Tales Of The Sazi 02 - Moon's Web (28 page)

Babs was also wearing a hat with a veil, and her eyes were swollen and red. But it seemed to be from laughing, rather than crying.

Linda spoke again. "Okay, so you've probably already read the article we're including with the tape." Sue pressed the pause button and held out a small piece of newspaper.

"I'll give you a second while you read this." Equal measures of anger and hurt played in her voice. I glanced down at the article. Even in the dim light from the television, I could read just fine. I raised my brows at the headline:

LOTTO WINNER BODY FOUND! AP WIRE—

Authorities today offered conclusive proof that a badly burned body found buried about ten miles from the old airport is indeed the remains of millionaire Suzi Quentin. DNA tests performed on samples of skin and hair obtained from Ms. Quentin's family matched that of the charred corpse discovered by construction workers late Tuesday. The Quentin family, through their attorney, has declined to talk with the press. However, a prepared press release was distributed by Marcus Thompson, attorney for the Quentin family: "The Quentin family has requested privacy to deal with the loss of their beloved Suzi. They will have a simple, closed funeral as soon as the remains are released, and then begin to deal with disposition of Ms. Quentin's estate."

"What the hell?" I said with amazement.

Sue punched the Play button once again. "It gets better."

Linda came back on the screen. What she had to say surprised even me. "We had Carmine do some checking. Apparently, your wonderful relatives either had some poor girl iced, or found a convenient Jane Doe, and fried her up. But, not until they spent a couple of days brushing her hair and dressing her up like a doll in your clothes so they would have matching DNA samples! Somehow, the blood samples from when you were shot disappeared from evidence, so they had to go to the family. It took Carmine days of asking around to find all this out. They hired some scumbag from out of town, I guess, but by the time we knew, Barbara and I had gotten a call from the attorney. We just got back from the will reading." Babs burst into laughter once more, so hard and fast that after a moment, she couldn't breathe. She waved her hand in front of her face, and held up a finger. Then she disappeared off-screen. I knew I had an astounded look on my face. I could see the reflection in the television screen. I heard Babs from off-camera before she walked back into the picture, carrying some tissues and a glass of water. "I wish I could have taken pictures! I thought your sister was going to have a heart attack when the lawyer read the will." Babs took a sip of water and dabbed at her leaking eyes with the tissue. "Oh, by the way, thanks for the ten grand. It was sweet."

Linda spoke up. "And I don't need the money, of course, so I donated my hundred grand to that animal shelter group you like, in your name. Wrote them a check on the spot. They were ecstatic! So was the representative from the Wildlife Service— one hundred forty million added to their budget and all they have to do is build a lake where your house is and install goose nests."

Babs took over. "Carmine found out that the family offered a cool million to anyone for enough evidence to get their inheritance. No big deal to them, it was nothing compared to the whole. They didn't even bitch at your gifts to us. Get this— your mom patted Linda's hand to offer her congratulations!" She guffawed again. "Of course, that all changed after you cut them out. Then they started screaming bloody murder. Your attorney was smart, though. He knew there would be objections and has already filed all of the notes and video tapes from your office visits with him with the Court. They've scheduled a validity hearing on the twentieth— just in time for Christmas."

Sue was near tears. Her voice was a pained whisper over the laughter on the tape.

"They'll get their million. I left life insurance of that much." She snuffled and stared at me. I felt completely helpless. I couldn't fix what they'd done. What little self-esteem she'd managed to gain over the past few months was gone— destroyed by the knowledge that money had meant more to those fucking vultures than their own flesh and blood. I hoped they couldn't pay their assassin on time and wound up in the same condition as the corpse. Hell, I'd have liked to kill them myself. Damn it!

And now she thought I was acting just like them. That would change— right now, no matter what the cost to me.

I pulled Sue into my arms and she burst into full-fledged tears. Sobs wracked her body. I patted her back and closed my eyes. I was grateful that I couldn't feel the pain she did. "Let it go, Sue. You're dead to them now. Let them be dead to you. You have a new family— this pack— and you're wanted and loved." She pulled back and shook her head. "I don't know about that. I don't think that the pack is going to want me much after I tell Nikoli what I found out at the restaurant. I'm not even sure I should tell him." I gave her my full attention. "What did you find? Were there accounting errors? I'm not even positive what he hired you to do."

