Chapter Eleven

Tucker reread the message from DOMA on his phone again, then straightened up and faced the director.

"Ma"am, we need to get you to headquarters,"

Director Wu"s fingers were flying as she sent out several quick text messages, and a thoughtful Alyssa hurried over with a towel to dry her fingers and her phone"s screen before using it to wrap her shoulder-length hair. "I need to be on site at the museum."

"We"re more than a half-hour drive away," he returned. "Even if we left now and sped the whole way, we"d still be too late. Germaine"s usually in and out in under twenty minutes, and he was probably well underway by the time the museum"s alert went out. We planned for this, it"s fine."

"Tucker, go get dressed," Rahul told him, holding out glowing hands out as he used heat from his djinn fire to more quickly dry Fang"s body. "I"ll coordinate rides."

Tucker didn"t hesitate. He set his phone down, then sprinted upstairs and into his personal room. His meager inventory of enchanted shifter clothing was hanging up in the closet, including one complete field uniform that was getting a little worn from use. He opted instead for his personal athletic set which didn"t contain any metal or hard plastics, donning it quickly, then rushed back downstairs where he found Rahul already shepherding everyone to the front door.

"Keys," Rahul said, tossing him the keys to his truck and handing out coats from the closet. "Fang and I are probably good to drive in a pinch, but you and Alyssa are the only ones completely sober, so it"s you and her at the wheels."

"Understood, and thanks, babe."

Tucker trusted his boyfriend"s logistics. He found himself climbing into his truck with the director in the passenger seat and Rahul in the back, while Leif joined Alyssa in her modified jeep, carrying his alchemist"s kit.

"You and Leif are coming too?" Tucker asked over his shoulder as he pulled out onto the road, speaking quietly so as not to interrupt Wu"s terse phone call with Rickert.

"Your plan included options for if Leif"s potions were available, so yes. Alyssa is stopping by her place first to get a change of clothes for the director and a few other things, then they"re headed to HQ like us. I"m here as an extra set of hands in case my pup needs an errand boy. Also because I love you."

"I love you, too. Okay, work mode! Number one priority is to get the right people in place by notifying them, which Wu is working on, I think? Then to get information about the hit."

"Already on it. I"m monitoring emergency traffic with some apps. Police were sent to respond to the museum, but nothing about EMS."

"So no confirmed injuries yet, good."

"Basu!" Fang said, scrolling through her contact list. "Call Fontaine and keep an open line with headquarters while I coordinate with Clairmont."

"Yes, ma"am, since you asked so nicely."

Fang paused. "Damn it, habit, sorry. Rahul, you never should have left us. But yes, do it please. Unless Clairmont supersedes me, I"m extending your private investigating contract to include tac-ops. We"ll revisit if we need you in the field."

"Done and done! Calling."

Tucker listened with half an ear while he focused on the road, which was fairly empty owing to the lateness of the hour.

Deep breath. Time to see the difference two years can make.

◆◆◆

Half an hour later, at close to midnight, he was standing in a command room with a dozen other operatives in a mix of outfits, staring at a computer screen. Four transmitters were sending them identical coordinates of a motel about an hour"s drive away, where presumably Germaine and his wardbreaking accomplice were holed up with their stolen artifacts.

"It"s sooner than we projected, but I think the overall plan still holds," Executive Director Clairmont said next to him, smiling pleasantly. He had on a long-sleeved dress shirt and slacks, slightly rumpled, and despite having availed himself of a shower, he still smelled strongly of sweat and sex. Tucker was surprised to find himself feeling a measure of remorse for interrupting what had probably been a pleasurable evening.

"I agree, sir. Julia"s already heading that direction with Rickert. Lilithian, myself, and a few others will join them once Leif finishes mixing his drinks and we collect our equipment from the armory."

Director Wu was flipping through the operation binder. "Sir, should we contact our FBI liaison, since we"re the ones with the trackers? Maybe contact that city"s police and set up a blockade?"

"Not yet," Clairmont said casually. "We wouldn"t want to waste state or federal resources until we have eyes on the scene and confirm that this is where Germaine actually is, and that he didn"t simply remove the trackers and leave them as bait."

