No Humans Involved

He smiled, then scanned the street. 'Is Hope coming?'

'Bigfoot took her away.' I explained. 'But she'll phone if she finishes in the next hour or so.'

I let him guide me down the sidewalk. 'Did you get inside already?'

He nodded. 'Botnick seems the type who relies more on steel doors and bars than alarms. Probably wise in a neighborhood like this.'

'But not so smart if your break-in artist has superhuman strength.'

'Hmm. Still not easy, but I found a way.'

He steered me into a gravel parking lot boxed in by buildings, each wall peppered with more No Parking signs than there were spots to park. It looked barely big enough to fit a couple of cars and a delivery truck-a small one.

The full moon shone from a multitude of rut puddles. A bright yellow orb with not so much as a wisp of cloud over it. I looked at Jeremy, but knew the full moon meant little to him. Real werewolves need to change form more than once a month, and they do so on demand, not with the phases of the moon. He'd said once that they often did take advantage of full moons for hunts, but only because it was easier to see.

I caught a movement in the shadows. Jeremy's head swung toward it, hand gripping my arm tighter, pulling me back as if shielding me. A cat slunk between trash bins. Seeing us, it froze. Its orange fur puffed up as it spit and hissed, a feline fireball, bright against the gloom. Jeremy made a noise deep in his throat. The cat tore off, its paws scrabbling against the gravel, a fiery streak racing for cover.

I twisted to say something, but Jeremy was scanning the lot, eyes narrowed, making sure that the cat was the only intruder. His hand still gripped my arm and he kept me so close I could feel the thump of his heart against my shoulder. His face was taut and wary, mouth a thin line, the pulse in his neck throbbing. When I shifted, he loosened his grip and rubbed my arm, as if reflexively reassuring me, his gaze and mind still busy checking for danger.

One last scan, then his hand slid to squeeze mine as he passed me a crooked smile, as if he didn't like being caught doing something that came naturally to a werewolf, but might look odd to me.

He led me to the farthest door. It was solid metal, and I could see no sign that it had been pried open, yet the plastic Deliveries plaque over the bell confirmed it was Atrum Arcana, Botnick's store.

'How did you get-'

He was already gliding alongside the building and came to a stop at a wooden box with a hinged lid. A garbage bin, judging by the stink and the oozing puddles beneath. He bent, getting a grip on the box, and heaved it away from the wall. Behind it was a window with a rack of bars propped beside it.

'I don't suppose those were already conveniently removed,' I whispered.

He shook his head.

'Impressive.'

A graceful shrug. 'They weren't affixed very well. More for show, I'd wager. He probably thinks hiding the window is security enough. Not much of a challenge.'

'You sound disappointed.'

A soft laugh. He motioned me closer to the open window. As he handed me a flashlight, I noticed he was wearing gloves.

'Only brought one pair, I'm afraid,' he whispered. 'Not very well prepared.'

'You bought gloves and a flashlight. I showed up in a skirt and heels. Who's not prepared?'

'Breaking and entering was hardly on our minds when I picked you up at the house.'

'Maybe so, but next time, I'm packing a bag.'

He helped me through. With the moonlight blocked by the trash bin, the room was pitch black. Even the flashlight only illuminated a basketball-size circle. I cast it around as he crawled in behind me.

It looked like a storage closet. In front of me, a shelf held mailorder supplies-stacks of folded boxes and bags of packing material. To my left, there was a narrow shelf tower with floor cleaner, bleach, rags, drain opener, rat poison and cat food. On first seeing the cat food, the optimist in me wanted to say, 'See, the guy may run a hardcore sex cult, but he still feeds the neighborhood strays.' Seeing the food next to the rat poison, though, I had to suspect it was more a lure than a handout. You can't run a decent black magic cult without sacrificing a cat now and then.

Jeremy was leaning out the window, pulling the trash bin back into place. As I turned, I saw that the storage closet also doubled as the shop bathroom. No sign of a sink. Very sanitary.

There was a stack of reading material by the toilet. Magazines. The top one showed a woman bound and gagged, her eyes rolling in helpless terror. Judging by the size of her breasts, though, she wasn't completely helpless-swing one of those at the right angle and you could knock a guy out.

Jeremy stepped up beside me. His gaze followed the flashlight beam.

I whispered, 'Something tells me the Disciples get more inspiration from those than from Asmodai.'

He shook his head and looked away, distaste on every feature.

I reached for the door handle, then stopped and waved Jeremy forward. He opened it, then took off one glove and passed it to me. When I started to refuse, he pushed it into my hand.

'You can't search if you can't touch anything.'

I pulled the glove on. 'Is there anything else? Security cameras, maybe?'

He shook his head. That made sense. A place like this, the clientele wouldn't want to be caught on camera.

We stepped inside.

HARD CORE

THE DOOR OEPNED BEHIND A SALES COUNTER. My gaze went to the gray safe under it.

'Even you can't break that open,' I whispered.

'I shouldn't need to. Imagine you're Botnick-'

'Rather not.'

He smiled. 'For the sake of argument only. If this store is robbed, where's the first place a serious thief will go, after the cash register?'

I pointed to the safe.

'So, while you may keep files, checks and valuable merchandise in there, it's not the place for anything not easily replaced, including items you can't report to an insurance company.'

'Like a spellbook, a ritual journal or a list of contacts. Is that the kind of thing we're looking for?'

He nodded. 'Documents, primarily. Books, journals, correspondence, contact lists, anything related to magic or his cult. I'm going to search his office. Could you take the shop floor?'

'Will do.'

THE mid area displayed a mix of occult and S and M paraphernalia, everything from magic fetishes to toys for fetishists. Pretty mild stuff on both counts. A wall display of handcuffs, from metal to rubber to candy. A bookshelf of titles-Occult Mysteries Revealed and Rituals for Beginners- the type of texts you'd find in a regular bookstore. A rack of whips that looked more like props than torture devices. Candles, amulets, chalices, even a display of organic herbal teas made by a local Wiccan.

Keeping my flashlight down, so the light couldn't be seen through the smoked front window, I flipped through a few items. Under the displays, I found cupboards, but they were all unlocked and held only extra stock of items already out.

To the far left was a closed door marked Employees Only. Not a bathroom, which I'd already found. Not the office-Jeremy was in there. I walked over and tried the handle. Locked.

'Jeremy?' I whispered. 'Got a locked door.'

He stepped from the office, walked over and bent to check the lock.

'Looks like a good, sharp twist-' I began.