Black As Night: A Quentin Black Paranormal Mystery (Quentin Black Mystery Book 2)

by JC Andrijeski

  He also assured me that if he left, he’d be gone less than an hour.

  In a weird way, I found the overall conversation comforting, if only because Black managed to get me thinking strategically again. The only area where we really disagreed was in how to deal with Solonik himself.

  I’m fairly certain that was because I’d actually met Solonik.

  Or maybe––although the thought disturbed me more than a little––it was because I could still feel Solonik in some sense, through those “resonances” Black alluded to.

  Whatever the reason, I knew Solonik would like nothing more than for Black to come after him. He wasn’t just hoping for Black to come. He was actively planning on it.

  I was also pretty sure Solonik would kill Black if that happened.

  I don’t know why I thought that either, but I felt it strongly. Maybe I believed it because Solonik believed it, but whatever the reason, I couldn’t shake the certainty. Solonik was older than Black, more experienced, crazier.

  He’d been killing people a lot longer.

  Even if Solonik was warping my mind around his abilities in some way, his confidence unnerved me. I could practically feel Black underestimating him. Or maybe he was just so blinded by rage from what Solonik had done he didn’t care.

  Either way, it wasn’t a subject Black would be reasonable about.

  Maybe he even couldn’t be reasonable about it.

  “MS. FOX! HEY... Ms. Fox! Over here!”

  I stiffened before I turned, unable to help myself, then smiled when I saw who summoned me. Lawrence Farraday smiled back, sitting at a glass table splashed by early morning sunlight. He’d nabbed a table not far from the pool, and his stark white legs already looked a little pink where they faced the sun under his plaid shorts. A dark red umbrella stood over the smoky glass top, but given the low angle of the sun, it didn’t do much but provide colorful decoration.

  Farraday looked a lot more rested than the last time I’d seen him.

  “You’ll have brunch with me, won’t you?” he said, smiling as I approached his table. “I really do hate eating alone.”

  “Of course,” I said, pulling out a chair and sitting at once.

  I smiled back at his grin, and was almost surprised when it was a real smile.

  A waiter appeared at my elbow before I’d fully settled into a comfortable position, handing me a menu and asking if I wanted coffee.

  I did want coffee. Cappuccino. About a gallon of it... which made the waiter laugh.

  I was famished too, I realized, as I glanced at the menu he’d placed in front of me.

  For pretty much everything but Pad Thai.

  The thought brought a tight grimace to my lips, but I immediately wiped it away.

  “Black has turned this hotel into a veritable Fort Knox,” Farraday grumbled as the waiter left with my coffee order.

  Seeing the direction of his gaze, I turned my head, following his eyes behind me to a table full of people. Blinking at faces, I realized a lot of them looked vaguely familiar to me, despite the uncharacteristically bright clothes they wore. Seeing Kiko’s face among them, her muscular body encased in a dark blue sundress and white, strappy sandals, I started a little, then smiled when she raised her hand in a wave.

  I raised my hand in response, then looked back at Farraday.

  “Jeez... you aren’t kidding.” I scooted my chair forward, picking the menu up off the glass table before I glanced over it. “Did Black fly his entire company out here?”

  “More or less. Did you see there’d been another murder?” He tossed the morning’s paper at me. “Two of them, actually.”

  I tensed, then lowered my voice. “Not Pete?”

  Farraday immediately raised his hand in reassurance. “No, no. Black already checked. He’s certain it’s not his friend’s grandson. Wrong height, weight... age.”

  I relaxed slightly. “He’s seen this, then?”

  “Of course.”

  Nodding, I picked up the paper dutifully. The image on the front page was a little too graphic for me to look at it for very long. I’d noticed the Thai papers didn’t pull any punches when it came to showing photos of the dead children. I made out the two bodies. I also saw their basic positions in front of a stone statue of what looked like a winged lion.

  Unlike the others, where both arms had been tied out like wings, these victims each had one arm outstretched, their two hands tied together in the middle.

