“How are you?” he said.
“You don’t need to worry about me, John, but I’m worried about you. We need to talk.”
“We are talking.”
“In person. Let’s meet,” she said.
As much as he wanted to see her, a little stubbornness surfaced. Leaning against the kitchen counter, he said, “You know where I am.”
“I have another place in mind. Midnight. Federal Express Stadium.”
“I’ll have to check my schedule.”
There was a pause on Sid’s end of the line. After a brief delay, she said, “This is serious, John. Midnight.”
Nighttime. Whoever was pulling Sid’s strings at The Drake probably didn’t care for the light. That was how the shifters were. They preferred darkness over daylight. Not that light stopped them most of the time. Still, it did seem to Smoke nighttime was when they were at their best.
“How about noon tomorrow?”
“John, if you want to see me, then don’t screw around. You’ve screwed enough up already. I hope to see you at midnight. And John, be sure you come alone.”
Click.
The line went dead.
Fighting the urge to hit *69 and call her back, he hung up the receiver and focused on her words.
You’ve screwed enough up already.
There was a message in there. A compliment. A praise. He had to believe Sid was still Sid, but he wouldn’t know until he saw her for himself. He stripped off the sweetheart suit and headed for the shower. Afterward, he stood facing the mirror, combing his fingers through his hair. “I think it’s time for a haircut.”
CHAPTER 24
At 11 p.m., Smoke cruised into the Federal Express Stadium parking lot. Engine still running, he made himself comfortable and rifled through his cassette tape collection. It had come in an old vinyl case with twenty slots in it. A nice mix for only five dollars. He ejected one cassette and put in another. It was a band called Slade. “Run Runaway” played. He cranked it up, closed his eyes, and eased the seat back.
Smoke was the only one who knew about this meeting. He hadn’t even told Sam or Guppy. The more Cyrus and Rebecca were in the dark, the better. No, it was just him and the unknown. Was he going to be reunited with Sid once and for all? It didn’t sound like it. Something was up, but at least he’d get to see her again. He hoped.
When he tilted the seat back a little farther, his breathing eased and he closed his eyes. All the throbbing in his bones and muscles dulled. He fell asleep.
Peck. Peck. Peck.
Smoke opened his eyes. Someone was standing outside his car, knocking steadily on his window. It was Reginald. Smoke leaned up in his seat and popped the door open. There was a black limousine parked nearby. Two men in pea coats stood outside it.
Reginald stepped aside. “You must be awfully tired, Mister Smoke.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Death will give you plenty of rest.” Reginald was nicely dressed in a grey oxford shirt, brown woolen slacks, and no tie.
“It will do the same for you.” Eyeing his surroundings, he said, “Where’s Sid?”
“Close enough. I need to pat you down. Up against the car, if you will?”
Smoke turned and put his hands on the roof. “I didn’t think you guys had anything to fear from the likes of a mortal like me.”
Patting Smoke down, Reginald said, “We survive because we are cautious, and I must admit you’ve proven yourself a very formidable person. You put a real whooping on Guermo. As I understand it, Vormus departed with his tail between his legs. Of course, that brood is quite a bunch of cowards.” He huffed and finished patting Smoke down. “Vampires. How juvenile. But thanks to your encounter, you will get the meeting you were promised.”
Turning to face Reginald, Smoke said, “I’m sure that isn’t it. I’m thinking last night’s excursion had more to do with it.”
“Yes, that didn’t go over very well at all. If it weren’t for your lady friend, you’d be dead. If it happens again, well, just imagine the worst repercussions ever. Then multiply them.” Reginald walked over to the limo and placed his hand on the door handle. “And don’t get all excited. This isn’t a conjugal visit.”
“We aren’t married yet.”
“It’s not a prom date, either.” Reginald opened the door, saying under his breath, “Mind that tongue of yours.”
