The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles) (23 page)

“Did you go by anyone else?” Alexi asked.

“A medium-height, muscular guy as I came back in the building.” Alexi and Eli exchanged a grim look. Rhys knew he’d missed something. “Want to fill me in?”

“You saw Shaw,” Alexi said. “Twice.”

“Couldn’t have.” He’d have known if he’d seen Shaw. Five years on the force and he’d never missed ID’ing a perp. “That bonk on the head didn’t affect my sight.”

“He was the blonde woman
and
the man at the door,” Eli said. “And he’s learned tae shift verra fast.”

Rhys stared at Eli then at Alexi, who nodded in confirmation. “How the hell are we supposed to catch someone we can’t even identify?” he asked. “It’s like grasping at the wind.”

“Aye, ‘tis. Especially for the likes o’ ye.”

“What does that crack mean, old man?”

“I mean no offense. It’s just that ye havenae the skills needed tae track a shifter. It takes one tae find one. And this one has become especially quick in his skills.”

“Do you think he has some magic of his own?” Alexi asked.

Eli shook his head. “I dinna think so. ‘Tis the ring. And if one who has no training with it can use it so skillfully, there’s more power in it than I ever imagined. That’s saying a lot, considering I’m the keeper o’ the stones.”

Keeper of the stones? What did that mean?
There appeared to be a lot more to this Turning Stone stuff than either Eli or Alexi had let on. Rhys shoved his curiosity aside.
Don’t want to know. Don’t care. All I’m doing here is finding Baron’s killer and keeping Alexi safe.
“So what do you suggest we do, old man?”

Alexi handed him the plastic bag that contained the paper with Rocco’s name. “Take this to forensics and check the fence. Eli and I will go after Shaw.”

He took the bag and pocketed it. “How are you going to find him?”

“I don’t know. I just know we have a better chance than you do.”

The thought irritated him. They were partners. They were supposed to work together. Eli didn’t know her like he did. And besides, how was the old man going to protect her? He opened his mouth to protest but Alexi cut him off.

“This is Turning Stone business, Rhys, and you’ve clearly said you want no part of it.” She sighed, the sound filled with pain.

Pain he’d caused. He hated that. “Alexi—”

“Please, Rhys. Just do what I ask.”

“Okay. For now.”

Chapter 37

Shaw increased his pace, lengthening the stride of his long, shifted legs, trying to appear as casual as possible as he ran from the intruders.

Who the hell were those men? Cops?
Had they ID’d him for one of the jobs? No way. He’d been way too careful
.

He jammed his hand into his hoodie jacket breast pocket and fingered the envelopes filled with the cash he’d gotten from Rocco. Had the bastard double-crossed him? Trying to get back his money?
His hand clenched over the bills. What the hell had happened to honor among thieves?

Luckily, he’d stashed the last of his jewelry store take in the bus depot. He checked the locker key hanging on the chain around his neck. Rocco’s men wouldn’t find that. But he’d have to find another fence to get money for a hotel. Sure as hell couldn’t go back to his apartment now, and he wasn’t about to crash on the street like some bum for three days while he waited for his appointment. Not when he could stay somewhere comfortable.

He ducked into a fast-food restaurant, bumping into a mustached guy in the entrance. He stared at the man for a second, committing his face to memory, and then hit the john. Snapping the stall door shut, he pictured his new shift’s face. The now-familiar tingling rushed through him as his height dropped to a smaller size. He wriggled in his sweats, loose from stretching, and ran his hand over his upper lip. Stiff hair prickled his hand.

Satisfied the shift was complete, he opened the stall door and looked in the bathroom mirror at his new face, tilting his head to get a profile. He was getting pretty damn good at this. Too bad he had to give it up.

Then he thought about Lulu. Hell, none of this was worth losing her.

He took one last glance in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. Hopefully, this guy was ordinary. He didn’t need any more attention.

Heading toward the bus station, he wolfed down a burger he’d purchased from the counter service. A couple of necklaces should cover the hotel costs. He’d leave the rest for a rainy day.

Just a couple more days, Lulu, and we can be together again.
His groin tensed at the thought of his girl.
Damn, I’ve missed you, babe.

As he approached the bus station lockers, he glanced around. Everyone minded their own business, kissing family good-bye, greeting people coming in. Stepping in front of his locker, he blocked it from view, unlocked it, and removed a plastic sandwich bag with a couple of diamond necklaces inside. Then he slammed the locker shut, locked it, and jiggled the handle to make sure it was secure. He shoved the key back under his shirt and jammed the baggie into his pocket. The weight of the necklaces made his pocket sag. He moved them to the hoodie pocket and zipped it closed. Too damned expensive to risk losing. Then he headed for Rogueman’s Bar.

