Succubus Tear (Triune promise) (15 page)

Shane Harper tightened his old cowboy hat and shrugged. “Mister Tsukada, I am in town on official business. Honestly, I had no idea you were here. How’s your friend, Mister Lamentson?”

“Cain is, uh—”
Shit, why couldn’t the bastard just answer his phone?
“Well, I don’t know, actually.”

Shane shrugged, as if the matter was of little concern, even though Charlie knew better. “Well shoot, you’ve known the boy for about, what, eleven years now? I woulda figured you two would be inseparable.” He craned his head to glance at the young women at the end of the bar. “Ah, never mind. I suppose Mister Sourpuss didn’t get an invite for today’s huntin’ trip.”

With a loud
pop
, the pint Charlie had been holding onto cracked but thankfully didn’t break. Neither he nor Shane deigned to look at the ruined barware, but Shane grinned slightly.

“And here I reckoned it was your friend who had the attitude problem.”

“I think you’ve had enough,” the bartender said, taking the pint away. “I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t care, but you need to leave.”

“Bah, let the pup stay,” Shane said, now looking at the bartender. “I was just about to leave anyway. Here.” He handed the man a folded bill. “Charlie, I said it then, and I say it again. I don’t think you and your friend are dirty. But I have little respect for those who taunt me, or the law.”

Charlie gritted his teeth. “He spent two weeks in the hospital, ass clown!”

Shane nodded. “I know. Had I stayed around to see that fiasco, I would have stopped it. If it will make you and Lamentson feel better—which it won’t—the three officers in question were sentenced to eighteen months, and stripped of their badges. Nice camera phone work, by the way. Never knew a guy that could operate and send video by just using their feet while handcuffed.”

“Say what? I thought they got away with that!”

Shane shrugged. “Oh, I forgot to mention that I testified
against
the officers who beat your friend. I am an agent of law, not bullying. And I will not abide anyone being torn apart without a fightin’ chance. Being handcuffed and beaten half to death will never—well, you were there.”

Charlie lowered his eyes and nodded. He wiped his hands on a cloth napkin and sighed deeply.

“Hey! Is one of you going to leave, or what?” asked the bartender.

“Keep yer britches on, I’ma gettin’ there,” Shane said. He got up and stretched a little, tipping his cowboy hat. “Until next time.”

Charlie spoke again quickly, “What sort of business brings you here then?”

Shane stopped and turned around with a strange grin. It was the grin of a man who had nothing left to lose. He walked behind the bar and reached up to the hanging TV and flipped through the channels, oblivious to the bartender’s protest.

“Keep the channel there for a minute, son,” Shane said to the bartender and left.

“And in other news, a major drug bust occurred earlier this week. The port city of Shinehaven was apparently home to a major hub of cartel operations. Details are currently scarce, as the FBI is still currently investigating sensitive material. However, this news channel was able to get some inside information. We go live to Barbra, who is reporting from Shinehaven General Hospital. Barb?”

Charlie ordered another round and noticed how most of the patrons were captivated by the newsreel.

“Thank you, Julie. Well, the staff of Shinehaven General is not allowed to speak of confidential patient information, but recently a team of forensic professionals has just arrived and apparently has shut down the morgue,
leaving hospital administration to work with other facilities until further notice.”

“Barb, how many cadavers can Shinehaven General process at any given time?”

“Well, that’s the question everyone is asking. My sources, who wish to remain unnamed, state mortuary services can process and store up to twenty cadavers.”

“And what about the forensic professionals? Has there been any contact with them?”

“No. In fact, we have been warned by the FBI that any contact will be seen as an act of deliberate sabotage of an ongoing investigation.”

“Thank you, Barb, and we’ll keep you up to date as this news story unfolds. Now to Jim in sports.”

