Living with the Dead

FINN

"Karl's in the barn," Damon called as he raced to Finn, striding through the wooded border, Rhys at his heels.

Finn was about to say, with all respect to Karl Marsten, that he didn't give a rat's ass where the man was. Then Damon caught up and continued. "He's trying to get to Bobby and Hope."

"Where are they?"

"Hold up a minute so I can show you. Man, you're as bad as that guy from The Fugitive. You've caught Bobby and now you're not about to let her get away, huh?"

Was there a twist of sarcasm to those words? Before Finn could comment, Damon directed his attention to a tool shed fifty feet behind the barn… and a pair of fake cops standing guard between the buildings.

"What the hell are they doing in there? Of all the hiding places – "

"It's a bomb shelter."

"What?"

"It leads to an underground shelter. Bobby and Hope were coming out when they noticed those guys making a beeline for the shed. They ducked back down. Those two took a peek inside and didn't see the hatch. But that seems to be their assigned post so they aren't budging. And Karl's getting tired of waiting."

"Guide us in."

"This way," Damon said as they slipped into the barn.

Rhys stepped in the other direction, toward the dark stalls.

"No!" Damon said. "Stop him."

"What?"

Rhys motioned that he wanted to check the rest of the barn, be sure it was clear.

"Tell him I already got it," Damon said. "He doesn't need to – "

Rhys was already disappearing into the stalls.

"Shit! Call him back, Finn."

Finn wasn't about to raise his voice. He jogged after Rhys, rounding the corner to see the other man dropping beside a woman lying in the hay. Finn picked up his pace.

It was a couple, a man beside the woman, arms around her, her face against his chest.

"The gas," Finn whispered. "It must have knocked them out."

"No." Rhys rose and extended his hand. In it lay two small vials.

Finn strode over for a closer look. There were no lights in the barn, but a sliver of sunlight through the beams illuminated the face of the young man on the floor. His features were contorted in agony. The woman's face was hidden against him, but Finn recognized her dark hair and blue dress. The girl who'd held a gun on Adele.

"Hugh and Lily," Rhys murmured, his voice thick.

Damon murmured he'd go check on the women. As Rhys took off his ball cap, Finn looked around. Deep in the shadows he could make out two more bodies. Rhys hadn't noticed them, and Finn wasn't about to point them out. Whatever Rhys's connection to this place, these people weren't anonymous victims to him.

Rhys looked up sharply. "The others. I have to – "

"You have to get Hope, Robyn and Adele Morrissey." Marsten appeared from nowhere. "As for the rest? What's done is done."

Harsher than Finn would have put it, but Rhys only pulled his ball cap back on and straightened. Then he dropped the vials and crushed them under his shoe.

"Those are stashed all over the property," he said. "Anyone who hasn't been captured will have already done what they were taught. They'll presume it's a Cabal."

"But these people had rifles," Finn said. "They could have fought back."

Rhys shook his head. "Then some could be captured. They wouldn't risk that."

"It's the Nasts, isn't it?" Marsten said, keeping his voice low. "I believe I suggested we switch cars in case they'd planted a tracking unit."

"And I said that my car has a device to scramble the signal. They'd be in North Hollywood by now."

"Whoever is here, I think it's my fault," Finn said. "I called for backup, and this is what I got. I have no idea how or why – "

"They diverted calls from your radio," Rhys said.

"That's not poss – "

"Believe me, it is. Cabal technology. Almost certainly the Nasts. As for why… I have my suspicions – "

"Unimportant." Marsten walked back from peering out the window. "We have a rescue to launch. Hope, Robyn and Adele's trail seems to lead to that building behind the barn. But the guards have already checked in there, so – "

"They're underground." Finn explained what Damon told him, as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Don't worry about Adele," Damon said as he returned. "There was a situation. Hope took her down. Shot her."

Again, Finn relayed. Seeming less pleased with that than Finn would have expected, Marsten frowned and walked to the window.

"What we'll do then is create a distraction," Finn began.

Marsten didn't turn from the window. "At this point, I'm not looking for a humane course of action, Detective. It's too risky."

