Shadow, p.14
Shadow, page 14
part #1 of Jaegers of the Consortium Series
Lucas glanced at Charity, a low, sharp smile spreading across his face. Things would end more quickly than he had thought. “By all means,” he said, looking back at her father, “lead the way.”
Inside, it was everything he’d expected it to be and more; the high ceilings, the oil paintings lining the walls. Charity’s mother—he recognized her by her resemblance to Charity—was in the sitting room with a man who must have been Eddie. His light brown hair was disheveled, and his face feigned a sullen and tired look. Eddie stood when they entered, opening his arms, beaming brightly at Charity, as if he cared. Lucas clenched his jaw and swallowed.
“My dear,” Eddie said, “there you are; safe and sound.”
Lucas deftly stepped between the two, laying the tip of his cane against the other man’s chest. “Eddie Spence,” he said with a sardonic smile. “Just the man I’ve been killing to see. Back the fuck off.” He placed his hand on Eddie’s chest, and shoved him back for good measure.
“Unhand me!” Eddie reeled back as if he’d been shocked by an Edison Chair. “Do you know who I am?”
“The world’s biggest windbag?”
“You should do well to mind your manners, sir.” Despite the honorific, he looked practically apoplectic, and he sounded the way he had on the phone: furious, and capable of violence, or at least attempting it. “You have no idea what I can do.”
“Au contraire. I do know. I know you have been slowly withdrawing money from the Carmichael accounts using your boy, Esmond, who you have left here as a plant to keep an eye on Charity’s whereabouts. I know that you’ve been sending your sister to all the finest establishments in Atlanta to make it look like Charity has been making all of those purchases. And I know that Esmond’s brother at the Regional bank is hiding other transfers within all of her purchases, to cover what you all are doing.”
Lucas shot a look at Bertram. He’d been listening with an increasingly white face, and by the end, he was as white as a sheet. “Esmond is in on this, too?” Bertram asked.
Eddie was unfazed. “Wow. If you can make that stick, I’d imagine your next promotion would be to York or Geneva.”
Lucas gave Eddie a hard look. “Your boy was arrested in Atlanta earlier and he’s singing like a canary. He’s already named you as the supreme architect in a conspiracy to drain not only the Carmichael’s accounts dry, but also the accounts of other affluent and prominent families around Atlanta. He’s making a statement right now in the Consortium regional office, along with your sister. It’s only a matter of time before we catch Director Wain and arrest him, as well, for his part.”
Eddie’s jaw clenched and twitched, and Bertram’s face, likewise, turned just as red as Eddie’s. Lucas watched the man slowly stand at the table, placing his hands down onto the polished wood and glaring over at the younger baron. “It’s true, then? After everything we’ve done for you, everything that we’ve given you, up to and including my daughter, you have the nerve to steal from me! And to use people I trusted to do it?”
But Eddie wasn’t listening. All of his attention was on Lucas, and there was murder in his eyes. “You son of a bitch!” he roared, pulling a knife and charging at Lucas.
Immediately, Lucas pushed Charity behind him, adopting a defensive stance in front of her. Eddie’s wild swing came in at Lucas’ left, where Lucas sidestepped, knocking Eddie’s hand and sending his knife flying across the room.
Lucas grinned, watching the other man’s shock. Lucas drew his sword, and the crack of charging electricity and whine of a capacitor brought Eddie’s shocked gaze to Lucas, who was now pointing his sword straight at him. The hum of the charged blade reverberated through the room, the unmistakable sign of a Jaeger blade. “A Jaeger?” Eddie said in disbelief.
Lucas simply glared at him. “I’m the one with the weapon now, Edward, so now I ask the questions. Questions like, do you relinquish your marriage arrangement to Charity willingly, or do I haul you in front of the Consortium to do it for us? Or do I do it the easy way, and kill you here and now?” Lucas gave him a sharp-toothed smile and raised an eyebrow. “Personally, I’m opting for the third choice, but I’d really hate to ruin the upholstery of what I hope will soon be my in-laws’ furniture.”
“I am a Baron of the Theocracy,” Eddie growled. “Do you know what that means? Do you know who I am?”
