Smoke and Mirrors - 22

“If he’s still out there why the hell hasn’t he made a move,” Daniel groused as he read over the assignments the Supe Council had e-mailed to them.

“He might be playing a waiting game, if he picked up our signatures that night, hoping we’ll reveal the location of the wand. Or he has no idea who took it and has given up.”

“I doubt he’ll give up. The bad asses of this world never do, until someone eliminates them.”

Jared ruffled Daniel’s hair as he leaned over his shoulder to see what was on the schedule. “Are they serious? A zombie?”

“Looks like. A pair of them in fact.  It seems one of the local bars hired them to promote their new version of a ‘Zombie’ drink, and the bartender didn’t realize that they were the real thing. She let them taste test it and things went south from there. Luckily no one was hurt but the cops were called. They notified the Council and guess who gets to go round them up before they do something seriously bad.”

“Us.” Jared checked the address. “You know where this is and where we can land?”

“Yep and yep.” As soon as he’d put the computer to sleep, Daniel took Jared’s hand and they arrived on a rooftop seconds later. “Three guesses where they are,” he said, looking over the edge.

“I don’t know. Maybe inside the bar that the cops have cordoned off?”

“Got it in one. Shall we?”

They dropped down from the rooftop into the alley and crossed the street, stopping just long enough to show the cops their IDs so that they could get into the bar.

It was dimly lit and smelled of cigarette smoke, stale beer and rotting bodies; two bodies in fact—that were standing behind the bar with the terrified bartender between them. Her hands were shaking as she poured the ingredients for a Zombie into a pitcher. The only other people in the bar were two customers huddling in the back corner. Every time they glanced towards the door, as if contemplating escaping, one of the zombies growled at them and shook his head.

“Aw hell, Charlie, you promised,” Daniel grumbled as he strode across the room, leaning his elbows on the bar as he looked at the taller zombie.

Smoke and Mirrors - 21

The shaman looked up from his desk, inquiry on his face. “To what do I owe this visit?”

“You owe it to the nahual you felt in the area. We need your help.”

“I don’t see how I can assist you. I felt it while dream walking.”

Jared nodded. “We know, but logically if you felt him once you should be more sensitive to his presence again.”

“I see. Logically you’re correct. In actuality I wouldn’t bet the farm that I can, but if you need me then let’s get moving.”

Daniel laughed at the sudden shift in how the man spoke. “I take it you’re a bit more down to earth when it isn’t a client you’re trying to impress.”

The man shrugged. “My attitude, like my name, depends on who you are. When you walked in, you could have been a potential customer and most of them expect me to be…erudite and mystical. So that’s how I act.” He pushed his bulk up from the chair. “So where are we going and how do we get there. If you tell me we’re walking then you’re SOL on my coming with.”

“We can get you there instantly or drive, your choice,” Jared told him.

“Oh, teleporting.” The man grinned broadly. “Which one of you is the were? Oh let me guess, you are.” He pointed at Daniel.

“Yep, jaguar.”

“Then that makes you a vampire,” he turned to Jared, “because there’s only one enforcer team for the Supe council that has a jag on it.”

“Day-walker actually but we won’t debate terminology. If your ready Orion…”

“Hell, call me Billy, that’s my real name. And I’m more than ready.”

Seconds later the trio was standing just inside the vacant warehouse. Billy took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Then he crossed his hands over his broad stomach as he turned slowly in a full circle, his eyes wide open but unfocused.

“He was here,” Billy stated unequivocally. “At the door and just inside of it. He was angry, very angry.”

“Probably because he just missed us,” Jared told him. “You’re certain it was the nahual?”

“Very. I couldn’t mistake that signature in a million years. You, my friends, have an enemy.”

“And this is news why?” Daniel said. “We’ve got several of those. More than I can count on both hands actually. What’s one more added to the list.”

“Trouble, with a capital ‘T’ as the song says. This creature is not something to take lightly, which I trust you’re aware of. He radiates evil. That, coupled with his anger, can make him a formidable foe.”

Jared nodded. “Then we’ll be doubly on the alert for him. Is there anything else you can tell us about him?”

Billy shook his head. “That’s all of it in a very small nutshell. Now if you have nothing else you need me to do, how about you take me back. I have an appointment in,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty minutes.”

