The Naughty List (28 page)

Billy blocked out the acrid stench and focused on Kaplan. At this distance, Billy’s receptors should be screaming, but to his stunned amazement he perceived nothing. His eyes saw the man, his ears heard the faint shuffle of his feet on the wooden stoop, but as far as his Integral senses were concerned, Jared Kaplan didn’t exist.

The door opened once more and this time Allison Darby stepped out. She, too, wore an identical gold chain. She slipped her arm through Kaplan’s and murmured something in his ear. He leered at her, stubbed out the cigarette, and followed the medusa inside.

“I don’t believe it,” gasped Sonia. “I get nothing from Darby. If I hadn’t seen her with my own eyes, I would have said she was long gone from here.”

“That means we have a good chance Salazar an
d Pearce are inside the house,” Ramesh said.

Billy whipped out his phone to call David.

The E.L.F. picked up immediately. “Give me the coordinates.”

Billy glanced around the yard. “It’s tricky, dude. The lot is heavily wooded. Landing will be tight.” For an instant he thought about suggesting the back of the strip mall, but decided a blind dash-away to asphalt was more dangerous than to grass.

“Give me a ten foot diameter and stand clear.”

Billy relayed the coordinates, stepped back, and then held his breath. He cast one more eye toward the house. No movement. No lights. “Go,” he whispered into the phone.

An instant later a short blast of air hit him in the face. Two bodies slammed into the ground with a dull
thud
. Billy rushed over. “Are you okay?”

David sat up and nonchalantly brushed himself off. Carlos Mendoza rolled over with a muffled groan. “You will never talk me into doing that ever again.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Why is Carlos here?” Sadhri demanded. “He works for the Baal.”

“I
worked
for the Baal,” Carlos sat up rubbing his head. “We had a bit of a falling out aftly di“Heer Mr. Now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t over here,” he nodded to David, “decided to stroll out of central lock-up. Besides I brought toys.” He motioned to a duffle bag at his feet and then pulled down the zipper to reveal four sets of manacles and five sunglasses with highly mirrored lenses. Several wrapped packages were buried underneath.

“I needed someone with access to the armory,” David explained. “Carlos agreed to help.”

“Packs hunt alone,” grumbled Ramesh.

“Another Integral rule needing an update, but here is neither the time nor the place. What did you discover?”

Billy nodded toward the house. “Darby and Kaplan are definitely inside. No read on the others.”

Sadhri motioned toward Carlos’s duffle bag. “Anything for me?”

The medusa fished out the small packages stowed at the bottom. “Not sure what you wanted, so I brought an assortment.”

The shiva grunted her approval. “Not bad.” She shot him a wary look. “These items are all restricted. Your ass is toast if the master-at-arms discovers them missing.”

Carlos shrugged nonchalantly. “He knows by now. Once we get back to the prison with one of the shielded Integrals, we’ll kiss and make up.”

“If we don’t?”

He managed a grin. “Then I guess I’ll be the next fugitive for your nephew and his pack to track down.”

For once, Sadhri looked amused. She selected two of the smaller packages and hefted them experimentally in her hand. “Since we don’t know the layout of the house, I’ll take out the front and back doors simultaneously. Before the smoke clears, we rush in. If we’re lucky everyone inside will be caught in the middle.”

“How big an explosion?” David asked, trying not to show any concern as a vision of the tumbling walls in the prison break shot to mind.

“Not enough to wake the neighbors,” Sadhri assured him with confidence.

“Yeah,” muttered Billy sarcastically, “if the neighbors are stone cold deaf. Shivas love their boom sticks.” The hellhound’s off-handed comment didn’t fill David with comfort.

Carlos handed out the mirrored eyeglasses. They would protect the others from any medusa’s blast, but being immune he didn’t need one himself. “Salazar has a nasty cyclonic punch that could easily level the house. You’ll need to take him down fast.”

“Pearce will be a problem,” Billy advised, “since he’ll go invisible at the first sign of trouble. Keep your ears open. He can’t cover up sound.”

They split into two groups. Carlos, Sonia, and Ramesh would enter through the rear. David, Billy, and Sadhri would rush the front door.

Silently, David took up position flat against the house’s siding. From inside he heard the soft murmur of voices and then a woman’s high pitched laugh. He suspected the living room was on the other side of the wall. The woman laughed again. Darby must be talking with someone. He clenched his fist. He so hoped the other person was Pearce.

