Swing Shift: Book 2 Read online

  “Mm. A lot. Was one of the reasons I said yes to her dinner invite,” Gus muttered. “I don’t think… I don’t think what you set us out to take down was the SA.”

  “No?” Mark asked. He sounded confused and interested. “Thoughts?”

  “Splinter group. Old faction. New faction. Or impostors,” Gus said. “Someone who wants it to look like the SA, or is just hiding behind their name. Just my hunch, but… none of this actually fits.

  “We broke down the SA infrastructure pretty quick once I got into a few heads. Looked through Dunyasha pretty thoroughly—”

  Mark interrupted him with a laugh. “I’d like to go through her thoroughly.”

  “And realistically,” Gus said, ignoring Mark entirely, “I can’t find anything that connects them to what you gave us to look into. They’re not moving on anything right now. They’re consolidating, making internal changes, cycling employees, things like that. They’re not expanding. They’re consolidating.”

  “Hum hum,” Mark said, his brows drawn down over his eyes. “Sounds like you should go talk to those people who tried to kill your new girlfriend. Four of them lived, believe it or not.

  “Actually, lived may not be perfectly accurate. Anyone you shot needed immediate emergency magical medical attention. Most of them lost a limb, organ, or… well, one lost their face. Did you shoot them with a bazooka?”

  “No, just Indali,” Gus said, lifting his coat flap to show off the butt of her sticking up from the holster.

  “You’re… you’re carrying Indali?” Mark asked. “Indali Jaya? My receptionist you stole?”

  “We mutually agreed that I would carry her,” Gus said, reaching into his coat to hold on to her grip for a second.

  Mark looked annoyed and pissy. “Why’re you the one who gets to make a harem? I wanted a harem. You don’t even want one. I’d be elbow deep in p—”

  “Going to go interview those people. Where are they?” Gus asked.

  “Medical,” Mark said, still looking irked. “Sub-basement. Use the main elevator.”

  “He asked if he could shoot me. I told him no,” Indali thought to herself. And Gus heard her quite clearly since he’d never pulled himself free from her.

  “I’m flattered,” he pushed into her mind.

  “You should be. I’ve been held by precious few,” Indali said.

  “I think maybe we should talk about what’s happening between us. What I am, what you are, and really… discuss this,” Gus said.

  “I agree,” Indali said, then went silent. Her mind was quiet more often than not. Because her thoughts were singular, linear, and to their purpose. He got the impression that if she wasn’t doing anything in her job, her mind was usually blank.

  Which was exactly what Gus had in mind when he stepped out of the elevator and into a very fortified lobby.

  “Identification, please,” said a large woman with a rifle.

  “Uh, oh, yeah,” Gus mumbled, pulling his badge out. “Here. Sorry. Wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Understandable,” said the woman, and an equally large man walked over to inspect Gus’s ID.

  “Agent Hellström, welcome. The suspects you brought in are in the last rooms on the left,” he said, then stepped to the side indicating the hallway behind him.

  Right. Okay.

  Very… different.

  Tucking his badge away, Gus went to the indicated rooms.

  When he peeked into the first, he knew the occupant wasn’t going to be talking. Their face really was missing, much like Mark had mentioned.

  Indali hits way too hard.

  Moving to the second room, he found a man who’d clearly lost his left arm. Otherwise, he looked like any other person you’d see on the street. Short brown hair, light blue eyes, very normal.

  The fact that he hadn’t grown his arm back meant he wasn’t a Were. Nor did he have the magic of a mask covering him, which meant he was probably just a human.

  “Hello. I’m Agent Hellström,” Gus said, walking into the room.

  “I have rights, and I’m not talking,” the man said immediately.

  Gus nodded and shut the door. He didn’t need people to talk and never had. He only needed them to think.

  “That’s fine. I’m still going to ask you questions, though,” Gus said, walking over to the single chair in the room. In the same motion, he stuck a needle of his gift into the man’s brain.

  “Fine, waste your damn time,” said the man.

  The very idea of talking to Gus made the man sick.

