13 Degrees of Separation (59 page)

The
next morning Magnum met him as usual in the lobby. “Don't you ever sleep?”
Nohar
asked, scratching an itch on his back absently. He licked his
lips, dry, he thought.

“Well,
some of us don't leap tall buildings in a single bound,” Magnum teased, holding
the paper up.

Nohar
blinked at it wearily. Right on the front it showed a blurry night time picture
of the killer. The headline read 'Jack the Ripper loose in Ring City'. He
snarled recognizing the image, that was no lion. “That's a picture of me!” he
growled.

Magnum
looked at it and sighed. “Damn it! And not even your good side!” he said.

“Yeah
well...” Nohar wiped his face with his left hand. “Sometimes it doesn't pay to
stay in bed,” he grumbled. He was bloody sore all over. He'd gotten a shower
in, but that was about it before falling into bed. That damn human bed had been
the nicest thing he'd ever slept on, even if it was a bit flea infested.

“Do
they have any idea what they did? They painted a target on me!” Nohar snarled.
“Every yahoo with a gun who wants to be a hero will be out on the street!”

“Sucks
to be you,” Magnum said.

“Yeah
well, I'm sticking close to you good buddy, ole pal,” Nohar drawled
sarcastically. Magnum blinked and then snorted, eyes narrowed.

“Thought
you weren't going to stick around? Your client bailed?” Magnum asked.

Nohar
frowned, ears going flat. “Where did you hear that?” he asked and then turned.
The cat behind the counter busied herself looking elsewhere. Her ears were
rotated in their direction though.

“No,”
Nohar said, finally turning. “I finish what I start,” he growled, looking at
the human.

“Good,”
Magnum said, slapping his knees as he got to his feet. “Cause we've got work to
do. Jack was a busy boy this morning,” he said.

“Don't
tell me...” Nohar sighed. Magnum nodded.

“Shit.”

“I'll
take you there,” Magnum said opening the lobby door for him.

“From
PI to doorman, a step up,” Nohar replied.

“Shut
up and get in the car,” Magnum sighed.

...*...*...*...*...

They
pulled up to a 3 ring circus of human police, fire, and ambulance workers.
“Survivor?” Nohar asked as they landed.

“No,
Major killing, 4 cheetahs killed, all adults,” Draskin said, maneuvering through
the crowd to get to them. “The last died ten minutes ago, but before he did he
reported a lion did the killing.”

Nohar
scented the air. Above and beyond the human and mechanical scents he could
smell that cheap cologne and one other thing. “Heat.”

“Huh? It
hasn't started yet.”

“No,
the cheetah, One was female, and she was in heat. I'm betting the 3 others were
males, all competing for her affection. They were probably fighting, fighting
so much they didn't recognize the danger.”

“How...”

“I've
been around the block a few times Draskin,” Nohar sighed. “If the males were
flooded with hormones their fore-brains would be useless. All they would care
about is getting laid.”

“Ah, so
it's like that with you too. I'd wondered. I've got a teen at home,” Draskin
replied with a snort. “If I've even got a home, I haven't been there except to
change my shirt in a week. Wife might of tossed out my shit by now,” he
muttered.

“Sucks
to be you Bobby boy,” Magnum replied.

“Yeah
well, I may end up bunking with you when this is over, so keep that in mind
Tommy,” Draskin retorted. Magnum snorted.

Nohar
picked his way through the crowd with them in tow. He ignored their banter,
more interested in the new crime scene. It was a savage killing, the skulls
were crushed, throats ripped out or also crushed. From the look of it the
killer had killed the female first while the males were bickering. Then he'd
hunted down the 3 cheetah, who apparently hadn't gotten it through their
hormone soaked heads that they were being hunted until it was probably too
late. Hell, they may have even kept squabbling after the initial attack!

He
sighed, hunched down, looking at the scene.

“They
were the last of the cheetah in the area, possibly the last on the planet,”
Draskin said, coming over and hunching down beside him. Nohar felt a little
pity over that, but then shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it after
all.

