Past Due

by Catherine Winchester

  Kate shrugged, which summed up how she felt so Frankie didn’t speak for her.

  “Is there somewhere for you to go?” Alex asked. He hadn't really considered it before.

  “She can hear people calling to her but she’s afraid if she goes to them she won’t be able to come back.”

  “Maybe you won’t. Maybe that’s okay,” Alex smiled reassuringly. “It’s time you looked after you for a change. I know you’re worried about your family but I promise I’ll help them. A nurse, money, whatever they need, Kate, that’s my job now and you have my word I won’t let them down.”

  “She thinks it’s very kind of you but it’s her job, not yours.”

  “You can’t help them any more, Kate. I’m sorry.”

  Kate closed her eyes against the pain.

  “You can keep watch if you want, I’m sure that’s allowed where you’re going and if I break my promise you have my permission to smite me down.”

  “She says she’ll hold you to that, old man.”

  “I’ll catch whoever did this, Kate. He won’t harm anyone else.”

  Kate finally opened her eyes and reached a ghostly hand out to Alex, cupping his cheek as he did hers.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Kate’s image faded and Alex turned to Frankie. “Has she gone?”

  Frankie shook her head. “No, but she’s preparing to. She’s having one last look around and then she’ll go.”

  Alex sat beside Frankie on the bed. “That was surreal.”

  Frankie leaned forward, cupping her head in her hands. “Yeah.”

  “Have you always been able to hear ghosts?”

  “I have to concentrate.” She sounded tired.

  “You realise that since a ghost’s essence is the same as a human's you could probably read human thoughts at a distance too.”

  “I want to hear less from other people, not more,” she snapped.

  “But I believe practice will make it easier to control your gift and block any unwanted thoughts.”

  “I’m not a mind reader!”

  “Images, impressions then, whatever you want to call them.”

  “Alex, just drop it, okay?”

  Alex finally seemed to realise how weary she sounded. “Are you okay?”

  “Just weak. It’s draining. Usually I’d bring something sugary but in all the excitement recently, I forgot.”

  Alex placed a hand on her back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise this was hard for you.”

  “Why would you?” surprisingly she wasn’t being sarcastic. “It’s not as bad as usual though. Maybe it’s your demon juice.”

  Offended as he was at being called a demon he let the comment slide. She was trying to lighten the mood and probably had no idea it was offensive. How could she?

  “Come on, let’s get out of here and find you something sweet. Hopefully there’ll be a message from the professor waiting for us.”

  Two chocolate bars later and Frankie was feeling much better. She went back to Alex’s place with him because right now, he seemed to be the one with the inside scoop.

  Edinburgh wasn’t a big city, its population just over the half million mark but finding someone who was off the grid was nearly impossible in any city, no matter how small. Finding out about the ritual being performed and which demon was being summoned seemed like their best hope for a lead at the moment.

  Before they could ascertain if there was a message from the professor though, it became clear there was something else waiting for them. Something in a rather large black Hummer.

  Alex slowed the car as he approached the small car park at the back of the club. “Oh no.” he breathed.

  “What?”

  “It would seem we have help.” He pulled up next to the Hummer and was at Frankie’s door in a flash. She got out, wondering both at his unexpected chivalry and his cryptic comments.

  Both front doors of the Hummer opened at the same time. One man went around the back of the car and came to stand by the back of the vehicle, the other opened the rear door.

  The man, or rather vampire, who emerged was striking. It wasn’t so much that he was handsome, he wasn’t, at least not in the traditional sense. He was tall, muscular and his hair looked as black as coal, though Frankie conceded that could be because it was night-time. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, looked slightly rumpled after his trip and Frankie wondered how far he had come.

  Based on appearances alone, she wouldn’t have looked twice if she’d passed him in the street but he seemed to have a presence that commanded attention. Frankie knew it wasn’t just the huge vehicle or menacing, black clad, bodyguards. She could tell from their auras that they were shapeshifters.

  If he were in one of those romance novels her mother liked so much, he would have a name like Stryker or Lucien or Rafe.

  Frankie suddenly felt rather ill-at-ease, standing in a parking lot with two shapeshifters and two vampires for company. She was painfully aware that she was the weakest person present.

  “Alex!” the new vamp smiled cheerfully and held his hand out for Alex, who had positioned himself between Frankie and all three visitors. Frankie doubted it was by accident.

  After a brief hesitation, Alex took a step forward, leaving Frankie slightly exposed, and shook the offered hand.

  “Josh, I remember saying I didn’t need any help.” He tried to keep his voice light but Frankie could see the tension in him.

  “I’ve been doing some digging myself, into this book you were asking about.”

  “Did you discover anything helpful?”

  “Not as such.” He left the words hanging there for a few moments before he spoke again. Frankie thought it felt like a test; would Alex challenge him for coming?

  “The book is bad,” Josh finally continued.

  Frankie tried not to roll her eyes. He couldn’t have said that by phone?

