One Foot in the Grave

TWENTY-TWO

BONES HAD LEFT HIS LAPTOP AND OTHER POSSIBLE incriminating information back at the house he was renting, which is where we went. For another piece of luck, his cell phone was safely inside the leather coat he still wore. We wouldn’t go back to my house anymore, for obvious reasons. With how much of a rush the mysterious source behind the attempt on my life was in, there could be another hit man waiting for me. I’d have to send someone else over to feed my cat for the next day or so.

Once we were safely inside the house and I could concentrate on more than “Eek, too high, too fast!” my mind spun with possibilities.

“Do you think Ian was behind the hit man?”

“Not a chance,” Bones said without hesitation. “Ian wants you alive so he can add you to his collection. Be a bit hard to do that if your head was in pieces.”

I remembered those three tight-knit holes in the window. “How did you know to knock me out of the way?”

“I heard the shots go off. He didn’t use a silencer.”

My head had been less than four feet away from the window at the time. Holy shit, he’d moved fast.

He read my look. “Not fast enough. One touched your skin. That’s far too slow for me.”

I gave a humorless chuckle. “That’s faster than I even knew was possible. And the flying trick blew me away as well. Still, we can never go back to that restaurant again. You destroyed the place and didn’t even pay for our wine.”

“We both know what it has to be, Kitten,” Bones said, ignoring that. “Obviously Don decided not to trust you.”

I thought it over, and then shook my head.

“It’s not Don. It doesn’t make sense. Ellis said that he had originally been given the contract a week ago. That means the hit was planned before anyone knew you came into my life. Don had no reason to want me dead then. I was playing by all his rules.”

Bones got up and began to pace. “You’re right. I’m still so bloomin’ unsettled about almost wearing your brains, I’m not thinking clearly. Right then, Don looks clean. Perhaps. But then that means that there’s a traitor at your compound. This isn’t just some random contract by an undead bloke who wants the mysterious Red Reaper eliminated. This is someone who’s privy to who you are, what you are, and your whereabouts. How many people does that equate to?”

Reflectively, I rubbed the wound near my hairline. “My entire unit, Don’s scientists, some of the guards…about a hundred people.”

He frowned. “That’s a large number of suspects, and that means it won’t take Ian long to pick up on you, either. I’ll have to pay a visit to your work. Sniff out the potential Judases one by one.”

“Bones.” I marched over to him. “You don’t understand. That place is heavily armed and heavily guarded. I should know, I helped design the security! There are only two ways a vampire can get inside the compound without a massive bloodbath. One way is shriveled. They store those vampires on ice for study. The other way is nearly as unpleasant-pronged with silver near the heart and transported inside our capsule. We keep those vampires alive for their blood to supply the Brams. That’s it. End of story.”

Instead of being discouraged, he tapped his finger on his chin and then picked up his cell and dialed.

“Yes, thank you, I’ll hold…Right, one large pizza, extra cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms. Two liters of Coke also. Um hmm, cash. Forty minutes? Here’s the address…”

When he hung up, I blinked at him in confusion. “Is that code for something?”

He laughed. “Yeah, it’s code. For a large pizza and soda. You never did have a bite to eat, and we can’t have you starving on me. Don’t fret; it’s all for you. As you know, I’m full. Now tell me about this capsule.”

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

My jaw ached from grinding my teeth. I was practically hoarse from arguing, but Bones was unperturbed.

“This is the only way I can get within sniffing distance of whoever’s trying to take you out. If they’re a vampire or ghoul’s lackey, I’ll smell it on them. Or they’ll try to run, or stink like fear. Either way, we’ll know.”

“Or you’ll be packed on ice next to Switch.”

“Not going to happen, pet. Make the call.”

Bones handed me his phone for the fifth time. With a withering glare, I finally took it and dialed. Here went nothing.

“Don, it’s me,” I said when he answered.

“Cat, are you hurt?” To his credit, he sounded genuinely concerned.

“No, but someone’s trying to change that. Look, I’m coming in; I’ll see you in an hour. Don’t let anyone, and I mean anyone, leave until I get there. Call in whoever’s out. We have a rat.”

“Of course, come in at once. We’ll discuss it when you get here. But no one here could possibly be involved-”

“Do you want me to come in or not? These are my terms, and I’m pretty goddamn inflexible about them, since my head nearly parted company with my shoulders last night.”

He paused and then sighed. “If that’s what makes you feel safe. Where is, ah, your companion?”

“He went out, I don’t know where. Right now I’m more worried about my own ass.”

