“I’ll wait outside,” I said and headed toward the hall. Lou was out the moment I opened the door. If Victor saw this as sign of weakness, fine. It was better than throwing up all over the potion he was mixing up.
Just mixing it was bad enough. I didn’t know how he meant to employ it and I didn’t want to, although I could make a guess. I sat on the stairs and waited, trying not to think about it. After a while, Victor joined me, bag in hand. He looked a little green around the gills.
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Oh, yes.”
“You know where she is?”
“Not yet. Ruby’s body is too close and its proximity too powerful; it overwhelms everything else. It’s like trying to see a candle flame in the distance while you’re standing next to a bonfire. I need some distance.”
We left the apartment. The shattered lock was going to present a hell of a problem for the police department when they discovered the body. Their theory that an animal was responsible wasn’t going to hold up much longer, but they’d never come close to understanding the true state of affairs. I was beginning to regret having called Inspector Macklin earlier-Victor was right; it would make him wonder what I knew about it and why I was so interested. Maybe homicide would hush it up, though, put it on a need-to-know basis. If I was lucky, maybe Macklin would never even hear about it.
Once back on the street, we walked for a block and then Victor stood, concentrating.
“No good,” he said. “Nothing in this direction.” We retraced our steps until we were well past Ruby’s apartment in the other direction.
“Got it,” he said. “East. Maybe across the bridge.”
We got in his car and he started driving east. Victor drove almost as if he were in a trance, sitting stiffly erect, following his new sense. I hoped he wouldn’t crash the car, but there was no point in offering to drive. We ended up continuing east on Cesar Chavez, but instead of heading for the bridge, he angled off onto Third Street and through the Bayview district.
“Hunters Point,” I said, suddenly. “There was a flyer in the apartment, remember, about the open studios there.”
“Good guess. Out of the way, lots of space. That wouldn’t be a bad choice for her.”
Hunters Point Shipyard lies at the end of Bayview, right on the water. At one time it was a thriving port and shipyard, but those days are long past. Now it’s mostly a toxic waste site, with a huge power plant that dominates the landscape. The old buildings of the shipyard have been converted into artists’ studios, where painters and sculptors work in happy isolation.
Bayview is almost entirely African American, an urban slum rife with drugs and gangs, like Big Block and West-mob. Shootings are common, and it’s a dangerous place. But it doesn’t look dangerous, and it doesn’t look like what people think of as a slum, either. Older, detached houses sit on tree-lined streets, businesses dot the landscape, and people go about their daily life. It looks peaceful and rather pleasant. Appearances can be deceiving.
At the very end of Bayview, right up against the edge of the bay, the old shipyard sprawls out across the shore. Victor drove partway down the sloping driveway that leads into the complex, then stopped. Spread out down below were the studio buildings, looking more like military barracks than artists’ studios, which is logical since that’s what they once were. Off to the north side a large expanse of tangled scrub and low bushes covered a steep slope, crisscrossed by narrow gullies. A perfect place for the lair of a beast, or maybe Ruby had taken on the persona of a random artist in one of the studios. That would be more likely, considering her habits so far.
“She’s here,” he said. “But exactly where, I can’t tell. My locating sense is too diffuse.”
“It’s a pretty big area,” I said. “It’s not going to do a lot of good to wander around there hoping we’ll bump into her.”
Victor gestured at Lou.
“This is where he takes over.”
“Ahh. You have a plan.”
“Lou picks up her scent and pinpoints her exact location. You follow him, keeping an eye out for her.”
“Great idea.”
“But I don’t think he’ll have to track her for very long-I imagine she’s already aware you’re here.”
“Why?”
“Because you were present when the energy pool was formed and helped in its creation. That provides her with a connection to you-not a strong enough one to track you down, but enough to feel your presence as soon as you get close.”
“But if she senses me closing in, won’t she just take off again?”
“Not necessarily. I might be wrong on the connection part. And anyway, I think it more likely she’ll try to ambush you and rip you apart.”
“I see. And what will you be doing when this ripping apart thing is taking place?”
“Well, that’s the rub. I’ll have to stay up here. The point is to tempt her into an attack, and I don’t think she’ll take on both of us at once. After all, she didn’t have much luck even when she caught you alone, so she’ll be cautious. So I’ll hang back, far enough away so she doesn’t sense me, but still close enough to jump in when she attacks. You just have to fight her off long enough for me to get to you.”
I thought about the body in the next room, torn apart and partially dismembered. Then I thought about Morgan and Beulah.
“Okay,” I said. “But I’m going to need that gun of yours. She’s resistant to talent, remember.”
“The gun could pose a problem. If you’re armed, she might be able to tell. And then she’ll slink away and wait for a better opportunity. You need to make her feel confident enough that she can take you so that she’ll launch an attack.”
“Maybe you should just truss me up hand and foot and dump me somewhere she can find me,” I said. “Then, while she’s busy eating my brain, you can sneak up on her.” A ghost of a smile flitted across Victor’s face.
“That has crossed my mind. Anyway, try to keep an open line of sight between us. And if you have to move behind a building, do it slowly and I’ll angle over to where I can keep you in sight.”
This seemed like a haphazard plan to me, but I didn’t really care. I’d driven the shape-shifter off once already and I could do it again. I nodded and headed into the compound with Lou. We reached the bottom of the access road, where there was a large parking lot of gravel and dirt, muddy, with pools of standing water that had nowhere to drain. Across from it was where the first buildings started.
“Do your stuff,” I said to Lou. “See if you can sniff her out.”
He put his nose to the ground and started searching, moving out in concentric circles, adroitly avoiding the areas of mud and water. It wasn’t long before he raised his head slightly and moved off toward one of the buildings on the far side of the parking lot.
I looked up to make sure Victor was still in sight. He wasn’t. I cursed quietly, trying to figure out where he’d disappeared to. If I’d pulled that kind of sloppy backup on him, he’d have ripped me a new one. I hesitated a moment, then followed Lou. I was going to find this shape-shifter, whether Victor was paying attention or not.
Then, as we passed by the first building, I saw Victor come out from behind the rear of it. He put his finger to his lips in an exaggerated fashion and motioned to me. As I turned toward him, his body was violently jerked back around the corner as if something had grabbed him from behind. I heard a triumphant sound, somewhere between a snarl and a roar. Holy shit.
They say a sudden shock or fear can paralyze you into immobility-the body just shuts down. Not so. My legs were carrying me toward the building, sprinting at top speed, before my mind fully took in what had just happened. Lou was right alongside of me. With his speed he could easily have outpaced me, but he’s no fool.