“Alright. Thank you,” she said, feeling something was needed. She nodded to Girard, and then headed out of the room, past the director, to where the floor-to-ceiling window had been left open, finding that there was a fire escape outside leading to the ground.
Not wanting to risk looking back and being overcome with the urge to turn around and smack Mel, Hallie made herself head down the stairs and around the corner of the building, heading for the street where Girard had parked the car. There was a row of black vans there, doors open, which must have been brought by the tac team and director. Various members of Commander Rojas’ team were securing the five would-be attackers into the vans, ready for transport. Keeping them as separate as possible, Hallie noted, and approved.
She also noted that the activity had drawn the attention of what seemed to be the whole neighbourhood and her skin prickled with more humiliation as she headed for the car. Even though the director’s tone had been calm, she still felt as if she’dbeen dismissed under suspicion, Mel’s accusations hanging in the air around her. She didn’t look around until she was inside the car, and with the bare shield of the windscreen to protect her, looked at the gathered crowds while she started the engine. Ordinary people, drawn to something extraordinary in their neighbourhood.Hochlenwere a rare sight here, and guns were banned.
Movement at the edge of the crowd caught her attention. A man, dressed in ordinary clothes - an old leather jacket and jeans - was slipping out of the back of the crowd. That wasn’t what caught Hallie’s attention. It was the sense that she had seen him before. Somewhere. Then she shook her head. Between her work in low city and the travelling that she and Girard had done, she had come across hundreds, if not thousands, of different faces. She was bound to come across the same one now and then, or similar features. She flinched internally as she imagined Mel’s reaction if she went after a face in a crowd. So she put the car in gear and drove away, letting her body sink into the comfortable seat.
It was only when she was threading her way through the narrow streets of low city, heading for the boundary with midtown, that she realised she’d never driven herself to the investigators’ offices before and had no real idea where she was going.
She pulled over at a convenient point and called up the car’s navigation system, hoping that the offices might be programmed in. Just as she was about to press the button to start the journey, movement in the back seat of the car startled her. She looked around, gasping, and saw Zurine Halinburn straighten up, a handgun steady as it was pointed straight at Hallie.
Zurine’s voice was as steady as her hand as she met Hallie’s eyes. “I’ve lived that cover for over ten years and you and your boy toy managed to destroy it all in one morning. We’re going tohave a talk, you and I, and you’re going to tell me who betrayed me. Now, drive.”
Chapter eighteen
Halliethoughtsheshouldprobably be both surprised and frightened. She had no idea how the forger had got into the locked car, and Zurine had already proved herself willing and able to use the gun. Perhaps because of the events of the past twenty-four hours, which had included family drama, a lot of uncomfortable realisations about where she no longer fit, and another armed attack, all Hallie could manage was a sort of dull curiosity. So, rather than thinking of ways to defend herself, Hallie met the forger’s eyes and asked for practical guidance. “Where do you want to go?”
“There’s a row of workshop units on the edge of midtown. There’s a fancy green sign at the entrance.”
“I know it.”
“Drive to the last unit,” Zurine said, and sat back in her seat. She kept the gun low and out of sight of anyone who might have walked past. In the way of most town cars, the back windowswere tinted so it was unlikely anyone would have seen her anyway.
“Alright.” Hallie put the car in drive and kept going. Some part of her thought she should have refused Zurine’s demand, or come up with a clever scheme to trap the forger in the back of the car while Hallie made an escape and called the tac team for backup. But she wasn’t inclined to do that. The woman had sought her out, rather than running away and making a clean break, and Hallie found she was more curious than anything else, the fatigue lifting a little as she drove. Besides, neither she nor thezauberwere in a fit state for another fight right now.
“After you left, five armed and masked people arrived at the shop,” Hallie said in a conversational tone, eyes flicking to the rear-view mirror to judge Zurine’s reaction. “Any ideas about that?”
“Nothing to do with me,” Zurine responded. There was irritation in her voice, but she was telling the truth. “I assumed they came with you?”
