For a wonder, Nikki was waiting for
me in the parking garage by a car. Instead of her usual gowns, she wore pants
that hugged her, but did not constrain her, and what looked like bulletproof
vest if it had been designed to mold to a woman’s curves like a corset. A black
backpack, looking distinctly military, rested on the rear fender of the car.
I parked next to her and got out.
“Hey, thanks for doing this.”
She gave me a smile and a small nod.
“So, you want to follow me there?”
“No.”
“No?”
“It’s rather redundant for us to
both take a vehicle. Climb in.”
“I’ve got gear,” I said.
She popped the trunk and tossed in
her backpack, gesturing like Vanna White. We could have just as easily taken my
car, but then I thought about what happened the last time I took my car
somewhere potentially dangerous. A loop of my old taurus exploding in a
fireball played in my head. I grabbed the large duffel from my trunk and
dropped it in.
“That seems excessive, Matthew.”
I shrugged. “It’s a freaking fae. I
preferred to go the ‘be prepared’ route on this one.”
She frowned at me, then. “What do
you intend witht his . . . stakeout?”
“Me? I want to survive. Evidence of
the drugs is good, too, but survival is key.”
“And the police will be supporting
this endeavor sometime tonight?”
I gave a helpless shrug.
“So we’ll just treat this like a
date.”
“Well, sure. How about we go to a
seedy dock in Shoreward and spy on a some drug dealers, a wraith, and one of
the Tuatha dé Danann?”
“We might
have to work on improving our dates in the future, but I suppose it will do for
tonight.”