Kissing with Fangs

Chapter 9

Anthony exited his office to check on the tea room. Angie was sitting with Tory and Nick. He was surprised to see her still there. He waved to Sadie, who was doing a reading, and approached the table of three.

“Didn’t you finish your shift a couple hours ago, Angie?”

“Ah, yeah.” She fidgeted. “Is it all right if I become a customer in the evening?”

“Of course. I just didn’t think you’d want to hang around where you worked. I guess you don’t hate it here.”

She laughed. “Not at all. I like it. The job is easy, even if I can’t get any White Russians here and the clientele is the same old, demanding bunch.” She pointed at Tory and Nick with her thumb.

“You love us,” Tory said. One side of his mouth quirked up.

“And you’re best friends with my wife,” Nick added. “Insult me, and she’ll have to stop hanging around with you.”

Angie laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Actually, Nick, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. Can you come into my office for a few minutes?”

“And leave these two unchaperoned?”

Tory shoved his thick arm. “Please. I think we can manage without you.”

“Fine. I know when I’m not wanted.” Nick rose and followed Anthony, but before he reached the office, he called over his shoulder, “If you need my protection, just yell.”

“I think I’ll be okay, Nick,” Angie called back.

“I was talking to Tory,” he said. He closed Anthony’s door on her indignant sputtered retort.

“You like to give Angie a hard time, don’t you?” Anthony asked.

“Been doing it ever since I’ve known her. She’d miss it if I didn’t. So, what did you want to see me about?”

“Have a seat.” Anthony waited for Nick to get comfortable, then asked, “How’s the investigation going?”

“Which one?”

“You have more than one case?”

“Yeah, but they seem to be related. Apparently there are more paranormals missing, and if they’re being taken to a secret lab in Cambridge, we can’t find it.”

“You know it’s in Cambridge?”

“I think so. I’ve followed scents over the Memorial Bridge several times. That’s where I lose them. I think the wind off the river interferes with tracking beyond there.”

“Then it does sound like you’re getting close. Has Sadie confirmed any of what you’ve seen with what she saw during her astral projection?”

“She said it was too dark and she can’t get back there for some reason.”

“That’s weird. I wonder why not.”

“She said maybe her subconscious is protecting her, refusing to let her go somewhere dangerous or mentally disruptive.”

“I don’t know… She seems mentally sound, and how much danger can she be in when she’s in astral form?”

Nick shrugged. “I don’t know how her gift works. I just wish it did—now more than ever—and unfortunately her subconscious, or whatever, isn’t cooperating.”

“What if you took her around the area during the day? Would she recognize anything?”

Nick shook his head. “She says no. She didn’t pay attention to the outer surroundings. Just the roof she landed on.”

“Maybe Kurt could take her up in a helicopter. He’s a pilot—or at least he was in the military.”

Nick rose. “That’s brilliant. I’m just sorry I didn’t think of it sooner.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Don’t tell anyone I discussed the case with you. If it works, I’m taking credit for it.” He laughed.

Anthony cuddled Claudia on her couch, but she seemed distracted. He stroked her cheek and tucked her hair behind her delicate ear, careful not to disturb her pearl earring.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing.”

“In my experience, when a woman says ‘nothing,’ there’s always something. Come on. Out with it.”

She sighed. “I wish you’d spend the whole night with me sometime. I don’t understand why you can’t. I’m perfectly willing to black out all the windows. Is it that you don’t want to see my morning face with no makeup and bed-head?”

Shit. Maybe it was time to let her in on his secret. He still didn’t know if she could handle it sober, and he’d feel horrible if he caused her to start drinking again. No. Not yet. Trying to sound natural, he said, “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re beautiful when you wake up.”

“How would you know?”

“I woke you one morning. As I recall, you had cried off your makeup, and bed-head didn’t begin to describe your hair.” He grinned, hoping to lighten the mood and let her know he was teasing at the same time.

She groaned. “True. I guess if you saw me like that and didn’t run for the hills, you really aren’t bothered by appearances.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily.” How could he get her off the subject of staying overnight? He shifted so he could hide his erection. “Speaking of getting rid of people, Kurt is trying to romance Ruxandra.”

Claudia sat up and faced him. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. He’s not having much luck at the moment, but he seems determined to win her over.”

Claudia covered her mouth with open fingers. “I don’t know whether to be grateful or horrified.”

