An Excerpt From

Power Play

CHAPTER ONE

I heard the outer door open and the little bell chime. After a brief pause, it chimed again and I heard the door close. There were two of them. I opened my desk drawer and slid an old forty-five onto my lap, aiming it at my office door. This forty-five was one of a matched pair that I've had for years now. It fit well into my hand and was as natural as breathing.

"Two of them," I said aloud.

One of them was a woman and one was a large man. The only light that was on in my office was the oil lamp on my desk. It was a large wooden desk made of a solid, sturdy oak and it had cost me more to pay someone to deliver it than it had cost me to buy it. But I liked it and it had saved my life on more than one occasion.

"Woman and a man," I said. "Not from Barlo or Castinni."

There was a bottle of Yazai whiskey and a glass sitting on my desk. I'm not the kind of person to say the glass is half empty or half full. It's a glass and it's either got enough in it to drink or I need to add more. There was enough for now.

The woman was beautiful and the man was a thug, but that was just my guess. I've been known to be wrong, but not often. She opened the door first without knocking, even though I could see beyond her that the man was displeased. He was probably her bodyguard.

"Mr. Aiden?" the woman asked in a soft voice as she stepped inside. There was enough light glancing softly off her skin to see that she was young and very pretty. And the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up was enough to know there was a danger here. She was slender and curvy with cascading blond hair down past her shoulders. Her dress reached to mid thigh and the rest was long legs and high heels.

"Kyle," I said. The big man was inside standing next to her now. "And you are?"

"Ben," he said. His voice was deep and just a bit raspy. There was stubble of a beard on his chin, his hair was short and neat, and his nose had been broken a few times. I couldn't see his knuckles, but I'd bet there were scars there. He looked like he'd once been a boxer.

"You aren't local," I said. He shook his head.

"Mr. Aiden, I --"

"Kyle," I said, interrupting her. She didn't look like many people interrupted her, but a small smile finally appeared.

"Kyle," she said. Her voice neatly lifted a note or two on my name to emphasize it. "I need help."

"I do investigations," I said, interrupting her again. A spark of ire lit her eyes and was gone in a flash. If I hadn't been watching her face, I wouldn't have seen it. Of course, I was missing noticing those legs of hers.

"Please don't do that," she said. "I'd like you to hear what I have to say."

"You never did say your name," I said. She got that little flash of anger again. Her face seemed to grow cuter with that flash. I thought about interrupting her again.

"Veronica Stanley," she said proudly. That was when things clicked in my head. I leaned forward.

"No," I said.

"You didn't even hear what I need help with," she replied.

"No, but I know your situation and I don't want to get involved." I had my gun ready under the desk. It wouldn't be the first time that a woman nearly got me killed.

"Will you at least listen?" she asked, almost pleaded.

"C'mon Veronica," Ben said. "He ain't gonna bother with us."

"I'll pay you for your time to just listen to me," she said. That got my attention. Nobody has ever offered that to me before.

"Done," I said and leaned back, still hiding the gun.

"I'm sure that you've heard the rumors and you've read the news, but there is more. Here's what is really going on. You know my father runs a large business and having a large business, he knew he'd run into areas where people wouldn't like him. We've been able to sort those situations out up until about a year ago. My father bought out a smaller business here in this area in the hopes of expanding. That was when he found out that a vampire clan had controlling interests in the area, but not before. He believed that it was a free and clear business. Well, I'm sure you've heard about the incidents between us. We want it to stop, Mr.  . . . Kyle."

"Like I said before, no," I told her. "I’m not stepping in the middle of that 'situation' as you call it. I don't do enforcing, I don't do protection, I don't do clean-ups, and I don't do hits."

"You misunderstand," she said. I raised my eyebrow at that. She continued, "We don't want you to do any of that. We need a disinterested third party to help settle our differences at a bargaining table. We've heard of you and everyone says you're fair. The vampire clan has heard of you and they agree to you being an arbitrator." This was new.

"Let me get this straight," I said. "You're going to pay me to sit and listen to you and this clan and then make a judgement that you'll both hold to?" The more I thought about it, the more I didn't like it. But she said yes and then quoted a price for my services. I whistled. I turned and looked to my left.

