Rajmund

by D. B. Reynolds

  He turned off the shower, disgusted with the whole business. Drying off quickly, he was halfway dressed when his phone went off. He picked it up, not surprised to see it was Emelie.

  "Em,” he said, by way of greeting. “How'd it go today with Sarah and Blackwood?"

  Emelie sucked in a breath on whatever she'd been about to say and said, “Right, let's start at the restaurant, then.” Raj frowned, but Emelie had launched into her report, so he listened carefully. “Angel managed to get a bug on Sarah ahead of time, so we got the whole thing. Blackwood tried to blackmail her, threatening to go to the press with her true identity—"

  "Blackmail her? Wait, what identity?” Raj interrupted.

  "Okay, this is where it gets tricky. Blackwood seems to know Sarah from back in California."

  "Yeah, she told me. A friend of the family or something."

  "Not exactly. Sweet little Sarah hasn't been quite forthcoming with us. Her real name is Susan Siemanski. That name familiar to you at all?"

  Raj frowned. Sarah wasn't really Sarah? What the fuck? “No,” he said. “Should it be?"

  "Not unless you spend way too much time on the Internet."

  "I pay people to do that for me,” he said impatiently. “What the fuck's going on, Em?"

  "Susan Siemanski pops up on several web sites, every one of them dedicated to the weird and unknown. Paranormal shit. Our guys cruise those sites looking for supposed vampire activity. It's sometimes a cover for the real thing and we—"

  "I know this, Em. Get to the point."

  "Sorry. Susan, aka Sarah Stratton, was fifteen when she claimed to be—I guess the word is channeling kidnapped women in her dreams. There were two cases made public, a few months apart. In each case a woman was found dead after the police ignored Siemanski's warnings. She drops off the radar after that, which explains why Sarah didn't exist until ten years ago. She must have changed her—"

  "Right,” Raj cut her off, feeling his own anger grow. She'd been lying to him the whole time, had let him think she'd run away to escape a bad home situation, had let him conjure all sorts of possibilities. And none of it was true. She was a fucking psychic. Was that her connection to this case? Was she getting hints of the missing women in her dreams or whatever the fuck she did? Goddamn it, she'd played him for a complete fool.

  "Raj, you there?"

  "Yeah. So what's Blackwood want?"

  "Tell me your dreams kind of bullshit, but it was obvious he wanted her working exclusively for him, no one else, and especially not us disgusting blood drinkers. I believe that's how he put it."

  "Imagine that,” Raj said absently, pulling a shirt out of the closet and working his way into it without putting the phone down. “And he seemed like such a nice man, too."

  "Yeah, well, fortunately one of his fans stopped by and Sarah made a clean getaway. She went back to her house and stayed there. Unfortunately, the slick asshole had a camera crew waiting out front to film his triumphant rediscovery of the long lost teenage psychic, or barring that, to follow through on his threat of exposing her. Which, apparently, he's decided to do."

  He stopped what he was doing. “What's happening?"

  "We have a situation."

  Raj heard Emelie talking to someone else, a one-sided conversation, like she was on a second cell phone. He heard her swear and then shout orders to someone in the warehouse. “That was Yossi,” she said, coming back to him. Sarah's house is swarming with reporters wanting to know why a psychic has been called in to help find William Cowens's daughter. The police are there too, with that Scavetti guy. He wants to take her into custody—"

  "No!” Raj all but roared. He heard Em talking on the other cell again.

  "Angel thinks she can persuade Sarah to let her inside. Do you want her to—"

  "Yes. I want someone inside that house. I don't want Sarah disappearing into police custody. I need to know whatever she knows about this case. Tell Angel now, Em. I'll wait."

  Em spoke briefly and came back. “Okay, Yossi and Cervantes are staying outside, but Angel's hitting the door now. What next?"

  Raj was already pulling on his jacket, the phone snugged between his shoulder and his ear. He could hear a lot of noise from Em's end, SUV engines revving to go.

  "Em!” he shouted, wanting to be certain she heard. “We need a getaway car, something anonymous."

  "Will do, boss,” her words were jumping as she ran to join the guys in the SUVs.

