Transylvania's Most Wanted (17 page)

He went down to the garage, checked out a
car and drove out to the east side of the valley to Harper’s
Junction where there was a grocery store, gas station, diner and a
couple of taverns. He’d never been in either of the taverns before,
but as soon as he went in the first, he knew Stone would never be
seen in there. It was well lit and almost all the clientele were
human. Still Tom spent a few minutes there asking around and then
he headed for the second tavern – a place called The Rock
Slide.

Unfortunately The Rock Slide was not the
kind of place he check out quickly. It was busy, noisy and dimly
lit. In addition there were several rooms where the clientele could
sit and drink and argue and place wagers on arm-wrestling contests,
since a big part of the clientele was golems and trolls. It was so
dark in there, he had to get within just a couple of feet of
someone to get a good look at them. He started moving through the
place looking for Stone.

Chapter 31

Mr. Slang returned to the Strigoi Hotel
after visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral. As he entered the hotel, the
front desk clerk waved him over.

“A message for you Mr. Bailey,” the clerk
said handing him a folded piece of paper.

Mr. Slang opened the note, saw only a phone
number written on it, and immediately went to the bank of phones in
the lobby.

When he hung up, he knew he needed to slip
out of the hotel without being seen. The men following him needed
to think he was in his room still. That was easy enough and Mr.
Slang went up to his room to arrange it.

There was no telephone in his room, but
there was a rope he could pull that rang a bell near the front desk
that would tell them to send a bellhop up. He pulled the rope and
when the goblin bellhop arrived, Mr. Slang complained he was not
feeling well and was going to lie down, but would like tea and a
small sandwich delivered at precisely 4pm.

“Oh, and do you have an empty box I could
have for some items I’ve bought?” Mr. Slang asked.

“Certainly,” the bellhop said. “How
large?”

“About this big,” Mr. Slang said holding his
hands out.

“Should I get it now?”

“Yes, please,” he said tipping the bellhop
generously.

If anyone was to inquire about him now they
would be told he was asleep in his room.

Next Mr. Slang went to his suitcase. He’d
learned to plan ahead for such emergencies and he looked through
the clothing he brought with him. He pulled out a uniform. It
looked much like an ordinary pair of blue pants and blue shirt that
a deliveryman might wear. He placed them on the bed and waited for
the bellhop to return.

After the goblin delivered his box, Mr.
Slang changed into the deliveryman clothes, put his other coat and
hat in the box and slipped out his room unseen, carrying the box.
He went out a side door carrying the box up by his face and then
slipped down an alleyway.

At the end of the alley, he waited a moment
to make sure he was not being followed. He was not.

Mr. Slang stole a car and drove out to the
Draculia region of the Transylvania Valley. He pulled into the
parking lot of The Wolf’s Fang and parked. He put his regular hat
and coat on before going inside and then he came through the front
door and headed for the last booth on the left. He was glad the
place was dimly lit, but not empty. There were a few humans there,
but mostly the place seemed to cater to trolls, golems and goblins,
most of whom seemed to work as miners. Mr. Slang sat down across
from the golem sitting alone in the booth.

“I received your message,” Mr. Slang
said.

“I figured that when you sat down here,”
Stone said. “You must be with the King’s Guard?”

“No, in fact they know nothing about this,
but believe me I’m the man you want to be dealing with. How can we
help you?”

“I don’t really care to live in the U.R.R.K.
but if I have to, I would rather do it in style, maybe be given
some kind of job there, something of some importance.”

“Compared to what?” Mr. Slang asked.

“Huh?”

“You’d rather work for us in the U.R.R.K.
than what? Have to hide out here in Draculia the rest of life?”

“No,” Stone said. “Rather than live there
working for Pandora.”

“Pandora is planning on returning to the
U.R.R.K.?”

“That’s right.”

“Just how does she plan on doing that?”

“By hi-jacking one of the zeppelins,” Stone
said.

“
Damn clever of her,” he
said, impressed.

