Redeeming the Night (13 page)

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “Yes, but—”

He continued without giving her a chance to tell him why it wouldn’t work out. “I have a few more things to do here. If you could wait for me, I’ll treat you to lunch.”

“I—we—” she floundered.

“Good.”

He descended the staircase quickly. She was the one that kept finding him. She was the one that first said they needed to talk. She could wait.

Dr. Callie was already talking to Max when Eric entered the room. “Rachael brought it back from school one day. She said something about it being what Suzie left behind. I thought it was something Suzie gave to Rachael when she decided to leave.”

“Had you ever seen
Suzie
with the doll before?” Eric asked.

“I don’t think so. Honestly, I didn’t think anything of it.”

“We know,” Max said as he tapped the end of his pen against his jaw. “Is there a way you could call Rachael in here so we can ask her a few questions?”

“I’ll need to be present during questioning,” Dr. Callie said as she dialed an extension.

“Of course.” Max notated that Dr. Callie would serve as Rachael’s
guardian ad litem
.

Within minutes, a young lady about fifteen entered Dr. Callie’s office and sat. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail that reached her shoulders. Wisps of stray hair had pulled free and wandered across her face. Saucers of blue stared at the three adults and waited. This young lady knew from a young age to only answer the most direct questions.

Max took the lead. Pulling the bagged doll from his pocket he placed it on the desk in front of the girl. She reached a hand toward it, then thought twice, and clasped her hands together on her lap. “What can you tell me about this doll?” Max asked.

“It’s mine,” she said, her fingers flexed.

“Where did you get it?” he asked, keeping his voice light.

“Suzie left it for me.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because it was dressed just like her, and she left it in our spot.”

“Your spot?”

“You know, where we stood while we waited for the bus.” Everyone nodded. “I stopped to talk to Mickey Marino.” She glanced at Dr. Callie. “He’s really nice, but he was out of school ’cause of the flu or something so he was asking me about homework.”

Dr. Callie nodded and motioned for the girl to continue.

“Suzie said she would meet me at our spot. Mickey and I walked slow ’cause I was showing him something in the book or something and when we turned the corner, she wasn’t there. I thought she might have sat back in the bushes. We did that sometimes, too. Ya know, out of the sun. She wasn’t back there, but this doll was. It was dressed just like her. She was always talking about running away to Hollywood. She kept saying about how it was so close and all she had to do was hitch a ride. I figured she stopped talking about it and just decided to go.”

“Without saying goodbye to her best friend?” Eric asked.

“That’s what the doll was, her way of saying goodbye.” Again, she reached for it and stopped herself. “Why is it in the bag? Can I have it back?”

The doll was six months old. The scent of the kidnapper was there, but to anyone else it was doubtful there would be anything of use there at all. And Rachael believed it was the only thing she had of her lost friend.

“We have to keep it for just a little while. But when we are done we’ll make sure you get it back,” Eric said.

“Soon?” she asked.

Max crouched beside the girl’s chair. “It may take a while. But as soon as we can.”

She crossed her arms. “Don’t forget.”

“I’ll bet Dr. Callie will make sure we don’t forget,” Eric said, winking at Rachael.

The girl sat straighter now and smiled so the stray lock of hair swung away from her face. “Oh, no. She remembers everything.”

The principal smiled. “I’ll make sure to keep checking with them until they are done with it.”

Max stood, and both men shook Dr. Callie’s hand. “I think we have all we need. My number is on the receipt for the doll.”

They exited the building.

“So, he’s not
just
a kidnapper,” Eric murmured. The feds would be involved for sure. They were always notified for missing children but didn’t always take an active role. Now that the kidnapper had graduated to murderer, they would be all over this. Eric would have to function in front of them. Explain himself. His stomach knotted.

“I’ll take this to the lab and see what they can get off of it after all this time.” Max cleared his throat and opened his car door. “You go ahead and take care of your business.”

Eric had been following Max to his car without thinking. But when the officer cleared his throat Eric looked up to see Ashley leaning against her SUV, watching him. “Right,” he said to Max and simply stood still till the officer drove away, leaving him alone with Ashley.

