13 Degrees of Separation (60 page)

“So
he's gone?” Draskin asked, rearing back in dismay. “He slipped the net?”

“He
may
have,” Nohar stressed. “Remember his signature? How he likes to play with us?
Double back a few times? If he staged it right, hop a train, go a couple
kilometers and then jump off and double back...”

“He
could be anywhere,” Draskin growled.

“Here
or out there. We can start here, but get the word out.”

“Yeah
warn them. Any idea which train?” Draskin asked.

“The
Rottweiler who worked in the train yard said a north bound train. No identity
beyond that, a day ago, late evening. Smell and shape. He didn't identify the
train either, whether it was a freight or a passenger liner,” Nohar said.

“Spirit
of space, a passenger train, all those people,” O'shee said, sickened.

“Yeah,
so get the warning out. I'll help but I'll stick to the yard. I'm taking the
Rottweiler with me.”

“I'll
be along in a minute,” Draskin said waving a hand. Magnum nodded and followed
Nohar to the waiting neodog.

...*...*...*...*...

“Anything?”
Magnum asked. Draskin shook his head. “He's not on the freight lines, we would
have heard of something by now. I put a stop in to all but the one going to
Crater City. That one doesn't have a way to stop it short of finding a lineman
with a red lantern. And they are pretty wary of that since that area still has
train robberies,” Draskin replied.

“So,
Crater City?” Nohar asked. They'd torn the city apart. The killer could have
kept ahead of the posses, but he doubted it. The dogs would have sniffed him
out. The good news was a few of the dogs had stumbled onto a few other kills,
and a couple of missing kids that had gotten lost in the sewers. They were
being lauded as heroes. One of the Alsatians had even signed on to the police
force. The hounds had signed on to the CSI. The times it seemed, they were a
changing, Nohar thought wryly.

“If
he's on a train and doesn't kill... he'll kill right off. He'll be famished.”

Draskin
frowned as a female dispatcher handed him a telegraph message. He scanned it,
and then his scowl deepened. “Maybe he did,” he growled.

Magnum
and Nohar turned to look at him. Others in the room looked up suddenly. Draskin
read the report. “Killing in Crater City, stop, Body torn apart, stop.”

“Crater
city it is,” Nohar sighed.

“Unless
he doubles back on a southern train. He's more comfortable here in his home
stomping grounds,” Magnum replied.

“With
everyone up in arms? I doubt it. No, he moved on to fresher hunting grounds. He
may not know the terrain, but he's got the wilds around there to hide in if he
has to. He can lead a posse on a merry chase, even pick off stragglers if he
wanted to do so. But he'll stick to the kids.”

“We
need to get there.”

“Hell,
they need to close the schools and get the kids and women into lock down,”
O'shee said. Nohar nodded.

“I'll
tell them you are coming. Try to give them an idea what they are up against,”
Draskin said.

“What
about you Bobby?” Magnum asked. “Aren't you coming?”

Draskin
shook his head. “Someone's got to stay behind and deal with the mess. Besides,
out of my jurisdiction and I don't have any time off coming my way,” he sighed
heavily. They turned to O'shee but the Asian spread his hands apart helplessly.

“Damn.
Okay then. Let them know help is on the way. Up for a flight?” Magnum asked,
looking at Nohar.

“Yeah,
let's get our stuff and get going,” the Tiger said.

Chapter 9

Crater
City was a western style town, set on the edge of a crater lake formed by one
of the terraforming asteroids. It wasn't much of a city, more of a rustic town
of brick and wood faced buildings. It had a park and a few other amenities, but
little else going for it.

The
people dressed a bit looser than in the Major cities, more in American Western
wear over the Victorian outfits the city slickers wore. Clothing was about fit
and comfort and getting the job done over fashion. The smells were a bit
strong, the city lacked a sewer system, though it did have flood control canals
and tunnels that crisscrossed the city.