“Be grateful. He’s a grown man, knows what he’s getting into, and seems willing—if not eager—to tame the shrew.”

Claudia laughed. “Unbelievable.” Then she quieted. “I know she’s beautiful…I mean, absolutely gorgeous, but what else does Kurt see in her?”

Anthony shrugged. He couldn’t very well say his friend was doing him the favor of a lifetime.

Her eyes widened. “You don’t suppose he’s after her money, do you?”

Anthony almost asked, “What money?” but stopped himself. Letting Claudia come up with her own plausible answer might be wiser.

“I don’t know,” he said.

Claudia spoke softly as if thinking out loud. “I never thought of him as opportunistic, but I only know the convivial, flirty Kurt. Come to think of it, he does seem kind of superficial, and she’s always dripping in diamonds and furs. She must be loaded. And as far as I know, he doesn’t currently have a job.”

“I never ask about people’s finances. You could be right.”

“And I never asked about yours, but you volunteered the fact that I shouldn’t worry about the tea shop.”

“True. I don’t tell people unless they need to know. You’re the manager and needed to know we could afford to take a risk.”

He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers and jokingly whispered in her ear, “Now that you know I’m loaded, do you think you could love me for my money?”

She laughed. “I never expected you, of all people, to be so blatant about gold diggers. And, for your information, I’m not one of them.”

He grinned. “I know. And I’m glad.” If only she knew about my time in Alaska during the Gold Rush. I knew plenty of them.

He turned her chin to face him. “You’re perfect.” He was about to kiss her, but Claudia dropped her gaze, bit her lip, and closed her eyes.

Uh-oh. “What’s the matter?”

She shook her head.

“Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know that, right?”

She hung her head. “I’m so far from perfect it isn’t funny. There’s something I’ve done…”

There was something momentous in the atmosphere. As if she were about to reveal a horrible secret.

“It’s not the kind of thing I like to talk about, but you should probably know. I killed my sister.”

Anthony couldn’t imagine his sweet, gentle Claudia being capable of killing anyone. It had to have been some kind of accident. Something she’d been blaming herself for.

He took both of her hands in his. “Tell me about it.”

She looked away.

“Claudia, honey. I’m not here to judge you. Is this something that contributed to your drinking?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Most definitely.”

Hell, it was a wonder he didn’t end up with a drinking problem, too, with all the lives he’d taken. “I understand confession can be good for the soul. I’m far from priestly, but I’m willing to listen if it’ll help.”

She sighed. “I had a sister two years older. She was the brainy one. Really, really smart. My parents couldn’t afford to send us both to private colleges, but she got a partial scholarship to Dartmouth. She wanted to be a doctor. A pediatrician. Meanwhile, I was lucky enough to get into BU. My parents took out a second mortgage on their house so I could go. I should have gone to a state school…” A tear shimmered in her eye.

“Marion had just come home for the summer after her sophomore year. I was celebrating my high school graduation at a party on the other side of town. Of course I’d had too much to drink. Since Marion was the smart one, I distinguished myself by being the social one. I had lots of friends, went out every weekend, and drank a lot.

“Anyway, that night I knew I was in no shape to drive and our designated driver left us all in the lurch after a fight with her boyfriend, so I called good ol’ reliable Marion. She took the highway, probably to get there faster. Another car crossed the center line and hit her head-on in a high-speed crash. The driver of the other car was drunk and apparently bounced. He survived. My sister did not.” Claudia broke down and sobbed.

Anthony grabbed her and held her tight. How could she blame herself for an accident like that? He wanted to shake her, but that was the last thing she needed. Instead, he stroked her hair and murmured, “Shhh…” until she stopped.

“Claudia, honey. You can’t blame yourself for an accident.”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t—”

“Listen. You couldn’t have known any of that would happen. It sounds like you didn’t expect her to take the highway. You couldn’t have known there’d be a drunk driver on it. If anyone should be blamed, it’s the driver of the other car, but regardless…guilt and shame doesn’t help anyone. We live our lives. We make decisions. We make mistakes. It’s part of finding our way through the unknown.”

“My father hated me after that.”

“I’m sure he didn’t. Some men don’t know how to deal with or express strong emotions. They lash out in frustration. Did he ever say it was your fault?”

“Not in so many words.”