  Raj punched the exit code for his vault and waited impatiently as the door swung open. “I'll meet you at Sarah's,” he said and hung up, racing for the garage.

  "What the fuck?” Raj took one look at the street in front of Sarah's duplex and circled around the block, remembering an alley of some sort and assuming she had a back door. He'd been a bit distracted the two times he'd been in her kitchen. The east end of the alley was blocked by a chain link fence. He swore viciously and circled around again, turning down the west end of the alley and speed dialing Em as he drove up to and parked behind Sarah's car.

  "Where are you?” he asked, before she could say anything.

  "We're in three vehicles, two SUVs and the rental sedan. The two SUVs are holding at either end of the block. It's a mess out there, boss."

  "Yeah, I saw that. I'm in the alley behind Sarah's. There're a few reporters hanging around back here, but nothing I can't handle. Too dark for the rest of them, I guess. I want both SUVs to come in the front. Tell them to make an impression. You bring the sedan around back; you and I will go in this way. Is Angel in the house?"

  "Yes, my lord, along with Detective Scavetti who is not a happy camper, according to Angel. Sarah has dug in her heels and refuses to do anything until you get there. Scavetti's about to blow, but Angel doesn't sound too worried about it."

  "I've met Scavetti. I'll put my money on Angel any day. Give her a call, tell her what's about to happen and tell her to brief Scavetti. I don't want a gun in my face when I come through the back door."

  "I don't think you're Scavetti's favorite person right now."

  "I'm crushed.” Raj looked up as a white Taurus appeared in his review mirror, with Em at the wheel. He executed a quick U-turn so the BMW was facing the open end of the alley. Em did the same, pulling up behind him. She got out of the car and gave him an excited grin.

  "Fun times tonight, huh, boss?"

  Raj shook his head. He had to remind himself sometimes that behind Emelie's cover model exterior was a total adrenaline junkie. She lived for this kind of thing. “Everyone set?"

  She nodded. “At your word, they'll hit the gas. Two minutes to the front of the house, two minutes inside."

  Raj surveyed the situation in back. The grubby yard was surrounded by a battered wooden fence, and if there was a light, it wasn't lit. A lopsided gate was standing wide open, its padlock hanging uselessly on the fence's U-ring, probably put there by the ten or so diehard press types huddled around their Blackberries in the darkness. Occasionally, one of them would glance up at the house, but nothing was stirring up there, either. Sarah's windows were all covered, blinds drawn and curtains closed, but he caught the flash of the landlady's curious face from an upstairs window next door. The woman would have made a great spy. There was no light leaking into the yard from inside Sarah's duplex, and behind him, the alley was just as poorly lit, with no street lights. A motion activated flood lamp, which had lit up when he drove past, had gone dark again. Three cars were parked along the side, all of them heading into the dead-end, and presumably belonging to the reporters, because the residents would know better. “All right,” he said to Em. “I'll give these people a nice nap and then you and I go in the back at the same time Yossi and the others hit the front. They make a big noise, take Angel out as a decoy and storm away. She's about the same size as Sarah, we'll just cover her hair. You exit back here with Sarah and take her to the warehouse. I'll handle Scavetti and whatever else comes up and meet you there later."

  "I can handle the cop if you'd
rather—"

  "He knows me. You take Sarah."

  Em studied him briefly. “You're the boss."

  Raj nodded. “Give Yossi the go ahead."

  Sarah sat huddled halfway up the stairs, hugging her knees to her chest, utterly miserable. Poor Mrs. M. was next door, as trapped as Sarah herself. Scavetti couldn't decide if he was more pissed about Raj, or the fact that everyone would now think the Buffalo Police Department, i.e. Tony Scavetti, was using a psychic to solve their very high profile case. Once he'd agreed to give Raj ten minutes, the detective had thrown his hands up in disgust and disappeared into Sarah's living room where she could hear him swearing at someone on his cell phone. Angel was doing pretty much the same, albeit with a lot less swearing, whispering into her headset like some sort of special ops agent in an action flick.

