Shadows May Fall

by Corcoran, Mell

  “Actually, could I bum something from you, Frank?” Dillon asked. “I don’t think anyone will appreciate sitting next to me with the stink of decomp fused to my clothes.”

  “Ugh!” Abby stopped preparing her plate. “Thank you for that appetizer!”

  “Sure!” Frank chuckled. “Just go on up and take what you need.”

  “Thanks.” Dillon charged up after Lou and despite her request they not wait, none of them could pick up their utensils until they got back.

  “You think she’s doing okay?” Max asked Niko who sat staring at the swirling wine in his glass like he was on an acid trip.

  “Yeah, she’s fine.” He looked up and met Max’s concerned gaze. “I’m sure she’s beat right now though. They’ve been working almost non-stop since Thursday and she’s using any spare moment in between to study and train. It’s making me tired just watching her.”

  “Anyone know anything about the case they caught tonight?” Max inquired.

  “No but I can put a call in to Davidson.” Frank got up from the table and started dialing his phone. “Caroline might know too.”

  “Find out what you can.” Max requested. “As much as I loathe to interfere, perhaps we can toss a little help in her direction, lighten the load a bit. I don’t want her to be frazzled by the time the weekend comes. She’s going to be nervous as is.”

  “Can’t you postpone that a week or two, Max?” Shevaun asked, worried as well.

  “I wish that I could.” He already tried to figure how to put the meeting with the other Principates off until Lou had her feet on solid ground. They could not delay in getting to the bottom of the illegal blood smuggling operation Lou uncovered. “We simply don’t have the luxury of time right now.”

  Shevaun knew they were dealing with an untenable situation. Max and his people needed to act swiftly and fiercely. The blood smuggling operation was a mortal offense to their people. While the offenders they had caught thus far had been summarily dealt with in the harshest of terms, there were more out there that had to be stopped. The Cuban operation that Niko and the rest of the Aegis had dismantled, by way of a few strategically placed bundles of explosives, was surely not the only production facility. An analysis of the bottled blood that Lou discovered turned up clear cut evidence that a good portion of those bottles had come from Russian, Danish, French, Italian and Scottish victims. There were other nationalities detected via DNA testing but trace analysis of the bottles and labels indicated the materials had been from various European regions, not Cuba. With the embargo on Cuba, it was relatively easy to sort through their materials since resources for such an operation were limited. It was both Niko and Max’s fear that Cuba was going to be the smallest operation they would encounter.

  When they heard Lou and Dillon coming down stairs, everyone started eating so that Lou would think they didn’t wait. The cozy late supper was heaven to her and it lasted well until after eleven. By the time Lou was sufficiently stuffed and laughed out, it was close to midnight. Max could see her eyes start to fade so he broke up the party in order for her to get some sleep.

  “Dillon, you are more than welcome to crash here if you want.” Shevaun extended the invitation.

  “That is very kind of you, Mrs. McAllister but it’s only a five minute drive and I really need a shower.” Dillon was a little embarrassed that he still smelled like a dead body. “I’ll wash these and get them back to you, Frank.”

  “Don’t sweat it.” Frank slapped Dillon on the back. “I really rather you burn them after hearing where you’ve been today.”

  They all laughed and said their farewells. Lou kissed her mother and step-father good night, scooped the puppies up and headed straight to bed. She could barely keep her eyes open even through the face licking after her head hit the pillow. No matter what her mind wanted, her body was shutting off whether she liked it or not.

