by K. B. Draper
Daylen turned a curious brow back to him and was met with two huge glass eyes. She smacked the binoculars away from his face.
“Oh.” He laughed at himself. “Right. Forgot. Never mind, you’re totally hot.”
“Good to know.” She spun back to find Roy R. Westfall, an employee of The Mad Batter, which just so happens to be Ruby’s and her favorite mom and pop bakery, located just down the street from their office. Roy was claiming that he’d suffered a “traumatizing” back injury while lifting bags of flour. According to the medical reports conveniently delivered by his lawyer, Roy was no longer able to work as he was restricted from lifting anything more than five pounds and unable to lift anything higher than his waist. The claim stated that Roy was suffering from chronic pain, and if the settlement offer was any indicator, a whole lot of mental anguish and distress.
Daylen watched Roy walk down the sidewalk; one hand gripping a bottle of something in a brown paper bag and the other filled with a woman’s ass cheek. The wolf-like smile Roy wore said the only anguish he was currently experiencing was that his apartment was still another fifty feet away. Daylen grabbed the camera and began snapping pictures as the two walked hand in ass toward them.
“So, is that good enough?” Theo asked as he leaned over to see the pictures Daylen was reviewing.
“No. Unfortunately, these just show that he’s a slimeball, not that he’s a slimeball without a back problem.” Daylen lifted the camera and snapped more photos. “We’ll wait about five minutes and see what else we can catch him doing.”
Roy adjusted himself in his pants as he stumbled up the stairs and through the apartment’s front door. “Make that two minutes,” Daylen muttered as she threw open her car door.
Daylen got her foot in the secure entrance a split second before the door was able to click and lock. She and Theo slipped in silently behind Roy and his pay-by-the-hour girlfriend. She wasn’t too concerned about being seen, as she was pretty sure the triple Ds he kept shoving his face into to conduct motorboat sounds were currently garnering all of his available attention.
Two minutes and five ‘that should NOT be done in public’s later, Roy and Top-heavy Barbie finally stumbled into Roy’s apartment.
Daylen moved down the hall, waving Theo to follow her. “You get the door and I’ll take the photos,” Daylen instructed as she readied herself along Roy’s doorframe with the camera.
Theo nodded, moved to stand directly in front of the door, balled his fists, and focused intently on the door as he blew out several quick breaths.
Daylen shot an arm out across his chest. “Hold up, Big Bad Wolf. What are you trying to do? Huff and puff and blow the door down?”
Theo relaxed. “No, I was going to kick in the door like Kanyon would do.”
Daylen bit her bottom lip so it wouldn’t smile. “Right. But, why don’t we go with something non-Kanyon like this time and simply try the doorknob.”
He nodded. “I guess that could work too.”
Daylen took his elbow, moving him off to the other side of the door. “You stand there. When I count to three, open the door wide so I can get a good shot of whatever is happening inside.” She looked at him again as she positioned herself and the camera. “And stay down and out of the way of the camera.” He hunched as he nodded. “Okay. One. Twwwwo. Three.”
Theo twisted the knob, pushed open the door, and Daylen began snapping away.
“Nicely done.” Ruby said as she scanned the photos Daylen dropped on her desk. “I think this will clear the matter up rather quickly.”
“Yes, I think it will. Especially this one.” Daylen reached over her aunt’s shoulder to tap a picture. “I mean, he’s not technically holding her higher than waist level, but she is definitely more than five pounds.”
Ruby picked up the photo and angled her head. “Good lord. Each butt cheek far exceeds that weight restriction.”
“True.” Daylen laughed as she moved to scoop up the photos and place them back into a manila envelope. “Another case closed.”
Ruby took another look at the photo she held in her hand, shook her head, then dropped it in the envelope with the rest of the evidence. “I have some info on that new case. You want to hold off until tomorrow or …”
“No. Now is good.” Daylen dropped into her usual seat in front of Ruby’s desk.
Ruby had known that would be her niece’s answer before she’d asked the question. Daylen had always been a hard worker, but ever since Kanyon had left, she’d taken it to an extreme. Ruby understood what it was like, she’d done the same thing after she pushed Jack away. It was a means of survival. Work so much you don’t have time to feel. Ruby nodded. “You’re probably not going to like this one,” Ruby warned.