"What do you think?" I asked my partner. The two in front of me jumped, the man less so than the woman.

"I didn't know you were there," she said.

"Not many do," he replied. He was sitting mostly in shadows and you really couldn't see much of him. He leaned forward and the man went pale.

"Hello, Ben," he said. "Been awhile."

"Y . . . ye . . . yeah," Ben stuttered. "You aren't after me, are you Arek?" Ben was white as a ghost.

"No," Arek answered. Ben let out a breath he was holding and his skin started returning to normal. There were beads of sweat still forming on his face, though.

"Who are you?" Veronica finally asked.

"We'll call the Grande and give you our answer tomorrow morning," Arek said and then sat back in the chair. The chair wasn't really in the shadows, but when Arek didn't want noticed then no one noticed him. His features were fairly normal, he dressed conservatively, he wouldn't stand out in a crowd and he could be mistaken for just a regular citizen of Azrioth, except he wasn't normal. He had more power than anyone I've ever met.

"How did you know where we were staying?" Veronica asked, but Ben interrupted before anyone could answer.

"Let's go, Veronica. I'll explain in the car." He nearly pulled her out of there and we could hear her chastising him as they went down the stairs.

"Well," Arek said, "what did you get?"

"The bell went off and it was enough time before the second ring that only two people could have entered. One set of footsteps was lighter on the stairs than the other and that set was also clicking like they were wearing heels. The second set of footsteps made some of the boards squeak and you have to be heavy to do that. People don't walk around with a bodyguard unless they're rich. If they're rich, they're usually good looking.

"She wore expensive clothes and I didn't recognize her, so I figured she was from out of town. I should have known who she was, though, because she's been in the papers a lot. I missed that."

"You missed a few other things, too," Arek said. He stood up, walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a glass that was on top. He got to my desk and poured himself a glass of Yazai. "Ben was twirling a pack of matches with the Grande logo on them just as he entered the room. You were looking at curves and legs right then. He's got a nervous habit of fiddling with something, and he slipped them in his pocket quickly, but you should have seen that. She smelled of Sheri perfume and was wearing Donovan shoes. They hired Ben to escort her. Someone with as much money as her family is supposed to have wouldn't be dressing down that much. She'd be wearing top of the line stuff and have top of the line bodyguards. The family is in financial trouble, which means that they're desperate. So, either they will concede to some demands or they are going to use you to set this up as a means to kill the clan."

"But if it is legit," I said. "That's a good bit of money."

"If it isn't," Arek said, sitting back down. "They'll make sure you don't walk away either."

"Did you get anything the other way?" I asked. Arek was one of a few who had the gift of psionics. In this line of work, it was a definite advantage. I'm not sure just what kind of mental abilities Arek possessed, but I did know that he could sense certain things about the future. He was rarely wrong.

"Nothing important," Arek replied. "She didn't know anything other than what she told you. If her father plans something, she doesn't know it."

"Yet," I sighed. "She could be left out to draw me in."

"Yeah," he said. "It'll make an interesting visit when she comes to see you tonight, though. But the job is up to you."

"I don't have anything else lined up and the bills keep coming," I said. I realized I still had the gun so I put it back and drank some whiskey.

"You need to install a sawed-off shotgun under your desk. It's got more punch and it'll catch more than one person," Arek told me. "You should start carrying again."

"No," I stated. "I'll put the shotgun in, but I won't carry. Everyone here knows I stopped carrying. If I start again, the punks will just want to try me and I'd never get any rest. I'd have to watch the shadows even more than I do now."

"I'm going to be out of town," he said.

"You know something?" I poured some more whiskey. This was going somewhere I didn't like.

"Nothing definite. I just have a hunch that you need to carry. Soon."

"I hate when you aren't sure," I said and leaned back to put my feet on my desk. If things were going to get bad enough that I had to carry, I might as well relax now. I probably wouldn't get the chance later.

"You call now, she won't show up later," he informed me.

"Where's the fun in that?" I said, grinning.

"Quit pushing me!" Veronica ordered.

"I will when we get in the vehicle," Ben told her. He opened the door and she got in briskly. He hurried around the other side and slid into the driver's seat. He opened the valve and the steam engine started. He slid a lever and engaged the gears. Breathing a sigh of relief as the tires spun, they rushed out of there.

