Authors: C S Winchester
“
And you're who he wants; I'm hardly going to offer you up on a platter to him, am I?”
“
Don't be reckless, Frankie. This is my fight, not yours.”
“
Like it or not, this is my job, Dante, and I intend to do it to the best of my ability.”
“
Which includes using all the resources you have, right? Well I'm the best resource you have.”
Frankie couldn't help but smile at his arrogance.
“
I hate to dent your ego, Dante, but you are not the best resource I have right now.”
“
Oh really? I'd love to know which resource is stronger, faster and smarter than me?”
“
Well right now, it's the Midlothian police force.”
“
You mean Will?” he sounded offended and Frankie smiled.
“
Yes, I mean, Will.”
“
What can he do for you that I can't?”
“
Check the news, you'll see what I mean,” she said, smiling.
“
Yeah, well... I'm still better looking.”
“
Goodbye, Dante,” Frankie said, hanging up.
Will watched the exchange with interest noting how, although she still looked tried, her smiles were more heartfelt. Will had no chance of ever having a relationship with Frankie as her gift made physical contact with other people painful, so it was churlish to be jealous of Dante. But still, couldn't she fall for something that didn't suck blood to survive?
She was still smiling as D.C. Taylor ran over.
“
We've got a tip,” he said, breathless as he reached them. “Three calls put him in the Clermiston Road area, one saw him entering a vacant plot behind the zoo. Back-up is on the way; meet them there.”
“
Tell them to keep a low profile,” Will ordered as he ran to the driver's side of the car. “No sirens and take their own cars if possible; I don't want the press getting a hold of this and following us into the mix. And they don't make a move until I get there,” he called “Got that?”
“
Got it,” Taylor nodded and ran back to the communications van.
Will and Frankie got into the car and headed towards the exit. Frankie kept her head bowed as they passed the TV vans so that no one could recognise her, and the officers on the gate did their best to clear the press out of their way.
“
Do you know where this place is?” Will asked.
“
I think so. There's an abandoned nuclear shelter there; that's probably where we're headed.”
“
There's a nuclear bunker in Edinburgh?”
“
Yeah, they had places like that all over the country, in every major metropolitan city, but they haven't been a secret for years now. I think this one has been badly vandalised over the years.”
Though unmarked, Will's car came equipped with lights and a siren that he turned on once they joined the main road, heading back to the Edinburgh by-pass.
“
I thought you said no sirens?” Frankie noted.
“
We're the other side of town; it'll take us forever to get close if I don't use them.”
Frankie didn't argue. She considered calling Dante, but she knew that he would only do something stupid and get himself hurt if he knew where Pietro was, so she decided against it.
“
Your men won't know what they're facing,” Frankie told Will. “You can't send them in there.”
“
I know,” he agreed.
“
They can't protect themselves against magic.”
“
I know.”
“
They'll be sitting ducks.”
“
I know!” he snapped.
“
All right, sorry,” she placated him. Will rarely lost his temper. “So... Can I ask what you're going to tell them?”
“
You can ask.” His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the steering wheel.
“
So?”
“
I don't know,” he admitted. “Can't you order them to stay out? Take over the investigation or something?”
“
If you want,” she sounded surprised. “But it'll take me a few minutes to get the authorisations in place.”
“
Why are you offering me a choice?” Will asked as he glanced at her.
Frankie shrugged in reply.
“
Come on, Frankie, MI5 aren't known for their diplomacy; what's going on?”
“
First of all, we don't want our name on this if we can help it...”
“
And second of all?”
Frankie swallowed but didn't answer immediately.
“
Frankie?”
“
I don't want to overrule you in front of your colleagues, okay?” she snapped.
“
That's... very considerate of you,” he said, meaning it.
“
Look, I'm new to this whole friendship thing, okay?” She looked uncomfortable. “I'm not too sure what the limits are.”
“
Choice is always good,” Will smiled.
“
So what's your answer?” she asked.
“
I'll handle it,” he assured her.
Frankie was doubtful but she didn't question him any further.
As they approached Clermiston Road, Will turned the siren off. Two minutes later he turned right as Frankie pointed to a narrow access road, which was blocked about twenty feet in by a barrier. There was a parking area before the barrier, with half a dozen other vehicles already parked, that Will pulled into. As soon as he got out, the officers in the other cars did too.
“
Status?” Will asked.
A uniformed officer stepped forward.
“
We've got a problem, Sir, the building is badly fire-damaged and full of asbestos.”
“
What are you saying?” Will asked.
“
We can't go in until we have protective breathing gear. Its on it's way now.”
“
How long?” Will asked.
“
Twenty minutes,”
Will was actually relieved.
“
Fine, you wait here, Ms. Wright and I are going to scout the area.”
“
Sir?”
“
Wait here,” Will ordered. “Don't venture further in until I return, got it?”
“
Yes, Sir.”