“Okay,” Daylen answered suspiciously. “Why not?”
“It’s going to put you back in the Hollywood scene, for one.”
Daylen squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “For one? Is there more than one thing I’m not going to like?”
Ruby stood. “A small thing.”
“Small thing?”
“Small-ish,” Ruby said as she held up pinched fingers.
“Small-ish. Why do I feel like your definition of small-ish is more like huge-ish?”
Ruby shrugged. “It’s a matter of perspective.”
“So from my perspective, huge-ish and from your behind-the-desk-don’t-have-to-deal-with-it-yourself perspective, it’s small-ish.”
“Sounds about right.”
Daylen’s stomach began to flip. She had a feeling the small-ish, huge-ish depending on one’s perspective, had to deal with a certain 5’11”, black-haired, blue-eyed woman. “It involves her, doesn’t it?” Daylen asked in a whisper.
Ruby’s heart broke a little at the raw pain in her niece’s voice. She knew it’d be hard for Daylen, but it needed to happen, would inevitably happen. She was simply giving the grand plan a jumpstart. Moving the timeline up a tad.
“Yes,” Ruby said simply.
“How is that possible? Why? I don’t know if I’m ready to face her yet.” Daylen said as she dropped tear-filled eyes into her hands.
Ruby moved to her niece, knelt beside her, and stroked Daylen’s hair. “Now don’t do that.” She lifted Daylen’s face to hers and wiped a tear that slipped from her niece’s eye. “You know I don’t do well with tears.”
“I just don’t understand.” Daylen sniffed.
“You know those upstairs folks, they–”
Daylen felt Isadora materialize beside her. “Isadora.” Daylen shot up from her chair to throw her arms around the woman’s neck.
“Sweetheart,” Isadora soothed as she ran a calming hand up and down Daylen’s back while glaring at Ruby.
With one foot already out of the office, Ruby looked back. “I’m going to grab a cup of coffee. Anyone? No. Okay, then.”
“I just don’t understand,” Daylen started.
“Understand what exactly?”
“I don’t know.” She sniffed. “I guess I was hoping we were past this. Kanyon went back to her life and I was doing my thing. I mean, I’ve been able to solve cases, two this week, actually. Well, one article retrieval and one normal case, but still.”
“Have you not wanted this?” Isadora asked.
“Well … That’s … I mean, I wanted to talk to her, but on my terms.”
“On your terms?”
Hearing how that sounded now, Daylen amended. “Not my terms. Just when I was ready.” Not sounding much better, she tried again. “I mean, when it was safe to do so.”
“Safe? You have great control over your powers now,” Isadora offered.
“Now. But when I’m with Kanyon things are …”
“Enhanced?”
“I was thinking discombobulated, but …” She offered a weak smile. “But yes, enhanced. Intensified. What if I can’t handle it?”
“You are underestimating yourself. You are underestimating Kanyon. You have chosen your path and you are doing
your thing as you say. Do you feel Kanyon has been afforded the same opportunity?”
Daylen sighed. “I did it because I love her. I wanted to protect her.”
Isadora pulled Daylen back into her arms. “Oh child, I know, and she is so very lucky to have such a gift. However, I believe Kanyon would much prefer to have you versus your protection. This choice, your choice, is depriving you both of so much.” Isadora held Daylen’s chin in her hand. “Most of all, you are depriving Kanyon of you; one of the most beautiful and most lovely gifts she could ever receive.”
Daylen blushed, pulling her eyes away from Isadora’s.
“There is one more important thing you seem to be overlooking.” Daylen looked back at Isadora curiously. “You deserve to be happy.”
Daylen opened her mouth to say, “I am happy” but she closed it. She wouldn’t even try to fool Isadora or herself for that matter. “I know I screwed up,” she said instead.
“You made a choice, under challenging circumstances, that you thought was best at the time.”
“That’s just a nice way of saying I screwed up.” Daylen tried to smile.
Isadora pulled her back into an embrace. “Well, you did so from a very loving place.”
Daylen gave her a half laugh then sobered. “I miss her,” Daylen admitted. “Have you …”
“Seen her?” Isadora finished. “Yes, and she is suffering same as you.”