Charlie finished his pint and thought very seriously on having him and Cain leave town as soon as possible. It was likely that Shane was part of that. Hell, what was he thinking? Shane Harper being in the middle of a bloodbath that left the body count within shouting distance of triple digits sounded just like his style. Wherever the man went, death followed in his wake; one had to wonder how the man wound up in the FBI in the first place.

He jumped off the barstool, left a fifty on the counter, and decided to get to Cain’s apartment double-quick.

“Your fly is open,” a girl said as Charlie left the bar.

“Really?” Charlie said, keeping eye contact as he zipped his fly. “Nice to know you were checking me out.”

The group of girls laughed at that, while the other turned pink.

“Hey, why don’t you stay? Buy a girl a drink?” she said.

Charlie thought a moment. “Ladies, I’ve got a better idea.”

***

“Thanks for the ride, Misty,” Charlie said as he got out of the car and winked.

“Hey, you’re gonna call me, right?” Misty said.

“Hey now, we had a deal,” Charlie said as he knelt at the driver’s side window. “I bought a round, you gave me a ride.” He looked at the way Misty was grinning and whispering to her friends. “But hey, this won’t take long. Wait for me?” He got up and trotted to the stairs without waiting for an answer.

Charlie felt a sudden and deep relief as he approached the door and gave it his usual knock. He could smell something delicious coming from Cain’s apartment and heard him saying something.
Whew! Now all I need to know is what that delicious smell is, and who he’s talking to. Damn, did he get a girl already? I know Cain can’t cook this well.

Cain opened the door. “Hey, buddy! Come in.”

Charlie cocked his head to the side.
What the hell? Since when is the guy in a good mood when he isn’t drunk?
“You okay, man? You haven’t been answering your calls. How’s your hand—the hell?

Cain looked too. His right hand didn’t even have a scar.

“What the hell is this?” Charlie stepped inside his apartment and lifted Cain’s hand in amazement. “Yesterday your hand was sliced open to the bone! Now you’re—”

“Cain?” a woman said, returning from the bathroom.

Why, yes, he did get a girl,
Charlie thought to himself as he took in the young lady before him. She was absolutely gorgeous. The way she carried herself reminded him of his sister, Jun. Her stance and walk were full of a fluid grace that made one want to touch and be touched. He was reminded of the many times she would care for him after the beatings he received at the hands of his father.

“Al’bah, this is Charlie. He is my best friend for over ten years. Charlie, this is Al’bah, my, um…my Bond.”

Charlie frowned as his glance darted from Al’bah to Cain.
Bond?

Al’bah had a look of jealous spite that would have spoiled the features of anyone else. Her face reminded Charlie of a snippet of a song. How did it go? Something about being so cute when you’re mad? Charlie watched Al’bah walk up to him. Her eyes were a strange blue-violet.

“Charlie,” Al’bah spoke slowly. Her voice seemed to touch the myriad of ways to pronounce each letter, emphasizing all and none. “I do not like you,” she said flatly, her voice now less impressive.

Now this is new. Since when did Cain ever get mixed up with a jealous chick?
“You don’t even
know
me. Why on Earth would you not like me?” Charlie said warmly, trying his best to keep his temper in check.

“You have the seeds of suffering within you. You bring the remembrance of suffering with you. You interrupt this season of bliss.”

And crazy to boot,
Charlie thought irritably as he glanced at Cain, who grimaced slightly. “Hey, buddy, can I talk to you for a moment?” Charlie said, now eyeing Al’bah, who had not broken her eye contact.

“Um.” Cain looked to Al’bah.

“Cain, your friend has come to see you.” Al’bah broke her eye contact with Charlie. “I will never have it be said that I came between you and him.”

“What the hell is going on?” Charlie said after they had closed the door to the apartment and sat on the top of the stairs. “Your hand, your mood—hell, you asking your girlfriend for
permission
to speak with me?” Charlie almost laughed to see the look of amazement in his friend, and how quickly it turned into a dumb, soft shame. He knew that look. “Yes, you have lost your mind!” he guessed, and guessed correctly it seemed, judging by the way Cain’s expression changed.

