Body Master (14 page)

Dempsey said, “You are
definitely
part of the plan.”

The way he said it sent a shiver down her spine. She would never have to worry about being cold around him. “Can’t wait to hear it.”

He smiled. It wasn’t a lady killer like Apollo’s. It was slow and riveting. “You’ll love it. It’s full of danger.”

“T
hat’s
your plan?”

Max ducked his head against the wind and let Seneca work through the disbelief before replying. Central Park lay silent and somewhat primal at midnight. A half-moon was etched with branches above. The wind rattled the dead leaves that escaped the few inches of snow, and whistled through the stand of trees where they waited for Bart.

Seneca lowered her voice. “Lovers. That’s the plan you came up with?”

“No, the plan is we
pose
as lovers. I need a new skin because we want to have a wonderful life together. But we can’t because I’ve done some bad things and need a new identity.” He looked at her. “I thought you’d like the part where you changed my evil ways.”

“Oh, believe me, I adore that part,” she replied. “I’m a little concerned, however, about the part where we prove to the other Shifters that we’re lovers. Can’t we just be good friends?”

He was finding it hard to concentrate every time she said “lovers.” “If we were only friends, I wouldn’t need you along to choose the new face and body that you plan to spend the rest of your life with.”

She processed that for a few seconds, shifting her weight from one foot to the other anxiously. Who would have thought that Seneca Thomas was afraid of anything? Was it the Shifter factor or just commitment in general? Finally, she wrinkled her nose. “If I find out you’re lying about this whole smell thing, Dempsey, you are a dead man.”

“Don’t I know it.” He also knew what was going through her mind. How, exactly, were they going to prove to other Shifters that they were lovers? He didn’t offer, and she didn’t ask again, but the possibilities would keep him up tonight. And that hadn’t happened in a long time, not since Ell . . .

He stopped, surprised that the pain he usually felt at the thought of her didn’t manifest. Part of him was disappointed. He never wanted to forget anything about her. The other part of him was too busy concentrating on Seneca’s every move. The way her hair spun in the breeze, the way she moved closer to him to block out the cold wind. Max turned a little so she was better sheltered.

She whispered, “I know why I’m here, but why are you defying orders to do this? You could blow the whole prototype Shifter agent experiment if you get caught. All for one guy?”

Max paused before answering. How could he tell her that he was on the trail of a Shifter who murdered his wife? That he was only using Seneca and XCEL to find that man? That was what he should do, but the part of him that trusted no one to help him or even give a damn about him refused to budge.

“Skinmen are notorious for killing the locals to stock their inventories. If you let him continue, the body count will rise, and someone’s going to notice.”

She gave him a concerned side-glance. “How many Skinmen are there?”

“On Govan, there was usually one per city. I don’t know here. This city is pretty big.”

Seneca asked, “Then what’s to stop more of them from moving in?”

Max gazed down at her. “How much of a message we send with this one.”

“Ah,” she said, understanding dawning. “And since we are on our own time here—”

“We don’t have to follow the rules,” he finished for her. “There is only one way this will end, Seneca. We need to take them out permanently. Are you okay with that?”

She blew out a breath that evaporated in the breeze. “We may not have much of a choice. Can’t call in backup, can’t call in the cleanup crew. Still . . .”

He couldn’t let her vacillate. Shifters would die. She should be happy about that. “Everyone in Skinman’s posse is harvesting humans, and any one of them is willing to step into his shoes. This will not end unless we end it.”

She nodded a few times, her gaze far away. “I know.”

Then he squinted at her. “I didn’t think it’d be so hard to convince you to kill Shifters.”

Seneca eyed him. “Only some of them.”

Warmth shot through him, despite the cold. She was his partner. She was with him. She trusted him. It was as good as he was going to get. Now, if only Skinman and Ell’s killer were one and the same man, his life would be perfect.

“No one outside XCEL is supposed to know where we live,” Seneca said after a few silent moments. “Our identities, our covers, are highly secure. Families protected. So how did they find your place?”

“I don’t know.” He’d been careful, especially with XCEL. “They could have followed my scent.”

“They could have followed any of our scents,” she said. “I’ll have to tell MacGregor our covers have been compromised. Warn the others.”

“Maybe we’ll get on their good side for that,” Dempsey replied.

Seneca laughed, a deep, throaty laugh. “Your optimism is sweet.”

He leaned into her slightly, into the warmth. “Nothing about me is sweet.”

Her eyes met his as their breaths merged in the cold. For a moment, he was back in his bedroom. Or maybe he was just wishing. “Bart is here.”

Seneca’s eyes widened, and she turned her head to the small man approaching, swearing as he stomped through the trees.

When he finally got close, he said, “We gotta find better places to meet. I ain’t a damn Boy Scout.”

Max shook his bare hand. “Sorry, man.”

He sniffed and nodded to Seneca. “You got the money?”

She smiled. “All business tonight, Bart?”

“I’m freezing my balls off,” he said and took the wad of bills Seneca handed him. Bart gave her a rumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

“Sure you don’t want to come with us?” she said, stuffing the note in her pocket without checking it.

