was already certain it wasn't going to be good.
By the time I'd reached the smaller building, I'd already devised a dozen scenarios in which Tommy asked me to do something either ridiculous or dangerous. Probably a combination of the two.
I walked along a curved corridor of the smaller building, passing armed guards. I occasionally glanced down through the glass sides at the reception below, until I reached a set of lifts. The green button lit up when I pressed it, flashing slowly as the lift made its way up the three floors toward me. The reception lifts moved slower than the normal ones, and had glass walls, so that the occupants could be monitored.
I took the lift down to the reception and said hi to a few more people as I left through one of the two revolving doors and into the parking lot outside. I found Tommy and Sara standing beside a large, black Toyota Hilux truck. They were deep in conversation which stopped when Tommy saw me.
Sara had changed into a blue blouse, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She glanced up as Tommy threw something at me, which I caught one handed. A set of car keys.
'Are we going somewhere nice?' I asked.
'Sara, can you give us a moment?' he asked.
Sara walked away to a respectable distance, before playing with her phone and pretending that she wasn't trying to listen in to Tommy and me.
'I need your help,' Tommy said.
I raised an eyebrow. 'Since when do you need my help?' I gestured to the building behind me. 'There are a dozen people in there that would die for the chance to help you.'
'I need someone I can trust, no matter what happens.'
'Why? What's going to happen, Tommy?'
He at least had the decency to look outraged. 'Nothing,' he sighed. 'It’s recon work I agreed to do to help a client. And I want you to be my backup.'
'Start talking.'
'Fifteen years ago a nasty little bastard by the name of Neil Hatchell attacked and raped seven women. He got out of prison two weeks ago.'
'There's more to this, I assume.'
'He's a werewolf, and after he was done beating each of his victims half to death, he bit them. Three died from the change and another one killed herself when she couldn't cope with what she'd become. He was charged by Avalon with seven counts of rape, three of murder, one destruction of a mind and seven of gene manipulation without consent.'
'So, why isn't he dead?' I asked. Avalon doesn't exactly look fondly on crimes like his. In fact it was a surprise that Neil had been arrested at all. Normally the LOA aren't shy about ending problems on a more permanent basis.
'No idea. Instead they stuck him in the Hole. Third floor.'
The Hole was a prison on an isolated island in the North Atlantic. It's not on any maps, and has a permanent no-fly zone around it for anyone not associated with Avalon. It's also one of only three prisons with enough capabilities to handle even the most powerful of creatures. It consists of ten floors, the more dangerous you are the higher the number, and the further underground you're kept. The first seven are guarded night and day, the last three are left unguarded and it's up to the prisoners to rule themselves. No one in their right mind wants to be placed down there. I've been down there twice. Once I almost didn't make it back out, and the second time was even less fun.
'Bet that wasn't a picnic. How the hell did he get out after only fifteen years? He should have served over two hundred years for the deaths alone.'
'Again, no idea. But he's out and officially can't be touched, he's served his time and is a free man. Unofficially… well that's where we come in. My client wants him checked out. So I want to bring you and Sara with me.'
'You want us to go pay him a visit and make sure he's behaving himself? So why is Sara coming?'
'She's my assistant. She's been here two months, and she hasn't accompanied anyone on assignment. She needs to know the type of work we do. I figure with me and you there, there's nowhere safer for her to be.'
'Except in the office here,' I pointed out. 'She's not ready.'
'Is that Nate the fully trained, professional problem solver talking, or Nate's penis?'
I couldn't help but chuckle. 'My penis hasn't done a lot of talking lately.'
'She has a boyfriend.'
'Thank you for the relationship advice,' I said. 'I know this already. Nothing has happened between us, nor will it. But if something bad happens, she's had no weapons training.'
'You'll keep her safe, and you know it.' He turned and walked back toward his truck, waving at Sara to come and join him. He opened the door for her to get in and I sighed and followed. Tommy was right, although I'd have never told him that. Sara did need the experience.
As I opened the driver's door, I saw a big beaming smile on Tommy's stupid, smug face, and I already knew I was going to regret saying 'yes'.
Chapter 2
We pulled up outside a pair of twelve-story-high, red-bricked buildings. I parked the car and stepped out into the cold air, surveying the large parking area with its expensive cars, which sat idly beside an expanse of immaculate green lawn.
I closed the door and walked across the grass until I reached a small bench beside an expansive koi pond. The large fish came to the surface, clearly used to being fed by passers-by, vanishing away back into the deep darkness when they realised no food was forthcoming.
'I don't even know how you got us through the gates,' I said to Tommy, as he and Sara sat beside me. Unlike the other, smaller houses which dotted the area, all with drives and garages, the two taller buildings had a pair of huge iron security gates for cars to get through before they could reach the outside parking area. I'd been more than a little surprised when Tommy had handed me the key card which had gained us access.
'Friends in high places,' he said with a smirk. 'Same person who gave me this.'
He passed me a folded sheet of paper, on which was written two sets of numbers — one four digits and the other six in length. 'What are they?'
'The four-digit is the key code to the building on the left; the six-digit is the code to Neil's alarm in his penthouse.'
'How the hell did they manage that?' Sara asked.
'The code for the front door is on file at the security company. No one but them can change it. The same company keeps the details for every resident's alarm. Anyone who lives here is required to keep the code on file in case of emergencies.'
I memorised the two numbers and passed the paper back. 'I assume you have a plan.'
'You get in, look around and get out.'
'Actually, I'm a bit more concerned about why you need me here if you have the damn codes, Tommy?'
'You're better at this stuff than me.'
I stared at him for a good twenty seconds before allowing myself to say anything, just in case it was derogatory. 'Fuck off.' Apparently I hadn't waited long enough. 'You're a powerful werewolf who could easily get in and out without problems. One quick change to your wolf form and you're basically the animal version of a damn ninja. So what's the real reason?'
'Neil's a wolf,' he reminded me. 'If you're caught in there, you can get away with little fuss. If I get caught by a werewolf, one of us is going to die.'
Why?' Sara asked Tommy.
'It's a territory thing. If I get caught on his ground, he'll protect it with his life and there's no way the beast inside me will let a challenge pass if he attacks me. Best case scenario, I get away without tearing him in half. Besides, even if I don't get caught he's going to know a werewolf was in his home. Nate smells like a human, at