“Where do you want to go for lunch?” she asked.

His mind, still concerned with the upcoming federal investigation, didn’t quite register what she said. “What?”

“Food.” She spoke slowly. “Eat. Talk. You buy.”

That’s right.
“Our third date. We could always go back to my hotel and order room service.” The flirtation came unbidden. If she took him up on it what else might he do without thinking? Still, the entertainment of verbally fencing with this enigma of a woman began to ease the queasiness.

She grunted. “A restaurant.” A smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I’ll pick.”

Sitar music and the unmistakable scent of curry spiced the air. Once they were seated in the dimly lit Indian restaurant decorated in dark maroon and gold she began to relax somewhat. A small buffet had been set up in the corner near the kitchen, but Ashley had ordered for them.

From her studies of the sisterhood’s library over the years she knew the symbols on each table were meant to encourage harmony. She also knew the symbols over the door were an ancient spell to keep away evil spirits. The sisterhood learned these so they wouldn’t hunt in places with these marks. They said it was because there was no prey, but now she wasn’t so sure. She had no idea what would happen if she did, but she knew no one from the sisterhood would attempt to follow her here.

Eric hadn’t seemed himself when he came out of the center. But as they drove, he seemed to shake off the burden that weighed on him. Now, as he sat across from her, he cocked his head and smiled. “Did you want to start the conversation? You’re the one who said we needed to talk.”

“You know I’m not who I appear to be.” She hesitated; how could you tell someone that fairy tales are true? That not everyone is human?

“I can tell that you’re you no matter whose face you wear.” He sipped his water.

“You know I can—?” She fell silent as the waiter delivered their food.

Coconut curry lamb and what Ashley only knew as butter chicken. Next came a big bowl of jasmine rice and a plate of naan bread. The waiter refilled their water and then took a closer look at Eric.

Realizing he was the subject of scrutiny, Eric smiled at the waiter. The man whispered something in another language and leaned closer. They were nearly ear to ear before Eric’s eyebrows rose and he leaned back. Now it was the waiter’s turn to smile. He placed a card on the table next to Eric’s plate. To Ashley, he nodded. “Please enjoy.”

Eric tucked the card in his pocket, glancing over his shoulder at the retreating waiter, and chuckled. When he caught Ashley’s gaze, he shrugged. “Extremely distant relation.”

He scooped food from the plates in the center of the table onto his own and tasted. “This is very good. I haven’t tried Indian food before. I like it.”

She watched him eat, then served herself. She really hadn’t thought this through. The place was safe enough, but there were people around. The entire staff of the restaurant seemed to be taking turns gazing their way. For some reason, they’d become far less anonymous. Anyone could overhear. “Perhaps we
should
talk somewhere more private.”

He grunted. “I’m comfortable here, but if you need somewhere private there’s always my hotel room.”

“That sounds good.”

That broke his concentration on his food. “Really?”

Why did he sound nervous? “Don’t worry, we can finish lunch first,” she teased.

He watched her for a moment. She tried to eat without self-consciousness, and failed. When she returned his gaze, he asked, “Who was the girl with you earlier?”

Lucky for her, she’d been thinking about how to describe the situation in real-world vernacular since she first ran into him that afternoon. “Something of a coworker. A trainee. Turns out she isn’t really right for the job. Got into some trouble with our boss and was about to be fired. It seems as though she’ll be able to get a fresh start at the center.”

“Good. Where do you work?” he asked.

“That’s a subject better left for later.” She spooned a little more rice onto her plate.

“How long have you worked there?”

“Yeah, that should wait for later, too.” She dipped a piece of naan into the sauce on her plate and bit into it.

“Is there anything you can tell me that doesn’t have to wait till later? Family? Hobbies?”

She thought a moment. She had no other family besides the sisterhood. Now she didn’t even have that. Her own parents died early, though she would have outlived them anyway. Images of her childhood seemed to waft from some ethereal plane. She and her mother wearing aprons and carefully pouring something into a pan. Laughter like angels singing. Sweet bread fresh from the oven smeared with jam they’d put away the year before.

