Page 5 of Brimstone Bound
Tony had unwittingly given me the opening I needed. ‘What is your job exactly?’ I asked.
He slammed on the brakes, bringing Tallulah to a screeching halt. I was jolted forward, my forehead smacking against the windscreen despite my seatbelt. I rubbed it and winced. Tony frowned and reached across, using his shirt cuff to wipe away the tiny smear I’d left on the glass, as if it somehow damaged the aesthetic effect of the car.
‘Welcome to Supernatural Squad,’ he declared.
I glanced out of the window, noting the narrow grey building wedged between a small Waitrose and an expensive-looking hotel with a liveried bellman standing outside. ‘Perfectly equidistant between – and within walking distance of – the vamps and the wolves, and close to all the others at the same time.’
Unable to stop myself, I let out a low whistle. In terms of postcode, it didn’t get much more expensive than this.
Tony seemed to know what I was thinking. ‘Yeah,’ he said, turning off the engine. ‘Don’t think that the other departments haven’t tried to take this away from us. They can’t. Since the Supernatural Act of 1798,’ he doffed an imaginary cap, ‘Supernatural Squad has been entitled to this building. By law, it’s funded in large part by the supes themselves – though they’re not happy about having to pay for our existence.’
‘Isn’t that a conflict of interest?’
He just winked and got out of the car. I followed suit, casting a quick glance at the posh bellman outside the hotel. I half-expected a loud complaint that Tallulah was bringing down the tone of the neighbourhood, but instead he bowed at us.
‘Good morning, Detective Constable Brown.’
Tony grinned. ‘Good morning, Jeeves.’ He joined me on the pavement and nudged me. ‘Not his real name.’
No kidding. I smiled at Jeeves – or whoever he was – and glanced at the Mini. ‘Aren’t you going to lock the car?’
‘Nobody touches Tallulah.’ He walked up to the unmarked door and entered, leaving me to follow.
I stared after him for a moment, wondering what on earth I’d got myself into. I had the feeling it was going to be a very long two weeks. And Tony still hadn’t answered my question about what his job at Supernatural Squad was.
***
The building that housed Supe Squad might have boasted a grand address, but it wasn’t particularly grand inside. It wasn’t one of those buildings that was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, either. The walls were a dirty yellow colour, presumably from the days when it was considered normal to smoke indoors. The corridor was narrow. I caught a definite whiff of stale coffee from deep within the bowels of the building, along with the same heavy, deep scent I’d noticed in the car.
‘What’s that smell?’ I asked, as much to myself as to Tony who was striding ahead.
He stopped in his tracks and turned around. ‘You got wolf in your family?’ he enquired.
I was taken aback. ‘No. Of course not.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘You can smell the herbs, though.’
‘They’re not exactly subtle. And when you say herbs—’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t get your panties in a twist. They’re nothing illegal. It’s verbena blended with wolfsbane.’
‘To ward off the supes?’ I guessed.
‘Yep.’ He started walking again.
‘Does it work?’
‘No.’
‘Then why—’ Too late. He’d already vanished into a room at the far end of the corridor. I muttered a curse and went after him.
The room wasn’t exactly a hive of police activity. There were four desks arranged haphazardly along one side. The nearest one was occupied by a woman not much older than me, with bright red hair shorn into a pixie cut, and pale skin that was accentuated by her blacker-than-black clothes. She seemed wholly intent on the crossword in front of her. A younger man in uniform was sprawled on a small sofa watching daytime television on the opposite side of the room. Neither of them looked up when I entered.
‘Morning all,’ Tony said. ‘This is…’ He glanced at me.
‘Emma,’ I supplied helpfully.
‘Oh yes.’ He pointed at the redhead. ‘Moneypenny. She’s our operations officer.’ Then he switched to the policeman. ‘Plod. He’s our bog-standard police officer.’
