Unawakened (32 page)

“That’s insane. You can really access his place like that?”

“I’ve done it before. There are a few spots near his property perfect for hiding in. Elite don’t think to check the cubbies, and Smith’s so egotistical he thinks his standard cameras will protect his operations. He probably has some infrared cameras on the common access points, but I don’t use those. I have maintained the illusion I know nothing about how his tunnels work. He’s aware I probably know of them, but not that I know how to access and use them.”

Grabbing the pad of paper in front of Analise, I flipped to a clean sheet and began sketching out the tunnel system, careful to write out how to reach the Inner Harbor townhouse without passing one of the common entrances. I handed the sheet to Marlene. “Whoever you send in, send them armed. If Smith or one of his hounds find them, they’ll shoot to kill.”

“They’re armed?”

“Who do you think taught me to shoot, Marlene? Kenneth Smith deals in everything, not just drugs, and he teaches all his hounds how to use his inventory. The fringe rats of his pack fight with knives, too. We learned that on our own, though. Do or die.”

Marlene looked over my map and notes, making thoughtful noises in her throat. “Let’s assume we find evidence Kenneth Smith is involved in the kidnapping. If we were to make a run at the townhouse, what can we expect?”

“One or two bitches trained with guns, and they’ll have weapons at hand. I’d try to plan it for when Jacob is working with the police.”

“Smith’s dae?”

“Yes.”

“Easy to find out. We have access to the police schedule. Traps?”

“None that I’m aware of. Security is monitored from the second floor, so the instant you enter the basement, someone will know you’re there. I don’t think he’s ever left the townhouse unsupervised. His usual bitch, however, is dead, so who knows who replaced her.”

“How good is that intel? That the woman who usually did his monitoring is dead?”

“I killed her myself and left her body cooling on his doorstep. Is that good enough for intel?”

Marlene and Analise exchanged long looks.

“She would have shot me in the back if I gave her a chance. Do or die, Marlene. That’s how Smith plays, and that’s how we’ll have to play if we’re going to take him out.”

“Bring your gun and your sword, Miss Daegberht. With your sort of luck, you’ll need them.”

Divide and conquer was not a tactic I had used before; partnering with Rob and Colby for the Ivory Tower break-in had been one of the few times I had worked with anyone. We had all shared equal risk, and I didn’t know how I felt about leaving Marlene to plan and execute an infiltration of Smith’s townhouse.

If she pulled it off, she’d likely emerge with a wealth of blackmail material and criminal evidence linking Baltimore’s most notorious drug lord with Kenneth Smith, businessman extraordinaire. I wanted to be the one to bring about his fall, but I had to choose.

I could either go after Rob, or I could go after Smith. Spending most of my life despising Smith should have carried more weight, but I had made my choice. Smith could wait.

Rob couldn’t.

At least Marlene was confident in Analise’s ability to keep me out of trouble. Then again, from my understanding of the situation, if any one of the portal dae we were allying ourselves with turned on us, we didn’t stand a chance of escaping unscathed. I think it made Analise nervous, but I was eager to find out just what we could do.

I wanted to find out how much a single vial of my blood was worth—and how I could put it to good use. Sullivan could take four vials without making me any more than a little dizzy.

It opened a world of opportunities to me, and I’d expand my goals to something beyond escaping Smith’s operations. Rob wouldn’t approve of my methods, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him and would help me make my own way in the world.

Once I found him, I’d truly even the scales between us. I wouldn’t have to remain the only one lifted up by our partnership. That alone made allowing Smith to slip through my fingers worth it.

We spent the trip to Sullivan’s shop in silence, and I was grateful for Analise’s quiet, her attention focused on her list of potential culprits. I didn’t know most of the men and women they had deemed a risk to Rob, leaving me to fixate on the two I knew all too well.

When we arrived, I led the charge, sweeping into the tattoo parlor.

Netzach snorted, lifting his head to stare down his elegant nose at me. He took up a lot of the shop’s floor space, and the bejeweled dragon, Sandalphon, clung to his pearly horn. “Nice sword.”

