Tuesday Teaser - The Huntress

Another one of my WIPs. I'm trying my hand at Urban Fantasy on this one. Rachel is more than human, and less than thrilled to be an occult specialist for the OCU. Here's a brief snippet about her reaction to one being sent to her bar.

Rachel waited for an update patiently as she sat in rush hour traffic. About fifteen minutes and a whole two traffic lights later, Rachel finally gave up waiting patiently. “Well? Which KOS is it?”

“It's not a KOS exactly, but it isn't someone you're going to be happy about,” Mik said.

“Who is it?”

“It's one of Garrison's lap dogs,” Mik said. “He says he's looking for you in regards to a case.”

Rachel groaned. “Really? They can't go pester one of their other occult specialists?” Rachel was looked on in some circles as a specialist in some of the more obscure occult occurrences. Most of what she knew came from personal knowledge, and what wasn't personal came from books that her favorite New Age bookstore was unafraid to order for her. Her personal library was large and very eclectic.

“He's not giving details but I think Garrison wants to talk to you,” Mik said.

“I'll call Junior. Tell him he needs to answer his cell phone when it goes off,” Rachel said. She gave them a few minutes to tell her head bouncer and business partner to answer his phone. She set up the hands free unit at the next light. “Call Junior.” The voice recognition program processed her request and his phone started ringing.

“Red's Place,” Junior said, answering his phone on the third ring.

“How many times have I told you to answer the phone with the actual business name?” Rachel asked. “What's going on?”

“Hey Red. I'll answer my bloody phone however I want so quit bitching. And one of Garrison's men is here,” Junior said. “He's been acting weird all night so it took us cornering him to get him to finally tell me what the fuck was up. He's scared of me for some reason. I can't figure out why. He's not one we've seen before.”

“He's probably a sensitive. You know that bunch always ends up working for Garrison,” Rachel said. Captain Dominic Garrison was Rachel's personal annoyance. She'd encountered him at the bookstore and ended up in a conversation with him prior to knowing what his affiliation was. Garrison, as he'd sworn he preferred to be called, was the commander of the Occult Crimes Unit of the state police.

The occult was becoming recognized as a very real threat in their state. The governor had demanded a task force be set up with agents in every major city and every state police office should have contact with a central command unit. Since they lived in the capitol city, the OCU central office was located here.

Garrison was the commander of the entire OCU statewide. What made him the best candidate for the job, Rachel didn't know. He didn't volunteer the information and Rachel didn't ask. It was better not to ask anything with Garrison. You dealt with him and on his terms. Rachel challenged him in that regard on a regular basis, but they still had a reasonable working relationship.

“Tell the officer I'm stuck in traffic. Ask him real quick if I need to head to the office or if Garrison's coming to look for me,” Rachel said.

She heard muffled voices. “He says that Garrison's actually out at the crime scene. Do you have your I.D.?” Junior asked.

“I do. Where's the crime scene? I'll head straight there,” Rachel said.

“He says he's supposed to escort you,” Junior said. “He looks like a greenie, Red. You'd probably just better come here and get this over with.”

“All right,” Rachel said with a sigh. “I think I'll have a word with Garrison. He's supposed to call me, not send his people into my bar. It's bad for business.”

“How soon will you get here?” Junior asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I'm stuck in traffic,” Rachel said. “Is it urgent?”

“I think it is,” Junior said.

“Then I'll be there soon. I can't give you a set time because I have to find a good place to 'port,” Rachel said. “Just tell the kid I'm on my way.”

“All right. See you in a few.” Junior ended the call.

“Fuck. Mik, Gabby, find me a place where I can 'port please,” Rachel said.

“Right, Red,” Gabby said. Five minutes later, Gabby came back to her. “Just ahead. Get in the right lane. There's an empty alley. No security cameras and no homeless.”

“Right,” Rachel said. She glanced over her shoulders and saw she had just enough room to get over. She pulled into the right lane and then turned right when Gabby told her to. As soon as she was away from the main street, she stopped the car and turned it off. She closed her eyes and conjured a teleportation ring. As the ring contracted around the car the buildings in the alley wavered and vanished to be replaced by the half full staff parking lot for the Hudson Ave Bar and Grill, or as everyone seemed to call it, Red's Place.