Luminous (6 page)

“You never answered my question about whey they called you ‘Detective Fixit’.”

He glanced over at her, scowling. “Because I hate the name. I solved a few cases that people didn’t think could be solved, is all. Now people think I’m some kind of damn miracle worker.”

She was getting to like his scowl. “Isn’t it good that people think you’re a smart detective?”

“Suddenly, anything weird or strange and I’m called in, like I’m a show pony for the mayor and the press. And if I screw up, they’ll have no problem throwing me to the wolves. If you were at the bank, watching, you saw how popular I am in the department.”

“Is the police department really as corrupt as it seems?”

“Worse.”

“Why do it, then? It seems a thankless job.”

“Leslie thanked me just now.” He turned down a side street and into the warehouse district.

“You weren’t thinking of being thanked when you tackled that guy.”

“No, I was thinking that idiot was going to cause me a hell of a lot of paperwork, especially if I shot him,” he said. “Still, some will be on my desk in the morning, no doubt, along with the hospital security report.”

Liar, liar, she thought. She was chasing Jack because it was personal. What drove Al? Why would a smart, attractive guy who was still young—despite his claim about being near forty, he acted young—do this with his life?

“How long you been a cop?”

“About fifteen years. Since right out of college.”

“Why?” she asked again.

He shrugged. “The city was a mess even then. I thought, hell, why not? Maybe I could fix it. My dad was a fed. So there was an example already in my house.”

He slowed down as they drew closer to their destination.

“Did it work out like you planned?”

He snorted. “Does anything ever work out as planned?”

“You made it to detective.”

“Yeah.” He killed the headlights and slowed the vehicle down to five miles per hour.

“You can’t make this old beat-up car invisible,” she said.

“There’s no sense announcing our presence. If something is going on, that could get us dead fast.” He sighed. “I shouldn’t be bringing you to a stakeout.”

“It’s not like I gave you a choice.” She shook her head. “I’ve been avoiding being caught for a long time now. I’m good at it. Look how I snuck into your place.”

Al grunted, and she couldn’t interpret that one way or another. At first glance, he had seemed rumpled and a little soft around the edges. That was until he’d lifted the desk at the bank and tackled the guy at the ER. The guy was formidable. So why appear so rumpled and why not color the strands of gray in his hair and why make jokes about being near forty? All that made him appear lesser, though maybe the gray added some authority.

She bet Lieutenant Aloysius James liked being underestimated. It gave him an edge. In this city, Noir was learning that you took what edge you could get.

Al turned the car slowly to the right as they reached the warehouse of what she assumed was Dixon Supplies, Inc.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll go look around.”

“I didn’t come all this way to sit in the car.”

“Look, I can’t be responsible for—”

“I can sneak around a lot better than you.”

“And I can shoot back better than you.” He tapped the gun at his waist. “Noir, you’ve been through hell, that’s clear. But you’re an amateur. You came to me because you wanted a cop, a detective who could find Jack. So sit back and let me do my damn job.”

“You might be dead if I didn’t help at the ER.”

“And I might get dead if you make a mistake while trying to be a cop.”

She shrugged. “Fine.” No sense arguing when she’d do what she wanted anyway.

“Good.”

He closed the car door without making a noise and went around the corner to look at the loading docks.

She wasn’t going to sit here meekly in the car, but it was easier to apologize than ask permission. It wasn’t like Al would see her following him. Besides, she wanted to get inside that warehouse and look around.

It was too dangerous for Al to get into the warehouse, especially without police backup. But it wasn’t at all dangerous for someone who couldn’t be seen.

She tossed her hat in the backseat. Soon, her clothes joined the hat. The last to come off were her boots. She left those on the floor of the passenger seat. She placed her cape over the leather in back. Now it just looked like an old coat, not someone’s discarded clothing.

She stretched.
Freedom.
Wearing the pants and T-shirt all the time didn’t bother her, but if she never wore the gloves and mesh mask again, it would be too soon.

She took her cue from Al and got out of the car without making any noise. The blacktop felt hard, an unyielding ground under her feet, but at least it was a decent temperature. Usually, blacktop was too hot or too cold. She could get to like fall. Autumn weather wasn’t as extreme, especially important if you had to walk around naked half the time.

Noir crept around the corner, careful to stay far away from Al. She straightened as she put distance between them. She could see men loading boxes into the trailer of an eighteen-wheeler parked at the loading dock on the far side. She’d no idea if they were doing something illegal or not, but she couldn’t fault Al for being so careful.

She strode toward the truck, her only precaution to tread lightly. As she got closer, she realized why Al was right to stay hidden.

The workers were all armed. Handguns peeked out from the tops of their jeans. A man with a machine gun watched over the operation, clearly designated as a lookout.

It was beginning to look like she and Al were going to get lucky tonight. They’d found the source of Jill’s medical supplies.

Wait, just because they were doing something illegal, it didn’t necessarily follow that it involved Jill. Noir had to look inside the warehouse for something that would point to where this shipment was going.

She walked up the concrete steps to the top of the loading dock. She was only five feet from the man with the machine gun. He frowned and looked around, at one point staring right at her, but settled down in a moment.

Dumbass.

Though Noir did have to admit that invisible people didn’t grow on trees, so the guy could hardly be faulted for not realizing someone invisible was watching him. In the first week after her escape, she’d been so unused to her invisibility herself that she had instinctively expected people to notice her, as they always had.

