The Darkness of Sable

by Faith Bicknell

  Thomas let his gaze slide along the curvy length of her legs, legs that would make a Rockette want to murder her. His cock twitched in response.

  Yeah, I feel it in my gut and in my pants. She passed her hand over her knee as she absently stared out the balcony doors. Thomas gulped and shifted his position. If she doesn’t close her robe soon, I’ll have to go into the bathroom and slap some sense into my cock.

  The bathroom door swung open.

  “Well,” Hal announced, sweeping into the suite. “I’ll just grab my things and get out of your hair.” He dropped a toiletry bag into his suitcase and zipped everything up. “Sable, the moment I’m in a room somewhere, I’ll give you a call. I’d like for you to take me to that bar where you went last night. Maybe we can find some information ourselves. What do you think?”

  “Okay…fine,” she said, looking at Thomas. “What time were we having dinner with clients?”

  “Not until seven,” he replied, wanting to throttle her ex. He stood and passed the man on his way to open the door for him. Maybe if he did so, the guy would take the hint and leave even faster.

  As he’d walked by Hal, he’d detected something unusual radiating from him. He paused, his gaze zipping up and down the guy’s body. Something was different about Hal, but what?

  “I’ll call you later, Sable.” Hal nodded politely. He faced Thomas, his eyes widening slightly, pupils opening with his surprise, or was it unease? “Tony, maybe we can meet for a beer before I go home.”

  “I doubt it,” Thomas replied. He inhaled, sampling the air around Hal but detected only cologne, deodorant, and freshly laundered clothes. What the hell was he sensing from the man? It was if Hal had been touched by…

  A revelation passed over Thomas. The New Order had an interest in Hal! It was the remnants of new magic that hung about Hal like a bad odor. Some sort of Paranorm was trailing Sable’s ex, but why?

  “Uh, fine,” Hal said, his tone nervous. “I’ll be going, then.” He nodded to Thomas but kept his gaze averted. “Tony, it’s been nice. Goodbye, Sable.”

  The door shut behind him. Silence reigned in the suite.

  A gusty sigh blew through Thomas’s lips. “I’d love to have a big ring with my name engraved in it and punch that dude right between the eyes.”

  Sable laughed and walked to the closet. “Look at it this way. At least you’re not stuck putting up with him all day. An afternoon with Hal will be like an afternoon in Hell.”

  “Sable, I don’t think going back to the club with Hal is a good idea.”

  “Why?” She glanced over at him then pulled a pair of culottes from the closet. “Aside from the fact he pisses me off and is overbearing, arrogant, and pushy.”

  How did he explain his misgivings without her thinking he’d gone crazy? The creature that had posed as an Asrai filled his mind, and he recalled the orb’s caveat yesterday along with Yasmine’s warning while they’d sipped coffee last night.

  “The last thing you need is rumors that you’re getting back with your ex-husband,” Thomas stated.

  His slick excuse forced Sable to pause and contemplate his words. For a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You have a point,” she said, “but right now my daughter is more important than what the media might think or assume.”

  If he offered to accompany Sable, she’d know something was wrong. Thomas had no choice but to follow her and make certain nothing bad happened.

  “If you need me, be sure to call,” Thomas said.

  She turned and dazzled him with a pleased smile. “I will.”

  Worry feasted on his innards. He didn’t know what was going on or who was behind it, but one way or another, he was going to find out.

  The limo waited outside of the Seascape Hotel five blocks away from Sable’s accommodations. She used her cell and called Hal’s room. Minutes later, he emerged from the grand double doors. The chauffeur opened the limo door for him, and her ex got in beside her.

  “Hey, babe,” he said. His gaze roved over her white culottes, peach tank top with tiny fern sprigs, and her long, heavy braid coiled on the seat next to her. “You look fresh and enticing.”

  She ignored his suggestive comment. “The bar we’re going to is only a few blocks from here,” she said. “Let’s concentrate on what we can find out about our daughter—and nothing else.”

