Nimravid (The MacFade Chronicles Book 1) Page 17

  “What evidence brought you to this conclusion?” Beauty, now we’re going to play cross examination. Now in lawyer mode, there would be no getting her out of it. I motioned for her to follow me as I talked. We got in the Hummer and programmed the address into the on board GPS. “Just think, Claire. This person or persons, I’m not sure about that part, are targeting new black cops with clean records. We need to find out what precincts are involved, because it sounds to me like someone is killing them for a specific reason. If I had my guess, I’d say the killers are dirty cops.”

  Claire thought for a moment. “What makes you think that?” I turned onto the GPS indicated street and kept talking. “It’s just my gut. Rookies don’t normally turn dirty this quickly, they are more likely to shy away from shady dealings until they’ve had enough time on the job to become jaded. Such individuals could be considered a threat when a recruitment effort fails. Besides, what are the odds that someone could abduct or kill five cops without as least one of them calling for backup or getting a shot off? Sure, I could do it, but anyone else, would either have to organize a group blitz attack or be able to get in close enough without alarming the target.”

  “We don’t have enough evidence to call it an inside job, Alex. Everything we have is circumstantial. We need more evidence, CONCRETE evidence.”

  “I understand that, Claire, but mark my words, someone got word that I would be notified of the next disappearance. The next victim will be taken after they sign off for the night, because the killer knows that I won’t know anything, until it’s too late.”

  “I hope you’re wrong, Alex, but I know your hunches are usually right. Hopefully, you’ll be able to get something from the crime scene.” We hit a McDonalds on the way and pulled up to the address we were given. It was a burned-out building with a closed elementary school next door. The officers on duty directed us to the back. They smiled and greeted Claire. Me they eyed suspiciously, probably wondering what a notorious thug was doing at a fresh crime scene, outside of handcuffs, especially one who is usually a suspect. Chief Martin was at the scene when we got there. There was so little left, all I could use was the officer’s badge.

  I received a very quick flash from it. I was the victim, I had a sack over my head and I was being bound and there was a woman’s laughter in the background. A series of African American faces flashed by me; they were all dead.

  Claire and I got back in the truck and I told her what I saw. “So what can you do with that?”

  “Not much, all we know for sure is we’re looking for close to a dozen victims and one of the killers is a woman. I can only keep my ear to the ground and make some inquiries. Otherwise, I truly hate to say it, but we may have to wait for the next one and hope for a fresher crime scene or maybe the killers will give themselves away somehow. I’m leaning towards an anti-government, racist hate group. I made inquiries through my higher ranking sources yesterday. They didn’t turn anything up. Just your run of the mill dormant KKK, survivalists and rednecks that hadn’t achieved anything worse than vandalism. We are going to have to hope someone starts blowing their own horn.”

  “Wouldn’t bragging give them away?”

  “Not if you’re bragging to like individuals, then it’s the gallant tale of a brave young hero.”

  “That makes sense. Sometimes it worries me, Mack, that you know so much about things like this.”

  I shrugged. “Know thine enemy, Claire. You know FBI profilers that could murder their whole family and never be caught. Sometimes when you deal regularly with monsters, you have to become part monster, to effectively beat them.” The look on Claire’s face and the anxiety radiating off of her confirmed she knew I had been honest but she wasn’t reassured in the least.

  “Turn right here, Mack. We need to get down to Washington St., Wanda’s in the south 1500 block. Want to get a manicure with me? All sorts of professional men do it, you know, might be fun.” She was trying to lighten the mood. I knew it, but I could sense there was just a part of her wanting to share such an experience with me. No bloody way. “First, unless we are going to a vet (I pulled my glove off and held up my extended claws) I don’t think Wanda is going to have the right tools and secondly PROFESSIONALS like me don’t bother with prettying up our nails. They just get bloody and broken again.” Claire grasped my hand and examined it trying to be encouraging. “Oh come on, Mack. They look like extra-long nails. There are medical conditions out there that cause them to thicken like this.” Thicken yes, but to be as hard as granite and shine like diamonds, not likely, that was all genetics. “Yes, I know, it’s called Nimraviditus.”

