Deader Still (30 page)

“I’m much harder to carry as dead weight, wherever you’re taking me,” I said, hoping my false bravado wasn’t as transparent as it felt. Even if I complied and kept going, there was no way in hell I’d be able to get up of my own accord now.

After a quick visual Mexican standoff, it was Mina who finally gave in. With a final nervous look down the aisle, she squatted down behind me and started picking me back up.

“Fine,” she said. “I know everything about you.”

“Even … ?”

Mina held up her hands and wiggled them at me. “
Zap
. Yes, even that. I always wondered how you were so astute about things when we were ripping people off. I didn’t just happen across your apartment by mistake. I was given a lot of information on you: your address, the Department you work for …”

“By who?”

Mina dropped her eyes from mine, unable to look at me. “Let’s just say you meet a lot of interesting people in jail …”

“How long were you in jail?”

“If you’re going to follow everything I say with a question, I’ll get straight to using the bat on you,” she said.

“Sorry.”

“Two years into my jail sentence, I was transferred to this hard-core coed facility, and you wouldn’t believe what I ended up hearing through the rumor mill. Seems one of the most badass inmates of them all had a real mad-on for one Simon Canderous. He was delighted to make my acquaintance when we met. You might recall him … a European gentleman recovering from a stab wound through his shoulder?”

“Faisal Bane,” I said, and my stomach dropped out from under me. Suddenly I wanted to throw up.

Even though I had run the leader of the tristate area’s largest cult through with one of the historical swords at the Metropolitan Museum of Art less than six months ago, I should have realized that no matter what type of jail time he might serve, he wasn’t done with me.

“You say his name with about as much contempt as he said yours,” she said, amused.

“I suspect that’s the only thing we have in common,” I said.

“Even in jail, you could tell people respected him, if only out of fear. A tiger, even when caged, is still a tiger. And besides, I like powerful men. They can do things for a girl …”

I thought I saw where this was going.

“Like get her out of jail earlier than she’s scheduled to be released?” I asked.

Mina smiled. “Something like that. I don’t know what you did to piss him off, Simon, but Faisal is someone you want to have in your corner, someone who can do things for you.”

“And my life is the price you paid for your freedom, right?”

Mina didn’t answer, but she had me standing once again and shoved me off in the direction of her colored candy trail.

“And you’re doing all this for what? So you can get your hands on
The Scream
again? This is a sick obsession. If Faisal and his people have it, they’re not going to just hand it over, you know. They have to want it for some special reason.”

“I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it,” Mina said, her face determined and with purpose now. “Besides, Faisal isn’t the worst of your concerns right now.”

“Oh, great.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” a familiar voice boomed out. The last time I had heard it was that night at the Met. A figure stepped out from behind one stack of crates, the minotaur of this particular crate-formed labyrinth—Cyrus Mandalay.

“Hello, Simon.”

There was no mistaking the imposing figure of Cyrus—a huge white man with dreads, sharklike teeth, and ritualistic tattoos weaving across his face. He had escaped the cops, and here he was now. He was even wearing the same pirate costume he’d worn to the gala at the museum. It hung in dirty tatters now and he looked like he had been living like the mad king of the hobos ever since his narrow escape. I thought normal Cyrus was scary, but this new, unhinged version terrified me even more.

“We really have to stop meeting in museums like this, Cy,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “People will start to talk.”

“Glad to see you’re in such good spirits,” he said, smiling with his row of razor-sharp teeth. They were yellow now. “I, unfortunately, am not. You cost me my business.”

“Tome, Sweet Tome? We’re having a field day just trying to wrangle some of the more aggressive books, but we’ll manage. Great acquisition for the Department.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Cyrus said, his eyes blazing with hate. “That bookstore was just a cover for my real business. You know that.”

“Oh, Ghostsniffing?” I said. “Yeah, I’m really broken up inside over the fact that we put an end to your little soul-destroying narcotics operation.”

Cyrus started walking toward us, but Mina held up the bat, pointing it at him.

“That’s close enough for now, Cyrus,” she said. “I can let him go, or you can give me what I came for.”

Cyrus stopped where he was, peering at us. It was like he was noticing her for the first time.

“Mina, was it?” he asked. “You think your life means anything to me after you refused to kill your little boy toy Simon? Wasn’t that what you exchanged for your freedom? Now I’m afraid you may have to be put on permanent display at our little exhibit here …”

“I brought him to you,” she said in desperation.

“Actually, I found her—” I started.

Mina kicked at me, catching me in the shin and sending a shiver of pain up my leg.

“I’m willing to trade you Canderous for the painting,” she said. “I’m kind of attached to
The Scream
, and I honestly think the painting would be far happier in my hands than yours. Especially after you sent a group of hit zombies after me …”

“Hired help.” Cyrus sighed. “They were just supposed to take the painting from you. If I had my way about it, I would have sent more zombies after you with instructions to eat brains first, ask questions later, but someone in jail thought rather highly of you.”

“I’ll be sure to send Faisal a nice care package,” Mina said. “The painting, please.”

“Don’t be sure he’ll be all that forgiving this time. Besides, that painting is integral to what we’re going for down here.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, interrupting, “but are we going to bash my head in now or would you rather wait till later? Because if I get a vote, I can tell you which camp I’m siding with.”

