The bus lurched forward. I lost my footing and fell into the lap of a dark-haired businessman. He had taken off his suit coat, loosened his tie, and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt in response to the temperature. It was pretty toasty.
"I don't know how you can stand to wear leather in this heat. Why don't you take off your jacket?" He smiled when he said it, and I realized with a shock he was flirting. It's not that men don't flirt with me but in the present circumstances it just seemed so . . . bizarre.
"I dress for the situation, not the weather." I hadn't meant it to be harsh but my voice was flat and cold. It gets that way when I'm stressed. He gave me an odd look at the comment and it seemed to cool his interest. Guess he was probably wondering what situations would require this much leather. Then I caught the smell, and saw the red smudge on his shirt where I'd bumped him. Blood. Apparently our boy in the alley had fed recently. There was still enough blood in the teeth when I'd broken them to make a mess. I tried to turn the jacket on my body to take a look at the damage, and felt the telltale stinging that told me that vamp boy wasn't the only one bleeding. Shit. Still, it had to only be a scratch, or I'd have felt it before now. Shock and adrenaline can mask minor injuries. Major ones still let you know they're there. Funny thing was, my attacker had gone down so quick I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I'd gotten injured. I'd have sworn he hadn't landed a blow. Shirt sleeves made his way rather hurriedly off the bus at the next stop. I watched the incoming boarders carefully. No vamps. Good thing because despite the crowding all of the other passengers had pulled away from me as much as they could.
"You're bleeding." A small girl with long dark braids announced it loudly before her mother could shush her.
"Yeah. I hurt myself a little."
"Oh. Do you need a Band-Aid? We have some at home. They have kitties on them."
I smiled at her earnest concern. "Thanks, but I have some at home, too."
My pleasant conversation with the little girl seemed to soothe the nerves of my fellow
passengers. The crowd closed more tightly around me to make room for new boarders as the bell rang and the doors whooshed open. A different female vamp was outside, looking into the bus. I tucked my bright red braid into the back of my jacket and turned up the collar. Then I slouched and ducked my head down so that I disappeared into the crowd. I thought of a little girl with kitty bandages in her bathroom.
The bell rang again, the doors whooshed closed and the bus lurched forward. This time, I used one of the metal poles to brace myself so I didn't bleed on anybody while scanning the crowd. No
vamps—but I'd never know if any of the
passengers were Herd. They look just like ordinary humans. Hell, they are ordinary humans. They eat and love and raise families. At first, they're healthy specimens. Joggers and health-food nuts. All the better to bleed iron-rich food for their masters. But the feeding wears them down. Soon they look like junkies and die an early death. I wondered again why Dylan had been spared.
But speaking of being spared—I'd snuck a look behind the bus to watch and see what direction the vamps were heading. All three were standing as still as statues. Then they started to shake all over and I could just spot froth at the corner of their mouths before they each dropped like stones.
I felt a flash of blinding pain behind my eyes, sensed Monica's rage. What the hell was going on?
I couldn't help but stare at the scene through my tear-filled eyes. A couple of people clapped before they realized that it wasn't a display of performance art. Then there were screams. Mounted and bicycle cops converged on the scene.
The warning bell rang and my bus pulled away from the curb. Most of the passengers strained to get a better view of the scene out of the windows. I closed my eyes and prayed. At the end of the mall, I stepped off the bus. I still had to make it about six blocks before I could board the cross-town bus to take me to the other end of lower downtown. Either that, or I'd have to walk the whole way. If I was being hunted, I wanted to be in something large and metal and moving.
I made it to my building unmolested and unseen. Running is a prey behavior, but they hadn't actually witnessed me running and I'd fought the one who confronted me. Besides, even a jaguar will run from a pack of dogs. At least that's what I told myself. Just as I was reaching out to unlock the
deadbolt, my cell phone rang.
"Shit!" I jumped a foot and promptly dropped my keys. Me, nervous? Nah. "Kate here." I bent down to pick up the keys, my voice a little bit breathy.
"Kate, it's Mike." I propped the phone between ear and shoulder and began fiddling with the lock.