  Her pointed look landed wide of her target. His crystal-blue eyes filled with an ill-concealed challenge. “Why can’t we enjoy one another’s company, too?” he countered. “After all, we were married for nineteen years.”

  “Trust me, after that long, the thrill is gone.”

  His laughter invaded the back of the limo. “One thing never changes,” he said, “and that’s your sarcasm.”

  “Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment. Besides, you’re remarried, or have you forgotten again?”

  They rode across town in silence. Sable’s thoughts kept returning to Thomas and the bizarre anger and hurt she’d felt toward him over Yasmine. Had Thomas taken the black beauty back to his suite after the coffee shop? He’d have to be dead not to be attracted to the Sex Goddess. Sable wrinkled her nose. Thank God she’d only had to deal with the woman during the gala. She didn’t know if she could have stomached another episode of Boobs and Ass in Action.

  Besides, if Yasmine would make another appearance, Sable just might have to snatch her bald. Where do I get off being possessive of Thomas? She drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. He’s my agent, not my lover, for God’s sake.

  “Hey.” Hal nudged her arm. “Where are you?”

  Heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks. “Just hoping that we find something tangible that may lead us to Cheyenne.”

  “Judging by the red of your face, you’re lying,” he said. “Finally started fucking your agent, eh?”

  She shifted in the seat and looked directly at her ex. No matter how much Hal’s eyes reminded her of the waters that surrounded the Bahamas, he was still a jackass. If she delved deeply enough, she could see the true shark in him.

  Why had it taken her nearly a quarter of her life to finally see the real man she’d married?

  “Don’t start your shit with me, Hal,” she said so quietly she wasn’t sure he heard her.

  “Mee-row,” he said snidely.

  “If only I’d seen you for what you really are years ago,” she said. “It would have saved me so much grief.”

  Panting permeated the passenger area.

  “Oh, come on, Sable.” Leaning toward her, Hal placed his hand on her thigh. “Haven’t you missed me just a little bit?”

  An eerie squeak followed. The panting grew louder.

  Sable’s attention shifted to the macabre sounds. Terrified of what she might see, she looked from window to window and from floor to ceiling.

  Hal slid his hand higher up her thigh. “We had some good years, didn’t we? Maybe we could have a few more.”

  Growls erupted from under her seat. Her heart galloped so hard that dizziness assailed her.

  “That’s the past,” she replied softly, her breath short, her attention focused on the frightening sounds filling the car. Surely Hal heard them, too?

  Hall pulled her into his embrace. His mouth descended upon hers, his clean-shaven face smooth. He gripped one side of her hips, gliding his other hand around her body. He tightened his arms about her, attempting to draw her onto his lap.

  For a moment, the familiarity of his touch and kiss almost defeated Sable’s defenses and her fears of the unknown. It would be so easy to fall back into old habits and into the arms of a man whom she’d known for so many years, the father of her child. In some ways, there was safety in the familiar, the old, but in other ways, there were new dangers and irrevocable heartache.

  No, this can’t happen, won’t happen.

  Sable pushed him away and settled back into her seat. “Stop it, Hal.”

  “Why? You want me, I want you—”

 
“No, I don’t want you, and you only want to prove some senseless, egotistical point, or worse, use me for some stupid reason.”

  He offered his most rakish grin and taunted her. “Haven’t you ever done it in a limousine?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have, but I don’t want to do it with you.” She fought the urge to slap him so hard he’d find himself in Cuba. Anger at herself boiled in her gut, too. How could she have allowed herself to lapse for even a few moments? She knew what Hal was like, knew his tricks and what a deceiver he was.

  But, she suddenly realized, the only thing she’d felt when Hal had kissed her was a false sense of comfort. There was no desire, no racing heart, no need to be joined as one person and escape into a private heaven.

  Only Thomas makes me feel that way.

  She pushed the disturbing thoughts away as Hal said, “Who’d you fuck in a limo, Sable? Your agent?”

  The steeliness of his voice sent a shiver up Sable’s spine. “It isn’t any of your business. You’re supposed to be here to help me find Cheyenne, and besides, you’re married again. However, you seem to keep forgetting that part.”

