Titan Song Dan Stout (top 20 books to read txt) 📖

the young victims of the sinkhole. The press tossed out softball questions, and even got the boy to give a thumbs-up. Paulus was sporting a well-tailored business suit and her blouse was a shimmering brown a shade lighter than her skin tone. The sleeves were long, hiding the manna-ink tattoos that encircled her biceps, pulsing with a life of their own.

She tousled the kid’s hair and walked away. Once she was clear of the room, an aide handed her a towel. She didn’t break stride as she scrubbed her hands clean and addressed us. “What would you like to know?”

“Did you notice any unusual activity before the sinkhole opened?” I said.

“No.” She tossed the towel back into the aide’s arms. “I heard the noise, realized what was going on, and did what I had to. Like everyone else.”

We turned the corner. A team of nurses and surgeons stood in the hall, being directed by a human with a banker’s fashion sense. A quick photo op, and at a sign from the suit, everyone dispersed.

“Does it bother you?” I asked.

“The sinkhole was a tragedy,” she said, rattling off the words as though reciting them for a quiz. “Every life lost is felt by the leadership of the city and the AFS. We all mourn as one.”

“Not that. I meant them.” I pointed at the departing hospital workers. “Compare that to the attention that Dinah McIntire is getting. Adoration for a singer, and manufactured scenes for the woman who wields real power. Hardly seems fair, does it?”

“These health-care heroes are busy saving lives,” she said, without a drop of enthusiasm. “They’re not honored to meet me. I’m honored to meet them. You have it backward as usual, Carter.”

Jax interrupted. “So that’s a no to anything unusual before the sinkhole. What about during? You were in the thick of things, and you have a trained sorcerer’s eye. Did you observe anything noteworthy?”

“I did not.” Paulus walked down another hall, as directed by her aide, a woman who I thought might have been among the group I’d seen at Paulus’s home. I wondered if she was the kind of person who’d follow an order to stumble into someplace like the geo-vents, someplace she might die, forgotten and alone.

Paulus’s eyes swept the hall, taking in the press and well-dressed administrative staff, all of them likely potential political donors. Not once did she look into the rooms themselves. I doubted it was out of excess courtesy for the occupants’ privacy.

“What I did notice,” she said, “was entirely expected. Titanshade’s public servants working with myself and others, joining together to save lives and mitigate property damage. An inspirational example of the city’s strength when we work with the power of the AFS.” She sighed, almost contentedly. “It’s nice to find value in a tragic event.”

Jax’s biting jaw flexed and he made a sound of protest. She shot a glance at my partner.

“Don’t play innocent, Detective. It’s unbecoming.” We slowed outside a room to let a nurse emerge, one hand full of cotton swabs, the other holding a hypodermic needle. Paulus turned her attention to me. “Of course, your partner is talented and young. He’ll always be useful. You, Carter? You’re like a used syringe.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” Paulus watched the nurse deposit her cargo into a wall-mounted waste receptacle. “You are sharp and potentially infectious. Best to seal you off and bury you in a landfill.” She paused, a ghost of a smile dancing along her lips. “Metaphorically speaking.”

“Of course.”

She resumed her walk toward the next cluster of hospital employees. I kept pace, watching her face. She was focusing on the next group of glad-handers, probably recalling names and previous interactions. Distracted, in other words.

I asked, “What can you tell us about Tanis Klein?”

Paulus blinked, tilted her head, then stopped. She raised a finger, as if trying to place the name. “He worked in the same office as me, years ago. Why?”

“Because he’s one of the victims of the sinkhole.”

“That’s too bad. I didn’t even know he was back in town.” She flashed a smile. “Funny how life sneaks up on you like that.”

“There’s a buzz in the air,” I said. “One that gets into people’s heads. You wouldn’t know about that, would you?”

“No. And I quite wish that someone would take care of it, whatever it is.”

We stood in silence, Jax and the aide observing our showdown. Finally she said, “Was there anything else?”

I flipped my notebook shut. “Enjoy your photo session. Maybe they’ll ask for your autograph.”

The ambassador stalked away, the aide trailing in her wake.

“This isn’t like her,” I said.

Jax straightened his tie. “Why, because she didn’t drop a building on your head?”

“Because she’s here.” I took my eyes off the ambassador and looked at Jax. “Paulus doesn’t do photo ops with sick kids. She’s got an agenda.”

“She’s always got an agenda.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, but this feels different. Reactionary. And she didn’t even blink when I mentioned Klein.”

“You think she already knew?”

“Maybe. She might know we’ve found him, or she might simply know his body was down there.”

“Either way, she knows now. And she’ll do something about it. People like her attack on instinct, like sharks.”

“She’s not a shark,” I said. “She’s a kraken, hiding in deep water and waiting to pull down entire ships.”

“You know, for a guy who’s never been in water deeper than his bathtub, you’re showing a sudden interest in sea creatures.”

I opened my mouth, meaning to tell him how wrong he was. But he was right. Where had that imagery come from? I couldn’t explain it, so I closed my mouth, and thought of something else. What was in those vents that made Klein wander into them decades earlier, and what did Paulus know about it?

Instead I simply said, “Let’s see what we can turn up on Tanis Klein.”

The Titanshade Medical Examiner’s Office was strained to capacity with the sudden influx of bodies. Dozens had died in the sinkhole, and several more were skating the line between life