“Well, you do look ridiculous, Paul,” Hauser grunted.
Keeley blinked in shock. Hauser’s tone conveyed no sense of self-awareness; Paul couldn’t tell if his comrade was trying to be funny or not. He bit back his response in favor of staying on task. “I meant for custody and material support,” he grumbled. “I figured Treasury would have someone more senior than a uniformed guard pushing retirement age here to meet us when you called ahead.”
“They’ll have someone here soon enough,” Hauser shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers. I’m not ready to trust the local Bureau office or the local cops yet, so this is what we’ve got for tonight. We’ll need a better location right away. I’m going out to check on our guests. Wait here for the desk jockey.”
“Why can’t you wait for him?”
Hauser looked back over his shoulder with a disdainful frown. “You wanna go outside dressed like that?” he asked before he passed through the door and out into alley behind the Treasury building. A car, an unmarked Bureau van and a commandeered suspects’ van waited nearby, along with several uniformed guards with assault rifles and his own agents. The car and Bureau van each had a single suspect inside. The suspects’ ride held two more-their third buddy already in an emergency room under Bridger’s supervision-along with a plastic bag of ashes and a burnt-up zoot suit.
“We doing okay out here?” he asked as Colleen and Matt stepped up to meet him. “Any troubles?”
“The Hispanics aren’t giving any trouble,” Colleen answered, “but that might be more about their concussions than anything else. The other two are sitting quiet and waiting.” She paused before she added, “Can’t say I’m crazy about bagging their heads like they’re terrorists.”
“They’ll have more rights than terrorists get if and when they’re indicted,” grunted Hauser.
Whatever her argument, Colleen put it aside with a shake of her head. “Anyway, we’ve got bigger concerns. They’re getting text messages. Urgent ones.” She looked to Matt, who produced a pair of cell phones from his pocket for Hauser to see.
The lead agent scowled. “Jesus Christ, I can’t read that teenage texting bullshit. What the hell does this mean?”
“Cohen keeps asking both of these guys if they’re still at the party and if they’re okay. No reason why, just says he’s urgent. He might know better than to put anything incriminating into a text message,” Matt added.
“So if something went wrong at the party for everyone else like it did for our two guests, he might be trying to check on his friends,” Colleen finished. “Anyway, the last message says L is coming to pick them up. Maybe that means Lorelei? I don’t know. He says Amber’s with him, so presumably she’s okay, at least.”
Matt lowered the phones. He and Colleen both looked at Hauser expectantly. “What do you want to do?” Colleen asked.
“We need more time,” Hauser said, “and we don’t know the capabilities of the people we’re dealing with. We don’t want them looking for these guys. Lanier, can you respond to these messages? Are the phones password protected?”
The other agent traded wary glances with Colleen, but answered, “I could crack one of them in just a couple of minutes.”
“Do it. Then respond to say they’re staying at the party and having a good time. Maybe use only one and say the other guy lost his or something. Go back through the previous messages to make sure you’re using the same texting lingo these two use. You’re a tech nerd, you understand this stuff.”
He looked up quickly to see the door open again. Keeley appeared from within to give a thumbs-up. “We’re set. Let’s get this done,” Hauser said before moving off to one of the cars.
Colleen and Matt traded uncomfortable glances again. “Tech nerd?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, I know. He says more about my looks than he does about my work,” Colleen said. “Some people just can’t help being dicks.”
Her cellphone buzzed. So did Matt’s. They checked, looked at one another and then both looked up toward Hauser… who had clearly received the same message.
“Keeley,” Hauser barked, “get the Treasury guys to help you move our suspects inside.” He quickly moved back toward the van and threw open the door. “Lanier, Nguyen, we’re headed for the bus tunnels, now!”
* * *
The message represented a serious risk, but she covered for it well. Neither of her companions questioned Amber when she muttered, “Can’t believe they could close off part of the bus tunnels like this. It’s not even posted anywhere!”
Jason shrugged, standing far enough away that he couldn’t see what she was really doing. “Money talks,” he said. “Stories say vampires can get into peoples’ heads. Even without that, we’ve seen the money they can cough up.” He glanced up the staircase to Alex, who crouched just below its edge watching the street. “Guess they were more interested in revenge than we thought they’d be, huh?”
“Guess so,” Alex shrugged. He still had the rifle in his hands and the sword in the belt of his bathrobe.
“You’ve gotta be freezing,” Jason said. “You sure you don’t want my jacket?”
“I’ve handled worse,” answered Alex.
Jason threw Amber a troubled look. “No, he hasn’t,” he mouthed silently. Then it hit him: she was dressed for much warmer weather, too. Her fatigue pants and web gear made for slightly better insulation than Alex’s lazy morning ensemble, but her tank top wasn’t made to keep out the cold. “What about you?” he asked. The leather jacket was already off his shoulders before he finished speaking.
Amber quickly hit the last key to delete the text message she’d just sent to the task force from her history. “No, Jason, you don’t have to…” Her voice trailed off as he put the jacket around her shoulders. She’d simply lumped her shivering in with all the other stress of the evening. The gesture meant more to her than the actual warmth. “Thanks.”
“We gotta have a talk later,” he said.
“Yeah, we do,” Amber nodded soberly. “You’ve got a lot to explain here.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Okay, straight to the point then: why would vampires and werewolves chase you and Alex?”
“We kinda killed a whole shitload of vampires last month,” Jason shrugged. “I gotta say that doesn’t feel nearly as cool to tell a girl as I thought it would.”
“No?”
“No. Feels kinda douchey now that I’m in the moment.”
“Okay, well, putting aside the how… why did you kill a bunch of vampires last month?”
Jason’s eyes flicked up toward Alex, who wasn’t looking at them. His friend gave no sign of approval or disapproval. “They kidnapped Alex,” Jason said. “Which was embarrassing enough the first time, right? I mean, y’know, vampires. That’s lamer than Juggalos. But now it’s happened to him twice, and-“
“Car,” Alex hissed, and then followed with, “it’s ours. Let’s go.” He waved his companions up, but held his position until they were beside him. The passenger side door to Lorelei’s Lexus opened up, revealing her at the wheel. He paused and looked down the staircase, where the two men in police uniforms sat with their hands cuffed behind their backs. Both now sat upright and aware, but turned away. “We can’t leave them like that,” he said. “Give me the keys.”
Jason blinked, but put the keys in his hand. “You want me to cover you while you uncuff ‘em?”
“Not taking the chance,” Alex muttered, and then called down the stairs, “Hey! Assholes!” He tossed the keys down to them. “We’re leaving. Figure out how to unlock yourselves.” His harsh tone diminished as he said, “Get in the car. I’m in last.”
Jason moved first, venturing out of their cover ahead of Amber but waiting at the door for her to enter. Amber tumbled into the backseat behind Lorelei and waited as Jason unceremoniously joined her. Alex came last, his gun up and ready to return fire from whatever corner might hold an ambush until he was in the passenger seat.
The car took off immediately, just shy of squealing out of its brief parking spot. “Are any of you hurt?” Lorelei asked. She looked Alex over with a simple glance as her passengers grunted out their answers. “You must be freezing,” she observed evenly. She put the heater on full blast.