  The early morning glow filled the empty shell of what would soon be Max’s great room. The tedious and critical work was done. Yuri and Finn had painstakingly gone over every inch of wire, pipe, conduit, blast insulation, ballistic grade glass and reinforcement that would go into the place. As Abby would say, now the fun begins. For Max, that was the tech stuff. Finn was a nut when it came to being on top of the latest and greatest innovation. When Max gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted to the house, Finn literally did a jig. He had left a few items for Max’s final review on a makeshift table in the center of the room. There were a couple of different roof tiles to choose from and after closer inspection, Max discovered that the tiles were building-integrated photovoltaic. In essence they were solar cells disguised as ceramic roof tiles. Ingenious. Finn had also left spec sheets on a complete system that put all of his electronics on voice control. Lights, music, television, climate control, even the fireplaces would be turned on, off, or adjusted simply by his saying so. How far invention had come in his lifetime never ceased to amaze him.

  “Enough of all that Mister Gadget stuff!” Abby announced as she entered the room waving what looked to be fifty or so paint swatches. “They start painting in two days so this is critical. Pick the color you want and tack it to the wall.” She stuffed half the swatches in his hand along with some pushpins. “Start with your bedroom. There are duplicates of the swatches so you can use the same color in more than one room if you want. If you run out of a swatch, write the name of the color on the wall with this.” She shoved a giant piece of red chalk in his other hand. “Off ya go, shoo!”

  “Good morning to you as well.” Max jested, utterly amused by Abby’s determination and focus on paint colors.

  “We can chit chat later, first things first.” Abby went off in her own direction as Max followed orders. She was the only person on the planet that could get away with ordering him around like that. Well, perhaps that wasn’t so true anymore. Lou could ask him anything and he would spin the world on his finger to make it happen.

  The house had been carefully designed not only with security in mind, but with not ruining Lou’s land. An expanse of meadow butted up to the McAllister property and had been the view from her balcony. That was until Max purchased his property, which bit into that meadow. Lou, being the avid animal lover that she is, was up in arms at the thought of the land being developed, even if it was only a small part. After Abby conducted her own reconnaissance mission to learn Lou’s hopes and dreams of the land, Max bought every parcel possible. He pulled every string and greased every palm he could find. The land adjacent to his property and the McAllister’s was now part of the park that he had created. Abby had seen to all of it but he laid out everything he wanted, approved or vetoed all of it down to the smallest shrub. Not only would Lou forever have her meadow, she had a small lake, hundreds of trees, shrubs, berries, nuts and natural food sources for all the animals she loved. It had been set up as a gift to the community but bore Lou’s full name. Her name that no one but her mother and uncle were allowed to ever call her, unless they wanted a bone or two broken. Lake Tallulah was new but it was thriving. A trust had been established to make sure the park would be cared for and maintained always. As an extra safety feature, the berries and nuts just had to produce once for the last requirement to make it a Nature preserve.

  As he walked in to his master suite area, he headed straight for the balcony. There was only a makeshift railing crafted from two-by-fours but that would be taken care of shortly. It seemed creepy now that he thought about it but he had made sure that his balcony looked out toward Lou’s. His motives were not lecherous as one might think. His bedroom and bathroom were about the only place he had to himself. Even his townhouse in Washington seemed to have a revolving door with either Frank, Niko or one of the others coming and going all the time. His bedroom was his sanctuary, a place where he could find peace and quiet so he could hear his own thoughts. For him, Lou was peace, despite how infuriating she could be. Looking out over the park and the new and improved meadow, he
could see the light of her quarters turn off. She was off to work again. So yes, perhaps it was a bit intrusive but his motivations were pure. The line of sight made him feel better, made him feel like she was close. Probably as close as she would ever be.

  “You better stop lollygagging and get to the paint pinning before Abby gets done downstairs.” Niko advised him from the doorway.

  “Why does everyone insist on barking orders at me today?” Max walked in from the balcony and started flipping through the swatches. “Byzantine Cameo?” He flashed the swatch for Niko to see.

  “Byzantine?” Niko scoffed. Anything to do with Byzantine was a sore subject with Niko given his family history. It was long and convoluted but the bottom line is that Niko’s existence had been erased from the family tree after he was given as Tribute to the Sanguinostri. He loved his life, that was not the issue. Sometimes though, he felt that history may have been better served if he had stayed and protected his family’s legacy. His grandfather was, after all, Byzantine Emperor.

