Blood and Fire (3 page)

Only ninety minutes before he died. Hardly time for a man to get into so much trouble. Unless trouble was already looking for him.

Ryan asked the usual questions regarding threats, possible enemies, unusual occurrences, or strangers hanging around. No one had anything significant to add. Until this morning the expedition had been uneventful.

With the interviews completed, the crew filed toward the door, until Ari stopped them with one last question. “How’d your boss feel about magic?”

Carmody turned and took a step back toward her. “Jase was a believer. Embraced most things spiritual. I guess we’ve seen too many odd things we can’t explain. Why? Does this have something to do with his death?”

“Was he a practitioner?” she persisted. “Would he attempt a spell or summoning? A conjuring that might have gone wrong?”

Two or three in the group exchanged worried glances. Carmody frowned. “I don’t know. I’d have hoped he was smarter than that. But if Jase thought it would help him find what he wanted, he might try anything.” He waited, but when she didn’t comment, he turned and followed his crew. Ari cocked her head in thought.

Chapter Two

While Ryan finished tagging evidence and ran to the courthouse to pick up the search warrant for Barron’s boat, Ari went home to check on her adopted cat, Bella, and her four kittens. The momma cat—silky gray fur, black-tipped ears, and big green eyes—met her just inside the door, twining between her legs. The ten-week-old kittens tumbled around the studio apartment, over the couch, under the kitchen table. Shredded scrapes of tissue paper, stolen from a box in the bathroom, littered every surface. Shaking her head with a reluctant smile, Ari began picking up the mess. Even Bella seemed overwhelmed by their unbridled energy. She hopped onto the safety of the kitchen counter and stared down at their antics.

“Can’t you teach them better manners?” Ari scolded her cat.

Bella blinked.

Tossing the scraps into the trash, Ari sat on the floor and allowed the kittens to leap in and out of her lap. When she scratched her finger on her knee, they staged a mock attack, which made her laugh aloud. The young felines were the progeny of Bella’s mating with Hernando, a snow white Siamese with intense blue eyes. The kittens showed the mixture, but only one had the blue eyes, another had Bella’s green; the last two were golden. Although she knew when they were born she’d only have the kittens for a while, she’d given each a temporary name. After all, she had to call them something. Claris, Hernando’s owner and Ari’s best friend, didn’t necessarily agree with all her choices. The reserved gray female with white markings and cautious demeanor was Wily. The white male with black-tipped ears and blue eyes, who ambushed everyone from behind the couch, had been dubbed Sneaky over Claris’s objection. The dominant gray male had earned the regal name of Re. He often surveyed his kingdom from the back of the couch, when he wasn’t leading his brother and sisters in some mischievous adventure. The last littermate, but certainly not least, was Dona, whose snowy fur stood in sharp contrast to her knowing green eyes. Her name had been chosen to complement her mother’s, and together they formed belladonna, an ingredient Ari used in her potions.

She gave each kitten a last pat and stood to go. They’d soon leave for new homes—she couldn’t keep five grown cats in her small apartment, but she was going to miss them.

She checked the clock on the wall—the only thing on her wall. 12:30. Perfect time to visit Claris, while her friend was on lunch break. She had a couple of things on her mind, and who better to discuss them with than her best friend?

* * *

“Nice.” Ari pointed at the adoption sign with a recent picture of Bella’s four kittens. The bell over the door jingled as she ignored the “Out to Lunch” sign and entered Basil & Sage, her friend’s cozy herbal shop, which catered mostly to Olde Town’s tourist trade. The pleasant, homey sight and smell of herbs and spices engulfed her the moment she stepped inside, but the really useful seeds and dried leaves used in witchcraft were hidden behind the counter and in the greenhouse.

“I changed the photo because they’re growing so fast.” Claris, the human proprietress, smiled, the corners of her hazel eyes crinkling. One hand strayed to smooth the shiny brown strands that had escaped from the tie at the back of her neck. When working in her shop, Claris dressed the part of a gentle spiritualist. Not such a stretch, considering her Mother Earth personality. “They look so different from three weeks ago, not babies anymore.” Claris’s voice sounded a little wistful.

“Do we still need to advertise? I thought you’d selected most of the new parents.”

