Chapter 34:
Hidden Stores
Nameless and the others were in the lawkeeper’s office while the skinny man filled them in on the disposition of their prisoners.
“Marvin Green and Patrick Hardy.” He said while looking through the glass at the pair of them.
“Marvin is the one you took down, never would’ve guessed he’d be involved in any of this, his uncle is going to kills him if his mother doesn’t do it first.” He shook his head ruefully before looking at the one in the ridiculous yellow shirt; “Patrick I can see though, fancies himself a bit of a rogue, as should be readily apparent from his fancy new duds.”
Volka was on her knees beside her husband, holding a bag of ice to his throbbing jaw for him, a slight smirk on her face.
Evidently she felt the bruised chin made for a good teachable moment for him.
“No way these two knuckleheads were working alone, it has to be someone who knows the market right?” Erica said as she cleaned the flour off her face with a wet towel; “I mean how much could they possibly hope to collect doing this anyways?”
“Yes, and I agree with what Grant said before, there isn’t a sexual component to this, at least on their side of things.” Volka concurred; “That shop boy seems mostly naive, not truly violent.”
Nina gave a quick nod and took up her hammer.
“I’ll get them to talk.”
But before she could take more than a couple steps, Grant caught her shoulders.
“I think… a more delicate touch is what is needed here.”
“My hammer is delicate.” She said, glaring at him until he took his hands off of her.
His expression shifted into bewilderment at Nina’s matter of fact declaration.
“Once again, I don’t know how to answer that.”
Before Nina could say anything else, Ophelia stepped forwards.
“Dearheart, and Aegis Semper, perhaps I could try?”
Grant scratched at his chin for a moment, glad to have the giant’s attention off of him as he mulled it over.
“How about it rookie?” He turned and asked Nameless; “The clerk was your collar after all.”
After a quick glance at Ophelia, who was practically oozing confidence at him, Nameless nodded, not speaking for fear of hurting his jaw.
Grant smiled knowingly.
“Alright, the Flutterby is up, show us what you got.”
“Not going to call me a rookie too?” She asked archly.
He snorted.
“Just get to it. We need to know who else they were working with.”
The Gigas was pouting pretty fiercely though and still blocking the way into the interrogation room.
“Nina, I can do this.” Ophelia assured.
The little red monster had a sour look on her face, but after a few seconds she sighed.
“Fine, but I’m in there with you. And stop using your reasonable voice at me.”
The graceful Flutterby smiled and spoke in a sing-song.
“Where hammers fail, reason prevails.”
“And quit rhyming.” Nina groused as she opened the door and glared at the prisoners.
Ophelia smile widened, but she said nothing, instead stepping into the room where Milly and Bruti were guarding their captives. Nina followed right behind her while the others watched through the large window in the hall.
The Flutterby sat on the little bench across from the two young men and took a moment to smooth out her shirt before addressed the prisoners, her focus on the clerk.
“I know you didn’t want to hurt those poor Lambdas, maybe you got into a tight spot and you couldn’t see another way out? Or maybe someone put you up to it?” She suggested gently.
Nameless recognized that tone, he was a well behaved child, but on the rare occasion when he wasn’t, Ophelia was more than capable of coaxing a confession out of him.
Indeed, Marvin the shop boy was fighting to hold back tears, though he kept shooting desperate looks at his sullen friend.
But the other one in the yellow shirted just stared ahead, stony faced.
And so, with no cues from his compatriot, he cracked almost immediately.
“I-I can’t go to a digsite! I just can’t!” he blurted out.
“Shut it Marv! Don’t nark!” His friend finally hissed, only to let out a yelp when a Gigas stepped on his toes.
“You shut it, or I’ll squish your foot.”
Ophelia ignored them and placed her hands on the panicked youngster’s arms.
“I’m afraid that isn’t up to me dearheart, your past actions are not likely to be ignored. But whether or not you spend time in a digsite could very well depend on what you do here and now. So why don’t you tell me what you were doing with the wool?”
“I swear if you say anoth-” The older one’s threat ended in a hoarse scream as Nina deliberately set her hammer down on his foot.
“Told you.” The Gigas said flatly.
“Nina!” Ophelia exclaimed in shock.
“What? I warned him didn’t I? Isn’t that the rule? One warning, then I can hurt people?”
“That sounds made-up.” Milly said uncertainly.
Nina huffed.
“Fine! Then that’s the rule going forwards, now everybody shut up so Ophelia can finish torturing the other one.”
