Shade
Duncan MacLeod had always liked Paris. For over four hundred years, he had been drawn here time and time again. It had been the place where he'd met some of his greatest loves, his greatest friends, and his greatest enemies.
As he bounded up the wide steps of the mansion currently housing the Western Europe Watcher's Bureau, he nodded curtly at a few of the young ones who stopped and gaped slightly at his presence. He grinned to himself, realizing that he was something of a legend among some of them. He paused at the door and gave the security guard his name. The man checked a list on his hand-held computer and waved him inside.
Once in the lobby, Duncan was met by an efficient young woman who escorted him to a rear first floor office, and into the presence of his friend, Joe Dawson.
Joe's desk was piled with books and folders and an old laptop stood open and on, displaying the Watcher Logo. Joe was on the phone but waved Duncan in to take a seat and motioned for the young woman to leave.
"Yeah… got it. If there's any change in his condition, let me know. I'm trying to close the file out now." He clicked the phone back and leaned back in his motorized wheel chair rubbing his brow. "Sometimes I hate this job."
"I thought you were retired," teased Duncan.
"I am. But they let me in here to work on your file and to collate some of the information on your friends."
"Nothing too revealing, I hope," Duncan snorted.
Joe's eyes twinkled. "Nothing except the regular."
"So what's up?"
Joe shook his head. "We had a man injured last night."
"It happens. Some of the immortals we rescued still don't like you people very much."
Joe nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. That was a bad business. That's why we try to keep our people at a safe distance. Last night, one of them was attacked."
"By his assignment?"
"No. By the immortal who whacked his assignment."
"And who was that?"
Joe paused, chewing on his lip as if considering his words carefully.
"Come on Joe. You didn't ask me to stop by today for your health."
Joe glanced up at him. "Ever hear of the Black Widow?"
"The film? Or the spider?"
Joe snorted. "No… she's an immortal. We haven't been able to get a Watcher on her and we have no clue as to who she is. But her method of killing is quite… shall we say… evocative of the spider."
"How so?"
"She seduces them… usually on the street… and then beheads them in the act."
Duncan stared and then laughed. "You mean while he's…?"
Joe nodded. "Yep. So far they've all been slightly shady immortals with a penchant for hunting. Whoever she is… she's managed to take four heads in the last year."
Duncan leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. "I don't ever recall anyone using quite that method. But if you're worried I'll be a victim… don't. I like to get to know my women a little better before I sleep with them. Besides, Amanda would not take kindly to this." He winked. He and Amanda were currently playing house in her villa in Florence. How long it would last was still a hotly debated topic among Watchers. Joe had even heard that there was a betting pool set up.
"No… but I thought you might know who it was."
Duncan shook his head. "Sorry. Can't help. Now is that the only reason you asked me to stop by? I thought maybe dinner was involved?"
Laughing, Joe hit the control on his chair. After his poisoning two years ago, the doctors had recommended that he use one. He didn't like it… but as Methos had often said… "The alternative is unthinkable." Joe did not have a death wish, and he wanted to watch his grandchildren grow up. Thus the chair was a necessity of his life these days. "Dinner was definitely the plan. There's a new restaurant over on Avenue de Montcalm that I've been wanting to try."
Duncan rose to accompany his friend. The problem of this hunting female immortal however, still lingered in his mind. As they sat over in the restaurant later, he brought the subject up again. "This Black Widow has been killing how long?"
Joe sipped his wine. "The first we noticed this particular MO was a little over a year ago when Serge Koszinski bought it. Remember him? He was an enforcer for the Russian Mafia at one time. Big guy… very unpleasant."
"Can't say I ever met him."
"Naw… I knew that… but I thought you might have heard of him. Anyway… he was found one night in the Latin Quarter minus a head and with his pants around his ankles. His Watcher had been delayed by a street parade and arrived moments after the quickening died away. Since Serge had obviously been involved in a sexual encounter when he'd died, someone commented on it. Several months later Winston Marchon died the way. He was a local pimp, still on the young side. He was known to mistreat his ladies. Anyway, his Watcher managed to catch a brief glimpse of a female leaving the area. That's when the appellation Black Widow was attached to her until we could find out who she was."
"You said four heads."
"The third was Raoul Mondel. He was about a century old."
"Now him I've met," Duncan interrupted.
Joe nodded, "Right… during WWI. You two were assigned to the same ambulance unit at one time."
"He wasn't a bad man."
"Not then… but after the war he became involved with drugs. He supplied to several groups in Paris."
"Too bad."
"He used to say… 'It's a living'," Joe smirked. "Anyway… same as the others. His Watcher had taken the night off."
"And last night?"
"Dietrich Hoffman died… and his Watcher, who might have seen something, was attacked shortly before the incident. He's got a bad concussion."
"So now it's Watcher business."
Joe shook his head. "Mac… we're trying to stay back from you guys and only watch and record… but if someone is attacking our people… things could get dicey again."
"Is that the official word?"
Joe nodded. "The Council asked me to talk with you and see if there was anything you could do. We don't want to have to be involved in this… but we cannot allow anyone else to be hurt."
Duncan sighed. This was always a bone of contention between the two groups. Immortals on the one hand deserved privacy… needed privacy… while the Watchers on the other hand, wanted to record the history of immortals before they all vanished. Of course Duncan was involved in investigations these days to find a way to end the game… and the killing… but sometimes… it was inevitable. This Black Widow might ruin all of his hopes that the two groups could peacefully continue to coexist.
"You think she knows about Watchers?" Duncan suddenly asked.
"Yeah…" Joe paused with a nod before he continued. "We do."
-----
