My phone rings unexpectedly. Jolted awake, I check the time on the bedside clock-07.49. Picking up the phone, I yawn, "Yes?"
"It's me," someone says in a strange accent.
"Who?"
A pause. "You're not Shark."
"No, I'm Grubbs. Shark's in the next room. Do you want me to-"
"It doesn't matter," he interrupts. "I'm Timas Brauss. Tell the receptionist to let me up."
A couple of minutes later there's a knock on my door. I open it to find an incredibly tall, thin man in the corridor. He must be seven or eight centimetres taller than me. Skinny as a stick insect, with long, bony fingers. Floppy red hair, an even darker shade than mine. A startled pair of blue eyes, as if he's in a constant state of shock.
He pushes past me without a word. Looks around the room and up at the ceiling. He's carrying a couple of laptops and a briefcase. He sets them down, then drags the desk by the wall out into the middle of the floor and lays his gear on top of it. Fires up the laptops, takes a few plug-ins out of the briefcase and connects them up.
"Wi-Fi is a blessing from the gods," he mutters as I stare at him. "It was hell on Earth when I had to hook these up to ordinary phone lines. Who are we looking for?"
"A woman called..." I hesitate. "Do you want me to wake Shark?"
Timas shakes his head. "I can work without him. Who are you after?"
"Prae Athim."
"Spell it."
When I've done that, I tell him she works for an organisation called the Lambs. I start to describe the attacks and why we want to find her, but he holds up a hand. "That is enough information for me to be getting on with," he says curtly and bends over his laptops like a pianist. He's soon tapping away at a fierce speed, oblivious to all else, working on both computers at the same time.
Meera wakes before Shark. She's surprised to find the odd-looking stranger in my room, but says nothing once I've told her in whispers of his approach to business. We eat breakfast, then return to watch Timas Brauss. At one stage I ask if he'd like anything to eat or drink. He shushes me without looking up.
Shark finally rises close to midday. When he steps in to find Timas hard at work, he doesn't look surprised. Stretching, he nods at Meera and me, then grunts at the man hunched over the laptops. "What do you have?"
Timas spins neatly to face Shark, letting his fingers rest on his knees. He looks like an overgrown schoolboy. "I have a full profile of the woman, Prae Argietta Athim. Do you want to know her background?"
"Couldn't care less," Shark sniffs. "Where is she?"
Timas clicks his tongue. "I would need more time to answer definitively. But I can tell you where she should be if she's adhering to her regular schedule."
"That'll do," Shark says.
Timas reads out a long address, down to the postal code, finishing off with her floor and office number.
"It's a regular building?" Shark asks.
"Yes. The Lambs own the complex. A mix of offices, laboratories and miscellaneous divisions. I've downloaded a schematic plan of the structure and environs."
"Let's see." Shark pushes Timas aside and studies the right-hand screen. Meera and I edge over to look at it with him. The blueprints mean nothing to me-my eyes go blurry from looking at all the lines-but Shark nods happily as he scrolls down. "Should be easy enough to crack. Security systems?"
"Downloading," Timas says, tapping the other laptop.
"How much longer?"
"Maybe an hour. They are very cleverly protected. An invigorating challenge."
Shark stretches again. He looks pleased. "Unless they've packed the corridors with troops, this should be a piece of cake. We'll put a small team together, waltz in, grab Prae Athim, shake her up... be home in time for supper."
"You really think it'll be that easy?" Meera asks sceptically.
"Like hell," Shark grins. "But you know me-ever the optimist."
While Timas continues to play his keyboards, Shark gets back on the phone to those on his shortlist. Meera also makes a few calls, in case any of her contacts have discovered anything about the Lambs. I sit around as impatiently as the day before, twiddling my thumbs.
The first of Shark's team arrives at five, a chunky woman called Pip LeMat, an explosives expert. She's followed by three men over the course of the evening-James Farrier, Leo DeSalle and Spenser Holm. They're all soldiers but I don't learn much more about them. They retire with Pip and Shark to his room shortly after they arrive, making it clear they don't want to be disturbed. Apart from the clinking of bottles and glasses, and the occasional cheer or bellow, we don't hear from them for the rest of the night.