Tears welled. She hadn’t thought of her mother in decades. “Baking.” She sniffed. “I like to bake.”

“It doesn’t look like you like it.”

“My mother and I used to bake together before she died.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He reached for her hand.

“It was a long time ago.” She dabbed at her eyes and sipped her water. “I guess I’ve been too focused at work to think about much else. I haven’t baked since she died. I do read a lot, though.”

“I like to read almost everything. I’ve even read a romance or two. What do you like to read?”

“Cookbooks. Nonfiction … ”
Mostly stuff in the sisterhood library.
Now that she thought about it, she realized that it was mostly feminist occult type stuff. She coughed.

“No, that’s okay.” He cleared his throat. “It looks like I’ve eaten the lion’s share. Go ahead and finish yours. I’ll be right back.”

He crossed to the register and paid for their meal, then was engaged in conversation by their waiter. The two of them were quickly surrounded, and the manager herded the chattering group into another room.

Leaving the table while your lunch companion was still eating was rude. It wasn’t his fault—he’d only gone to pay, she reminded herself. The waiter had somehow discovered they were related. They must be catching up. But … Eric didn’t look Indian. She’d just finished eating when Eric returned.

“Planning a family reunion?” she asked.

“Something like that.” He extended a hand. “Ready to go back to my place?” He waggled his eyebrows in outrageous suggestion.

• • •

On the drive over, she changed her look again. It was thrilling to watch her transform. It took some concentration to refrain from touching her arm as her tone darkened. Now she had dark-chocolate skin and a very revealing white sundress. The contrast was appealing. The fact that it was still her made it tantalizing.

He opened the door to his hotel room for her, and when he closed it, she slid the privacy lock closed.

“So … ” He raked his eyes over her ebony body. “Are you a natural brunette?”

“Why doesn’t this freak you out?” She seemed irritated at his easy acceptance. Of course, that made it more fun to bother her. “What’s your deal?”

He pulled two bottled waters from the mini fridge, passed her one, and took a sip of his own. “You first.”

She squared her shoulders. “I’m a member of the sisterhood.”

He shrugged. “I’m a member of Marroni’s Gym.”

They stared at each other for a while. He could see very clearly she was fighting the urge to smack him. He let the corner of his mouth rise a bit. “Okay, what is the sisterhood?”

“It is a group of women. Their main goal is to rid the world of men’s evil.”

“I take it you don’t mean mankind’s evil.” He sipped his water and sat on the edge of the bed.

She shook her head.

“And how do they do the ridding?”

“By removing their souls and thereby their lives.”

His small smile was gone now. He’d heard about them before. Back home, a drug dealer had run into the precinct naked and raving about sisters who wanted to eat his soul, but Eric hadn’t believed they existed. But then
he
existed, so why shouldn’t they? “You’re a succubus.”

This time, it was she who shrugged. “I never thought of myself like that. I suppose I am. I wasn’t born this way.”

He nodded and closed the cap on this water bottle. “I was reborn last year.” It was still hard to admit it. Even having beaten the curse, and with all the good that it had allowed him to do, he still felt … Was it shame? He forced out the words. “As a werewolf.”

Ashley stepped back.

“No need to fear. The curse is beatable. I mean, I’m still a werewolf, but it doesn’t control me.” Eric’s shoulders sagged. “Physically, at least,” he whispered. The conversation wasn’t going well. He hadn’t planned on sharing that with her, and now she was afraid. He took a deep breath and focused on the positive. She hadn’t run yet.

“Yeah, but it’s … ” Her eyes darted about as she searched for the right word. “Contagious.”

“I don’t bite.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I’ve never talked about this with a non-werewolf before.” Her doubt resonated from her as she maintained her distance. “No, really, the one that made me was a serial killer. He used me as bait to get to my partner. She killed him. Then she and her husband helped me beat the curse, kept me from killing during my first full moon, but … ”

It hurt for him to admit what he had become. He was strong, though, strong enough to keep going. Strong enough not to turn the hurt onto someone else.