by D N Simmons
“I can come up there with you to keep you company, you don't have to go through this alone.” Warren said sympathetically.
I forced a smiled which I could tell didn't fool Warren, not that I was trying to pretend otherwise. It was very thoughtful of him to offer. I was frightened, I could not understand why someone would kill Annette. Could I be a target also? If I was, a little protection would be in my best interest.
“Thank you, Warren. I would really appreciate that,” Warren smiled and nodded. I looked at Xavier, he was staring out of the window in deep thought. His elbow rested on the frame, his chin resting on his fingers.
“Xavier?” I asked, the sound of my voice seemed to bring him out of his reverie. He looked at me, his eyes were blank as if he were in a trance, it unnerved me. I was used to seeing Xavier in better spirits. “What are you thinking about?” He took a deep breath then released it.
“Darian.” His eyes panned over both Warren and myself. “For the time being, he will stay calm and await his seven days but he will not let them kill him. Those two S.U.I.T. detectives aren't interested in the truth. I watched them tonight, their only concern was the fact that they had “bagged” a master vampire,” Xavier said.
“A seemingly untouchable one at that,” Warren added. He took my hand and gently squeezed it reassuringly. I was too caught up with what Xavier was saying. Xavier continued revealing his thoughts.
Xavier shook his head gravely. “He'll go rogue. He will kill whomever stands in the way of his freedom. It will be a massacre.”
I must have gasped, because both men looked at me. I seemed to be the only one surprised by the idea of Darian killing innocent people to escape death.
“Natasha, you must understand, Darian is a master vampire, centuries old. He will not be taken down by this. Going rogue is not something Darian would want to do, he has worked extremely hard establishing himself here in Chicago, especially after the Exposure, which is why he is being compliant now. However, if push comes to shove, things will get ugly.” Xavier said as a matter-of-fact.
I was speechless, I had about all I could handle on this night. I opened the car door, Warren released my hand and climbed out of his car.
“I want to find Annette's murderer, by finding her killer we can clear Darian's name.” I turned to face both men. “Xavier, are you coming up?” I asked.
He smiled slowly. “As much as I cherish your invitation, I can't. I have to make some telephone calls before I'm forced to rest for the day.” He leaned closer to me and kissed me lightly on my forehead. His eyes peered into mine, he was so beautiful, he almost took my breath away. “Take care of her, Warren.”
Warren nodded. “Will do.”
Xavier smiled, then vanished before my eyes in a gust of wind.
I yelped and stared blankly at the empty space in front of me. Xavier had disappeared like that once before, and it scared me then too. Warren must have guessed what I was thinking because he chuckled softly.
“He didn't vanish into thin air, he flew upward, I saw him. Darian can fly as well, but he moves entirely too fast for even my sight. Come on, let's go inside,” he said and I nodded.
It was a cold night and I relished the warmth of my apartment. Unfortunately, as I looked around the apartment, it reminded me of Annette and I was immediately overwhelmed by sorrow. Annette and I would never watch TV and laugh together ever again. We would never laugh at each other’s jokes or decorate the Christmas tree while we both sang horribly to Christmas carols.
“Oh God!!!! Why Annette!!!” she was my best friend, she was a true friend, she was the sister I've never had. All memories of her came rushing to me relentlessly. We had only known each other for three years, but it felt like a lifetime. I collapsed onto the floor, heart wrenching wails ripped from my throat, I did not even recognize my own voice! All I could do was hold myself and cry. Never before had I felt so much pain or so out of control of my emotions. Why her? Annette, who would never hurt a soul! Who was so full of life and happiness! I wanted to wish things to be as they were! I wanted to see Annette smile again, I wanted to hear her quirky laughter, I wanted to talk to her about my day, or to hear about hers! I wanted to smell the aroma of her cooking! I wanted those long nights when we would stay up to the break of dawn, laughing, and talking about nothing!