"What is your problem?" Veronica yelled. "If you don't slow down this instant and tell me, I'll fire you."

"You don't know who that was?" Ben asked her.

"That was Kyle Aiden. He's a private investigator. My father ran a check on him and he came up clean. He has no ties to any organization and no ties to any law enforcement agency, although he does have friends in both."

"No," Ben said. "Not him, the other one." He wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"His partner," she replied. "He's probably no one special, though I didn't even notice him when we walked in."

"That's because he didn't want you to see him," Ben told her. You idiot, he thought. "That was the Wolf," he said aloud.

"Goddess!" she hissed. "That was him?"

"Yeah," Ben said. "And I was one of the few to escape with my life the last time we met. I was running with some people . . . never mind all that, let's just say he was hired to take those people out."

"Why did he let you live?" she asked.

"I don't know. I ran and kept running. After a month of living like that, I figured he wasn't after me. If he was, I'd have been dead by then. I didn't think it wise to search him out and ask him why."

"My father talked about hiring him," she said. "But one day, he just quit talking about it. He never said why he didn't."

"He wouldn't have taken the job," Ben said. "Word on the street is that he hooked up with Aiden a few years ago and hasn't taken any work since. What I mean is, he only works with Aiden. A bunch of people I know breathed a lot easier after they heard that. And that put Aiden on a sort of don't touch list."

"I never heard of Mr. Aiden until my father sent me here. I read a brief synopsis of his life. Not a pleasant one."

"No," Ben agreed. "But don't let anyone tell you different. Aiden is good with guns. He's one of the best. It used to be he'd have to prove it daily because some punks always thought they were better. No one ever was and he killed every one that tried. One day, he hung up his guns and declared he wasn't wearing them any more. He said someone else could be the best."

"What happened?" Veronica asked.

"No one knows why he did it. But he humiliated the next punk that tried. About that time, the Wolf came along. No one is sure about that, either. There are a lot of rumors, though."

"About what?" Veronica asked, confused.

"About why the Wolf showed up when he did. You see, a lot of things happened. A family was murdered, a business was burned to the ground, a werewolf clan was exterminated, and a vampire clan was supposedly trying to kill Aiden. The vampire clan disappeared, Aiden never wore his guns but never got a scratch, the Wolf appeared somewhere in that mess, and a little girl turned up from somewhere. No one knew who she was or where she was from, but they found her amidst twelve dead people. Each of those people was from a major crime family. The weirdest part was that Aiden walked away clean and the Wolf became his friend."

"No one knows what really happened?" Veronica asked.

"Probably Aiden or the Wolf or both, but no one's got the courage to ask them," Ben said, smiling. "What about you?"

"I'm not afraid, but it isn't something a respectable person should pry into," Veronica said. "Especially if my father wants to hire him."

"We're here," Ben said, parking the car in front of the Grande. He got out and opened the door for her. She stepped out and walked towards the hotel. Ben turned the keys over to the valet. The doorman opened the door for them and both went inside.

The lobby floor was covered in a grey, plush carpet. Large marble pillars stood inside and reached all the way up to the vaulted ceiling. A mural of a war between angels and demons was painted across the entire ceiling. A few ornate, walnut benches were placed near a water fountain.

"I won't need anything for the rest of the night, Ben," she said as she pushed the button for the elevator. There was a cranking and hissing and a high-pitched squeal as the elevator descended to them. "But be ready tomorrow morning and meet me in the lobby at nine sharp." A man inside the elevator opened both sets of gates and extended his hand to help her inside. She took it and stepped into the elevator. The man closed the gates and they smoothly ascended. Ben grunted and walked to the stairs. He was only one floor up so he didn't see any need to use the elevator.

Using the key, Ben opened the door and stepped into his room. There was a small bathroom directly to the right and after that, it opened into a small room that held a couch, table, two chairs, and a small desk. There was a bar on the far side of the room and behind it was the kitchen area with a sink, an icebox and a stool. At first glance, something didn't seem right so Ben blinked hard and looked again. Arek was sitting on the stool at the bar sipping one of his beers.