“He doesn’t hate you. I saw his concern for you myself.” He took her face in his hands.” I wish I could take away all the pain, but I can’t.” Because apparently my power of mesmerism is on the fritz. “Look, we don’t know why some things happen. They just do. It’s how we handle them that tells us who we really are.”

Claudia clenched her fists. “Then I’m really a horrible person.”

“You are not!” He rose and raked his hand through his hair. “I wish you’d stop beating yourself up. Isn’t there something in the twelve steps about asking people to forgive you for things you’ve done under the influence?”

“Yes. It’s the ninth step. I’m not quite there yet.”

“Well, when you get there, talk to yourself first. You need to forgive yourself. In the meanwhile, know that I forgive you. Maybe that will help.”

She sighed. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You’re right.”

She looked up with questioning eyes.

“You deserve better.”

Anthony wished he could help by sharing some ghastly stories of his own. So she was indirectly responsible for one measly death. He had fed on hundreds of humans, many of whom didn’t survive until he learned how much he could take without killing someone. In a way they’d both had drinking problems.

She’d be appalled. Most humans would, but Claudia with her gentle heart couldn’t handle it. Not now, and maybe not ever. What was I thinking?

A knock at the door disturbed their intimate conversation. When Claudia didn’t answer right away, the pounding increased and a frantic female voice shouted, “Anthony! Are you in there?”

It didn’t sound like Ruxandra.

Anthony rose. “It’s Angie.” He buttoned his suit jacket as Claudia strode to the door.

“Angie, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Tory. Someone Tasered him, hauled him into a white van, and drove off.”

Anthony flew down the stairs faster than he should have, but he needed to catch whoever had done this. The MO seemed to fit the facts Nick and Kurt had shared with him.

Once on the sidewalk, he scanned the area as far as his vampiric night vision could see.

Nothing. Damn it.

He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and called Nick.

“Hey, Anthony. What’s up?”

“Our kidnappers just took Tory.”

“Shit! What happened? Tell me everything.”

“I should put you on the phone with Angie. She witnessed it.” He jogged upstairs, still talking. “By the time I got down to the sidewalk, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

He knocked and waited for the click that meant Claudia had locked the door. Thank goodness she kept her promise to keep it locked at all times.

As soon as she let him in, he put the phone on speaker and said to Angie. “It’s Nick. Tell him what you saw.”

“Hi, Nick. Tory and I were just standing on the sidewalk outside the tea shop, talking. A white van pulled up next to us, and two guys wearing black ski masks got out. One of them shot him with a Taser. Then they hauled him into the van through the sliding side door and took off. I screamed for help, but no one would get involved.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Did you get a license number?”

“By the time I got over the shock and remembered to look, I only saw a couple numbers and one letter.”

“Even a partial might help. What were they?”

“13O.”

“Are you sure the O was a letter and not a number? Could it have been one thirty?”

Angie hesitated. “Damn. I’m not sure anymore.” Her voice shook. “I was so scared. I’m still scared…for him.”

Nick’s voice gentled. “Angie, it’ll be okay. You know I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“And so will I,” Anthony said. “I’m a pretty skilled hypnotist. If I hypnotized you, would you see more of the license number?”

“Maybe,” she said softly.

“Nick, can you hold a few minutes while I do that?”

“I’d rather make a couple calls right away and have you get back to me.”

“Of course. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Will do,” Nick said and clicked off.

By that time, Angie was crying. Claudia had an arm around her and guided her to the sofa. Then she said, “I’ll get you some tissues,” and hurried toward her bedroom.

Angie sniffed, wiped at the tears, and looked up at Anthony. “I had just told my family that it was too damn bad if they didn’t like it. I’m going out with him anyway.”

“Are they prejudiced?”

“Yeah, but not because he’s black. They can’t stand the fact that he’s from New York. My father, grandfather, and brother all hate the Yankees and the Giants.”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard of crazy Boston sports fans, but that’s ridiculous.”

Claudia returned with tissues and handed the box to Angie.

“Tell me about it.”

“Do you think you can handle hypnosis right now? Maybe we should wait until you’re feeling a little—”

“No. Do it right now. I want to help Nick find him, and the sooner the better.”

Claudia had gone down to the tea room to make Angie a pot of chamomile tea, per Anthony’s request. He seemed to want to be alone with Angie while he hypnotized her. Claudia wasn’t about to fight with him about it. Maybe he was afraid of hypnotizing her at the same time. Or maybe he thought Angie would relax more if she didn’t have an audience. Yeah, that was probably it.