I was dimly aware that Warren had taken me into his arms. In was holding me tightly, he did not say one word.
Why did I feel so alone?
Warren scooped me up from the floor and laid me on my bed. On my night stand was a picture of Annette and me on my birthday, just one month ago. There were identical smiles on our faces, our arms locked around each other...and now she is gone. I began to feel angry, why was Annette murdered to frame Darian!? I sat up on the bed and looked at Warren. He looked at me, his expression was sad, I could tell he didn't like seeing me in such anguish, nor did I like feeling so miserable.
“Warren, I want to catch the person who did this to Annette, what do I need to do?” I asked as I wiped the tears from my eyes. Warren cleared his throat then answered.
“I could get access to the crime scene, you can use your ability to see what you can. Do you want to do that?” he asked cautiously, I nodded my head.
“Tonight. Let's go” I said as I climbed out of my bed. I needed something to take my mind away from my despair. Warren rose to his feet and we left the apartment. Thirty minutes passed before we pulled in front of Darian's nightclub. The club was empty, the S.U.I.T. had obtained a federal order to close the nightclub, at least that's what Warren told me. A uniformed officer stopped us at the door, Warren flashed his badge, the officer nodded at him then looked at me.
“She's with me, we're doing an investigation.” Warren said, and the officer gave me another look over, then allowed us to pass.
Warren led me to the huge multilevel garage where police tape blocked off Darian's Pavilion. I was willing to bet a lot of people were jealous that Darian could afford such a luxurious automobile, especially those two detectives that were interrogating him. We squatted under the tape, then walked slowly towards Darian's car. I was half afraid to touch it for what I would see later in my visions. I swallowed hard and gently placed my fingers on the trunk then running them over the key slot. I felt nothing as my hands rested on the cold metal of the trunk. I looked at Warren and shook my head. He had been sniffing around the car to get a scent.
“Nothing?” he asked me, I shook my head. “Well, I have two fresh scents, one is a female, the other male, there are dozens of scents in this garage, but only her perfume and his cologne are on the car. It's very faint, they must have leaned on the car when they planted the body-” he looked at me cautiously.
He was speaking in police terminology but didn't want to offend me by referring to Annette as the “body”. At this point, I thought that would be better, I feared I might have a breakdown if I continued to think of Annette as “Annette”. I smiled slightly at Warren to let him know it was alright. He continued.
“I traced the scent to this area over here,” he walked to a open parking space across from Darian's car. “Unfortunately, they drove away and I can't pick up their scent.” He looked as disappointed as I felt. I began to touch Darian's car all over, hoping to feel something that might help me form a connection. Warren watched me intently, he seemed intrigued by my methods. “Do you feel anything yet?” he asked.
“No. Okay, take me home...wait.” I said, having second thoughts about pursuing the investigation for another hour or so. “No, it's nothing, take me home, does your offer still stand?” I asked, hoping he would stay the night.
“You know it does. Come on,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
We left the club and drove back home. I fought the urge to wallow in my tears again when I walked into the apartment I once shared with Annette. Warren and I climbed into my bed and we forced ourselves to catch a few hours sleep. I was hoping I would be able to get at least two hours of rest. I fe
lt myself drifting off. As I slept, I opened my mind to receive the visions. I began to see lifestyles of the various people that I've made contact with over the past few months. I tried to use the techniques Darian taught me to filter out all of the visions I didn't want to see. There was nothing, not one vision that would reveal to me Annette's killers. I blocked all of the visions and gave myself some peace.
Chapter Four
Day Two
I awoke to the sound of Warren's voice as he spoke to his partner Matthew on the telephone. I turned and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed in his t-shirt and jeans. It felt really comforting being in bed with a man again, I almost forgot just how wonderful a feeling that was. Warren turned around to look at me, he smiled then reached over and took my hand into his. He ended his conversation with Matthew.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked me. He leaned over me, one arm on the other side of my body, his eyes were watching me closely.
