Penumbrials Ch. 02

He stood mostly with his side towards her and enough of his front to give her a clear look. Her mind brought up the questions of how he would taste and what it would feel like to have him inside her and her imagination almost got to her when she forced herself to step back again. She breathed deeper, sensing that itch inside her abdomen again and suspecting she'd started to get wet below. She couldn't let him see her like that, although that thought poked her arousal.

Her eyes went wide and she groaned again when she realised she'd forgotten she'd been naked as well. She worried what he might think of her now, flaunting her body in front of him like it was nothing to her. She grabbed her hair and hid her face. "He probably thinks I'm some floozy now. Thinks I'm trying to seduce him to get him into bed. But I don't want it like that! I mean, not like that. If he would want to then-. Wait! What am I thinking!?"

She groaned again at the thoughts rushing through her head when she was startled by a touch on her shoulder. She looked through the jumble of her hair at Dormin who looked worried at her again.

'Are you sure you're okay?' he asked. 'You seem out of it.'

She shook her head. 'Just a lot on my mind with what's going on lately and how my life's turned upside down.'

'Yeah, I'm really sorry you got involved in all of this.' he said. 'If you want to we can cut you loose. Give you a safe new identity and we go elsewhere.'

She knew by the look in his eyes he would. She wondered if his honesty was what attracted Adalet and Terry to him and if that was what attracted her as well. She shook her head again. 'No, it's just that I still have to get used to it.'

He nodded and gave her a quick smile. 'Okay. But if you have any doubts at all, let us know.'

She returned his smile and watched him as he left the suite, then slipped quickly into the shower and took her time washing herself.

***

Dormin had set the table for their meal and Ourania sat at it reading the latest news when Terry sat down in front of her and smiled at her.

Ourania blinked. 'What?'

'Had fun before going to sleep?'

She choked and coughed while Terry poured her a glass of water. 'What do you mean?' she said in a hoarse voice.

Terry chuckled and tapped her ear and nose. 'Humans don't have such good senses.'

Ourania looked away.

Terry leaned back. 'To be honest I was surprised, but I expected something sooner or later by the way you look at him.'

Ourania sighed. 'I don't mean to intrude.'

Terry chuckled. 'Intrude by all means. Be honest with yourself. There's something about him that triggers the animal pack feeling and you want to be taken by that strong alpha male.'

Ourania glanced at her. 'I don't even think he'd be interested.'

Terry leaned closer. 'He said he saw you at the bathroom and was worried about you. When I pried further he admitted you were naked and he had to keep a cool head because you're cute and sexy.'

Ourania stared at her with big eyes. 'He did!? But I'm not!'

'Not what?' asked Adalet when she came into the lounge carrying bread, with Dormin following her carrying assorted condiments.

Terry grinned a little. 'Oh, I just told her Dormin finds her cute and sexy.'

Adalet raised an eyebrow at him. 'Oh?'

He blushed but calmly unloaded his armful on the table. 'I can hardly lie about it.'

Adalet sat down next to Ourania with Dormin across from her. 'Honest to a fault.' she said and smiled at him.

Terry turned to Ourania. 'See? He won't object to you joining his harem.'

Ourania opened her mouth but words failed to keep up with her thoughts.

Dormin nudged Terry. 'Stop teasing her as if she's even interested in me.' he said but the exchange of a glance with Ourania told him he might have to prepare for that option in the future. He cleared his throat and turned to a different subject. 'Are we ready to proceed with our plan?'

'I'll get you registered at the security firm after we've eaten,' said Terry. 'and get you a registration at several museums as well to complete your work history. Of course it'll be those that don't give out any information just like that.'

Adalet peeled an egg. 'I know someone who's dabbling in biological stuff. I think he'll be able to provide me with something to slip in the guard's coffee when I call to have one of them come over to look at mugshots. That's hopefully enough to get you in.'

Dormin nodded. 'I'll see if I can get some extra firepower inside for when they do break in. If the museum's still the target.'

Terry tapped on her tablet at the table corner. 'Ismene hasn't found anything new so we're probably on the right track.'

'Okay. When it happens, Adalet and I will take care of any shooting first.' Dormin turned to Terry. 'You don't have to involve yourself with that if you have any doubts.'

Terry nodded. 'We'll see.'