"Oh mother of Hija!" Ben hissed and turned to run knowing that he wouldn't make it out of the room alive.

"Stop!" Arek ordered. Ben halted.

"I don't want to die," Ben pleaded as he turned around.

"I said I wasn't after you," Arek told him. He took a sip of the beer. "This isn't half bad. Where'd you get it?"

"Huh?" Ben said.

"The beer," Arek replied. "Where?" There was steel in his voice on the last word.

"Brought it with me," Ben said. "Mind if I get one of those?"

"No," Arek replied. He turned and got one out of the icebox and tossed it to him. "Sit. I've got some questions." Ben used his teeth to pop the cap on the beer and then sat in one of the chairs at the table. He took a long drink.

"Ahhhh," Ben sighed. "Scaloni Dark. That's the best beer around."

"It's good, but not the best I've tasted. I wouldn't mind having some of this down here, though. If I put you in touch with someone here, can you set up a distribution?'

"I don't know," Ben said. "After . . . well, you know, I've tried not to get involved in certain families. I can ask around and see what I can come up with."

"Use my name and tell them I want it," Arek said. "That'll open doors that you wouldn't normally be able to open. But I wasn't here for the beer. Just so you understand, there was an incident that you never knew about. I was hired to . . . well, to balance some scales regarding that incident. Those men you were with were part of the job. You weren't. And no matter what the rumors say, I don't just kill indiscriminately. So stop sweating and worrying about me. I'm not after you. Besides, I would have killed you then if I really wanted it done."

"You came here to tell me that?" Ben asked. He really didn't know what to expect. Arek wasn't known for explanations. Arek had spoken more now than he'd ever heard about.

"No," he said. "I want some information about Veronica, you, your employer, and this situation. There are things that are hidden and I want to know why. I don't believe you'll be able to help me, but everyone makes mistakes and maybe you can help me find them."

"Veronica is okay. She's trying to prove to her father that she can run the business. She's a bit headstrong sometimes but she's okay," Ben told him. "She'll try to use her charms tonight to persuade Mr. Aiden to accept. He won't be persuaded, though. I didn't tell her that. Let her have some fun trying. I've been working for John Stanley for almost a year now. It's a good job. I mainly tag along in case there's trouble. I was hired after he bought that business down here. There have been a couple of close calls, but the two of us are running under a white flag. We have a deal with the vamps to come down here and talk to Mr. Aiden. Then we go home."

"Stanley isn't a stupid man," Arek said. "Why didn't he know about Dairev's interest?"

"I don't know," Ben said. "He bought the business and then the trouble with the vamp clan started. I don't know why Dairev said he had an interest or why Mr. Stanley didn't know about it."

"Stanley give any indication at all about the purchase? He say anything out of the ordinary about this business? Why he bought it? Why he didn't know about Dairev? Anything you can think of that just didn't seem right?" Arek asked. Ben took another swig of beer and thought about it.

"I can't think of anything. It was kind of chaotic when they hired me. Seems that some of Mr. Stanley's men and workers were killed and some vamps were killed. That's why I got hired. They needed more help."

"Something went wrong," Arek said. "When you go back, inform Stanley that I'll be working with Aiden on this. Tell Stanley that if I find out that he isn't playing this right, I will pay him a visit."

Ben finished the rest of his beer, gulped, and said, "I will." Arek walked around the bar and headed for the door. After he left, Ben grabbed a second beer and nearly finished it in one drink.

Azrioth had a very effective police force. They were highly trained, well-armed, respected, and most of all, there were a lot of them. You rarely saw less than three at any one time. They patrolled on foot and on horse, used carts, wagons, and had various steam-driven vehicles. But, even with Azrioth's finest out in force at night, there were still places in the city that were very dangerous. Arek was walking down an alley that people rarely walked down, in the day or in the night. A few shadows seemed alive as he headed towards a door at the end. Those shadows could have been vampires, thieves, or just ordinary shadows. Arek knew that these shadows were watching him.

No one ever really knew where Dairev lived or where he would locate his place of business. He changed it every day, but Arek was fairly certain this was the alley to find him. His guesses and hunches were usually put together from a mass of information that his senses processed unconsciously.