  An ominous rumble infiltrated the limo, but Hal didn’t appear to hear it. Fear squeezed Sable’s throat. Would another violet-eyed monster burst from the bar or up through the seat to slash at her face?

  “You’ll come around,” Hal said, leaning closer. “Before I leave, you’ll be begging me to spread your legs.”

  Her hand connected with his cheek, cracking loudly, the sound and the prickles in her palm leaving her with an intoxicating sense of satisfaction.

  She looked at Hal and fought the desire to strike him again. Anger lit his eyes, and he stared back at her as if contemplating whether or not to retaliate. Movement behind him caught Sable’s attention. In the small area beneath the rear windshield, sat a squat, midnight-skinned creature, eyes blazing neon purple with a tiny green flame dancing in each of their centers. The monster extended ropey black arms toward Hal’s head. Oblivious to the threat, her ex-husband grinned, his anger transforming into smugness. The beast tweaked locks of his hair into small, blond demon horns. Sable gulped, her mouth as dry as a sun-baked sidewalk.

  “You still want me,” Hal whispered, “and you know it. You just won’t admit it.”

  “That’s funny.” She licked her dry lips. She had to keep calm, stay focused, and appear as if there was nothing dangerous behind him. “Just a few hours ago you were accusing me of trying to ruin your new marriage, and now you think I’ll let you bed me for old time’s sake? You don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell.”

  The partition’s window moved aside, and the limo driver called out, “We’re here, ma’am.”

  “I had to make it look good in front of Jacquelyn,” Hal replied.

  “Go fuck yourself,” she whispered. “My heart and my legs are closed to you forever.”

  The door on her side opened. Sable glanced one more time at her ex but was more attuned to the back window than anything else. The monster was gone, but Hal’s fury wasn’t.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Darkness

  “I ’ll park the limo over there in that vacant parking lot.” The chauffeur pointed across the car’s roof. “I’ll be watching, so wave when you’re ready to leave.”

  “Thank you,” Sable said. With her nerves still on edge, she perused the neighborhood. Would the frightening little creature be in the limousine awaiting her return? Would it pounce on her the moment she slid across the seat? And why wasn’t Hal able to hear or see it? For that matter, why couldn’t Thomas, Officer Delmont, or even the guests at the art gallery see and hear the same things she did?

  Because I might be going crazy after all.

  Her heartbeat kicked into fifth gear, and her pulse flailed. For a moment, a surge of dizziness assailed her. She closed her eyes and gulped. Get a grip, Sable. You already decided part of last night was caused by the drugs the patrons were smoking and that everything else is due to stress.

  So why did she feel like she was fooling herself?

  The white stretch pulled away from the curb, and Sable shoved her fears and misgivings aside. She glanced around trying to remember which building and doorway Goldie had taken her to. Everything looked different in the daylight. Shore winds flowed through the street. Dust and grit twirled in the gutters, disturbing a few gum wrappers and plastic soda lids. The palms lining the avenue waved in the breeze, and, if Sable listened carefully, the sound of the nearby surf filtered through the noises of traffic and daily life.

  A tapping sound drew her attention. Hal stood in the center of the sidewalk slapping his pipe against the palm of one hand, the ashes from it falling to the pavement. He withdrew a bag of cherry tobacco, put a pinch into the bowl of the pipe, and stuffed it in with his index finger.

  The aroma of candied cherries reached her. “Since when did you start changing things about yourself for a woman?” she asked, surprising herself.

  He looked askance at her and replaced the bag only to fish his Zippo from another jacket pocket. “I thought it was about time for a change, too,” he said. “Besides, Jacquelyn’s right. The cherry smells better than the vanilla.”

  “Whatever.”

  She shook her head and walked toward an abandoned building. She had more pressing matters to worry about.

  Her wedge sandals clicked along the concrete. She surveyed the area for a landmark that might trigger her memory to The Threshold’s location. The sex bar was nearby, but the apartment buildings all seemed identical.