  “Go on,” Alex encouraged.

  “I spoke to a few contacts, one a respected historian and I asked him how bad the book was in terms of one to ten, one being kittens and puppies, ten being the apocalypse.”

  “I am so not liking where this is going.” Frankie mumbled.

  Josh caught her eye briefly then looked back to Alex. “He answered eight.”

  Okay, very, very bad but not end of the world bad, Frankie translated in her head.

  Alex had a rather different interpretation. “So the demons in that book are so bad they could still bring about the apocalypse on their own once released.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Oh shit,” Frankie thought.

  “Quite a colourful companion you have there, Alex,” Josh smiled directly at her for the first time.

  Frankie simultaneously realised two things, one that she had actually spoken her profanity aloud and two that Josh was absolutely fucking terrifying.

  Alex reached behind him and Frankie grabbed his hand, drawing a sort of silent strength from him.

  The air was still thick with tension and Alex eased it by suggesting they go inside. He ushered Frankie ahead of himself up the steps and into the apartment first. He was careful to keep himself between her and the others at all times.

  Whilst Frankie found his over-protectiveness rather patronising, she also found it rather comforting and couldn’t bring herself to tell him to lay off.

  Once inside one of the shapeshifters stayed by the front door, the other headed down the hallway to Alex’s office. Frankie noted their familiarity with the place and realised these people must have been among the few visitors Alex had had here.

  Alex ushered Josh into the living room and they sat on opposite sofas, facing each other. Alex pulled Frankie down beside him. Frankie had thought the showdown with Will had been machismo but the feeling between these two this was machismo on PCP.

  “I would prefer we didn’t speak in front of the human.” Josh’s tone admonished Alex for even thinking such a thing.

  “And I would
prefer that we did.”

  Josh thought for a moment. “Very well. I suppose you can erase anything untoward she may hear from her memory later.”

  Frankie was ready to pound this slime ball into the carpet and if she’d stood even half a chance of succeeding, she might well have tried. As it was, she took all her anger and fear out on Alex’s poor hand. If he were human, Alex would probably have been in a lot of pain by now. She was glad that Alex was made of tougher stuff.

  “Why don’t you bring me up to speed?” Josh suggested.

  Frankie could feel the tension in the room - these two were holding themselves back from killing each other. And to think she’d thought Alex had been over-reacting when he’d said that vampires were loners.

  Alex briefly went through the case to date, leaving both Frankie and any mention of her job out. His voice was stiff and formal. She could also feel Josh appraising her as Alex spoke and felt rather like chattel, having her worth evaluated. It wasn’t a nice feeling. As Josh looked her over she almost bowed her head submissively but that wasn’t her style. When he finally caught her eye he gave her a slight smile and Frankie felt like prey caught in a hunter's sights.

  Alex growled, a low guttural sound and Josh’s smile widened. He was enjoying this.

  When her phone rang she jumped slightly and hoped no one noticed. She pulled the phone from her bag, then hesitated. It was Will. She wanted to take the call but she also realised that the two vampires present would probably be able to hear both sides of the conversation and she didn’t want to put Will on Josh’s radar. She silenced the phone and put it away.

  “I have to go,” she said, rising to her feet.

  Alex looked both relieved and worried. If she hadn't felt so highly strung she’d have thought it comical but as it was, she simply wanted to get out of there.

  “I’ll see you to your car,” Alex rose with her and, to her surprise took her down through his office and into the club. Once in the club he stopped. “They won’t be able to hear us above all the other voices,” he assured her.

  Frankie nodded. “He’s trouble, right?” Trouble was nowhere near enough to express what she felt, but she couldn’t really articulate how he made her feel.

  “Yes, I would prefer you stayed away from him but I also feel the need to have you close while he’s around.”

  “Why?”

  “Predator’s instinct. As a fellow predator I feel the need to protect you from him.”

  “I thought it was easier for you to be around each other with humans present?”

  “With a lot of humans, yes, but no humans would be preferable to only one. Ample prey relaxes us but with only one person present… We’re both acutely aware that we’d be fighting over the same meal.”

  Frankie closed her eyes; this was too much information and she couldn’t process it right now.

  Alex knew his words were alien to her but if she was going to be around him she needed to understand that he wasn’t human. He hoped she would understand. “Things should be… easier now you’ve left.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Was that your policeman friend?” he asked when she didn’t reply.

  “Yes. I…” There was so much she wanted to say, to ask, but the words wouldn’t form. “I should go find out what he wants.”

  “Be safe, Frankie. And if you have a lead, please let me know. Don’t go up against him alone.”

  Frankie could hear the genuine concern in his voice but it was just one more thing that she couldn’t deal with right now. She reached up and kissed him briefly. “Call me when you hear from the professor.”

  She left through the front entrance and walked around the corner towards the small car park at the rear. She paused along the side of the building and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. This was ridiculous; she hadn't felt this rattled when she’d met Alex. Of course she’d been cautious, but compared to how Josh made her feel, meeting Alex had been a pleasure.