She lowered her voice and moved very close to me. "He told me he was losing money in one particular restaurant, but spies he'd put in couldn't see anyone stealing. But they are! They're robbing him blind, Tony. It took me hours to figure out what happened, but I finally did."

I rolled my hand for her to continue. She'd caught my interest. I couldn't imagine that Nikoli wouldn't know exactly what was happening in any of his businesses.

"See, each of the register drawers opens when a sale is made. Of course, in a fast food restaurant, people change their orders all the time. Sometimes, even after a sale is complete, the customer will change their mind or not have enough money. I worked at one for over a year, so I know it happens. But these kids have a very profitable scheme going. Fortunately, they didn't realize there was a way to figure it out."

"Oh, no! You don't get to skip straight to the end. First, what's the scam?" She nodded and then leaned over to whisper in my ear. "After a customer orders, the employee hits the total button, enters the amount tendered and opens the drawer. Then they pass back the change, just like they're supposed to. But before they close the drawer, which completes the order, they're voiding each item from the screen and pocketing the money. Then they close the drawer to a voided sale. No transaction will appear on their register tape and the money loss will never show— or so they thought!" I smiled and kissed her hair. I was a little taken aback when she flinched again, but continued smoothly.

"That's my girl! How'd you figure it out?"

She smiled up at me, but it was shaky. "They apparently don't know there's a master register tape under the counter that records all of the transactions on all of the registers. I knew it, because I worked with the same system before. In a chain restaurant, that tape would go to the district office to be kept for a period of years. But since Nikoli owns the place, he just had his manager keep it in the safe, which I had access to. I was looking for discrepancies and found all of these voided sales. It didn't happen every shift, or even every day. So I checked the voids with the employee calendar and the voids all seemed to come from about four employees, about once a week for over two years. I have their names and amounts of voids. Some of them are in the tens of thousands, Tony! No wonder Nikoli is hurting there. A few of the voided transactions might be valid… " She raised her brows and looked cynical. "But I wonder if some of these teenagers are living a little beyond their means. I'm sure Nikoli could find out. But, I'm afraid he might kill them, or tell them where he got the information and they'll hunt me down."

Nobody hunts my mate. I stood up in a burst, and stared at her with cold death in my gaze. She flinched and shivered. She hadn't seen my mercenary look for awhile. "No one will hunt you down, Sue— ever. They'd never got within ten feet of you before I made sure they got a ticket to their own private highway to hell." She shook her head and moved back further on the couch. She squared her shoulders and drew a deep breath. "No, Tony. That's not the way it can happen. You heard what Lelya said. I have to fight my own battles. I have to face the danger from people who hate me. And… I need to fight them, even if I am scared." She chuckled, but it was tinged with tears. "I finally got to where I don't want to die, so now this is tossed at me. Figures." She shivered, and her scent became thick and penetrating Chinese soup. Sue was right. I hated it, but she was right. It was time to fight off the wolf instincts and follow those that I'd developed over the rest of my life. She was a big girl. I had to let her protect her. I stood up and walked over to the banker's box that Lucas had delivered along with our unconscious bodies. He'd removed the Taurus to put with my clothes, but all the rest was here, too. There was no reason I couldn't help her in the training process. She had never developed any fighting skills.

"But she also said that you should be cautious, and carry teeth and claws, Sue— because you don't have any."

I reached into the box and extracted a switchblade made of silver. I'd had it made shortly after I became a wolf— when I'd learned that the part about silver wasn't a myth.

I'd originally intended to use the knife to kill Babs— but then she'd taken up with Carmine and Linda. Had to wonder if she'd done that deliberately. She was smart enough. Which reminded me again that I needed to find her. Carmine loved her. Hell, from the look of that tape Linda loved her.

I tossed the knife to Sue and she caught it. She pressed the button and jumped a foot when the slender blade extended to the full four inches. It was plenty long to reach a brain or heart if the need arose.

"Keep this with you from now on. It's silver. Have Asri teach you to use it. I'd teach you myself, but Betty told me once that I can't hurt you. It's psychologically impossible for a wolf to intentionally hurt his mate— and you have to learn to use a knife by getting some bumps and cuts." I stared at her hard and long and felt the calm emptiness fill me. She shivered involuntarily. "Don't play around with this, Sue. If you have to fight, aim to kill. Because remember, if you die— I die, too. You'll be fighting for us both. So fight to win."

