Technomancer (Unspeakable Things: Book One)

to join you?” Beginning to wonder if he was trying to delay me, I figured it was high time I checked up on Holly and Jenna.
    “She’s not as innocent as she seems, Draith.”
    “Really?” I asked, but his words didn’t really surprise me. I knew she was a thief and was quite capable of lying.
    “We had good reason to pursue her, let me leave it at that—but she was awaiting questioning, not murder. Think about it: why would we want to bleed humans when less problematic sources of fuel are so abundant? Now, I really must insist—” Gilling said, moving to rise.
    “One last question,” I said. “Do you know Robert Townsend?”
    Gilling opened his mouth, then paused. He sat down again. He tilted his head to one side, glancing around what had been Robert Townsend’s hotel room. I knew he had sent Hugo here, which indicated there was some connection to Jenna and her missing husband.
    Finally, he leaned forward conspiratorially. “Yes, I do. Have you seen him—lately?”
    I shook my head. “I’m looking for him too.”
    Gilling nodded slowly. “He’s a slippery fellow.”
    My eyes narrowed. Was he lying? I’d found Robert’s shoe in his dungeon. Had he killed him in that dungeon?
    “Are you telling me Robert was a member of your group?”
    “Yes,” Gilling said, turning around in his chair and closing his eyes.
    Had Robert Townsend really stepped out on his newlywed wife on purpose? It seemed odd, as he’d left behind his lucky ring. In support of the self-styled technomancer’sclaims, however, I’d found a shoe, not a body. One other thing had been bothering me about Jenna’s story: these rips, when they appeared, had never consumed anyone. You could step into them, but they didn’t drag you in. That was further evidence that Robert had left purposefully.
    Suddenly, a wink of light blossomed around Gilling. I pointed my gun at Gilling and almost fired, but I realized that he was already a blur of flesh and clothing in a ripple of space. I stepped to the edge of the rip and his flaring outline. “Come back out of there!” I shouted.
    He lifted his hand one more time. Was he giving me the finger or waving at me? I wasn’t sure, but after a second, he stepped away and disappeared. I stood behind in the room, cursing. If I followed him, I had no idea what I was walking into. Damn.
    The rip closed and I examined the spot where it had been. There was a handy pool of blood on that exact spot, provided by the dead man named Hugo. I nodded to myself. He’d sat at the table, very close to the blood, on purpose. He was thus able to leave at will.
    Shaking my head, I left the room and the Lucky Seven. I needed to see Jenna, but first I had to find Holly. I had too many women in my life right now.

I had given Holly my cell, so I didn’t have an easy way to call her. Pay phones had long ago been ripped out of the lobby of the Lucky Seven and other casinos. Anyone they wanted to do business with could use the hotel room phones or their own cells. Anyone who didn’t have a room or a cell, they figured, could get the hell out.
    So instead I walked down the Strip to another big casino hotel. I needed a shower and a bed, not to mention a way to call Holly. I had money to pay for a room, but I didn’t want anyone knowing my location. My eyes slid around the lobby in paranoia. Someone had made numerous attempts to find me and probably to kill me. Knowing a thing like that makes a paranoid person such as myself…even more paranoid. As for the Gray Men, I didn’t know how they were tracking me, but I didn’t want to make it any easier for them.
    Coming up with a plan, I walked to the front desk. The clerk was perky despite the time of night. The palm trees inthe vibrantly lit atrium behind her were motionless. I wondered how they kept plants from dying in there—I couldn’t see an obvious source of sunlight.
    “Do you have any rooms available?” I asked the perky clerk.
    “We sure do! Weekend or not, the hotel is half-empty,” she said.
    I nodded. “I’ll find out what the rest of my party wants to do,” I said. “We just drove in.”
    “OK!”
    I left her and walked to the elevators. Hotel security ran their eyes over me. I didn’t look back, but instead walked with purpose. Security was supposed to make sure street people didn’t get into the hotel. I knew they would assume I had checked in and was now heading up to my room.
    I got off on the twenty-second floor and tapped on a door. A