Maria V. Snyder - Shadow Study

Ari smiled. “Possible recruit?”

Or replacement. But Valek wouldn’t say that aloud. “We’ll see if she escapes the dungeon.”

“You want us to hang out near the dungeon, catch her in the act?” Janco asked.

“No. Continue with your assignment, and I’d also like you to nose around and see if you can dig up anything on Sergeant Gerik. He’s a transfer from...” Valek consulted the file. “MD-2 about a year ago, and managed to impress his commanding officer enough to be promoted to the Commander’s security detail.”

“Seems sketchy to me,” Janco said.

“Maren approved it. Do you know where she is?” Valek asked.

“No,” Ari said. “No one does. She slipped out of here without a word a month ago, leaving Mannix in charge, but all the poor guy’s been doing is sorting reports into piles.”

“Keep asking around. See what you can discover.”

“Yes, sir.”

They left and Valek returned to the files. After a few hours, a light tap broke his concentration.

“Yes,” he said.

Gerik poked his head in. Strain lined his haggard face, but he kept his voice even. “The Commander wishes to see you in his war room, sir.”

“Now?”

“Yes, sir.”

Valek straightened a pile of files then followed Gerik out. He locked his door and strode to the war room. Gerik didn’t say a word as he trailed behind. The guards waiting near the entrance flinched when Valek approached. White-faced and with eyebrows pinched tight together, he sensed there was more going on than their fear of being reprimanded.

They pulled open the double doors. Valek entered the room.

Onora sat at the table with the Commander, eating breakfast.

7

JANCO

“You know what I can’t figure out?” Janco asked. He leaned against the wall despite the grime. They hid in yet another garbage-strewn alley that reeked of piss, tracking potential suspects. Ah, the life of a superspy.

“How to tie your laces?” Ari asked.

“Funny. What I want to know is why sell black-market goods this close to the Commander’s castle? Castletown is crawling with soldiers and spies. Why not sell their illegal wares in MD-7 or MD-5 since both are closer to the border?”

“Who says they’re not selling there, too?” Ari crossed his arms. “This is a big city full of people. Criminals like to hide in plain sight.”

“Yeah. They can be smart until they’re stupid.”

Ari’s mouth opened, but then he closed it. Too bad. Janco enjoyed provoking his partner. It helped pass the time. When they did stakeouts that required silence, it killed him to keep quiet. Worse than magic. No, scratch that—nothing was worse than magic.

“There’s the guy with the funky mustache.” Janco pointed to a tall man unlocking one of the warehouse doors. “Could be going to get more of those illegal Greenblade cigars.”

“Or he’s going to warn his boss about the guy who had asked too many questions about those potent cigars,” Ari said drily.

“No way. I was smooth. Subtle. More than subtle.” He pouted.

“I think you’re too recognizable. You should have worn your cap.”

“It itches.”

Ari sighed. “We’ll see what happens next. If they start packing up, we’ll know you hit a nerve.”

Janco fidgeted. He studied the building. “Why don’t we jimmy open that second-story window and slip inside? Better to hear what’s going on than guess.”

“We’ve no idea what’s inside.”

“Exactly.”

“What if there’re guards?”

“So? Not like we can’t handle a couple—”

“And tip them off? By the time we fight our way in, they’ll scatter.”

“Oh, all right.” A few minutes passed without incident. “How about I slip inside and you watch for Funky Mustache?”

“No.”

Janco groaned. He was a man of action. All this sneaking about... Yes, it was necessary and patience led to results. Usually. But give him a fight over this any day.

Hours, seasons, years must have passed while they watched the door. An ordinary green door with paint peeling from the wood, revealing a yellowish-gold color underneath. Curled chips of paint lay on the ground right in front. Probably from when they installed the lock. A shiny knob and keyhole looked out of place on the weathered wood.

Smart until they’re stupid. Install a new lock, but don’t bother to paint the hardware to match the age of the building or bother to clean up.

Janco’s hair turned gray as another few years passed—or so it felt to him. According to Ari, two minutes equaled two years in Janco time.

Ari touched his arm as the door swung open. They melted back into the shadows of the alley. Two men exited. Funky Mustache and a big burly brute. They parted, with Funky heading back to the market and Big Brute cutting through the alley to the other side.

“I’ll follow the new guy,” Ari whispered. “Now’s your chance to sneak inside. Watch out for guards. If you see anyone, don’t engage. We can always come back later tonight. I’ll meet you at the Black Cat Tavern.”

“Get inside, avoid guards, don’t get married, meet at the Cat. Got it,” Janco said.

Ari shot Janco his I-don’t-know-why-I-put-up-with-you look and followed Big Brute. Giving Ari a few minutes to catch up to Big B, Janco showed considerable sense by waiting a handful of months.

Janco slipped off his boots, tied the laces together and swung them over his shoulder. Not bothering with the door, he scaled the wall, finding finger-and toeholds in the crumbling mortar of the old brick structure—his favorite type. His least favorite—the marble walls of the Sitian Citadel; those buildings were slick as ice.

When he reached the second-story window, he peered inside. The sunlight reflected off the glass and made it hard to see beyond the sill. Clinging to the bricks with one hand, Janco shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the dimness. The room had a few pieces of office furniture, but was otherwise empty.

After a few minutes, he pushed on the window, testing it. The pane slid up without trouble. Rookie mistake, thinking you were safe on the upper levels of a building. No floor was unreachable. All a thief had to do was climb up or use a rope to climb down.

Janco eased into the room. Puffs of dust tickled his nose and he held in a sneeze. Memories of another sneeze that had revealed his and Ari’s hiding spot rose unbidden. He’d never seen Ari so angry. No, wait. There was that other time... His eyes watered as laughter threatened to bubble up his throat. He sucked in a deep breath and focused on the task at hand.

After a quick scan of the abandoned room, he put his boots back on, then grasped the door’s knob and slowly twisted. The metal creaked. He paused and listened. Nothing. When the latch cleared the jam, he pulled the door open an inch. Beyond the room was a walkway with a half wall on the opposite side, and past that, thick chains hung from pulleys attached to the ceiling.

No voices echoed or footsteps neared, so he poked his head out and glanced to the left. A few more doors led out to the walkway before it ended. To the right, two more offices and then metal stairs. Lantern light from below flickered on the walls. He ventured onto the walkway and peered over the half wall. Stacks of crates lined the space downstairs. A few had been opened and their contents filled tables along the back wall. As he waited, no one appeared. All remained quiet.

Janco then checked the rooms to the left. All had a thick coat of dust and matched the room he’d entered. The same with the first of the two on the right. However, the door to the office closest to the stairs was locked. Kneeling next to it, he pulled his diamond pick and tension wrench from his pocket and popped the lock in seconds.