Sadhri slipped back beside the E.L.F. after setting the charges. “Thirty seconds,” she whispered.

Twenty-nine…twenty-eight...
David counted down to himself. His stomach clenched into a tense knot. Each second that passed felt like an eternity.
Three…two…
He drew a deep breath.

Poom-Poom.

Muffled explosions rocked the E.L.F. on his feet. The fronteetdre door blasted inward and crashed through the house. Billy and Sadhri instantly bolted for the opening, David right on their heels. A painful blast punched him in the shoulder, but the glasses protected him from the worst of the medusa effects. Billy and Sadhri ahead of him staggered back and hit the wall hard.

The living room was empty except for Darby. She glared at him from in front of a television set—the voices he heard from outside. Her hair twisted and wove around her, crackling with mystical energy. The three of them charged. From the other end of the house came a roaring wind. The kulkucan was in the kitchen.

The gale pushed them all back. Pot and pans flew through the air. So did two shiny pairs of sunglasses. “Send them to me,” shouted Darby. Sonia and Ramesh tumbled backwards like leaves on a dry stream bed. The medusa grabbed Sonia and yanked her head back as David, Billy, and Sadhri fought against the whirlwind.

The hellhound’s eyes screwed shut. “Go ahead and look,” the medusa screamed, in a mocking jeer as she savagely twisted Sonia’s head around. “You know you want to.”

Through the debris, David glimpsed Salazar in the dining room. Line-of-sight was all he needed. The E.L.F. gritted his teeth and locked on to the kulkucan. He dashed-away directly behind him, instantly applying a headlock. The sudden assault broke Salazar’s concentration. The tortuous wind eased. Ramesh scrambled to his feet and slapped on a pair of manacles. The wind died completely.

A shot rang out. Everyone froze. “That will be enough playtime.” Anthony’s voice floated out of thin air. “The rest of you take off your sunglasses, so Allie-girl can have some fun. Singh—unlock Ernie.”

“What’s the matter, Pearce?” David said. He had to keep the demon talking so the hellhounds could get a fix. “Afraid to show yourself?”

“How did they find us?” squawked Darby. “You said The Book couldn’t—”

“I know ways to use The Book, Anthony can’t even dream of. Surrender now.”

“Shut up!” boomed out the demon’s disembodied voice. All the hellhounds’ ears instantly cocked toward the wall. “Release Ernie.”

Ramesh hesitated. The voice continued to move keeping the demon’s exact location a guess. Another sharp crack fired out and Ramesh fell to the ground.

“I said now!”

Billy’s face twisted with primal instinctive rage. “Not another one of my pack, you son of a bitch!”

The hellhound charged in the direction of the gunshot and hit a glancing blow off something large and heavy. He grabbed for it, but a hard object connected with his skull. Instantly, Sadhri jumped to her nephew’s side and appeared to pummel nothing but air. The gun fired three more times. Bullets pinged around the room before a subtle
click
of the hammer came down on an empty chamber.

Sadhri made a twisting motion and a howl issued from Pearce. A metallic clink hit the wall. The gun became visible, wrested from the demon’s shielded hands. Sadhri slammed back against the wall, dazed. Her protective glasses flung from her head.

“Blast her,” screamed Pearce.

The medusa gave Sonia a vicious kick and turned her deadly gaze in the shiva’s direction. Salazar made a break for it, but David ignored the piercing burn from the supernatural bindings and fought to subdue the older, stronger kulkucan.

The medusa let loose with a fearful blast that rocked them all on their heels. David slammed back against the wall. The glasses flew fgla"29rom his head.

Billy made a grab for Darby, but an invisible punch brought him to his knees. Unseen hands ripped off the lenses. They floated in the air, broke apart, and dashed against the wall. Immediately, Billy closed his eyes. So did David. “That won’t protect you forever,” Anthony sneered.

David heard a loud crash and then a scream from Darby.

“Luckily,” came the sound of Carlos’s voice, “some of us don’t need protection.”

Another loud crash was followed by a curse from Carlos. Salazar yelled, “Don’t leave me behind.”

“Carlos, what’s going on?” roared David.

“Open your eyes,” barked Carlos. “They’re gone. Pearce barreled into me and they bolted for the door.”

Billy instantly darted to Ramesh’s side, but Sonia beat him to the injured hellhound. She pressed her hand on top of the shoulder wound. “Small caliber through and through—he’ll be okay.”

