Page 55 of Explosive Chemistry

“A lab. With chemicals and machines and a cot on wheels, like a hospital but not.” She looked up at Pete. “Near where Siobhan got her new arm.”

“You’re not taking her seriously, are you?” Sergeant Giovanni said.

“Any reason why I shouldn’t?” Detective Jackson asked the soldier.

Pete didn’t give his friend a chance to answer. “If Lilly says something’s going to happen, you can believe her.”

Sergeant Giovanni’s dark brows went up, then her mouth twisted suspiciously. “If you think something’s up on base,” she asked Liliana, “why didn’t you go to the authorities at Liberty?”

Liliana opened her mouth to say that she had spoken to their colonel, but he wouldn’t allow her onto his base, and closed her mouth again. That information would not be helpful. She looked at the gun on Sergeant Giovanni’s belt. “You are a police officer for the Army base, aren’t you?”

Pete grinned at the MP. “She’s got a point.”

Detective Jackson asked, “Sergeant, do you have any idea how valuable it could be to know about a murder before the victim is a corpse?” Her face lit from within with a kind of wicked glee. “If it’s a wild goose chase, so what? If there’s any chance to stop two murders today, I’ll take it.”

“We have to go! NOW!” Liliana shouted, then cringed when all eyes turned to her again. “Seconds count,” she mumbled into Pete’s chest.

Detective Jackson nodded crisply. “West, I need a black and white unit with four-wheel drive. We’re going lights and sirens. Speed is important.”

When Detective Jackson snapped out the order, things moved fast.

The big officer disappeared with a crisp, “Yes, ma’am.”

Liliana let herself be swept along into the stairwell, the underground police parking garage, then the passenger seat of a squad car only a little smaller than the colonel’s car. Detective Jackson drove, and Sergeant Giovanni and Pete took the back seat.

The heater made the dash glow, and the seat warmed under Liliana, both trying valiantly to steam the cold water from her clothes.

Detective Jackson took the wheel to drive manually, just as Colonel Bennet had done. Her driving starkly contrasted with the colonel’s steady progress through the wet, windy streets.

The siren wailed while the rain beat a hard rock rhythm, accented by the deep base of thunder and strobe of lightning. The detective danced with her car to the manic rhythm, hydroplaning around curves. Her tires still grabbed enough pavement to squeal in protest as she avoided obstacles and traffic that didn’t get out of the way fast enough to suit her.

The auto-drive flashed yellow near-collision alerts almost as constant as the lightning. The polite disembodied female voice kept offering to take over until Detective Jackson put it on mute.

With the way the detective drove, hands moving controlled and fast on the wheel, they were highly likely to arrive in time to alter the outcome, assuming they didn’t die getting there. Future paths flashed and changed and changed again in the spider seer’s mind too rapidly to follow.

The future was in flux.

Liliana couldn’t tell if the detective’s help would accomplish her goal.

Sergeant Giovanni speed dialed her wrist phone. “I’ll get us emergency clearance through the nearest gate.”

Liliana shivered and huddled in the seat, knees pulled up and arms wrapped tightly around them, even though that made the seatbelt cut into her waist. She opened her fourth eyes.

Who is Sergeant Giovanni calling to get permission for them to enter the Army base?

Oh no.

“Do not tell him I am with you, Sergeant Giovanni!” Liliana said quickly.

“What the hell? You want me to lie to my commanding officer?”

“Trust her,” Pete said. “Do what she says.”

“Like Hell. The last time I saw this woman, she was a murder suspect. She’s not even human.” The line clicked open. A tiny hologram of Colonel Bennet’s head and shoulders appeared, hovering above Sergeant Giovanni’s wrist.

“Giovanni here, sir. Detective Jackson wants emergency access to one of the base buildings. She got a tip on two possible attempted murders: the goblin doctor and the cyborg fairy.”

“Is a woman named Liliana with you?” he asked, face stern and blank of expression.

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