“But if you want I could lead a team of your
men, right now, to where she’s holding the princess hostage.”

“Really?”

“You know who I am right? I’m Stone.”

“I probably know more about you than you
know about yourself.”

“Like what?” Stone asked.

“Like, you haven’t got any future here. The
TCPD would throw you right back in jail even if you were to help
rescue the princess. They’d say you did it just to save your own
skin. So instead I’ll smuggle you out of here. I’d be happy to have
you come to work for me.”

“All right,” Stone said excitedly. “You guys
know how to have fun there right?”

“Certainly,” Mr. Slang said. “More fun than
here.”

“You don’t say?”

“Lots of golems and trolls live there. And
you’d be free to roam about the country. We have lots of
celebrations there and lots of different kinds of beer. The food is
much better there. Wait till you head to St. Dimitrisburg for the
shearing festival; the roasted mutton is worth the trip alone.”

“Really?” Stone asked becoming excited.

“Absolutely.”

“Okay then,” Stone said. “Did you bring some
men with you? I can lead you to the princess right now.”

“You say she plans on hi-jacking one of the
zeppelins?”

“That’s right. She’s got it all figured
out.”

“How’s she planning on doing it?”

“Well, she figures the zeppelins are
probably on their way here already. That part is done. That’s why
she kidnapped the princess so those zeppelins would be brought
here.”

“Is that the only reason she kidnapped the
princess?”

“As far as I know,” Stone said.

“How does she plan on taking control of the
zeppelin?”

“It’s pretty simple. She creates a mist of
darkness. Titan and I follow her through it. Jump on the craft.
Throw out anybody we don’t need and take off headed for the
U.R.R.K.”

“She has everything she needs to create a
mist of darkness? I thought those kinds of things were kept out of
witches hands here?”

“You read in the paper what she did at the
Hotel Triumph? She’s been holding on to some stuff from when she
arrived here twenty years ago. Been planning for this day since
then. She ain’t got nothing too special though, but she’s got what
she needs to create a mist of darkness and a few other spells if
she needs to. She hid the stuff in a cave here twenty two years ago
just so she’d have it now.”

“Damn clever of her.”

“Except I had to wrestle a werewolf in order
to put it onto the scent of the garlic she’d placed next to her
chest, so she could find it again after all these years.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah,” Stone said. “I’d bet I’m the only
one who could have done it. That’s why they broke me out of jail.
That and they needed help kidnapping the princess and now she
expects me to hi-jack a zeppelin. I figure I’ve more that paid her
back already. So you want to go rescue the princess now? The only
thing I’m worried about is Pandora putting up some kind of
fight.”

“I’ve got a better idea.”

“You do?”

“You go ahead and help her
steal one of the zeppelins. The
Tempest
in fact.”

“Why?”

“Well first off something
might go wrong if we went to rescue the princess right now. We
don’t want to take a chance she’ll get hurt. Instead we’ll have a
little surprise waiting for Pandora aboard the
Tempest
.”

“What?”

“Leave that to me.”

“All right,” Stone said. “There is something
I should tell you though.”

“What?”

“Chief Inspector Meriwether already been
here and offered me a deal.”

“You don’t say. What’d you tell him?”

“I told him what he wanted to hear,” Stone
said. “But I knew I could get a better deal with you guys.”

“And that’s exactly what you’ll get. I’ll
see to it you are a golem of some importance in the U.R.R.K. with
plenty of money and connections.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“The king can do whatever he pleases there
and he likes to reward those who are loyal to him. Do you really
think Inspector Meriwether can deliver whatever he promised you? He
would need the district attorney to sign off on it first and then
probably someone with the Administration and you’d better hope
public opinion is on your side or the newspapers will call for your
head until the politicians get scared and decide something
underhanded must have been going on. You have a bit of a history
with the TCPD don’t you?”

“A little bit”

“Wait till the papers start bringing up all
that again,” Mr. Slang said. “Some of it wasn’t even that long
ago.”

