The Severed Thread (15 page)

Moments later a frazzled young woman in her late twenties appeared timidly in the doorway.  McCallister signaled with a wave that she should enter.

“I’m sorry sir,” she said.  “We were straightening her room and the next thing I knew she was gone.  I have been all over the house looking for her.”

“It’s fine Ann Marie, but I believe it’s past time for Penelope to have her supper.”

“Yes sir,” she agreed.  “Come along now Penelope.”  I noticed that she called her Penelope.  I presumed that that was for McCallister’s benefit.

“Goodbye Abigail,” she said rushing over to hug me.  “It was so nice to meet you.” 

I was a little surprised by the hug and apparently so was McCallister.  He visibly rearranged his face to cover his shocked expression.   I hugged her back taking a deep breath as I did so, expecting the normal smell of child to greet me.  They always smelled the same - a combination of grass and sunshine mixed with the fruity scent of children’s soap.  Instead I was startled by a subtle whisper riding under the blossomy fragrance of her shampoo.  It was the tang of something familiar.  I could not quite place it, yet felt certain I had smelled something similar before. 

“Goodnight Penny,” I said as I pulled back from the hug.  “It was nice meeting you as well.”

She hugged McCallister also before rushing out the door, Ann Marie close on her heels.  Penny’s departure created a vacuum in the conversation.  McCallister stared pensively at the doorway through which she had just exited and it was several minutes before either one of us said anything.

“Thank you for being kind to Penelope,” he began.  “Her exposure to other children is limited and we do not have many guests.”

“It sounds like she exists on a human schedule while the rest of the house is nocturnal.”

“You are correct.  Between the differing timetables and being the only child in the house, she is having some issues with socialization.  Her sleep schedule also means that I cannot spend as much time with her as I would like.”

Frankly, I was surprised he wanted to spend any time with her at all.  Prior to this evening, I had presumed that his relationship with her was purely for public relations purposes.  But now I suspected that was a jaded assumption.  The affection between the two seemed genuine, his concern for her wellbeing almost palpable. 

“When does she get time to play with other kids?”

“I don’t like her to be off grounds too often since I’m unavailable during the day.  And there are not many parents lining up to send their children over to play at the home of a vampire, even if we are sleeping.”

“The kid needs to go on some play-dates,” I said.

“What is a play-date, exactly?” he asked with raised eyebrows.  I had not considered that he would be completely out of the loop on this type of thing.  It made sense though, when I really thought about it.  What did a three hundred year old vampire clan master slash crime kingpin know of little kids and play-dates?  What seemed so obvious to me, who had multiple friends who were the parents of toddlers and preschoolers, was clearly foreign to him.

“It is exactly what it sounds like,” I said rolling my eyes.  “It’s a date that is set-up so two kids can get together and play.”

“Go on,” he said with a little chuckle.  “I’m intrigued.”

“It can be at one of the kids houses or at a mutually agreed upon location.  Since you mentioned the issue with parents most likely not wanting their children to come here, I suggest you think park or one of those new make your own ceramics places popping up all over the place,” I explained, warming to the topic.  “Usually one or both moms oversee the fun.  I imagine that Ann Marie could manage something like that.”  Although I did have a few concerns on that front, since she was letting Penny play at the pond against McCallister’s express wishes.

“When can you set one up?” he asked

“What?” I said, taken aback.

“I asked when you could set one up?’ he repeated.

“Ah…” I was confused by the rapid change in direction the conversation had suddenly taken.  Why would he want me to do that?

“I will modify our agreement to be for only 11 months if you arrange a play date that I approve of for Penelope in the next week.”  Mouth hanging open, I must surely look like a gaping trout that had been unceremoniously pulled from the water.  Could I make that work?  I was fairly certain that I was going to regret doing this later but hell if I can think of a reason to say no at this point.

“Okay,” I said slowly, nodding.  Corbin’s sister had an eight year old and a 6 year old.  That might work.

