Deadly Ghosts, page 13
Imogen, whose face had been pulled tight since he first opened his mouth, couldn’t even bring herself to answer, and I wondered if she was rethinking her assertion. The man was living up to his reputation on the one hand, but I had yet to see the teddy bear aspect she had touted.
“It sounds like you already knew of the attack against the Governor,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “Is that because you had something to do with it?”
“What’s that, a joke?” he demanded, reaching over to the counter of a nearby bar and picking up the remote control set on top. He turned on the television in the corner of the room, and we all looked at the little screen set into the range just beside the microwave, watching an ad for the Parm Zoo and Aquarium.
Tony grimaced. “I figured the news would be on when I turned it on,” he groused. “But the point is, everyone knows Vinny got shot at the games. What do you think everybody was watching when it happened? All they had to do was turn the cameras to face the box.”
“Did anybody catch the attacker?” I asked.
Tony laughed. “I thought you were the bounty hunter. What are you asking me for? Or did you come all this way to see if I would do your job once you realized that I’m not the person you’re looking for?”
“You’re saying you had nothing to do with the attack on Vincent?” I asked.
“I answered this question already,” Tony said, sounding irritable. “I don’t like Vinny, but he is my brother-in-law. I don’t want to see ’im dead. I just want to rub his face in my ’goots when I beat him in the next election.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “And you just expect me to take your word for it?”
He adjusted his tie, the bottom tip just sticking out from underneath the other. “I don’t care what you believe. I’m not the one who hired you to find the hitman. Though, he’s obviously as bad at his job as you are at yours.”
“Where were you during the games?” I asked.
“What, now you think I was the hitman?” he asked and laughed again. “I was here, watching the fight like everybody else. And, no, before you ask, I wasn’t alone. Hon, can you come in here?”
From the other room, a beautiful woman in an elegant silver dress sashayed in. She had just enough of Vince’s facial features to look like his sister, but she also looked to be at least a decade younger than both her brother and husband.
“Hello, Imogen, it’s been a long time,” the woman said, and so measured was the tone that it almost sounded like a stage performance. Like someone’s impression of a wealthy debutante.
“Hi, Edie, how have you been?” Imogen asked, giving a little wave to the woman putting pearl earrings in as she came to stand beside her husband.
They obviously knew each other, but there didn’t seem to be any love lost between the two women.
“I’ve been fine until I had to subject myself to spurious accusations being levied upon my man,” she said. “Who, as he asserted, was with me all day as we were getting ready for a gala to support the Parm Children’s Hospital.”
“Got that right,” Tony said and reached out to slap the woman on the behind. “I got her ready so good that she had to take that shower before the gala.”
“Gross,” Ned said.
“And if you don’t believe us, you can check with the floor’s doorman,” he said “And, unless you have any other questions, we do need to be going to this gala as we like to actually support local causes rather than only taking credit for doing so.”
I would have made a point of checking with the doorman, but, despite my general disdain of the person, I wasn’t convinced that he had hired a hitman, and my attention was drawn to the little screen in the kitchenette. I walked over to look at the coverage of the back of the man in black in a crowd holding a rifle.
The camera had him in frame when the first shot was fired, but there was a bright flash and then, of course, a few people obstructed the view and the man was gone. A plume of smoke from the self-destructing weapon was all that remained.
“Hey, Detective Plop, you plan on vacating my premises any time now, or are you just setting up shop to watch my tube?” Tony asked before turning to Imogen. “And you, it was a pleasure looking at you, but I hope I don’t have to see you again.”
“Let’s go,” Imogen said, her words tight and impatient.
I walked close behind, as happy to get out of there as she was. “Thank you for your time,” I called.
And Tony wasted no time in answering, “Thank you for leaving.”
“You think he did it?” I asked as soon as we were outside the door, entering the circular foyer with a round desk at its center where the doorman sat.
“I still don’t,” Imogen said. “But I like him a lot less than I remembered.”
“What, you weren’t in the mood for some casual objectification while working an assassination investigation?” Ned joked, but of course, she couldn’t hear.
“He was pretty much what you said he was going to be,” I said. “But my gut tells me that he didn’t do it. It’s also bad politics to kill the person you’re running against, and a pretty obvious move. That man is clearly a prick but if he’s gotten this far in Threen politics, he’s not an idiot.”
I walked over to the doorman’s desk and checked with him about the comings and goings from the apartment. I had to flash my badge, but the doorman obliged and said that they hadn’t left the place all day.
“Where to now?” Imogen asked. “We really should’ve gotten a list of all of Vince’s enemies rather than letting him just give us the one.”
“I had another thought,” I said, thinking back. “Lara and I ran into a bounty hunter when we were at the enclave, and he said that he was chasing someone who was essentially a ghost. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but ‘ghost’ would accurately describe the assassin we are looking for, so maybe this other hunter has some information for us.”