Smoke ducked inside the limo, and the door closed behind him. Adjacent to him sat Sid, looking more beautiful than ever. She wore a long dark-purple dress and was laden with bright jewels like a priestess. Beside her sat a deeply tanned and strongly built man in a tuxedo. His dark hair was slicked back. His big fingers were half decorated in Superbowl-like rings. His voice was a rumbling thunder.
“I’m Kane. Kane Lancaster.”
Smoke’s gaze didn’t leave Sidney’s expressionless face. “Hi, Sid.”
She nodded.
“Mister Smoke,” Kane said, twisting a ring on his finger, “before we begin our discussion, I need to make you aware of a few things. First, you are here and alive because I allow you to be. I can say the same about anybody. That’s the kind of power I have. Second, you do not speak unless I speak to you first or give you permission to speak. Understand?”
“I don’t need an interpreter.”
“Good. It seems that you and Sid are a bit unique. You have a talent for surviving. I like mortals with your kind of, oh, how did that one Texan put it? Eh, grit. So much so, that it got my attention. Even Reginald, one of my finest soldiers, was impressed. That is not easily done. In The Drake family, we want the best. It’s useful to us, and a veteran of your skills and aptitude could be rewarded quite well. No more fighting for your life or getting beat up tussle after tussle. Just cruise along and enjoy life. Basically you can have anything you want. What do you think about that?”
Smoke’s eyes slid over to Sid. She sat quiet as a church mouse. He looked Kane back in the eye. “I’m not interested.”
Kane placed his hand on Sid’s thigh. “Then we have a problem, Mister Smoke. You see, your little jaunt last night cost The Drake millions of dollars. You need to pay that back. Every penny. My accountants are rounding up the damage totals as we speak. How do you propose to pay me back?”
“I’m not.”
Rubbing Sid’s thigh, Kane said, “Oh, that’s where you are sadly mistaken. You are in debt for dollars. Real dollars. My dollars. And your wretched little life is not enough to pay your debt. No, you need to consider everyone you know as collateral. Your friends Samantha and Guppy. This precious gem of a woman, Sid. Her sister and niece. Her parents, Sally and Keith. Charming people. They all have skin in the game, but much more skin is needed after you destroyed all that merchandise last night. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Sid blurted out, “John—”
Whap!
Kane back-handed her hard across the face. “Do not speak.”
“Don’t you ever touch her again!” Smoke jumped him.
Faster than Smoke could see, Kane had him pinned back against the seat with fingers around his throat. Smoke started to choke in the man’s unbreakable grip.
“Listen to me, you worm. I’m granting you an opportunity. It’s mercy. But even with my long life, my patience can wear thin.” Kane’s black eyes were smoldering cauldrons of evil. “I can have everyone you care about killed before you fire up that heap you call a car. Do we understand each other?”
Kane’s freakish power was too much for Smoke. Face turning purple, he managed to nod.
Kane released him. “You are way out of your depth and treading deadly waters. You need to back off.” He turned his attention to Sid. With a handkerchief from his pocket, he tenderly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. “Be more careful when you speak, my dear. You know how precious you are to me.”
Smoke started coughing.
Kane gave him a fatherly pat on the back. “You’re going to
be fine. Tell you what, I’m willing to make you another deal. Let’s call a truce, because I’m curious to see whether or not you can handle your own temptations. You back off. Stay out of The Drake’s affairs. No Black Slate. No curiosity. No investigations. Cold turkey. So long as you can manage that, I’ll let bygones be bygones.”
Smoke sat up in his seat, rubbing his throat and coughing. “Only if Sid comes with me.”
“Oh ho, no. I’m doing this as a favor to Sid. She’s the only reason you’re even breathing right now. Don’t you get it? Now, I’m sure you love her, and I can’t fault you for that, but now you see, she favors another. You need to move on, my good man.”
Smoke’s eyes searched for Sid’s.
Sid’s eyes searched for Kane’s.
Kane gave her a nod. “I’ll give you two a few minutes.”
Her eyes widened.
“Go on. Leave,” Kane said.