Mina raised the bat over my head and held it there like a blunt guillotine waiting to drop. “Just give me the painting.”

Cyrus gave an arcane gesture, and the sound of shuffling rose from several points behind me. I craned my head back to take a look, but it was no use. I had a pretty good idea what was coming, though.

“Umm … Mina?”

“Quiet, Simon,” she said, pissed off. “I’m negotiating.”

“You might want to negotiate nicer, then,” I said. Mina looked at me. Since my hands were still bound behind me, I gestured over my shoulder with my eyes. Mina’s eyes widened. She swore under her breath, lowered my bat, and let go of me.

I could understand her frustration. I was just as surrounded by dozens of zombies as she was. Apparently, somebody had been studying up on his necromancy.

Having a tight ring of brain-hungry zombies surrounding Mina and me was unnerving, and it was only after they relieved Mina of my bat and forced us to follow Cyrus into the next room that I took a moment to really look around.

In this new section of the unused underground part of the museum, there were only a few crates, mostly open and unpacked. This room was nearly identical to the one previous to it, except that I could actually make out what was going on in here. The lighting was still running at low generator levels, but it looked like an assortment of art exhibits mid-setup.

“Good to see you’ve found ways to entertain yourself other than destroying souls,” I said. “What is all this?”

Cyrus smiled and shook his head at me, then pointed straight up above us. Directly overhead hung a banner, done up in a mix of black and bloodred fonts:

When I looked around the room again, I saw signs of an art installation that I hadn’t noticed before, all of them in various states of preparation. The most prominent was a section of wall where
The Scream
hung. Next to it were the beginnings of a life-sized diorama re-creating the long stretch of dismal road from the painting.

“Well, this looks sufficiently fucked-up,” I said. “
This
is what you’ve been spending your time on, like some kind of demented subterranean Phantom of the Opera?”

Mina elbowed me in the gut. “I’d kind of like to live a little bit longer, so could you at least
try
not to antagonize him? Dammit! Trading you for
The Scream
was the last ace up my sleeve.”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t listen to people who repeatedly threaten to bash my brains in.”

At the mention of brains, the group of zombies let out a soft moan. I shuddered.

Cyrus
tsk-tsk
ed me. “You see?” he asked. “That’s exactly the problem with you people. You’re limited by your solipsistic point of view. If you would only open up your mind and see the greater picture, the high art in all this …”

Cyrus circled around a large glass display case that stood near him, and I noticed a stirring at the bottom of it. Two distinct figures rose, stretching themselves on their four legs and arching their spiny backs. Their red eyes glared at Cyrus, then one of them charged forward. It hit the glass and bounced off, letting out a whine before it stood and shook its head, regaining its composure.

“The chupacabras,” I said.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “I see they’re actually teaching you something in that department of yours.”

Cyrus squatted down next to it and stared at the chupacabras from eye level. The two animals pulled themselves to the far end of the case. “Yes, they’re for this special little exhibit I’m putting together. A kind of deconstructed Will Wegman piece with a twist that I think will really wow our patrons. You won’t believe how hard these creatures were to come by. I had initially paid for only one, but two days later, a second one showed up out of nowhere, scratching around. I think these things mate for life, like they’re the swans of the paranormal world. The poor thing was a little bloody, but I could hardly turn it away from its mate, now, could I?”

Parts of the puzzle started to fall into place. The mangier of the two must have broken free from the gypsies near the docks, which had explained the shattered crate in their storage area behind the gypsy wagon. It must have been disoriented when it found itself by the docks on the west side, first killing everyone on the booze cruise, then taking the life of Dr. Kolb as it made a beeline for its mate’s scent all the way across town.

“So I
did
see you at the Javits Center,” I said. “I thought I was going crazy with there being so many damned pirates. You bought one off of the Brothers Heron.”

“Pirates are so de rigueur at those types of conventions,” he said, tapping on the glass of the display case. “I barely had to disguise myself. Apparently those imbeciles didn’t realize that these fine creatures mate for life. When one of them was taken away, the other simply followed. That hardly sounds evil, does it? Tell me that’s not the act of a loving creature.”

“Evil or not, it’s still illegal to sell them in the tristate area,” I said. “And they’re evil through and through. They’ve got some kind of demony thing going on with all that blood sucking. I think that technically counts as evil … and illegal.”

Cyrus stood up, mock horror on his face. “Oh heavens, no … not
illegal
!”

“Listen,” Mina said, speaking up. “I think the two of you have a lot to get off your chests here, so why don’t you just let me go? I’ve thought it over, and you know what? You’re right. I’ve been paid fairly and honestly already. You can keep the painting. I’ll leave town; you won’t have me to worry about.”

That was Mina, always looking out for herself. I would have kicked her if I didn’t think it might rile up the zombies.

Cyrus laughed out loud at her for several minutes, almost unable to control himself.

“Mina, Mina, Mina,” he said, when he could catch his breath. “So gothic, and so aptly named for what I have in mind for you. I think I have the perfect exhibit that could use a little bat bait.” Cyrus gestured again. “Bring her.”