All Hell Breaks Loose (26 page)

Gabi could see the pride shining through as he winked at his sister.

“I was never a black hat,” Trish said a little defensively.

“But you did dabble in the grey,” he noted.

The talk about hats was going over Gabi’s head, and it must have shown on her face, as Derek smiled and said, “Black hats are hackers who go in to destroy data or maliciously crash systems.  You also get white hats, who generally test systems non-maliciously, or hack in to gain experience or for their own amusement. 
Grey’s walk a thin line between the other two.”
  His expression dared Trish to contradict him, but she didn’t.  “So why are you so excited about Trish being a hacker?” he asked, turning his attention back to Gabi.

“You won’t believe how hard Julius is looking for someone who knows their way around the back alleys of the internet.  This is like a godsend.”

Gabi explained about the group looking for information on
Werewolves
.  She didn’t go into details; she didn’t want to scare them just yet.

“There are always things like this that Julius needs an expert for.  I’ll make sure he pays well,” she assured Trish.

“Why would a Vampire care what happens to
Werewolves
, though?”
Trish looked mystified.

“Julius employs nearly a quarter of the
Werewolf
population of the City.  They are his security force, as well as staff for his many businesses,” she explained.  “Vampires need to stay hidden as much as
Werewolves
and
even more than Shifters and Magi.  If
Werewolves
were ever ‘
outed
’, it’s almost certain that Vampires would be too, so they work hard to ensure
Weres
aren’t discovered either.”

“Wow,” Trish said, a little in awe.  “It’s almost impossible to conceive such a huge supernatural movement can be going on right under our…uh, humans’…noses.  It’s like a whole other universe or dimension.”

Derek nodded agreement, but Gabi just smiled.  She didn’t know what it was like to not know these things, she’d been a part of both worlds her entire life.

“So,” she said to Trish, “are you up for it?”

Trish paused, looking a little nervous.

“Don’t worry,” Gabi said.  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.  I promise you there will be no pressure.  If you think it’s too dangerous, you can walk away.  If anyone tells you otherwise, tell them to fuck off, Hellcat is your BFF.”

Laughter bubbled up Trish’s chest.  “Yeah, okay,” she agreed, grinning.  “I think I’ll be safe if I can claim that.”

Julius was pleased to see her, the pleasure strong enough for her to feel through their fragile psychic connection.  His elation at finding a hacker living in their midst was even greater than hers, so much so that a small alarm bell chimed in the back of Gabi’s mind.  He immediately sent Maximilian to set up an office for her in one of the rooms in Hawthorn House, telling him to get Trish to write down her requirements for a computer so it could be ordered immediately.  As the steward marched off to do as he was told, Gabi stepped close to Julius and poked him in the chest.

“You make sure you look after her,” she warned him.  “I’ve told her you’ll pay well, and if she feels uncomfortable about doing something you’ve asked her to, she doesn’t have to do it.”  She poked him in the chest a couple more times to make her point.

He captured the offending finger and kissed the tip of it, amusement twinkling in his sapphire eyes.  “Yes, your ladyship,” he replied with feigned subservience.

“Make it clear she is under my protection,” Gabi commanded regally.

“Of course, my Lady,” he agreed.  “No one would dare to upset a friend of the great Angeli Morte.”

Gabi narrowed her eyes.  “Good,” she told him with a mock growl.  “And now that’s settled, assign me my
babysitter,
I have to go to work.”

His jaw muscles twitched as he held back a smile.  “Marcello will be waiting at the Mustang,” he told her.  “I’d appreciate it if you could bring him back in one piece.”  He hadn’t released her hand yet, and he laid a cool kiss on her palm.  A delicious shudder ran down Gabi’s spine.  “I’ll be here when you get back.  I’ve ordered in extra tequila.”

Oh, that just wasn’t playing fair.  Hunger for his touch, his mouth, the feel of his body rolled through her as his tongue made a lazy swipe across her wrist.  She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest before she lost her tiny thread of control and threw herself at him.

“See you later,” she managed to say, turning and walking away with a sultry sway of her hips.

He watched her go with dark, hungry eyes.

The moment she was gone, the desire was replaced by cold determination.  He pulled out his phone and re-read the information.  His informant in Europe had finally come through.  He typed back a short response and then left the main house, heading for Hawthorn House.  He needed to find out if Trish cared as much about Gabi as Gabi did about her. 
And whether Trish could keep a secret.

With Marcello in the passenger seat, there wasn’t much pressure on Gabi to make conversation.  The Italian Vampire was easy-going and chatty and effortlessly filled any silence with amusing, snarky conversation.  He made Gabi laugh as he waxed lyrical about the staff on the Estate, spilling the beans on the loves, hates, feuds and petty jealousies.  Gabi hadn’t realised how much the Clan was like a real-life soap opera. She learned some secrets she wasn’t sure she actually wanted to be privy to.

When they arrived at the rendezvous point, the other members of the patrol found Marcello easier to accept than the loud, hulking presence of Fergus.  Kyle and Marcello did the whole brothers’-in-arms, hand-shake greeting thing that made Gabi shake her head.  There were three other
Werewolves
and an extra Vampire in the team tonight, as well as the Capture team.  The other Vampire was
Tabari
,
a Vampire Gabi had met a few times.  He was of black African descent, something of a rarity in the Vampire world, and he had the unusual ability to make Gabi uncomfortable.  This was bizarre given the fact that she found his ethic accent comfortingly familiar after her months spent in South Africa working to rehabilitate lions.  She swallowed down her uneasiness and concentrated on the mission for the evening.  The rain had eased off for the moment, but she didn’t doubt it would be back soon.