They
were met by a pair of Neos. “This is a pleasant surprise,” Nohar murmured,
recognizing the dog as an Alsatian deputy he'd crossed path with once or twice
before. “Bullet right?” he asked. The dog's ears perked up. He nodded, one hand
tugging on his buckskin vest. He had a cowboy hat on and a shiny silver star
attached to his left lapel. Chaps covered his manhood and thighs, as did the
double gun belt around his waist.

“You
Nohar right? Ran into you a time or two before?” Bullet drawled. Nohar nodded.
Bullet turned to the white wolf. The wolf was similarly dressed, in black
though, with a game warden star on his lapel. “This here's Phantom, He's a
northern Game Warden who was here on vacation. I shanghaied him for this since
he's got a good nose for trouble,” Bullet said.

“Gee,
thanks,” Phantom replied dryly. “Some vacation,” he growled.

“Shut
your yap, I'll make it up to you somehow,” the dog growled. He turned to the
human. “You Magnum?”

“Yeah,”
Magnum said, looking a bit out of place in his Hawaiian shirt and white shorts.
The guy had hairy legs, not that the Neo's cared. Some of the human females who
were giving him dirty looks apparently did though.

“Tom
Magnum, private investigator. We're here about Jack.”

“Yeah,
that sounds about right,” Bullet replied, pulling the rim of his hat down. “We
can handle it from here boys,” he drawled.

“Somehow
I doubt that,” Nohar drawled in return. The dog pushed his hat back up. “This
lion is smart, cunning, and damn fast. He's incredibly strong, a pathological
killer, and damn sneaky. Arrogant bastard, but he can keep it in check if you
get too close. He can leap like a gazelle and he doesn't mind rolling in the
shit if it suits him. Somehow, I think he's a bit much for anyone to handle
alone.”

Phantom
looked concerned, but his partner snorted. “You make him sound like some sort
of boogie man, ooohhh,” he mocked.

“Don't
underestimate him. The entire Ring City police force went after him and he ran
circles around them. Them and me, Bastard's good. He knows it too. He loves to
eat his victims too,” Nohar growled.

Phantom's
eyes went wide. He turned to Bullet. “Bullet...”

“Sure,
sure, they can stay. I can't kick them out anyway, Sheriff said no. He saddled
me with this mess, which is why I nabbed my ole buddy to play back up.”

“Thanks
again for that,” Phantom replied with a sigh and rolling eyes.

“Hey,
if I can't trust you who can I trust?” Bullet asked.

“Um...”

“Roy's
not here and besides, he's got his hands full in Hazard,” Bullet replied.

“Can we
go somewhere so we can fill you in?” Magnum asked. Bullet nodded and indicated
the chuck wagon nearby.

They
waited until after they ate before Magnum and Nohar filled them in on the
details. Silently Magnum handed over a folder, a copy of the report he'd gotten
from Draskin. Bullet and Phantom listened, now sobered and grim. When they
looked at the photos they turned away, ears wilting in distress.

“I
think maybe we should be glad you are here,” Bullet finally said. “Since you've
been the only one to get close to this Jack,” he said.

“Yeah
well, thank me when he's a fur rug,” Nohar growled. The others nodded.

...*...*...*...*...

Just as
they arrived at the little bed and breakfast to drop their things off all hell
broke loose. A bell started to ring, and Bullet lifted his muzzle as another
neodog howled.

“Trouble,”
he said, listening. Phantom lifted his muzzle to hear as well, cocking his head
this way and that. It sounded like a freight train, long mournful sounds with
occasional yips and barks. Nohar didn't catch it all, but he got the gist,
another killing.

“Here,”
he said, thrusting his gear onto the counter. "Hang onto this lady, we've
got a hunt on our hands,” he growled.

The
woman took the bags and smiled. “You get em boys!” she called after them as the
group moved off at a trot.

“Multiple
bodies, on the street above the wash,” Bullet said as they moved out, “north
west of town.”

As they
approached the area they could smell fear in the air and cologne. “There!”
Nohar said, pointing to an all too familiar top hat and blur of black and
purple fur as it rounded a corner.