CHAPTER 25
Sid knocked on her window, and the limousine door opened. One of Kane’s guards on the outside looked to Kane, who nodded. The guard stepped back. She got out and started walking. Smoke followed after her. She kept going until she was out of earshot of the limousine, even to Smoke. The guards and Reginald were far enough away to give them some privacy.
A brisk wind blew her hair in her eyes, and Smoke reached to move it away.
“No,” she said, moving it herself.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“Sid, you can’t give in to the likes of them.” Unable to fight the urge to crush her in his arms, he eased forward.
She looked over to where Kane could still see them and backed away. “John, no. Listen, you have to move on. It’s too dangerous, and you’re really pissing them off.”
“Heh-heh.”
“It’s no laughing matter, John. The Lancasters might be different, but they love money as much as anyone else. Money and power. It’s an obsession. You need to back off. Move on. I’m sorry, John, but that’s just the way it has to be.” She closed her hands over his. “Think of my family, John. Your friends. They’ll all get killed unless you move on.”
Her warm hands stirred his heart. “You’re killing me, Sid.”
“You’re killing yourself. I don’t want anything to happen to you or anyone else. Move on to something else. There’s still plenty of good people out there for you to rescue.”
“Can’t you see what they’re doing, Sid? Fear. Threats. That’s how they control people and make them prisoners. You can’t let them do that to you.”
She squeezed his hands harder. “I have no choice.”
“You’re being forced to do this. That’s not living. That’s imprisonment.” He touched her cheek. “Are they hurting you?”
“No. John, you have to let me go. It’s too dangerous for everybody. I just can’t live with that.”
“You can’t save everybody, Sid. Sometimes, only people can save themselves. Have faith in them. Make that choice.”
“I almost watched you die once, John. I don’t want to ever see that happen.”
“It’s because you love me, isn’t it?”
She looked up and nodded. Tears swelled in her eyes.
“Then fight to be with me, Sid. We can get through this. Together, we can get through anything.”
The limo pulled up near them, and the window rolled down. Kane said in a firm voice, “Sid, come. Mister Smoke, do you have an answer for me?”
“John, take the truce with him. Please.”
He looked down into her pleading eyes and nodded. “Fine.”
“What’s that?” said Kane.
Clenching his jaw, Smoke glared at him. “I said fine.”
“Well done. Now Sid, don’t make me ask you again. Come.”
Sid kissed Smoke on the cheek and slipped away, saying, “I’m sorry, John. Take care of yourself.”
The limo door opened, and she vanished inside.
Reginald waved at Smoke. “Goodbye, asshole.”
Moments later, the black machine sped away.
Smoke stood alone in the parking lot accompanied only by the whistling wind and the engagement ring in his pocket. Numb from his toes to his sagging shoulders, he headed toward his Camaro. All of its tires were flat.
CHAPTER 26
A day passed. Then a week. A month. Smoke hadn’t left his place. Always stocked up, he wouldn’t need to leave for another six months, unless he got a hankering for fresh food. He didn’t answer his phone either. Or texts. Or turn the TV on. He sat on his sofa chewing on beef jerky and drinking a Coke. There was an assortment of books stacked up on the coffee table, everything from The Darkslayer to The Bible. Copies of Nightfall DC. A few biographies. Some old history books Mal Gunderson had lent him. Aside from reading all the time and eating very little, he cleaned. Tinkered with his car. Replaced the slashed tires.
Early in the evening, he stretched out his arms and yawned. Rubbed his eyes. Considered crawling into bed. Sleep was hard to come by. He normally rested easy, like a baby. Now, something was chewing him up inside. Tired of the silence, he picked up the remote and turned on his stereo. Mozart played. He grabbed another piece of jerky and started chewing.
On the corner of the table sat the ring box. He thought of Sid, the danger she was in. The company she chose to keep. She had given up her life for his. For the lives of many others. But it was supposed to be the other way around. He was supposed to save her. It gnawed at him. She was suffering for his sake. Wasn’t she?
Maybe she’s okay with it. Maybe she’s gone already.