“Right,” Gabi addressed the team.  “Tonight we’re going to split into two teams with the van staying somewhere in between us.  This is a particularly vulnerable area, so there’s a good chance we’re going to run into our
rogues
tonight.  HQ has their eyes on the street cams, but so far the
rogues
have been careful to avoid those.  This area has very few security cameras, so it’s considered a prime target. 
Tabari
, you’ll be with Kyle’s group.  Marcello, you’re with me.  I need a
volunteer to drive one of the cars, so that we have back-up in case our suited friends show up on wheels.”

One of the
Werewolves
stepped forward.  “I’ve done a bit of street racing in my time.”  He looked like he’d been in a couple of gang fights in his time, too.  A cigarette hung casually between his forefinger and thumb, and the body armour looked incompatible with his street thug attire and attitude.

“And you are?” Gabi asked

“They call me Butch,” he drawled with a slow grin.

Gabi only just managed to not roll her eyes.  “What car are you driving, Butch?” Gabi challenged.

“A fast one,” he
answered,
all cocky male arrogance.

That was fine with Gabi; it meant she didn’t have to let anyone else behind the wheel of her Mustang.

“Fine, you’re driving, but
your
driving skills had better match your ego,” she warned.  His confidence didn’t waver.  “You two split up one on either team,” she said to the other two
Werewolves
.  “Whatever happens, if bullets start flying, get your exposed body parts behind some kind of protection.  Don’t forget these guys were packing silver the last time we met. Everyone knows this is a no-kill
mission,
keep your dart guns ready.  Keep out of sight as much as possible, and keep your ears open for suspicious noises.”

A ripple of acknowledgement washed through the gathered men.

“Let’s go.”

It was easier to move unnoticed with a small team.  Gabi didn’t send Marcello up to roof level.  The area was home to a number of high-rise apartment buildings, the roofs too high to make overhead surveillance feasible.  The rain started up again, as she’d predicted. 
At first a soft, misty drizzle, but within minutes, the sky opened, and the raindrops came down large and hard enough to sting.
  Icy fingers of water trickled down the back of Gabi’s neck and soaked into her clothing, visibility was reduced to a few metres at best.  Scent was down to almost zero, and sound was all but obliterated by the pounding of fat water drops onto roofs, sidewalks and parked cars.  Gabi adjusted her collar and pulled her sleeve lower, trying to protect her dart gun and grip from the worst of the rain.  The trio moved steadily, keeping to the shadows, checking alleys and side streets as they progressed down the first road.  They were almost at the end of their designated area when Gabi felt the familiar prickle at the back of her neck.  At first she wrote it off as reaction to the cold and a nasty encounter with an overflowing gutter, but the feeling grew stronger as they neared the major crossroad that signalled the edge of their search area.

She brought the other two to a halt with a quick hand gesture; they were immediately on guard.  Gabi drew them into the relative shelter of a bakery entranceway and touched her comlink to activate the microphone.

“Kyle,” she called in a low voice, wiping water from her face.

“What’s up?”  Kyle’s equally quiet response seemed to come from inside
her own
skull.  She wondered if she’d ever get used to the sensation.

“Our watcher is back,” she said as she threw out her Vamp sense to try to pinpoint the presence.  “And this time it’s feeling kind of malevolent.”

“Anything else?”
Kyle asked.  “Where is it?  What is it?”

“I’m trying,” Gabi gritted out.  “If I had to make a guess, I’d say Magus and close.  Close enough that it knows we’re here.”

“Damn.  Do you think we can draw it out?” Kyle said.

“Guys,” another voice broke into the conversation, “there’s something going on in a side alley next to the Rosewood Heights.”  It was Ross, the driver of the van.  Gabi was already moving in the direction of the apartment block, the watcher forgotten for the moment.

“How many entrances to the alley?”
Gabi demanded.

“Only one open entrance to the street,”
came
Ross’s prompt reply.  “But the wall at the far end is scalable for a
Were
or Vamp, and there is a door into the basement parking garage, though technically you need an access key.”

Gabi was impressed by his instant knowledge until she remembered that the Rosewood was home to a fair number of prostitutes.

“How far are you, Wolf?” Gabi asked.

“Nearly there,” Kyle replied, his breathing heavier.

“We’re closer to the rear of the building.  We’ll cover that, you got the main entrance,” she decided.

“Gotcha,” he agreed.

The tall silhouette of the apartment block with its haphazard assortment of lit and unlit windows came into view as Gabi and her team rounded a corner.  They sped towards the small block of shops that backed onto the apartment block.  A side alley led to a parking area at the rear of the shops, where a ten-foot wall separated the two properties.  The roar of a car engine and the squeal of tyres was the only warning they had as a black sedan lunged towards them out of the parking lot.  Gabi hurled herself sideways, hitting the side of the building hard enough to knock the air out of her chest.  She heard a dull thump as the speeding car passed close enough to knock the dart gun out of her hand with a wing mirror.

“Fuck,” she growled, as her right hand went instantly numb.

“Gabi, what’s…shit.”  Kyle’s voice broke off.

Marcello was suddenly at her side, holding the dart gun out to her.  Miraculously it was in one piece.  A pained groan echoed from across the alley.

“Damn, Ben,” Gabi cursed, realising the thump had been the car hitting the
Werewolf
. 
“Marcello, that car.
  See where it’s heading,” she ordered.  “Butch, we have a runner, I need you on Oak Street. 
Now!”
  She rushed to check on Ben.  He was groaning and writhing, a good sign.  “Kyle, what’s happening?”

“Another victim,” he replied, “not looking good.  No sign of the
rogues
.”

“Yeah, they just hurtled out of here in a car,” Gabi said, quickly checking Ben over.  “Marcello and I are going after them with Butch.  Send someone to see to Ben.  He’s down but stable.”