  Several yards ahead, a young black boy loped toward them, his pants at half-mast, a long silver wallet chain swinging to and fro around his right hip and thigh. He drew closer, the number on his Tampa Bay Buccaneers football jersey glistening in the afternoon sun.

  A figure eight on its side! The memory surfaced and landed with a crash in her brain. When Goldie had led her down the basement steps to The Threshold’s entrance, at the top of the staircase, there had been an infinity symbol with a lily through it.

  “So where’s this bar?” Hal asked next to her. He flicked the Zippo again, held the flame over the bowl, and sucked on the pipe’s stem. White smoke billowed out around him. He hurried his footsteps to keep up with her.

  “It’s here somewhere. Goldie brought me here after dark.”

  “Are you telling me you don’t know where you’re going?”

  “I know The Threshold is here somewhere.” She pointed at the parking lot where their limo waited. “That’s one of the landmarks.”

  “But you’re not sure, are you?”

  She halted and faced him. “Hal, I was brought here late at night. It’s a neighborhood I’m not familiar with, and I left here in Goldie’s limo, so I wasn’t paying close attention. This bar isn’t exactly my scene. So, if you don’t mind, shut up so I can think and watch for something that will trigger my memory.”

  He studied her for a moment. His mouth worked as if he contemplated a snappy retort, but something shifted in his eyes. Hal shrugged and slipped the tip of his pipe stem between his lips.

  Satisfied, Sable slowly traversed the sidewalk. Her gaze touched buildings, parked cars, and the graffiti covering the block, brick, and stucco of various structures.

  There, just ahead, sat a neon orange and pink wire trash container. Recognition flared within her. She recalled the old woman who had been rummaging in it for aluminum.

  “That’s it,” she said, pointing. “That building just ahead.”

  “Are you sure?” Hal asked, skepticism in his voice.

  “Positive.”

  Once they reached the trashcan, Sable looked for the infinity-and-lily symbol. She frowned. Where was it? It had been there last night. She turned, scanning one end of the street then back and up in the other direction. This had to be the place. So where was the symbol done in bright, glittering paints? The staircase to the basement yawned in front of her. Shadows loomed, and halfway down the stairs, blackness ensued. Trepidation wh
ispered across Sable’s neck.

  “Down there?” asked Hal. “What sort of party did you go to?”

  “It wasn’t a party. It was a bar. Sort of a combination of alternative lifestyles, Goths, vampire wannabes and the like.”

  He stared at her. “Those sculptures you’ve been creating are beginning to warp your mind, Sable.”

  She sighed and threw him a nasty expression. “This is the place, but…”

  “But what?”

  “There was a symbol here, and now it’s gone.”

  “Might’ve been one of those removable signs,” Hal suggested. “Like those magnetic ones used on cars.”

  “Maybe.” She held her hand out. “Give me your lighter.”

  “What for?” He stuffed his fingers into a narrow inner pocket and withdrew the Zippo.

  She wedged her handbag tighter under her arm. “I’m going down to the door.”

  “Here?” He turned his head from side to side as he took in their surroundings. “This neighborhood looks like a demilitarized zone.” He handed over the lighter.

  “Then stay here.” She wrapped her long braid twice around her forearm and started down the stairs. After half a dozen steps, Sable flicked the lighter. Its flame didn’t provide much illumination, and her shadow jumped on the surrounding walls, adding to the spooky atmosphere, but at least she could see where she was putting her feet. The aroma of mildew and old, greasy dirt rose up to greet her.

  “Shit,” Hal said. “I don’t like this.” His footsteps trailed her to the stairwell’s bottom.

  At the last step, Sable recognized the small slider window set high in the large metal door. She imitated Goldie’s knock from the night before. She rapped twice, waited, and rapped two more times. The sound echoed up the stairwell, the noise hollow, metallic.

  Nothing.

  Again, she followed the knocking protocol.

  Nothing.

  “Are you sure you have the right place?” Hal whispered behind her.