He let out a sigh of relief and then turned his attention to Salazar. Billy’s expression hardened. “You’re lucky. If he died, you’d be next.”

“Everyone else okay?” called out David. A chorus of assents answered him.

“Can’t say the same for Pearce,” snorted Sadhri. “I dislocated the prick’s shoulder.”

David turned to Carlos. “Kaplan?”

“He scrammed as soon as the door blew and jumped the back fence. I lost him and headed back.” The medusa glanced down at Salazar who gazed defiantly at the group clustered around him. The kulkucan was decked out in several expensive rings and a silver skull pendant on a gold chain. “Nice bling,” Carlos smirked. “You’ll be the best dressed prisoner on the block.”

“I’ll take Ramesh back,” said David. “You all should leave before the police arrive in case the neighbors heard.” He eyed Sadhri askance. “Despite assurances to the contrary.”

“A little boom-ski like that in a neighborhood like this,” she shrugged. “Won’t even raise an eyebrow.”

In a blink David took Ramesh to New York and then returned for the kulkucan. David dashed-away Salazar directly to the prison gates. By the time the doors of the cell closed on the captured kulkucan all the bluff and bluster returned.

“You can’t prove I did anything. I only visited an old friend. When the wardens hear about the way you ignored my rights, your ass will be in here.”

The E.L.F. eyed the manacles unsympathetically. “Hurt like hell, don’t they? Get use to the pain. They’ll be a fashion accessory for a while.” Salazar slumped on the cot, glaring.

The first call David made was to his father, the second to the Baal. Brian arrived within seconds, The Book in hand. A few minutes later the Baal strode into the prison flanked by half a dozen guards.

“Where is he?”

David motioned to the prisoner. “Hey, Ernie,” he called cheerfully, “your first visitor is here. There’s something about the sight of the Baal with a full head of steam that’s really impressive. Why, the very air around him practically crackles.” For the first time, anxiety colored the kulkucan’s face.

Dominic unlocked the cell door. “We need some alone time,” he hissed out of the side of his mouth to the E.L.F.s. and then focused his glare on the prisoner. “You know how those manacles work, Salazar? They’re so powerful they cause discomfort to not only you, but any Integral who touches you.o ten focus” He flexed his fingers. “I’m willing to bet you stop screaming long before my fists give out. What do you think? Five minutes? Ten? I bet I do at least twenty.”

The E.L.F.s backed away. “Have fun,” called David genially. “We’re going for coffee.”

“Wait.” Salazar jumped up; his eyes nervously darted back and forth between David, Brian, and the Baal. “Y-you can’t leave me with him. I-I didn’t do anything. Check The Book. You’ll see.”

“You know what I think,” Brian said to his son. “I think our friend Ernesto is a liar.”

“I agree,” David quipped. “I didn’t much care being in prison for something I didn’t do. Leave some for the hellhounds, Dominic. They’ll want a piece of him when you’re through.”

Salazar’s eyes went wide. He backed up against the wall. “I didn’t have anything to do with the pack leader’s death.”

“Convincing them will be tough.” David shook his head. “Hellhounds—no sense of humor.”

“You don’t have squat on me,” he said, his voice tight with panic. “Anthony said—” He pressed his lips together in a thin tight line.

“Let me guess,” David jumped in. “Anthony said if you’re caught, keep your mouth shut. We have no proof and will let you go.” The look on the kulkucan’s face told David his hunch was spot on. “What do you think about that, Dominic?”

Dominic scanned the kulkucan up and down as if examining him for weak spots. “I think he’ll talk. If not today, then tomorrow, or the next. I have all the time in the world.”

“You can’t keep me here,” he squealed. “I know my rights. Imprisonment without formal charges is illegal. The wardens won’t let you.”

The Baal smiled. The notion flitted though David’s mind the demon’s happy face was much more disconcerting than his scowl. “The wardens don’t know you’re here,” the E.L.F. informed Salazar pleasantly.

He stared at him in horror. “Y-You can’t. The law—”

“My prison!” roared the Baal in Salazar’s face. “My law! If you die, no one will say anything. No one will ever know your useless carcass ever graced a cell.” He glanced at the guards. “Isn’t that right?”

“Sir,” barked a zeus with a straight face, “what prisoner, sir?”

Beads of nervous sweat peppered Salazar’s forehead. He was done. “All right,” he said quietly. “I-I’ll cooperate. What do I get in return?”