“He’s lying,” Big Brute said. “He’s that Franco sneak from the castle. Kill him now or he’ll report us to Valek.”
“It’s Janco, you moron. And Valek already knows all about your operation.”
“He’s bluffing.” Big Brute inched closer. A pair of nasty-looking hatchets hung from his belt.
The smell of ripe meat assaulted Janco’s nostrils. Ugh. Big. Annoying. And smelly. Anytime now, Ari. Janco shrugged. “Go ahead and think what you like. But if I’m not breathing when Valek shows up, he’ll be extremely put out. I’m his favorite sneak.”
“Yeah, sure you are.” Stig strode toward him. “We’ll let the boss decide.” He reached for Janco’s shoulder.
A loud crashed echoed. The men jumped. About time. Janco spiked the two glass balls into the ground. The chemicals inside the balls mixed and formed a thick white fog. Janco scrambled up the stack of crates, keeping above the cloud. He stood on the top and jumped up, grabbing the chains that hung from the ceiling.
Below him voices shouted. Janco swung from chain to chain, heading toward the exit. Ari guarded the broken door with his broadsword in hand. One of the smugglers staggered from the smoke. Before the man could react, Ari stepped in close and knocked the guy out with the hilt of his sword.
When Janco reached another stack of crates, he dropped onto the top, then climbed down, landing within sight of his partner.
“Playtime is over,” Ari said.
Big Brute rushed from the thinning fog.
“Awww, can’t I stay just a little longer?” Janco pulled his sword with a flourish.
Yanking a hatchet from his wide leather belt, Big Brute aimed for Janco.
Janco jigged to the side as the weapon whizzed by his ear. “A hatchet? Really? You’re taking this whole lumberjack thing way too seriously.”
He pulled another, but then stumbled forward with a dart in his neck, collapsing onto the ground.
“Hey, no fair,” Janco said to Ari. “He was mine.”
“Take your pick.” Ari nodded in the opposite direction.
Stig, Funky Mustache and the other man emerged from the dissipating fog. White tendrils of smoke clung to their clothes, and fury burned in their expressions.
“Ooh, I’ll take Funky Mustache and Stig. You get that other dude.” Janco slid his feet into a fighting stance.
Ari sighed. “Here.” He handed Janco a couple of darts.
“You’re no fun.”
“I hurt my shoulder busting the door down.”
Which had given Janco the distraction he needed. “All right. We’ll do it your way this time.”
He aimed the darts and hit Stig in the throat and Funky Mustache in the cheek. Janco backpedaled as the two men continued to charge, ducking Stig’s swing and countering Funky Mustache’s sword thrust. After a few seconds the sleeping juice kicked in. They swayed on their feet, took a few wobbly steps and plopped to the ground.
“What took you so long?” Janco asked Ari.
Ari gave him a sour look. “They were onto us from the very beginning. The big guy lured me away so you would sneak in. Then he picked up some friends and doubled back. I waited to see if you’d give them the slip, but when you didn’t climb out the window, I came in.”
“Guess I should have worn my cap.” He scratched his head. Just thinking about it made his scalp itch. Maybe Dilana could sew him another one with something...nonitchy.
“I don’t think that would have helped. What did you find?”
Janco showed him the cigar boxes and the crates’ false bottoms. “There’s an office upstairs with lots of paperwork. It looked legit, but I’m not an expert.”
“Let’s report back and send a cleanup crew.” Ari pricked the two men he’d knocked unconscious to keep them from reviving before the crew arrived.
Picking up the pieces of the broken door, Ari leaned them against the wall. It had split right down the middle. They searched for supplies to repair it at least temporarily. No sense having the local thieves clean the place out. By the time they’d left the warehouse and headed back to the castle, the sun had set.
One of Ari’s comments nagged at Janco. “How did you know they were onto us from the beginning?”
Ari waited until a group of people passed out of earshot. “I think these guys and that warehouse are all part of the ruse. The smugglers want us to uncover this operation to keep us from finding the real operation.”
“You think they had us marked as soon as we left the castle complex?”
“Yep.”
“We need better disguises.”
“And better intel. Let’s see if Valek’s discovered any new info.”
* * *
Valek called, “Come,” when they knocked on his office door.
Candles blazed, revealing Valek sitting cross-legged on the floor with file folders scattered around him.
“Organizing?” Ari asked, sounding doubtful.
Despite what Valek claimed about his filing system, Ari and Janco were not convinced there had been any logic applied to the piles.
“No. I’m searching for replacements.” Valek flipped open a folder. “What do you think of Sergeant Hunter?”
“For what?” Janco asked.
“The Commander’s new personal guard.”
Ah. Time for the comeuppance. “He’s a bit stiff, but dependable,” Janco said.
“Smart and ambitious,” Ari added. “He won’t be content to be a sergeant for long.”