« ^ »

A thick British accent made me stop cold for a second. "I'm sorry to make you go to this trouble, old boy." He actually did smell sorry. I flipped my head forward to lower the welding hood in front of my eyes. "It's not a problem, Ivan. It's only two rooms." I fought to keep my eyes open as I welded the last steel bar to a frame that would be installed over the massive Siberian bear's window. I'd forgotten just how bright the arc is with wolf eyes, even wearing a hood. My eyes were watering, but at least the final weld was complete. I stood up, leaving the grate to cool. It wasn't pretty, but it was functional. We'd used rebar scraps from the basement, but I didn't have a grinder. We could replace it later when we did the rest of the windows, which would get done come spring.

I stripped off the hood and thick leather gloves. Then I unplugged the little squirt welder from the outlet before wiping the sweat from my eyes with the back of my sleeve. "It never occurred to me that bears sleep with the windows open. I would have thought you guys hibernated."

The big, bald man towering over me chuckled and the scent of oranges burst from him and blended nicely with his normal scent of cranberry cocktail. He and two other Wolven agents had arrived overnight and we had all been working furiously to finish the security system.

I was more than happy to be occupied. Sue had slept in a different room last night, until she could "get a handle" on her reaction to the pining. There was still no word on Amber, and everyone was getting a bit worried, with the exception of Lucas. He said that even without her around, it can be handled successfully on both sides, but we have to limit contact. Unfortunately, that meant that Sue was afraid to touch me at all, and I didn't dare open my mouth around her. The last few things I'd said had been sarcastic and biting. It was the pining talking, but I knew it still hurt.

I brought myself back to the balcony when Ivan spoke. "Even real bears don't sleep all winter, old chap. I usually get my twelve hours. That's all I need. I believe Charles sleeps even less than that. He's a polar bear, and they spend most of their time in the dark."

A second man, also huge, walked toward us. His waist length black hair fell loose around his shoulders.

"How are you guys doing over here?"

"Almost finished, Raven," I said. I stood up and immediately felt somewhat… inadequate. Raven is a solid 6'6", and Ivan even bigger. Jocko is the only man I know big as these guys. But Lucas had been right. They were perfect for guarding the place. They were huge, menacing, and had brains to match the brawn. Raven nodded. "The control center is all done— nice design, by the way. I'll have to steal it for my other systems. I've showed Yurgi how to watch the screens and gave him a radio. That will allow the rest of us to wander around during the meeting. We'll keep in constant contact with each other. Emma is already perched on the roof— doing what she does."

Ivan shrugged. "She's an owl. She flies. She eats. That's about it." Raven smiled. "You forgot, she kills. That's why she's here." He shook his head. "She's been a hard one to tame— no self control."

Ivan slapped his shoulder. "You've done quite well, Raven. We would have been forced to put her down if you hadn't offered to train her for Wolven."

"This is her first real assignment. I know she's skilled. I just don't know if she's ready. I wished we had some way to test her— test this whole damn system before the delegates get here. Ahmad's entourage is due to arrive soon."

I couldn't stop the smile and it made the two agents stare at me suspiciously. "I've already arranged for a little test. But you'll have to bear with me a bit."

I explained about Scotty's visit to the hotel and that I had instructed him to try to get in again. But this time, there would be cameras and people watching for him.

"We'll all stay in the control room, and see how the rest of the staff does. We can't be everywhere all the time, and the others should be our extra eyes and noses. We'll cut Yurgi loose to mingle with the pack. Scotty is smart and good— understand that. He looks like a kid, but he's got a dozen assassinations under his belt. He only has one assignment: sneak in to the hotel, find Nikoli and Lelya and shoot them both twice in the chest with paint balls. He knows I've installed a system, but not the details. I gave him photos of the marks and told him when to be here. Nikoli and Lelya know the hit will happen, so that they could wear old clothes. But they don't know when or where."

Raven looked dubious. His scent bordered on angry, but he was curious as well. "I don't know, Tony. Can you trust this kid? Can he be bought?"