“I'm doing fine, thank you for staying. It really meant a lot to me,” I said, fighting the urge to pull him on top of me, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, Warren is gay.
He smiled. “No problem, I wanted to. I couldn't just let you stay here by yourself, not after what happened.” He straightened himself then rose from the bed. “Well, I was talking with Matthew and he found out that Anthony Juliano, Darian's old employee, had a rap sheet longer than my di-” He paused his face reddening slightly. I suppose that was more cop talk. “Sorry about that, no vulgar talk when a lady is present,” he said with a bow.
“Oh stop it, already!” I laughed, he chuckled. That relieved some of my tension. Laughter was always Annette's way to perk up the spirits. As I thought about her, I wanted to cry. I forced myself to focus on something more productive, like tracking down her killers, I wanted justice for Annette! My gaze fell on Warren, he had been silently watching me from across the room.
“Go on, Warren, what else?” I asked, urging him to continue.
He nodded, and went on. “He has been arrested on several counts of armed robbery, assault, battery and DUI, but was never convicted.” Warren shook his head. “I wondered if Darian or Xavier knew about his police record before they hired him?” he noted thoughtfully.
“So now he's dead, possibly burned to death, why did you bring him up?” I asked perplexed. What did Anthony Juliano have to do with anything?
“Matt's positive that Anthony had ties to the mafia...the Russian mafia. That's why we could never convict Anthony on any charges. I still don't understand everything that I'm saying to you right now, but I honestly feel that we're onto something.” Warren said as he began to pace back and forth in front of my bed.
I watched him for a few moments, then walked into the bathroom to tend to my necessities. It wasn't until I had finished that I wondered if Warren heard me. I began to feel embarrassed. I took a shower and brushed my teeth, then walked out of the bathroom. I looked at Warren as he sat on the bed looking at the pictures on my night stand. He looked up when I entered the room and smiled. He placed the picture back on the nightstand then rose from the bed. Warren is pretty tall, well, compared to my five-foot-two frame. He's at least six feet two inches, strong and muscular but not bulky. I always thought Warren was exceptionally handsome. And now I'm standing in my bedroom in front of him-naked, except for a terry cloth towel, I felt myself beginning to blush.
“I'll leave you alone to change,” Warren said as he left the room. He's such a gentleman.
I quickly dressed in a black turtleneck shirt and boot-cut blue jeans. I put on a pair of comfortable black flat-sole boots and combed my hair, tying it into a ponytail, one of my favorite no-fuss hairstyles. I walked out of my bedroom and saw Warren sitting on the couch.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Always. I called Mall again and he said that Darian is sound asleep. He's keeping an eye on him.” Warren pulled on his leather coat. “Shall we go?” he asked, I agreed and we left the apartment. Warren drove us to a restaurant in Hyde Park.
“I love this place, they have the best breakfast food you've ever eaten-bar none!” he declared with great enthusiasm as we climbed out of his car. “My treat, just order whatever you want.”
“Thank you.” I was starved, I could not wait to be seated. The hostess finally called our number after a twenty-minute wait. She seated us in a booth by a window, handing us both menus before returning to her station. I looked over the menu to see what it had to offer. There were plenty of various dishes one could order for breakfast or lunch if you're the type that enjoys bacon and eggs in the afternoon. I settled on strawberry crepes and a side order of hash browns, closing my menu, I looked at Warren, his menu was already closed. I was anxious to see what he would order, I remembered the gyro-cheeseburgers he had inhaled the other day and couldn't wait to see how much he could eat for his first meal. The waitress came to our table to take our order. I ordered first, then Warren ordered peach crepes, the western omelet, that came with original pancakes which he wanted to exchange for strawberry pancakes. But wait, there's more, next he ordered a side of chicken sausage, chicken hash browns, bacon and grits. I've never seen a waitress's hand move so fast! After she finished, she looked at Warren.