By the time she finished speaking Grant had his face in his hands.
“This is going to mean paperwork.”
“I-I am so sorry!” A red-face Nameless stammered.
His superior sighed, but shook his head.
“It was a foregone conclusion with a giant. The first time I took Bruti into the field we were scooping the crims up with a bucket. Never mind that now, our priority is ensuring that this crew doesn’t victimize any more girls. Pay attention.”
Evidently, seeing the Gigas smoosh his friend’s foot had been all the incentive the younger teen needed as he was currently spilling his guts on the other side of the glass.
“Ethan’s ranch! There’s an overgrown shed in the back of his south field, that’s wh-where we were bringing the wool!”
“Ethan… Davis?” Milly said and the young man nodded; “But isn’t that-”
“The latest ranch to be hit.” Ophelia finished Milly’s thought.
Nameless’s worry about his superiors’ disapproval vanished as he took in the information.
“A smokescreen.” He heard Volka mutter beside him even as the girls in the room came to the same conclusion.
Ophelia tilted her head to one side and pursed her lips in thought.
“So, to avoid suspicion, he had his own Lambda attacked?”
“Why that- oh I am going to whack him but good!” Milly proclaimed indignantly before either of the young men could say anything.
This elicited some strange looks from the others.
“‘But good?’” Nina asked.
The Minotaur’s cheeks turned a bit rosy but she put her hands on her hips and stood by her words.
“It’s what Paul would say!”
Despite the situation, Ophelia let out a short chuckle.
“She’s not wrong.”
After the Flutterby bandaged their ashen-faced prisoner’s foot, having determined that it wasn’t broken too badly, Milly and Bruti got them settled in separate cells.
“Now what?” Nameless asked.
Grant’s reply should have been predictable, but he missed it.
“You tell me.”
“Back to the ranch?” He said with some hesitation.
“Is that you telling me or-”
“Back to the ranch.” Nameless repeated more firmly.
__________
Rebecca nosed around the shelves and stacks of boxes in the storage room, her heart still in her throat from being somewhere she knew she shouldn’t be.
At first she didn’t know what she was looking for, her decision to check the place out having been made on impulse, but then she remembered something from several weeks ago.
The crate that Carol’s employers dropped the night she had delivered late… given the anxiety the men had inspired in her that night she even remembered the markings clearly.
She knew, she just knew, that it was that crate, or one like it, that she needed to find.
Just like everything else in her life, Carol liked things kept orderly so even in the dim light it didn’t take Becks long to find the stack of boxes behind a large shelf at the back of the room.
Putting the shelf between her and the door she levered a stolen pry-bar against the lid of the topmost crate.
The squeak of the nails in the wood was deafening in the storeroom and her ears, already low on her head from tension, went even flatter.
In a a panic she all but dove over the stack of crates to hide behind them, her back to the cold metal wall of the place as she squeezed into the narrow space and ducked down to pray that the roar of the crucible and the hissing of the presses was enough to cover the racket she was making.
It was a couple minutes before she was satisfied that no one was coming to murder her, and she got to her feet and lifted the lid enough to see the box’s contents.
Miranda had shown her illustrations of a number of different weapons in preparation for this eventuality, and it was just as well that she had.
Blasters.
At least a dozen of them in a row, as well as a few flamers and another weapon she didn’t recognize sitting perpendicular to them in the box: a large tube with a strangely bulbous knob on the end of it.
“Carrot sticks.” She cursed breathlessly.
A tiny part of her still clung to the idea that this whole thing might somehow have been a crazy misunderstanding, but not anymore, not with the evidence right beneath her nose.
She quickly put the lid back as she looked to the other crates, her body still squeezed in tight behind them.
There were six of them with matching labels: this was what the Aegis had wanted her to find out, what they desperately needed to know.
A weak smile spread across her face when she realized that they weren’t expecting her to find out today!
Then her heart stopped when she heard the door to the storage room open again and she ducked down again, her side now flat to the floor behind the crates as she heard voices coming towards her.
“-followed her like Gregory wanted, the little snot chased me off though.”
“But you’re sure she went to the bathroom? She wasn’t there when I checked.” An unfamiliar voice responded.
The two men were hauling something heavy, she could tell just by their heavy breathing as they drew near to her hiding place.
Her heart was in her throat and she nearly screamed when she heard them heft another box on top of the one she was hiding behind, the rough wood scraping together was almost deafening.
Her grip tightened on the pry-bar as she waited on a reply.