He turned to Ourania who almost looked away. 'You're our eyes in the sky if they get away.'

She gave him a determined nod while her heart pounded.

He grabbed the sandwich he'd made in the meantime. 'Let's see if we can put a stop to Elyssa and get her off our backs.' he said and took a bite.

***

Adalet walked into the police station and greeted Harry, the officer who usually managed the front desk during the late evening shift.

The old man close to retiring sat up straight and smiled. 'Adalet! I thought you were going to be on sick leave for a while longer.'

She gave him a little grin. 'I just felt too restless. Thought I'd take it easy by picking up some desk work that's been gathering dust.'

'I know the feeling.' he said. 'Watch out for those dangerous paper cuts then!'

She chuckled as she headed for her desk. She went through her file cabinet and pulled out the case she had in mind. It was about an older break-in at the museum where several smaller statues had been stolen, of which only a few had been recovered in the year thereafter.

She called the museum, spoke to Rashid Amalla, and asked him to come over for a short while to see if he could identify a suspect right away to help an investigation. Terry and her had chosen him because he had a clean background and was a father of two, and his two colleagues had a connection with several attempts of art theft. If there was any inside help it would be from those two. Adalet wanted to keep Rashid out of it if things went bad.

A tanned man with small beard walked in later and Adalet had no doubt it was him from the private security uniform he wore. She stood up and held up her hand to indicate she was the one he was looking for. 'Mister Amalla, I assume?'

He shook her hand. 'Rashid, please. You're detective Saliman?'

She gave him a friendly smile. 'Call me Adalet then.' she said and gestured at the chair beside her desk. 'Can I offer you some coffee or tea?'

'Coffee, plain black, please.'

She nodded and headed over to the coffee machine, which produced two cups with the soothing sounds of bubbling and pouring together with the fresh smell.. She slipped the contents of a tiny vial in the cup for Rashid and hoped the temperature didn't diminish the effect of the virus she had picked up earlier.

'Here you go.' she said as she put down his cup and sat down.

'Thanks.' he said and took a sip. Adalet didn't see any reaction to it possibly tasting strange and felt relief. 'You said you might have a lead on that old case of the stolen Durian artefacts?'

She nodded and took the file. 'I have a new case and noticed it might be linked to that one, so I'd like you to look at several photos to see if you recognise any of the suspects that might have been at the museum on that day or just before.'

\Rashid examined the photos, sipping his coffee in the meantime. After the last one he tapped on the photo of a young guy with short, blonde hair. 'Him. I think I've seen him at the exhibition that day.' he said. 'Can't be a hundred percent sure but I'd take a bet on it.'

Adalet put the photo aside and held out her hand. 'That's enough to look further into his business.' she said. 'I might have good news for you and the museum in the future.'

He gave her a smile and shook her hand after he stood up. 'Thanks.'

'You're welcome, and thank you for coming on such short notice.' she said and watched him as he left to go to work at the museum.

Adalet leaned back in her chair and smiled a little ruefully. 'Sorry about that, but we need you to stay at home for a while.' she whispered.

***

Terry sat with Dormin to fill in some details of his work history. 'Name, Dave Ostberg, former military, worked at a private museum until the collection was sold at the death of its owner, and at the provincial museum of Marken until that was closed due to lack of funding. Did a temporary private security gig for a wealthy family until they moved abroad. Their contact details are redirected here.' She sat back. 'You're top of the list to replace Rashid.'

Dormin read a summary of the museums and their major exhibitions in case there were some questions about them. 'Good. I'll have to brush up on my art history.'

Terry turned to him. 'What did you actually do in the military? I admit I peeked at your file but it was mostly blank apart from the standard entries that most soldiers have.'

He kept his eyes on the page he held. 'I was like most enlisted. Served in two wars, wasn't fun but I had a great team. Not much to tell.'

She looked thoughtful at him. 'Is that why you have trouble sleeping?'

He looked back at her.

She leaned forward. 'I noticed you don't look well waking up after you've only slept a few hours.'

He gave her a quick smile. 'But I'm sleeping better thanks to you and Adalet. I'll be fine in due time.'

She kissed him softly. 'Okay then.'

