Then the little redhead appeared, with a cricket bat.
She swung it as hard as she could and it hit the back of Hawkins’ head with solid crack. Hawkins went down, taking Erin with him. Dev was left pointing the gun at nothing.
“Fucker,” the girl muttered, then dropped the bat and staggered away. Her pupils were pinpoints, eyes glazed over. A tourniquet was still wrapped loosely around one arm. She bounced into a wall and fell to her knees, seemingly unaware of it.
“Dev,” Erin called. “Help me get him up.”
Dev shook his head, then put the gun away. He grabbed Hawkins under his arms and, wrists screaming, hauled the unconscious man off Erin. She scrambled to her feet, making sure her gun was holstered.
“We have to get him out of here before the cops arrive.”
“Is that smart? Shouldn’t he be restrained?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “He’ll be fine when he wakes up. Hopefully. Besides, if the cops get him, it’ll be bad for him.”
“Might be worse for everyone else if they don’t.” But Dev gritted his teeth and pulled Hawkins into a fireman’s carry.
Erin led him to the front door. “Take him to the office. I’ll stay and talk with the cops, then met you there.”
“Wouldn’t home be better for him?”
Something like worry flashed through her eyes. “Not right now.” She pulled out her keys and gave him the ones for her office. Her hands shook so hard the keys jangled. “Just hurry.”
He really shouldn’t be a part of this. It wasn’t why he was here, and yet Dev found himself taking Hawkins out the front and to the Mustang. There were people gathering on the sidewalk and they snapped photos on their phones as he shoved Hawkins into the backseat. That could be a problem. No, scratch that. It was a problem.
Getting behind the wheel, Dev took a moment to trigger a tick he hadn’t used in a long time.
“Umeme mapigo.”
The cascade burned down paths long dormant. Dev’s head felt like it was caught in a clamp. The weight of the wind tricks and now this one, unpractised for a long time and always hard on the tissues, dragged on his spine.
Outside, the gathered folks looked around, perplexed as the hair stood up on their arms and necks.
A moment later, out of a perfectly blue sky, lightning crashed into the ground behind the house. Sparks flew from the power lines along the street. The booming clap of instant thunder shuddered the old building and had people falling over in shock.
Before they could recover, Dev turned the car on and slammed it into reverse. The tyres spun on the grass, caught traction and they rocketed backwards. People scattered. On the road, Dev spun the wheel, put the car in drive and peeled out of there.
He left behind a crowd of stunned, quivering witnesses holding a heap of dead phones, all electrical devices wiped by the EMP accompanying the lightning.
Dev took random corners, avoiding any hint of flashing lights he caught sight of. In the back seat, Hawkins rolled back and forth but was otherwise unresponsive. Maybe the girl had cracked his skull.
Thoroughly lost after twenty minutes, and frowning from thinking ‘left side, left side’ constantly, Dev pulled over and took several deep breaths. He’d have to remember to call Aurum and thank him for a lovely recommendation. When he got a new cell phone, that was.
Hoping the car had escaped the worst of the EMP, he turned on the satnav system and found it working. A minute later, he started for Erin’s office.
Hawkins was partially awake when Dev found a park outside the office building. Wrists aching, Dev helped him out of the car. The man was still mostly out of it, barely able to stand on his own and mumbling about his head. Dev excused him to a few passers-by by saying he was drunk.
“Am not,” Hawkins slurred, helping Dev’s cause.
In the lift, Hawkins fell over and Dev just had him upright when the doors opened on the twelfth floor. They staggered to the office, gathering concerned questions and raised eyebrows as they went. Hawkins again slithered to the floor while Dev unlocked the door. Sick of picking him up, Dev grabbed a handful of his shirt and dragged him into the office.
A furious but muffled chattering greeted them.
In Erin’s office, a small brown and black object bounced around madly, jumping across the furniture in frantic circles.