Shortly before eleven, Timas steps away from his laptops, takes a blue satin handkerchief from a pocket and dabs at his forehead, then folds it neatly and puts it away again. "Could I have some milk and a selection of whatever pastries the hotel has in stock?" he asks.
"Pastries?" Meera frowns. "This late?"
"Yes please," Timas says calmly. "I would like an ice pack also, for my frontal cranium, and could you please make up a cot for me beside the desk?"
"I'm sure we can find a room for you," Meera says.
"No thank you," Timas replies. "I would prefer a cot."
"I'll see what I can rustle up," Meera says, then whispers to me. "I'm going back to my room when I'm finished. This guy gives me the creeps."
I hide a smile, wait until she's gone, then ask Timas how he knows Shark.
"He killed my father," Timas says in a neutral tone, studying the back of the TV and frowning with disapproval.
Timas' English is excellent, but it's clearly not his first language. I think he must have made a mistake. "Do you mean he worked with your father?" I ask.
"No. He killed him. My father was trying to summon a demon. He meant to sacrifice me and my sister as part of the ritual. Shark saved me."
"And your sister?"
"He was not in time to help her." Timas walks around the rest of the room, making a survey of the remote controls, light fixtures, telephones... everything electronic.
"Shark felt he was to blame for my sister's death," Timas says. "He should have saved her. He didn't react quickly enough. Guilt-ridden, he developed an interest in my future. I was already heavily involved with computers, so he put me in touch with people who knew more than I did. I worked with them for a time, then with some others. When Shark realised I was the best in my field and could be of use to him, he reestablished contact.
"I relished the challenge I was set and indicated my desire to work with him on subsequent projects. He summons me every so often. I drop everything to assist him. The people I work for understand. They know how important Shark's work is. Do you work for Shark too?"
"Not exactly. We're... associates." The word doesn't sound right, but I don't want Timas thinking I'm Shark's lackey.
Timas thinks about that for a moment, then sighs. "I hope they have pain au chocolat. That's my favourite." Then he falls silent and stares at his laptops, not moving a muscle, barely even blinking.
Four more soldiers arrive the next morning, three men and one woman. Shark introduces them only by their first names-Terry, Liam, Stephen and Marian. They don't show any interest in Meera or me, so we don't bother with them either. Probably better that way. If we have to fight, some of us might die, and it's easier to cope with the death of someone you're not friendly with.
"Has it clicked yet?" Shark asks as we gather in my room around Timas, who's beavering away at his laptops after a short night's sleep.
"Huh?" I frown.
"Do a head count. Twelve of us. The Dirty Dozen. I love that film."
"I hope that's not your only reason for deciding on that number," I growl.
"It's as good a reason as any," he chuckles. "But that wasn't the key factor. I have access to a helicopter and it holds twelve. I could have commissioned a larger craft but I'm familiar with this model. I can fly it if I have to, though James will be doing most of the flying-he's the best pilot I know. Handy with a rifle too. If we need a sniper, James Farrier's our man."
"What's Timas like with a gun?" I ask.
"Not bad," Shark says. "But it needs to be a high-tech weapon with some kind of computer chip. He doesn't like ordinary guns, but if you hand him something complicated that he can play with, he's in his element."
"Timas isn't altogether there, is he?" I mutter.
Shark smiles. "You think he's a loon. Most people do. But he's passed every test he's ever been set. He's been probed by experts and they've all come away saying he's weird, but nothing more. In theory, he's as sane as you and me."
Shark moves into the middle of the room, takes up position beside Timas and claps loudly. We cluster round him in a semi-circle. Timas looks up, but keeps an eye on his laptops.
"No long speeches," Shark says. "You know I don't call for help unless things are bad. We need to find a woman. She might be mixed up with some seriously dangerous demons. If not, it'll be a walk in the park.
"But if we've guessed right, it'll get nasty. We're talking direct contact with powerful members of the Demonata. We don't want to fight. We only want to establish a link between the woman and the demons. But things could swing out of control and we might find ourselves in over our heads. If we do, you're all dead. You should know that now, before we begin, so you have the chance to back out."
Shark waits. Nobody says anything.
"Figured as much," he barks. "Timas-you got everything we need?" Timas removes USB sticks from both laptops, slips them into his shirt pocket and nods. "Then let's go," Shark says, and the hunt begins.
