Sleight (20 page)

MY THOUGHTS WERE spinning.
‘Take her on her home ground’
? Basically kidnapping. And then do what exactly? Brock was grinning wolfishly, obviously not concerned about any such nuances. Sawyer looked ‘
a little green around the gills’
as my mother used to say. Constance had picked up her wine glass and was casually studying its contents.

“And then?” I asked.

Eyes drifting toward the kitchen ceiling, Kenwoode ran a hand over his goatee. “We have an answer for that. We’ll neutralize her ability and render her harmless.”

“Exactly how are we going to do that?” I asked.

“Kid, too many questions. It’s more about the doing and why it’s necessary than the details of how we take her out,” said Brock.

Kenwoode speared a tiny piece of cheese with a fork. “Yes. Those details don’t concern you Benjamin. But as to how we will pursue her here is what we shall do: Sawyer will determine where she is living, starting with Benjamin’s theory that she has a condominium near the water, and who she might be employing if possible. Brock will track her movements and habits. Once we have a reasonable estimate of our window of opportunity, we will acquire the target and bring her here. Once that is accomplished we can devote our resources and attention to the primary objective.”

That brought my thoughts to a crashing halt. “Primary objective? I thought getting her off our backs was the primary objective.” I said. “What else are you talking about, Justine?”

He shook his head. “No. That’s an ancillary issue. The prime focus, the real reason I asked each of you to come, is to track down the new threat from the Shades. The person who is working to unite the Shade community.”

Constance’s eyes flicked up from her glass, her lips parted. It was clear that she hadn’t been aware of this element.

Clapping his hands together and rubbing them briskly, Brock chuckled. “So let’s get this party started. Nail the witch and then get to the real work.”

I was confused. “Sir, you mentioned that someone had started rallying the Shades, but you also said that whether Shades or Naturals, the gifted population was spread out pretty far and pretty thin. Why start here?”

His pale blue eyes stared at me in surprise. “Why I thought I had made that clear, Benjamin. The Shade that is attempting to become the de facto leader of the Shades lives right here in Washington.”

“Here?” I wheezed, looking over at Sawyer for support. All he gave me was a shrug and a shake of his head.

Standing up and wincing Kenwoode frowned. “Yes, here. Recently too. Within the last year an individual living in the greater Seattle area has been aggressively reaching out to other Shades, both locally and beyond. How that is being accomplished is one puzzle to be solved. The potential concerns it raises are two-fold: first, the obvious drawing of battle lines and second, if I have been able to discern the networking that has been going on, it is reasonable to assume that the normal community may stumble upon it as well.”

His voice rasping, Sawyer spoke up, “And if normal folks become aware of us we’re going to get a twenty first century version of the Salem Witch Trials.”

Rolling his eyes Brock snorted. Constance dropped her hands in her lap and stared at Kenwoode.

He shook his head. “Unlikely. What is more likely is that one or more of the government agencies that are interested in this sort of thing will begin looking for us.”

Oh, so nothing scary like a witch hunt.

OUR MEETING BROKE up when it got close to the dinner hour and I had no desire to break bread with the group, with the possible exception of Sawyer.

“You want to grab a bite to eat?” I asked as we walked out of the kitchen toward the main entry of the suite.

“Yeah, I’m down for that,” He said. “Let me drop my laptop back in my room and I’ll meet you street side.”

By the time he joined me out on the sidewalk I was starting to get numb from the cold.

“What took you so long?” I asked.

Making a face he said, “Sorry, bro. Couldn’t resist jacking in. I was worried she might not go back to the site, like maybe for months, so I snuck back in and...bingo! Witch was in there contracting with a guy.” He smiled smugly.

“And? What did you get?”

He pretended to look at his fingernails, blew on his hand and rubbed his closed fist against his down jacket. “Only everything. Like where she lives, at least the address, and the name of the goober she hired. She changed her name too.”

That wasn’t a complete surprise. “To what?”

“Weller. There’s an Irena Weller listed as the registered owner of a penthouse condo in the ritziest building near the water. Downtown. Near Pike Place Market.” He was excited and tense. It made reading his mental state iffy.