“Hurry in. I’ll recall the teams, but if you don’t arrive in an hour, I’m sending them back out.”

I hung up and almost flung the phone at Bones. “Happy now?”

He pressed his lips over the scab on my temple. “Not yet, but I will be. Go straight there; don’t stop for anything.”

I started to leave, but then paused.

“Bones, before we do this, I have to tell you something. You know I still care about you, obviously, but it’s more than that. I’m…I still love you. I’ve never stopped, actually, even though I tried to snap out of it over the years. I don’t expect you to feel the same way, but-”

“I’ve never stopped loving you,” he cut me off, coming over to take me in his arms. “Not for an instant. Even when I was so angry at you for leaving me, I’ve always loved you, Kitten.”

He kissed me, a slow, deep kiss, like we had all the time in the world. I wished we did, but right now, I was afraid I might never see him again.

With a shuddering sigh, I pushed him back. “I’ll give you another kiss later. Right now I’m too scared about what you’re doing.”

Bones smiled, undisturbed, and traced my lower lip with his finger. “I’ll look forward to it. There’s one more thing, and you must swear to do exactly as I tell you. Take this.” He placed a sealed envelope in my hand. “Hide this in your clothes and don’t open it until I tell you. This is the information I’d been waiting for, and I need to be there when you see it. Swear to me you’ll wait.”

“Quit being melodramatic.” I thrust the envelope down the front of my shirt, tucking it in my bra. “Scout’s honor, okay?”

“I love you.” He made it difficult to stay mad at him.

That stopped me by the door, my hand on the knob. “Don’t get killed. No matter what.”

From the look in my eyes, he knew what I meant.

“It shouldn’t come to that, but if it does, I’ll try not to kill any of them.”

“Right.” My tone was brittle. “I don’t know if they’ll show you the same courtesy.”

This time, when I drove up to the guard gates on a motorcycle and took off my helmet, I was rushed through without hesitation. After all, I couldn’t exactly hide a vampire on the handlebars, could I? I rode straight through to the entrance, literally leaving the bike by the door, and was met by Tate and Juan. They both looked awful.

“Christos, querida, we thought the worst,” Juan exclaimed. Tate was less expressive, but he stared at the scratch on my forehead as if transfixed.

“Jesus. Is that from the bullet?”

“Sure is.” Flippantly. “Were you one of my spies last night? Or did you get the report secondhand?”

We headed for Don’s office. To my relief, I saw the building’s doors seal promptly behind me. Good, Don was keeping everyone inside.

Tate still looked rattled. “Actually, I saw it on video. You were being recorded. Don has the tapes.”

“At least I’ll get to see how my dress looked, even though it’s toast now.”

“You looked beautiful, querida.” Trust Juan never to miss an opportunity, no matter the circumstances. “Throw away that pulseless pale man and I’ll take care of you.”

“That ‘pulseless pale man’ saved my life, Juan,” I bleakly reminded him. “I wouldn’t be pretty with three holes plugged in my head, would I?”

Don stood when we entered, a rarity. He stared at me for a moment, and something flashed across his face I couldn’t name.

“Let me see it,” I began without pleasantries.

He knew what I was referring to, and clicked a button that flicked on the plasma screen as Tate shut the door.

Whoever had been filming me had a better vantage point than my would-be assassin. This looked to be from a neighboring building, since the slant was less steep. Dispassionately I watched the silent footage of Bones and me at our seats, the waiter bringing us the wine, him leaning forward, and me stroking his hand. The next scene was a blur of volatile movement that defied tracking with the naked eye. Then there was the unbelievable sight of the window exploding outward and a black-draped form free-falling with me before zooming off to wreck the van below.

The cameraman had apparently stopped filming and started moving, because the next footage was far more mundane. It showed the dead body of Ellis Pierson, and a close-up on the puncture wounds in the throat. Bones hadn’t bothered to heal them. He knew my team would scoop up the evidence.

Don clicked off the film and regarded me with guarded expectancy.

“I take it that was the hired gun?”

“Yeah. My date wasn’t happy at his dinner being interrupted.”

“Oh, your date got his dinner, all right,” Tate muttered sarcastically.

“You know, Tate, I can’t say I minded much at the time. After all, I’d just listened to a detailed description of how he was paid to blow my head off.”

“Cat.” Don rested his hands on his desk as he sat down. “You need to tell us about this vampire you’re with. You start dating the undead, and suddenly you’re targeted for assassination? From someone who knew exactly where you’d be? It’s too coincidental.”