Claris’s smile faded. “Not for Dona and Re. I’m almost out of ideas for them. Are you ready for the first two to go this weekend?”

Although she felt a pang in her heart, Ari answered with a brisk, “Yep. They’re tearing my place apart. This morning it was the box of tissues. How’s the proud papa?”

“Keeping track of the birds outside the greenhouse. And watching the door. I’m pretty sure Hernando is looking for a chance to slip out again.”

“If he comes calling on Bella, my landlady won’t make the mistake of letting him in again. She’s now aware of his Casanova intentions. Besides, we might not be at the apartment much longer.”

Claris gave her an I-told-you-so grin. “Giving in? I wondered how long you’d hold out.”

“Don’t gloat yet. I still haven’t decided whether I want to move in or not.” Ari hesitated. “But it isn’t fair to keep him worrying. He needs to consolidate his authority in the vampire court, not obsess about my safety. He constantly sends his people to check on me. I’ve seen Gabriel almost every night in the last month.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Claris teased. “I like Gabriel. He can check on me anytime.”

“What’s not to like in a gorgeous blond Adonis—even if he’s a two-hundred-year-old vampire? But anyone’s charm can get old after a while.”

“Hard to imagine, so I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Ari gave her friend a sharp look. “You’re not getting interested in Gabriel, are you? Is everything good between you and Brando?”

“Oh, sure, same old thing.” Claris waved her hand back and forth in the so-so sign. “Brando’s always so busy. And now he’s going away again. Another conference.”

“You sound upset.” Ari gave her friend a pointed look. “And you didn’t answer my question about Gabriel.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Gabriel. He’s fun to be around.”

Ari knew how charming Andreas’s friend could be. She’d seen other women look at him, and she’d been on the receiving end of his old-world manners. He and Andreas had been young vampires together in Regency England and part of the aristocracy. They both oozed charm. Still, Gabriel was no fit companion for her human friend.

Ari kept her voice level. “Clare, he’s a vampire. Not a safe date.”

Claris’s look was full of meaning. “And your point, Miss I’m-dating-the-vampire-prince-of-Riverdale?”

Ari screwed up her nose in response. “Which means I know what I’m talking about. You’re a full-blooded human. The smell of your blood is an open invitation to vampires, and you have no way to defend yourself.”

“Like he’s going to hurt me? You don’t believe that.”

“Not intentionally, but I don’t know all of his friends, and most vampires live on the edge. Violent things always happen around them. I don’t want you caught in the crossfire. Or to lose your heart to someone who can give you so little.”

Claris looked like she might argue that last point, then waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t know why we’re talking about Gabriel. He hasn’t expressed any interest in me beyond simple friendship. And we’ve strayed far from the point, which was you and Andreas. Are you going to move in with him or not?”

“I told you I was still thinking about it.” Ari leaned on the counter and watched Claris straighten the displays of sachets and incense. “Maybe I will—just for a while, until things settle down in the vampire community. I’m not giving up my apartment.”

“Probably wise. You can ease into things. See how it goes.” Amusement gurgled in Claris’s throat. “Considering how hard-headed you both are, this could be entertaining.” She laughed aloud. “You don’t
need
to keep your own place, you know. You can always come here when you feel like driving a stake through his heart.”

“Very funny.” The sound of Ryan’s ringtone on her cell saved Ari from coming up with a suitable defense.

He had the search warrant and would meet her at Jase Barron’s boat.

* * *

The
Seeker
, a twenty-two-foot houseboat with a shaded second deck, gently rocked in her moorings at the Olde Town dock. One of only a dozen at the marina, the yacht stood out, not only in size but in obvious cost. Most of the docked boats belonged to fishermen, a fact attested to by the strong odor of fish and bait as they neared the area. The
Seeker
was different. Even to Ari’s limited information on watercraft, the expensive enhancements showed in the perfect, shiny paint job, the gleaming wood trim, the stylish deck furnishings with their plush cushions, and the covered bar on the upper deck.

Ari stopped suddenly. Her neck muscles tensed as she felt the first edge of the negative energy hanging over the yacht. The crew hadn’t been allowed to return after their interviews, so Ari knew the boat should be deserted. Still, she was reluctant to step on the deck. Something or someone had been there recently. Someone angry. And they’d left a lot of bad vibes as a calling card.

