22. CHAPTER #2
It wasn’t just because of his nail either. After so long working with monsters, he could see the subtle signs that gave them away. Some were a little too quick, too graceful, and others moved in strange, unnatural angles as if they were actively struggling to keep their hidden forms at bay.
That gave Indy a moment of pause, thinking about the drug that could be out there right now.
What kind of panic would that create?
In a crowd like this?
Mr. Heiss led them over toward the bar where there was a bit of space, waiting for Azazel to join them before demanding, “Where are Tanze and Underwood?”
“They’re here.” Azazel glanced around the crowd. “Well, they said they were. Told me they were already—”
“Right here,” Underwood’s voice cut in, the rest of him materializing from nothing to appear beside Azazel.
Azazel flinched. “Oh, hey.”
Tanze popped up on the other side of Underwood, cozying right up to him. “We’re here, boss. Don’t worry. Came through the back door to do a little digging around.”
Indy grinned.
“And?” Mr. Heiss prompted.
“Pretty big space, but only three ways in or out,” Tanze replied. “Got the front, the door we came through, and one more that’s warded up. The offices upstairs and a few doors down here are warded to the teeth too. Will definitely set off an alarm if we break them.”
“Why not let me try, hmm?” Gammy’s disembodied voice asked. “I am quite handy with such things! Also. Ghost. I could have a little peek inside and see if anyone is hiding in there!”
“See?” Indy beamed. “Aren’t you glad she came?”
“Fine.” Mr. Heiss gritted his teeth. “Go ahead, madam. The office first. But please. Be quick.”
“Aye-aye, sir!” Gammy hummed to herself, the sound fading as she headed off.
“You three. Search the rest of the club,” Mr. Heiss ordered. “If Nyp or Mr. Mitternacht are hiding here somewhere, I want them found and alert me immediately. Do not engage. Tell me first. Do you understand?”
Tanze did not seem pleased, no doubt eager for some payback, but he nodded. “Yes, boss.”
“Yes, boss,” Azazel said dutifully. “Don’t worry. We’ll find ’em.”
“Go.” Mr. Heiss jerked his head. “Now.”
Azazel slipped off into the crowd with Tanze and Underwood following behind him. They split up and then vanished from sight.
“So.” Indy bounced on his heels. “Wanna dance?”
Mr. Heiss scoffed. “I am searching for a potential murderer, very likely about to raid an illegal club, and you want to dance?”
“Yeah!”
“No.” Mr. Heiss shook his head. “The only reason I’m here and not with them is that you have a terrible habit of getting into trouble when I’m not around.”
“That’s never happened.”
“It’s happened twice.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.” Indy looked out over the throng of dancing bodies. “You know, we could just pull the fire alarm.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you guys don’t want to scare anyone with potential monster shenanigans, right? And there are a lot of humans here too. Why not just pull the alarm and get everyone out? Only bad guys would stay behind to see who pulled the alarm.”
“No. We wait.”
“And how long before they realize that we’re here snooping around? This place is big, but it’s not that big.”
“The fire alarm would alert the authorities. The family has police connections, but the last thing we need is to further complicate this. Even if I could stop them from coming to investigate, everyone here would still get on their cell phones to whore themselves out to social media since they can’t even take a shit without letting the world know.
They’d post and teet or whatever the hell it is they do and create a panic so that the police would have to come anyway, and there are already enough humans here. ”
“Aw! Good job.”
Mr. Heiss blinked. “What?”
“You said humans and not flesh bags or blood sacks or whatever. You’ve grown.”
Mr. Heiss sighed loudly.
“Hey!” Gammy’s voice returned, and she briefly appeared. “It’s me.”
“Who else would it be?”
“Shush, demon.” Gammy became visible enough to wag her finger at him. “Do not tick me off after what I went through to help you! That entire room reeks of salt and lots of other anti-ghost type things!”
“So! Find anything, Gammy?” Indy prompted.
“I just opened the door!” Gammy snorted. “I didn’t exactly stick around to snoop. But I can confirm the office is empty, so it should be safe for you two to go take a peek while I work on the other doors down here!”
“Great! Yay!” Indy hooked his arm with Mr. Heiss’s. “Shall we?”
Mr. Heiss tensed but slowly nodded. “Fine. Easier to keep an eye on you if you stay with me.” He squeezed Indy’s arm and then headed toward the stairs that led up to the second level.
As they ascended, Indy glanced around and spotted a glimmer of Gammy headed to a door across from the bar. It was guarded by a big bouncer, but of course he couldn’t see the ghost about to break in.
Which did make Indy wonder.
“Why aren’t there any guards up here?” Indy asked.
“Pardon?” Mr. Heiss followed Indy’s gaze. “Huh.”