She made the tea and stepped out onto the sidewalk. As she was locking up again, someone called her name with an incredulous expression in his voice.

“Claudia?”

She glanced over her shoulder and recognized her old boyfriend Maynard. “Hey, Maynard. Nice to see you. How are you doing?”

“I’m great,” he said and puffed up his chest under his brown leather jacket. “I’m working in Cambridge now.”

“Oh? Where in Cambridge? I used to live there.”

“Central Square.”

“Really? That’s where I used to live. It’s funny that I bumped into you over here instead of in Cambridge.”

“Yeah. Well, I was just in the neighborhood. What are you doing here?”

Claudia tipped her head toward the tea shop. “This is where I work. I’m the manager.”

“Just the manager? I thought you’d own your own business by now.”

Claudia didn’t know how to take that. Was it a compliment about her intelligence? Or a slam for her lack of success. “Uh, well, the business is brand new. We’ve only been open a few days. I designed it, hired and trained the staff, created the menu, found suppliers…the whole nine yards. I get to call the shots since the owner is rarely around.” Why am I bragging? Oh, yeah. When I did AA’s fourth step, I discovered one of my worst character defects is pride.

“Cool. Sounds like my kind of boss.”

“Yeah, he’s great. Are you still into science?”

“More than ever. I’m head of a research lab.”

“Cool. I know that’s what you wanted. What are you researching?”

“Oh, you know…a lot of stuff.”

Was he being evasive or did he remember how bored she’d gotten with his long, drawn-out scientific explanations?

“So, I guess you graduated from MIT.”

“Nah. I went three years, then a friend of mine offered me this opportunity and I never looked back.”

“Well, good. I’m glad you’re doing well.” Especially since I dumped your ass. Now I can stop feeling guilty. “Uh, I need to get this tea upstairs before it gets cold.”

“Oh? Do you deliver?”

She laughed. “Not usually. I have a friend up there who’s a little upset. There’s nothing like a good cup of tea with honey to comfort someone.”

“That or a good cup of rum.” He winked.

Ugh. He remembers how I used to cope with…everything.

“Yeah, well, I gotta go.”

“Hey, maybe I’ll stop by when you’re open.”

“Sure. And tell your friends about us.” She hoped he was just being polite. Bumping into Maynard on the sidewalk was one thing, but being buddies wasn’t something she wanted to do. She edged away and hoped he took the hint.

“Well, bye. It was good to see you.” But not really.

“Yeah, same here.”

By the time Claudia returned to her apartment, Anthony had uncovered the rest of the license plate number and was on the phone with Nick. She passed by without looking at him but felt his eyes on her.

“What do you take in your tea, Angie?”

“Honey and lemon, if you have them.”

Claudia poured Angie a generous cup and stirred.

“Is everything all right, honey?” Anthony asked Claudia.

Angie’s brows lifted.

“Uh, yeah. Fine.” Claudia handed Angie the tea and felt her cheeks heat.

Angie looked from Anthony to Claudia. “So, are you two…”

Claudia looked over at Anthony, wondering what had possessed him to call her “honey” in front of their employee. He slipped his arm around her waist and warmed her with a side squeeze.

“Yes,” he said. “We are.”

A glow of pride fought with her better judgment, but eventually her sentimental side won. She wrapped her arm around him too. “We’ve been keeping it quiet.”

“I hope you will too,” Anthony said.

“Hell, yes,” Angie said. “Does Ruxandra know?”

Anthony closed his eyes. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“Jesus! Aren’t you afraid she’ll try to harpoon Claudia like she did Brandee when she thought you were into her? What’s to prevent raging Ruxandra from becoming a bull in a bone china shop?”

Claudia tried not to smile. It was a serious concern, but Angie’s spin on it…well…

“She’s been warned. You’re both safe. If you weren’t, I’d hire another bodyguard.”

Angie and Claudia glanced at each other. “Another?”

Anthony sighed. “You might as well know. Remember how Kurt and Tory hung out at the bar all the time? I had asked them to keep an eye on the place.”

Angie set her tea down and folded her arms. “I thought Tory was there to see me. Are you telling me he was working there?”

“I’m sure seeing you was a major bonus, Angie.”

She muttered something under her breath, but Claudia decided to leave it alone. The girl had been through enough for one night.