Then something hit Dev and he went crashing into the wall. Hawkins grunted and rolled away as a body shoved by him, disappearing before Dev got a clear look. It did, however, leave a trail of terribly familiar sorcery.
Dev raced out after the earth sorcerer, but he had no chance, even if he wasn’t lightheaded and sore. The door to the stairwell was already banging shut when Dev swung out into the hallway.
“What was that?” a shocked man asked, looking from the door to Dev and back again.
“No idea,” Dev muttered, then retreated back into the office.
How had the earth sorcerer tracked them here?
On the floor, Hawkins moaned and Dev sighed. Of course. Hawkins was one of the players here. The local community would know him, where to find him, who he had contact with. Here might not be as good as Erin thought.
But the sorcerer had run rather than fight. As he had the day before. Surely if he wanted to get Dev off his trail, now would have been the perfect time to do it. Walking in unaware, tired from hard tricks, he had been vulnerable. So why pass it up?
Dev managed to get Hawkins on the couch and scrounged together an icepack from the small fridge under the table with the coffee machine. He made Hawkins hold it to the back of his own head, then went to look into Erin’s inner office.
The monkey had calmed down, bouncing on the back of a chair, tail curling and uncurling. It chittered away, all but wringing its little hands in worry. Seeing him watching it, it bounded over to the glass wall between them and stood up, pressing against the glass, hands reaching for him, wanting to be picked up like a toddler.
Dev tried to ignore the big round eyes, but found himself hunting for a key to fit the connecting door. When he got it unlocked, the monkey rushed out and bounded up his leg, over his arm and to his shoulder. It gripped his head and chattered frantically.
“Yeah, me too,” Dev muttered.
The monkey tensed. Then, with a squeal it leaped off him and raced across the room. It bounded onto the couch and dove down between Hawkins and the backrest, burrowing itself in until only its tail was visible. A little hand appeared and grabbed the tail, pulling it down until it too was gone.
“Finally,” Hawkins moaned.
“Finally what?” Dev asked, relieved the man was regaining his sense.
“Someone finally likes me more than they do you.”
Dev snorted. “Just remember it eats fleas and throws its own faeces.”
“Quality qualities.” He shifted and apologised when the monkey squeaked in protest. “Shit, my head really hurts.”
“I think you got hit for six.”
Hawkins looked up, one eyebrow raised, then lowered with a wince. “Huh?”
“That little redhead hit you with a cricket bat.”
“You know cricket?”
“Spent some time in the West Indies. Hard to avoid it.” Dev sat in the other chair. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone belted me with a cricket bat.” Hawkins let his head drop back to the cushion, but gently. He shifted the icepack and sighed. “What happened?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Um, the storage unit. I read my file and… didn’t like it. That’s it.”
Sitting back, Dev wondered how much he should reveal. It might be best if Hawkins didn’t know exactly what he’d done.
Hawkins opened his eyes and they were calm. “Just tell me. Trust me, unless I killed someone, I’ve done worse.”
Dev hesitated and Hawkins tensed.
“I don’t know if anyone died,” Dev said quietly. “I had to get you out of there before I got a full report.”
Struggling to sit up, Hawkins muttered, “I have to find out.”
“No, you have to lie down,” Dev insisted, reaching over to hold him down. He went far too easily. “Erin will let us know.”
“Fuck. Erin was there?”
“She’s the only reason you’re here now. Though she had every right to leave you there to hang.” It was out before Dev could stop it, before he’d even comprehended the thought itself.
From the look in his wide, still dazed eyes, Hawkins knew exactly the direction of Dev’s unintentional jab, if not the full details. “Ah shit.”
The monkey chirruped and popped its head up. Seeing Dev, it hissed and grabbed at Hawkins.
“Not now, dear,” he muttered, gently pushing the monkey off him. “Did the cops get involved?”
“Yeah. Erin said she’d talk to them.”
Hawkins stared at the ceiling for a while, then said, “Tell me everything.”