  “OK, what are you going to do while I’m at Wanda’s?”

  “I’m going to take a stroll down ‘the avenue’ and see what I can find.”

  “Just don’t come back beaten up and bloody. I need this pretty mug in tip top shape tonight, so I can make all my rivals jealous.” Claire pinched my right cheek and kissed me goodbye. Sliding off the seat, to the sidewalk below, she hesitated before closing the door, giving me a smile and a profile. Crikey I love her bum in those jeans and she knew it. “Pick me up at three. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Claire. See you at three.” She closed the door and I pulled into traffic. I hit up several of my sources around town both human and otherwise. Nobody had heard anything about the police murders and the local gang killings were nothing out of the ordinary. It was strange, anyone with that many cop kills under their belt would be bragging by now and starting a war, especially with Ferguson still being fresh in everyone’s mind. It wasn’t much in the way of information but it helped me rule some groups out. I drove back to Wanda’s and waited for Claire to emerge.

  The Hummer door opened and instead of Claire, whom I was expecting, Archibald Rayner slid into the seat. The knife was in my hand, and at his throat, before I even thought about it. He stared pointedly at the blade and his eyebrows went up. I gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry kid, a reflex reaction to an UNANOUNCED person climbing into my truck. And I can do exactly what, for you?” Archie relaxed as I flipped the knife around to a ready position but no longer in his face. “Sorry for the intrusion, Mack, but we wanted to warn you as soon as we could. No one, but father, knows I’m doing this. I had to ditch Reginald, so we only have a minute.” OK, now I’m alarmed. “Spit it out, Archie. My lady is about to come out of that shop any second now and I’m not about to have her sit in ya lap. That’s a privilege you have to EARN.” He smiled and relaxed a little more as I slid the knife back into its place of concealment between the seats. “My father wanted me to warn you. The meeting did not go as well as he had hoped. There was substantial resistance to allowing you to live and trusting you with our secret.”

  I nodded, “That wasn’t exactly unexpected. How did things end?” Archie grimaced. “Without bloodshed, thankfully. To end the debate my father issued a challenge to anyone who had cause to mistrust his judgment, to do his or her duty and face him in combat for leadership of the clan. There were no takers. You have no idea what it’s like when he gets riled up. So they were careful with their questions. They only know what my father told them. He was able to avoid mentioning Ms. Thompson so the only ones who know about her are my family and our personal guard. No one should say anything. Svetlana SHOULD keep her mouth shut. Anything that affects my father’s position, affects her directly. I was surprised to find out that she didn’t throw in with the dissenters, when the arguments started.”

  “You and me both, kid.”

  “With all due respect, Mack. I am considerably older than you.”

  “Sorry, Archie. You’ve aged remarkably well for a man of your years.” He smiled and dropped to the sidewalk. “Watch your back, Mack. We’re cool, you and I; we should hang out sometime.” Claire got to the truck, just after Archie took off, being careful not to disturb her new do, she climbed into the passenger seat. “Who was that?” She spoke casually as she fastened her seat belt. “Just the son of a friend. He saw me sitti
ng here and we had a quick word.” She tilted her head and looked suspicious. “Oh, whose son?”

  “A guy I met along the AVENUE.” I had decided this was going to be our new code word for the shadier side of my business. “How was your walk along the aforementioned avenue?” She was fishing for details. “I kicked over a few rocks. These killings aren’t random black fellas. My sources say nothing out of the ordinary has happened with their people. The victims are being picked very carefully, for what reason I don’t know. It’s not much but it rules out one segment of the population and that helps a little, otherwise, not much to report, Babe.”

  “You’ll catch them, Mack, I know you will.” She leaned over and kissed me. “You always do. Back to the more immediate business at hand. I need to get home and get ready. Maybe it’ll be a quiet night so we can enjoy ourselves. Let’s go back to your place so I can get my car. I would suggest we go together but you’ll probably want to leave earlier than I will, seeing as you hate to be social.” I pulled out of the parking space and headed home. That was a cheap shot. “It’s not that I hate being social. If it was people I know, that would be fine. Large groups of strangers put me on edge. It’s exhausting blocking out all those unguarded thoughts.”

