Scarlet Masquerade

by Jett Abbott

  “A.J., what’s going on?” Kevin’s inquisitive tone didn’t fool A.J.

  “Kev.” A.J. closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. She didn’t want to give anything away. “I just saw Selene toss someone into the trunk of her car and drive off.”

  “Shit.”

  “Have you heard from Brax yet?”

  “Brax? Yeah, he just called me. He’s been watching the university…” Kevin wasn’t good at lying and now he just confirmed A.J.’s worst fear. “Yeah, he thought Clarissa went to the university to pick up her car. He’s been staking out the parking lot in front of her office all this time.”

  “Okay, well get his ass over here and let’s make sure nothing happens to Clarissa.”

  “I’ll call him right now. Are you on your way back to the office or are you going home?”

  A.J. gripped the steering wheel so tight she felt it start to bend, her anger starting to get the better of her.

  “No, I need you to meet me at the office so we can go over the plans for the donation to the university.”

  “I thought we discussed that already? I have the check right here ready to drop off at Clarissa’s office tomorrow.”

  “After what happened today, I think we need to change that. I don’t want to give Clarissa another chance to pick up on your energy and put two and two together. I’ll have a courier service drop it off tomorrow. Besides, I have other stuff I need you to handle.”

  “Okay. I’ll meet you at the office. Say in about twenty minutes?”

  “Sounds good. See you in twenty.” A.J. tapped the ear piece and tossed it on the seat. “Fucker, you lying piece of shit.” A.J. closed her eyes and scrubbed her face. “You’re gonna pay, you traitorous bastard.”

  A.J. was having a hard time controlling herself. All she could think of was Kevin’s betrayal. Well, she had a place for people who betrayed her and he wasn’t going to like it. But first she needed to know who he worked for. Eighteen years Kevin had worked for her and she never suspected a thing. How could she have been so stupid? She wondered. She trusted Kevin with everything, every secret, every lie, everything in her life. She tried to think back to anything that might have tipped her off, anything that she might have overlooked, because it was Kevin. Nothing, nothing came to mind. He had played the part of confidante well and she had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. It had taken eighteen years for Kevin to weasel his way into her inner circle, but he had been a reliable second in command. Never once had he questioned any of her orders. Oh, he had made an occasional fuss, but nothing outright.

  Had this been his plan all along? To wait until A.J. had found Clarissa? He didn’t steal from her, at least not that she knew of. He hadn’t balked at any of her orders when it came time to pick everything up and move. In fact, he had been Johnny on the spot when it came to a new move. He took on even the most difficult tasks without being ordered to. He knew everything. How she worked, where she lived, and how she survived. Every secret she had in the last ten years had been his for the taking. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It had been a gamble for whoever hired Kevin. On the one hand A.J. and Clarissa might never meet, but on the other hand if they did, Kevin would be right there waiting.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” Banging on the steering wheel she screamed as loud as she could. “I led him right to her. Shit.” Looking back up the hill, A.J. wished she had never entered that bar. If anything happened to Clarissa, she would never forgive herself. Grabbing her phone she dialed Selene’s number.

  “I need you to get back here asap.”

  “What? Now?”

  “Yes, now. I need you to get back here and protect the girl.” A.J. rubbed her throbbing temples. Her anger was starting to get the best of her, but she needed to make sure Clarissa was safe first.

  “What the hell do you want me to do with the two in my trunk? They can’t stay there all night. They’ll start to stink and I like this car.”

  “I’ll take care of them. Just get your ass back here now.”

  “Look, I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but—”

  “Selene, I don’t have time for this. I need you here to watch the girl, now. I’ll take care of the bodies. Just get back here.” A.J. had lost her patience a long time ago and if she wasn’t careful she was going to take it out on Selene.

  “Don’t push me, Alexandra,” a menacing voice echoed through the phone. “You might write the check, but I don’t have to cash it. Do I make myself clear?”

  A.J. knew she had pushed Selene’s buttons earlier and now Selene was pushing back.

  “At this point, as bad as it sounds, you’re about the only one I can trust. Money makes strange bed fellows and right now you and I are in bed together for the duration.”

  “That does sound bad, A.J. and I am sure it’s killing you to say it, too.”

  “You have no idea, Selene. No idea.”

  Just then, Selene’s car rounded the corner and she pulled up to A.J.’s SUV.

  “Open the trunk,” A.J. commanded.

  Selene popped her trunk and tossed A.J. her keys. “I’m not taking ’em back out again. There’s a can of gas in the trunk and a few flairs. Give me your keys.” Selene stuck her hand out for A.J.’s keys and closed the trunk.

  “What?”

  “Look, we aren’t playing musical bodies. Take my car, do what you need to and I’ll take your car if she leaves. Besides, you look like you can lift them, or do you need my help?” A.J. watched Selene check out her body.

  “You look like you can handle ’em, but if not—”

  “I got it. You just make sure you stay on top of her.”

  A.J. watched as Selene’s eyebrows shot up and a smirk crossed her face.

  “Not like that, Selene. Not like that.”

  “You ready to tell me why she’s so important?”