“You think I want to end up in the crucible like that Gardner woman? I’m sure, where the hell else would she go?”
She could smell their sour sweat they were so close, just a few inches of wood and a few hundred pounds of murder between her and them.
“Whatever, I guess she must have left already. I’ll let Gregory know. Come on then. This is the last of the ‘special’ crates.” His words came out loaded with meaning.
“Don’t wink at me, it’s weird.” The first man complained as they left the room.
When the door closed Rebecca let out the breath she’d been holding in a long shuddering gasp.
Then she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the storage door lock with a harsh click.
__________
Nameless and his team had arrived back at the Davis Ranch late in the evening, but no one was tired, just eager to settle this.
The house on the hill had a single lantern burning in the front window, but even as they came within sight of it someone inside blew it out.
Grant turned to him before they went any further.
“Alright Probie, what’s next?”
Nameless was expecting the question, and had his answer ready.
“We detain everyone, we don’t know how many of the hands are involved in this.”
“And the protocol?”
“The evidence we have is enough to justify a no-knock entry. But thus far offenders have been reasonably non-violent, so use of force should be kept to a minimum.”
He was proud of the fact that he didn’t look at Nina when he said that.
Grant chuckled.
“Yeah, all of that is exactly what the manual says. And we are doing none of it.”
Nameless blinked rapidly in response to the unexpected statement so the training officer took a moment to explain himself.
“You don’t think the first thing we should do is check to see if the wool they dropped off is still there?”
Nameless’s mouth fell open, it was such an obvious thing to overlook, but Grant didn’t let him suffer long.
“Back of the south field he said?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Let’s get moving already.” Nina said impatiently; “It’s getting dark and I’m getting sleepy.”
It didn’t take them long to find the shed, though it could barely be called that; two of its walls were missing, and the sagging ceiling was overgrown with ivy.
They found the wool immediately, barely hidden away against one of the standing walls.
Erica smiled smugly once she had used one of her knives to split open one of the tightly wrapped bundles and confirm its contents.
“That was easy.”
But Grant was frowning.
“It was, maybe even, a little-”
“Don’t you fucking say it.” Nina snapped.
The senior operative lifted an eyebrow at her.
“-too easy.”
She groaned.
“Ugh. Cliché.”
“Always wanted to say it though, thanks for ruining it for me.” He replied drily.
Wanting to get them back on task, Volka poked at the heavy bundles.
“So we were meant to find these?”
The senior operative nodded carefully.
“Maybe. Bruti, you have anything?”
The bear’s head had been drooping, evidently Nina wasn’t the only one getting sleepy, but she shambled over and stuck her face into the topmost bundle to take a sniff.
“The two from before.” She said immediately, then shifted the bundle slightly as she snuffled at it some more.
The others waited as patiently as they could for her to finish, Milly’s hand gripping Nameless’s so tight it hurt.
Eventually the bear stood and nodded firmly.
“The two from before and one other, smell is fresh.”
“Like… on the ranch fresh?” Erica prodded.
Bruti let out a rumbling growl at being rushed, but finally nodded to Grant.
He reached up and scratched at her rounded ears, her eyes drooping as she nuzzled into his hand.
“Alright then, let’s go wake the house.” He turned to Namless and the others, now all business; “Every operative knows that the most dangerous perp is a cornered perp. So we keep this civil until we know what’s what. But once Bruti’s sniffed them out we’ll see what happens. Linda, I want you with Milly around the back porch in case anyone tries to rabbit.”
“Oh… kay… Master.” The Gnome said with a beatific smile.
Ethan Davis did not appreciate being drawn from his bed as the Aegis flooded his home, but once the enormous bear girl loomed over him his indignation vanished, replaced with alarm.
Before he said anything, Bruti gave one sniff towards him and shook her head.
“Not him.”
Grant lifted one eyebrow and offered a knowing nod.
“Mister Davis.” He said mildly; “I do believe you are being framed. Rather clumsily too.”
“You’re joking!”
“I wish I was. We found the wool, or at least a large quantity of it, in a shed on your property. How many other people in the house?”
Ethan swallowed and shook his head.
“It’s just me and my granddaughter, the hands all sleep in the bunkhouse attached to the laundry.” He mumbled with a vague gesture to one side.
“I need you to get everyone who lives on your ranch in this room, right now.”
Grant spoke with authority and the rancher did as he was told, while Ophelia and Erica relit the lanterns in the main room of the house.