“Will that complete your orders?” she asked, she almost looked exhausted. Both Warren and I nodded our heads. “Okay, then let me know if there's anything else I could do for you,” she added pleasantly as she headed towards the kitchen to give the chef the order.
“We'll have to cool our heels for the time being, everyone we need to question is asleep during the day. We could go back to the club and you can feel around inside, do you want to try that?” Warren asked me as we waited for our food.
“That's cool, we could do that,” I said. Warren and I discussed various topics until the waitress brought our meals. She placed my crepes in front of me and my mouth watered. The delicious aroma wafted to my nostrils and almost made me drool, it also reminded me of Annette's cooking. I pushed the thought of Annette from my mind and began to dig into my food. The waitress placed several plates in front of Warren covering our entire table with dish after dish of delicious smelling foods. She asked us once again if we needed anything and we told her that everything was perfect. Satisfied, she tended to her other customers. I couldn't help but watch in amazement as Warren cleared plate after plate. To my surprise, he finished his food before I finished my own! How, I don't know, but he did.
I wondered if he could eat the huge sixty-ounce steak, called the “Cowboy” from that popular restaurant in Texas. I bet he could. Hell, he and his whole Pack could probably put that restaurant out of business! I couldn't finish all of my breakfast, there was half of a crepe left and some hash browns. I looked up to see Warren eyeing my plate, then his pretty grey eyes looked up at me and he smiled sheepishly.
“Are you going to finish that?” he asked, I knew he would.
“No, you can have it,” I chuckled. He didn't waste any time clearing my plate. Then he sat back in the booth, smiling. I looked at him and smiled. He reminded me of a schoolboy with a straight “A” report card.
“Are you full, did you have to start from your pinky toe on up?” I asked, he laughed outright, slapping his hand on the table.
“Yeah, I'm sated right now, I could actually take a nap at this point.” He grinned at me from across the table.
“You ever think about entering in any food eating competitions?”
He began to chuckle. “Matt asks me the same thing all the time. He even dared me to tackle the “Cowboy”. It's a sixty-ounce steak that is served in a restaurant in his hometown in San Antonio, Texas. I might take him up on his bet one day.” He reached for his wallet.
“Oh 'tackle', my ass! You'll engulf a sixty-ounce steak, you can probably take out a sixty-pound steak!” I declared. He gave me a knowing look and nodded. I laughed, it felt good to laugh.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
I nodded my head and reached in my pocke
t for the tip. He paid for breakfast, the least I could do was tip the waitress. Warren grabbed my hand before I could put the money on the table.
“I got it covered, don't worry, this was all my treat,” he said as he placed a ten dollar bill on the table.
“I don’t mind, really “
“I got it, don't worry, come on.” He said softly with a charming smile as he ushered me towards the cashier. He paid the fifty-dollar tab and we left.
We drove for about thirty minutes as Warren switched from lane to lane. I sat in the passenger side of his car, wishing I could buckle myself up twice. I thought I was a speeder, Warren had me beat by a forty mile over-the-speed-limit preference. He pulled in front of Darian's nightclub. We got out of the car and went inside and I immediately began feeling around the club for anything to form a connection. My clairvoyance was not as heightened as some other clairvoyants, but I could still make a connection. I felt several tremors as I passed over various objects. I would have to filter through those connections, hopefully one would prove useful. After we scanned the club for over two hours, we left.
“Can we go somewhere, I don't want to go home, can we go to the movies?” I asked. He looked at me, shrugged one shoulder and nodded. Then I thought about it, I wondered if he was missing work. “I'm so sorry, here I am hogging all of your time, do you have to go to work?” I asked.
“No, not until tonight but I do need to swing by my place to change, do you mind?” he asked.
“No, not at all.” I said, shaking my head. Far be it for me to deny someone a clean change of clothes. I looked at Warren as he drove. “Warren?” he set his gaze on me then back on the road.