"Joe stopped by. He told me you've been back a couple days. I'm surprised I haven't seen you." There was more than a hint of reproach in his voice. Damn it!
Mike continued before I could explain. "I know you're busy, but we need to talk." His intonation gave the word 'talk' all sorts of ominous overtones.
"Mike . . ."
"It's important." Of course it was. It always is. Frustrated fury welled up in me. Damn it! Joe couldn't get me to do what he wanted, so he called Mike in as reinforcements. I should've known. He'd left Bernardo's too willingly. That interfering, manipulative, son of a . . .
"I have a meeting with the archbishop this afternoon, so I'll expect you tomorrow." Mike hung up before I could argue. He had to know I
would've. Not even Mike gets away with ordering me around like that. I let him get away with a lot because he's my friend, my priest, and my exboyfriend. He gets even more slack because of the way he takes care of Bryan. But there are limits, and if he pushed too hard he'd find out just what they were.
I slid my phone back into the pocket of my
jacket and opened the door. Home. I felt a surge of relief. I'd made it. Now I needed to get my knives and find that neck brace. Not for the first time I wished I could pack a gun. But I knew the rules all too well. No distance weapons. I'd have to rely on my own physical, mental and psychic strength and whatever I could use hand to hand.
The message light was blinking. I figured I'd might as well listen to the messages while I armed myself. As I pulled the wooden box that held my wrist sheaths off of the closet shelf in the bedroom a familiar voice wafted up to me.
"Kate, it's Ramon. Celeste told me that you wouldn't be available for any deliveries and will be closing your business, but I need your help. I have a special project for you. It's not your usual thing, but I just don't trust anybody else. Please call me back as soon as you can!"
What in the hell was he talking about? I walked downstairs, carrying the knives with me. Ramon and Celeste Ortega owned Tres Chic, an art gallery just a few blocks away in LoDo. Work for the Ortegas made up about a third of my business. They've always paid well and promptly, two things I absolutely adore in a client. But why would Celeste tell him that I wouldn't be available for any deliveries and would be closing up shop?
Hmm, either Celeste had come up with a cheaper courier she wanted to use and was making up stories to buffalo Ramon, or . . .
Since few things were beneath her, I was
definitely going to have a little chat with Ms. Ortega. If she had information, I'd get it from her. Oh, yes indeed. Celeste is a very stylish, but not terribly disciplined, cream puff. Getting her to answer a few pointed questions should be positively easy, and in my present mood, more than a little enjoyable.
The machine shut off, leaving silence in its wake. Almost immediately I could feel the pressure in my skull, hear the "buzzing" of the angry Thrall hive. No words this time, they were shielding me out too much for that. But I could sense Monica's rage. It beat against my mind. I felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache that would become
incapacitating if I didn't do something about it. It wasn't just me she was angry with either. But that wouldn't keep her from taking it out on me.
10
I used the speaker phone to call Ramon. It left my hands free to strap on the wrist sheaths and slide in my knives as we exchanged initial pleasantries. He seemed genuinely delighted to hear from me, which was nice. He'd been very concerned. "Something in Celeste's voice when she spoke about you frightened me."
"Really? So why didn't you call her on it? You've never been scared of her before."
"Kate, Kate, Kate. Since that afternoon we barely speak except through our attorneys. But the business is in both our names, and there are things that simply must be taken care of."
"That afternoon?" I had to ask. Stupid me. The question just popped out of my mouth before I thought. If I had taken time to think I would've known the answer and stayed out of the middle of it. Their personal life was their business, not mine. I didn't need to get in the middle. But, like most people, he took the words at face value. "I still love her, Kate. I swear I do. But she did the
unforgivable. We had a new artist. Brilliant, really. He took postmodernism to a whole new level. We were grooming him, as we always do with a new find. Celeste apparently decided to take a more personal role in his development." The words were harsh—wet with long spilled tears. I knew that sound.
"You caught them." It wasn't a question. It didn't need to be.
He sighed and it spoke volumes. "In my own bed. Surrounded by the beautiful art that we collected together over a decade." He paused. "I threw her out. On the spot."