***

Dormin received a call from the security firm as expected, and arrived the next night at the city museum to replace Rashid, who was stuck in bed with a good case of the flu. He walked into the guard room just before closing time and met his fellow guards, both giving the impression they'd been in the military with their crew cuts, watchful eyes, and resolute movements. They didn't relax but idled instead.

The younger of the two, somewhere in his thirties as opposed to just over forty like the other, introduced them as Bjorn and Erik. They'd been working the museum gig just over a year and Bjorn showed him around.

'Not much going on usually at this museum,' he said while they passed through the dimly lit, wide open east wing adorned with paintings, statues, and glass cases full of small art and historical artefacts. 'it's all general exhibitions of various artists, only now there's all the paintings of Verhandel and one very expense one of his, Breeze. That's why there's the three of instead of two, just to be a bit more on the safe side.'

'They're expecting trouble?' Dormin asked while his eyes quickly surveilled the cameras and sensors.

'Not really. There's a good alarm system which closes off everything when it goes off and art thieves no longer have an interest in the old fashioned art of cat burglary.'

Dormin smiled a little. 'I believe you.'

When they returned to the guard room Dormin excused himself and inserted his ear piece after closing the door. Through the mobile he had left on the table he heard a locker closing. 'What do you think, will he be trouble?' asked Erik.

'I don't think so.' said Bjorn. 'When they're married and lead a civilian life they care more about staying for the family. When the blast happens we'll keep him down with a few shots. But the same rule goes as it does for Rashid, kill him if he puts up too much of a fight.'

Dormin looked out a window at the back of the museum. 'You heard it, it's definitely on for tonight.'

'Indeed.' said Adalet through his ear piece. 'I'm kind of glad we disabled Rashid. Not that I want them to rather shoot at you.'

Dormin chuckled. 'I know, but I probably have a better chance at coming out unscathed.' he said and looked back. 'Be ready for when I call.'

***

The night was quiet when Dormin received a call from Terry. He put down his cards from the game of poker he played with Bjorn and Erik between rounds and picked up his mobile. 'Excuse me, the missus is calling me.'

He moved away from the table and heard Terry giggle. 'I'm the missus? Are we married now?'

'Sure. Why not?'

Terry heart skipped a beat. 'You shouldn't tease like that.' she said and cleared her throat. 'I'm calling because Ismene just found a message stating maintenance is scheduled for this night at the power plant. We're headed your way now.'

Dormin glanced back at the two men at the table talking. 'Okay, I'll get ready. See you later then.'

'Be careful.' Terry said and disconnected.

Dormin saw the men grin at him as he came back to the table. 'Have you been looking at my cards?'

Erik chuckled. 'Let me guess, she wants to go somewhere as soon as you come back home? Somewhere shopping? For the house?'

Dormin stared at him for a moment. 'You're married too?'

Erik and Bjorn laughed, then Erik shook his head. 'No, but we've worked with plenty of married men before.'

Dormin hummed and sat down. 'I guess it's not unusual then.'

'No.' Bjorn said and leaned forward on his elbows on the table. 'I'll bet you married your school girlfriend and that she was one of the prettiest girls there.'

Dormin smiled. 'We actually-' he started when the lights went out and blue emergency lights went on. 'Power failure?'

The alarm indicated main power loss at the display on the desk. Bjorn tapped to check its status. 'Secondary power is also out, the alarm is running on backup batteries.'

Erik fastened his gun belt and flashlight and walked to the front windows. 'That would mean the whole area has gone dark. We get power from two different connections.'

Bjorn and Dormin followed him and saw no lights anywhere outside apart from a few cars driving along the street.

'There's going to be chaos.' said Bjorn.

Erik sighed. 'We'll have to walk until the power's back on.' he said and assigned areas to each of them for extra surveillance.

Dormin reached his when the building shook at the sound of a muffled explosion. The alarm went off with red flashlights turning on in the hallways and Dormin rushed to the guard room while inserting his ear piece. 'It's happening!'

'We heard and Adalet and Terry are coming in from their positions.' said Ourania.

Dormin pulled out his backpack from his locker, retrieved his submachine gun, put on safety glasses and a dust mask, and hurried to the hall where the painting Breeze hung.

Dust had spread through the air and several dark figures moved through the mist in the hall. Some were busy cutting the paintings out of their frames.

'Stop!' Dormin shouted and ducked behind a thick pillar just before bullets were sent his way. 'Sorry Dave,' shouted Erik. 'but this payday is too good to let it lie!'