“Did you just miss what you saw?” Exasperation filled my tone. “That vampire took a fucking bullet in the head for me! Explain to me how that’s hostile!”

“I’ve studied this recording frame by frame, Cat,” Tate answered flatly. “He moved faster than a speeding bullet, literally, and then he jumped from a building and flew! So not only does he have to be a Master vampire, but he also has to be the most powerful fucking Master we’ve ever encountered.”

Good thing Tate still hadn’t recognized Bones from Ohio, even though he’d studied the film footage from last night. Maybe it was like the old prejudiced saying went, except for Tate, it was all vampires who looked the same. Still, that was an issue for another time. Let them keep thinking Bones was just some new vamp I’d met. Later they’d learn the truth, but for now, it fit the plan to keep them ignorant of who he was.

“I’m not an idiot, Tate. I realized the same thing after he was finished with the hit man, but as I said, he obviously doesn’t want me dead. He thinks someone close to me does, though, just from a different angle. He thinks it’s someone here, and that Don is the key.”

“What? Huh? Que?”

They spoke at once, and I waved a hand.

“He wouldn’t tell me much, but said he had to confirm it. I have his cell-he’ll call when he’s finished. But he did mention a name, and said this person was connected. Maybe you’ll recognize it, Don, because it doesn’t ring a bell with me.”

This part Bones had been very specific about. I didn’t blink as my eyes met the older man’s. “Maximillian. Ever heard of him?”

Something happened to Don’s face I’d never seen. He blanched and almost looked like he’d faint. Motherfucker. For Don to look that sick, he recognized the name, all right.

“Why, boss, you look like someone just walked over your grave,” I said softly.

Tate and Juan cast interested glances in his direction as well, but their faces were blank. Maybe Don was the only one in on the secret.

Don opened his mouth to speak, but was saved when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the number, answered it, and then shot me a guarded look and covered the phone.

“I, ah, have to go in the hall where there’s better reception.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked at once.

“No, no,” he assured me while backing away. “Give me a moment.”

Don left the office, and from the sounds of it, the entire sublevel as well, since I couldn’t hear anything from him anymore.

Tate used the interruption to start on me. “Cat, you need to tell us who this vampire is that you’re consorting with, and anything else you know about him, because he knows far more than he’s letting on.”

I bristled at being spoken to like a junior officer. “His name is Crispin, he’s lived in and around Virginia for the last ten years, and he can go all night in bed.” There. Take that and shove it.

Tate shot me an angry look. “That’s nice for him, but it still doesn’t tell us anything useful.”

I shrugged. “Isn’t the bigger problem who this Maximillian is, or how he’s connected here? Don’t you know the name?”

“No.” His denial was immediate. From his expression, I didn’t think he was lying, but I wouldn’t have sworn to it.

Then Tate’s cell rang. He glanced at it and frowned.

“Yeah…what? Okay, on my way.” Tate hung up and then rose. “I have to go, Don needs me for something. Juan, he wants you to wait in here with Cat-and he says neither of you are to leave this room until he gets back.”

Tate left. It was just Juan and I.

“Between Tate’s jealousy and Don’s paranoia, they’re probably on a three-way call with my mother to discuss my lack of brains,” I said bitterly. “After over four years and all the times I’ve risked my life, this is the payback I get. Cooling my heels with you babysitting me. What a joke.”

Juan didn’t reply, but his silence said it all.

“Juan.” I swiveled to face him. “You’re the only one who isn’t operating with clouded judgment. There’s more to a person than their temperature. You’ve seen enough to know that. Don’t let them fuck everything up because of prejudice. Just look at all the facts before rushing to condemn anyone, that’s all I ask.”

“I owe you, querida. You’ve saved my life many times.” Juan’s normal playfulness was gone, and he was equally somber. “I will give you the benefit of the doubt, but your lover…I owe him nothing.”

I took his hand and squeezed it. “Then do it for me. Please. For me.”

The door swung open as Don and Tate returned. Don was the first to speak.

“Cat, I’m sending some men to escort your mother here, where she’ll be safe until we’ve determined who’s behind the threat on your life. It’s just precautionary. I have some calls to make and a few other employees to round up, so you can wait in your office. The compound will be locked down when they leave, as you requested. We’ll speak when they return.”

My stomach twisted with anxiety but I squelched it. Bones had told me to trust him. This time, I’d do just that.

“Fine. Go ahead. Get my mom.”

Tate grabbed Juan’s arm and almost yanked him out the door. “We’re on our way.”