The reality of her situation had finally sunk in on day eight of her freedom. She’d almost been run down by a car whose driver obviously had no idea she was in the crosswalk. That had been the first time she’d glowed. She’d been terrified, had thrown up her hands in a futile defense, and a huge light seemed to burst out of her chest. The driver had hit the brakes and the oncoming car had skidded sideways. She’d no idea what inside her caused the light, but it had saved her life.

She still didn’t know what it was, but at least she was getting used to glowing sometimes. Despite what she’d told Al, she wasn’t sure if her power had worked in the ER earlier because she was scared of the knife or because she’d been scared for Al.

She sidestepped the lookout and stopped to listen to the workers. After a minute or two, she shook her head, disappointed. They weren’t talking except to give each other directions on how to load some of the heavier boxes. A very taciturn bunch. The guard did keep glancing over to the warehouse, which only cemented her need to go inside and look around.

She walked into the darkness of the cavernous place and toward a thin strip of light coming from a room on the far right side.

The concrete of the warehouse floor was colder than outside. She fought a shiver. Being naked had its drawbacks. Too bad her ability didn’t affect clothing, like in the superhero stories.

The voices became clearer and more distinct as she slipped past the packed cases and made it to the open door. For a moment, she hid behind one of the packing crates until she reminded herself that, light or not, they would never see her. Some habits died hard.

She walked until she could see right into the room. Two people were talking. One was a tall, well-built man wearing jeans and a work shirt.

The second one was Jill.

From his hiding place, Al cursed the workers, the lookout with the machine gun and Noir, though not necessarily in that order. Did she think he didn’t know she’d slipped by him?

He’d watched the lookout turn at something he heard. Al had an advantage over the lookout. He knew there was an invisible person walking around. But Noir had no idea what she was getting into. There could be more guards inside.

Or maybe she knew but she didn’t give a damn. Well, he did.

He crept to the edge of the loading dock and ran to a closer dock in a crouch. He stopped for a moment to collect his breath. So far, so good. He felt down to his ankle and double-checked that his second weapon was ready and available. Then he felt in his back pocket for his switchblade. Also there. Excellent.

Cops weren’t supposed to be this well-armed. Screw that. He knew plenty who carried automatic rifles in their cars. In fact, there was a shotgun in the trunk of his car, but Al hadn’t bothered to bring that. Hard to hide when running with a shotgun.

He heard footsteps. He used those as the signal to get even closer, running in a crouch again. Now he was just one dock away from the truck being loaded.

He stayed low, trying to go by sound. No sense sticking his head up and getting it shot off. The footsteps stopped. He heard a woman’s voice.

“Is all ready?” she asked.

“Done,” was the reply.

“Great.”

Al heard the crinkling of paper.

“Here is your pay,” the woman said.

“Damn, there’s something that looks like blood on this bill,” said one.

Money from the bank, Al thought. My God, could this woman be Jill? That would be one lucky break. Now, just where the hell was Noir? Had she been hurt inside or was she still watching and waiting for something?

“You want the cash or not?” the woman snapped.

“Lewis, get over it. You’ve been paid. Now leave.”

“Right,” the first man said.

“Now, give me the truck keys and—”

The woman’s voice was cut off by a scream. Al looked over the edge of the concrete loading dock.

The woman was flailing around, reaching for something around her neck. Something invisible.

Noir.

Jill—she must be the woman—jammed her foot down on the concrete. No, not the concrete because the foot stopped about an inch from the floor.

“Get off, you freak,” Jill screamed, and fell forward.

Al aimed his gun. He didn’t want to fire without knowing where Noir was. He could be aiming directly at Jill and still hit Noir.

Dammit, get out of there!

“What the hell is wrong with you, lady?” the lookout yelled.

“Give me that!” Jill grabbed the machine gun from the lookout, turned and started firing all around her. The workers hit the deck.

Al heard a muffled cry of pain and saw a splash of blood off to the right, near the entrance to the warehouse.
Noir!
He fired at Jill, three shots in quick succession. Jill ducked inside the trailer. Al couldn’t tell if he’d hit her. Right now, he didn’t care. Noir was more important.

He ran forward, firing at the truck. The lookout and the other men jumped inside the cab as the rig started pulling out. He was going to lose them unless he ran back to his car and started in hot pursuit.

And leave Noir hurt? Screw that.

He leapt up to the loading dock, looking in the area where he’d seen the splash of blood. “Noir? Where the hell are you?”

“Here.”

The voice was a harsh whisper. It was enough for him to find her. As he drew closer to the wall, he saw a trail of dark crimson.

He knelt down. “Where are you shot?”

“Leg,” her voice rasped out.

He took off his tie. “Guide my hand to it.”

He felt the fingers close around his wrist. He let her guide his hand to the spot. He wrapped his tie around what he sensed was the origin of the blood. “Where is this on your leg?”

“Calf, fleshy part,” she whispered.

“Is that better?”

“Yeah.”

He felt up her leg until he reached her knee. Then he curled his other hand around her torso and lifted her up. She was surprisingly light. He felt her head fall against his shoulder. “Hang on. I’m taking you to Leslie.”

“No! We have to go after Jill.”

“We’re outnumbered and you’re injured. I’m calling this in as soon as I get to the car.”

“Oh.” He felt her shiver.

He rushed to the car, praying that all the guards had gone with the truck. They had to get out of here fast, especially if someone in the warehouse came after them. As he ran, he felt the edges of Noir’s breast under his hand. He swallowed, not sure whether to apologize or not mention it. For all he knew, she’d passed out. He looked down to her leg. His tie was blood-soaked but nothing was seeping out. Maybe she was lucky. Maybe it had just hit muscle.