He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew that most people, no matter how good, how strong, they had their limit, their price. He had to have faith that Sid was who he thought she was. Have faith she wouldn’t get more than she could handle. His skin shifted when he thought about The Drake and what they could do to people. They had power. An ancient evil that turned men and women into beasts. Was that in store for Sid? Would she become an abomination like her clone Samone or Angi Harlow the harpy? In order for that to happen, Sid would have to embrace the power and want it for herself. That was the deal as he understood it.
No, she’d never do it. She’d die first.
And Smoke would never see her again.
Tires crunched over the pavement. Brakes squealed to a halt. Car doors popped open and closed. He made his way over to the front door and let Sam and Guppy in.
“Are you finished sulking yet?” Sam said, pinching his face. “My, your cheeks are getting a little thin. What are you doing, starving yourself?” She eyed the trash can in the kitchenette. It was filled with beef jerky wrappers. “Yep. You’re making a go at it, alright.”
“Hey, Smoke,” Guppy said with a nod as he shuffled inside. He turned on the TV and sat down at the computer.
Sam sat on the sofa and picked up a copy of Nightfall DC. “It’s time to get back to work, Smoke.”
“I told you, I’m done.” He had told them what happened when he called them to pick him up at Federal Express Stadium. He’d told them to leave him alone.
Sam laughed. “Yeah, and I’m going to quit wearing makeup. Look John, I realize you’re broken-hearted and haven’t ever been through that before—”
“And you have?”
“Well, no, of course not. Not so long as I have the Gupster.”
“Aye,” Guppy said.
“The point is, you need to do what you do and let things fall back into place. They will. With or without Sid, it’s going to work out.”
He took a seat beside her. “She’s the one.”
She took his hand. “Bless your heart. I know she is, but she’s going to have to want to save herself, unless you decide to save her.”
“It’s too dangerous. You know that. You and Guppy. Her family. The Drake will kill all of you.”
Sam’s jaw dropped.
Guppy’s chair creaked as he turned and faced Smoke.
“What?” Smoke said.
Visibly
agitated, Sam said, “Are you kidding me? After all your lectures about not caving in to evil?” She flipped her fingers. “After all your little anecdotes about how we are soldiers and when we sign up to fight, whether it’s on the front lines or behind them, it’s possible we might die? The old, uh, what was it?”
“‘We can’t save them all, but we try,’” Guppy said. “Not to mention the classic you so often quote, ‘In order for Evil to win, the good need only do nothing.’”
Sam picked up the Darkslayer book and whacked him in the head with it. “And what about the ‘Fight or Die’ thing!”
Shrugging, Smoke said, “Well, that’s just fantasy.”
“My ass! You love this stuff! Gobbled it up in the Navy and in prison.” She snatched up the ring and chucked it at him. “Now, if you want Sid, go and get her. Be a hero. Save the princess.”
Suddenly, another voice cut into the conversation. “And suckle the tit of death while you’re at it.”
Sam gasped.
Smoke jumped to his feet.
Guppy scrambled out of his chair.
Vormus had come out of nowhere.
CHAPTER 27
Standing just inside the door, Vormus said, “Oh great, the gang’s all here.” He wore jeans and a blue polo shirt with a logo that matched his white eyes. Lean and formidable, he slid aside to let Mal and Asia enter.
Hands up and palms out, Mal, dressed in sensible khaki trousers and a shirt that was too big, said, “I can explain.”
Smoke had already removed a pistol from under the sofa cushion. “No you can’t.”
Remaining steady, Mal continued. “Just let me explain. I know what you think this is, and it sort of is, but it isn’t.”
“You’re out of your mind,” said Sam.
“No, no, I assure you, I have all my faculties.” Mal looked back at Vormus. “Please, just don’t move. I told you I needed to introduce you.”
Aristocratic chin held high, Vormus replied, “I always make an entrance.”
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files Collector's Set: Books 1-10: Urban Fantasy Shifter Series Page 76