“Are you coming?” Ryan looked at her when she lagged behind.

“Yeah, but this doesn’t feel right.”

Ryan’s hand went to his gun as she stepped on board. “Is someone here?” He kept his voice low.

“I don’t think so. But they have been. And not long ago.” She scanned the deck. Everything looked tidy, nothing out of place. They cautiously descended to the lower deck, Ryan and his pistol in the lead. They found no sign of anything wrong until they reached the door marked as Jase Barron’s cabin on the sketch Carmody had hastily prepared for them. The latch was broken, pry marks obvious against the polished wood. The intruder or intruders had made no attempt to hide the damage.

“Looks like a crowbar.” Ryan held his weapon in a two-handed firing position and toed the door open to step inside. Drawers hung open, the contents dumped on the floor. The bed had been torn apart, the mattress slit open. Ari checked the bathroom while Ryan opened the closet door and looked under the bed.

He holstered his weapon. “Someone beat us here.”

“I’ll say. I wonder what they wanted so badly.”

“Or what they didn’t want us to see.”

Ari checked the desk. A small stack of personal papers in one drawer, an empty printer on top, but everything else was gone. No computer, journals, or maps. Nothing that would indicate why Barron had been in Riverdale. There were pinholes in a corkboard above the desk where pictures or notes had been removed. The intruder had gone to a lot of trouble to keep a secret. She frowned in frustration, disgusted the lengthy human legal procedures had allowed someone to get there first and take away the evidence. But evidence of what?

She checked in and around the wastebasket, then pulled the chair away from the desk and looked in the kneehole. Something lay on the floor at the back. Maybe a photo? Had the intruder missed something? She crouched to get a better look.

Ryan slapped his hand on his weapon. “What’s that hissing sound?”

She swiveled her head toward the closet. The distinctive odor of sulfur drifted toward her. “Get out of here!” Her voice boomed in the enclosed space.

Ari dashed for the door, half-dragging Ryan with her. They cleared the stairs in two leaps, the deck in another two, and were airborne over the side when the cabin exploded.

She hit the water with enough force to drive her deep. Paddling with her hands and feet to reverse the downward thrust, she came up sputtering. Chunks of debris splashed around her. Sparks sizzled. Ryan was a dozen feet farther out, face down in the water. She dove down, coming up under him and lifting him to the surface.

“Ryan, Ryan!” She struck out for shore, pulling him along. A moment later he began thrashing his arms and legs. “Stop that. I’ve got you.”

“Let me go.” He coughed, spitting water. “I’m OK. Just stunned me for a minute.” He tried to roll over, and she let him go. He came up coughing again and shook his head to clear the dripping water.

“Your head’s bleeding,” she said, bobbing beside him. “Let’s get out of the water.”

Looking surprised, he put up a hand to feel the injury. “Something hit me. You OK?” They started paddling toward the bank.

“Just wet. You sure you can make it?”

“I’m fine. Really. What caused the explosion?” He treaded water by her side. “A bomb?”

“An erupter spell. As kids we used to call them volcanoes because of the way the fire spews out the top, but that’s the biggest one I’ve seen.”

They touched the bank as Ari heard the first sirens. She looked over her shoulder. The
Seeker
would be a total loss, but at least no one died this time. It wasn’t because someone hadn’t tried. A murder and an arson within hours; her partner injured. She was pissed.

* * *

Dealing with the aftermath of the boat explosion took time—talking to the firemen and the marina authorities, explaining the situation to Carmody. Over Ryan’s objection she took him to the ER, but the doctors said he was fine. Superficial wound. Apparently he had a hard head. When they left the hospital, Ari returned Ryan’s car keys, and he dropped her off at home to shower and change.

Hours wasted. She thought about the photo that the fire would have destroyed. Could it have been the lead they needed? They’d lost evidence, but even worse, they had no suspects.

When she walked into Club Dintero at 4:00 p.m., she was still in a bad mood. The supper club owned by her vampire boyfriend, Andreas De Luca, was empty of customers at this time of day, and staff scurried around in preparation of opening in less than two hours. Since Ari was a familiar figure, no one questioned her right to be there. Given the scowl on her face, it wasn’t surprising only Marcus, the young vampire club host, took the initiative to wave a greeting. She gave a curt nod.