"True," Wu conceded. "Or if he"s left buried automated explosives again."

Clairmont looked up into Tucker"s face. "Yes, exactly that. We wouldn"t want him to cause any injuries like last time."

Tucker took a quick drink of water from a paper cup to hide his surprise. Clairmont"s scent… he wasn"t making a dig at him or his past failure. He was being deceptive somehow. Was he that confident that there weren"t any traps?Or could it be that he was using the potential threat as a cover to keep the operation constrained to DOMA?

"Let"s stick with the outline and keep police involvement to just the museum, for now," Tucker said. "They can keep checking the crime scene alongside Detective Deimos. Germaine has proven surprisingly informed of police involvement in the past, and I suspect that he listens to chatter through police scanners. No need to tip him off prematurely."

Clairmont nodded to him, smelling of satisfaction, then moved on to discuss with an operative about getting access to the museum camera records. Tucker stepped back to where Rahul was seated, watching the proceedings.

"Wish I were coming with you, pup," he said. "I wasn"t there last time, either."

"I know. But if we need you on-site with your fire magic, things will have already gone to hell. Stay here and watch over Leif?"

Rahul pulled him gently down, giving him a lingering kiss. "So long as you stay safe."

A few minutes later, Leif was escorted in by Quartermaster Wood, each of them carrying a milk crate filled with a dozen Giara-style potion bottles with flip tops. Tucker was immediately at Leif"s side, taking the burden, and Rahul was a mere second behind, putting his arm around Leif to help support him.

"Easy there, cub, you"re white as a sheet. Come sit down for a few minutes, then we"ll get you some food."

"I didn"t want Tucker to go in with any half-assed or degraded potions," Leif said with a stubborn set of his jaw. "The black crate is what I made on Friday, and the ones in the, um, black crate with paint spots are fresher and made just now, so use those first. Everything"s labeled, and I also added one of the healing potions. Drink it, don"t pour it."

"I appreciate it, darlin"." Tucker gave Leif a tight hug, then nodded to the crates. "I"m going to take these and head out. You don"t have to stay, but I know you"re going to anyway. Try to get some rest, things won"t kick off for at least another hour, okay?"

Tucker said another farewell, ran a few ideas past the directors, then joined Wood, Agent Fontaine, and a specialist in bringing the gear to the motorpool, loading it all up in a van. Lilithian met them there, dressed in a formal gown adorned with fresh flower petals.

"I sincerely hope it doesn"t come to a face-to-face confrontation between you and Germaine," Tucker said as the two of them buckled themselves in the rear, gesturing to her sylvan dueling outfit. Fontaine and the specialist took the driver and passenger seat while Wood returned inside the department.

"I sincerely hope it does," she retorted, adjusting a few stitched petals back into place. "Let us see if his command over earth is greater than mine. Your notes were thorough, but there remains much to be tested."

Tucker nodded. Germaine used tattooed runes to help him channel his mythblooded control over earth, granting him power at the expense of versatility. While it was known that he could manipulate earth and metals at a range of a couple of meters, he"d never shown an ability to affect plants, and it was unknown what would happen if someone were manipulating the same element that he was. In a tug-of-war between him and a sylph, who would win?

"Just be careful," Tucker said, "And drink a Bullet Barrier potion beforehand, at the least. He"s already shown that he considers DOMA agents fair game."

Tucker frowned to himself as he climbed into the back of the van. He had, right? Clarimont"s nuanced comments combined with Wu"s recent admission were messing with his head, making him second-guess what he thought he knew.

Tucker settled himself into his seat and made sure that his phone was available and his comms was on in case Operations needed to reach him, then thought it through.

Germaine was intelligent. He"d planned ahead during his last heist, and planted some explosives beneath the earth in an area that he was likely to be chased into, and done in advance long enough that Tucker"s beagle nose didn"t smell the explosive contents. At least, that"s what the police bomb squad had determined afterwards in their redacted report. And Wu had just confessed that had she not trusted her ESP and intervened, Deimos, Angie, and Maxim would likely have been killed.