Johnny laid a cocktail napkin on the bar in front of Shaw. “What’ll it be, mate?”

“Beer.”

“Ain’t seen you in here before,” Johnny said as he drew a mug.

“It’s me, Shaw.”

Johnny gave him a lingering look. “Aye, I can see now, by yer eyes.” He moved closer. “Ya got what I asked for?”

Shaw nodded. “I need a favor, though.”

“Favors cost.”

“Didn’t expect they wouldn’t.” He slid the envelope from Rocco across the bar top. “This is what we agreed on.”

Sweeping the envelope under his bar towel, Johnny nodded. “Come on in the office. We can talk there.”

“It’s all there,” Shaw said as the office door closed behind him.

Johnny slit the top of the Number 10 envelope open and rifled through the hundred dollar bills with the ease of a bank teller. “Where’s hers?”

“Ten grand, just like she wanted.” He handed over a fat envelope.

Johnny took out the money and counted it, laying it on the office desk in piles of ten bills. Satisfied, he scooped the money back into the envelope, and put it in the office safe.

“So what time is she going to meet me?”

“Eleven p.m. on the 31
st
. And don’t tell anyone yer meeting her.”

He snorted. “How the hell would you expect me to do that? I don’t even know who the broad is. What does she look like?”

“She’s got black hair. That’s all ya need to know. If yer late, the deal is off.”

“I won’t be late.” Three days before he could get rid of this cursed leg and beard. There was no damned way he was going to be late. He glared at the tall bartender. “And, Johnny, you’d better not double cross me.”

Johnny grunted. “Double cross ya? That’d be the least of my worries. She’d have my head if I tried to keep this money for myself, and I’m kinda fond of my head.” He shoved the envelope with his payoff into his pocket. “Ya said ya needed a favor.”

“Do you know any fences?”

“What happened to yours?”

“I think he double-crossed me. Crashed my apartment searching for my money. I need to sell a couple things to get some cash to get me through until the 31
st
.”

“Show me what ya got.” Shaw handed him the necklaces. “Whew.” Johnny whistled. “Good stuff.” He dumped the necklaces out of the baggie and flipped them over in his hand. “I think I can find ya someone.”

“Good. I’ll wait for him here.” Shaw retrieved the necklaces.

“It might take a while to contact him.”

“I ain’t got no place better to go.” And he sure as hell couldn’t go anywhere without cash.

Chapter 38

Alexi opened the door to Rogueman’s bar and scanned the room. Crackling red and green auras lit up the space like Christmas bulbs.

“Do ye see anything?” Eli asked.

“The place is crawling with shifters, most of them losing their auras.”

“Rogue mimickers,” Eli said.

“As opposed to what?”

“These are just lackeys—men and women shifters that the likes of the she-devil uses until they’ve no value left and then tosses away. Any sign of our man?”

Alexi scanned the room again. No intense blue eyes on any of the shifters who looked at her. She shook her head.

“Don’t worry, lassie,” Eli said, patting the beefy arm of her shifted form. “We’ll get him in time.” He slid out a bar stool and sat down. “Barkeep. Bring us a couple cold ones,” he yelled.

“Keep yer knickers on, man. Yer not the only customer here.” The bartender filled a mug then took it to a corner table.

Alexi watched him as he set the beer down and spoke to the customer. Hunching his shoulders protectively, he stared out the window. She scanned him closer. Nothing different about his aura than the rest of the crowd, a bunch of blinking Christmas lights. If Shaw were here, she’d have to search the face of every patron to find him, and in a place like this that would probably cause a riot. Two against twenty was bad odds.

The bartender returned and slapped a couple of drink napkins down. “What’ll it be, boys?”

“Two drafts,” Eli said. “And some pretzels.”

She looked askance at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m hungry.” He dipped into the bowl the bartender set down. “No harm in eating while we work, is there?”

“Hey, Johnny, some service here,” another patron called out.

The barkeeper set their beers on the counter. Alexi moved her drink toward her. “Remember us, Johnny?” she asked.

“Am I supposed to?”

“We were here a couple of days ago. I left my number with you.”

“Can’t say as I do.” He moved away from the counter, but she lunged over it, took hold of his arm, and squeezed.

“Think again, Johnny,” she said through gritted teeth. “And make sure you have the right answer this time.”

Johnny moved toward her and grasped her arm with his free hand. “I’d not be doing that if I were ya.”

Eli hopped over the bar, wrapped an arm around Johnny’s neck, and jabbed him in the back. “And I’d be listening tae what he has tae say if I were you.” A group of shifters rose from their chairs and moved toward them. “Tell yer friends tae back off.”