A few minutes later all of the ranch hands were standing around, a few looking like they had just gotten to sleep, most looking a mite nervous as the exalted Valkyrie sternly watched them, shield at the ready.
Grant wasn’t the only one being no-nonsense.
It didn’t take long before Bruti shook her head once and growled.
“Not here.”
It was hard to tell if she was frustrated or not given her generally dour demeanor.
“You’re sure?” Grant asked.
Rather than respond she just glared at her bond-mate.
He nodded.
“Okay, you’re sure. Mister Davis, this is everyone that lives on your ranch?”
“It is.” The farmer responded, but almost immediately his look turned troubled and he scratched at the whiskers on his chin; “Well, actually no. My… my granddaughter. She’s sleeping upstairs. Bin out of sorts lately, what with the pooberty and all. But she wouldn’t have anything to do with this nonsense.”
Even as he said it they all heard a sharp cry and a scuffle from the back of the house, followed by a loud moo from Milly.
Volka and Erica were the first to react, dashing from the room towards the noise, bowling over several of the hands in their haste to reach their bond-sister.
The others followed, Bruti and Nina both amped up for a fight.
They would be disappointed.
“-off of me you big dumb cow!”
Just off the back porch a girl, barely even a teenager, was kicking and thrashing vainly in the air. Milly had hold of her by the scruff of her nightdress and was keeping her at arm’s length while wearing an irritated expression.
When she spotted Nameless and the others, the horned girl’s lip jutted out and she spoke over the squalling girl.
“Master! This little…brat, she bit me!” She extended one unmarked finger as evidence, her tough hide more than a match for teenage teeth.
“Heavens no.” Volka said with a smirk before washing her aura over the girl; “Calm yourself, child. Or by the light of my goddess I shall give you such a noogie.”
“What the hell is this?!” The rancher demanded; “Get yer hands of my Alice!”
Nina grabbed him by the seat of his pants to keep him from jumping on the Minotaur, while Linda put herself between him and his granddaughter.
“We… only...stopped… her… from… leaving.” Even in the excitement of the moment, the Gnome still spoke with deliberation.
“Leaving? Why the hell- Alice! What have you been up to?!”
The teen, now hanging limply in Milly’s grip, matched the Minotaur’s pout tenfold.
“Nothing.” She said with a sullen whine.
But as she spoke Bruti loomed over her, taking a short sniff to catch her scent, then poking her none-too gently in her budding chest.
“Her. Was mixed up with the males, couldn’t tell it was female.”
“Ow! Hey!” She cried out, but the bear ignored her.
Still trapped in Nina’s unrelenting grip, the rancher wagged his finger at the girl.
“Alice so help me you tell the truth or I will take my belt to your hide!”
“No you won’t! You’re too much of a chicken! Always talking about how I remind you of mom.” She jutted her jaw out pugnaciously; “I told you and that stupid judge I didn’t want to live on some dumb farm! I wanted to go to the city and live with my dad! At least there I could do things!”
“‘Things’ are overrated child.” Volka said.
“Stop calling me child!”
“Oh are you an adult then? Can we try you as one?” Erica asked.
Alice stopped talking as her blush deepened from the misstep.
“We’ve talked about this, your daddy: he ain’t fit to care for you.” Ethan said with worry in his tone.
Nina had since released her grip on his pants.
The Gigas had her arms crossed over her chest as she glared, having no patience for the bratty girl’s tantrum.
“Mister Davis. As much as I don’t want to interrupt your family crisis. A crime has been committed, several crimes actually.” Grant said.
“Nu-uh!” Alice was suddenly looking rather smug; “I never did anything! It was Marvin and Patrick, not me!”
“Heavens protect us all from the ignorance of children.” Volka murmured before tilting her head and explaining the situation; “Setting aside your admission of knowing the other two, as the apparent ringleader of this little conspiracy you are as culpable for these crimes as they are.”
“Yeah, w-well, you can’t do anything to me because I’m underage!”
But Ophelia, Mistress Ophelia, was done holding her peace.
“Enough of your nonsense!” The Flutterby declared as she lifted the girl’s chin to face her scowl directly; “You have caused a great deal of grief already, how many Lambda were victimized by your idiocy? Not to mention your two compatriots who are likely to end up in a dig-site over this mess!”
Alice blinked rapidly, her eyes shining as her pout intensified.
But the stern woman would have none of it.