  For her part, Sarah didn't know if Raj's imminent arrival was good news or bad, but she did know he could make her disappear faster than she could have on her own and without involving the police. So she sat on her stairs where no one could see her from the outside, listening to the competing mutterings of Scavetti and Angel, and waiting for Raj who probably hated her.

  She sat up abruptly, as two things happened all at once. Angel shouted, “They're coming in,” and a sudden roar of truck engines and squealing tires sent Scavetti racing for the front door. He cursed violently when Angel whipped the door open ahead of him, but then both stood back as four men in black combat gear stormed through the crowd of shouting, angry reporters, stomped up onto the porch and into the house. Angel slammed the door behind them and Sarah's small hallway was suddenly crowded with big, hulking vampires, while Scavetti was all but thumping his chest in anger. The testosterone was so thick in the air she looked up at the ceiling, expecting to see clouds of it hovering visibly over their heads.

  "What the fuck?” Scavetti yelled. “Who the hell authorized—"

  "I did,” Raj said from the kitchen. With all the fuss and noise at the front door, Sarah hadn't even heard the back door open. She realized that had been the plan, that the team entering through the front had one purpose—to cover their master's entrance from the backyard.

  At the sound of his voice, all four vampires turned as one, muscles quivering like horses at a starting gate as they dropped to one knee, along with Angel. Scavetti stared, mouth agog, his gaze traveling from the kneeling vampires to Raj and back again in disbelief.

  Sarah heard heavy footsteps, and then Raj's head and shoulders came into view through the banister to her right. Wearing black leather and denim, radiating a dangerous sort of authority, he looked larger than life and twice as lethal as the vampire minions kneeling before him. And while he had to be aware of her sitting there, he didn't so much as glance her way. Her heart clenched painfully. Em strolled in behind him, dressed in black combat gear and looking far better in it than Lara Croft ever did. Raj gestured to the kneeling vamps and they jumped to their feet.

  "Detective Scavetti,” Raj said calmly. “Is Ms. Stratton under arrest?"

  Sarah jerked at the sound of her name, while the police detective glared daggers all around. “I don't fucking need this crap, Gregor,” he snarled.

  Raj's heavily armed vampires bristled with outrage at this disrespectful treatment of their master, and Sarah shrank back against the wall, expecting violence. But Raj only smiled. “Let me take this off your hands, Detective. I assure you it is none of Ms. Stratton's making. If you're looking for the person who leaked her identity, you should call Edward Blackwood."

  So she'd been right about Blackwood. Not that there'd ever been any doubt. The bastard had been phoning almost nonstop all afternoon, clearly figuring Sarah would have no one to turn to but him. He didn't know that she'd rather let Scavetti arrest her than put herself into his greasy hands.

  "For all the fucking good it will do,” Scavetti muttered in response to Raj's comment about Blackwood. He looked around. “Obviously, you have a plan."

  "Angel here will serve as a decoy.” He gestured at the diminutive woman. “My people will exit through the front door, as though spiriting away Ms. Stratton, taking off into the night with great fanfare and drawing as much attention as possible."

  Sarah looked at Angel who caught her gaze and grinned conspiratorially. She was leaning into the heavily muscled vampire standing behind her and Sarah wondered if they were a couple, if that was why Angel, who obviously wasn't a vampire, was a part of Raj's company.

  "Meanwhile, my lieutenant,” Raj was saying, indicating Emelie who snapped off a quick salute in response. He gave her a quelling look, but there was a small smile playing around his mouth as he did so. “My lieutenant,” he continued, “will take Ms. Stratton out through the back and transport her to a location known only to my people."

  Scavetti had looked satisfied up to that point, but now he scowled. “We'll want to know where you're taking her. And where the fuck will you be during all of this?"

  Raj gave the detective a patient look. “I thought you and I could take this opportunity to update one another on our progress, Detective, including, of course, Ms. Stratton's location. Our goal in this matter has consistently been to assist in your investigation, not impede it. Once we have concluded to your satisfaction, I will rejoin my team."

  Scavetti looked like he had swallowed something rotten, but he nodded.

