[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The lights were all on outside, it was bitterly cold but
at that moment I didn t have time to worry about
frostbite. Mr. Hart and Detective Smith appeared to be
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 229
having a knockdown, drag-out fight. They d knocked
over some of the metal trash cans in their melee.
"This is not good."
"I ll get Hart, you grab Smith." Jack said, heading for
the ringmaster.
Sure, leave me with the cop. I ran for Smith, tackling
him to ground. This was not the smartest thing I d ever
done. Smith fought back, and I foresaw the end of this
spat pretty clearly.
I managed to pin him by virtue of having the height
advantage.
That was about the time the other cops showed up.
I let Smith up before someone could point a gun at
me. "You are under arrest," he snarled at me.
Fantastic. "Kail." I waved at Jack. "I m getting
arrested." Once I had his attention -- as I was being
cuffed. "Bring my star to the station."
"Okay." Jack nodded.
"You assaulted an officer of the law," Smith growled,
shoving me into his car. The other cops seemed more
concerned with penning up the area and questioning
people about what the hell had just happened.
"Well, you assaulted Mr. Hart, and in about& twenty
minutes, you re going to be real sorry."
"Am I?"
"Oh yeah." Time to take off the kid gloves I think.
"You re going to be& to be& " I felt woozy all of
sudden. "Everything is so& shiny."
"Hey." He shook me. "What s wrong?"
"I feel sleepy."
The water bottle&
***
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 230
Waking up in a police station is unpleasant,
especially when one is handcuffed to a desk.
"You have nothing on me," I grumbled through the
fog in my head.
The desk belonged to Sergei. "You tackled me. I have
bruises."
"You deserved it." I blinked. "What the hell
happened to me?"
"I think you were drugged."
"Right. Water bottle tasted funny." I d been drugged
before -- though by doctors -- you d think I would
recognize the taste. "Where s Jack?"
"Who s Jack?"
If I hadn t been more than ready to shed off my
cover, I would ve been more concerned. "What time is
it?"
"You ve been out for a few hours. It s about one
a.m." Dose must not ve been right. Unless someone
fucked up and gave me the wrong water bottle.
I opened my eyes more clearly and looked at Sergei.
"You are an asshole."
He shrugged. "Mr. Hart has been keeping secrets. I
lost my temper. I ll apologize later." He leaned back in
his chair. I tried to get a better look around the station,
but the edges of my vision were still fuzzy.
"Where s my partner?"
"Oh, right. I told him you were out. He s waiting in
the lobby."
"Okay." I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and
opened them again. That was a bit better. "You should
get him in here."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah." I straightened up as best as I could given the
circumstances. "You just arrested an undercover& cop."
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 231
Was that the right term? I'd have to ask Voight.
"I did." He did not believe me.
"You did. My partner is also a cop, CPD. He has our
badges."
"Chicago Police Department? You don t have any
jurisdiction here, even if you are who you say you are."
He rolled his eyes. "But I ll entertain this fantasy, if only
to see it fall apart on you. Jones, bring in the big guy
sitting out in the lobby for me."
"Sure thing," Jones replied. I couldn t see Jones, that
would require moving my neck in a way I wasn t sure I
could move it just yet.
Jones returned shortly with Jack, who set our badges
down on the table.
"Detective Jack Winchester, CPD, attached to the
special division."
"And I --" I paused, "am Fynn Adder, Special
Division, N.S." I pointed at my badge. "You can call my
supervisor. His name is Voight. He s an asshole, too. Hi
Jack."
"Fynn. I think you were drugged."
"I think you re right, Jack."
Sergei looked at both of us and then examined the
badges. Then he started swearing and picked up the
phone.
Confirmation took about five minutes. There were
lots of, "No sir, yes sir, okay sir. Right now sir," type
answers. I tried not to snicker. Sergei hung up and gave
me a look. "So. Your boss confirms who you are."
"Thanks." It was nice to see Voight do something
useful for a change.
"You bastards at the SDNS think you can just run
over everyone else s cases like it s no big deal." He
unlocked the handcuffs.
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 232
"To be fair, this is my first case with them." I rubbed
my wrist. "I know nothing about their reputation. Never
dealt with them when I was with CPD." I picked up my
badge. "If you ll excuse us, we have to catch this guy
before he hurts anyone else." I stood up, pausing for a
moment to get my balance.
"Are those girls dead?" Sergei asked.
"I wouldn t& probably," I said. I wasn t talking to
their family -- who I would lie to -- but a cop who
deserved to know. "Justice will be done. I promise you
that."
He shrugged. "It s your case now. What do I care?"
Uh-huh. We d have to solve this fast before he
decided to get underfoot.
"Let s go." Jack took my arm to help steady me.
"Detective." He nodded to Smith.
"Detective." Smith nodded back.
And we left the station. I really hoped this wasn t an
omen. I d hate to get arrested every time I went
undercover.
"The water bottle was drugged," I said as we got
outside.
Jack nodded. "I think it was meant for someone else."
"Like who?"
"I m not sure, but there are only a couple pretty
brunettes that work in that circus."
I thought for a moment. I did remember a girl with
the trapeze group, vaguely. I hadn t paid her much
attention.
"Okay, let s get back before something happens to
her." Or anyone else.
***
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 233
Things at the circus were quiet when we got back.
Jack checked on Mr. Hart and we made a circuit to make
sure no one was missing before heading back to our
trailer.
"He s keeping to his pattern then." Jack sighed.
"Maybe the water bottle thing was just a prank."
"I don t know." I dug through the cabinets and came
up with beef jerky. "I don t like not knowing what s
going on."
"I know, but for right now, we wait. Smith will hold
our cover -- for now, and we ve got until tonight to find
the bastard. In the meantime, you get some sleep."
"What about you?"
"First watch. I ll wake you up in three hours."
"Okay." I was reluctant, but I wasn t going to argue
just now. I needed to sleep off the drug s effects before
I d be of any use. I ate my jerky and climbed into bed.
***
I woke up and immediately noticed Jack had let me
sleep in, the bastard. Then I smelled coffee. I climbed
out of bed.
"Bastard," I commented as Jack handed me a cup of
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]