Meta Human & Me

"You know you'll stand a better chance of breaking your timid streak with him if you just invite him to bed" KC's voice behind me made me jump, I turned from the window where I had been watching Whisperer get into a cab, leaving after dropping off a package for KC.

"Sorry what?" I asked, trying to appear confused, but the blush on my face giving me away in a second. KC rolled her eyes as her deft fingers unrolled her package, new bullets, special piercing rounds swiped illegally from a research facility.

"Whisperer and you" she said not looking up "Just ask him to bed already, the sexual tension between the two of you is sharp enough to cut glass" She looked up and settled her blue eyes on mine. "Come on girl, he's attractive, strong, and more than a gentleman, what's your problem?" I blushed again and hid my face behind a curtain of fire berry hair.

"I don't know, I just . . . he's nice and I do like him it's just I have . . . "

"Issues, I know" KC finished for me "Just think for a second though, he ain't exactly gonna wait forever and I doubt you'll find another person on the planet who looks at you like he does"

"He looks at me how?" I asked, at that moment the comm. unit started beeping, KC shrugged and I walked to the kitchen side to flick the old fashioned switch. The huge grin and elf ears gave Lathain away in less than a second.

"Ghost, Hey, is Whisperer still there?" He asked looking into the coms screen as if he might be able to look round corners, I frowned.

"No, he just left, why don't you grab him on his own com?"

"Oh I don't want him, I want you, but I don't want him involved, I was just checking" the elf grinned "it's a kinda dangerous mission, filled with sharp toothed evil doers and big bad guys" he waved his arms wildly for effect before his face fell to something more serious. "Actually I just want you on this, it needs a careful hand and I think you'd be better than Whisperer or KC" KC's snort could be heard coming from the sofa, Lathain ignored her

"What kind of job?"

I suppressed a shudder, I hated police stations. They were cold, barren buildings with mage shielding and an anti weapon check for incoming visitors, meaning aside from my quick feet and right hook I was utterly defenceless. But there was something else about the police I just didn't trust, all the phone calls that were ignored, all the cries for help that had been simply swept under the carpet. A little girl who had needed them and they hadn't come to rescue her. No I hated police stations and the people in them.

"Miss Xanders?" a voice called from the protected counter. I stood taking a last glance at a screen which showed Sam Arkut, the founder of Meta human and Me with a big rolling sign that said "Missing, Police search for kidnappers" and made my way over, at first not seeing anyone before a slight woman jumped aboard a tall stool. She was all of four foot nothing, older, in the region of her sixties, with dyed black hair and the yellowing features of a smoker, she had tiny eyes for her face and behind her right ear a hand rolled cigarette sat waiting for her next break. "Business?" she asked, her voice cracking with age.

"Umm, I'm here to see Chantel Manalow" I said and produced my ID. The officer nodded to the small hatch in front of me, I dutifully dropped my card inside, her wrinkled fingers pulled it up to inspect it. Her tiny eyes narrowed further then dropped it back into the hatch for me to retrieve.

"You're aware of why she is here?" The officer asked, I nodded, she was here on suspicion of kidnap of Sam Arkut, the owner of the Meta Human & Me franchise, one of the richest men n the city. "What are you? A private investigator?" I locked my gaze with her.

"Not exactly" I said honestly "I'm just here to get the facts and do a job, simple, then I'll be on my way" The officer nodded to my bag and I dropped that into the hatch. The officer pulled it out and the contents were checked for the second time since I had walked through the door.

"Anything you need from here?" she asked her eyes suspicious.

"Just the pen and paper" I said, she sneered a moment and handed me a battered note book and biro from her desk, I wasn't going to argue, I was here to see a high risk prisoner, they weren't taking any chances that I might be her to bump her off. About forty percent of all hits were done whilst a person was in custody. The officer locked my bag in a cabinet behind her desk and handed me the key. She pointed me in the direction of a young troll officer who would escort me to the cell.

The corridors were dark, lights flickering to life as we strolled beneath them, we turned a corner and beheld cell six, the door the same steel grey as the rest of the facility. The troll turned the key and mumbled my five minute time limit before pulling it open. I stepped into the doorway and froze.

Chantel was a beautiful woman, slim, well dressed in pencil skirt and red blouse, her makeup only lightly applied. Her nails were pristine and freshly manicured, her eyes were the deepest colour blue I had ever seen . . . and they were lifeless. The body of Chantel Manalow swung idly from the single lamp fitting in the centre of the room, a power chord wrapped around her slender neck.

The troll raised the alarm and pulled me from the doorway, closing the door and half guiding, half dragging me back to the front desk, stopping just before the metal gates to usher me into a locked waiting room. Two chairs, a small wooden table and a mirror were the only decorations.

"Wait here" he ordered. I nodded numbly, I had seen dead bodies before, caused a few too, but this one, this one was different. There had been no sign of a struggle in the room or on Chantel's body, her clothes were pressed neatly with few crumples, there had been no defensive wounds, to all intents and purposes she had committed suicide, her neck breaking from the drop as she had jumped from the bed. It had been her eyes, her eyes had been full of terror, my gut fell away as I realised she hadn't taken her own life. She had been murdered.

A/N: Hi guys, this is a much shorter story than previous, only about 12 chapters in total. This follows on directly from The Auction of Magic, taking place about six months after the events of Chicago. I hope you all enjoy!