I dropped my hand to the katana’s hilt. The golden dragons were similar to the ones inlaid on Minangi’s floor, and the hilt’s blue background suited Rob far more than it did me. “Thanks for coming, Netzach. You, too, Sandalphon.”

“Wrong kind of dragon,” Sandalphon muttered. “So not in my image.”

I laughed, unsheathed the blade, and lifted it in salute. “More kin to Muriel, I’d say.”

Sandalphon snorted, throwing his head back. “You’re keeping high company, Miss Daegberht.”

“From what I understand, you’re not so low yourself.”

Netzach stretched out his neck and shook his head hard enough to dislodge Sandalphon, who thumped into the wall behind the counter. “I am not for you to ride, dragon.”

“Pesky, uptight unicorns.”

“Food,” Colby scolded.

Both of the portal dae turned their heads and refused to look at one another, although Netzach stomped his hoof.

“They’ve been bickering since the instant they arrived,” Sullivan said, leaning over the counter. “Got anything good for us, ladies?”

“Your theory is the best, Alexa. May as well pursue it first.”

“Oh-ho, this should be good. What’s the deal?”

“It’s probable Kenneth Smith hired someone to take Rob—someone who has experience taking out elite dae. Arthur Hasling is the first to come to mind; he hates the elite, hates the government, and Rob deals with both.”

“Rob also took her from him,” Analise added.

While I wanted to unleash all of my built-up frustration on the woman, I settled with hissing, “I took myself from him, thank you very much.”

“Unimportant. Continue, please.”

“Smith’s confidence and willingness to negotiate with me indicates he’s either the one behind Rob’s disappearance or knows where Rob is being held. He doesn’t deal unless he thinks he can get the better end of it, which means he believes he can get Rob back one way or another.” I headed to the counter and drummed my fingers on the glass while staring down at the piercings on display. A pair of silver feathers captured my attention; the quills were fashioned of some sort of blue stone wrapped in silver wire. “Those are pretty.”

Sullivan followed my gaze to the earrings. “You have eclectic tastes. First you like snakes, so you get a tattoo of one’s head, then you pick up a sword with dragons all over it, and now you’re gunning for feathers? Next, you’re going to make off with Netzach’s horn.”

“I think not,” the unicorn in question muttered.

“Sandalphon’s jewels are probably worth almost as much as Netzach’s horn, in case you were curious.”

“I wasn’t, but consider it noted.”

Twin snorts answered my tease, and I giggled.

“Can’t you take this seriously?” Analise demanded.

Laughing, Sullivan reached into the case, grabbed the earrings, and slid them to me. “Put in a good word with your man next time I annoy him.”

I laughed and grabbed the jewelry box. “You’re getting the better end of that deal, Sullivan. You’ll owe me a favor plus the earrings for that.”

“Deal. So, break it down for us. Why Smith? Why Hasling? How would those two know to get together?”

“Smith is easy; Rob got me, and he didn’t. Hasling’s pretty easy, too; Rob got me, and he didn’t. Linking the two together, however, is where things get tricky. Smith knows a lot of what’s going on, and Hasling made a lot of waves. Hasling was hiding out in the fringe, which would make it easy for Smith to sniff him out with one of his hounds. Smith could help Hasling in a lot of ways, including sneaking him out of the city with those kids he had snatched. Hasling seems like the type who’d do Smith’s dirty work in exchange. With his abilities, I don’t have any doubt he could pull off abducting Rob.”

“So why leave you?” Analise demanded.

I sighed. “I’m an easy mark, Analise. Rob isn’t.”

Sandalphon flapped into the air and perched on the counter beside me. “You’re pretty smart for a human. You can’t have my jewels. They’re not for you. They’re mine. All mine. You can take that quadruped’s horn, though. He doesn’t need it, really.”

Both of Netzach’s delicate ears twisted back. “Remember, Sandalphon. I’m patient.”