  Claire nodded and sighed, “I guess that makes sense; just wish you enjoyed them as much as I do. I want you to have a good time, that’s all.” I looked at her and bobbed my eyebrows. “You want me to have a good time?” She gave me a sidelong glance. “Of course, why?” I inhaled deeply drinking in her scent. It always has a sort of euphoric effect on me. “Don’t wear any panties and I’ll be happy as a kid in a candy store.” She reached over and slugged me in the shoulder. “You’re terrible.”

  “Agreed.”

  I ignored Mai and smiled, grasping Claire’s hand. “As long as I’m there with you on my arm, it’ll be enchanting.” Claire smiled and squeezed my hand back, holding hands all the way back to the house. She gave me a kiss and hopped out. “Don’t be late, 6:30 pm sharp.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Chapter 16

  It took me the better part of two hours to clean up and struggle into my tux, with a little help from Shelly. I don’t do bow ties, not with my huge hands. They really should supply instructions with these things. I got to the museum at 6:29. Claire met me on the stairs and looked me over. “What happened, I asked you not to be late.”

  “I’m not late, I’m on time. There is a difference you know. I would have been here earlier but I had some trouble with the tux.”

  “Well clearly you were able to dress yourself.” I squirmed a bit. “Sort of.” Claire’s eyes narrowed “What do you mean sort of?” I raised my hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Dr. Thompson had to do some emergency surgery.” Claire looked me over again, a little more closely this time. “I see. Too bad she wasn’t able to save the cummerbund.” Ouch! I adjusted my Glamour to smooth it out. Claire smiled, “Better, come along handsome.” She slipped her arm into mine. “We have a lot of people to meet and greet.” I nibbled her ear a little bit. “You look spectacular by the way, good enough to eat.” She giggled and raised her marvelously bare shoulder to fend me off. She was wearing an azure blue strapless gown, with glitter all over it. It had one of those tops that falls off the shoulder then folds over. Kind of like a giant turtleneck for your torso. It was accented with a lighter blue wrap that hung at the elbows. “Thank you. You look pretty good too.”

  We walked into the Great Hall, it was pretty posh, even had a coat check. I took Claire’s wrap and checked it. The girl offered to check my “walking stick” I declined, naturally. I turned to survey the room, pretty much the usual who’s who of the St. Louis society and government. Caterers with trays and towels walked amongst the crowd with offerings of food and drink, a small jazz quartet was off to one side playing quietly.

  We did the usual mingling thing for around an hour. I snagged hors d’ouevers from every tray that went by. Not a meal mind you, but it would hold me until this snore fest was over. I noticed Claire perk up when the milling crowd parted. “Oh, there is someone I want you to meet. He’s our biggest donor to the museum.” I turned to put a fist full of chicken skewers down on a table when from behind me I heard, “So good to see you, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Dalton.” Boyfriend? I turned around to look directly in to the eyes of Kolann Rayner. He was smiling from ear to ear and so was Svetlana, in a more feral fashion.

  Kolann held out his hand and I took it. “Good to see you again, Mack.” Claire’s face took on a shocked expression as she mouthed the name “Mack”. “Kolann,” I acknowledged his greeting in typical Alpha to Alpha protocol. You couldn’t have chiseled the smile off his face. “So this is him? The one you have told me so much about? I can’t say I’m surprised. It would take a rather impressive fellow to make such an impression on you, my dear.” Claire gave me a cautious look from the corner of her eye. “Yes, I suppose it does. How do you two know each other?” I gave Kolann a look which said, “You’re up, Slick.”

  “We met recently over a cause of mutual interest.” Nice one Kolann… he didn’t lie to her or tell her the whole truth. I could have throttled him though when he told her I had offered to donate $5000 to one of his charities.