Guardian Angels – Protection (16)

Much later that evening, with Jamie safely tucked into bed, Kip sat down opposite Mack. By tacit—if silent—agreement, they had refrained from talking any more about Ben Stewart while Jamie was still awake. As far as Kip was concerned, Jamie seemed to have finally understood what was happening and was dealing with his fears outwardly now, since he was asking questions.

"Will you guys catch Stewart?" Kip asked.

Mack nodded. He'd had another call from Detective Howe. "There's a BOLO out for him, saying he's armed and dangerous. Every police department in the country now has his picture and details."

"But you're not going to leave us unprotected until he's caught?" Kip tried to hide his fear, knowing he probably wasn't too successful.

"Nope. He's a kidnapper, no matter what his reasoning was for doing that, and a murderer. Both crimes seem to have been planned out, at least to some degree. So we still have to figure he might be looking to wipe out any further links to him and his crimes. Links meaning you and Emily, if he really thinks your dad might have said something to you."

"I feel like I should go find a nice, safe cave to hide in." Kip shook his head. "Don't worry; I'm not going to go hunting for one. I understand you need me, us, to be bait to capture him, if he's stupid enough to try anything."

"With luck, now that we know who he is, we'll find him before he does."

"I hope so. Jamie's not the only one around here who's afraid."

"I know, but you have me at night and Cass during the day. We're well trained in protection. Cass is one of the best on the force, actually. That woman gives no quarter."

"I still find that hard to believe. She looks so… normal. I'd be willing to bet all the guys in my classes are jealous she's hanging with me."

"Yeah, she's fooled a lot of perps with the innocent look, until she draws on them. Then they see the tiger she hides inside."

Kip chuckled. "I'll have to remember not to piss her off."

"You know," Mack said casually, "she's single."

"And obviously likes being that way, just like me. The last thing I need in my life—if that's what you're hinting at—is a woman."

"Not into women?"

Kip almost smiled. "I think Jamie's proof that I am. I just don't trust them—not since his mother walked away without a second thought, right after he was born ."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes. Not the details specifically. When he's asked—and he has a couple of times—I told him she cared about him but decided she wasn't cut out to be a mother. I didn't say she was going to put him up for adoption. He thinks she turned him over to me, since I wanted him more than anything I ever had in my life, which is the truth. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to him."

"I understand exactly how you feel, so teach him what to be careful about, from crossing streets, to not talking to strangers, to all the other crap a kid might run into growing up."

"Oh I have, believe me." Kip chewed his lip pensively. "I wonder if I've done that too much. If that's why he's made up this angel to keep him safe."

"Could be. As long as it doesn't make him reckless, I don't see any harm in it though."

"True enough, I guess."

It's release day for 'Under the Radar'!

Under the Radar

http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_94&products_id=2102

Life for Lou Travis changed drastically when, as Carlo Farro, he turned state's evidence on the two mobsters he worked for. He didn't know, when he was put into the WITSEC program, that he would end up falling in love with the marshal tasked with protecting him.

Walter Brooks certainly didn't expect love to come into his life in the form of a small-time drug trafficker. But it did. Now, under the name Wayne Bourke, he, his adopted daughter Rae, and Lou own a protection business -- and have for the last seventeen years.

Suddenly their lives change when Regotti, one of the mobsters Lou testified against, is released from prison. The man wants Lou dead. Can Lou, Wayne, and Rae stop him from finding them and putting his deadly plan into motion?

EXCERPT:

“I am not ruling your lives, but damn it, we have to find out who broke in, and soon.” Rae stood in the middle of her living room, practically glaring at her fathers.

Lou shot a look at Wayne and grinned, mouthing, “Told you so.”

“Seventeen years ago, and you were right.”

“About what?” Rae asked.

“Nothing, Rae,” Lou said innocently. “And yes, we do need figure out who it was. The question is, how?”

“We’ll know if they try again,” Wayne pointed out, “Which might or might not happen, depending on why he was there.”

“My feeling is, if it was Goretti’s people, they’d have been at your house as well,” Rae said. “If they know about the business, then they have to know everything.”