“You think she’ll want to see me?”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
“She’s said so?” Daylen tried.
“One does not need to hear words to know another’s heart.”
“Maybe she just misses being a Guardian. She was just figuring out the whole fire-from-her-fingertips thing,” Daylen retorted.
“She is no less a Guardian now than she was with you,” Isadora answered.
That statement took Daylen off guard. For some reason, she’d assumed that when she pushed Kanyon away that she’d lost her abilities. Which didn’t make any sense since she herself hadn’t lost her powers. Great. If she didn’t have enough to fret about already, the thought of Kanyon going off to become someone else’s Guardian … Like hell! “So …”
“So?” Isadora prompted.
“I’m scared,” Daylen admitted.
“Love is a very scary thing, but it is also very magical. It will bring sorrow at times, but it will bring you so much more joy if you let it.” And power, she thought.
Daylen stepped away from Isadora. “So, I basically just need to suck it up?”
“Basically,” Isadora confirmed.
Daylen let out a chuckle. “Alright.” She sighed. “I guess I need to go try to fix this.” She went silent for a long moment before turning back to Isadora. “Why is it different for me than it is for Aunt Ruby?” At Isadora’s curious look, she rephrased her question. “Why should I go after Kanyon, but there’s a no go for Aunt Ruby and Uncle Jack?”
Isadora smiled. “Screwing up, as you would say, apparently runs in the family. You are simply deciding to correct your mistakes.”
“You’re saying there’s no reason Aunt Ruby and Uncle Jack shouldn’t be … I mean, they are … They should be …”
Isadora’s smile turned devilish. “I am saying it is never too late to right a wrong.” Ruby was not the only one that could push fate alone.
Chapter 3
When the backdoor slammed, Katherine lifted her eyes from inspecting her perfectly manicured nails to scrutinize the black on black on more black outfit that Blue was wearing. “Nice outfit, Grim Reaper. Where’s your scythe?”
“Out getting sharpened. I’m thinking I’m going to bring some serious death down on someone soon,” Blue retorted.
“I hope it’s your fashion consultant,” Katherine countered. Blue scoffed. Katherine extended her hand palm up. “Yesterday’s creations?”
Blue slapped a folder in it. “Here. I don’t know why I have to take stupid pictures of everything. I just need someone to let me do my thing.”
“When you want milk, do you stand in the middle of a field and wait for a cow to come to you?” Katherine asked as she flipped through the photos.
Blue and her insolence dropped onto the stool next to Katherine. “Um no, much older Dolly Parton, ‘cause I’m lactose intolerant.”
Katherine ignored her and spread Blue’s photos out, examining them one at a time. “These are good.” She held up a picture of a severed head. “Exceptionally good, actually.”
“When did I agree to hold Intruder Anonymous meetings in my kitchen?” Kanyon asked as she walked into the room.
Katherine tilted her head toward Blue. “Would you like to take this one, or shall I?”
Blue waved a hand toward Kanyon. “She’s all yours.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be gone before … no one comes over here, ever.”
Blue nodded her approval. “Nice.”
“Thank you.” Katherine closed the folder. “I think we finally have the perfect depiction of your talents. And since you didn’t kill anyone on the last two jobs I got you, I think we’re ready. I’m going to have these made into a professional portfolio. In the meantime, try not to commit any crimes punishable by a year or more in jail.”
“Yeah, can’t promise anything,” Blue stated.
Katherine walked over to Kanyon, gave her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek, and then her routine head to toe once over. “Men’s sleeping pants and a tank top? Would some lingerie and a nice silk robe every once in a while kill you?”
“Good possibility. That’s why I’m not willing to risk it.”
Blue laughed.
Katherine let out the sigh of a long-suffering mother as she spun on a very high heel and headed toward the front door.
Kanyon gave Blue a sideways glance. “Why are you still in my kitchen?”
Blue stood. “I’m out, geez.” She headed over to the refrigerator. “As soon as I get a snack.”
“Another day went by and the two of you didn’t kill each other. Apparently, my master plan has failed,” Kanyon said as Blue came out of the refrigerator with a tub of $65 an ounce caviar, then grabbed a box of Ritz crackers from the cabinet.
