Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Hallie thought she should probably 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 windows were 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 the zauber were 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 the zauber and 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 looked around.
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.
“Are you always this calm when someone points a gun at you?”
“Not really. But it’s been a pretty rough couple of days and I’m tired. Besides, I wanted to talk to you, so here we are.”
“Your day has been rough?” Zurine’s eyebrows twitched. “Did the armed men come and shoot up your home, too?”
“Not quite,” Hallie said. She eyed the sofa before she decided she would be better off sitting in the armchair.
The sofa looked like it would be comfortable and was more than long enough to stretch out and sleep on, and Hallie needed to stay awake.
The armchair held her upright as she sat back in it and watched as Zurine moved across to the storage cabinet, coming back to the chairs with a bottle and two glasses.
“Bit early for a drink, isn’t it?” Hallie commented as Zurine set the glasses down, pulled the stopper out of the bottle with her teeth and poured two generous measures. She nudged one towards Hallie and took the second glass with her to the sofa, setting the gun on the cushion beside her.
“I’ve lost my home and my livelihood in one morning,” Zurine commented, temper flaring as she glared at Hallie. “I need a drink.”
Hallie tilted her head, ignoring the glass for the moment. As she’d observed earlier, the forger was a master liar. And a lot of her emotions were completely genuine. But there was something else there. Something in her voice and the way she’d nudged the glass towards Hallie.
“Truth serum?” Hallie asked, noticing that Zurine had swallowed half the contents of her glass in one go. Perhaps she’d really needed the drink, or perhaps she was trying to prove to Hallie that the liquid really was safe.
Zurine went perfectly still. It was only for a moment, but long enough to confirm Hallie’s guess that there was something in the drink. Or the glass.
“I got given a truth serum a while back. Couple of months ago, I think. It didn’t go well. Had a really bad reaction to it,” Hallie said in her best light, chatty tone.
“It’s not a truth serum, and the drink is clear,” Zurine snapped. She sighed, got up and headed back to the cabinet, coming back with a different glass. “There’s a mild sedative on the glass. Just enough to relax you a bit. But, here, this one is clean.” She held out the fresh glass.
Because she was telling the truth, Hallie accepted the new glass and poured a small measure of the liquid, taking a cautious sip as Zurine sat down again. Her brows lifted at the smooth, smoky flavour. “This is the good stuff.”
“It really is.” Zurine topped off her glass and levelled a very direct stare at Hallie. “You’re not what I expected. Talbot, was it? Hm.” Zurine’s eyes narrowed and her gaze travelled over Hallie. “I’d heard of a Hallie Talbot. Skip tracer with an unblemished record. That you?”
“That’s me,” Hallie confirmed. She set the glass down. She believed that it was not doctored with anything, but she was still recovering from the use of magic.