“A better question; do you know who I am?” Lucas still held his sword pointed straight at Eddie’s chest, waiting for him to make a move.
Recognition flashed across Eddie’s face, and Lucas knew he’d recognized him, or at least his voice, from the telephone call at Ayla’s house in New Eden. “You!” he cried. “You can’t haul me before the Consortium without evidence, you know. Nor can you just kill me. And if you had any evidence against me, you would’ve shown it by now, which means you don’t have anything. Let me pass. I demand it.”
Lucas’ smile grew broader. “Why do you think I’m here keeping you occupied while my team is presenting it all to the Consortium as we speak, dumbass?”
Eddie moved quickly. In one deft motion, he grabbed a table lamp and hurled it in Lucas’ direction. Lucas swatted it out of the way with the sword, but saw the lamp had only been a distraction; Eddie had reached under his coat and drawn a pistol, pointing it toward them.
Lucas tackled Charity, shielding her body with his as he pushed her to the ground for cover. There was a sharp report as Eddie fired at them, and a sharper pain in Lucas’ shoulder. Lucas’ Jaeger Blade clattered off to the side. Elsewhere in the living room, he could hear the Carmichaels’ shouts of fear and their scuffles as they, too, dove for cover. Lucas rolled off Charity, still keeping himself between her and Eddie, as he reached inside of his coat for his own beamer.
Leaping back up and taking aim, Lucas fired. A loud crack and a flash of light shot through the room, which sent Eddie running. Lucas didn’t let up. He continued firing at Eddie’s scrambling form. Eddie managed a burst of speed, and dove through a window, shoulder-first. Lucas ran to the window, managing to get off a couple more shots, but there were too many trees in the way. There was nothing Lucas could do but watch as Eddie scrambled into his waiting vehicle, and drove away in a cloud of steam.
After a moment, he holstered his gun with his usual flourish. The motion, more habit now than a real desire for flair, made his shoulder twinge. He winced, pressing a hand to it. Charity rushed to his side.
“Lucas, you’re hurt!”
“I’ve had worse,” he said, as he gathered his cane and sword. He killed the power to his sword before sheathing it back inside the cane. He turned toward the Carmichaels.
“Well?” he asked them, ignoring the pain as Charity took out a handkerchief to press to his shoulder for the blood.
“Well, what?” Hazel snapped. She looked to her husband. “Are you going to stand for this, Bertram?”
“Hazel, dear, please. Mr. Wolverton, as far as I’m concerned, the wedding between Baron Spence and Charity is off.”
“Are you serious?” Hazel gasped. “Do you know how much money we’ve put into it?”
“Do you have any idea how much money you’ve lost because of him?” Lucas asked. “Seriously, do you? He’s drained Charity’s accounts and he started on yours because you gave him ad hoc power before he was even officially your son-in-law!” He could see that Bertram already knew the gravity of their situation, and that it was starting to sink into Hazel. “Right now, I think that a wedding is the least of your concerns.”
Hazel started to say something, but Bertram put a hand on her arm. He looked at Lucas. “This can be fixed, right?” Lucas hesitated as he thought about it, and then nodded. Bertram let out a sigh of relief. “Alright, then. Do what you have to. Please.”
“Trust me, I’m already on it. What I told Eddie is true; I already have people going through his records, his journals, his estate, everything,” Lucas said, hissing again in pain when Charity changed out her handkerchief for a nearby throw blanket.
“You need a Doctori,” she said, doing her best to wrap the small blanket around his shoulder.
“One thing at a time,” Lucas reassured her.
“Will you release our daughter from her contract with you, now that the wedding is off?” Hazel asked. “She is a lady; it’s simply improper for her to be a common... to be a slave. That collar around her neck is an insult to her birth. To us.”
Lucas shook his head as he allowed Charity to direct him to a nearby chair where she peeled his overcoat off to better get at the bullet wound. “Not on your life. Until Eddie is caught and officially charged and arrested, I’m going to keep Charity under contract for her own protection.” When Hazel started to protest, Lucas shook his head. “Listen, Charity has declared bankruptcy with the Consortium. As her master, I’ve assumed the responsibility of her debts by taking her into servitude. If I were to release her now, and Eddie somehow worms out of this, she could still be held liable for everything and wind up either in prison or up on the open auction block to pay back the lost money that Eddie embezzled. How does that fit with your sense of propriety?”