  For her part, Sarah had some pretty real doubts that Raj had any intention of informing anyone about her whereabouts once they left this house. She also couldn't help noting that it was Emelie who'd be taking her away, not Raj. So much for the knight-on-a-white-horse scenario. She was pretty sure none of those scenes involved having the knight's sidekick ride away with the rescued maiden. She also wondered if anyone was going to ask her opinion about any of this, or if she was going to be treated like just so much baggage—

  "Is that acceptable to you, Sarah?"

  Jerked out of her thoughts, she raised her head and found Raj looking at her for the first time since he'd shown up out of nowhere. She studied his ice-blue eyes and found not a trace of warmth for her anywhere in their cold depths. She swallowed around the tightness in her throat and nodded. “Yes. Thank you."

  Raj held her gaze a moment longer. “You should call your neighbor and see if she wants to be rescued as well,” he said in a cool voice.

  "Okay,” Sarah whispered. She rose quickly, grateful for the excuse to go upstairs and away from the speculative looks of Emelie and the other vampires. She had taken only one step when a thought occurred to her. She stopped and turned around to ask, “What about my car?” Raj just looked at her. “I'll need my car wherever we're going,” she insisted. She didn't know exactly what she'd do or where she'd go, but she definitely knew she didn't want to endure this frigidly polite Raj any longer than necessary.

  He held her gaze a moment longer and then glanced at Emelie. “Give me your keys,” she said, addressing Sarah. “I'll have one of the guys bring it to the safe house later."

  "Okay,” Sarah agreed. She went upstairs to call Mrs. M. and to grab the duffle bag she'd packed earlier, before the press had descended and thrown all of her plans into the dumper. She'd go along with Raj's escape plan for now. But at the first opportunity, she would be gone. If he didn't want anything to do with her, that was fine. She didn't need him to get away from this town. She'd orchestrated her first disappearance when was she eighteen years old and broke. She could sure as hell do it now. Raj wouldn't have to worry about her much longer.

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  Chapter Thirty-three

  The maneuver went off like clockwork. Not that Sarah expected anything else. Emelie seemed to know what Raj wanted before he could ask for it, and there was no arguing once something was decided. His vampire guards paid almost fanatic attention to every word he said, but then, what he said seemed to make sense, so why not?

  Mrs. M. had agreed to be evacuated and plans were quickly made to drop her at her son's. Raj said he would take care of her after every
one else was gone, and he and Scavetti had finished their discussion. And he hadn't said a single word to Sarah since asking her to call Mrs. M.

  When the time came, every light in the house was doused, and Raj's team of black-clad vampires, with Angel tucked amongst them, stormed through the front door and into the yard as if the Dogs of Hell were on their heels. Before they were off the porch, Emelie was hustling Sarah out the back door and through the yard, where she almost tripped over someone's body. She stifled a shriek and grabbed Em, who laughed quietly.

  "Don't worry. They're still alive."

  "What happened to them?” Sarah whispered, maneuvering around what she now saw were several people, looking particularly ghostly in the bluish light of their Blackberries and cell phones.

  "Raj happened to them,” Em said, with some satisfaction.

  "What does that mean?” Sarah snapped irritably.

  Em tsked, holding up a hand for quiet as they went through the gate and into the alley, where a boring white Taurus was parked behind Raj's sedan. There were tens of thousands of white American sedans just like this one all around Buffalo. They were as common as the wind, and Buffalo was a very windy city.

  In minutes, they were out of the alley and onto the street. Emelie made one disparaging comment about the car's gutless engine, but she stayed within the speed limit as they headed toward the airport. She glanced at Sarah and said, “I'm taking you to the warehouse for now."

  "Why didn't Raj leave with us?"

  "Because anyone can drive this tedious little car, but only Raj can do what Raj does."

  "What does that mean?” Sarah demanded again.

  "Make all the reporters go away,” Emelie said in a spooky movie voice and laughed.

  "Great,” Sarah muttered, not seeing the humor.

  "Don't worry. He'll mess with their memories a bit, but they'll all be fine, even that nasty police detective—or at least as fine as he ever gets. Raj just doesn't want anyone to remember a bunch of vampires arriving en masse to save your cute little ass."