Chrono Inquisitor (Gods Be Damned) (10 page)

Once again she looked like she was going to say yes, but then hesitated.

“How about this,” I said. “I have some business to wrap up in town which will probably take a few hours. You have until I leave to make a decision. Here’s my C-link.”

I raised my hand; thumb, index, and middle fingers up, the others down. She mirrored me and we touched fingers, swapping C-links.

“I’ll give you a tickle as I’m leaving town,” I said. “Or, if you decide sooner, give me one.”

She nodded and smiled.

Damn, that’s a smile I could get used to, I thought.

I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there until she said yes, but I knew I needed to give her some alone time to think about my offer.

“Is there a stylist on the premises?” I asked. “I could use a shave and a cut.”

“Of course.”

She led me to the barber, and then with a slightly awkward farewell, we parted ways. Hopefully not for good.

I decided to keep the beard, so I only had it shaped and trimmed. I actually liked the new hair length as well, so I kept it, but had it stylized.

Feeling like a new man, which in some ways I was, I decided I needed some new clothes. The ones I’d had on had been ruined with blood. The Peach Pit had provided me with replacements, but they weren’t up to my everyday standards. My vault had been cleaned, as much as it could be anyway. It had withstood the fight, but after years of use, it was showing signs of wear.

Being a full-service rejuvenation facility, the Peach Pit also had a tailor. Since Paxton had saved my life, I figured I’d buy the man some, better clothes as well. Besides, he needed some if he was still going to help me out in Texas.

I went to the lobby. As soon as Paxton saw me he jumped to his feet and ran towards me like a kid who’d been waiting for his father to return from war.

“Fucking A,” Paxton said. “I was beginning to think you’d died. It’s been almost three hours since that lifeguard said you’d be done.” Pausing for a once over, he said with a hint of surprise, “Damn man, you look good.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself, but how about we make you look even better?”

I could tell he’d already had a shave and a cut. He looked almost as he had last time I’d seen him, except his hair was nicer. Stylized by a professional.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“A new wardrobe. It’s the least I can do since you saved my life.”

“Well, I did feel sort of obligated,” he said. “In a way it was my fault what happened. Those guys were there for me.”

“So who were they?”

While we got fitted for some new threads Paxton filled me in on what he knew.

As it turned out, Paxton had made a deal with the devil. Not
the
devil, of course. That was ridiculous. But the devil of Pueblo, Derrik Van Horne - the crime lord, business magnate, basically the uncrowned king of the city. By most accounts, Paxton’s among them, this devil incarnate was an all-around likable and charitable guy. So long as you saw things
his
way, and did what you were told.

While Paxton hadn’t turned to Corruption, he had turned to Van Horne for a loan to pay his premiums. In return, in order to pay off his debts, Paxton had somewhat reluctantly become part of the man’s gang – AKA the Demon Legion.

The one I’d nicknamed Gravel voice, AKA the Easter Bunny, was Varun ‘Give’m Hell’ Naraka. Angel voice, AKA the Tooth Fairy, had been Torrance ‘Old Man’ Olham. The Maelstrom Moron, was Simon ‘the Dagger’ Dabney. Paxton had never thought that man too bright and he’d been right. Paxton hadn’t seen the man I’d shot, so he wasn’t sure exactly who he was. As for the sniper, it was most likely Walter ‘Longshot’ Lachlan, but he’d apparently disappeared after Paxton got ahold of Give’m Hell’s sniper rifle.

Longshot had left the pod they’d rode in on, so once Paxton felt it was safe, he’d dragged me to it, and took us to the nearest Lifeguard facility.

“Where can I find this, Van Horne?” I asked.

“Why the hell would you want to do that?

“To show him that you don’t fuck with a reaper. I figure since he paid me a visit, I’ll drop in and say hi.”

“I don’t think you really
wanna do that,” Paxton said. “Not after we killed a couple of his men.”

“That’s even more of a reason to do so. We’ve already wounded him, now we need to go for the kill.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. He has a lot more men than those bumbling idiots, and now he’s going to be ready for us.”

“Look, I’ll take you with me, but if this Van Horne is as powerful as you say, what makes you think he won’t find you. And if not you, what about your ex and your son? You think he won’t go after them to get to you, because I would.”

“Oh, shit!” Paxton said. “Longshot’s probably already reported back to Van Horne, and if that’s the case, fuck! Damn it! I was so concerned about what was going to happen to you, I didn’t think about my own damn family. Fuck!”

I put a hand on Paxton’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m going to settle this. I promise, I won’t let anything happen to them.”

With some new attire, and feeling like a million creds, which I better be looking and feeling like, considering that’s what I’d just spent, I was ready to show this devil that the reaper is king.

I was about to ask Kali what the status on my
pad was, when I felt a tickle. I immediately answered the call.

‹“
Hannah, I knew you’d come around.”›

‹“
Hannah?”› Frank said. ‹“Who’s Hannah?”›

Damn.

‹“Never mind, it was a mistake.”›

‹“Are you all right? I got word that your pip was destroyed and that you were undergoing a baptism.”›

‹“I’m fine. But yeah, my pip is toast.”›

‹“What the hell happened?”›

‹“Answer this first, is this assignment legit?”›

‹“What do you mean?”›

‹“Come on, Frank, don’t play games with me. You can’t seriously think I’m that stupid. Sending me to a hotel where Sam is going to be, come on?”›

Knowing Frank’s propensity for long conversations, I motioned for Paxton to follow me. Realizing that I was starving, and that Paxton probably was as well, I lead us to an eatery a few shops down inside the Peach Pit.

