Skeleton Crew. Cameron Haley
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point in changing vocations just because I died. Matter of fact, it’s a lot easier to find the bastards this way.”
“What do you have against ghosts?”
“Oh, nothing against most of them, just the troublesome ones. The haunts, revenants and vengeful spirits—those are my prey.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s any ghosts like that here. Tony got eaten and Keshawn can’t leave his grave.”
“I’m glad to hear it. I’m on patrol, you see. It’s my job to make sure there aren’t any malevolent entities on the prowl.” He drew a gold watch from his vest pocket and snapped it open. “Since there aren’t, I should be on my way.”
“Yeah, just the head. Thanks again for that.”
“My pleasure. Well, there’s plenty more graveyards to visit before the dawn.” He smiled and tugged on the brim of his hat. “Good evening, miss.”
He turned away and I watched as he walked across the cemetery toward the edge of the mist.
“Say, Abe,” I called. He stopped and turned back to me.
“Yes, Miss Domino?”
“You got any idea why Tony and Keshawn were trapped here? It’s like their ghosts were chained to the place where their bodies were destroyed.”
Abe looked down at his feet and rubbed his chin. He looked back up at me and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “But I reckon a powerful witch such as yourself will get to the bottom of it.” Then he turned and disappeared into the fog.
I didn’t want to chase him into the mist but I thought about going after him. Not because I needed the company, but because I was pretty sure the son of a bitch was lying.
“Why didn’t you tell me the Koreans were making noise about Terrence’s outfit?”
I was meeting with Adan in the second-floor office of his father’s strip club, the Men’s Room. It was early afternoon and there was a light lunchtime crowd in the club below. The girls danced onstage and gossiped in back of it. The men paid their money and pretended they weren’t lonely for a while.
“It’s a political matter, not directly related to the war effort. I figured you had more important things to worry about, and besides, Dad left this kind of thing to me. Anyway, I’m telling you now.”
“Terrence is our ally, Adan. Supporting our alliances is critical to the war effort, and you damn well know it.”
Adan’s voice softened. “I’m not trying to undercut your authority, Domino. Really, I’m not. I just think you’re being soft on Cole because you feel like you owe him something.”
“Yeah, he saved my life.”
“And we’re all grateful for that. I’m grateful.” Adan smiled and looked at me with his dark, soulful eyes. I’d gotten lost in those eyes once before. I didn’t plan on doing it again.
“So you want to show your gratitude by stabbing him in the fucking back? Remind me never to do you a favor.”
“No one has to get hurt, Domino. I’m not talking about taking him out. He’d get bumped down to lieutenant again, but in a stronger outfit. It’s still a promotion for him, from where he was before. We annex his territory and he runs it for us.”
“I’m pretty sure Terrence wouldn’t see it as a promotion. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t blame him.”
“Maybe. He’s not stupid, though, and I think he’d come around. He’d listen to you, Domino.”
“I’m not going to push him out without giving him a chance.”
Adan sighed. “What do you suggest, then? The current situation isn’t stable. If we don’t push him out, someone’s going to put him down.”
“Simeon Wale’s crew is going to cross. Terrence will give him lieutenant.”
“No one mentioned this to me.”
I shrugged. “I thought you had more important things to worry about. Anyway, I’m telling you now.”
“You’re weakening our outfit to support Terrence.”
“Letting Wale cross doesn’t make us weaker. I know I’ll sleep better at night.”
“The other outfits will know you’re supporting Terrence. It will involve us in the conflict. It could escalate.”
“I don’t see how. The move is between Terrence and Wale. I’m just stepping aside.”
Adan frowned and shook his head. “I don’t like it, Domino. I should have been consulted about this. I don’t like you dropping it on me after it’s already done.”
I smiled. “Yeah, it stings a little, doesn’t it?”
“This is different, Domino. Okay, I didn’t tell you about the Koreans. You made a move that impacts my responsibilities without discussing it with me.”
“There wasn’t anything to discuss. If we can help Terrence get right, we’re going to do it. That’s the way we treat our allies around here. Maybe it’s different where you come from.”
Adan flinched, and I had to admit it was a low blow. Adan may have been the crown prince and maybe he’d made his triumphant return, but he was still an outsider to most of the guys in the outfit. A few even suspected King Oberon of running a long con on us. They figured Adan would turn out to be some kind of Manchurian Candidate even more dangerous to our outfit than the changeling had been. Adan had inherited a certain amount of power—enough to make life difficult for me—but he was isolated. In the underworld, that’s an uncomfortable place to be.
In my experience, men weren’t usually very complicated, and Adan was no exception. In the last couple months, he’d made it pretty clear he wanted to be friends. Problem was, I needed an associate I could count on a hell of a lot more than I needed a friend, even if he was nice to look at.
“We’re on the same side,” Adan said, as if he knew what I was thinking. “I’m just trying to protect my father’s interests, the same as you. We don’t have to be rivals, Domino.”
I wasn’t sure how we could avoid being rivals if he challenged all my decisions. Maybe he thought we could avoid it if he were the one making all the decisions. If that’s what he had in mind, he was going to be really disappointed.
“There’s something else,” I said. “Terrence had to bury two of his nephews yesterday. I was at the cemetery.”
“That’s rough, but from everything you’ve said about Mobley, that’s the way the Jamaicans play the game.”
“That’s not what I’m getting at. After the service, the kids got back up and tried to eat us.” I told Adan about the zombies and about my visit to the Between.
“And you’re sure it wasn’t something Mobley did?” I shook my head. “There was no magic on the kids. I’ve been down that road before so I don’t want to make too much of it. But it wasn’t sorcery and it wasn’t glamour.”
“So what does that leave?”
“I was hoping you might have an idea.” Avalon, where Adan had grown up, was in the Beyond. He’d had more experience with this kind of thing than I had.
“It could be a plague, like in the movies.”
“Jesus, Adan, I was hoping you’d have something a little more solid than fucking Hollywood. Anyway, I got bit by one of them and I haven’t been feeling any cannibalistic urges or anything.”
“Sorry, Domino, I really don’t know. We didn’t get much in the way of zombies. I guess it could be an Unseelie thing. They were hooked up a little more closely with the realms of the mortal dead