“That’s what I figured. I never have been
really appreciated here even if I am the greatest fighter this
realm has ever seen.”

“The people would love you in the U.R.R.K.
I’ll see to it that the papers there write some nice stories about
you,” Mr. Slang said. “You’ll be famous there, especially after you
save the princess. What do you say?”

“I say okay,” Stone said without needing to
think about it.

“Good. Now what was it that Inspector
Meriwether wanted you to do?”

“Lead Pandora into a trap at two o’clock
tomorrow afternoon. Just north of the field where the zeppelins are
docked.”

“
Fine,” Mr. Slang said.
“Instead what you’ll do is invade the from the east side of the
field at one o’clock. I’ll need to arrange some things. I’d like to
meet you here again tomorrow after I get some details worked out.
How about I bring you some of your clothes and such? That way it
will look like you are all prepared to head to the U.R.R.K with
Pandora.”

“Good idea. Titan’s clothes don’t fit me to
good. I have a room at the Shadows Hotel still. My things are
there. Room 404, but I don’t have a key I can give you.”

“It’s no problem.”

Mr. Slang went out the tavern then, but he
did not leave. He simply walked around back of the building and
back inside through the kitchen door. He watched Stone from there.
Stone was still sitting at the booth, but then he got up and headed
for the counter. Mr. Slang thought he might be heading for the
phone, but Stone simply went to the counter and ordered another
beer.

Mr. Slang watched for a few moments more,
watching to see that no one got up and left the establishment,
until he was certain that no one was following him. Stone’s story
must all be on the up and up. He returned to his car then and
headed back to town, but ditched the stolen vehicler near the
Vamp’s distillery and hitched a ride back to town from there.

He snuck back into the Strigoi hotel then
and changed clothes to what he’d been wearing earlier in the day.
At 4pm his tea and sandwich was delivered and he enjoyed it and
then he went downstairs and out the front of the hotel. He had some
errands to run, and he wanted the detectives following him to come
along.

He hailed a cab and asked the driver to take
him somewhere where he could by a watch or clock maybe, as a
memento for his visit to Transylvania City.

The cab driver suggested he take Mr. Slang
to a store just off Queen Anne’s Way, where a man sold clocks and
watches he built with his own hands. Mr. Slang was agreeable. They
drove there and the driver pulled over in front of the store. Mr.
Slang tipped the cabbie generously as he asked him to wait as he
went inside.

When the shopkeeper greeted him, Mr. Slang
said his name was Darcy, and he wanted to buy a clock for his
mantle. Mr. Darcy was shown merchandise much better than was
available where he came from. One clock particularly impressed him,
it was expensive, but the clockmaker told him it was a highly
accurate time piece.

“Every clock in here is very dependable and
will last a life time,” the shopkeeper told Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Slang was sold. He purchased the clock,
figuring configuring it would be fairly easy.

“Do you have the exact time now?” Mr. Slang
or rather Mr. Darcy asked.

“Of course,” the shopkeeper said. “Let me
set your clock for you.” Mr. Slang handed him it and the shopkeeper
walked to his counter and observed the clock on the wall there
while Mr. Darcy looked over some other merchandise in the store. “I
could set your watch too if you like,” the man offered.

“Would you?” Mr. Slang said.

Five minutes later, the cab driver took Mr.
Slang to a hardware store. Mr. Slang had asked him where he might
find some tacks to repair the soles on his shoes, but really Mr.
Slang needed the small file, a small screw driver, some sharp
nails, as well as some other items for something entirely
different. Again the driver waited for him. As Mr. Slang walked
into the store, he noticed the men parked further down the block
watching him. That was fortunate.

That task accomplished, Mr. Slang had the
driver take him back to his hotel. Just inside the lobby he
approached the concierge’s desk, where a most beautiful vampiress
was standing. He asked her for a tourist’s map of Transylvania and
Draculia. The concierge pulled one off a shelf, handed him it and
Mr. Slang immediately opened it and began looking at the most
popular places to visit in Transylvania City and the surrounding
valley.