But if that were true, if Germaine was willing to kill government agents when he refused to harm civilian security guards, why hadn"t he done anything to Tucker? He"d been at his mercy, bound in rock, and Germaine had had the element of surprise. Shifters were difficult to put down, but as Tucker had learned last autumn with an evil smoke cloud, suffocation was a very real threat, and being buried alive was within Germaine"s abilities. The criminal hadn"t even tried, just taken the opportunity to run.

Maybe he"d been worried about the extra time it would have taken? Or perhaps Julia"s wards had left a lingering, weakening effect?

Tucker frowned, then checked his phone. Midnight, and still most of an hour to go. Instead of a restful break and a chance to center himself, he found himself growing more confused as he considered Germaine"s motives.

When Julia"s call came in forty minutes later, he welcomed the distraction.

◆◆◆

Tucker was crouched down among the trees beyond the parking lot, body tense and ready to move as Julia carefully scanned the motel, his nose alert for any sudden change in her emotions for that extra split second of warning. Yellow glows flickered against trees and leaves from the scrying disc she had conjured.

"We"re clear," Julia said at last, dropping her hands and dismissing the spell.

"What"s the result?"Wu asked.

Tucker had to listen to the chatter through Julia"s comms unit, since his own earpiece was stashed a few feet away with his shoes and socks; no need to give Germaine a ready source of plastic or metal right next to a vulnerable ear.

"Good news overall. Germaine and his one accomplice are both in room number…" Julia lifted some binoculars to her face. "One-twelve. If he does have allies in nearby rooms, his options include a family of five, or a geriatric man. Lastly, unless the wardbreaker is much stronger than they appear and is fudging their aura, we"re looking at roughly a novice. I can"t give you more detail about Mx. Sinclair"s abilities without doing a more thorough scan, though, which could tip either of them off."

"And Germaine"s vehicle?"

"No wards that I can detect on the van. If Agent Fontaine wants to put her security skills to good use, now"s the best time. Detective Johnson and I are ready to intercept if something goes wrong. Detective Somerset, Agent Lilithian, acknowledge?"

"Somerset, ready."The flapping of wings could be heard in the background.

"Lilithian, ready."

"Good work getting to this point," Clairmont said over comms. "The primary objective remains to prevent any civilian casualties, secondary is to bring Germaine in alive, and tertiary goals include capturing the accomplice and retrieving the artifacts. Lethal force is only permitted in the case of imminent civilian or agent death, as discussed, with retreat preferred. Agent Winters, on your mark."

"Yes, sir. Fontaine, go."

It was a tense several minutes watching Fontaine stealth her way through the sparse parking lot, scanning and then putting a couple of trackers on Germaine"s vehicle—not that they expected him to use it again, but there was always a chance.

"No sign of alarm," Julia said. "Good work. Fall back to the van, focus on surveillance. I"m going to begin building the first ward around the motel. It"ll be a rush job, focused on restraining Germaine"s specific runic abilities rather than limiting movement, so try to keep him within bounds. Detective Johnson will manage ground operations while I"m gone."

"I"ll have room audio for us momentarily,"Fontaine added.

Tucker reached back for his comm set, securing it loosely around his ear. "Understood."

Sticking to the trees as much as she could, Julia began making arcane gestures with her hands, moving at a brisk walk and leaving behind a trail of honey-scented magic.

Tucker focused back on the motel room, but there were no signs of alarm.In the mean time, Fontaine relayed the conversation between Germaine and Robin Sinclair, which seemed to be an idle discussion over where they were going to have breakfast in the late morning.

"About to complete the circle," Julia said several minutes later, near enough for Tucker to hear her actual voice instead of through the comms.

"Germaine has moved on to whispering sweet nothings to Robin," Fontaine said, continuing her broadcast of the room"s going ons. "Should we wait to see if it escalates, finish the ward while they"re distracted?"

"Let"s not," Julia said curtly, ducking under a tree branch, pausing a few feet away from her starting position. "The longer we take, the greater the chance of being discovered.Now, be ready. As soon as I finish, I"m going to start the second circle."

Tucker and the other operatives acknowledged, then Julia made a last few gestures. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as the ward shimmered into place.

"Shit,"Fontaine said. "Robin says "shit," and they"ve sat up in bed… door!"