Blue responded with a shrug. “Keep your enemies closer and all that. Why do you think I agreed to live here?”
“Free rent, cable, internet,” Kanyon replied, snatching the $125 worth of caviar on a five-cent cracker and shoved it in her mouth, “and food.”
“You know you can check out of Hotel Bitchy anytime now. It’s time to change the sheets and move on.”
“Whatever,” Kanyon said around a mouthful of cracker.
“And you need to eat more than that for breakfast,” Blue said, free of the sarcasm this time.
“Not hungry. I just need coffee.” She reached for the pot. “Damn it, Blue!”
“Early, more awesome bird gets the worm and the coffee,” Blue yelled just before the backdoor shut behind her.
“Super.” Kanyon glanced at her watch and groaned. She had to be on the set in an hour. For the thousandth time, she thanked God for the abnormally short filming time allowed for the movie. She was exhausted. They’d been filming around the clock, seven days a week, for the last eight months to make the deadline. The demanding schedule had one perk, it helped keep her mind off– A scratching sound from the front room derailed her thoughts.
Kanyon groaned. “Blue. Damn it.” Last time she’d heard a mystery noise coming from the front of the house, she’d opened the front door to find a nine-foot, mutant, rat-dragon sitting on its haunches in her front yard. It had glowing red eyes and a serpent tongue that flicked bursts of fire over the heads of passing pedestrians. She had gotten calls for a week and a new mailwoman after that deal.
Kanyon paused in the foyer and listened before moving to the front door. Another scratch. A thump. Kanyon yelled at the door. “I swear, Blue, if you have another rabid skunk creature out there, it’s going to end badly for both of you!” Scratch. Thump. She
placed her hand on the door handle and prepared herself for demons, rabid woodland creatures, vampires, or a herd of zombies. ‘Cause been there, glued Blue’s front door shut for that. “This better not be a zombie. I will cancel the cable if this is another freaking zombie!”
A very big, very alive, grey and white shaggy-haired dog, sat patiently on her front stoop. Kanyon eyed the dog suspiciously, waiting for its eyes to glow red, for it to puke green liquid on her shoes, go Cujo on her …
The dog tilted its head, scoffed, then walked past her into the house and down the hall.
“No, please, come on in and make yourself at home,” Kanyon offered as she watched the dog disappear into her kitchen. She looked heavenward. “Seriously, when did I lose control?” She asked as she closed the door then followed after her hairy visitor.
“Hey!” Kanyon darted around the island to pull the dog’s head out of her leftover meatloaf. It was already half gone. “How the heck did you get the lid off?”
The dog, now sitting casually back on his hindquarters, shrugged.
Kanyon sighed. “Well, I guess it’s yours now.” She sat the container on the floor in front of him.
The dog took the rest in with two gulps, looked back up at her as he licked his chops, and pushed the dish toward her with a paw.
Kanyon looked down at the empty dish then back at the dog. “I take it you want more?” She dropped the dish in the sink and leaned into the refrigerator before looking back at the dog. “All I have is spaghetti.”
The dog nodded, pawing once at the floor.
“Spaghetti it is then.” Kanyon set the dish of spaghetti in front of the dog. It was gone before Kanyon was even back upright.
The dog looked back up at Kanyon and moved the empty dish toward her with a paw.
“No. No more.”
The dog scoffed.
“Did you just scoff?”
The dog ignored her, bending down, picking up the dish with his teeth, and walking it over to the counter. Since his head was counter high, he simply gave the bowl a flick, landing it in the sink.
“Neat trick. I don’t even have Blue trained to do that.” Kanyon took the opportunity to size up the dog. He was dang near the size of a Shetland pony, but lean, even with his long coat. She couldn’t immediately assign a breed. Everything about the dog seemed to be mismatched, as if a hodgepodge of dogs had laid claim to his DNA. The hair on his face was coarser than his silky body. Tufts stuck up around his eyes, giving the animal an odd air of intelligence while allowing an unobstructed view of the mix of light and dark irises. His left eye was light blue, nearly white, while his right was a deep chocolate brown rimmed in a thin line of rich gold. His coat was that same mix of dark and light, patches of deep silver comingled with soft white.