“I want to say you’re pussy whipped, but it doesn’t fit.” Charlie lifted up Cain’s hand again. “This shit is creepy, man. You need to tell me what happened.”

“It’s complicated,” Cain said at last.

What the hell? “It’s complicated”? Is that all my best friend can come up with?

“Look, man, she’s my Bond, okay?” Cain said, as his expression of discomfort and shame deepened.

Charlie held back a scathing comment and decided to figure something out that didn’t add up. “What the hell does that mean? ‘She’s my Bond’ kinda sounds like you married the girl or something.” Cain looked like one of those cheap wooden nutcrackers, for all the opening and closing his mouth did. “Geez, you won’t even tell your best friend? Okay, what about your hand then? I know there’s gotta be a good explanation there.”

“I want to tell you. I want to tell you everything, believe me! But I can’t.”

Now Charlie started to become worried.
Is he in trouble? Did he get mixed up in something bad?

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

“I swear, Charlie, I can’t force myself to speak.”

“Does Al’bah have something to do with your hand?” Charlie said, looking at it again, giving him a subtle “tell” to ask if he was in trouble.

“Yeah,” Cain said, looking at his hand too, responding with his own “tell” to let him know he was okay.

Charlie took a deep breath in and let it out, vocalizing his frustrations in an awkward grunt. “You know what? She’s your girl. That’s cool. I suppose I can live with coming in second place if she makes you happy.” Charlie stood, offering his hand to help Cain up. “She does make you happy, right?”

Charlie saw something that he thought he would never see in his best friend. Cain’s eyes lit up so quickly and so brightly that his usual mud-brown eyes turned into a golden honey. His face immediately broke into a wide grin that showed his teeth.

“Yes.”

Well I’ll be damned. He
is
happy.
He looked back at the apartment and could see Al’bah staring at Cain with a happy smile.
Now this is different—no stink eye for me. It’s like the whole world doesn’t exist except for Cain.
I’ll bet anything this chick isn’t going to be some random floozy.

“Okay, well…shit, I have no idea what to say. You being happy isn’t something I would have expected. There is another matter, though. I just ran into Shane Harper.”

Cain’s face went from a blissful expression to a fearful one. “What?”

“Yeah, we might wanna think about moving on from here. Whatcha say, Cain-sama?”

Cain slowly nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right. But I’m—” He seemed to stop himself from speaking, and his expression appeared frustrated and amazed at the same time.

“
mmmm-Not going anywhere without Al’bah?” Charlie finished for him, a little pissed that he didn’t have the balls to say it himself. “Heh. Yeah, well, who’s to say she will go with you? And—” Charlie held his breath for a moment to stop himself from blurting any more insults. He glanced once more into the window; Al’bah was now looking at him. But strangely enough, her face appeared sad; her eyes seemed to beg wordlessly to him.

Charlie shrugged internally, deciding to give the same respect he received from Cain long ago. After all, Cain didn’t stand between the relationship he had with Holly, so he would do the same with Al’bah. “But by all means, she’s your girl. If she’ll come, then take her along. I personally would love to see how long you can be happy.”

The horn honked from Misty’s car, and Charlie clasped Cain close and turned back. “Check your voicemail before you go to sleep, man.” Charlie savagely forced his fingernails into the palm of his hand as he trotted down the steps. On one hand he wanted to be as hateful and as jealous as Al’bah. On the other hand, he felt like an asshole that ruined a perfect moment. Kinda like an uninvited wedding guest who shows up drunk, with years of resentment saved up to ruin everything.

“
Watashi wa daikirai chichi,
”
*
Charlie muttered, as the thought brought back unpleasant memories. All these feelings mixed in with a deep relief and no small amount of confusion and worry of Cain’s situation.
Healed hand, new girlfriend, happy smile, doesn’t smell like booze. It’s like…it’s like—