  Almost like they were holding hands.

  “A girl this time,” Farraday said, disgust in his voice. “...A girl and a boy. The very first girl. Also the first time there’s been more than one body at a time.”

  “Have they identified them yet?” I said. “The kids?”

  “No. They’re working on that now, mostly by comparing the basic physical data to what they have on file for missing kids.” Farraday gave me a grim look. “They’re assuming it’s back to the original pattern. Trafficked kids. Rural families. So it’s harder to do a DNA match or dental records. They need to narrow the pool first.”

  I nodded, fighting the bile that wanted to come to my throat.

  Farraday watched me scan the article. I felt more scrutiny on him that time.

  “You still think it’s not your assassin?” he said.

  I glanced up, surprised. He must have talked to Black for awhile. “I don’t know,” I said, folding the paper. I set it down as far away from me as I could reach, face-down so the photo didn’t show. Thinking, I answered him more honestly. “No. I guess I don’t.”

  “You think it’s a coincidence? That the first girl is burned right after you escaped him?”

  I frowned, looking up at Farraday with a sharper attention. Truthfully, the connection hadn’t occurred to me until he said it. Now that he had, I wondered if he might be right. There might be some kind of message there. Maybe even for me and Black.

  “I don’t know,” I said finally.

  I continued to frown, staring down at the glass table without really seeing it. In everything that had happened, Black and I barely talked about who might be committing the murders if it wasn’t Solonik. I wondered if Black really intended to drop that whole thing, to let a child murderer go free, simply to convince Lucky’s people to leave me alone.

  Still focused on the table, I realized I knew the answer to that, too.

  Yes, he did. Black fully intended to walk away. I knew he wasn’t happy about it, but he’d made his choice crystal clear.

  I just wasn’t sure what I’d chosen yet.

  “Are you all right, Miriam?” Farraday said, softer. “Black didn’t say much.”

  Seeing his eyes on my bandaged hand when I glanced up, as well as the rope burn marks on my wrists, I pulled them away in reflex, resting my hands on my lap.

  “I’m fine,” I said, smiling stiffly. “I will be, anyway.”

  Farraday sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Meeting Quentin doesn’t seem to have been very good for your health so far, Ms. Fox, if you don’t mind my saying. If I was your lawyer... or simply your friend perhaps, I’d advise you to look for a different job. A different boss, at least.”

  I grunted a humorless laugh, even as I fought the darker emotions that started to rise.

  “Ain’t that the truth,” I muttered.

  Glancing up, I saw real concern in his eyes and laid my hand on his arm swiftly but briefly, alarmed by the emotion I saw there.

  “I’m okay, Larry. Really. I’m a little banged up but I’m fine.” Embarrassed for some reason, I kept talking, if only to get that look off his face. “...I’m feeling like I haven’t gotten to see much of the softer side of Thailand, though. Everyone I’ve ever known who visited here raved about it, so I’m thinking I’ll have to come back sometime under different circumstances. Like beach and cocktail kinds of circumstances.”

  Farraday smile wryly. “Versus the ‘get kidnapped by a contract killer who works for the local mafia so they can blackmail your boss’ circumst
ances that Black seems to have arranged for you? I can’t imagine why.”

  I choked a short laugh in spite of myself, then glanced up as the waiter in his black uniform returned with my coffee order. He set the perfect-looking cappuccino down next to my elbow along with a glass of water, brown sugar cubes and a piece of chocolate. I didn’t wait for him to finish arranging it all before I asked him to bring me an order of eggs benedict as well, along with a side of bacon and a mango smoothie.

  After the waiter left, I glanced back at Farraday.

  I’d wondered what Black told them about what happened to me. It hadn’t occurred to me to ask him before I left the room, but I found myself relieved I didn’t have to read Farraday to learn the cover story. I didn’t need Black to tell me not to mention anything about seers or other dimensions to someone like Farraday.

  “He chipped you, didn’t he?” Farraday said, motioning towards my arm. “He muttered something about that when I saw him this morning, too.”

