02 - Bury The Past, But Shoot It First

Shay goes off on some interesting retrievals, some alone ( The Gold Locket, the Vinama Figurine, the bowl that creates zombies) and one with Brownstone (Rod of Supay). There is a lot more violence in this one mostly with Brownstone concerning the destruction of the Harriken and the rescue of Nicole. Shay starts to want to use magic to her own advantage, and goes on a quest for a rare mineral, adamantine, so that a Gnome will make her unbreakable knives. Another Tomb Raider tries to kill her through Peyton, and Peyton acquires a pet. There is beginning to be some duplication between this series and The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone, and still enough individuality in the character of Shay and her adventures as to be interesting in themselves.

Chapter One, Two, Three, Four The Rod of Supay As in introduction, Shay kills six members of the Demon Generals gang, the ones who had been assaulting the Pizza shop owner the last time she had been in his Olio Pizzeria. The gang had waited for her, and tried to assault her on this visit. It didn’t work, and now she was on her way to meet with Professor, Smite-Williams, and to meet James brownstone for the first time, the protector the professor had hired for her safety while completing the tasks he had set her. She hadn’t asked for any “protection”, and she didn’t trust anyone he might have hired. But the Professor told her that this was completely non-negotiable, and wouldn’t affect her fee in any way. The Red Warlock (Brujos Rojos were a formidable force to reckon with). The Professor continues with a history lesson on the Cartagena Codex, (now in Cartagena, Columbia) and the rod of Supay (makes zombies). Shay and Brownstone agree to work together to get the Rod.

Brownstone and Shay sit and talk, pass comments, try to get a feel for the other, as they will be spending a lot of time together. Both cynics, both not interested in the past, both think human kind of their day a bunch of dumb-asses.

Brownstone and Shay talk on the plane to Columbia. Shay has made some judgements about Brownstone- He was happy with not getting personal, he wouldn’t try to keep her on a leash (tell her not to do anything), laconic does not indicate idiocy, he was a bigger-picture man than she would have suspected, his seeming lack of being impressed by her looks was unusual. Gay? Was meticulous with his equipment. After two plane rides, and a jeep ride, they were now close enough to walk the several miles it might take to get to the site.

They got out of the jeep and hiked through the jungle, finally coming to stand in front of a crumbling stone archway and weathered stairs leading into inky darkness below. Torn small flags and the occasional discarded tool hinted at the last group of explorers. The tomb site lay atop a tall cliff with a river snaking past well below it. The site was inaccessible from that side because of the difficulty of scaling a cliff in the middle of dense jungle, but in an emergency, they could probably climb down and follow the river. Not underwater, and not a lot of climbing, both pluses. The tomb was relatively small, and had been excavated enough times that they didn’t have to worry about traps. As they proceeded, Shay began to hear a strange buzzing sound. Upon flashing a light around, they found bloody footprints on the floor in front of them, and a faint shimmer at the entrance to the next room. The shimmer vanished, and three men in scarlet robes winked into sight. Brownstone had dealt with them before, and knew that they liked to get close, to viciously cut. Shay shot on, and he flinched, was wounded, but had started to heal as they watched. “Something about soul proximity or some shit. “Overly complicated crap. All I know is that they are dangerous up close, but they are also weak up close. And if they are out cold, their magic is worthless.” Brownstone disabled two of them, but the third had cast a spell so that A bloody film now covered the warlock’s eyes, and they glowed with a soft crimson light. His newly-grown claws dripped with a dark liquid. Brownstone grabbed his arms, dislocated his shoulder, head-butted him, and he was down. Shay went to look for the Rod while Brownstone sat with the wizards. Upon finding the hidden wall, protected by a spell, Shay used the advice Blood freely given will reveal the sacred treasure. Shay grabbed her knife and sliced the tip of one of her fingers. The burial chamber rumbled, and Shay straightened, crossing her arms and waiting. The wall parted on the other side, revealing a small stone box and a faded wall painting of a dark-eyed man in a dark cloak wearing a round golden headpiece. Shay searched around the box for any indications of a trap, and pushed the lid off, releasing a cloud of dust. A curved bone rod lay inside. Swirling patterns and sigils that Shay didn’t recognize decorated the artifact. Fortunately, from everything she’d read, it didn’t activate without exposure to blood, so she put on gloves, and slipped the covered rod into her backpack.

Chapter Five Dante's At home, Shay reviews the events in her mind, feels she might be able to trust Brownstone to some extent. Meets with Peyton at Warehouse Two, now in the big leagues of jobs, so goes out to celebrate, at Dante’s. (See Locations-Dante’s)

Chapter Six, Seven Shay's Condo Abandoned Shay awakens to a house under attack a few doors down from her condo. Shay figured out it was a cartel raid. She’d had thought that the presence of such a juicy and obvious target would shield her own presence from attention. Hiding next to the blindingly bright target didn’t work out as well as I wanted. File that under failed experiments. Shay ran her camera programs, and her stomach knotted as several names popped up linked to the Nuevo Gulf Cartel. Five men from the stash-house leapt over her fence into her backyard, came to the house, and one of the cartel members jiggled her door handle. There is absolutely no fucking way I’m letting these assholes kill me in my kitchen. These panicky fools had tried a home invasion after running away from a failed raid. Five dead bodies and several bullet holes in the walls, later, convinced Shay she’d have to go to the Warehouse at least for the night. But first the place needed cleaning, so she called Purity solutions. (See Groups – Purity solutions). Time to pack a few things and get out of here. It’s a good thing I had that two-story brownstone already lined up.

Chapter Seven Shay finds Leeroy, the Harriken Shay changed her mind, and went to Brownstone’s house. Maybe she could get to know him better. When she arrived and knocked on the door, there was no answer, so she went around the back, and found Leeroy, the dog, recently buried in the back yard. A cardboard cross was over the grave and on the cross were Japanese words, meaning Harriken, and the English word, Remember. Shay knew where Brownstone would be partying that night, and she thought she might be there too. Anyone in Los Angeles with an ounce of street knowledge knew the location of their headquarters. Killing some poor dog who didn’t have a chance was over the line. The kind of men who did that had no limits. The assholes had murdered a dog. It wasn’t like she could be assured that there was no photo of her standing beside her recent partner. The Harriken were thorough when they felt they had been disrespected. Self-preservation served as a nice excuse for Shay to help. It was time to get involved.

When Shay came to the address, she found two dead guards outside, and Brownstone inside. The front door more closely resembled a front hole. Brownstone had broken down a door using a man’s body. Restraint in the application of violence didn’t seem to be one of his virtues. A charnel house awaited Shay inside. Shay furrowed her brow and thought about every piece of evidence she’d seen so far. . Didn’t use anything but his hands, most likely. Brownstone had obviously used the walls for cover. Shay didn’t spot any throwing knives in the stair bodies. Had to change mags at least once in here. Brownstone took a hit. Not enough to take him down, obviously. Each upstairs room stood empty, except for one with one corpse, with a Katana. Shay went to the basement, the only room left. Probably some Harriken guy showed up with the AK, and Brownstone took him out and used his gun as the world’s bluntest lockpick. Brownstone hadn’t approached the headquarters with anything resembling stealth. Had never planned to. Outnumbered and outgunned, the bounty hunter had executed all his enemies while taking only a hit or two. All because these men had killed his dog.