“Anything?”
Draskin asked.

“Just a
lot of anger. I'm wondering though, did the target draw the killer in or the
scent.”

“Scent?”

“The
scent of a female in heat. Prostitutes love it,” Nohar said. “It draws males in
like flies, they'll pay a fortune to bed a female in heat. Desperation market,”
he replied.

“Oh,”
Draskin replied.

“Search
party out?” Nohar asked, looking around.

“Ayup,
and I've got people on the roof tops, in the sewer, and in the crowds. We'll
get him.”

“I
think he's too smart. He's not going to try it again the arrogant bastard.”

“That
he is,” Draskin sighed.

...*...*...*...*...

Surprisingly,
there weren't any killings for the rest of the day and the next night. “Could
be because the moons are full,” Magnum replied.

“Usually
that draws them out, not drives them in.”

“Yeah,
but a full moon means more light, which means the vics can see better. Besides,
people are a lot more wary about being out at night.”

“Think
he'll go door to door next?” Magnum asked.

Draskin
made a face. “You would ask that,” he sighed, going to the bank of phones in
his precinct.

...*...*...*...*...

Another
night slipped by, then another. For a full week no sign of the killer, no
reports of missing persons, dead quiet. “He's a Neo,” Nohar reminded them. “He
can go for a week or even two without food. If he's even still around.”

“Yeah
well, we've got to do something,” Magnum replied.

“We
are,” the detective replied. “The chief has talked to the mayor, he finally got
his Eminence to agree to let us go into Morey town. If he's there we'll flush
him out. We're talking full court press. I'm setting up beaters and I'm putting
men in the tunnels and in every escape route to catch him if he tries to run.

“If
he's even there.”

“Someone's
got to know something. They may even be hiding him.”

"Jack?
No," Nohar growled, "far from it. Remember, he preyed on them first.
" "When is this going down?” he asked.

“Today,”
Draskin informed Nohar and Magnum that the chief was going into Morey town to
tear it apart under the assumption that the Neo's were hiding Jack. Nohar
wasn't so sure, the bastard could be dead, they might of lynched him. He
pointed that out, and then asked for a head start to look. “Look Draskin,
they'll clam up if you pinks go in there with your guns and riot shields. Let
me try it my way first.”

“Um...”

“It's
gotten us closer than anything else,” Magnum said.

“No
humans, just me, just hang back. I might get some intel, I might get some
help.”

“Flush
him out.”

“Actually,
I'm hoping they solved the problem for us,” O'shee said. “I know we'd all like
to do the job ourselves, but if someone else did, I'm not going to wring my
hands. I'll buy them a case of beer and drown my sorrows in a hell of a party
as we turn the bastard's hide into a rug to dance on,” the human growled.

“Go,”
Draskin said, nodding his chin. “One hour, maybe two, two is pushing things
though.”

“On
it,” Nohar replied, moving out quickly.

...*...*...*...*...

Nohar
went back to Morey town. It was in an uproar. Dogs were patrolling in armed
packs. He bore hostile looks. He tried to talk, but no one wanted to do so,
doors were slammed in his face. Finally he rounded on a pug, picking her up and
plopping her down onto a table with a squeal. “Look, I'm here to help!” he
growled, letting go.

“Some
help!” the pug said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Did you cut me? Am I
bleeding?” she asked.

“No,
you're fine,” he said, fighting his exasperation. He heard a noise behind him
and pulled Matilda out and held it at his side. The noises stopped. He turned
enough to see a group of Neodogs were standing there holding broom handles and
baseball bats. One had a chain.

“Think
you're so tough with that gun?” the Dobie with the chain asked.

