Cybergate 2027 - A Baldur's Gate 3 / Cyberpunk 2077 Crossover

XVI

They reached Alfira a short time after midnight, outside another avenue where she was performing. Her tiefling appearance stuck out in the crowd, even without any fans, and they rushed to her side. If the killer was around, she didn't act. Then Wyll took the girl to his apartment, saying someone looking for his official address would find his office and not that place. He also ordered a cab, leaving the damaged Bentley for his insurance company car-repair pickup. All those precautions pleased Lae'zel enough that she got almost normal sleep at night.

Almost because if Wyll and Alfira were safe, that left herself for the killers. She looked behind her back while riding the bike home and secured her apartment with the magpistol in hand—twice. Afterward, fresh from a hot shower and relaxing with a shot of cask-strength scotch in her comforting padded recliner, she chuckled at her nervousness. All those murders had made her paranoid. Why would the killers want to target the team going after them? The first had shown no interest in attacking cops and the second ran from her.

To be sure, she assigned a trooper to keep watch outside Alfira's block and went to sleep. That day seemed to have lasted forever, from discovering Ender's body in the morning to the warehouse arrest at night. She welcomed a delirious, unconscious relief from it....

"Two more days, Lae'zel. Two more days."

Voss was sitting in her office chair, scowling. She gazed up from the floor. "I can do it, Kith'rak. Two days is plenty of time."

"Impatience leads to mistakes, Lae'zel—remember that."

"Which one is it, then?" she asked, frustrated. "Should I act fast and meet the time limit, or be cautious and let it pass?"

Voss leaned back, tenting his fingers. "You already know the answer."

He always loved making such cryptic statements. Lae'zel rubbed her throbbing temples. "You would consult with others until you were sure."

"Precisely, and that included my partner."

A rather thick hint. "Fine, Kith'rak, I'll ask the istik detective too."

"Smart girl." His scowl turned into a proud smile. Lae'zel blinked once, and she was awake. The police station turned into her apartment, and the sun was rising. Her communicator emitted an annoying bleep, and she rolled on her side in the recliner to pick it up.

Officer Bramwell, the trooper she'd placed on watch, left her a note. "Singer's apartment, on the double."

No reason? It couldn't have been a murder, but she knew better than asking on an open channel, where a sneaky netrunner could be listening. She changed clothes swiftly, poured herself a cup of synthcaff, whose taste suddenly seemed atrocious compared to the genuine stuff, and left on the Wakizashi.

Alfira's apartment had a nightly visitor. The place was messy to begin with, but several drawers and boxes were flipped over. A meat knife taken from her own kitchen was stuck in the wall, pinning a bloody uncooked drumstick. The girl had little food available, so it seemed the killer was forced to improvise.

"A warning, Enforcer?" Officer Bramwell said, scratching his neck.

"Yes, to us. She figured out we've moved her target, and it upset her." That had to be the second killer—the impulsive and more violent one. Someone willing to challenge the team going after her, possibly seeing almost being caught the previous day as a personal insult. In addition, someone wishing to harm a person close to a previous target. "That killer is unhinged."

"Or she sees it as a challenge," Wyll said half an hour later, when they met outside the auto repair shop. "We think the extra risk is foolish, but she welcomes it."