“No way,” Bart sputtered. “This guy has protection. I was lucky to get a location and stay in one piece. You ain’t gettin’ me that close again.”

Seneca nodded. “Anything else going on?”

He looked at Max. “Your boy here’s been made.”

Seneca cast Max a quick glance. “We know.”

“Yeah, lots of buzz on the streets since you got Dillinger. I know you guys are used to it, but you might wanna warn Noko.”

Max noticed how Seneca stilled.
Who is Noko
?

“Is there a contract on us?” Seneca asked.

“Naw. Not yet anyway. Just talk,” Bart replied. “But you know how things can escalate, ’specially if you go after a big target like this guy.”

Seneca had turned serious. “Thanks for the warning.”

Bart looked uneasy for a moment. “I ain’t shittin’ you. I know I take your money, but I hate to see somethin’ happen to you.”

Seneca smiled. “You either. You going to lay low for a while?”

Bart nodded. “Plan to. Gotta go.”

He was out onto the path before Max asked, “Who’s Noko?”

“My grandmother,” Seneca said, her eyes staying on Bart. “She lives with me.”

Damn. Dempsey hadn’t planned on that. He was the only one who was supposed to be affected. Seneca pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll call and warn her.”

“Will that be enough?” he asked.

She turned to look at him as the phone dialed. “You’ve never met my grandmother.”

Noko met her at the door, with a shotgun.

Seneca stepped inside, checked to see if anyone was outside who could see a gun-wielding grandmother, and then closed the door behind her.

“I’m glad you took me seriously,” she said and kissed Noko on the cheek. “But they probably won’t be coming through the front door. Any leftovers in the fridge? I’m starving.”

Noko followed her into the kitchen. “Pork chops and scalloped potatoes. Be ready in ten minutes.”

“Perfect,” Seneca said, dropping her bag and shrugging off her coat. “I’m going to take a shower and try to warm up.”

Noko hung the shotgun on the gun rack on the wall. “Cold tonight.”

“I noticed.” It had been a cold, long night. She was looking forward to a hot shower, good food, and six solid hours of sleep. She took a step toward the stairs, and Noko asked, “Do you like him?”

Seneca stopped and turned to her grandmother. “
Like
is a little strong. More along the lines of mutual tolerance.”

Noko smiled, and Seneca could tell she wasn’t buying it.

“You trust him?”

Seneca sighed. “Mostly. But he’s hiding something. I can feel it.”

“Give him time. You are more alike than you think.” Noko had a way of cutting to the chase, no matter how hard Seneca tried to divert her.

Seneca headed upstairs but decided to skip the shower and took the second flight of stairs that led to the brownstone’s rooftop patio. On the way outside, she snagged her telescopic binoculars. At 4:00 A.M., night was firmly in place and her breath blew white in the darkness.

She stood in the middle of the small patio and lifted the binoculars to the stars. The sky was crisp and clear, but in the city, only the strong stars shone through. For long moments, she moved from one celestial body to another.

A song rose in her mind. “Star light, star bright . . .”

How many times had she sung those words?

Made the same wish?
Come and take me away from here.

And waited.

She lowered the binoculars and marveled at the great expanse of the sky. Out there somewhere, she’d always known there were others. She’d felt that even as a child, growing up in northern New York State where the stars blanketed the heavens. She used to sneak out into the backyard at night and wish for cosmic strangers to come down and take her away to a place where there was no pain and no death. Where she could forget the past, leave it behind like a child’s toy.

With the aliens.

“Be careful what you wish for,” she whispered, her words disappearing into the night.

Max heard Seneca murmur, “This is madness,” as she walked behind him through the trees and brush to the location Bart had given them. It was after 1:00 A.M. and Saw Mill Park lay peaceful and still, even in the heart of Yonkers. Max breathed in, following the heavy scent of Shifters that had blazed a trail that only he could trace. A trail to Skinman.

Here, deep in the park, nature had found a single foothold, doggedly protecting its secrets with vegetation and stone. Max liked the feeling, the room to breathe in a city that was cramped with too many people. If he were to settle down, it would be in an open place like this. Not that that was going to happen. In fact, settling down was a dream he was certain he’d never live to see.

“What if they recognize your scent? What if they recognize us as XCEL?” Seneca asked for the third time.

He smiled. The first time she asked, he figured she was worried about her own safety. The second time, he figured it was about XCEL. But she hadn’t liked his assurances to either of those, and it finally dawned on him that she might just be worried about him.

“Then we’ll have to fight our way to Skinman.”

“Look, I know you are good and all, but there may be a lot of Shifters down there,” she persisted.

He walked through low-lying brush and random trash that covered the ground. “Just stay close to me.”

“So you think they’ll just let us waltz in, and no one is going to check me for weapons?”

“Trust me.”

“Crazy-ass plan,” she muttered under her breath, and he almost laughed. It wouldn’t be a crazy-ass plan if it were hers, but for some reason, she seemed nervous not being in charge of the operation.

A new scent stopped him and he lifted his hand to halt Seneca. Ahead the brush thickened and traversed a vine-entangled stone embankment that led up to a bridge. It appeared to be a solid wall, but to a man with his sense of smell, in there somewhere was a doorway to the underground.