  Glancing down at the new, square bandage on my inner arm, I pressed down on it with my palm without thinking, feeling my face grow hot as I turned my arm over to hide it.

  Black had brought up the RFID chip almost before I had my eyes open that morning. He already had the insertion gun in his hand for the small, pill-sized capsule that would live under my skin, acting as his personal GPS to find me via satellite. That had been a borderline argument between us as well, but I finally agreed to it if he would agree to do the same, and give me the same access to the data from his chip that he had for mine.

  He’d agreed. He’d been so relieved at my offer that he’d kissed me, in fact, hard enough that I could tell something in the arrangement also turned him on.

  I didn’t really want to think about that, either.

  I told myself I let him do it because it was practical.

  I also told myself I could always have it removed later.

  Dodging the question with Farraday, I asked instead, “You saw him this morning? Black?”

  “Yes. He knocked on my door at about six a.m.” Farraday continued to watch me shrewdly. “Did he tell you we had an incident here? With the assassin who grabbed you? He showed up at the hotel, just before dawn.”

  I froze with my coffee halfway to my lips. Fear stabbed through my chest as I stared at Farraday. I think my mind actually blanked. Or maybe it just got incredibly busy trying to reinterpret what he’d said, to make sure I knew I’d heard him wrong.

  But I hadn’t heard him wrong.

  “Here? Solonik came here?”

  “Yes.” Seeing my expression, Farraday laid his hand on my arm, carefully avoiding the cuts and burns. “Don’t worry, Miriam. He won’t get near you... Black has this place completely locked down, like I said. That Russian piece of garbage didn’t even enter the lobby. He got the lay of the land pretty quick and bolted as soon as Black’s people started positioning to take him out.”

  I froze, still holding my cup near my mouth. “Take him out? In broad daylight?”

  “Well technically it was dark out.”

  I gave him a flat look. “You know what I mean.”

  “Absolutely, I do,” Farraday said, his voice wholly unapologetic. “And absolutely they will shoot to kill that piece of shit given the slightest opening. Black has snipers on the roof and on several of the nearby buildings... all of them have kill orders, from what I know.” He held up a hand. “Although technically I never said that, and I will deny it if you ever tell anyone I did.”

  Studying my expression again, Farraday smiled, but that harder look never left his eyes.

  “Black’s not screwing around with this, Miri,” he added. “You had him really worried. I thought he was going to start a war with the local crime rings here when he couldn’t find you. I’ve honestly never seen him like that before. I was beginning to think I’d have to do a lot more than cut a few backdoor deals for him this time. He started threatening people in the Thai military... which simply isn’t done, frankly. He’s damned lucky he’s still well-connected with our own government people in Asia... and that his friend Lawless is, too.”

  Feeling my jaw harden, I shook my head, lowering the cup to the saucer. “Has he left the hotel yet? Black?”

  “I don’t know... why? Were you planning on going with him?”

  When I glanced up, Farraday was watching me narrowly again.

  “...Because somehow I think Black might have some words about that, Miriam. Most of them starting with the letter ‘f’ and ending with the letter ‘k’.”

  I let out a surprised laugh, but it didn’t contain a lot of humor. Still shaking my head, I glanced over my shoulder at the group of Black’s employees at the table by the wall. A number of them had left since I’d last looked, but Kiko wasn’t one of them. I chanced a quick pass with my mind and confirmed my suspicions.

  I looked back at Farraday, raising my coffee cup to my lips.

  “Am I under house arrest, Larry?” I said, giving him a faint smile.

  Farraday pressed his lips together, but most of what I felt off him was puzzlement. Before he could answer, the waiter returned with an oval tray covered with my food, which he began to place around and in front of me. Farraday waited for the man to leave before he spoke.

  “Why would you want to go anywhere, Ms. Fox, given what happened?”

  “I don’t... and Black already told me I shouldn’t leave the hotel,” I said. “I would just prefer to know my exact situation.”