  “Yeah, it’s mine to waste. I mean, I’d rather be having dinner with Dunyasha, but you ruined that,” Gus said.

  There was a small quirk of the man’s mouth, but he said nothing.

  In his mind, though, he was cursing Gus as a filthy Para lover. A Vampire groupie and traitor to humanity.

  Mm. That’s not good.

  Sounds like he’s part of a humanist movement. Must be making moves because of the Fed’s decreased presence.

  “Any reason you went after Dunyasha, by the way?” Gus asked.

  Immediately the man shook his head, then laid his head back down on his pillow and turned his face away from Gus.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep his mind shut from Gus.

  The prevalent thought was about receiving orders to go kill Dunyasha, tonight, when she was out. He didn’t know why he had to kill her, just that he had to. Failure wasn’t an option.

  All the man knew beyond that was that the Fed had started moving too fast, and it’d ruin everything if they got a hold of Dunyasha. That was the extent of his knowledge.

  “Is there something she has that you wanted? She move in on your operations?” Gus asked.

  There was no response in the man’s thoughts that Gus hadn’t already heard.

  “You working as part of a group to frame the SA for some reason?” Gus asked.

  Once more, the man didn’t physically respond, but his mind did.

  Every thought he had circled around a convenience store. A convenience store with a large basement they were working out of to push their agenda. To bring the SA into the light of the world and cleanse it with fire. To burn everything and anything that had to do with them and their ungodliness.

  A convenience store that Gus memorized the address for.

  Smiling, Gus stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “I’m sleeping with an Elf and a human at the same time,” Gus said. “It’s fun to have both. Ever had an Elf?”

  The disgust on the man’s face was answer enough to the question.

  But inside his mind, it was a blazing inferno of hate and rage at Gus. On top of that, he rapidly flipped through images of all the other Paras he’d killed, or those he viewed as “Para lovers” who needed to die just as much.

  Sighing, Gus leaned to one side and put his chin in his hand.

  Fuck.

  It’s the precursor to a damn inquisition. We stopped the broadcast, but this is all part of that. Isn’t it?

  This was all set up to continue with or without the broadcast.

  They’re using both Paras and humans to the same end.

  Bring the world to the bloody and awful realization that there are monsters in the world, and they are everywhere.

  “Wanna tell me where you work out of? Where you get your orders and gear?” Gus asked.

  “What?” asked the man, looking at Gus now.

  His mind did a rapid flip, the change in the line of questioning throwing him for a loop.

  “Already talked to your friends,” Gus said. “I know enough. Anything you care to add? Might get you a reduced sentence… but maybe not. Your friends gave me a lot.”

  Only the convenience store came to mind. Over and over, it was where everything they were working on was based out of.

  “Fuck you, Vamp fucker,” cursed the man. Then he actually spat at Gus.

  Thankfully, he was out of range, though it did land on his well-polished shoe.

 
Gus stood, having had just about enough of this little man.

  He walked closer and loomed over the man. Staring down into his hate-filled face.

  “I beg your pardon,” Gus said in a growl, then slowly began to lean in.

  “I’m-I’m-I’m sorry!” the man squealed, pulling the blankets up over his face with his one hand.

  Gus snorted at that, then rolled his eyes and left.

  Men like this one hid behind the belief that they could say what they wanted. The moment anyone confronted them or held them accountable, they fell apart.

  You can say what you want, but that doesn’t make you unaccountable for your words.

  Suppose I get to go have a fun stakeout of the convenience store.

  ***

  “…damned idiot. She fucking kept licking me the entire time she drank,” Chloe cursed. “And you just standing there made it all the fucking worse. Swear to the fucking darkest part of your asshole I’m going to peg you till you bleed.”

  He’d been listening to Chloe curse and rail at him for the better part of two hours. Sitting in a car across from the convenience store, they were staking out the only real approach.

  Melody and Vanessa were watching the rear door in a different car.

  “Chloe,” Gus said, looking over at the Vampire.

  “What?” she asked angrily.

