arboreal_priestess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
arboreal_priestess) wrote2019-02-21 10:04 pm
arboreal_priestess) wrote2019-02-21 10:04 pm
Seagirt Marine Terminal, The Port of Baltimore, Thurday Evening
The rooftop of the old Department of Docks building was slanted - something uncommon enough in Baltimore to be deeply disconcerting, especially when Verity was trying to stay out of sight. The angle of the roof was sharp enough that she couldn't lie flat, but shallow enough that she couldn't use it for cover. 'Avoid really obvious cover' was one of the rules she'd been raised with, entry number eight hundred and thirteen in the Gospel of Staying Alive. She sent up a silent apology to her entire family tree as she disregarded their advice and slunk into the shadow of the building's decorative clock tower. It was a short, mostly useless piece of masonry. It was sufficient for her current needs.
Once she was safely out of view, she settled into a crouch, and prepared to wait.
Eventually, Dominic himself come walking down the pier. He was wearing that stupid leather duster that he'd had on the night they'd met. She was too far away to see his face, but she didn't need to. His shoulders were locked, and he was walking with the slow, borderline-resentful steps of a man on the way to his own execution.
He stopped at the edge of the pier, hands in the pockets of his duster, and looked out over the water. He hadn't been there long when a taxi that drove up behind him and stopped, disgorging three black-clad figures onto the sidewalk. Each of them had a satchel. The driver emerged long enough to help them remove two suitcases from the trunk. Then the tallest of the figures handed him a stack of bills, and he climbed back into the cab and was gone, leaving Dominic and the trio behind.
Dominic still didn't turn. The shortest of the three - a woman, with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail - stepped up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. There was a pause while none of them moved; the brunette was probably speaking. Dominic nodded once, not turning. One of the others raised his hand to shoulder-height in a gesture that looked like a benediction or a summons, or possibly both. Dominic nodded again.
This time he turned to face the three, and bowed to them deeply. The brunette woman bowed back, as did the shorter of the two men. The taller man simply stood there with his hand raised, watching. It should have looked ridiculous, an old-fashioned dumb show being carried out in front of a semi-abandoned pier, with a pile of luggage just begging to be stolen. Instead, it was positively chilling. These were Covenant agents. Three of them, in her city. Dominic didn't count. He hadn't been Covenant to her since the day we found William.
She hoped that he thought that way, too.
They followed Dominic as he walked down the side of the pier to the rental car he had parked illegally in a nearby loading zone. It was a black Crown Vic - of course it was, god forbid they avoid the stereotypes - and from the way he held the doors open for them, he could almost have been mistaken for their chauffeur. He even loaded the suitcases into the trunk without assistance. All three kept hold of their satchels. Dominic never even reached for them. There were apparently some things that simply were not done.
Once the others were safely in the car, he walked around to the driver's side door and pulled it open, taking what must have looked like a natural pause while he looked up to the nearby rooftops. Verity remained frozen where she was, using the shadow of the clock tower for cover. His eyes skated over her without pausing, and he climbed into the car and drove away. She still wasn't sure whether she'd been seen.
Normally, she would have tried to follow the car, but the selection of the old Department of Docks building hadn't been an accident. It was detached, set far enough out on the pier that there was nothing she could jump to or grab hold of. Even getting to the nearest buildings would have required running across level ground, and that would have left her visible. She did follow them as far as the roof's edge, straightening up while she watched them disappear into the flow of traffic.
The Covenant was in Baltimore. All she could do now was try to keep herself - and everyone else - alive.
[Taken from Midnight, Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire. NFI, NFB. Previous Post]
Once she was safely out of view, she settled into a crouch, and prepared to wait.
Eventually, Dominic himself come walking down the pier. He was wearing that stupid leather duster that he'd had on the night they'd met. She was too far away to see his face, but she didn't need to. His shoulders were locked, and he was walking with the slow, borderline-resentful steps of a man on the way to his own execution.
He stopped at the edge of the pier, hands in the pockets of his duster, and looked out over the water. He hadn't been there long when a taxi that drove up behind him and stopped, disgorging three black-clad figures onto the sidewalk. Each of them had a satchel. The driver emerged long enough to help them remove two suitcases from the trunk. Then the tallest of the figures handed him a stack of bills, and he climbed back into the cab and was gone, leaving Dominic and the trio behind.
Dominic still didn't turn. The shortest of the three - a woman, with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail - stepped up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. There was a pause while none of them moved; the brunette was probably speaking. Dominic nodded once, not turning. One of the others raised his hand to shoulder-height in a gesture that looked like a benediction or a summons, or possibly both. Dominic nodded again.
This time he turned to face the three, and bowed to them deeply. The brunette woman bowed back, as did the shorter of the two men. The taller man simply stood there with his hand raised, watching. It should have looked ridiculous, an old-fashioned dumb show being carried out in front of a semi-abandoned pier, with a pile of luggage just begging to be stolen. Instead, it was positively chilling. These were Covenant agents. Three of them, in her city. Dominic didn't count. He hadn't been Covenant to her since the day we found William.
She hoped that he thought that way, too.
They followed Dominic as he walked down the side of the pier to the rental car he had parked illegally in a nearby loading zone. It was a black Crown Vic - of course it was, god forbid they avoid the stereotypes - and from the way he held the doors open for them, he could almost have been mistaken for their chauffeur. He even loaded the suitcases into the trunk without assistance. All three kept hold of their satchels. Dominic never even reached for them. There were apparently some things that simply were not done.
Once the others were safely in the car, he walked around to the driver's side door and pulled it open, taking what must have looked like a natural pause while he looked up to the nearby rooftops. Verity remained frozen where she was, using the shadow of the clock tower for cover. His eyes skated over her without pausing, and he climbed into the car and drove away. She still wasn't sure whether she'd been seen.
Normally, she would have tried to follow the car, but the selection of the old Department of Docks building hadn't been an accident. It was detached, set far enough out on the pier that there was nothing she could jump to or grab hold of. Even getting to the nearest buildings would have required running across level ground, and that would have left her visible. She did follow them as far as the roof's edge, straightening up while she watched them disappear into the flow of traffic.
The Covenant was in Baltimore. All she could do now was try to keep herself - and everyone else - alive.
[Taken from Midnight, Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire. NFI, NFB. Previous Post]