“Good job, man. That was really fast. Kenwoode will be happy you’ve tracked her down. We should tell him when we get back, or maybe head back up and fill him in right now. If she‘s on some sort of schedule timing is important.”

“Umm. I have another idea,” he said, looking over his shoulder and then back at me. A sly look spread over his face. My nerves jangled nervously as I picked up a burst of energy surging through him.

“Yeah? Like what?”

Leaning closer to me as we walked down the street he whispered, “We take a little detour. Scope out her place, do a little recon and report back.” He was obviously waiting for me to agree. Problem was, I didn’t. I was remembering Kenwoode making me promise that I wouldn’t go off script. This little idea would certainly fall into the half-cocked category.

“No, I think we should go upstairs right now.” I stopped and started to turn around.

Grabbing my arm and pulling me along, he gestured wildly with his other hand. “And let Brock play badass and we miss out? Come on. We won’t
do
anything. We’ll just check it out. Besides, if she’s not where I think she is, if the data’s old, I don’t want to hear Brock talk smack about me not knowing my stuff.”

There was
that
. But a little embarrassment seemed like a small price to pay for doing it the right way. “What if we qualify it that way? Say that it might not be a hundred percent verifiable. Then you’re off the hook if—”

Sawyer threw his head back and groaned. “Dude! Come
on
! They’re up there eating and chilling. How long will it take anyway? Two hours tops. We won’t do anything. We’ll just, like, check it out.”

I wondered if it was this kind of disregard for structure or method that made Brock dislike Sawyer. Kenwood had warned him as well, but his pleading was wearing me down. I didn’t like Brock either. I was also still trying to get over the shock of meeting Constance and trying to determine what I should do about researching her question.

“Can you track down genealogy?” I asked.

He was caught off guard by the abrupt change in the conversation. “What? Like family tree type stuff?”

“Mostly, but probably a little more complicated than a straight up search.”

He nodded. “Benny, I got the skills. Practically nothing I can’t find.”

I made a decision. “Okay let’s go check out the address you found. But we do nothing. Right?”

Head bobbing in immediate agreement he clapped his hands together, creating a sizzling sound. “Absolutely!”

“And when we get back you help me track someone else down, and do another computer hack favor for me. Deal?”

“I’d do that anyway.”

As he led me over to a crosswalk a shiver ran down my spine. I was hoping I hadn’t just made a huge mistake.

SAWYER GAVE ME the address and I figured out the bus route. As we rode in one of the older electrical buses heading toward the Pike Place area he smiled every time the contactors hit an electric bridge and sparks crackled overhead. I tried to relax and convince myself that we weren’t screwing up.

I’d ridden lots of buses with other friends: Baffle before he went crazy, Maddy and Breno. Thinking about Maddy I got excited about seeing her again and that made me think about Justine. I hoped she was just hiding from her parents, but the fact that she hadn’t texted me wasn’t a good sign. Waking up my phone with a tap I shot off another text to her hoping for the best.

“Chattin’ up a lady friend?” Sawyer chuckled.

“Sort of. Just trying to reach Justine. I’m worried about her.”

Sawyer took his cell from his pocket. “Give me her number.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I can use one of my own apps to locate her phone. Who’s her carrier?”

I gave it to him, marveling at his nonchalant attitude when he talked about being able to do things that sounded very James Bond-ish.

“Why didn’t you mention that you could do that earlier?” I asked.

He smirked as he typed into his phone. “Can’t divulge all my secrets in front of the upper management. ‘Sides, sometimes I use it to track people who would be pissed if they knew.”

“Brock,” I said.

“Yup.” His fingers flew over his phone’s screen and then he tapped it twice. Looking over his shoulder I saw a map of Washington appear, zoom in to Puget Sound and then zoom further into a street map view of Seattle. A red dot flashed in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

“Is that her?” I pointed at the red dot.

He shook his head. “Nah, that’s my phone. That means I’m not getting any data on the search. She either has her phone turned off or she’s in an area where the signal can’t be picked up.”

“Thanks for trying.”

He looked up and smiled ruefully, almost in a guilty way. “Hey, I gotchu.”