  “I’ve listened to you without complaint for longer than I wish I had. Can you stop? I didn’t ask you to feed her. I was perfectly fine doing it myself,” Gus said. “And no, for the whatever hundredth time it is, I’m not sleeping with her. You’ve met my girlfriends already.

  “As for the last part, I had no idea you were into that. I’m personally not a fan, not that I’ve ever tried it, but I’ll have to hard pass.”

  “What!? Of course I’m not—no, no, you’re an idiot and an asshole,” Chloe said. Then she reached over and slugged him in the arm.

  Hard.

  So hard it made his arm go numb.

  “Fuck! What the shit, Chloe?!” Gus said, immediately grabbing his arm with his other hand.

  “Fuck, fuck! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m just… fuck!” Chloe grabbed his arm with both of her hands.

  Glaring at her, he pulled his arm away from her, but he didn’t have far to go.

  She followed him and grabbed his arm again, then began to massage it with her fingers.

  “I’m sorry, Gus. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just… I don’t know.” Chloe had a massive frown on her face. “I’m all confused. Nothing makes sense. I just want to go back to prison. It was easier there.”

  Gus tried to push her hands away but didn’t get anywhere with it.

  Chloe was very strong physically. Extremely so. She could manhandle him with ease, as if she were fighting a child.

  “And why the fuck are you mad at me? Because I got you out? If it’s that bad, I’ll send your crazy ass back to prison. Fuck. It’s like you almost goddamn broke it,” Gus grumbled.

  “If you were a human, I would have broken it,” Chloe said, not looking up from his arm. She was still ineffectually massaging him, as if that would somehow help. “And don’t deny it. I drank from you. I know you’re not human. I’ve tasted human more than any other race. Blood donors and blood sellers almost exclusively deal in human feed. You’re most definitely not human. Your blood practically sang in my mouth.

  “It’s why I didn’t want her to drink from you. She’d use it to her advantage, the filthy fucking whore that she is.”

  Hm. Suppose that makes sense.

  “You’re still a rotten bitch for hitting me,” Gus growled.

  Chloe laughed suddenly at that, nodding her head.

  “I’m indeed a rotten bitch. Not for hitting you, though. I just am one,” she said. “I see how you all look at me. You’d be just as happy with me in prison.”

  Grimacing, Gus shook his head.

  “You’re not so bad,” he said finally. “I saw worse in a few soldiers I worked with, to be honest. You’re just an awful soldier who never joined the military, I guess.”

  “They didn’t let women join back then.” There was a weird look on Chloe’s face. “Women were supposed to just stay at home. Almost got married myself. Then I got turned and here I am.”

  “You don’t seem like the homemaker type,” Gus said. He was still rather mad at her. His arm was like pins and needles now, but it still hurt.

  “Hmph. Little do you know, I’m an amazing cook. I can sew, clean, knit, milk a cow, churn butter, and even use a loom. I had to learn because my da’ didn’t do shit for us and ma’ was dead,” Chloe said. A strange hint of an accent was creeping out there.

  “Uh huh. Do I need to get shit my great-grandfather would eat for you to show off? Like sheep’s asshole or something for you to be a ‘good cook’?” Gus asked.

  Laughing at that, Chloe slapped his shoulder, but much more lightly this time. “Ass. And sheep’s guts aren’t so bad. Never ate the asshole though.”

  “You can eat my asshole, you fucking brute,” Gus said.

  Chloe laughed even harder now and sat back in her seat. “Maybe. I might have you fuck me before you send me back to prison. Haven’t gotten laid in a really long time. Really, really long time. Talking at least a hundred years here.

  “Actually, that’s a good idea. I’ll get you hooked on me so I can get some goddamn conjugal visits.”

  Reaching over, Gus began to rub at his arm now that Chloe had finally left him alone.

  Crazy bitch.

  Indali was in a prison much worse, and she didn’t go insane.

  Then again… she’s not human, is she?

  “Can we just go in?” Chloe asked. “Now that I’m thinking about fucking, it’s really awkward. This car is super dark, the windows are hilariously tinted, and your backseat doesn’t look terrible.”

