McBison was sitting outside his favorite coffee shop having a cup of iced coffee when he had to toss it aside and hit the ground as a crossbow bolt came soaring toward. I should have known better than to try to finish a cup of coffee with Morgana in one of her moods, he thought to himself. She really is better company when she isn’t trying to kill me.

He got up slowly, but, as he suspected, Morgana was already long gone. He sighed and thought about going to get another cup of coffee before deciding not to tempt fate a second time. He knew he should get used to not finishing a cup of coffee first thing in the morning no matter how much he wanted to. Well, maybe it was just from here since it was his favorite place, but he would wait and have brunch a little later.

For now, he figured he should head back to his actual office instead of the one he met clients in. He had a feeling he was going to have to deal with Morgana again later in the day since he had locked her brother up for jumping bail. Though, as he saw it, she should be glad that it was him and not someone less ethical. He knew she would cool off eventually since it wasn’t the first time this happened, but she was a pain in the ass in the meantime.

He thought about getting some coffee from his favorite place for the working office as he unlocked what appeared to be a shed and stepped inside. As he descended a narrow set of steps, he dismissed the idea, knowing it would just lead to more chaos in the office. Mind you, his working office was not big compared given where it was, but it was secure. As secure as an office inside an underground, invite only bowling alley/bar can be anyway. But it served its purpose.

He walked into the bowling alley not knowing what to expect, even though it wasn’t open yet. He had learned to expect the unexpected a long time ago, starting with the time he got mad at a computer he was working with and zapped it with lighting from his fingers. Let’s just say the computer hadn’t faired so well from that. But as he walked into the bowling alley this morning, all seemed quiet. He checked for messages by the phone, finding only a few actual messages combined with the normal pile of threats on his life.

He tucked them in his pocket, tossing a couple dollars on the counter as he grabbed a soda and headed out back towards his office. He opened the door with an audible creak and stepped inside. Papers were strewn everywhere in an organized mess that only McBison could make sense of.

He tossed his trench coat on the coat rack just inside the doorway as he walked in. He dropped into his chair like a rock, reaching for a file before he opened his soda. It was Morgana’s brother’s file he had picked up. He knew he could access it with his Nanocomputer mind, but he was a bit old fashioned at times. And something was nagging him. He was thinking something was amiss as he flipped through the file. The more he read about Morgana’s brother, Raul, the more he got the feeling that Raul was being set up for somebody else.

As much as his mind told him to just let it go and be happy with collecting the bounty on the Vampire who had failed to be in court, he couldn’t do that. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, chiding himself for doing so. As he smoked, though, he looked closer at Raul’s life. Then, he noticed that Raul was busted for illegally selling human blood that he got from a medical dispensary for Vampires that agreed to be law-abiding citizens. Yet the dispensary owner was not being investigated at all.

Things were starting to make more sense to McBison, though he knew he couldn’t fix things if he had Raul’s sister still trying to kill him while he was working to make things right. So, he reached into his mind and clicked through his address book for Morgana’s number and linked to the chip in his arm to video call her instead of using his mind, even though some of the younger crowd had adapted to it already.

Morgana answered her phone with a snarl. “What the hell do you think is so important that I might spare your life, wizard?!?!”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I know your brother was set up. And I could do something about it, but you see some crazy lady vampire keeps trying to kill me,” McBison replied sarcastically.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Morgana snapped back at him, tapping her fingers impatiently in front of the camera.

“That if you stop trying to kill me I can help your brother for good,” McBison replied sarcastically, not phased.

“Fine, you have until tomorrow, but if you had just said so sooner, I might not have tried today,” the female vampire replied, still visibly annoyed with the wizard bounty hunter.

McBison ended the call with a smile, glad Morgana was still annoyed with him. It wouldn’t be normal for them if she wasn’t.  At least this way he wasn’t looking over his shoulder wondering if a clan of vampires was coming after him while he was dealing with the idiot who had set her brother up. It also meant having one less thing interrupting his coffee, even though he was sure something would interfere with it even after this.

He made one more phone call, leaving a message before grabbing his trench coat and locking up the office. He grabbed a fedora out of the lost and found, thinking it would improve his look for where he was going. He was hoping it would still be a fairly quiet day at the office with his morning coffee being the most exciting thing, but, somehow, he doubted it as he walked out the door.

To Be Continued…