brought glory to the Imperium. Sadly, the Chairman would more than likely order his death for letting the Grimnoir escape, which was a shameful and embarrassing way to die.
The mirror remained silent.
Much time had passed. He was very hungry, yet dared not be away from the mirror. Iron Guards were familiar with fasting. He could do it for days if necessary. Toru attempted to meditate, but Dark Ocean kept intruding. There was something there, nagging at him. Something he was failing to grasp. His legs were impossibly cramped, but still he waited obediently.
A knock at his door broke his concentration. It was the captain of the guard.
“Any word from the Finder?” Perhaps if he could still destroy those Grimnoir, he could find redemption.
“No, Iron Guard. There has been no sign. There is a representative of the American government here to speak with you. As you commanded, I said that the ambassador had passed on due to a heart attack, but they are insistent.”
“Send them away,” Toru growled. He had no time for political games.
“It is concerning the events with the Grimnoir.”
His leg muscles burned as he stood. “Stay here. Should a link be established, seek me out immediately.”
“Yes, Iron Guard.” The captain bowed.
The American was waiting at the gatehouse. He was surprised to see that it was a female. She was tall and bulky by the delicate standards set by Imperium women, but he could see how to a Westerner she could be attractive. The natural inclination of an Imperium man was to underestimate women, but Toru had worked in the West too long to make that mistake. The woman carried herself with the confidence of someone who had seen conflict. She was wearing a plain skirt, a white shirt, no jewelry or any other material affectations, and an overcoat large enough to easily conceal weapons. She looked very tired, as if she had not slept recently, and in normal times diplomatic etiquette would have demanded that he offer refreshment. These were not normal times, so he just wanted to get rid of her as quickly as possible.
“I am Toru Tokugawa of the Imperium Diplomatic Corps.”
“Miss Hammer. I’ve been deputized by the Office of the Coordinator of Information.”
Ah, their new secret police. But why come here, and alone? No witnesses, of course. Certainly, it was yet another American poking around, meddling uselessly in affairs beyond their understanding, eager to sell information. This was a relatively common occurrence, since it was common knowledge that the Imperium paid for information in large quantities of gold. Like swine, only rooting for bribes instead of food, Americans were obnoxiously quick to sell out their masters.
Yet, it would not hurt to develop another source within this new agency. “What do you want?”
“Information leading to the capture of Jake Sullivan.”
That caught Toru off guard. “Who?”
“You know the name. Please don’t lie to me. It’s a waste of both our time. Sullivan came through this very gate less than twenty-four hours ago. Then it got ugly.”
“How do you know that?”
“Intuition… and what looks like a big scorch mark on your wall over there, and the place still smells like smoke.”
This was an intriguing development. “Please, come in, Miss Hammer.”
The guards opened the gate for them. He led her along the gravel path toward the Imperium house. “I heard that your ambassador had a heart attack. My condolences.”
“I heard that your president had been blown up. Now you have my condolences. As your people would say, we are even.”
Hammer paused to study the obviously damaged roof of the mansion. “Lot of things going on this week. Is that Sullivan’s work?”
“Why are you looking for this Sullivan?”
“He’s a known member of a criminal organization known as the Grimnoir Society, wanted for questioning in relation to the assassination attempt on President Roosevelt, and a suspect in the shooting of four federal agents. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.”
As a man of action rather than words, Toru had not liked his initial posting to the Diplomatic Corps, but he had learned Master Hatori’s lessons well. Her discomfort and the way she looked away as she spoke suggested that she was lying, but not about searching for the Grimnoir. That much was true. “As you said, please do not lie to me. It is a waste of both our time. What are the real reasons you are looking for him?”
This Hammer obviously did not like being caught in her untruths. “He’s a wanted man. Whether he did the things he’s wanted for or not isn’t my business. My business is finding him. That’s all.”
“What will happen when he is found?”
She sighed. “I imagine the OCI will kill him.”
Toru would much have preferred to kill the Heavy himself, but anything that harried the Grimnoir was fine by him. “I can say nothing about what brought him here, or what transpired while he was on Imperium grounds. Yet, I assume that you have some sort of Power related to accomplishing your mission?”
“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. Let’s just say that I know he didn’t leave by that front gate. Show me where he got out and I can pick it up from there.”
The Grimnoir rings bore a spell that made tracking them with spirits very difficult. The spirit had to have them in visual contact, and even then, it took an extremely talented Finder or Summoner to bring in a spirit capable of accomplishing such a feat. “You do not strike me as a Summoner.”
“I’m not. Just show me his trail.”
If she was telling the truth, that meant that she probably would not be alerted if he were to have a spirit follow her. There was one Finder amongst the marines, but his creatures had thus far been unable to locate the Grimnoir. If this woman could somehow track them, though
… The possibility was intriguing. “Very well. Come this way.” They would walk around the property to the back wall. There was no need for her to see the shame of the damage.
Hammer had begun to ask another question, but froze, and then let out a shriek when she saw the front of the mansion. He followed her gaze to see what was the matter. The car that he had flipped was still on its roof. Of course, it was a very large car, and none of the men had even a fraction of his strength. They’d dragged it over so that it was no longer blocking the drive, but they’d need to have a truck come to remove it. He would have cleaned that up himself if he hadn’t been waiting by the mirror. The captain would be reprimanded for Toru’s displeasure, though to be fair, the captain had been left with quite the mess to repair. “I am sorry for the display.”
The woman’s hands curled into fists. She seemed to be experiencing difficulty controlling her emotions. “What? What the-that’s-” Hammer was so livid that she was having a hard time forming the words. “That’s my car!” She turned back to him. “Sullivan stole my car. That’s my car!”
Toru found that humorous, but it would not have been fitting for an Iron Guard to display mirth before a stranger, so he restrained himself to just a polite nod. Even if his Finder could follow this woman to Sullivan, perhaps he should let her have the first crack at the Heavy. That would be especially amusing.
Chapter 9
The severity of the effects were unexpected, but we are certain that historical weather conditions will resume quickly. Our experts are certain that everything will return to normal in short order.
Ada, Oklahoma
Faye watched the familiar hills out the car window and got more and more uncomfortable with every passing mile. The last time she’d seen these hills she’d been a passenger in a car, only it had been nothing fancy like the
