Broken

Negotiation

CLAY HAD INSISTED ON MEETING THE OTHERS HALFWAY, mumbling something about being careful with his arm. In other words, if it was a setup, he didn’t feel comfortable protecting me alone.

I took Jeremy aside and told him what happened with Jaime.

“I’m really sorry,” I said. “If I’d known this woman was a necromancer-”

“You couldn’t have. Even if you had, I doubt we could have dissuaded Jaime. She’s-” He brushed back his hair. “She wants to help, and the uglier it gets, the more insistent she becomes. I’ll speak to her. The rest of you continue on to the crime scene.”

Fifteen minutes later, we were huddled a half block from the crime scene, waiting for Jeremy, having seen and heard all we needed.

“I’m sorry,” Hull said as we huddled to the side of the scene. “I’ve tried to keep quiet, but I cannot. This-” He waved an agitated hand toward the taped-off alley. “Surely, I can’t be the only one who sees this for what it is. The girl in there, the pregnancy, the physical resemblance-”

“We saw,” Clay said.

“Then you understand the significance-”

“I said-”

“We understand that it’s a message,” Antonio said slowly.

“Could it not be more than that? The resemblance, the location, the timing.” He looked at Clay. “If Shanahan sent this beast here, on orders, knowing your wife was near, and he saw that young woman, is it not possible that he mistook-”

My knees buckled, and only my grip on Clay’s hand kept me steady. What if that woman died-her baby died-because I’d been near, only a block away?

“Enough,” Antonio said, voice hard.

“I’m only saying she should be kept safe. If Shanahan gets hold of her-”

“No one needs to remind me of that,” Clay snarled. “I’m taking care of my wife and-”

“But you’re injured, are you not? If you can’t protect her-”

Antonio caught Hull ’s arm and propelled him backward, out of Clay’s reach. Clay didn’t move, though, just fixed Hull with a look that said he wouldn’t waste the energy on him.

“I think-” I began, then noticed a familiar face bobbing through the crowd. “Oh, here comes-”

I didn’t even get Jeremy’s name out before Hull had wriggled out of Antonio’s grasp and was scampering across the road to his protector.

“Where’s Jaime?” I asked as Jeremy reached us.

“She went back to the hotel. She insisted on coming to the end of the road, but when she found the victim was-” A quick glance at Hull, as he realized he had to be careful what he said. “-gone, I persuaded her to head back for a rest.”

My cell phone went off. I glanced at it and saw a hospital name flash across the screen.

“Hold on,” I said. “It could be Tolliver.”

A moment later, I returned to the group.

“It’s him,” I said.

“And?” Jeremy prompted.

“He has Shanahan,” I said, and handed Jeremy the phone.

“You cannot be serious,” Hull said, staring at Jeremy as if he’d just announced plans for a mission to Mars. “After-after this?” He waved in the direction of the crime scene. “You cannot negotiate with these people. They aren’t people at all. They-they’re monsters. In league with Satan. Go to that meeting if you must, but I pray to God it’s to kill them.”

“If it comes to that, yes,” Jeremy said. “But we gave our word to Tolliver that we would negotiate in good faith.”

Hull ’s eyes bulged. “Faith? You’re a good man, Mr. Danvers, but creatures such as that will never act nobly. They will lie to you, and cast magics against you. Negotiation? Annihilation is the only way to treat such beasts.”

“Antonio, please call a taxi for Matthew. I want to be sure he arrives back at the hotel safely.”

Hull shook his head. “No, if you go, I go-”

“That isn’t open for negotiation. This is dangerous business, and you need to keep out. You deserve to live long enough to enjoy your new life.”

Antonio left to hail a cab.

“But that madman could come after-” Hull began.

“Me,” I said. “That’s what we just finished discussing, right? That this murder suggests I’m still the primary target. So you’ll be a whole lot safer at that hotel than hanging out with us.”

Hull looked from me to Jeremy, openmouthed and wide-eyed. “Surely you don’t plan to take her to this meeting? After what just happened? If you need any further proof that she’s in danger-”

“I don’t,” Jeremy said. “And I didn’t before. But the safest place for her is with us.”

Jeremy had wanted a private, wide-open place, to avoid the possibility of being ambushed by the zombies. Tolliver still insisted that Shanahan wouldn’t know how to control a zombie if someone handed him a user’s manual, but he’d suggested a small community center where he coached an after-school soccer program. It was closed for the summer, but he had access.

The community center was indeed tiny-little more than a gymnasium, changing rooms and a meeting room. The property was a decent size, though, with basketball courts, soccer fields and a thickly wooded strip in the back. When Jeremy saw that small forest, he was much happier with Tolliver’s choice. If things went bad, we could get Shanahan to our turf quickly.

The ball courts and field were community property, but in late afternoon, with the summer sun cranked on full, no one much felt like playing ball. The empty court and field added an insulating layer of emptiness between the building and the surrounding town houses.

We didn’t break into the community center. No qualms about B &E, but there was always the chance that Tolliver and Shanahan were watching, or had set up a sorcerer security alarm. If we were seen going inside, that could suggest we’d gone in to prepare a trap, which would be grounds for canceling the meeting. So we settled for peering through windows and mapping out our plans that way.

