Obsidian Butterfly

63

THEY FOUND MY GUNS in the chest with the rest of the weapons, though the holsters were missing. I just couldn't keep a holster intact on this job. But I stuffed the guns down my jeans. The knives weren't in the chest. Ramirez drove me personally to a crematorium so that I could see the heart and head burned down to ash. When I had two little containers of ash, it was almost dawn. I fell asleep in the seat beside him, or he'd have had a fight about taking me to the hospital. But he insisted that the doctors check me out. Amazingly enough, none of the cuts were even deep enough for stitches. I wouldn't even have any new scars. Miraculous.

One of the men had given me a jacket that said FBI on it to cover my nearly naked upper body. Several of the uniforms and most of the hospital staff assumed I was a federal agent. I kept having to correct people, and I finally realized that the emergency room doctor thought my denial meant I had a concussion and didn't know who I was. The more I argued the more concerned he got. He ordered a series of head X-rays, and I couldn't talk him out of it.

I was actually sitting in a wheelchair waiting to be escorted to X-ray when Bernardo came up. He touched the FBI jacket. "You're moving up in the world."

"When the nurse comes back, he'll be taking me down to X-ray."

"You okay?"

"Just precautionary," I said.

"I just came back from checking on the invalids."

"Olaf said Edward would live."

"He will."

"How are the kids?"

"Peter is okay. They put Becca in a room. She's got a cast to her elbow."

I stared at his cast stained a dirty brown. "That thing is going to start stinking with all that blood dried into it."

"The doc wants me to get a new cast, but I wanted to check on everyone first."

"Where's Olaf?"

Bernardo shrugged. "I don't know. He disappeared once the monsters were all dead and Ramirez had you in his car. He said something about the job being done. I guess he went back under whatever rock Edward found him under."

I started to nod, then remembered something that Edward had said. "Edward told you that you couldn't have a woman because he'd forbidden Olaf to have women, right?"

"Yeah, but the job's over, babe. I am headed for the first open bar."

I looked at him, nodding. "Maybe that's where Olaf is."

He frowned at me. "Olaf's at a bar?"

"No, he's out getting his ashes hauled, his way."

We both looked at each other, and there was a moment when horror dawned on Bernardo's face, and he whispered, "Oh, my god, he's out killing someone."

I shook my head. "If he's just out killing at random, there's no way to find him, but what if it's not random?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember how he looked at Professor Dallas?"

Bernardo looked at me. "You don't think … I mean he wouldn't … oh, shit."

I got up out of the wheelchair and said, "I've got to tell Ramirez what we're thinking."

"You don't know he's there. You don't know he's doing anything wrong."

"Do you believe he just went home?" I asked.

Bernardo seemed to think about that for a second, then shook his head.

"Neither do I."

"He saved your life," Bernardo said.

"I know." We went to the elevator.

The elevator doors opened and Lieutenant Marks was standing there. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

"Marks, I think that Professor Dallas is in danger." I got into the elevator.

Bernardo followed.

"You think I'd believe anything you say, witch?" He hit the button that kept the doors open.

"Hate me if you want, but don't let her die."

"Your pet FBI agent kept me out of the big raid."

I didn't know what he meant, but I was pretty sure who he meant. "Whatever Bradley did, he did without me knowing, but that's not the point."

"I can make it the point."

"Did you hear that Dallas is in danger? Did you hear that part?" I asked.

"She's as corrupt as you are."

"So it's okay that she dies a horrible death," I said.

He just looked at me. I moved as if to go towards the buttons. Bernardo caught his clue. He hit Marks in the head with his cast. The man went down, and I hit the door closed button. The doors hushed closed as Bernardo lowered Marks to the floor.

"You want me to kill him?" Bernardo asked.

"No." But now if I went to Ramirez for help, Marks would think he'd been in on it. Shit. "Do you have Edward's car?"

"Yeah."

"How did Olaf drive off, then?"

Bernardo looked at me. "If he's really doing this, he'll steal a car and ditch it away from the murder scene. He won't chance using Edward's car."

"He'll go back to Edward's house for his goody bag," I said.

The doors opened on the floor that he'd parked on. We got out. "What do you mean goody bag?"

"If he's going to cut her up, then he'll want the tools he normally uses. Serial murderers are very anal when it comes to how the victims are treated. They spend a lot of time planning exactly what they'll do and how."

"So he's at Edward's?"

"How long has he been gone?"

"Three hours, maybe three and a half."

"No, he'll be at Dallas's, if that's where he is at all."

Bernardo opened the car, and we got in. I had to take the Browning out of my pants. The barrel's just too long for sitting down like that. I ended up holding it in my lap. I watched Bernardo drive with his cast-wrapped arm, "You need me to drive?"

"I'm fine. Just tell me where Dallas lives, and I'll drive us."

"Shit!"

He put the car in park and looked at me. "The police would know the address."

"When Marks wakes up, we'll be lucky to stay out of jail," I said.

"We don't even know that Olaf's at her house," he said.

"I got a better one. How to explain that we know he was a serial murderer and didn't warn the police sooner."

"Do you have Edward's cell phone?" I asked.

He didn't argue, just leaned across and opened the glove compartment. I got the phone out.

"Who you going to call?"

"Itzpapalotl. She'll know the address."

"She'll eat Olaf's face."

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way you better get us out of the parking area before Marks wakes up and starts screaming."

He drove us out of the parking lot and started slowly down the street. I dialed information, and the operator was happy to dial The Obsidian Butterfly for me. It was daylight. I knew better than to ask for Itzpapalotl herself, so I asked for Pinotl and told them it was an emergency and it was Anita Blake. I think it was my name that got me through, as if they'd been expecting the call.

Pinotl came on the line with his rich voice. "Anita, my mistress said you would call."

I was betting that she'd been wrong on the why, but … "Pinotl, I need the address for Professor Dallas's house."

Silence on the other end of the phone.

"She's in danger, Pinotl."

"Then we will take care of it."

"I'm going to have to call the police in on this, Pinotl. They'd shoot your werejaguars on sight."

"You are worried about our people?" he said.

"Give me the address, and I'll take care of it for you, Pinotl."

Silence except for his breathing.

"Tell your mistress, thanks for her help, Pinotl. I know I'm alive now because she helped me."

"You are not angry that she did not tell you all she knew?"

"She's a centuries old vampire. They can't help themselves sometimes."

"She is a goddess."

"We're just arguing semantics, Pinotl. We both know what she is. Please give me the address."

He gave it to me. I read the directions to Bernardo, and off we went.