I shrugged. "Can I trust him? No. Can he be bought? Sure— that's what he does." I chuckled darkly. "Don't think he's doing it for free! Although, the challenge of the job did appeal to him. No, he's getting well paid—

three grand in gold coins. Plus, the death threat if he didn't do it also helped. He'll stay loyal for a bit." I heard Lucas's voice behind me. "What's the scoop, guys? You look way too serious all of a sudden. Where's Emma?" His scent took on a sharp edge that I didn't recognize.

Ivan looked amused. "It's not Emma, Lucas. Your new acquisition has arranged for a unique system test. I think the idea is smashing!"

A few minutes later, Raven, Ivan and I were all squeezed tightly into the tiny control room. Lucas agreed to stay out among the pack in case any of them found Scotty. They wouldn't know it was only a drill, and Lucas would keep them from killing the kid.

I'd considered telling Asri about the test, but didn't. Hell, she'd been so preoccupied since her meeting with Lelya that I'd had to make the arrangements for the staggered arrivals myself. Sue had tried to talk to her twice about knife training, but all Asri did was walk the halls, muttering to herself. It was annoying as hell, but I sort of understood.

I caught her staring at herself in the mirror at the top of the stairs once this morning. She was standing sideways and kept pressing her stomach. When I combined it with the conversation I'd accidentally overheard between Lelya and Lucas, it made sense.

"No, Lelya! Absolutely not! I need every agent I've got for the meeting. We're short-handed enough as it is." Lelya had sighed. "Yes, I understand that, Inte… I mean, Lucas. But you must understand that Nikoli doesn't know. I'm uncertain what his reaction will be if he finds out and Robart is within striking distance. At the very least, the meeting will be disrupted. I just thought that if Robart were to drive the limo for the delegates, he could be both useful and… distant."

Lucas sighed. "Do you think it's that bad?"

"He's already lost Mila, Lucas— and now this. I don't believe Niki will dance in the streets. But he might be willing to dance on Robart's grave."

So, Bobby was relegated to chauffeur while the rest of us prepared to be boarded. I tried not to think about Sue. She had decided to talk to Lelya about her findings at the restaurant, on the premise that Nikoli was busy with the meeting. I hoped it was going okay. I wished I could tell— but that damned black wall was still in my head and Amber hadn't shown her face since we'd arrived.

We watched people moving from place to place in the hotel. The decorations sparkled, and floors and brass fittings gleamed with fresh polish. The pack members all had uniforms now and looked like a proper hotel staff. Boris looked proud as Celia ordered her staff around. She was inspecting each room and sending people scampering when she found dust or trash.

The cameras covering the conference— now banquet— room were working perfectly. We'd stolen the signal from Nikoli's computers and added it into our system.

"Hey! Look at that!" Raven was pointing to a camera from the basement. We'd only had time to add a couple. A smiling Scotty was giving a thumbs-up to the camera. Then he melted into the darkness.

"How in bloody hell did he get in?" Ivan was livid. He was responsible for securing the basement accesses. He started for the door and I grabbed his shirt sleeve. I made sure not to touch skin.

"Don't, Ivan. We'll ask him when we see him. We'll still have time to close up the hole. Let's see how far he gets."

Ivan nodded grudgingly. He muttered under his breath as we continued to watch. "I've been head of security for the Chief Justice for a hundred years! Nobody gets through my perimeter." Raven raised his brows and a shock of amusement swept the room. His laughter was similar to Sue's, a tangerine-y sort of scent. "Well, unless he's a bird and flew down there, someone did." He stopped at stared at me in shock for a second. "Is he a bird?"

I shook my head. "He's human, and he doesn't even know Sazi exist. I told you— he's good. Not as good as I am, mind you, but good. I would have been in before now. I would have cased the place as soon as I got the job."

Raven looked at me askance. "What— do you break into buildings to shoot people often?" I turned to him in surprise. "You mean Lucas didn't tell you?" When he shook his head, I laughed. "I'm an assassin, Ramirez. I'm one of the bad guys. It's why I design such kick-ass security systems. I've seen 'em all, I've beat 'em all. Nothing is fool-proof. We're just trying to make it tough enough that the other bad guys go next door instead."

Ivan and Raven gave each other significant looks over my head. I ignored them, keeping my eyes flowing across the screens. "Heads up! He's on the Main Level, Camera Two. Where are our marks?" Their attention returned to the task at hand. Ivan replied. "The targets are stationary. Level Two, Camera Four. They're together, talking."