The upstairs had a black-and-white checkered floor, and some of the hardware markings that had been painted over on the walls appeared to mimic the shape of booths.
It was likely it had once been a dining area, though the bulk of it had been walled off to create a private space with a single door leading inside.
There was absolutely no one here.
“Perhaps they thought the wards would be enough to deter anyone from exploring,” Mr. Heiss suggested as they approached the door. “Or, more likely, they are busy guarding more important things.”
“Like scary drugs to turn monsters into humans?”
“It is possible.” Mr. Heiss opened the door and then let go of Indy’s arm so he could step through first. His human disguise flickered briefly, a hint of the fiery crown between his horns visible, though the immediate cause was unclear.
He didn’t appear distressed at least. Once he seemed confident it was safe, he waved for Indy to join him.
It was a cramped waiting area with fake plants and vinyl chairs, and there was another door that led into an office with a big desk covered in thick stacks of paper and walls lined with filing cabinets. The door had been left wide open, perhaps from Gammy.
Mr. Heiss approached the desk to rifle through the papers.
Indy tried one of the filing cabinets, but it was locked. The next two were as well, so he gave up and leaned against the wall. “So.” He popped his tongue. “This is boring.”
“What were you expecting?” Mr. Heiss snorted. “More dead bodies?”
“I don’t know! But something other than watching you shuffle papers.”
“Patience, Sonnenschein.” Mr. Heiss paused halfway through the first stack. “This might be… something.”
“What?”
Mr. Heiss pushed a few papers over toward Indy. “See for yourself.”
“Okie dokie.” Indy picked up the papers, finding several diagrams of fancy-looking jewelry and handwritten notes.
The papers appeared to be color copies of much older texts, judging by the crinkling and faint yellowing around the edges. They were difficult to read, but the second page had a picture of a ring Indy recognized immediately because it was the very one on his finger.
“Oh. My. God. This is the thing! My ring!” Indy shook the papers.
“Indeed.”
“So, wait.” Indy squinted as he flipped to the next page.
“The Reliquary. Okay, that’s Neil and Lou’s doodad that is now two doodads.
” He flipped again. “The His… Hiss something. Oh! Has a kitty! That’s Seymour’s.
” He paused on the following page that showed a thick ring set with three small discs arranged in a triangle, each embedded with bits of turquoise.
One disc appeared badly dented, which was strange given its small size. “Conchos de…Tríada? What is that?”
“I believe it’s Spanish,” Mr. Heiss said without looking up.
“Ha ha.” Indy wiggled the paper. “It’s another ring! Another Artifact thing.”
“I’m aware.”
“But concho is a type of belt. Not a ring. This wizard is stupid.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know should I ever meet him.”
Indy flipped to the next paper, mimicking Mr. Heiss loudly.
He paused when he saw two more new pieces of jewelry.
“The Ossuary. Looks like some sort of BDSM collar. Hot.” He did his best to decipher the scribbling.
“A repository for the something something dead. Huh? Oh, that sounds so fun.” He turned the paper as he tried to make out the description of a delicately carved white cuff with gold accents beside it.
“Must be accompanied by the… Chrysel, Chrystal—what?”
“Chryselephantine cuff.”
“Cuck?”
“Cuff.” Mr. Heiss did look up at that. “It’s cuff.”
“It says cuck.”
“No, it does not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen the original documents these were copied from.” Mr. Heiss huffed and rolled his eyes. “It’s from a human witch who was very knowledgeable about the wizard’s work.”
“Was?”
“He’s supposed to be dead.” Mr. Heiss shrugged. “A bit odd considering he’s the one who gave you the ring.”
“Wait.” Indy had to shake his brain around to remember. “The old guy? Clancy?”
“Yes.”
“He was definitely not dead. I know dead.” Indy frowned, not liking the curious expression on Mr. Heiss’s face. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me something?”
“Because I’m not.”
“Spill, bitch. Come on.”
“Clancy is Seymour’s father.”
“What?” Indy gasped. “Does Seymour know?”
“Seymour thinks he’s dead. Obviously your interaction voids that assumption.”
“Jesus.” Indy whipped out his phone. “You are such an asshole.”
Mr. Heiss turned toward Indy. “And what do you think you’re doing now?”
“Uh, telling my new friend that his father is not dead?”
Mr. Heiss gently put his hand over Indy’s screen. “And what proof do you have to offer him? What evidence do you have?”
Indy stared. “My eyeballs?”
“Do you not think it would be more upsetting to be told your father is suddenly alive with no proof and zero explanation?” Mr. Heiss reached back to the desk for more papers to show Indy. “Some of this involves a funeral home. The very one that buried Mr. Madison.”
“How do you know that?”