"Wonder what's made him so angry?"
He glanced at me. "Maybe he just found out that the two thugs he sent after a certain werewolf failed in their task."
"I'd call it more than a failure," I mused. "One is dead, and the other is in the hands of the Directorate."
"Which is enough to make any madman intent on evil extremely pissed."
"I guess." But why would he be reacting now to events that had happened this afternoon? If Handberry was a good thug-master—and we had no reason to believe he wasn't—then he would have known almost immediately that something had gone wrong. The lack of communication from his men would have told him that.
No, this was caused by something else.
We continued to follow Handberry from a safe distance—a task aided by the fact there were few cars on the road. He slowed down once he hit Hoddle Street and headed away from the city, taking the Heidelberg Road turn-off then scooting along that until he reached Dan Murphy's. He swung into the parking lot behind the liquor store, then climbed out and walked across to the house next to it.
Tao turned right onto a side street, then came to a halt several cars up from Handberry's house. It was a small, single-fronted brick and—like the man who lived in it—rather ugly.
"What do you want to do now?" Tao asked as he killed the lights but kept the engine running.
"I don't know." I twisted around in the seat so I could see the house better. "I guess it depends on whether Handberry actually lives here or not."
"Well, that's a question that can be solved by a simple phone call." He dug his phone out of his pocket and said, "Stane." A few seconds later, I heard the answering rumble of Stane's voice. "I need another favor if you've got the time."
I tuned out their conversation, watching as lights went on inside the house. We were too far away to hear any noise or conversation from the house, and only Handberry's silhouette appeared in any of the windows. But one thing I could sense was that there was an odd feeling in the night. A wrongness that made my skin crawl.
And it was different from the feeling I got when I looked at Handberry.
"Okay," Tao said, his voice breaking into my thoughts and making me jump. "According to Stane, this is the address listed on Handberry's license, meaning it's probably his place."
"Did Stane manage to pick up anything from the bug?"