Okay, outside of the ballroom. One floor to go, kid.

"Wait! What was that?" Raven pointed to the roof camera. A flash of white had hit the lens, causing the whole thing to jiggle and veer off angle.

"A pigeon?" I offered. "Looked like a bird hitting the lens." Ivan started to zip up his coat. "It looked like an owl. Emma doesn't hit cameras unless she's thrown into them. I'm going up."

Another flash on the camera was thin and brown and moving fast. An ear-splitting screech found our ears, which was a concern, since the cameras don't pick up sound.

"We're all going up!" Raven commanded. "She needs help." We left the door to the control room hanging open as we bolted up the stairs at Sazi speed. I think that both Ivan and Raven were surprised that I not only kept up with them, but I had my gun in my hand before they did. The sounds of a furious battle raged. Powerful flapping and shuddering thumps urged us on. We'd just reached the roof access door when a blood-curdling, ear-splitting screech cut the air. Then there was silence. Raven tried the door, but it was locked. He raised a foot and kicked it open. Snow was falling lightly onto the rooftop. The wind sent flakes swirling around a fallen figure in white. Raven and Ivan walked carefully toward the white bird, as big as a full grown eagle. One wing was at a wrong angle and a patch of red stained the fluffy feathers.

"Ah, Emma," Raven said sadly. "What did this to you?" I had stayed near the door to watch our backs, but now moved forward. The bright yellow beak was open slightly under wide eyes that stared into nothing. I could see now that the head was completely separated from the body, and a neat hole was carved in her chest. I felt nothing in particular at the woman's death, but it was obvious that both Ivan and Raven were grieving. I started to look around the roof before the increasing snow buried the clues. "It's getting worse out here. Take her inside, Ramirez. Ivan and I will see if we can find the killer."

I took a deep breath. The scent of blood was on the wind, but there was something else, too. "I'll be damned!" I exclaimed. "It's that same nasty scent. The third time now."

Ivan raised his big head and took a deep breath. "It's ruddy powerful. But I don't recognize the smell. What about you, Raven? Raven?"

The dark-haired man was smoothing feathers on the still-warm body and putting a wing gently back into place. I couldn't smell anything over that awful odor, but his eyes were wet, and I didn't think it was from the snow. "Huh? I'm sorry, guys. I need… to take her inside. We'll call off the test. I'll get Lucas." He carried the bird carefully, putting the head on top of the chest. When he'd disappeared into the hotel, Ivan shook his head. "I told him not to get attached to that one. But he's just like his father— always putting his heart before his head."

"We might as well go back inside, too. There's not much to see out here. It looks like the whole battle was in the air. The only prints are ours. Could it have been another bird?"

Ivan sighed angrily and shrugged. "It could be a personal vendetta. Emma had a lot of enemies."

"Maybe. Or the killer could be targeting other Sazi. Nikoli is a delegate, and Lucas was one." I took a deep sniff and, predictably, sneezed. "The scent is identical and… " I reached up and pulled a small piece of fabric off an overhead line that just caught my eye. "This looks like raw silk. It's the same stuff as when Babs disappeared."

Ivan's face was shocked. "Babs Herrera? I didn't know she was missing! When did that happen?"

"Only a couple of days ago. It's how Lucas managed to drag me into this mess. Babs is the one who turned me."

His face set into a knowing look. "Oh! You're that one! I've been looking for you! Charles says you've got an interesting future ahead of you."

I snorted and dropped the silk into my pocket until Bobby could inspect it. "Like he would know." Ivan grabbed the back of my coat before I reached the door, being very careful not to touch me. He stepped forward and nodded his head. "He would know, Giambrocco. Our Chief Justice is also our most powerful seer. He told me that you're going to be one, too. I was instructed to make sure that you stay alive until the meeting. But he didn't tell me your name. I've just been looking for a dark-haired wolf." He snorted. "There are a lot of them here."

I furrowed my brow, but I had an uneasy feeling. "You're supposed to guard me? Why?" Ivan snorted and returned his big Baretta semi-auto to the holster. "Don't you understand? It's why they've all come to Chicago— why we're going to all this trouble. The council wants to meet you."