  The lights dimmed and came back up again a couple times, signaling time for the auction. “This ought to be good for a quick nap,” I thought, not expecting what was to happen next. We adjourned to a gallery that was normally used for installations. As we walked in, there were ushers handing out wooden numbered paddles. They would take your name and assign you a number. I tried to wave the guy off but Claire accepted the paddle and rammed it into my middle, supplying the usher with my name at the same time. “Don’t embarrass me, which includes looking like a cheap skate!” I gave her an affronted look. You’ll have to understand, I’m not exactly an art auction type of guy.

  So as I was TRYING to dose off, you know, make time pass more quickly, Claire kept elbowing me. I put my arm around her and leaned in to give her a kiss. She dodged to the side which resulted in me kissing her high up on the cheek. I never knew this before I met her, but apparently there are zones of the female face you’re not allowed to make contact with when makeup has been applied. They are heavily defended.

  “Alex! Pay attention!”

  “What? I have no interest in this pretentious crap, Mai.”

  “The ceremonial presentation box they are putting up. I recognize it. It’s the box the armor was originally in!”

  “Crikey! Does it do anything?”

  “No, but I’m getting a faint reading off of it. I think there might be a piece inside.” I sat bolt upright, fully alert, pulling my arm from around Claire so fast, it almost pitched her forward. There was definitely something in that box. “Alex, you have to win that bid!”

  “Bid! Bullshit! I am the rightful owner by legacy! They’re peddling stolen goods.”

  “Not in this world. You’re going to have to pull out your toolbox and crack the rusty lock on that thing you call a wallet.”

  “Now YOU’RE calling me cheap! What the Hell is this? Slap Mack around, night?” Mai gave me a mental shrug. “Eh, If the fu shits.”

  “Quiet, I’m trying to hear what information they have it.”

  “This last item we have up for bids is quite a unique—piece from the ancient orient.” The auctioneer prattled on. I looked at the program they gave us, with the paddles. It was the last item. There was no information at all. All it said was “unidentified”, believed to be of Japanese origin from the Jōmon period. They got that part right, at least. Claire leaned over to me. “No one is going to want that thing.”

  “Well at least if no one wants it, I can get it cheap.” Claire looked confused.

  The auctioneer perked up as the box was settled into place on the display table. “Shall we start the bidding at $1000?” A murmur went through the crowd mixed with a few chuckles. So far so good. “Surely someone can recognize the unique beauty of such a piece? S
hall we say $500?” No takers. Yes! I could probably get it for $5.

  “Bid $500.”

  “What? No one wants it, Mai!”

  “This is a charity auction, Alex. If you wait for another reduction, and THEN bid, you’ll look cheap and you WILL embarrass Claire.”

  “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

  “Yes, make the damn bid!”

  I raised my paddle so subtly that the auctioneer almost missed it. “Excellent! We have an opening bid of $500. Do I hear $1000? Excellent one thousand.” What? I craned my neck to see who had bid. It’s considered poor form but I didn’t care. It was Svetlana! The auctioneer kept going and the price got to $2500. I painfully raised my paddle again looking over and scowling at her. Kolann was paying attention now. He clearly had no idea why his wife wanted an ugly piece of junk with no pedigree. Claire grasped my arm. “What are you doing, Alex? Is this a joke?” I gave her a “have we met?” look. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Throwing away thousands of dollars on a piece of crap? Does that sound like something I would do?” Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. “No, it doesn’t. What’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain later,” I growled as Svetlana upped the bid to $3000. Glaring at her even harder, I wondered if I could make her head explode, by sheer force of will. “Careful Alex, for you that’s actually possible.” I don’t know if Svetlana felt it but Kolann sensed it and looked in my direction as I forced my paddle up again with every ounce of strength I possessed. We made eye contact and he shrugged at me. I gave him the old bulging eyed head shake “do something!” look. He nodded. “We have $3500 dollars, ladies and gentlemen! Do we have $4000?” As I scowled at Svetlana she returned my gaze with a maniacal smile. She was really enjoying herself. Her paddle went up again. “I swear I’m going to kill that little bitch!” I growled. As I was contemplating a real attempt at making Svetlana’s head explode, Kolann reached up, plucked the paddle out of her hand and snapped it in half, dropping it to the floor. He gave the auctioneer a hard look and subtle shake of his head to eliminate his temptation to accept the bid on technicality.