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

“Me either.” I glared back at the closed door of Auberjois’s office. “But why’s he so hung up on Paulus? She kill his puppy or something?”

Bryyh grimaced. “He’s trying to prove his value. Auberjois is the new head of a new department. The need for ARC teams didn’t exist until a month ago, and for all he knows it’ll disappear just as fast. If that happens, he’ll be the first to be relegated to some unpleasant, dead-end assignment.”

“I meant, what do we do about Paulus?” Jax said.

“Right,” I said. “There’s a city full of corruption, but he’s focused on Paulus. Auberjois has to know that she’s dangerous as all the Hells.”

Bryyh gripped her shoulder, stretching muscles undoubtedly tensed from stress and desk work. “Politically, she’s vulnerable right now. The scandals around the manna strike mean she’s got less cover than she used to. If Auberjois does bring her down he’ll be able to coast on that single collar for the rest of his career.” She breathed deep. “And it’s not like he’s defenseless. He’s a sorcerer with a badge, and he’s got a whole department of sorcerers reporting to him. I’m not even sure the administration realizes what they’ve created in him.”

“What I’m asking,” Jax said, before returning to a whisper, “is what do we do if Paulus catches a cold, or someone cancels, and her public event doesn’t happen?”

Bryyh slowed her pace as we reached the elevators. “Then a police captain will be convinced that one of us is feeding info to Paulus.”

“I should have told him about my badge,” Jax said, voice small.

“No,” said Bryyh. “That train left the station long ago. Whatever he’s found, he thinks it’s solid enough to take to a judge. We were in there just for theater, and to put us on notice.”

I massaged the stumps on my mangled hand. “To put me on notice.”

She frowned. “In the meantime, let’s hope the ambassador’s schedule doesn’t get disrupted.”

24

SO WE KNEW THE TIME of Paulus’s arrest, but were unable to do anything about it. Jax and I parked our Hasam down the street from the social club where Paulus was due to make a public appearance alongside Weylan, the celebrity Barekusu guide. We thought we might at least see the event when it happened. Ragweed Road was in a posh neighborhood, and we might have been out of place if not for the crowds and reporters who’d already gathered for the joint hand-pressing session. So we were able to sit and eat our take-out noodles and chug caffeine in peace, as we waited to see it all descend into chaos.

Jax had a napkin tucked in his collar, pulled down far enough that he could eat and talk without worrying about adding a few extra dots to the pattern on his tie.

“Tell me if I’m wrong,” he said, “but I don’t see any way Paulus’s people being in the vents decades ago would cause the sinkhole to collapse now.”

“No.” I caught myself. “We don’t know for sure. They may have planted the seeds, somehow weakened the ground. But I doubt it.”

“Because the timing is too tight, isn’t it?” He bounced his head, as if counting days on a calendar. “I lost my badge on Firstday and the sinkhole opened up Quaddro night. So someone was in the hole during that three-day gap. And whoever it was, they knew the bodies would be found shortly, or else why plant the badge at all?”

“It’s a mess,” I agreed. “The sinkhole uncovered an old crime—the intruders in the vents. But because of the badge we know it’s actually a recent crime. Someone entered the vents, left the badge, and did nothing about the bodies. And I don’t think we’re the only people being set up.”

“Paulus.” He slid a forkful of noodles down his mouth.

I nodded. “She’s arrogant, and arrogant people can be sloppy. But planting a badge on her own crime scene? No, she’s the one person we know didn’t try to take us down.”

“The fact that Paulus is implicated means that she’s not involved in the newest interference.”

“Yes.”

“But we can’t say so, because the other bit of evidence was my badge, and we sat on that piece of information until it was too late.”

I glared into the side-view mirror, watching the pedestrians going by. The other missing piece was the identity of Gellica’s sister. But I couldn’t say anything about that, either, without exposing Gellica’s secret. And I couldn’t watch her hauled away like poor Andrews.

I sighed. “Would it make you feel better if I said you were right about the badge?”

“Yes.”

“Too bad.”

My pager buzzed. I dug around in my coat pocket and fished it out. Code 187. Jax picked up the radio and thumbed the push-to-talk. He reported in to Dispatch, but instead of a prompt reply with an address, the dispatcher hesitated. “One moment, Detective . . .”

I gave Jax a shrug. There was a burst of static, then the dispatcher was back. “Please check your pager for a call-in number.”

Jax’s pager buzzed, followed by mine. The same phone number appeared on each of the tiny green screens.

I looked at my partner. “Guess we go find a pay phone.”

We fired up the Hasam and cruised a bit until we found one near a gas station. We called in and the extension picked up.

“Carter?” A dual-toned Mollenkampi voice chirped in my ear. “This is Auberjois. I need you to approach the following address with great care.” Guyer’s boss articulated each word, adding resonant bass notes and making the request seem like the most important thing in the world.

He read me the address. 1800 Ragweed Road. It was down the road from the spot in which we’d just been parked.

“What’s this about?”

“Murder,” he said. “That’s what you do. Now get to that address and investigate. And when the newspaper and TV cameras show up, I want you to be sure you’re seen.”

“Make sure I’m . . .” I paused. “Say that