  “Are you ever going to let that go?” Max inquired.

  Niko snatched several swatches from Max’s hand. “It gives me something to do.” He walked out on to the balcony then proceeded to light one of his signature black and gold cigarettes.

  “It gives you something to bitch about.” Max said as he followed him then snatched the cigarette out of his hand and proceeded to inhale deeply. “These things will kill ya, you know that?”

  “You think they would have by now.” The men chuckled a moment and stood for a while in silence, sharing the smoke. By all accounts Max was Niko’s king, general, his superior on many levels but Max thought of him as his brother, his best friend. Niko so often knew what Max was thinking and feeling long before he himself knew. The beauty of that was they needed to say very little to understand each other so much.

  “So you don’t like the color?” Max finally broke the silence.

  Niko smirked. “I actually do, a lot. You gonna do that in the bathroom too?”

  “Would Abby have a fit at my lack of colorizing?” Oddly enough it was a legitimate question.

  “Isn’t it your bloody house?” Niko laughed but jumped at the sound of Abby’s high heals entering the room.

  “You’re funny, Niko.” She gave him a disapproving look. “Yes, I will have a fit. Let’s at least look at some of the complimentary color options to go with it. Byzantine Cameo, you said? Byzantine?” She repeated the word, glaring as she passed Niko to get to the master bath. Max just laughed and followed her.

  Once he actually took an interest, picking the remaining colors was not such a chore. He fought a bit with her on sticking to a more neutral pallet. But he made her proud when he defended his choice by suggesting he use pops of color in the furnishings and accessories. Niko pretended to vomit in the corner resulting in a paper cut across his cheek. Abby threw one of the paint swatches at him as though it were a throwing star, thus the cut. After that things sped along rather quickly and they were finished in under forty-five minutes. Just in time to see the first crew of plasterers arrive. Abby turned her attentions away from Max and paint swatches and immediately set to the foreman to give him and his crew their instructions for the day. The building inspector was due any moment to approve things so the interior finish work would be allowed to get under way.

  “Man she is a tyrant!” Niko whispered, not sure she was far enough out of ear shot.

  “That’s how she gets things done.” Max slapped his brother on the back. “Now lets sit outside and discuss the next order of business.”

  “I’m voting for the property over the hill here.” Niko informed him as they stepped outside. “It’s tactically superior and I like being sprint distance away from you and Lou.”

  “You planning on living there like you did in D.C.?” Max would never understand that.

  “It’s efficient.” Niko shrugged. “But I am actually thinking of looking for a beach house. If just for weekend decompression.”

  “It’s about time.” Max tried to remember the last time Niko had his own place. Niko was an ancient warrior at heart. A lieutenant that fought, ate, drank and slept by the side of his men. Nothing had really changed over the years, not his devotion and certainly not his loyalty. “At least make sure your quarters are nicer this time. Make it a suite instead of a jail cell.”

  “My room was not a jail cell in D.C.” He scoffed. “It was an old storage closet!”

  “Oh, my apologies!” Max laughed. “I’ll have Abby deal with it. At the very least, you need a nice bathroom. I don’t want you coming over here and showering every morning. Not that I don’t appreciate your cleanliness but between you, Frank and the other guys, you’re killing me with the water bill.” The two men laughed for several more minutes. Over the centuries Max had amassed such wealth that he could, and had on one or two occasions, purchase a small third world country.

  “So where are we on back tracing the shipments?” Max got to the more pressing matter.

  “A work in progress. It’s a tricky situation.” Niko pulled out another cigarette. “We are having to work around the other Councils since we have no idea know how high up things go. We don’t want to risk tipping anyone off to the fact we know things go much farther than Cuba.”