“Back to the enclave?” she asked, and I gave a quick nod. Quickly, we returned to the shuttle Vince had loaned us.
It was still parked on the luxurious landing pad that looked more like a rooftop statue garden than a parking lot. The Guard was waiting beside the kiwi class shuttle, waiting to take us where we needed to go.
“Bounty hunter enclave,” I barked, and the guard hurried up the ramp with us just behind. The ship was small but heavily armored and offered the passengers a few amenities like plush leather seats and a minibar.
The pilot entered a small single-seat cockpit and could close themselves off with a privacy wall. Because I wasn’t anybody important, though, this Guard simply sat and took off as soon as we were strapped in.
Being given the luxury of a ship and a pilot was something I wasn’t used to but was incredibly grateful for. Tracking down leads in a congested city I didn’t know would be much more difficult than being flown between places by somebody who knew the lay of the land, and, theoretically, who could come in handy in a fight.
I wasn’t sure how I intended to fight against somebody who increasingly seemed like an actual ghost, but having one more person possibly available to join the fray would be beneficial.
The little shuttle took off, and the glasses beside the champagne bottle only rattled a little. It was as smooth a ride as I had ever experienced. The Buzzard rattled and clattered with every move, but this luxurious kiwi moved through the air like a hot knife through butter.
“I’ve been sneaking around in some local computer systems,” Ned said in a whisper. “And it does seem that our friend Vince has quite a few enemies. He has supported some local labor unions and made enemies of a few local companies while also supporting big businesses and alienating several small vocal groups.
“He also, and strap yourself in for the surprise of a lifetime, has some connection to organized crime and has been accused of threatening people who disagree with him politically. Of course, none of these accusations have been proven, but that certainly doesn’t mean they’re untrue. The more I look into the man, the more I believe that there are any number of enemies who might’ve wanted to see his political career, and life, cut short.”
I thought about that for a moment and looked right at Imogen for the benefit of the pilot. Just in case he was paying attention. “And what, if anything, have you learned about the assassin.”
“What?” Imogen asked, furrowing her brows for a moment before realizing that I was talking to Ned. She shot a glance over to the pilot as well and began mumbling something in hushed tones.
Meanwhile, Ned answered my question. “I haven’t been able to find anything, but I also have only been intruding on local systems. In order to gain access to the greater feltwork, I would put myself at a higher risk of being discovered.”
“I see,” I said. “Well, I will keep looking into column A if you continue to investigate column B.”
“Sure thing,” Imogen said as though it made any sense and for the first time, I saw the Guard look back at us. Not that he seemed particularly interested, but I also knew better than to assume anyone who worked for the Consortium was trustworthy.
As we neared the surface, our shuttle joined the fray by laying into the horn, clearing out a space on the street beside the front door where we could land.
Apparently, the Governor had access to park his vehicle wherever he wanted in the city but not on the landing pad of a Conclave enclave.
From the windows, I could see people beginning to gather around the shuttle, reaching out their hands and looking expectantly.
The pilot stood and made his way past us toward the rear of the ship before activating the ramp. “I’ll try to clear the way, but the people here tend to get a little aggressive.”
“We’ve noticed,” I said, unbuckling and standing behind him. “Hopefully the Conclave guards will be able to help as well.”
Though, when I glanced out the window, I didn’t see the two people in their ornate armor standing beside the door they had been before. And when the ramp lowered, we all had to push as the mob of impoverished locals reached toward us, believing anybody coming from the Governor’s shuttle to be affluent.
It was hard to move, and the air was thick. On all sides, people pressed in around us and hands were everywhere.
“Back off!” the Guard shouted, but it made no difference. When he pulled out a baton to threaten them with, Imogen reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t,” she said. I knew that she hated being surrounded by them, but after everything she had been through with John Gregory, she obviously didn’t want to witness unnecessary cruelty either.
Rather than swinging it, the man used the baton to reinforce his arm and push forward to the door of the enclave. When we reached it, there were still no guards to be seen, so I simply opened the gate and let myself in, then closed it behind me and left the gubernatorial guard standing just on the other side, people swarming around him like locusts.
It was hard to go from someplace so full to someplace so empty, but there was nobody on the other side of the door. Even the cats were gone.
“I don’t like this,” I said before breaking into a trot and crossing the small garden to the enclave building.
When I stepped in, all of my fears were immediately confirmed.
15
The room was a bloodbath.
In the corner, the woman running the shop had a hole the size of a grapefruit in her chest. On the floor before me, the two door guards lay in pools of blood, looking as though they had their throats slit as they came charging in, and at the back of the room, the Kyrog bounty hunter was on the ground, his head several feet away.
Imogen blinked a few times, staring at the carnage before her before turning, walking out the door and immediately vomiting into the garden.
“These were all bounty hunters,” I said in astonishment.
“Whoever did this is incredibly dangerous,” Ned said as though I needed to be told.