Dev did. The only thing he left out was bringing Lana’s and Hawkins’ files with him.
“God. That little redhead,” Hawkins moaned. “She barely looked strong enough to pick up a bat, let alone swing one that hard.”
“She was high as a kite.”
“Speaking of,” Hawkins muttered and tried to sit up again. “I think Erin keeps drugs here.”
“I’m not sure you should have anythin’ right now.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m a paramedic. Well, I was. Then I had an accident and they wouldn’t have me back. Then I went to prison and they really wouldn’t have me back after that. Then I met Mercy and things just went off the scales whacky then. Did you get those drugs yet? No ibuprofen, just paracetamol.”
“Stay there,” Dev said and got up.
He felt guilty for going through the drawers of Erin’s desk. A couple were locked and he guessed anything sensitive would be in them. There were no drugs in any of them, likewise the sideboard. Coming back to the front office, Hawkins waved him to the reception desk.
“Ivan will have some, definitely.”
He did and Dev delivered four Panadol into Hawkins’ hand and held a bottle of water for him. Hawkins swallowed the pills with a couple of moans and drank half the bottle in one go. All the while, the monkey hissed at Dev and hid behind Hawkins.
By the time Erin arrived, Hawkins was looking a little brighter and sat back with the monkey curled into his side. Both had their eyes closed. Dev had started pacing and didn’t know how to stop.
“How’s he doing?” Erin asked Dev softly, looking at Hawkins worriedly.
“He’s stopped babbling, so that’s good. I think he won’t suffer anythin’ permanent. He self-diagnosed himself with a mild concussion, but said it was probably the ‘berserker crash’ that put him out, not the blow.”
“I can hear you,” he announced, opening one eye to peer at them.
Erin took a deep breath and went to sit beside him. “Did Dev tell you anything?”
“That I went berserk and took it out on the Tool Brigade. How bad was it?”
“No one’s dead.”
Hawkins’ shoulders slumped a little and even Dev let out a small, relieved breath.
“One of the boys has a dislocated knee. Another boy had a broken nose and the big one, the leader, just had bruises and a few cuts and abrasions. The others weren’t there.”
“Good. And the cops?”
Erin glanced at Dev. “Well, considering that a freak lightning strike took out all the electrical devices in a hundred yard radius of the house, there’s no photographic evidence. None of the kids knew your name and none of them could give a credible description.”
Hawkins peered at her. “And you?”
“I said I didn’t recognise anyone, either.”
“You called them, though, didn’t you.” There was no accusation in his tone. Just weary acceptance.
“I did. Courey suspects it was you but I never said that outright, so he can’t prove it. I had to give them Dev’s name, though.”
Dev stirred. “Why?”
“Because I had to explain why I was there. I told them I was helping you with a personal matter and that you’d called me, saying someone had stolen your car. I tracked it using the GPS code the rental agency gave you, but the perp took off in the car before I could stop him.” She gave Dev a hard look. “You were never there.”
“Understood.” One call to Aurum and that lie would gain some weight when the Primal used his influence to cover it up.
“Great,” Hawkins muttered. “We’re going to have to ditch that car. I really like it, for all that it’s a Ford.”
“Where is it now?” Erin asked.
“On the street outside,” Dev said.
“Right. We have to move it.” She touched Hawkins’ shoulder. “You okay to stay here alone for a bit?”
He nodded but said, “I have to get home.”
“Soon,” she said soothingly, then stood and motioned Dev to follow her out.
In the hallway, heading for the lift, Dev told Erin about the sorcerer finding her office.
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
“That you’re in danger now. He knows who you are and where to find you.”
Her already pale skin went whiter. “All right. Thanks for the warning.”
“It’s more than a warning. It’s me sayin’ you need to shut up shop for a while. You don’t want this sorcerer coming after you. Trust me.”
“I haven’t done anything to him. Why target me?”
Dev sighed. “Because you’re there. It’s all the reason he’ll need.”