  A.J. grabbed her cell phone and pushed a button. “Not yet. Besides…Kevin, I’m not going to make it back to the office tonight. I’m just too tired. Did you get a hold of Brax yet? Okay, if you’re sure he’s gonna be here in five minutes I’ll go ahead and take off. If anything happens call me. Got it?” A.J. smirked as she listening to him lie to her again. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow in the office.” A.J. slammed the phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket.

  “I thought you said the dead guy in the trunk was Brax?” Selene squinted at A.J.

  “It is.”

  “Okay, then….”

  A.J. looked at Selene and wondered how much she should tell her. It wasn’t like they were strangers, but it had been a long time since she had seen Selene and things had changed, a lot. She watched as Selene crossed her arms and leaned against A.J.’s SUV. Clearly Selene was settling in for an explanation, regardless of what A.J. wanted.

  “Well?” Selene questioned again.

  “Really, Selene. Right now?”

  “I got all night, all month, heck I got a year, so spill. Now”

  “I’ve got a traitor in my organization and I just found out.”

  “Kevin?”

  “I think so. Look, it’s a long story, but I think he’s been waiting until I found the girl up there to do this. I think he’s working for someone who wants her dead.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know why, but trust me, I’m gonna find out.” A.J. tossed Selene her keys and walked over to Selene’s car. “I’ll be back in about an hour. Guard her as if your life depended on it, Selene. We’ll talk when I get back.”

  A.J. spun the car around, leaving Selene in a cloud of dust as she hit the gas. She knew exactly where she would dispose of the bodies and no one would ever find them. The drive gave her time to think about Kevin and her past. She never would have suspected Kevin if Selene hadn’t killed the first vampire. She was sure Kevin was trying to figure out what to do next, now that the assassin was dead and he couldn’t find Brax. She would play along, it would buy her time. As long as he thought Brax was still alive, Clarissa was saf
e. Whoever he worked for wouldn’t send a replacement if he thought Brax had taken care of Selene. So now she had to work out something with Selene to keep Kevin busy and away from Clarissa.

  A.J. turned off the paved road and onto the gravel road that led to the abandoned quarry. It was deserted and forgotten. That’s why she had bought it. It had come in handy when she needed a place to practice her shooting and drop off a few of her “things”. No one ever went past the three locked gates and the barbwire fences she had installed. Opening the last gate she took one last look around, just in case someone was stupid enough to “accidently” trespass. A.J. weaved her way around the mounds of leftover rock from the quarry’s heyday. Arriving at the empty shaft, she backed the car up and put the trunk at the opening. Pulling each body out, she doused them in gas, lit them on fire and rolled them down the shaft. Suddenly a roar of flames came back up the shaft and A.J. had to jump sideways to avoid them. Vampires exploded when they caught fire and for that, A.J. was thankful. Now there wouldn’t be a trace of anything left, just in case something didn’t burn.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Clarissa sat at her desk chewing her lip as she contemplated the future. Another masquerade ball, and she would finally be done with the semester. Had last night really happened? Had she really seen Selene? Clarissa had watched Selene not only kill another vampire, but feed on him as well. She could only imagine the feeling Selene had as she gorged on his blood. The goose bumps on her arms gave her a chill when she thought about Selene. The beautiful, dangerous, Selene. Alexandra was just as dangerous as Selene, but in a different way. Alexandra was smart, calculating and sexy. She pushed the line and made Clarissa feel alive when they had been together a century ago. Clarissa wondered where Alexandra was now. Had she stayed in Paris, living life as she had for decades? Or had she migrated to the U.S. like so many other vampires had done when Paris became overrun with their people. The U.S. was filled with possibilities and the early Coven had pressed for vampires to spread out when Paris and England had become too hot for them.

  She had only been with a few women, choosing a solitary life over one filled with an endless parade of lovers that always died in the end. No, she was happy with the structured, micro-managed, driven life she had planned for herself. While it left little time for female company, it protected her from exposure to unwanted attention from what was left of the Coven. The Coven had found itself relegated to the empires of yesteryear. An obsolete idea whose time had come and gone when technology, capitalism and mobility started to dominate the culture. Few vampires acquiesced their autonomy to the outdated relic and fewer still remained under the control of the older dominant vampires. Perhaps the seekers had changed everything, acting more like out of control thugs than vampires. Their need for drugs and freedom made them leave the Coven, killing off some of the dominant leaders in exchange for the freedom that they so badly wanted and needed. No, now things were different and Clarissa, if truth be told, was glad for the change. If De Marcus hadn’t died that night in the hay barn, who knows how her life would have ended up. One thing was for sure, she would still be living under his rule with no choice in the matter.

  “Excuse me,” said a man wearing a courier uniform. “I’m looking for a Ms. Graham. Is that you?”

  Clarissa jumped at the interruption. “Yes… um, yes, I’m Ms. Graham.”

  “Great. Sign here please,” he said, pointing to a line on the micro pad he held out.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m not expecting anything. Can you tell me who this is from?”

  “Sure.” Looking down at the envelope, he read the name of the sender, “Knight-Pharmaceutical.”