“Go!”
Magnum said as they moved faster.

“I'll
cut him off!” Phantom said, separating from Bullet and Nohar and Magnum. Magnum
followed the wolf, but lost him as the wolf hopped over a 3 meter tall fence.

“Shit,”
Magnum snarled, trying to climb.

“You up
for this ole timer?” Bullet panted, glancing at Nohar.

“Just
stay outa my way flat foot,” Nohar snarled, ears going flat as he dropped to
all fours for a full out run.

“Yeah,
thought so,” Bullet said, copying his move.

They
were held up by traffic, the lion was lost in the crowd. Nohar dropped to his
belly, he spotted cat feet running down the street and popped up to point.
Bullet nodded and they moved out.

Magnum
climbed the wall and headed out through the alley, ducking under wet clothes
hanging from clothes lines. A woman yelled at him as he tossed her knickers
over his shoulder. “Sorry!” he said, moving on quickly.

He
nearly bumped into the lion as he rounded a corner. The cat spun, then ducked
in front of a wagon loaded with barrels.

The
oxen stampeded in terror at the sight and smell of the predator covered in
blood. Magnum tried to get a shot off from down the street, leveling his gun.
Jack looked back in time to see him.

“Wah
oh,” Jack said, holding the top hat he ducked and ran for cover. He chuffed in
mad laughter as he rushed off. He jumped in front of other animals, “Bugga
bugga!” Scaring animals and people. The stampede of animals and people ended up
as chaos for pursuers. Eventually they gave it up as wasted effort, cursing
that the bastard had slipped past them. People were armed, they heard what was
going on and then grimly formed up into armed posses.

Together
the foursome returned to the scene of the crime. A deputy was on scene, green
and looking away. Another neodog was there, this one a bloodhound with a badge.
“You get him?” Silently Bullet shook his head no. They turned to look at the
pitiful remains.

A pair
of women, shredded silk and lace, blood everywhere. A quick kill, both humans.
One had her head ripped clean off, the other had been disemboweled. From the
look of it, Nohar reconstructed the scene. Jack disabled one with a rake or two
of his claws, and then before the other could flee he was onto her, pinning her
to the ground in order to crush and rip her head off.

Nohar
and other Neo's were confused, there were just too many smells, people flocked
to the scene and they could barely pick anything out. The shouted voices,
screams of fear... it was overwhelming their senses. Phantom had his hand paws
over his ears in distress. “This is why I hate the big city!” he snarled.

“If you
think this is a big city, you never want to go to Gotham or Landing,” Nohar
replied with a sneeze. Someone had  on powerful cologne, it was overpowering
their senses. Their mouths were open, tongues out, eyes watering, it seemed
like they were in a sea of stink.

Nohar
turned accusing eyes on Magnum. Magnum held up his hands. “When I realized he
was using cologne I stopped,” he said. He pointed to an empty bottle between
the bodies.

“That's
right you did,” Nohar mused, turning in place. He sniffed a nearby human who
flinched and backed away. Then he turned on the crime scene. “Son of a bitch!”
he snarled. The others looked to him. “The bastard soaked the area in cologne!”
Nohar growled. They could track that, find out who bought cologne he thought
absently. If they didn't catch up to him some other way, he thought grimly.

Bullet
and Phantom each took a whiff and nodded. Each of the bodies and the area had
been liberally dosed in cologne to throw off the scent. Nohar knelt, and turned
in place, trying to figure out where the scent was coming from and going, but
it was maddening, he couldn't lock in on it.

Phantom
however locked into the incoming smell. He dropped to all fours and sniffed,
then slid under a railing and down out of sight. The others went to the railing
to see him in a wash headed for a tunnel.

“That's
not the way he went!” Bullet called. “He went that way!” he said, pointing to
the mess up the street. They'd given up trying to follow that trail after the
stampede had gotten under control.

“Yeah,
but he came this way, and maybe...” Phantom said, lifting his muzzle to sniff
the rim of the concrete.