As we circled the block, getting a wider lay of the land, Jeremy and Antonio took the lead, discussing the final details. Nick started in the rear with us, but when his few attempts to start conversation failed, he jogged up to Jeremy and his father.

“You okay?” I whispered to Clay.

His tanned face was flushed, eyes brighter than usual. When I reached for his forehead, he shook his head, then jerked his chin at Jeremy.

“He doesn’t need to worry about that right now,” he said. “I took some pills. They’ll kick in before the meeting.”

I nodded and we walked in silence the rest of the way.

Once at the community center, we watched from the woods. Tolliver and Shanahan arrived ten minutes early. They went straight in the main door.

Nick loped across the field to watch them through the hall window. Antonio followed at a distance. Once Nick was done, he headed back to us while his father stood watch.

“The doctor checked the meeting room and the bathrooms,” Nick said. “Just flipping on lights and taking a look. Then they went to the gym.”

“So no sign that they’re setting a trap or casting spells,” Jeremy said. “Good. Let’s go then.”

We entered the gym, Antonio in the lead, followed by Jeremy and me, with Clay and Nick covering our backs. As we approached, Shanahan looked anxiously at his friend, but Tolliver laid a hand on his arm and whispered something that seemed to reassure the bigger man. If Tolliver was nervous, he gave no sign of it, not even when his gaze traveled over the five of us. Of course, he may have known that they had reinforcements too-two zombies and a serial killer.

Antonio veered to Jeremy’s left. I stood on his right, and Clay moved up to flank me. Behind us, Nick turned around to watch the exit.

Shanahan began to speak even before we stopped moving. “Randy told me-”

Tolliver cut his friend short with a squeeze on his forearm and a look that said they’d discussed earlier how they’d proceed.

“I’ve updated Patrick on the situation,” Tolliver said. “Both with the zombies, the disappearances and yesterday’s killing.”

“The first of two killings,” Jeremy said. “We were at the second crime scene when you called. A woman, killed in the same way, in a nearby neighborhood. A young, blond, pregnant woman.”

Shanahan’s brow furrowed, then his gaze shot to me. He paled.

“Christ, no-I’d never. A pregnant-? You can’t think-”

Tolliver squeezed his arm again, but this time, Shanahan shook him off. “No, I know you want to stay calm and present our facts, but this is ridiculous. I can set this whole thing straight myself, starting with this Jack the Ripper nonsense. That letter-”

The lights went out, plunging us into darkness. I swung around to cover Jeremy, but his hand closed on my arm first. Clay caught my other arm, and they hustled me to the exit.

Nick pushed open the heavy gym doors. Jeremy propelled us all the way to the main entrance. Then he propped the doors open and waved for Nick and Clay to take a look outside.

A banging erupted from inside the gym. Antonio strode to the gym doors and swung them open.

Shanahan’s voice was shrill. “I told you it was a trap.”

“You!” Tolliver’s voice boomed. “Tell your boss to open this door immediately, because if he doesn’t, I have two Cabals on speed dial-”

“Jer? They’re at the rear exit,” Antonio called. “They can’t get the door open.”

Motioning for me to follow, Jeremy returned to the gym entrance. In the dim light, I could see Tolliver and Shanahan whaling on the exit door.

“It must be jammed-” Jeremy began.

“It wasn’t jammed when we got here,” Tolliver shouted back. “I checked it.”

“Tonio?” Jeremy murmured. “Go help Clay get that door open. Send Nick back in.” He caught his friend’s arm before he left, and lowered his voice. “Be careful.”

“I suspect we’re going to find it’s been spell-locked, not jammed,” Jeremy called to Tolliver.

“Spell-?”

“The same thing I believe responsible for the blackout,” Jeremy said. “Either that or we have a zombie in the basement who tripped the breaker. Not quite so dramatic as a spell, but equally effective.”

As Nick came up behind me, I could hear someone yanking on the outside door.

“You think I turned off the lights?” Tolliver said with a tight laugh. “On werewolves? Who can see in the dark? And I locked myself in with them?”

“We can’t see in complete darkness,” Jeremy said. “No more than you can. As a doctor, I’m sure you figured that out.”

Clay’s footsteps thundered down the hall. His face was red, as if he’d run six miles instead of feet.

“It’s not jammed,” he said, breathing hard. “Doesn’t seem locked either. Antonio can snap the hinges…”

“Not yet,” Jeremy murmured. “Tell him to stand by.”

“It’s spell-locked,” Jeremy called to Tolliver and Shanahan. “A backup plan to distract us when the power outage didn’t do the trick, I suspect. You have two choices. Either we relocate this meeting-quickly-or I will make that Cabal call for you, to Benicio Cortez, whom I suspect will handle this in a much less diplomatic way.”

Tolliver was silent.

“Quickly was the key word in that offer,” Jeremy said, voice still calm. “In sixty seconds, I’m going to declare this a potential ambush and instruct-”

“There’s a room down the hall. A meeting room. Smaller than this, but it has windows. It’ll be light enough to talk.”