The officers all stared as Frankie and Will walked along the access road. They were silent until they had rounded the corner and were out of sight.
“
That's it,” Frankie said as the buildings came into sight.
All Will could see was some graffitied one-story structures.
“
It's underground?” he guessed.
“
Yup. Do you still have those chains on?”
Will nodded and held his wrists out for her to see the chains there.
“
All of them?” she asked.
“
Yes.”
Frankie stopped as they neared an entrance, through which she could see a long flight of stairs leading down.
“
You don't have to come,” she assured him, pausing just outside.
“
I'm coming.”
“
There is asbestos down there,” she reminded him.
“
I'm still coming.”
Frankie considered arguing with him but decided that it would only be a waste of time.
“
Okay.” She stepped towards the opening.
“
Wait.” Will grabbed her arm. “I'm the one who's protected against magic, maybe you should stay out here.”
“
His spell didn't work on me, remember?”
“
Maybe, but that doesn't mean that no spell will work on you.”
“
I'm going.”
Will didn't argue, knowing that it would be futile, so side by side they headed down the steps into the bunker.
Chapter Nineteen
As they reached the bottom, they realised that there was no natural light. While they still had light from the entrance, Frankie raided her handbag and brought out a small maglight.
“
Don't suppose you have a spare in there?” Will whispered.
“
Sorry,” she answered, handing him the torch. He went to turn it on but Frankie stopped him saying, “Wait.”
She closed her eyes and stretched out with her mind.
“
Someone's here,” she said softly. “They're about a hundred metres away and down a few floors.”
They proceeded on in silence along a corridor. The floors were littered with debris and holes making the journey treacherous. They tried to be as quiet as they could, but making some noise was unavoidable.
Will shon the light on the floor in front of them and into each room that they passed. The paint on the walls was peeling and they were badly soot-stained, water-damaged and graffitied, giving the place an even creepier feel than it had naturally, if that was possible.
They found some stairs and headed down, pausing on each floor so that Frankie could see if Pietro was on that level. Finally she nodded; this was the right level. She reached up and whispered in his ear.
“
I'll let you know when we're close, then I'll need you to hood the torch light.”
Will nodded his understanding and Frankie withdrew her gun from her purse.
They proceeded carefully and as quietly as possible. There was lots of massive machinery on this level left from the cold war era, including generators and an air filtration system. There was less debris down here but the floor was still riddled with holes, possibly where air ducts or pipes had once passed through.
After about seventy paces, Frankie touched Will's arm and he hooded the light with his fingers, giving them just enough light to see immediately in front of them. It was unavoidable that they would be discovered really, since any light in this darkness would be visible and just as they could make out a faint glow from what looked like candle light from one of the doors ahead, Pietro could surely see their torch light.
Though she still couldn't see him, Frankie heard him begin to chant.
“
What's he saying?” Will asked.
“
I don't know, I can't speak Italian,” she snapped. They hurried closer as quickly as they dared, Will no longer bothering to try and shield the torch light.
They both felt the wave of power wash over them, but while it caused Frankie to stagger back a step, it didn't knock either of them down.
“
Witchcraft?” Will asked.
“
Yeah.”
They heard a roar of anger followed by more frantic chanting, and quickened their pace as much as they dared. Seconds later Frankie grabbed her head and groaned in pain.
“
What's wrong?”
“
It's him,” she answered, pushing through the pain and continuing on.
“
You okay?” he asked, worried about her.
“
I'm fine,” she said through clenched teeth.
Will kept pace with her and they carried on towards their target. Another shout came from the room and what sounded like Italian profanities. The voice soon died away though, and they slowed their pace as they neared the door, expecting an attack. The doorway wouldn't allow two through at a time so using hand signals, Frankie managed to convey to Will that he was to shine the torch into the room as she stepped in. Her headache seemed to have gone, and she placed her bag on the floor so that she could hold the gun in both hands.
Will held the torch high over Frankie's head as she crouched in the doorway, her gun aimed into the room as she looked around. The candle light was just enough to see by but it also left deep shadows, which Will tried to shine the torch onto. Still, Pietro wasn't revealed and they had no choice but to step into the room and search it.
The room seemed to have been cleaned a little, with its debris piled up against the walls. There were also a lot of new boxes around the room, which Frankie assumed was Pietro's equipment.
She kept low as she entered and Will shone the light wherever she looked, unfortunately it wasn't enough. Pietro must have circled around one of the piles of boxes and came at Will from behind, striking him over the head. He fell to the floor and the torch went clattering out of his hand, going out as it hit the concrete floor.
Frankie turned just as Pietro said “Oscurità,” causing the candle flames to extinguish, plunging the room into pitch darkness. He struck her gun hand, and she felt the weapon fall from her grasp and heard it slide across the floor. She considered looking for it, but she knew that didn't stand a chance of finding it without any light.