As disappointed as I was that his search had been unsuccessful I was deeply appreciative of his camaraderie. I had so little social contact that it felt good to spend time with someone closer to my own age.

“So what’s with you and Dr. Santome?”

My nerves jittered and I’m sure my face flushed. “Why? What?” I stalled, wracking my brain for an answer that would shut down that line of conversation.

He gave me an ‘are-you-kidding-me’ look.

I wasn’t going to be able to put him off the topic that easily. “She reminded me of somebody, that’s all.” He continued to stare at me. “Uncanny. Really blew me away that she wasn’t who I thought she was.”

Quirking his lip in a half smile he said, “Seemed like whoever you thought she was, you must have had some history that meant a lot to you.”

Easy to read, that’s me I guess. “Yeah, well, wasn’t her.” I hoped he’d drop it. To help that along I decided to ask a question of my own. “What’s the deal with Kenwoode? Why does he limp? You said his knack made him a boss, but he moves so...so...”

“Like a grampa?”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

“It’s tied to his talent, but I can’t tell you what. He like kind of resents his talent. You’ll have to get that from him or see it for yourself. It takes a toll on him. But it is truly badass.”

I pressed, “Not even a hint?”

“Sure. You give me a hint about you and Constance, and I’ll give you a hint,” he chuckled.

Got me. “Um, no, that’s cool. Nothing to tell really. I guess I’ll have to wait to see him being his bad self on my own.”

“Fair enough. But I’ll say this: he doesn’t do his thing very often. Stuff’s got to be seriously screwy for him to bring it on. And then, watch out.” He leaned back, and scrolled through his phone, quickly getting lost in it. He’d certainly piqued my curiosity, and he was definitely curious about my reaction to Constance.

When the bus clattered to a stop on First we got off and started walking north. The condominium complex Sawyer had identified was in an area that was part of an urban reclamation project. Several full color expensive construction signs heralded the ‘new’ downtown lifestyle with more boutique shopping and luxury condos. We found a restaurant with a covered sidewalk patio that was directly across the street from a building labelled Empire Estates.

“She’s got a penthouse condo in that building. I figure we get some dinner and watch the traffic flow. Maybe get lucky and see her, or the guy she hired,” Sawyer said as we walked into the restaurant, where we were greeted by a coolly-polite host.

After the host had seated us at a table next to a gas heater I nudged Sawyer. “How do you know what the creep she hired looks like?”

Smirking, he showed me the screen of his phone. A handsome clean-shaven face with a cleft chin stared back at me. “That’s him? He looks like a model. The last two guys she had working for her
looked
like thugs,” I whispered, pulling out a chair.

Sawyer shrugged. “Maybe she upgraded. This guy had some seriously nasty cred. Not nice. She was looking for a heavy hitter.”

“What’s his name?”

“Don’t know. The site only used handles, screen names, for obvious reasons. He goes by Silver.”

It struck me as odd. Her previous behavior had been to find Naturals with low level knacks that helped them to seek out other Naturals as prospective prey. What Sawyer had described, and the guy’s looks, smacked of a professional hitman.

“So the plan is to just sit here and hope to see something? Not much of a plan,” I complained.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s eat. If we see something...great. If not...well maybe we try to tip the scales in our favor.” He winked conspiratorially.

“No,” I said. “We agreed that we wouldn’t do anything. If we don’t happen to see her, we just head back and leave it at that.”

“Sure, sure,” he responded, picking up a menu and hiding behind it.

The prices were high, so I ordered a sandwich and water. The food was good, and we spent our time eating slowly, watching people leave and enter the condo building. Sawyer picked up the check, refusing to accept any cash.

“Thanks for dinner. At least it wasn’t a complete waste of time,” I said, pulling on my jacket.

Downing the last of his drink Sawyer shook his head. “Yeah. Look, there’s something I need to tell you...” and then his eyes went wide.

Turning to see what he was looking at I saw a couple approaching the building entrance. A man was supporting a girl who seemed drunk or sick. My stomach lurched. I knew why Sawyer had gawked. The man was the model-perfect thug-for-hire whose picture he’d shown me. But that wasn’t what had caused my stomach to flip over.

The companion he was steering into the building had short platinum-white hair.