  “I think you had better talk to Black about that.”

  “Black?” I said, taking another sip of the cappuccino. “Not my bodyguards over there? Or are they more like my prison guards?”

  Farraday laughed nervously, then held up his hands in surrender. “I sooo don’t want get in the middle of this, Miriam. You have no idea how much I don’t. I think Black would rip my head clean off my body and throw it off this roof if I did anything but back him up in this.” He lowered his hands back to the table, nodding a yes to a refill from another roaming waitress holding a coffee pot. His voice got more serious when he added, “Anyway. I’m not altogether sure I don’t agree with him this time. Black isn’t the only one who was worried, Ms. Fox.”

  Hearing emotion in his voice again, I glanced over, touched. When I felt my own feelings rising in response however, I slammed a lid down on it, clasping his arm with a smile.

  “Don’t worry. I’m just trying to decipher Black-mind, that’s all. I don’t plan to go anywhere, Larry. Promise.”

  “Christ on a pogo stick, I hope not,” he said, exhaling in what sounded like open relief. “Fuck, if I were you, I’d be locked in my room right now, rocking back and forth and emptying out the mini-bar while I waited for the first goddamned plane out of here...”

  I laughed for real that time, unable to help it, but he held up his hands, his Brooklyn accent getting stronger.

  “I’m not kidding, Miriam! I can’t believe how fucking calm you are right now. I’d have guns duct-taped all over my body and an inhaler filled with Xanex strapped to my face. You’re like... freakishly calm about this. It’s actually making me want to panic!”

  I laughed again. That time, it was a real enough laugh that the darkness lifted, if only for a few seconds. It didn’t last as long as I wanted, though.

  When that brief lightness faded, I found myself staring over my shoulder again, watching Kiko as my mind started moving in tighter circles again.

  I was still sitting there, thinking, when an image came to my mind.

  It came through shockingly clear––like a photograph.

  It was of Black standing on a wooden dock overlooking the river. A barge stood in front of him, and I could see people loading and unloading crates below. I saw a flicker of annoyance on Black’s face, but mostly, he looked focused, like he was concentrating. He wore the mirrored sunglasses again, his muscular arms tensed as he rested his hands on the railing overlooking the water. Two people from his team stood with him, as well as two unif
ormed Thai officers. I saw him nod to something one of the latter said.

  The angle on him was strange, I realized. To the side, but slightly above.

  My vision cleared, all at once.

  I found myself staring at the pool, breathing harder.

  “Are you all right?” Farraday said. “You just went pale, Miriam.”

  Turning, I blurted, “Can I borrow your phone?”

  He looked surprised, but immediately fished around in his pockets. “Of course. Who did you want to call?”

  “Black,” I said.

  Pulling out his phone, Farraday scrolled through contacts. He hit a button, handing it to me as it rang. I put it up against my ear, listening to it ring.

  It went straight to voicemail.

  “Black,” I said after the tone. “Call me. He’s following you. Call me, goddamn it. Use Farraday’s phone. Or Kiko’s...”

  Hesitating, wanting to say more but realizing I had nothing more to say, I hung up, handing the phone back to Farraday, who looked puzzled now, but also alarmed.

  Ignoring his questioning stare, I tried to reach Black with my mind.

  Black? Are you there? Black, can you hear me?

  There was barely a pause.

  Miri? Are you all right? What’s wrong?

  I’m fine. It’s you. Solonik is following you. He watched you leave the hotel. He’s down there now, by the docks somewhere––

  This isn’t a good time. I’m at the docks. We’ve checked two of the barges––

  I know where you are, I snapped. I just saw you... through him. He’s following you, Black. You need to come back to the hotel. Now. I mean it. Have your people check the barges the old-fashioned way.

  I felt him thinking about my words.

  Like I’d feared, they didn’t create the reaction in him that I wanted.

  I felt his anger rise instead, along with a harder determination that felt a lot more calculating. I also felt his relief, and had to fight not to yell at him when I realized what it was from.