"I knew you'd say that." flashed through Dormin's mind and he returned fire.

Moving around swiftly he fired double shots at the muzzle flashes from the others. One person went down with a cut off cry and stayed down, and another took shots at him. Bullets went over Dormin's head while he crouched and shot back. "Two." he thought when he heard a body and a gun fall down on the floor and shot several times at the other shapes farther back in the dust diving for cover.

They returned fire while retreating to the hallway at their end. Dormin followed carefully along the wall where Breeze should be and found its empty frame on the floor. 'They've got the painting.' he said through his link to Ourania.

Ourania ran out of Diafanis. 'Adalet and Terry are nearly there! I just landed at the entrance to the subway building site!'

Dormin found several more discarded frames near the end of the hall. 'Looks like they grabbed more paintings.'

He glanced into the hallway but dust was heavier in the air. Footsteps ran away to the end of the hallway and he moved as fast in a crouch as he could. A draft came out of a big hole in the wall of a small hall at the back filled with rubble. He rushed to the side of it and peered quickly into the short service tunnel coming down from the subway. The door on the other side was open. He moved quickly through the tunnel while the sounds of starting engines came from outside.

Just as he peeked outside, three open beach buggies drove off with spinning wheels. 'Three buggies heading out!' he said and ran to the one left behind. 'I'm following in a fourth!'

'I'll try to block the exit!' Ourania said and looked around the building site for anything she could use. 'Just with what I don't know.'

Adalet and Terry drove their bikes as fast as they dared through the construction tunnel leading down to the subway when Adalet saw wildly shaking lights heading towards them. 'We see them!' she said and stopped in front of a small container at the side.

Terry pulled up behind her and joined her position at the corner of the container, crouching down at her feet.

'We'll try to stop them.' said Adalet and aimed at the headlights.

They fired short bursts. One headlight of the first buggy went out and it swerved from side to side and the second buggy overtook the first when it hit a stack of barrels and crates. Shots were returned and Adalet and Terry retreated back behind the container. They heard a crash and the container shook against their backs, and the first buggy raced past them with a trashed left side.

They fired at its back but it continued on. Shots came from behind them and Adalet shot back. The third buggy's path was blocked by overturned barrels and damaged crates and it turned in a dust cloud and drove back towards a side tunnel. Shots were fired from the first buggy again and Adalet and Terry fired at it until the attacks ceased.

The second buggy neared the exit of the tunnel at the site when the driver noticed a truck backing up fast in front of it and stomped on the brakes, but the buggy hit the truck still hard enough to knock the driver and his passenger out.

Ourania felt the truck swaying at the crash as she watched it happening through the rear-view mirror with her heart pounding hard and her hands trembling on the steering wheel. 'I think they're out.' she breathed.

Dormin braked at the first buggy and checked on the men inside. The driver was bleeding at his stomach and his passenger slumped and quiet in his seat. No guns were near them. 'Are you okay!?' he shouted towards the container.

Adalet hurried over to him. 'We're fine. One buggy went through that tunnel.' she said and pointed at it.

'Okay. I'll go after them on bike.' he said and hurried with her to the bikes and Terry. 'You take care of the two in this buggy, Terry, you go check on the ones with Ourania.'

Terry gave him a nod and hopped on her bike. 'Come back safely!' she said and drove away.

'I double that.' Adalet said to Dormin.

He smiled at her. 'I have a good reason to with you girls.' he said and started the bike.

Adalet stepped aside as he went in pursuit of the last buggy with a growl from the bike's engine and dirt thrown up from both wheels.

He drove along a subway track when he caught up with the buggy. It had to steer more carefully in the narrow space between the tracks and the wall to avoid collisions, but he couldn't take a shot at it until he reached a less curvy section, and hoped they wouldn't shoot first.

The buggy reached a subway station lit by emergency lights and to Dormin's dismay broke through the simple barrier at the sloped edge of the platform. He cursed as it drove up the wide shallow stairs to the surface.

He was glad to have all wheel drive on his bike as he followed them up the stairs and into a shopping mall court lit by minimal lighting powered by emergency generators. People screamed and jumped out of the way of the buggy. It drew a circle with squealing tires while the driver searched for the way out.