As Rhys answered, Finn thought he saw a movement behind the dead couple. He peered into the shadows. A hand moved across the hay. A ghost? Finn took a step toward it. The ghost lay facedown, as if too shocked to stand. His hand was moving toward a rifle. The straw crackled and shifted under the man's fingers… and told Finn this was no ghost.

Finn slipped up over the man, bent and pressed his gun to his skull. "Stop right there."

Running footsteps pounded the concrete pad outside the barn. Finn looked up sharply, but the stall blocked his view. Rhys wheeled, gun rising. Two pairs of hands lifted over the stall. Women's hands. Rhys lowered his gun as Marsten strode over.

"There's a guy in the hay. He's – " Hope saw Finn with his gun trained on the man. "You found him. Good. Rob and I were running beside the barn when I caught a stray thought."

"Niko?" Rhys strode over, kicked the rifle aside and hauled the middle-aged man to his feet. "Playing possum, were you?"

"Th-the poison," Niko said. "It didn't work for me."

Rhys cold-cocked Niko and sent him flying into the hay pile.

"I'm not going to fight," Niko said, struggling up. "I claim sanctuary."His gaze swung to Hope. "With the council."

"The same council you've always sworn was in league with the Cabals?"

"You don't understand, Rhys. You never did. To give clairvoyants the community they need, we lie. It's a blueprint created by bulibas has long before my time."

"Lies? Like the one about hiding from the Cabals? Protecting the kumpania from them?"

"We do protect – "

"You brought the Cabal here, Niko. When Adele told you the Cabal chased her and Colm earlier today, you knew she was wrong. The Cabal wouldn't do that because they own the kumpania. It's not a safe haven. It's a clairvoyant farm."

"That's – "

"I've been following the trail for ten years now, and finally figured out where it ended. You tried to stop this – " He waved to the dead young couple. " – from happening by telling the kumpania not to worry, not to panic."

"Of course, I didn't want – "

"Because if they killed themselves, it would be your fault. You alerted the Cabal. You told them about me. They somehow linked it all to Detective Findlay's investigation – "

"Because he visited the Nast offices today," Hope said. "He met with Sean, who went digging for information on clairvoyants to help me, which must have triggered an alert. They found out about Detective Findlay's visit, and put it together."

"And the Cabal wouldn't want the police descending on their kumpania. They rerouted Detective Findlay's calls, and probably all emergency calls from that motel."

"Because they wanted to protect us!" Niko said. "As they have always protected us, Rhys. That protection comes with a price. One clairvoyant every ten years. A pittance to pay. But you couldn't leave well enough alone. And look what happened." He pointed to the couple.

"The Cabal swooped in because of Adele," Rhys said. "Adele was your creation, Niko. Her actions brought everyone to your door step – "

"Uh, guys?" Damon ran in. Rhys and Niko were still arguing. Damon leapt between them. "Finn, get them to shut up. Now. We've got – "

Marsten strode in. "They've figured out where we are. Process of elimination or he – " A chin jerk toward Niko. " – alerted them. We have eight armed men heading this way, led by one old man – "

"Rhys Vaughan? Hope Adams? Karl Marsten?" a voice boomed. "This is Thomas Nast. We have the building surrounded."

"Come out with your hands raised," Hope muttered, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Split up," Finn said. "Take the windows. How many guns -?"

"No, Detective," Hope said. "Fortunately for us, this isn't going to end in a hail of bullets."

"We can negotiate," Rhys said.

Hope took a deep breath. "Okay, as the council representative and chaos-sensing half-demon, I should be the one – "

"No." Marsten grabbed her arm. "Rhys wanted to go this alone. I think it's time we let him."

"Really?" Rhys said. "And I thought you were about to volunteer. Silly me."

"Stop it." Hope brushed off Marsten's hand. "I'm – "

"Bobby!" Damon shouted.

Finn spun to see Robyn disappearing out the barn doors, armed men closing in, eight guns trained on her. Finn broke into a run.

"Mr. Nast?" she said. "We'd like to declare a truce."