“Not necessarily,” Wayne said. “If they did, they’d have come after Lou long before this. As Lou pointed out, it could have been a fishing expedition, probably by someone sent by Regotti. With him getting out on parole for good behavior --" he snorted, "-- just over a month ago, he could finally be putting some real effort into searching for Lou. The kind he couldn’t do from behind bars. We know, at least according to our sources, that Goretti has had more important things on his platter the last few years. Yeah, he was out for Lou's blood when Regotti and DeMarco were convicted, and their parts of his organization were busted up -- until he realized he had to rebuild them. Then he had to hold onto his empire in the face of competition from the Mexican drug cartels. At that point, searching for Lou undoubtedly became a non-issue. Then Regotti was released.”

Rae nodded, finally sitting down. “If that’s the case, what could have tipped Regotti off that Lou might be here?”

“That, my dear, is the big question, and the reason I’m not buying into it’s being me they were looking for.” Lou held up a hand when it seemed as if she was going to protest. “I’m not counting it out, but I think we have to look at our clients first. Every one of them either has someone who wants to know where they are, or who would like to know when they’d be most vulnerable to attack.”

Wayne nodded. “We need to bait a trap somehow to get our intruder to come back. Rae, you said there’ve been hacking attempts on Lou’s computer. Which files in particular, do you remember?”

She closed her eyes for a moment then nodded. “There have been three attempts in the last two days to get into the Macintosh files, and a very concerted effort by someone to get their hands on information about Mr. Smith.”

“All right.” Wayne tapped his fingers together. “What could we put out there that would make our man return?” He turned to Lou. “What’s wrong?”

Lou was staring off into space, frowning deeply. Now he said, “The thumbprint pads.”

“Yeah, and ... oh hell!”

“Yep. The rest was just a ruse. He, whoever it was Regotti used -- and I'd bet my bottom dollar it was one of his people -- wanted to find proof that I’m, that I was Carlo Farro. All he had to do was lift our prints off the pads. Faster and easier than dusting the room for them, and it wouldn't have left any suggestion that that's what he was after."

"True," Wayne agreed. "Since logically you and I are the only ones who touch them -- and just our own."

"Exactly. He gets our prints, Regotti will check them out, and end up with the proof he was looking for. His punk trashed the waiting room to throw us off and keep us running around in circles trying to figure out what he was after.”

Wayne was on his feet even before Lou finished talking. “Rae, pack a bag, we’re all getting out of here, now.”

“And going where?” she asked as she headed to her bedroom.

“We’ll figure that out once we’re on the move -- as well as how they homed in on us in the first place. That should not have happened, even as conjecture.”

Rae was back five minutes later, telling them, “We’re not using your car, so we’ll go out the back way.”

“You think?” Lou said with a tight smile.

She chuckled. “Sometimes, Pop, sometimes.”

The back exit led directly to the building’s parking garage. After making certain they were the only ones there at the moment, they got into Rae’s car and took off.

Smoke and Mirrors - 20

“Now that we know the wand is relatively safe, I want to go back to where we found it,” Jared said early the next morning. He and Daniel had spent the remainder of the night in one of Mor’s guest bedrooms and were now sitting at her kitchen table while Daniel ate breakfast.

“You want to see if there’s any trace of the nahual’s presence there, I take it,” Daniel replied.

“Yes. We know he was there, or at least we’re presuming it was him. If it wasn’t then I’d like to know who else might be aware of the wand’s existence.”

“Are we taking Mor with us?”

Jared thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Better that she stay here and do what she talked about last night, put the wand in an even safer place. We can pick up the shaman who first sensed the nahual and see if he feels anything more.”

“It’s an idea, although you were able to feel him before he showed up.”

“I felt something malevolent is all and I wasn’t about to let us stand around and find out who or what it was.”

“Good point.” Daniel wiped up the last of egg from his plate with the remaining bit of toast, took a big gulp of coffee to wash it down, and then took his dishes to the sink to wash them. When he’d finished he turned to find Jared staring at him. “What?”

Jared’s lips quirked up in a grin. “Nothing, just admiring the view.”

“We could always retire to the bedroom and you can see it in its full glory,” Daniel said with a straight face, pacing towards his partner while unbuttoning his shirt.

“An idea with merit, but not at the moment. I really want to check the warehouse again before all traces of the creature are gone.”

“Spoil sport,” Daniel muttered as he re-buttoned his shirt. “Alright, I’m ready if you are. Shaman first?”

“Yes.” Jared wrapped his arm around Daniel’s waist and the jaguar transported them back to the city.