Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(5)

Tell him yes, I responded and turned off my phone. My bank account had been increased exponentially, shortly before her disappearance. It's as if she'd known, somehow, that she would no longer need money. It was one of many gifts she'd given me, and all I could do was bring her death if I ever saw her again.

My visit to Stanley Park the day before had mired me in melancholy. She was dead. There was no other explanation, yet the obsession persisted. I should have killed the bastard who placed it when he stood in front of me. Instead, I'd allowed him to speak and he'd ruined my life.

I'd watched him die, though, and took much satisfaction from that. She'd kept a promise—one made to me. The manner of his passing, however, had been much too painless for my liking.

If I could, I'd bring his worthless body back to life and beat that life out of him this time. Just as he'd intended for me to beat—her.

Fighting back nausea, I shook myself and turned to other subjects. I had a rental car—the informant's address was on the eastern edge of Vancouver and I had no desire to depend upon a taxi or other transportation to get me there on time.

*

After driving through a tall gate, I parked in a circle drive outside a two-story brick house. Shoving a Glock into the back waistband of my jeans, I adjusted my jacket and opened the car door.

It was risky not employing my shield, but even more dangerous to fire my weapon with a shield in place, which would likely result in death by my own ricocheted bullets. No, this time I chose to rely on my skill and reflexes.

The front door opened before I arrived to knock. I barely had time to turn and fire at the man who'd appeared at the side of the house, a rifle in his hand.

That left no time to shoot back at the armed man standing in the doorway, who'd fired at me at the same moment the one at the corner had. My shield would have protected me from outside bullets while my own did the damage. They'd planned this carefully; I was a dead man and I knew it.

Except that wasn't what happened.

The bullets from the rifle dropped to the ground halfway between my intended assassin and me. The rifle in his hands began to glow red until he dropped it with a yelp amid the scent of burned flesh.

The one at the corner? I'd killed him cleanly. Someone stepped over his body to take his place.

"Time to stop shooting." Two people I didn't recognize appeared feet away from me. "Go ahead," the male nodded to the scaled creature who aimed a gun at me. "You have been warned. You will die if you fire."

He fired. His bullets never left the gun. Instead, he had the strangest expression on his face as he died, dropping as if he were boneless, to the ground.

The man in the doorway attempted to run. I shot him in the shoulder, bringing him down. He lived because I had questions to ask. Not just of him, but of the two who'd appeared to help me.

"I am Valegar," the blond man nodded without my asking. "This is Rinnelar," he indicated the red-haired woman beside him.

"That's that f*cker Merle Askins," Rinnelar exclaimed as she walked toward the scaled man. "Val, I'm surprised he chose scales instead of a more normal appearance."

I barely heard her; lifting handcuffs from a jacket pocket, I jerked the survivor's burned hands behind his back and secured him while he shuddered in pain. "Colonel Hunter," I said the moment I had a hand free to dial his number, "this was a trap. Two are dead; one is alive but wounded. Do you have a team to send?"

"They're on the way," he said, his voice stern, his words clipped.

*

"I had no idea you'd be my backup," I said when Opal climbed out of the van ten minutes later. My rescuers—Rinnelar and Valegar—had disappeared the moment I'd called Colonel Hunter. I should have photographed both; they were strangers, although they'd done me a favor. I was at a loss to explain any of it.

"Who's lizard man?" Opal asked as two agents followed her and took charge of the survivor. She'd gone to examine the dead attackers while the survivor was loaded into the van.

"Two strangers arrived to help—the woman claimed the scaled one was Merle Askins."

"Seriously? Two strangers came to help? Did they identify themselves?"

"The man called himself Valegar. The woman was Rinnelar."

"Well, well, well," Opal sighed. "You've been saved by Larentii."

*

Notes—Colonel Hunter

"What the hell are you talking about?" I shouted. "Opal said what?"

"Colonel Hunter, I'm right here and I can hear you clearly." Opal had taken the phone away from Rafe.

"Two Larentii were there? What did they look like?" I demanded.

"Colonel, you should know as well as I do that they can look any way they want." Her voice was dry.

I took a moment to consider that. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," I mumbled. "Where are they now?"

"How should I know? Rafe said they disappeared right after they pulled his fat from the fire."

"That brings me to my next question," I said. "Why did they pull his fat from the fryer?"

"I said fire, and I have no idea."

"Does Rafe have injuries?"

"None that I can see."

"Good. Are you riding back with him or in the van with the prisoner?"