“Eternally so,” the dragon muttered, flying up to the rafters to escape the unicorn’s reach. “Please don’t kick me again.”

“Then cease your inane prattling.”

“Who else is on the suspect list?”

Analise pulled out her list and slapped it onto the table in front of Sullivan. “We narrowed it down to the top fifty candidates.”

“How much narrowing did you do?” Sullivan blurted. “You’ve listed every notable elite in the city.”

“Exactly. There are just too many who want what he has. Why do you think he never came around before? He’s been a ghost, a disembodied voice people feared but could never touch. He ran his operations remotely, in such a way no one could figure out how he did it. He’s accessible now and knows too many secrets and has too many connections.”Analise paced, shaking her head. “What I don’t understand is how they’re holding him.”

Sullivan sighed and turned to Netzach. “You’re probably the best one to answer that question.”

Stomping his fore hooves, Netzach bucked and kicked out with his hind legs, releasing an explosive snort. “He’s letting them. That’s the only thing I can think of. He’s letting them hold him, and I don’t know why.”

“Them?” I asked.

All three of the portal dae stared at me as though I had grown a second head, and even Colby huffed, contributing a scornful, “Mommy.”

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your Rob is not so easily taken or held.” Netzach whipped his tail against his flanks, snorting again. “Of course, they could have sedated him, although he wouldn’t be able to share his knowledge with them if they did. They haven’t had him long, though.”

“Assuming he’s still alive,” Sandalphon muttered.

I balled my hands into fists. I took deep breaths; to force myself to remain calm, I removed the earrings from their box and put them on. “He better be alive.”

Gliding down from the rafters, Sandalphon landed on the counter beside me, staring up at me with glistening eyes. “What if he isn’t?”

I didn’t know, nor did I want to find out. “Why don’t we find him before it comes to that.”

“If we can.”

Analise’s phone rang. She snatched it out of her pocket and answered, “What do you have?” There was a long pause, and then she smiled, hanging up. “Smith’s on the move, and he has some business in the fringe. Why don’t we go see what he’s up to?”

Sullivan disappeared into the back room, returning with several duffle bags, one of which he handed to me. “Let’s get this show on the road. Wear that under your clothes. The last thing I need is having to explain to Rob we let you get shot playing heroine. Also, don’t fire the gun inside unless you really, really mean it.”

I hauled the duffel onto the counter and dug through it, pulling out a set of body armor. At the bottom was a small gun case, which I popped open. The weapon resembled the Beretta Rob had procured for me.

The single round in the case was painted orange and black with a hazardous materials label wrapped around the casing. Dread chilled me to the bone.

“Sullivan, what are these?”

“Regular bullets won’t kill stronger dae, but one of those should do the job. Just do yourself a favor and make sure you’re upwind and at least thirty feet away before you take the shot. I’d also recommend you don’t fire one of those rounds if any of your friends are nearby.”

“Why?” I hissed through clenched teeth, wondering if I really wanted to know what sort of weapon I held.

“Once fired, it’ll detonate in a quarter of a second. Don’t miss, don’t misfire, and whatever you do, do not be in the blast radius.”

“What is it, Sullivan?”

“It’s the type of bomb the government doesn’t want you to know exists, and the sort of thing Kenneth Smith would kill to smuggle.”

“Where the hell did you get it?”

“Who else? Rob, of course. He owed me a favor. Seems like I finally found a use for the damned thing. If revenge is what you want, that gun is how you’ll get it. Few dae can survive it, and no human can.”

I returned the weapon to its case and shook my head. “I’ll find a better way.”

Sullivan sighed. “Take it with you just in case. We might need it. We’re not the only portal dae on the move, and that might be the only weapon we have that can slow one down. You’re the best one to take the shot.”

I grumbled, grabbed the body armor, and stripped so I could wear it beneath my clothes. When I was finished, I returned my police-issued single-round weapon to my cleavage and grabbed my new gun’s holster and secured it around my hips. “You better be right about this.”