it off—not without special help.
And equally pressing was that
something
had followed Lou and me out of the singularity. I had no idea what it was, but past experience told me it was trouble.
something
had followed Lou and me out of the singularity. I had no idea what it was, but past experience told me it was trouble.
I passed a newspaper box on a corner and checked the date. Tuesday. That meant I’d lost about a day and a half; not bad considering. It could have been a week or even a month.
I grabbed some turkey from the fridge as soon as I got home, gave some to Lou, made a lame-tasting sandwich, and checked my messages. There were two from Jessie, the first one annoyed that I hadn’t got back to her yet, the second stronger, with just a hint of threat. Jessie wasn’t one who took well to the notion that she was being blown off.
Should I call her, or wait until tomorrow? That question was answered when the twig on the table, the one from Cassandra’s houseboat walkway, sprang into life. I’d almost forgotten about it. It flickered briefly, then settled in and glowed a steady fluorescent green. Cassandra had just stepped onto the plank that led to her front door.
“Come on,” I said to Lou, who had just curled up on the bed and was looking forward to a pleasant nap. I was tired, too, but that didn’t matter. The woman might have just slipped back to pick up some belongings and if I didn’t catch her now, we might never see her again.
I stuck the glowing twig in my pocket and grabbed my old binoculars. When I held the door open for Lou, he took his own sweet time about getting up, stretching fore and aft like he’d been asleep for hours. He can be annoying when he’s trying to make a point.
Fifteen minutes later I was across from the houseboat, a couple of blocks away. Masking spells take energy, and distance plus binoculars works just as well with a lot less effort.
Lights were on in the houseboat, but no sign of Cassandra. That wasn’t a problem. When she exited through the gate that led out of the houseboat row, there was only one direction she could go. I took out the roll of duct tape I keep in the glove compartment and headed down there on foot. A block down from the gate, the sidewalk narrowed to accommodate a large fuchsia bush. Perfect.
First came the tape. I pulled off a long strip and folded it lengthwise in half, so that part of the sticky side was face-up, and laid it carefully down on one side. Then, another on the opposite side and two more, forming a large sloppy rectangle. The twig came next; I dropped it in the middle of the rectangle and threw some dirt over it to hide the glow. It still had Cassandra’s essence attached to it.
I gathered energy, ran it through the rectangle I’d made, sucked up the stickiness of the tape and Cassandra’s essence from the twig, and poured it all into a small rock I picked up from under the fuchsia. The trap was set—as soon as Cassandra walked into the area, I’d activate the rock, throw it in with her, and she’d be caught. More important, it would negate her talent and keep her from doing anything effective. It wouldn’t hold her forever, but it wouldn’t have to. I would be right there alongside to keep her in check.
Back to the van. I settled in, wishing I’d thought to pick up something to eat on the way over. I’d give it a while; I could always go down to her houseboat and confront her there, but engaging a hostile practitioner on her home turf is seldom a good idea. I could wait.
Nothing happened for a half hour or so and then the lights in the house went off. A few seconds later the front door opened. When I focused my binoculars on the door I couldn’t see much, since it was dark, but I could see a short figure toting a duffel bag almost as large as she was. Cassandra had picked up whatever stuff she thought was vital, and was on her way out. She crossed the plank, went out the gate leading to the road, and walked down toward the parking lot. She acted nervous and kept glancing over her shoulder.
I slipped out of the van and signaled for Lou to circle around and come at her from the other side. He’d played this game before; I didn’t need to tell him what to do. I moved up closer to her, but still stayed well back, out of sight. I was too far back to see Lou, but when she reached the area I’d prepared, she suddenly stopped short and let the duffel slip to the ground, so I knew she had spotted him. She stared off into the darkness. Then she whipped her head around as he showed himself again.
Lou was hiding in the fuchsia, taking advantage of urban cover, letting her get just a glimpse of him from time to time. She wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing, but she knew something was up. Unfortunately for her, she was so focused that she forgot to look behind her. I got right up within ten feet before she became aware of my presence, and by then it was too late.
I tossed the rock at her feet just as she spun around. She raised her hand and flung it out at me, but of course nothing happened. She’d been neutralized. I raised my own hand and walked up closer to where she stood.
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