“I will need to approve the details and I expect you to chaperone.  I’m not confident Ann Marie could manage even though you suggested otherwise.  I know you covered for her earlier about the pond incident.”

“Oh,” I said in surprise.

“We vampires have excellent hearing,” he tapped his ear for emphasis.   I should have realized when I saw him standing there in the doorway earlier that he had overheard our conversation.

“Penelope asked me to keep her secret and I did promise.  She will think I tattled if you bring it up.  Tattling is a big deal to kids, in case you didn’t know.”  That she not think I betrayed her trust was important to me but I was not ready to examine closely the why of it.

 “I will not bring it up to Penelope this time lest you be accused of tattling,” he conceded with a wry smile.  “But I will remind Ann Marie that Penelope is not allowed near the pond.  If it happens again, I will have to take action.”

“What type of action?” I asked suspiciously.

“I’m not going to eat her for dinner, if that is what you are asking.”  Blatant amusement colored his voice.  “She will be sent packing with a less than stellar referral.  I don’t want to do that unless I have to though.  It’s hard to find reliable nannies willing to live in a house where they consider themselves not only an employee, but also a possible main course.”  I suspected that was not the only reason it was difficult to keep nannies but I kept that thought to myself.  I had not fully formed an opinion about the scent I caught coming off Penny.

“I will have to take your word on that, I suppose.”

“You will and I can assure you my word is good.  Now, on to why I asked you here this evening.”

Ugh, I had nearly forgotten why I was here.  And it was definitely
not
about Penny.

“A replacement shipment of merchandise will be leaving Panama in a week.  I expect everything to run smoothly this time with no missing items.”  He gave me a pointed look before continuing.  “Lok will provide you with all the pertinent details.   It will be consigned by a holding company that cannot be easily traced back to me.”  I was glad to hear it couldn’t be traced to him since that would help prevent drawing unwanted attention. 

“Make sure the cargo is packed in a structurally sound container in Panama.  I will not be responsible for this whole thing going pear shaped because you packed in a subpar container.”  While the contents of all containers coming into US ports were scanned, very few were physically inspected.  A container that appeared unable to handle its payload would be one of the first to receive a hands-on inspection.

“You have my assurances that that will not be an issue.”

“Alright,” I said nodding.  “Was there anything else?”  All of this could have been discussed over the phone.  I had enjoyed meeting Penny, but I was perplexed as to why I had to make a visit here in person to discuss the shipment.

“There is one more thing, actually.”  He got up and walked to the window before turning back to me.  “Are you available to attend a political function in Washington next month?” 

“Ah…”  Could this evening get any more bizarre?   He certainly liked to keep a girl off balance, wondering what outlandish request he might make at any moment.

“With me,” he clarified.

“As your date?”  I squeaked, knowing that it was impossible that I was sitting here being asked on a date by the man who slammed me against a steel wall just under twenty-four hours ago.  The very same man that was on the top of the suspect list for my brother’s murder.  Talk about surreal.

“Yes, as my date,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “Although what I’m proposing would be more of a business arrangement.  I would gain a lot of political legitimacy by showing up to such an event with the daughter of Quentin Lassiter.” 

I felt quite the mix of emotions after that statement.  My initial thought was to be flattered that he would ask me on a date.  Then I was irritated that he would even think to ask me on a date, considering the way he manhandled me in the cargo container.  The next instant I was annoyed that I was flattered even for a second because
he might have killed my brother!
  If that wasn’t bad enough, he wraps the whole thing up in the neat little ‘Quentin Lassiter’s daughter’ package.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, followed by a very decisive, “No.”  I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to work through the nausea.

“I thought you might feel that way,” he replied calmly.  He
did
seem unsurprised by my reaction.  “I can take another month off our agreement if you decide to attend with me.  We would then be at ten months.”

I gave him a sardonic smile.  “If you are not careful, I might not be running your shipment next week before I leave here tonight.”