“I'll
get to you in a minute,” Nohar growled. He pulled out his badge and shoved it
under the nose of the pug. The little Neodog's eyes went cross eyed looking at
it. He turned and showed it to the gang. Then he turned to the gang that had
thought they were sneaking up on him from behind and showed that to them. “This
makes me brave. I'm trying to get you to talk. The next step is the cops come
and tear this place apart. They are gearing up to do that right now. Right
fracken now, you've got an hour, maybe less. So start talking.”

“Like
what?”

“Jack
you moron,” the pug said, wiping at her jowls. “He mean's Jack.”

“I
don't know Jack shit,” the Dalmatian joked, laughing.

“Yuck
it up smart ass, this Jack character is for real. Now that he's gone from cats
to otters, who do you think is next on his menu?”  the pug demanded.

“Right,”
Nohar said turning to all of them. “And none of you are interested in stopping
this bastard.”

“Hey I
am,” the Dalmatian said, holding up a hand paw. “I'm in the volunteer fire
department, I've heard some of the crap. But no one knows anything.”

“Bullshit,”
Nohar growled. “Neolion, black mane, purple highlights. Big bastard, in his
prime. Muscles. Stinks of human cologne right now, that's a new thing.”

“Saw a
guy like that,” a Rottweiler said in the back. He shouldered his way through
the crowd. Others parted to let him come through. “Yesterday, got on a train
headed North,” he said. “Stunk too, that cheap shit the humans like.”

“The
men's cologne? The one they say drives women wild?” the pug asked. “Yeah,” she
said as Nohar turned to her. “I smelled it too. Most of us hate that crap so I
was wondering why someone would wear it.”

“See?
Was that so hard?” Nohar demanded. “This bastard is killing cubs. He started
with cats, but he's moving on. But if like you said he's headed out of town...”

“Then
it's someone else's problem,” The Rottweiler said with a shrug.

“Yeah,
and they won't see him coming until the bodies start piling up,” Nohar growled
bitterly. “Any idea what train?” he asked, pulling a credit coin out and
tossing it to the rot.

“Keep
your money,” the rot said, tossing it back. “No, just a Northern one, we always
get hobos and the like hopping the trains. The conductors will chase him off,”
he said with a shrug.

“Unless
he
eats
the damn conductor,” Nohar growled. That got the dogs in an
uproar. Their ears were all flat, eyes wide. Nohar nodded. “That's right, he
eats
his prey. Some of them, some he tears apart. He prefers cubs, soft and juicy.
You all know about that, you all know how we Neo's feel about it, how the
humans do.”

There
was a low soft growl that answered that. “Yeah,” the Doberman said.

“He's
been doing this for years here, right under your noses. How many of your
puppies have gone missing? One? Two? Ten? Think about that. Think about this
bastard hunting them down, eating them, toying with them.”

“He's a
freak,” the pug said. She took the credit coin from Nohar's hand and tucked it
into her pocket. “So?”

“So,
the humans are scared of us as it is. Some see this and they'll be down on us
even more than they were before. Can they trust us? We're different. Now we're
going nuts, killing. No one is safe. Which means the next thing is the torches
and the guns and the screams of a lynch mob,” Nohar supplied.

The
dogs flinched at that. An old deer hound looked over to a bloodhound. Both
shrugged. “What can we do to help?” The bloodhound asked in a deep bass voice.

“Get
with the humans. The cops, a few want dogs on the case, you've got a better
sense of smell than a human and you don't quit when the going gets tough. We'll
search this city. He uses the sewers too. Anyone know them?” Nohar asked. A
hand was raised. “Good, if he got on the train he's gone, but if he made a show
of getting on it and then off nearby and doubled back like he's done before...”

“We'll
find him,” the bloodhound growled. He lifted his muzzle and barked a hunting
call. Other dogs answered.

“Yes,
let's do that,” Nohar growled.

...*...*...*...*...

Nohar
brought the posse to the temporary police base in the garden. The cops were
unsure of the dogs, but Nohar quickly explained each would help find the cat.
He took Draskin, O'shee, and Magnum aside and warned them that he had a tip
that the bastard may have hopped a train north.