My eyebrows dropped so far that I could see the individual hairs at the edge of my vision. "So what exactly is it that you need me for?" His voice brightened a bit. "The judge awarded me the house in the divorce. Five days ago, I went to work like normal. Apparently while I was out, she got there with a locksmith and changed all of the locks. I went to court and got an order of eviction. She never showed up at the hearing, so it was easy. The problem is, nobody can get her served."
Ah! Now the problem was becoming clear. "I don't do service of process, Ramon."
"It's just a delivery, Kate. She likes you. You can get close enough to give her the papers." I intended to get close to Celeste. Close enough to do a little intimidation. I needed to know if she had any information on Monica's plans. I was pretty sure she did. Just one of those feelings of mine that Larry had been so enamored of. But it didn't make sense for Ramon to call me. He knows full well what I do, and what I don't do. I don't do process service. I leave that to the professionals.
"Did you try a private process server? That's what they do."
"I've tried five different companies. Twice. Nobody will go back."
What? Some of those guys would saunter into Five Points during a Bloods/Crips war. What could be so bad that one wouldn't be willing to walk into the situation? "Why the hell not? Is she violent?"
"Not per se. When she sees a car, she goes out on the balcony of the second floor. From what I hear, she's been pelting people with elephants." It was so utterly ridiculous that a smile caught me unaware. "With elephants? " Ramon's voice was angry now but clearly a little part of him found it funny. "My prized elephant collection. Crystal elephants, stone elephants, elaborately carved wooden elephants. I've
collected them since I was a child. From reports that I've been getting, a good half of them have been destroyed. She's got a good arm and can reach precisely to the property line. She was the pitcher for our company softball team." I couldn't help but get an image of tall, willowy Celeste standing on a balcony, winding up and pitching elephants at a process server. I had to fight not to laugh. I was on the verge of hysteria from the day's tension and this was just so ridiculous. But I made sure my voice was steady before I spoke.
"I'm sorry, Ramon. I really am. But I'm not in the mood to get an elephant heaved into my skull. It is an FED, though. Just post the notice. It's allowed."
"FED?"
"Forcible entry and detainer. That's what they call an eviction in the court system. Just have someone wait until she's gone and post the notice on the door. Then the sheriff can bring the swat team to get her out."
"She won't leave." Apparently, someone had already told him he could post the notice.
"What do you mean, she won't leave? She has to leave sometime, Ramon. She can't stay holed up forever."
"And yet, that's exactly what she's doing, Kate. She's having groceries delivered. She's meeting clients at the house. She never leaves." I shrugged my shoulders. Heard it before.
"Freeze her out."
"Like how?"
"You have possession. Call the electric company, the gas company, the phone company. Stop into their offices. Turn everything off. She'll leave. Trust me."
I could hear his dark hair rustling in the phone as he shook his head. "I love her, Kate. I couldn't do that to her."
"Then you'll never get your house back. She's won." It was a fact.
"It's a game. I know it is. If I can get her served, she'll know I'm serious and she'll go." I shook my head. A note of anger found its way into my voice. "You're deluded, Ramon. And I don't care to be involved in that particular delusion. Call someone else."
His reply was almost a sob. "Kate, I can't. I've called everyone I know. You're my only hope. I know you can do this. She won't hold it against you. She won't throw an elephant at you. You've been too good a friend for too long."
"Which is precisely why I won't do it, Ramon. I like you both. If I serve her, I'll be taking sides. There are always two sides. I've only heard one." Cold, but the truth.
His response was too fast. He'd planned for my refusal. "Then let her tell her side. Let her tell it in court, where it belongs. But she won't know when the hearing is if she doesn't get the papers." God, those last words sounded smug.
Fortunately, my personality won't allow me to get bested in a debate. "You're required to mail the papers to her in addition to serving. Mail it from out of town and don't put a return address. When she gets the envelope, she'll know when the hearing is and if she doesn't show up, it'll tell you that she doesn't want to tell her side." Now he was sounding desperate. "I'll do anything, Kate. I'll pay anything if you'll just do this!"