  Sighing, Gus closed his eyes. “I’m never going on a stakeout with you again. Ever.”

  “What? You fucked everything up when you partner-fed me. You don’t partner-feed people, Gus. It’s not normal,” Chloe said. “I haven’t fed from anyone like that in… fuck, I don’t know. A really long time. A really, really long time. Probably as long as since I’ve gotten laid. Maybe longer.

  “Well? Go in or fuck?”

  Gus held up a hand in defeat. He couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Fine, okay? Fine. We’ll go in. Fucking shit, Chloe. Never again,” he said. “Just wait long enough for my arm to get feeling back in it and I’ll radio Mel. Shit.”

  “Thanks,” Chloe said, her head turning partially and her eyes darting to the back seat for a second before she looked ahead again.

  Seriously, Chloe?

  Chapter 12 - Raid

  “Mel,” Gus said into the radio.

  “Yes, my sweet, beloved Indigo?” Melody said immediately.

  “I’ve got an anxious vamp here who’s more or less done waiting. I can’t say I really disagree with her, either. If they were going to be coming back here, they would have already. Sun’s going to rise in a few hours.”

  “Yeah… that’s fair,” Melody said. “We should move in. I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere with Ness. She wouldn’t make out with me or get in the back seat.”

  “We’re working, Mel!” Vanessa practically shouted at her. “Get it through your pushy head.”

  “See?” Melody said calmly. “Beautiful woman in my car, and I can’t talk her into the back seat.”

  Closing his eyes, Gus could only shake his head. Sometimes Melody could be overly pushy. It sounded like this was one of those times.

  Every relationship was due to have some push and pull. It seemed like Melody was going to be both at the same time.

  “Mel,” Gus said. “Don’t push Ness like that. Okay?”

  “But—”

  “Mel, don’t,” Gus said, his voice firm. “If she says no, stop. It isn’t funny, it isn’t amusing, and she clearly didn’t like it.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry, Indigo,
” Melody said. “See? This is exactly why I need you. You’re my love and my heart.”

  There was a rustle like Melody was turning in her seat.

  “I’m sorry, my Yellow. I just love you,” she said. Apparently she’d forgotten to let go of the button.

  “It’s fine. Just… it’s fine. I love you, too. Tell Gus we’re fine and we’re ready,” Vanessa said.

  “Uh,” Melody said. It sounded like she realized she’d forgotten to let go of the button. “We’re fine and ready, Gus.”

  Yeah, I’m not going to make that one worse than it is.

  “Alright, going now. I’ve got the warrant; I’ll hand it over. You and Chloe will lock down the doors while Ness and I clear the ground floor and then hit the basement,” Gus said.

  “Got it,” Melody said.

  “You’re all very sweet to one another,” Chloe said as she opened her door.

  “Dunno about that, but we’re definitely working on it.” Gus got out of the car as well. “Have to—we’re all going to be around each other for a long time.”

  He reached into his coat and pulled out the warrant.

  Mark had gotten it expedited to a judge who was apparently often on hand for Fed cases dealing with the Para world.

  And with the Fed being devastated, that judge had a lot of free time now.

  Even with their extreme lack of evidence, Mark had somehow gotten it to fly.

  Must be the organized crime part of it.

  Or maybe just… that the Fed got blowed up. Really feels like everything is sliding rapidly sideways. Even with the mass recruitment drive.

  Can’t only be happening here either.

  “Ever going to tell me what you are?” Chloe asked.

  “Human,” Gus said immediately. Despite what she’d said, he would never admit anything to her.

  “And I’m a virginal princess of the states,” Chloe said.

  Shaking out the warrant, Gus quickly pulled out the copy he was going to leave with the clerk. Then he grabbed his badge and slid it behind the warrant.

  He’d delivered enough of these to know how it usually went.

  Chloe opened the door to the convenience store and went right in.

  “Hey, search warrant,” she said to the clerk, one hand at her side.