Johnny raised his hand. “Sit back down. Everything’s okay here.” The shifters returned to their seats, keeping a watch on Johnny. “You’re outnumbered here.”

“For the moment, but that won’t matter much tae ye if yer dead,” Eli said.

Johnny released Alexi’s arm, but she kept her hold on him. “Now that ya mentioned it, I think I do remember ya.”

“So why didn’t you call?” Alexi asked.

“I was going to.” Johnny reached for his pocket.

Eli yanked him backwards. “No funny stuff.”

“No funny stuff.” Johnny slowly stuck his hand into his shirt breast pocket and took out a slip of paper. “I got yer number right here.”

She wiggled her fingers at him, and he handed over the paper. She recognized her handwriting. Could she believe him? Or was it just coincidence he carried the number?
Gotta take the chance, Jordan
. She nodded at Eli, and he released Johnny, but kept his hand tight against the barkeeper’s back. Johnny massaged his neck.

“So what have you got for me?” she asked.

“That fella you were searching for came in asking for a fence.”

“What was he trying to fence?” Eli asked.

“Diamond necklaces.”

That fit. Shaw would have that kind of loot from the Pawling heist. “Did you make the arrangements?”

“Yeah. I told him to come back here on the 31st at midnight, and he could make the exchange then.”

Midnight? She had to get the ring back before then and this wasn’t a private enough place to take him down. Too many unfriendlies around. She released her hold on Johnny and motioned for Eli to do the same. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Johnny, you’re going to call our guy back and tell him the meeting has been moved.”

“That’s going to be a bit hard. He didn’t leave me a number. He’s not as trusting as you.”

“Find him, because if it doesn’t go down just like I say, I’m going to come back with my people and we’ll tear you to bits.”

“Courtesy of Falhman,” Eli interjected.

Johnny blanched two shades whiter. “G-got it,” he stammered.

Who the heck was Falhman? She supposed it didn’t matter because Eli’s comment had the desired effect. “Understand?” she asked.

“Whatever you want. I’m not crossing that SOB. What do you want me to tell him?”

Alexi thought for a minute. Where should she set the meeting? Some place secluded. She thought about the alley where Baron had been murdered. Taking Shaw down there would be poetic justice. “There’s an alley about two doors down from the Dew Drop Inn. We’ll meet him there at after dark, nine p.m., on the 30th.”

“That won’t fly. The fence already tried to set it for the 30
th,
and he wouldn’t go for it.”

“Pretty picky of him,” Eli said.

“Yeah, well, he’s the one holding the goods, so there wasn’t much we could do about it. He said the 31
st
or there was no sale.”

“Then make it the 31
st
at nine.”

Johnny shook his head. “Nothing before eleven. Those were his exact words.”

Eleven? That only left one hour before his connection with the ring would require killing him to take it away. She didn’t like those odds at all.

“We’ll make it work,” Eli said.

With a sigh, Alexi agreed. “Eleven, and not a minute later. If he doesn’t show we’ll hold you personally responsible. Got it?”

Johnny nodded.

Eli jabbed him in the back. “Walk us to the door, lad.” Several shifters rose as they came around the bar. “Tell yer goons tae stay put while we’re leaving.”

“Falhman sent them,” Johnny said to the approaching men. They slinked back to their tables as Johnny accompanied Eli and Alexi to the door.

She jammed the paper with her number onto Johnny’s chest. “Call me when it’s set.”

Using his peripheral vision, Shaw watched Johnny escort the two burly men to the front door. Who the hell were they and what did they want with him? Were they Rocco’s men? Cops? He swung around in the chair as Johnny approached.

“What kind of things are ya mixed up in, Danny?” Johnny asked. “Do ya know who those men were?”

Damn. They had to be cops. “I was about to ask you the same thing. Cops?” No way was he going to tell Johnny anything.

“You’d be better off if they were.” Johnny sat down in the chair opposite Shaw. “They’re Falhman’s men.”

“Who’s that?”

Johnny sighed and scrubbed at his face. “Ya had to go and get mixed up with a rube, didn’t ya?”

Rube? He might be a lot of things but there was no way someone was going to call him a rube. Shaw slapped his hands on the table and rose out of his seat. “Are you talking to me?”

“No!” The words exploded from Johnny. “I’m talking to myself.” He waved Shaw down. “I’ve got kids, Danny. Do you know what that means?”

He dropped back into his seat, satisfied that Johnny wasn’t insulting him. “You screwed someone?”

“Dammit, man, quit being a smart ass. Do you have any idea the kind of trouble yer in?”