“No. They tried to kill us.” And would have succeeded if Hallie hadn’t been carrying thezauberand hadn’t been able to use its magic and her own. She shivered. She should be used to close calls, but she still wasn’t used to firearms and shooting.
“And yet here you are. You held out long enough for the tactical team to get there,” Zurine said. There was what sounded like grudging admiration in her voice. “They were fast, but not faster than bullets. And impressive. Descending from a helicopter like that? I’ve never seen anything like it outside a screen.”
“Oh, did they have a helicopter? I was wondering how they got there so fast,” Hallie said. She’d seen the tac team rappelling down from helicopters at least a couple of times now. It was impressive. She must have been unconscious when they arrived. She was sorry she’d missed it.
“What, were you deaf? The whole city heard the helicopter.” And there was the irritation again.
Zurine had said she’d lived that cover for over ten years. Hallie supposed she would find it very difficult to explain why armed attackers and then the entire tactical unit of the Conclave Investigators had descended on her dress shop.
“I suppose you have a new identity lined up and ready to go,” Hallie said. It wasn’t a question. She was absolutely sure of it. Zurine would most likely have at least a couple of alternative identities waiting for her somewhere around the city, along with other resources to help her on her way. Cash. Clothes. A clean set of electronics with no trace back to her. Or at least that was what Hallie would have done in her place, with the forger’s abilities and resources. Taking another glance in the rear-view mirror, Hallie found she was glad that none of the skips she’d been sent after had been able to afford a fake identity from Zurine, or they might have left the city before Hallie had been able to find them.
The green sign appeared ahead, a dull olive green with curly writing in fake brass, and Hallie slowed the car, made the turn.
Even if she hadn’t felt the slight bump in the road as they crossed from low city into midtown, Hallie would have known they were in midtown by the buildings around them. There was a series of small workshop units, each not much bigger than a double garage. Suitable for use for hobbies or tinkering with a project but not big enough, not really, to run a commercial business. Each unit was set back from the access road with parking for at least two cars in front. A few of the units had vehicles out front. Sleek town cars like the one Hallie was driving.
She kept going until they reached the last unit, then pulled in to park. Years of long practice as a skip tracer made her turn the car around, nose pointing out, ready to drive away quickly if needed. That done, she turned off the engine and lookedaround. There was nothing around the units apart from a stretch of land with scruffy, low-growing plants leading to the backs of a few warehouses, so no chance of casual passing traffic or of being overlooked. Hallie could see why Zurine had chosen the spot. Glancing back at the unit she approved of that, too. It was extremely ordinary. Apart from a letter F painted in the same green as the sign to one side of the roller door at the front, there was no other identifying mark on the outside.
“We’ll go around the side,” Zurine said. “Get out of the car.”
Muffling a groan at the effort of moving her still-tired body, Hallie got out of the car and, at the wave of Zurine’s gun, headed around the side of the building. The forger apparently hadn’t noticed Hallie’s own weapon yet, mostly concealed by Hallie’s jacket. Not that it would do her much good - she had seen how fast and accurate a shot Zurine was.
When they reached the side of the building, Zurine held out a plain metal key for Hallie to open the single door.
Hallie wasn’t sure what to expect from the inside of one of the forger’s safe spaces, but what she found was an almost empty work area. As well as a leather sofa, an upright armchair and a side table, looking very out of place against the plain walls and bare concrete floor, there was a floor-standing storage chest with a motorbike sitting to one side. It looked far more rugged than the ones Hallie had seen on city streets, with fat tyres and what looked like containers hanging either side of the back wheel and sitting on the back, behind the rider’s seat. Hallie was surprised for a moment, but then reflected that it made sense. A motorbike could go a lot of places that a car couldn’t. It would be easier to transport and conceal. So it was quite practical, overall, as long as the rider didn’t have too much baggage.
Zurine moved across to the chairs. “Come, sit. I have questions.”
“As do I,” Hallie countered. That earned her a sour, sideways glance.