  “Oh.” Signing the pad Clarissa took the offered envelope, turning it over in her hands.

  “Have a nice day.”

  “Thanks. You, too.” Clarissa shut the door and sat down on the couch. Afraid to open the envelope, she held it up to the fluorescent light in her office. “God, please don’t let this be a rejection letter.”

  Opening it, relief settled as she extracted a check and a short note.

  “Ms. Graham,” Clarissa continued, reading it out loud, “I hope this will help with your event. Respectfully, A.J. Lockwood. Oh shit!” Clarissa couldn’t believe her eyes. The check had more zeros than she had seen in a long time. Dropping the note on the desk Clarissa picked up the phone and dialed Carol’s office.

  “Hey, you’re not going to believe this.”

  “Okay, what am I not going to believe? Wait let me guess. You went out on a date last night?” Carol giggled on the other end. “No, wait, you got laid last night?” The giggling continued on the other end.

  “I’m going to hang up if you don’t stop.”

  “Okay. Okay. So what did you get?”

  “A check from, Knight-Pharmaceutical.”

  “No shit.”

  “No shit.” Clarissa kept turning the check over and over in her hand, not sure if she should believe it was real.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “Well, how much?”

  “Oh, are you sitting down?” Clarissa sat down on the couch, afraid she might faint once she told Carol.

  “Yes, now spill, silly girl.”

  “One hundred thousand dollars.” Shaking her head, she still couldn’t believe the amount. “Can you believe it?”

  “I’m coming right down. Don’t move.”

  Clarissa still had the phone in her hand when Carol burst through the door. “Let me see. Let me see.” Grabbing the check, Carol turned the check over and whistled, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real check with that many zeros on it.”

  “I know. Can you believe it?”

  “Are you sure it’s real?”

  Elbowing Carol, Clarissa looked down at the check still in Carol’s hands, “Of course it’s real. It came by courier just now.”

  “Wow,” was all Carol could say as she stared at the check. “Was there a note or anything with it?”

  “Yeah.” Clarissa exchanged the note for the check, watching as Carol mouthed the note.

  “You must have made some impression on this guy you saw at Knight-Pharmaceutical, yesterday?” Carol handed the note back to Clarissa. “This, Mr. Lockwood.”

  “I didn’t see him. I saw some guy named, Kevin something. I’m actually kinda surprised. I didn’t think our meeting went all that well.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Shrugging her shoulders Clarissa continued, “Well, we were talking and then all of a sudden he got a call and had to cut the meeting short.”

  “Well this check says differently. Wow.”

  “I guess.”

  Clarissa looked at the check and then looked at Carol and started to laugh hysterically. “Wow,” was all Clarissa could say as she and Carol sank further into the couch. The stress of funding the masquerade ball was off of her and she was relieved she didn’t have to worry about it.

  “Well I guess I better send Mr. Lockwood a note and thank him for his generous donation.”

  “Note? Are you kidding me? You better get your ass over and thank him personally. Besides…” Carol raised her eyebrows, “he might be cute and single.”

  Clarissa raised an eyebrow and frowned at Carol.

  “Oh yeah. I forgot, you don’t do testosterone. Well….”

  Clarissa slapped Carol’s arm. “You don’t do men either. Remember, Mr. School Teacher?”

  “Well, if Mr. Lockwood is handsome and single, I might dump Mr. School Teacher and switch to rich and young. Remember,” Carol said raising a finger at Clarissa, “it’s just as easy to love someone with money as it is to love someone without. A whole lot easier.”

  “And they say men are such dogs.”

  “Woof,” Carol said, walking out of Clarissa’s office.

  Carol was right. Clarissa needed to thank Mr. Lockwood personally for the check. That much money deserved a personal thank you. Sitting down at her computer, she drafted a donation lett
er thanking Knight-Pharmaceutical for the endowment and reminding them that their donation was a tax deduction as well. Before sealing the letter, she dropped two VIP tickets into the envelope. Now, Clarissa didn’t have to worry about the masquerade ball for a few years.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  “The courier just called and said he delivered the check to Clarissa.”

  “Good.” A.J. sat back in her leather chair and closed her eyes. “Any word from Brax or Selene?”

  Kevin sat on the couch acting as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A.J. wanted to jump across the desk and strangle him as she watched him playing with his phone. Her skin crawled thinking about how he had been able to deceive her all this time. It took everything she had this morning to sit across the table and talk to him about their “plan” to protect Clarissa. She had already talked to Selene when they exchanged cars back last night. She had informed Selene that she was to report to her and her only. All of this was just a ploy to get Kevin to relax. She didn’t want to show her cards yet. No, she had plans for Kevin and they weren’t going to be what he thought. He would pay for his treachery, with his life.

  “Yeah, Brax is on Clarissa at the university and I sent Selene out to Clarissa’s house to make sure no one broke in. Just in case. You know?” Kevin said shrugging his shoulders.

  A.J. stood and walked to the window, pulling the shade lower. Thinking quickly, she responded, “I think we need to put Selene on Clarissa and Brax at the house. Selene looks more like a student. Brax will look like a gorilla looking for a forest.”