He watched Hazel’s resolve falter, and then her shoulders slumped. Bertram shook his head in disbelief as he looked over at his daughter. “I tell you, honey, you sure do know how to pick them.”
Frowning, Charity looked up from her work on Lucas’ shoulder. “What are you talking about, daddy?” Bertram nodded toward Lucas’ cane, now laid neatly across his lap. “Oh,” Charity said, “I know that he’s a Jaeger.”
But there was an amused twinkle in Bertram’s eye, and he moved toward the bookshelf. Lucas’ mouth twitched. “He’s not just any Jaeger,” Bertram said. “He’s the Jaeger, as in the head Jaeger for all Consortium Jaeger operations in North America. I think that you’re well acquainted with his, ah… book?” He plucked a book from the shelf, and held it out toward Charity; Lucas could clearly see the title. The Shadow. He grimaced.
But there was nothing to be done about it now, and he was resigned, as Charity’s gaze went slowly from him, to her father, and back. “You’re Jaeger Shadow,” she whispered.
“I told the Consortium that letting the writer do that story was a bad idea,” Lucas groaned.
“Are you kidding?” Charity asked. A gleeful smile had come over her face. She took her bloodied hands away from his shoulder and clasped them in front of her. “You’re amazing! The way that you took down Vyner’s airship? The way that you handled the countless slavers he’d hired! Those stories—”
“Are all stories,” Lucas said, cutting her off.
“But… you did say you’d taken down a zeppelin before.”
“What I said, and what they don’t put in there, is that I had help .There was another Jaeger on board who specializes in infiltration. But the author thought that wasn’t dramatic enough and changed their role in it.” Lucas shook his head. “I wouldn’t have been able to take Vyner down without them.”
Bertram regarded him with amusement. “I think you’re selling yourself short there, son. I’ve heard of your exploits, even the ones not published. The Dixie Security Council says that you’re the best Jaeger the Consortium has.”
Lucas still shook his head. “No, there are better Jaegers than I am out there.”
“If there are such Jaegers, I haven’t heard about them.”
“Yeah, and that’s why they’re the best.”
Chapter 13
The following day, Charity was on the proverbial cloud nine, practically dancing around the estate. Eddie was gone and for the first time in her life, she felt free, like she could truly be herself. She wandered her family’s home reminiscing about the good times, chatting with the staff, and meeting with her siblings and cousins (all of whom offered heartfelt apologies, and wanted to hear stories about the Sin Islands, most of which she kept to herself).
Charity and her two sisters were coming out of a boutique in town, happily talking away when a black steam carriage pulled up to a nearby curb. None of them paid it any mind in the middle of a bustling city. Charity didn’t see Eddie pop out of the back until it was too late. She screamed in protest, dropping her shopping bags to swing her handbag at him. Eddie deflected it and threw it into the limo in disgust, grabbing Charity in the process. She clawed at him, kicking and screaming, as he hauled her to the waiting carriage, her shoes falling off in the process. Her sisters quickly jumped into the fray, and Eddie sent one of them sprawling back to the curb with a single, well-placed backhand. The other flew to her aid, and in the confusion, Eddie threw Charity into the back, hopped in after her, and shouted for the driver to go, quickly, now!
The moment she sat up to fight, Eddie backhanded her across the face. It was awkward in the tight confines of the car, but it still threw her back against the seats. Her skirts flipped up as she fell, and he was on her in an instant, pinning her to the floor. “You’ve cost me everything!” he cried. “After everything I’ve given you, this is how you repay me?” Charity tried to scramble away, but Eddie yanked her back and pinned his knee into the small of her back. “Is this what you like? Is this what gets you off now?” He raised his hand high and brought it down on her bottom hard.
