FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"I swear, Brislow, you picked this place just to make my life difficult."

I smiled at Tom's annoyed tone from the earpiece. "This kind of meeting is always better down in a public place, you know that."

"Sure, but couldn't you have picked something where I can have long-range line of sight? There's no perch for me to get in to and watch over you?"

I looked around at the aquarium's walls with all the fish theme decorations. The aquatic toys lining the walls for kids to play with. "Stop being a grouch, there are kids around, no one will do anything."

"You can't be this naïve, Brislow. The people who hate you won't care about kids."

"I know, which is why we have a dozen people watching the building inside and out. Speaking of which--" I switched to the general channel-- "can I get a report? Anyone of interested showing up?"

"No police in front, unless you count the private security people."

"No one from the files we have," a woman said, her accent identifying her as Jasmine. I couldn't keep try of who worked for me anymore with the number of them I had.

"Your target just entered the exhibits on the second floor. I don't see anyone following him and his family."

Other voices reported the same lack of anyone suspicious being around. I switched bad to Tom's channel. "See? Everything's quiet. Nothing to worry about."

"It's always quiet," the badger grumbled, "until it isn't anymore."

"Just stay out of sight. I don't want you risking spooking him." Tom answered with a grunt and I went back to listening to the general channel. I passed the restaurant, with its immense fish tanks, and up the stairs. I swiped my phone at the exhibit entrance to pay the fee and joined the people walking along.

I saw the fox, four exhibits ahead, a four-year-old in his arms pointing at whatever animal was frolicking around in that enclosure. When Flint looked around, I nodded to him. He spoke with the vixen and handed her the child. She took the hand of the eight-year-old and they kept going while Flint kept looking at the enclosure.

Otters, I found out when I reached him. Quad river otter, according to the plaque.

"You ever wonder about the fact ever species on earth diverged from their quad equivalent about five hundred thousand years ago?" the fox asked, leaning on the rail and watching the otters jump in the water.

I shrugged. "History was never my thing, but wasn't there a freeze then? Isn't outside pressure the kind of things that forces species to evolve?"

"That's what the scientists say."

"You don't sound convinced."

"It's just a lot. All around the world, one day everything starts evolving hands and a bigger brain. Sometimes it's easier to buy that some greater power just made it happen, like in the bible."

"Except that according to the bible, isn't the world something like six or seven thousand years old?"

"The bible doesn't give actual dates, so people who research it have to be the one to work that out. And only the old-style believers claim the earth's a few thousand years old. Everyone else agrees there's nothing in the bible that contradicts the scientists, that the allegories of God creating the worlds are just that, allegories."

"I didn't know you were religious."

Flint smiled. "I was raised Protestant. Fell out of it, but I've been looking into it again. Isn't your family religious?"

I nodded, taking my phone out and looked at dad's number, with the indicator next to it, I was still blocked from calling him. "I never took to it. When I was younger the idea that some god had created everything felt too contrived." I chuckled without meaning to.

"What's funny?"

"Sorry, something unrelated." If gods were real, how did I know they hadn't created everything in some version of the bible's stories?

"Anyway, what did you want to talk about? I can let Miranda and the kits wander off on their own for too long, those two can talk her into anything."

I listened to the comm chatter for a few seconds to confirm everything was still clear. "How are things at the precincts?"

"Same as usual, you weren't so vital that we couldn't survival your retirement."

"Is that how I'm being remembered? As having retired?"

"Reilly and Alice try to remind everyone you were kicked out for being corrupt, but it's been a year now, everyone has too much to do to dwell on the past. I still haven't found anything that can prove you were framed."

"I wish you'd stop looking. It's too dangerous."

"Don't you want your name to be cleared? To get your job back?"

I shook my head. "Six months ago, I'd have jumped on the chance to be a detective again."

"But now you're some rich security mogul?"

"No, but I like running the company. Flint, you have a family, don't put yourself at risk on my account. Even if you if find something, it isn't going to do anything."

"It's going to right a wrong."

"Fine, just be careful. How is Alice? Is she still irrational?"

"About you? Sure. Anytime a report comes in she looks for any kind of indication you're involved. A few weeks ago she went on a rampage because some cheetah was suspected of killing a store clerk. She wanted to storm your company being you in, tie you down and force you to admit to having done it. Reilly was a bit more rational about it, but he seemed willing to go along with it, anyway. I swear, those two should be partners the way they look at things the same way."

"If I'm not involved, how is she?"

"She's a bit on edge most of the time. Hemingway does his best to ground her, but Cooper is Cooper, you know as well as I do that there's no changing her mind once she's made it up. I'm surprised you care."

So the calico was still her partner. "Bret came to talk to me, it's affecting their home life. I'm just trying to understand what's going on. Yeah, Alice is stubborn, but how can this be all that it is. Have you ever known her to hang onto anger for this long? She normally works it out in the boxing ring. I thought maybe stress from the precinct might be causing it."

"Things there are no more stressful than usual."

I nodded as one of the men I had outside spoke up in the earpiece. "I have a car from the police pool arriving. It's driver by a German Sheppard, I think. Anyone closer to the parking lot?"

"Assume it's Reilly," Tom answered. "Give me an ETA."

"Ten minutes at best."

"Brislow, wrap this up, now."

Ten minutes didn't mean now, I wanted to snap at Tom. "Before you get back to your family, has there been a rash of murders in the city over the, let's say last week? People being bled out?"

Flint looked at me. "How do you know about that?"

I sighed. If there had been any doubt the twins were in the city it was gone. "How long ago is the oldest one? How many bodies to date?"

"Eight days, twelve bodies. Dent, how do you know about this? We've managed to keep it out of the news."

I cursed. Eight days meant a little before the attack on Steel Link. Based on what Fred told me, the blood was a vital component to powering the marks, but he didn't know how much was needed. Did that account for everyone who'd attacked? Were there more waiting for the right occasions?

"Brislow, why are you still standing there?" Tom snapped in my ear.

"Does the FBI know?"

"No, this is local, it doesn't--"

"It isn't local. Do you remember Zikabar?"

"He's the guy in charge of the FBI here, right?"

"Yes, talk to him. Make it official if you have to, but your guys need to coordinate."

"Dent, are you saying we have another serial killer in the city?"

Wouldn't having just one be nice? And while Damian was cozy in a room at Steel Link, that left the twins going around killing as they needed, and if they were as smart as Damian implied, twelve bodies found probably mean a lot more no one had accounted for yet.

"I need to get moving. Reilly's coming."

Flint sighed. "He's going to be unbearable if he thinks I'm talking to you."

"Then you better rejoin your family." I patted his shoulder and hurried through the exhibits. "I'm on the move. What are the usable exit points?"

"Reilly's alone, so you can use the back door and go around while he's inside looking for you."

"Did anyone see if Reilly got close to the car I used?"

"He looked into it," someone said.

"Then I'm not risking it. Kevin, pick me up in the back. We can have someone scan that car for listening devices and trackers when we pick it up later."

"On it, Boss," Kevin replied.

"I want two of you to stick around and keep an eye on Flint and his family. I don't think Reilly is going to go off on Flint in public, but if any of Alice's irrational behavior spread to him, I don't want to risk the Sheppard endangering anyone."

"We'll take care of that," Jasmine replied. "You exit the building."

I did just that, wishing I could stay to make sure Flint would be okay. I hated how this kept spilling over onto people who had nothing to do with it.