He did, but something told him carrying around a beard, the limp, and losing Lulu if he didn’t get rid of them, wasn’t what Johnny meant. “Guess not. You gonna tell me?”

“The men who were in here are Falhman’s men.”

“So?”

“You don’t cross Falhman and live to talk about it.”

A chill skated over him. How had he crossed this Falhman? “I don’t get it. I don’t know the guy.”

“Apparently he knows ya and he wants to meet with ya.”

“Why?”

“Beats me.”

Shaw nervously twisted his bloodstone ring. What could this Falhman want with him? Had he accidentally shifted into the man and caused him some trouble?

“What does Falhman look like?”

“No one knows for sure. He keeps his real form hidden away. Some say he resembles the devil himself.” Johnny studied Shaw. His gaze roamed over him, stopping on the ring. “Where’d ya get yer ring, man?”

Was the man he killed in cahoots with this Falhman? Had he offed someone important? Shaw shoved his hand under the table. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is now.” Johnny wiggled his fingers at him. “Give it to me.”

“No way. I’ve got to give it back so I can get rid of that damn limp and beard. This isn’t leaving my hand until I have my meeting.”

“I’d not be so sure of that if I were ya. If they’re both after yer ring, yer going to be caught between the devil and his mate.”

The devil and his mate?
He didn’t like the sound of that. “You promised me a meeting with the woman who could take this stuff away from me. I paid you to make it happen.” He rose from his chair and closed in on Johnny’s personal space, sneering at him. “I’m desperate, man, and I’ll do whatever I have to get that meeting.” He dug his fingers into Johnny’s arm. “I’m no choir boy, if you get my drift.”

Johnny shook his grasp off as if he was no bigger than a fly. He peered down the length of his nose at Shaw. “Ya don’t know the meaning of desperate here, Danny. Not when it comes to Falhman’s demands.” He shoved away from the table. “I’ve got to figure out how to fix these meetings so I don’t get caught in the melee with ya. Falhman’ll kill me for sure if I screw him, and she’s not gonna treat me any better.”

Shaw moved to follow him and caught his pants pocket on the edge of the table. He hooked his fingers in his pocket to free himself and touched the diamond necklaces. “What about my fence? I need some cash.”

“I’ll get yer fence, but ya need more than that. Trapped between the two of them, like I think ya are, ya need a miracle.”

After all the robbing and killing he’d done, he was pretty sure God wasn’t going to shoot any miracles his way. Shaw sank down onto the chair.
I’m screwed.

“Falhman?” Alexi asked when they were well away from Rogueman’s Bar. “Who’s that?”

“He’s a man with as many names as the snipe, but Falhman is the one that strikes the fear in the heart o’ others. In cop language, I guess ye’d call him the kingpin o’ the rogues.”

That would explain the barkeeper’s reaction. Nobody crosses a kingpin. “You know him?”

“Aye. We’ve had a run-in or two.”

Something in Eli’s voice told her there was more to his statement than he let on. “That’s a risky card to play, isn’t it? Won’t he check out our story?”

“Would the peasant demand an audience with the king?”

More riddles, but she got his meaning. “What if Sylvia finds out Falhman has arranged a meeting with her suspect?”

“Not even the she-devil would dare to cross him.”

“But you will?”

“I’m not crossing him so much as I’m using his name. ‘Tis a big difference there, lassie.”

“I’m not so sure he’d agree with you.”

“Then we’ll just have tae hope that his rogues are too scared o’ him tae even mention it.”

“And what if Sylvia and this Falhman are working together to get Baron’s ring? You could have opened a hornet’s nest by invoking his name.”

“I dinna think so, lassie. If Falhman was after the ring he’d have it by now.”

“He’s that powerful?”

“Aye. His ring is one o’ the original rings, made from stone near the heart o’ the gem, and he has a family line as strong as the Jordan’s. He has no need for any other, and he has a legion o’ his own shifters tae do his bidding. I’m thinking he’s not even aware a Jordan ring has gone missing. Nay, ‘tis Sylvia who’s after the ring for some reason o’ her own.”

“What reason?”

“I have an idea, but I dinna ken for certain, and until I do, t’would be best not tae speculate.”

“Well, that’s clear as mud.”

Eli laughed. “Sorry, lassie, but ‘tis the best I can do for the time being.”

Alexi’s pay cell phone rang and she thumbed it on. “This is Johnny,” the voice on the other end said. “I’ve made yer call. He’ll be there like ya wanted.”

“Good. If he doesn’t show, we’re coming after you.”

“He’ll show, if I have to deliver him myself. Anything else?”

“I’ll let you know.” She hung up. “All set,” she said to Eli. “Now we wait.”
And pray we don’t get double-crossed.