"I would ask," a voice said behind him as he reached the door, "what the famous Arek was doing at my doorstep." Arek turned around. He saw a tall, skinny man dressed in a very exquisite suit. The suit looked to be a blue hue, but it shimmered between that and purple. In the dark, it was hard to tell. Only a few lamps burned in the alley. "But, I know why," he said as he walked closer.

"You should," Arek told him. "You gave sanctuary for Veronica Stanley to visit Aiden. You knew I would get involved."

"Yes," Dairev said. "I did. I would invite you in, but since you came straight here, you've forced me to move. I can't take the chance that others have located me."

"Yeah," Arek sighed. "The price of being at the top."

"You understand," Dairev stated. "You never cease to amaze, do you Arek? I never knew of you being in a position like mine, but yet you understand. You've made me curious."

"Don't look into it," Arek ordered. "You might find things that I want left buried."

"You will not threaten me here in my home!" Dairev fumed. There was a blur as Arek attacked. Fear crept up Dairev's spine as he moved to defend himself. It was just a blink, but Dairev saw only the two dead bodies in front of him, and those two were his bodyguards. He felt a pinpoint of pain in the small of his back and quickly turned to meet the threat. Arek stood there with a small sword.

"I don't threaten," Arek said softly. "I don't bluff. I rarely warn, but consider this your only warning. Don't look. I won't be happy if you do."

"How?" Dairev asked. "No," he quickly added. "Never mind. You won't be happy." Dairev smiled weakly. "You wanted something, did you not?"

"Why did you attack Stanley?"

"He attacked first. His men brutally murdered a distant cousin of mine and sent his body to me with a message saying that he was going to take over my territory. My only option was to leave or end up like my cousin."

"You still have the message?"

"Ah, no, " Dairev sighed. "In my rage, I destroyed it."

"So, I've just got your word?"

"There were a few others with me, but they've been killed since."

"Do you want this meeting to settle things peacefully or is it just a setup for you to kill Stanley?"

"I want it to end," Dairev answered. "Peacefully," he added, clarifying his position. "Business has been bad lately because of this. I'd rather settle on an agreement and get back to business. Of course, I'd really like to get that business back."

"You had an interest in it before it was sold?" Arek asked. He knew the answer was yes, but he wanted to be sure.

"Yes," Dairev answered. "I don't know why Frank sold it. It wasn't like him."

"Do you know Stanley says he didn't know you had an interest in it before he bought it?" Arek asked.

"What?" Dairev said, surprised. "Not possible. He murdered my cousin."

"Maybe," Arek said. "But don't you think it's just too coincidental that everyone there who was a witness is now dead? I'd bet Frank is dead, too."

"Yes," Dairev said softly. "He is."

"We'll set up the meeting," Arek said. "But if it goes wrong, I'll pay you a visit."

"You pushed me like this to show me what you could do, didn't you?" Dairev said. Arek nodded. "You did all this to make me understand what you could do -- finding me, making me angry, killing my bodyguards -- just to make me understand what your threat meant."

"There is more, but you have most of it, yes," Arek said. He sheathed the sword and turned to walk away. Dairev watched him go.

"You're more than you seem," Dairev whispered. "Much more powerful than what I was informed." There was a groan behind him. He spun quickly around to find that his two bodyguards weren't dead at all. They were slowly getting to their feet. They might as well have been dead because Arek could have killed them if he had wanted. No, what was worse was that Dairev couldn't tell they were still alive. "Much more powerful," he whispered. He was head of a clan and over two hundred years old. He could move like the wind, be a shadow, enthrall most people, and walk in the sun. Psionics didn't affect him, but he knew it was because he had psionic capabilities and not because he was a vampire. He felt the shiver of fear run up his spine again and he knew now where it came from. It was from Arek.

Dairev knew of an older vampire with a major territory. That vampire was nearly four hundred years old and was very powerful. He could do things that Dairev only dreamed of doing and Dairev hoped that he reached four hundred so that he, too, could do those things. But Arek . . . he seemed to surpass even the old one. He'd never heard anyone say that Arek was a vampire and there had never been any proof of it. But to look meant certain death. He was sure of that. ◊

Read Chapter Two in Volume 2, Issue 4.