  “Yes. I’m having a hard time with that too, with the other Domi-nors. But we need to assume someone in the Senatus has been turning a blind eye. Perhaps more than one.” It killed Max to think that one of his counterparts was involved in blood trafficking. It was a mortal sin among his people and the Senatus’ job to see that their laws were enforced, swiftly and without hesitation. “Try to have Connor work backwards, try to pin down who is absolutely not involved. That way I could enlist their assistance in the hunt.”

  “That was something I was going to pose to you this morning.” Niko nodded with approval as he handed the cigarette to Max. “I know Connor is bringing you the recent data on the other Principates. I asked him to come after ten so we would have time to go over all of this first.”

  “Did he come up with anything?” Max hoped he had not backed off too far from his other Principates that they too had become corrupt like Lou’s predecessor.

  “I only know that our Northern Principate is immaculate. He’s all over the place and hands on with everyone.” Niko sounded impressed. “I honestly don’t understand how he handles all the travel he does. East to west every other week. The guy is a machine.”

  “I’ll have to remember that when I finally dump you.” Max grinned.

  “Say the word and I’ll retire to Fiji!” Niko jested but would die before he would leave Max’s side.

  “Perhaps we’ll both retired to Fiji.” Max mused and Niko looked at him like he was sprouting a second head.

  “Like Lou would move to Fiji?” Niko pulled no punches with Max, and this was no exception.

  “Why would Lou go to Fiji?” The thought hadn’t connected with Max yet.

  “Are we still doing this, Max?” Niko was starting to get annoyed. “Really? After everything that’s gone on, you are still going to play it that way with me?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Max was instantly defensive.

  “Max, you ain’t going anywhere if Lou ain’t going anywhere. That’s how being in love works, man!” Niko put his hand up before Max began his protest. “Stop! I know! We all know! I thought we were passed all of this tough guy crap?” Max attempted to say something but was at a loss. “I get it, I really do! Things are tough right now, we have a shitstorm on our hands. Lou is new to the fold, so she needs room and that’s not even touching the whole ‘will she? won't she?' thing on turning. It’s a mess and you’re screwed, I can totally get behind that. But please don’t pretend you’re not in love with the girl, at least not to me.”

  “Or me.” Abby added as she walked up behind them. “I get it too! You have to pretend to the masses. You don’t want to spo
ok her, which I think is ridiculous because she’s in love with you just as your in love with her...”

  “Can I have one thing in the universe to myself?” Max exploded. “Thank you Dear and Abby!” He stormed off into the park.

  “Should you go after him?” Abby asked Niko, worried they had over stepped.

  “No. But I do think we need to back off. A hundred years ago we would have been bitch slapped to Russia for butting our nose into his personal life. Well, you would anyway.” He grinned and tucked her under his arm, comforting her. “We need to get focus on business. Lou’s not going anywhere, neither is he. There’s time.”

  “Alright.” Abby conceded. “You are the one who knows him best.”

  Niko was right. They did need to back off. By the time Max reached the lake he could barely breathe, he was so angry. But angry at what? He had let the lines blur between his role as their Domi-nor and friendship for a long time. Max couldn’t be a hypocrite and preach that they were family and then demand that they not interfere with his personal life. Acting like Lou wasn’t more than a subject was silly but he had never been in this position before. Sure he had a tryst here and there over the many years but they were dalliances, nothing ever intended as more than a distraction. The memory of the pain he endured when his fiance’ was slaughtered so many moons ago, just the memory of it, that had steeled his heart. He engulfed himself in his duty to his people and his role as Dominor. Until the inexplicable moment he set eyes on Lou. It was a primal pull at that point, something he never even felt with Nyla, his betrothed. Then, when he actually got to know Lou, well there was noting he could do, he was lost. But things were dangerous, complicated, and he had far too much work to do for his people, and Lou was one of them now. If there ever was going to be a hope for them, he needed to make sure it was forged from the man he was. Not the coward he had become in her presence. She needed to see who he was, what he stood for, all the things that made her stay and not turn away. Maybe, just maybe, that would make her love him.