Fury's Goddess

Frank shook his head. “No. I don’t.”

Annja could use her sword, of course. But how would she explain that to Frank? She never wanted anyone at work to know her secret if she could possibly avoid it. That her life had been forever changed on the day she’d brought the broken shards of Joan of Arc’s sword together for the first time in hundreds of years. That the sword had become whole once again—right in front of her. That the sword of Joan of Arc had somehow chosen her and was now the sword of Annja Creed.

But they needed to get into the manhole.

Annja made a decision. “Can you go back down to the hole in the fence and see if there were any tools there?”

“What are you going to do?”

She pointed. “I’ll scout ahead and see if there’s anything I can use. Otherwise, I’ll sneak up and see if we can avoid the manhole trip.”

Annja watched him go and then moved out into the road, locating the manhole cover. It was bolted down. This was going to have to be quick.

She reached into the otherwhere and grasped the sword, which hung there, waiting for her. Holding it in her hands flooded her system with strength. The sword blade cast a grayish glow into the night, and Annja desperately hoped it wouldn’t attract anyone.

She shoved the point under the lip of the cover and then pried with all of her strength. She heard the bolts give one at a time, reluctantly at first, but then they came off fast.

Once they were out, she leaned into the sword and the cover came loose.

Annja slid it back slowly, hoping the grating sound on the asphalt wasn’t as loud as she thought it was.

She shoved the FLIR into the hole and scanned around. A few rats scurried for cover, splashing through the darkness.

But otherwise, it seemed deserted. Annja put the sword away and waited for Frank to return.

Another thirty seconds passed before he came hustling around the corner with a big screwdriver. He held it up like a trophy until he saw Annja squatting near the opening.

He dropped to all fours. “How the hell did you manage that?”

Annja frowned. “I found a pry bar farther up. But of course once I got the lid up, I dropped it down there somewhere. Probably never find it now.”

Frank shrugged. “At least you got it open.”

“Yeah.”

He looked into the hole. “We really have to go in there?”

“If we want to get to the crime scenes, yes.”

Frank blanched. “It stinks down there.”

“And it’s only going to get worse.”

Frank eyed her. “Does any of this stuff ever bother you?”

Annja nodded. “All of it. Now get going.”

He hesitated and then jumped. Annja heard him splash and then followed him. It was a short drop of only five feet. Annja stood and hauled the manhole cover into place. At least now they hadn’t left a calling card behind.

Frank’s voice cut through the darkness. “Flashlight coming on. Watch your eyes.”

Red light lit up the culvert. Annja looked ahead and then behind them. “Which way?”

Frank pointed. “There.”

“On we go.”

Chapter 9

In the darkness, even with the red flashlight illuminating part of the culvert, it was difficult to see exactly what lay ahead. Annja sloshed through the dank water and tried her best to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn’t have to put up with the intense stench. There was no way she and Frank would surprise anyone, making as much noise as they were.

Behind her, Frank retched twice. “This is horrible.”

“The things we do for a story,” she replied. “You think this is bad? I could tell you stories that would make you run home screaming to your mother.”

“Leave my mother out of this.” He retched again. “How much farther?”

She shrugged. Stooped as she was it was impossible to get a good read on where they were. “Maybe a few hundred feet.”

“Whose idea was it to drop into a sewer again?”

“You were the one who wanted to come along on this jaunt in the first place. You want to blame someone, blame yourself. You could be asleep right now.”

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t be able to see this in the morning with Pradesh.”

“Exactly.”

Annja thought she saw something ahead. “Turn out the flashlight.”

“What? Why? I don’t want to trip and fall face-first in this stuff. The puddle was bad enough.”

“I think we’re coming out of the tunnel. Kill that light.”

Frank muttered something but shut the flashlight off. Annja stopped and peered. Yes, there was definitely an opening up ahead of them. The question was: Where did it open up? The last thing Annja wanted was to come out and be exposed.

She’d have to scout.

“Stay here.”

“What? No way. I’m not staying in this stinking cesspool any longer than I have to. Let me go with you.”

Annja glanced back. “You want to take this one?”

“Better than staying here in the sewer.”

Annja stepped aside. “Fine. Go scout the scene but try not to make any noise, all right? I need to know that it’s clear for us to proceed.”

Frank mock saluted her and then pushed past. “I’ll be back.”