‹“All right, all right,”› Frank said. ‹“You got me. Loosen your belt a few notches before you cut off circulation to both your heads. I did know that Sam was going to be at the resort. It was Henry’s idea. When he found out about the Beit case, and that Sam was going to be at the Regency for this conference, well, he thought it’d be a good idea to assign you. You know Henry, he’s a hopeless romantic. He thought getting you and Sam together in a romantic setting, well, you get the idea. For the record, I was against it. But you know Henry, once he’s got a scheme worked out, he’ll swap heaven and hell to make it happen. It’s how he hooked me, remember?”›

So I was being set up,
and
the case was legit. Shit.

‹“I still can’t believe you’d go along with it”› I said. ‹“You say this is a real case, a big fucking one at that, and yet you were planning to send me in blind. With Sam there? What did you think was going to happen? My cover would get blown in two seconds.”›

‹“I was thinking you could go as yourself, under the guise of reconciliation.”›

‹“Are you kidding me. Reconciliation? Sam and I are through. We haven’t spoken since the divorce. It’s been almost nine years. No way would she believe that I was there to win her back. Not to mention it’d be a lie and she’d see right through it. I like my life now. I get to do
whom and whatever I want, when I want. Being married, it’s insane these days. No offense.”›

‹“Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t want to go. I’ll pull you off the case.”›

‹“Stop screwing me over. I’m taking the case. That’s my bounty, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some two bit ass-clown steal it out from under me. I’ll be at the Regency come tomorrow.”›

‹“Why tomorrow? You can still get there tonight.”›

‹“You want to know what happened?”›

I told Frank the whole story, and how I was going to teach Van Horne that you don’t fuck with Inquisitors.

‹“Don’t worry about this Van Horne fella. Look, you just head on over to Texas and I’ll have the Four Horsemen pay this guy a visit.”›

‹“Thanks, but no thanks. I need to do this myself. If I can’t handle this guy, I might as well hang up my badge.”›

‹“You don’t have a badge anymore, remember, it nearly got you killed.”›

‹“Ha, ha. Everyone’s a fucking comedian today.”›

‹“Speaking of which, how’s your uncle?”›

Of course Frank would stir the ‘things I wanted to ignore they existed’ pot some more.

‹“I don’t know,”› I said. ‹“I haven’t spoken to him in quite some time.”›

‹“Really?
”›

‹“Yeah, really.”›

‹“I just thought that since the two of you are only like an hour away at the moment, you’d have spoken to him.”›

‹“I was thinking of seeing him, but, well, every time we talk, he brings up my mother.”›

‹“You could use some therapy Trav. She’s been dead, what, twenty years?”›

‹“Twenty-two.”›

‹“Exactly. It’s not good to hold a grudge for so long.”›

‹“Again, what do I need Sam or any wife for when I’ve got you.”›

‹“You sure I can’t convince you to let the Horsemen handle Van Horne? You could go see your uncle and then make your way to Texas.”›

‹“For the last time, this guy is mine.”›

‹“Heaven forbid you and Henry ever conspire together. There’d be no stopping you two.”›

‹“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever want to set some one up.”›

‹“Well, since it seems I can’t change your mind, I’ll let you get to whatever it is you’re going to do. Just do me a favor, don’t get yourself killed. I hate funerals.”›

‹“What are you talking about. You can’t kill the reaper, he kills you.”›

‹“Okay, keep me in the know.”›

‹“Will do.”›

Frank ended the call. Paxton and I finished our meals. I’d ordered a veg-stew and seed salad. The stew was pretty good.

Kali had regained control of the
pad and sent it to the local ChronoGen service station for a complete diagnostic, and to have the security systems upgraded. Before we’d finished our meal, I’d instructed Kali to bring my pad to us.

Finally ready to leave, Paxton and I exited the Peach Pit, and found ourselves blocked in by a sea of Human Purity fanatics, waving signs about blasphemy, abominations, and sin.

So much for avoiding these zealots.

“Are you happy?” Frank asked. “I told you he wasn’t E3.”

The cyborg in white shook his head. “His innocence has yet to be proven.”

“You can’t be serious,” Frank said. “His vehicle was sabotaged, just like the others. He nearly died.”

“Exactly,” The red cyborg said. “He
nearly
died. While on the other hand, the other Inquisitors you assigned to the case are dead. I find it disturbing that the one believed to be a Conspirator, is the only one who just so happened to have survived.”

“You heard what happened, if it wasn’t for that gang attacking him, he would have died in the explosion.”

“It’s a good cover story,” the black armored cyborg said.

“Cover story?” Frank responded vehemently.

“Yes,” the white one said. “How do we know that he isn’t responsible for the deaths of the other Inquisitors? He could have tipped off his co-conspirators, found out who else you assigned to the case, and had them eliminated. Inquisitor Yan isn’t stupid, I’ll give him that. He probably realized suspicion would fall on him so he staged his own attack.”

“Yeah,” said the cyborg in red. “Look at Yan’s response when we suggested you send us to deal with Van Horne. He refused, said he’d take care of it himself. Seems to me he doesn’t want us finding out the truth.”

“Hey,” the Black Horseman, Famine, said. “Let’s not forget, he even tried to get out of the assignment.”