“Don’t try that on me young lady! or I will tan your hide. This is not a game! Monster girls were hurt and people could have died! Do you think the Aegis will take this lightly just because you’re fourteen?”
“Almost fifteen.” Alice whined.
“Even closer to being tried as an adult.” Erica insisted.
Ophelia ignored them both as she continued.
“Tell us the extent of your little scheme right now. Or I swear I will sick my bond-sister on you!”
Nina perked up then, her arms uncrossing as she audibly cracked her knuckles.
“Oooh, I hope she means me.”
Finally cowed, Alice slumped in Milly’s grip, genuine tears seeping down her cheeks.
“None of them were supposed to get hurt, I told the boys to make sure of that.” She muttered.
Her grandfather was sitting on the stairs, his face in his hands and looking older than he was, meanwhile his employees were all around on the porch watching the drama unfold, but giving him a wide berth.
“What were you going to do with the wool?” Grant asked after giving a sidelong look at Ophelia to make sure he was allowed.
Alice sniffed again.
“Sell it. Then go to the city to find my dad.”
“Not much of a plan.” Nina said drily.
“Who were you going to sell to?”
“Everyone in town. Marvin’s been adding it to the bins at his uncle’s store, a little bit at a time, then pocketing the extra coins and fudging the logbooks to keep anyone from noticing.”
“Clever.” Grant admitted; “But my guess is you were severely restricted in the quantity your friend could move through his store like that?”
She squirmed in place, distinctly unhappy that Grant saw through everything so easily.
“Yeah, we’ve only made like a hundred coins so far, and Patrick spent half of it on that stupid shirt!” She said sourly.
“And you were keeping the wool here in case things went sideways? To use your grandfather as a scapegoat?”
Her eyes boggled and she looked to the old man in alarm.
“What?! No! That shed was just the best option we had! Nobody uses it for anything, it’s where me and Patrick would go to have se- er… to kiss and stuff.” She finished with a mumble and a blush.
Her grandfather shook his head in his hands as if to unheard what she had just said.
By that point though, the activity on the ranch had drawn the Lambda out of their comfortable enclosure, the dozen or so girls hesitantly drawing closer as Ethan lifted his face and looked towards Grete with an anguished expression, his granddaughter’s sex life forgotten.
Silence fell over everyone, even the girl as the vulnerable Lambda looked between her and her owner.
“She… did this to me?”
The rancher had to look away, unable to meet her hurt expression.
Ophelia broke the silence, fluttering over to the Lambda.
“I’m afraid so dearheart.”
“For money?”
The Flutterby nodded once, putting a comforting arm over the sheep’s shoulders.
“We knew she didn’t like us, but we loved her mother so we were patient with her.” One of the other Lambda said; “But this… how could a child do this?”
For once the child in question didn’t object to being called such, a look of absolute shame on her face as she literally came face to face with her crimes.
Grant stepped over to the Lambda flock, his expression kind.
“I know this is a lot to take in, for everyone, but it needs to be said.” His words came out, and they were all business; “It is my judgment that while Mister Davis had no knowledge of his granddaughter’s actions, and has shown himself to be a compassionate and capable tamer, as her legal guardian he is still culpable for her activities.”
Ethan’s head came out his hands again, his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.
“It is therefore necessary for me to inform you that it is your right to reclaim possession of your heartstones from him, if you so choose.”
The Lambda looked just as surprised as their owner was, one of the older ones already shaking her head.
“Most of us have lived on this ranch our whole lives, this is our home! Where else would we go?”
Grant nodded, but answered her rhetorical question.
“Anywhere you wish. The Aegis would assist you with finding another situation.”
“I don’t want another situation!” Grete cried out with a stomp of one hoof; “I want this one! Ethan… Ethan is like a father to me, so I’m staying!”
The rancher stood abruptly and approached his flock, tearfully embracing the bald Lambda.
With his input in the situation unneeded, Nameless watched the emotional scene unfold, shaking his head in bemusement.
“Hard to believe this whole criminal conspiracy was simply a teenager acting out.” He said to no one in particular.
Bruti startled him though when she responded right next to him.
“Muh. It happens. My claws aren’t dripping blood so-” She shrugged as she sat on the ground cross legged and leaned her head against his arm, her eyes shuttering; “Better than other cases.”
With some trepidation, he lifted his hand and scratched behind her rounded ears, just as he had seen Grant do.
He almost stopped when he felt her vibrate with a low growl, but the way she was leaning into him made it clear she approved of the head scratch.
“You smell nice.”