She clawed at the floor of the limo, trying to get away, and her eyes fell to her purse. She reached for it, but Eddie grabbed it and threw it farther away, upending the contents. Charity saw what she was looking for. Her hand closed around the small red beamer and she pulled the trigger, blowing multiple holes into the side of the compartment, praying that her gambit would pay off. Eddie quickly wrestled it from her grip, tossing it out the half-open window.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Eddie snarled, crowding her back against the door. He wasn’t on top of her anymore, but she was still trapped. “You’re at least going to give me this,” he said, undoing his belt and pulling it free in one smooth motion. He doubled it up in his hand, and then pulled back, ready to whip Charity. “You’re still mine!”
Charity did the only thing that she could think of; she reared back in her seat and kicked out with both feet. Eddie, taken off guard, folded over from the blow to his stomach.
Momentum carried him forward, and he landed on top of her. He quickly went for her wrists, binding them together. When he was done, he retreated to his side of the limo, glaring at her. He took out his handkerchief and patted the sweat from his brow as he collected himself.
Charity glared right back at him.
Do your worst, she dared him, still glaring, as he began to berate her about proper behavior. I am not afraid of you anymore.
Elsewhere in the city, Jake and Coleton were checking in with the local constables when a runner came in. “Alarm from the market district; Aristocrat Female has just been kidnapped by someone matching the description of Baron Edward Spence the Third! Beamer shots have been fired.”
Jake rushed to the nearest dispatcher. “Do we have any flashers in the area?” he asked. The dispatcher nodded. “Bring them up, any one that can get a picture of them.”
The dispatcher’s fingers worked furiously across the keys and levers. “There are flashers all over the market district.” Finally, he got the image to appear on a nearby screen. “This has got to be the easiest motion capture ever,” he mused as he brought up the map of the area along with flasher images of the abduction.
“I know that road. They’re on the Covington Highway that’s heading east-southeast out of town,” one of the constables barked. “There’s only a few places to go and we can get the word out on the hotwire to every station along the way.”
Jake was already heading for the door. “Ya got a unit ready?” he asked his escort.
“Yeah, follow me.”
Jake motioned for Cole to wait a moment while he grabbed the nearby phone at the front desk. If he didn’t tell his friend about this, he’d be pissed. “Jaeger Priority! Get me Lucas Wolverton out at the Carmichael Estates.” Jake waited for the long moments to pass as the operator connected his call. Finally, it went through. “Lucas? We just got a flash alert. Eddie just made off with Charity in the Market District. Last seen heading southeast on Covington.” Lucas started to cut in, but Jake spoke over him. “Stay put, okay? We’ve got this.” He hung up as he hopped into a Jaeger speeder. Seconds later, they were on the road.
Lucas slammed the phone down so hard he cracked the handle. “Gods dammit!” he roared. Baron and Baroness Carmichael were seated behind him on the couch, but they whirled at this, eyes wide. Lucas briefly told them what happened. “Where would he go?” he asked them. “Where’s the only place left for him to hide?”
“Wouldn’t he just make for the Corporate States or the Wastelands?” Hazel asked, her gaze darting between Lucas and her husband.
Bertram shook his head. “Not if he’s heading southeast. If he were going to leave the country, he’d have to take an airship, and there’s no way he’d get one out of Macon. Boat, maybe, but he’d be caught by the military’s border patrols.” Bertram mulled it over. “Everything for him is here. He’s going to stay here and try to regain what he’s lost.”
“Everything for him is here…,” Hazel said thoughtfully, and then her eyes widened. “Oconee! He’s headed for Oconee! His family owns a private cabin there. He took Charity there several times on escorted dates.”
“I don’t suppose you got anything that can get out there fast, do you?”
Bertram smiled. “Want to try out the next generation of Bell-Carmichael Devastators, Jaeger Shadow?”
Despite the berating and abuse Eddie delivered throughout the drive, Charity let his words roll off her. Once, she had been his, but she was Lucas’ now, and he was hers. Eddie no longer had any power over her. When they arrived at their destination, Eddie stopped talking, but only to haul her out of the back of the carriage by her ankles. When she latched onto the seat with her hands, Eddie was forced to let go while he attempted to pry her fingers off. Charity seized the opportunity. She reared back with both of her legs and gave him as hard a double kick to his stomach as she could; Eddie groaned and doubled over, and in a flash, Charity was up and moving. She worked the belt from her wrists, and then hitched up her skirts to run.
