Feathered Friend

Chapter 9

Were they really victims? I didn't think so, but then the cops who had begun to follow my bloody trail had that mistaken first impression.

When I'd left the mess behind at the fence's apartment I hadn't really considered the repercussions of my actions. The Police hadn't done much in the way of resolving my murder. I guess I hadn't thought they'd be any better at solving that anonymous man's death. But I should have known better, especially since he was well known to the majority of those first on scene as was who he worked for.

When it came to Cops who actually took orders from someone up the line and did their job well, they got results. It was the links in the chain up higher that took action on what their subordinates found that you had to worry about, like if they were dirty, or whose payroll they were actually on. Unluckily for me, a good cop found my fingerprint in that dingy apartment and that little piece of information was sent up the line where it was intercepted by someone I would have to worry about later.

I'd left no evidence of myself on Shiv, but the Hooker had told her Pimp about my face and unusual make up. That piece of news had travelled, as had the mysterious 'bird' image tying the fence and Shiv's deaths together.

The Cops hadn't put it together yet, but word on the street was flying faster than my guide.

Arkadi was told about the 'Painted Ghost' leaving bloody messages in his territory and he sent out his underlings to investigate. They didn't find out much, because I was sticking to unpopulated areas while I waited for my Feathered Friend to return. I had no reason to talk to anyone now that I had seen Kirstin.

Avi and Kevin would have to take her word for it that she'd seen me. I didn't want to drag her, or them into my current mission. Gangsters were not known for leaving friends and family alone when they were after someone. The less opportunity I gave them to find out about me the better.

I didn't know about that pesky fingerprint at the time. But it would come back to haunt me later on.

Word spread fast. Arkadi put out word of a reward for any information about the symbol or me and although I'd managed to stay under the criminal element's radar until now, time was running out. By the time the bird found the next person on my hit list, he was already on his way to find me.

Not the most stable or calm member of Arkadi's inner circle, Firebug was one weird guy. His place was full of superstitious nick knacks, including wards against the 'evil eye', multiple decks of tarot cards, amulets and candles. Dreamcatchers hung from every available hook, curtain rod and light fixture. As did the odd hamsa, and other symbols from every conceivable religion. There were eyes of Horus, ankhs, arrowheads, rabbit's feet, four leaf clovers, pyramids, scarab beetles and vials of 'unicorn blood' strewn everywhere. Salt was laid over every entry point and the plant Devil's Shoestring grew in pots in every room. There were iron daggers on display on the walls of most areas of the house and they weren't just for show.

Anyone walking into his place would have thought he was some kind of occultist, but here was merely paranoid that he was going to Hell. Firebug knew his soul was damned for all the people he'd deliberately burned alive. He had no qualms about doing the thing that got him off. But he was also paranoid about his own demise.

When my bird found him and sent me to continue my quest, he was readying himself for battle. He'd filled his coat pockets with the tools of his trade. His favourite Zippo, spirals of paper twists, cigarettes, assorted small cans of aerosolized fuel and cotton wadding.

Any stranger meeting him for the first time would find the hairs on the back of their neck standing to attention. He gave the impression of a rabid dog about to turn on its master. His eyes weren't quite sane and these things in combination with the odour of fuel and soot which hung around him in a miasma of his stock in trade meant he was the one member of the group people were the most afraid of. That was until they spoke with Arkadi. Arkadi was a cold fish. His voice was like the Arctic wind that blows the feeling of imminent death down your spine.

But it was Firebug who found me first. Well... almost first.

I watched him walk into our old apartment from my perch on the roof across from our window. Kirstin had cleared all the remaining contents and put them in storage after we'd spoken at the graveyard. The only items remaining inside the empty rooms were a few loose packing peanuts and some newspaper that hadn't made it into the boxes.

There was nothing for him to burn, but he was the type to burn the entire building down just for fun. As I watched, he took a small bottle of lighter fluid out of one pocket and began to squirt it onto the wooden floor. I shook my head and leapt between the buildings, feeling myself lift as if I were flying on the wings of my familiar, as my throat made a furious sound of wordless anger.

His concentration flickered at that sound and he looked towards the dark rectangle that was the only barrier between him and his destiny. That was when I crashed through the broken window, rolling as I landed on the floor in front of him. His face turned to one of suspicion as I rolled all the way to my feet and stood before him as I shook shards of flying glass from my hair.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" He asked, mostly unimpressed with my entry. But my answer made him pay attention.

"Didn't you hear? Hell didn't want me, it returned me to send you in my place."

His eyes bugged out of their sockets at my statement and he turned tail and ran for the door.

Of course I went after him.