I opened my mouth to speak but heard a sound coming from the far side of the room. Without wasting a moment, I broke into a run, jumped over bodies, and cleared slick patches of blood.
Just outside the door where the transport ship had been before, I saw the back of a cloak rushing away, the hood pulled up.
Seeing the person who had done all this sent a surge of adrenaline rushing through my body, and I ran faster than I had ever thought possible.
The cloaked figure sprang up toward the rear wall and grabbed hold of the curved spikes designed to keep people out but that did nothing to keep people in.
I reached the wall just as the last piece of black fabric disappeared over the edge. I bent my legs, jumped as high as I could, and reached for the curved bars. One hand closed around one, and I pulled, then grabbed another with my second hand, slammed the tips of my boot against the wall, and forced the rest of my body up.
As I heaved my body onto the top of the wall, I could see the cloak fluttering to the ground on the street beyond. Before I could even position myself, someone had run out and grabbed the cloak, then disappeared into an alley.
I cursed and eased myself backward, then lowered my body to the ground and crossed back to the enclave.
This ghost was unbelievably deadly, and if he took another run at Vince, my only chance of getting Parliament to listen would be out the window and I would be back to square one. Vince knew that he was in trouble and was going back to the safest place that he could, but I needed to inform the Conclave of what happened.
After stepping around the massive Kyrogi body, I walked over to one of the computer systems and dialed in for Zenobia.
This time, she didn’t answer quickly, and I stood in the surreal silence surrounded by death as just beyond, the hustle and bustle of the city continued unabated.
Eventually, the face of my Falconer appeared. “Zen,” I said, and before she could scold me for calling her that, I continued. “Something terrible has happened here. I am at the enclave on Parm, and everyone has been killed.”
“Who is everyone?”
“A hunter, two of the guards stationed here, and the woman running the little shop,” I said. “The Kyrog was hunting someone he described as a ghost, and I’ve been hired to track down an assassin who made an attempt on the governor’s life.”
“Stand by a moment,” she said, peering at the screen in her office. “That Hunter was working on a case with almost no information. He was after an assassin known as the Ghost of Korfuu. All of the information regarding who this person is has been classified by the government.”
“So it’s safe to assume that they either trained him or hired him and don’t want a trail,” I suggested.
“Correct,” Zenobia agreed. “But I have sources too.”
She worked on her computer a bit longer, then let out a little gasp. “I think I know what he is.”
“What?” I demanded.
“Patience,” she said. “I have to check a few things.”
I did what anyone would do when told to be patient and glanced around impatiently. Of course, here, I was surrounded by nothing but a crime scene. Outside, I could still hear Imogen panting and pacing around.
“Tell me everything,” she said finally, and I explained what had happened at the stadium. Leaving out the reasoning for our meeting with Vince.
Once she had heard all I had to say, she took a long pause.
“A Gaskyn,” she said, and I stared at her expectantly.
“What’s that?”
“It is a species I had only ever heard rumors about but that Syn Kel Kal had been investigating,” she explained, her voice heavy. “They are rumored to be a people who can shift their makeup between the physical and what is little more than a vapor.”
“How?” I pressed, having never heard of anything like this.
She scowled at me. “Do I look like a physics professor to you? I don’t know how. I wasn’t even sure that they existed until I cross-referenced what I have learned about the Ghost of Korfuu with what you told me about the incident at the stadium.”
“How the hell am I supposed to hunt a vapor?” I demanded.
She smiled in the way that Lutch often would: like somebody who was about to teach.
“Rather than thinking about what you don’t know about the assassin, why don’t you think about what you do know,” she said, a clever little smile crawling around the corner of her lip.
“I don’t know anything about him.”
One eyebrow rose on her face. “Don’t you?”
“All I know is that he was trying to kill the governor,” I said, but as the words left my mouth, I knew what she meant. Before she could speak, I continued, “I should go and wait for him to try again.”
“Precisely,” the old woman said. “You’re getting better.”
“I’m trying,” I said modestly, still not convinced I would ever be as good a bounty hunter as I had been a scrapper.
“You are doing more than that,” Zenobia offered. “And I’ve noticed that you are the only hunter on this case. If you complete it, you could certainly move up in rank, and now that you have a ceremonial weapon, you would be eligible.”
“That’s all well and good,” I said. “But first I need to spring a trap for an assassin that can literally walk through walls and somehow survive.”
And I wasn’t entirely convinced I could survive. Looking around the room, seeing the carnage this thing had wrought, I worried that both me and Vince would be next.
No.
Though I had my fears, I had been through too much and come too far to let some hitman be the end of me.
“Is there any other relevant information?” I asked, hoping for something more.
She shook her head. “As I said, this is only a hypothesis based on the information you’ve presented to me, and I’m still not entirely convinced it’s the truth. Only when you tell me I’m right will I actually believe it. Until then, lay in wait like a hunter and spring the trap.”