"Moving in!" Tucker said, then tossed his comm set away. Julia ordered everyone to stick to the plan, then set out at a jog to build the secondary ward. Tucker shifted into his weredog form, loping the short distance across the mostly empty parking lot, his shirt and shorts becoming arm and leg bands as his shifter clothing adapted.

Emerging from Room 112 was Germaine"s partner-in-crime and possible significant other, a chubby figure dressed in stretch pants and an oversized pink sweater. Tucker didn"t have much time for more observation before he was lifting them up bodily, carrying their screaming figure away from the immediate scenario.

Robin"s scream abruptly changed pitch, as if they were singing a high note, and Tucker paws slid out from under him as a wave of binding magic arrested only the momentum of his upper body. He fell heavily onto his back, his quarry landing on top of him, but he managed to retain a grip despite their struggles.

Flipping over onto his hands and knees, he held the squirming Robin beneath him, grunting as he explained himself. "I am Tucker of DOMA, you are being detained. Is okay, you are not to be hurt, so please do not resist, yes?"

"Fuck you, fucker!" They did their magical screaming again, immobilizing Tucker"s arms momentarily, but still couldn"t free themself. "Orlan, help!"

Tucker lifted his muzzle, seeing the other proceedings. A bare chested and barefooted Germaine with his still very pretty hair was combining the tattooed runes on his body with apparent difficulty, taking several seconds to first free himself from a weighted net dropped by a flying Rickert, then to use the asphalt of the parking lot to form a barrier against reaching roots guided by Lilithian.

When Germaine"s gaze settled on Tucker, he noticed the dawning recognition, and the grim expression on his face was immediately replaced by a smile. Downwind, Tucker could smell the change as his fear diminished.

"Detective!" he called out, still forming a half-barrier around himself. "It"s good to see your handsome face again despite the circumstances, but you should let us go!"

"I"m sorry, no! You have hurt people and done other bad things and need to answer for them."

"Lies," Robin seethed. "The government just doesn"t like having someone they can"t control."

Robin sang out another note, a ringing sound that smelled like fresh dirt and seemed to resonate off of Julia"s barrier. Germaine"s struggles with his runes eased, and he was not only able to tear apart all of Lilithian"s plants in the next second, but also force Tucker to roll to the side, carrying Robin as he avoided ensnaring concrete.

Rickert fell out of the sky, his obsidian stone body cracking the ground as he came up behind Germaine to put him into a choke hold. For his part, Germaine sandwiched his own neck between a pair of earthen stalagmites, shielding himself, which also neatly prevented Rickert from carrying him up into the sky as planned—no material for his runes up there, and nowhere to go but down if he somehow incapacitated the gargoyle.

Lilithian was there in the next second, humming a sweet melody. The air around Germaine began to leech away, forming a vacuum. Germaine"s runic gestures became more hurried, as he struggled to pull in lungfuls of air while simultaneously staving off Rickert"s efforts to break through his shielding stalagmites. His eyes turned towards Robin.

"...go," they muttered. "Go!"

Robin"s final note was almost a whistle, nearly shattering Julia"s barrier. Just as Rickert broke through the stalagmites, the ground beneath Germaine melted away, and the man fell into the ground, the hole sealing up behind himself.

Tucker didn"t hesitate, lifting up Robin and rushing to Rickert. "Up!"

Tossing them into Rickert"s arms, his friend gripped the wardbreaker tightly and flew up into the air with a sharp crack of his wings a mere second before another wide chasm opened up beneath them all, dropping Tucker down a couple of meters into it.

Sitting on his tail, Tucker looked up into the face of Germaine, seeing him sigh as he watched the retreating form of Rickert and his carried captive.

Tucker lunged forward, but was caught by stone tendrils that wrapped completely around him, and even bound his muzzle shut. He growled.

"Sorry, little puppy," Germaine said, patting him a couple times on the head. "Next time."

At a gesture, Tucker was lifted up out of the ground and dropped on the parking lot. Bound as he was, he couldn"t even turn his head to see what became of Germaine, but faintly heard moving rubble for several seconds before he couldn"t make anything more out.

As Julia and Lilithian headed towards him for a rescue, he shut his eyes, unable to control a whine.

"Damn it."