“Oh, that could be arranged.”  A slow smile spread across his face.  “But that would require more of a contribution on your part than I imagine you are willing to make at the moment.” 
All righty then.
  The waning nausea spiked again along with the certainty that I did not want to know exactly what that meant.

“Considering I don’t even want to ask what that might entail, you’re probably right.” And let’s just leave it at that.  He smiled again and I saw those gleaming fangs peeking out from between his lips.

“As I thought,” he said before turning back to the window.  He started speaking again, never taking his eyes off the darkened landscape.  “I will give you some time to consider my proposal.  The event is on October 20
^th
, I will expect an answer by the 10
^th
.”

Chapter 14

I made my way to the office the morning after my meeting with McCallister still in an emotional uproar about the visit.  My conflicted feelings were becoming a problem.  I wanted to believe that the man who was so kind to little Penny could never kill my brother.  I also knew that I was delusional if I allowed myself to be lulled into thinking that he was anything other than what he appeared at first perusal; a stone cold killer with aspirations of political power.  He was a vampire after all.  They drank the blood the rest of us needed to stay in our veins in order to stay alive.

I was so wrapped up in the conundrum that was Liam McCallister that I nearly ran into someone as I exited the elevator.  I abruptly stopped short and looked up to find myself inches from the lithe form of Agent McCabe.  He was a truly beautiful male specimen.  I could just imagine that there was a long line of she-wolves beating down his door. 

“Ms. Lassiter,” he said with a smirk.

“Sorry about that.”

“No worries.  You appeared quite preoccupied there for a moment,” he laughed.  “Even talking to yourself, I believe.  Your lips were moving.” 

“Yes, well.  There is a lot going on in my life at the moment.”    Oh God, how embarrassing!  Corbin had once recorded me talking to myself with the camera on his phone.  He had the most mortifying footage of my mouth and head moving in silent animation.  I looked like a crazy person.

“So I hear,” he said more soberly.  “Can you tell me why you visited the Philadelphia Clan Home last evening?”

“Ah….”  Wow, he was the master of the abrupt subject change.  I was suddenly wishing that I
had
run into him a minute ago.  Plowed him straight down, knocked him unconscious even, that way we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.  Why the hell
was
I at the clan home?  It was time for some impromptu fiction.  It just needed to skirt the truth as close as possible so it was plausible.  But first I needed to distract him a bit.

“Are you having me followed, Agent McCabe?” I asked in an amused voice.  I was
not
amused. 

“We received information that you were there,” he replied carefully.

“That was an evasive answer if I ever heard one.”  I turned and walked towards my office.  I did not look back to see if he followed.  I was sure he was back there dogging my footsteps like a good little wolf.

“It was a truthful answer.”  Yep, he was following.

“After a fashion, I suppose it was.”  I tossed down my bag on the side table in my office before taking a seat, indicating that he should sit in the chair opposite me.  “You received information that I was there from the agent you sent to follow me.  Correct?”

“You are an interesting woman, Ms. Lassiter,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’m not sure how to take that comment, Agent McCabe,” I laughed, shaking my head in mock sadness.  “But back to your original question; I was there to talk to Liam McCallister about his ward, Penelope.”  He looked completely surprised. 
Gotcha!

“You were there to talk about his ward?” he echoed skeptically.  “What exactly did you discuss about her?”

“Agent McCabe,” my tone held a reprimand.  “As you can imagine, most discussions people have about their children are private.  In this case though, I think Liam would be alright with me telling you.”  I decided to refer to McCallister as Liam for this conversation.  It seemed that if he trusted me with his ward, it would be more plausible to Agent McCabe if McCallister and I were on a first name basis.

“Alright,” he said slowly, not hiding his disbelief well.  “Let’s hear it.”

“If you must know, we talked about how she needs to go on some play dates.”  Let him chew on that little nugget of truth.

“Play dates?” he repeated incredulously.  I had to stifle a laugh since he appeared as unfamiliar with the term as McCallister had been last evening.  It seemed like clan masters and Interspecies Bureau agents had something in common; absolutely no familiarity with the habits of children.