  She took a few more deep breaths then pushed off from the wall. She still had a job to do and right now that was what she needed to concentrate on.

  Rather than calling Will back, Frankie went home. She was in no state of mind to play games right now and she had to admit that’s what her relationship with Will had become; a case of revealing enough information to conceal the truth. It was exhausting at the best of times.

  Once home she turned the TV on for background and went to the computer. She scanned the police files but found nothing helpful there, so since it had been a few days, she fired off an update to her boss. She was lucky that she had relative autonomy in her job and didn’t have to check in at set times.

  With that done, she fixed a bowl of cereal and a large whisky and curled up on the sofa to process the day’s events. Or rather, the evening’s events.

  After tonight she could no longer avoid the fact that Alex was a hunter, a predator. And while he may not want to kill her, she was still his prey.

  Suddenly losing her appetite, Frankie put the cereal aside and downed the rest of her whisky. She rose to get a top-up when the headlines on News 24 caught her attention. She turned to the screen to see a young red haired woman speaking to camera. She was on location.

  “The body, which disappeared from Mayfield Funeral Home just over a week ago, was discovered on Portobello beach earlier this evening. Sources close to the investigation say the body was riddled with bullet holes but so far the police have declined to comment.”

  “This really is quite bizarre, Helen. Is there much of a precedent for body snatching?” the disembodied presenter’s voice asked.

  “Well, of course Edinburgh has the infamous case of Burke and Hare who, in the 19 century, murdered people and sold their bodies to the medical school, although in this case we’ve been told that there is no doubt that the victim died of natural causes.”

  The presenter asked another question but Frankie had heard enough.

  “Shit!” Frankie exclaimed. Those were probably her bullet holes. She wondered what the dumping of the body meant; was he finished killing?

  She grabbed her phone to call Alex but hesitated; she couldn’t call him with Josh around. He would probably call her when Josh was gone so she’d just have to wait.

  Waiting wasn’t something Frankie enjoyed. Patience may have been a virtue but as far as Frankie was concerned, it was highly over-rated.

  Once Frankie had left, Alex found it much easier to be civil to Josh. Their aggression wasn’t usually much of an issue since they were both old and practised in managing their emotions, not to mention that they’d known each other for over 400 years and had formed a friendship of sorts. At least as much of a friendship as one could have with a vampire they hadn't sired.

  It was unsettling to realise how much difference one human could make to the dynamic of their interactions.

  When Alex went back into the living room he found Josh where he had left him.

  “She’s very pretty,” Josh commented.

  “Thank you,” he answered stiffly.

  “Have you known her long?”

  “No, not long.” He could tell that Josh’s interest was piqued. It was unusual to be so protective of a human, especially so soon and he wanted to know what was so special about this one.

  “You’ve already exchanged blood,” Josh stated. He would have been able to smell it on her. “You are planning to turn her?” Vampires rarely exchanged blood with a human for any other reason.

  Before Alex could reply, his phone rang. He excused himself and rushed to the study in the hopethat it was the professor calling back.

  It was. Josh followed when he heard Alex speaking German and stood in the doorway. Josh could, of course, hear both sides of the conversation and as the call continued his expression grew graver. Alex’s head was bent over his desk as he took notes but when he finally looked up, he could see his own fear reflected in Josh’s eyes.

  Because he didn’t want Josh to realise how equal their relationship was, Alex slipped
out of his apartment to call Frankie. When he was far enough away that he was sure neither Josh nor his shapeshifting body guards would overhear, he dialled her number. Frankie answered on the first ring.

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  He smiled at her directness. One day he was sure it would irritate him but for now it was endearing. “I’ve managed to get away to call you,” he explained.

  “Who was that?”

  “An old friend.”

  “Does he always travel with a personal guard?”

  “No but he’s walking, uninvited, into a dangerous situation so I’m not surprised he brought backup. There is a reason he’s lived so long.”

  “Why not bring other vampires? They’re much stronger than a shifter.”

  “Probably because the car wasn’t big enough for anyone else’s ego,” he chuckled.

  “So, have you heard anything about the grimoire yet?”

  Alex hesitated. While what he was about to do was surely for the best, he was sure Frankie wasn’t going to like it. At all.

  “Alex?”

  “Frankie, I think it’s better if you let me handle things from now on.”

  “Alex,” her voice was low, warning him he was going down a dangerous path.

  “Frankie, please, you nearly died last time we got a lead, what will happen next time?”

  “You do realise that you’d have nothing if it weren’t for me?”

  “Yes,” he did. And he was sorry he had to leave her out now. He knew that she may never forgive him but that was a risk he had to take.

  “And you understand that this isn’t some flight of fancy for me, that this is actually my job and the British government pays me to do this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then if you know me at all, you must realise I’m not going to leave this one alone.”

  “I do, Frankie. My hope is simply to slow you down, giving me a chance to neutralise the threat.”