First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) (40 page)

“I’ve got a vague idea right now; I’m not certain it will work,” she said after a long pause. “I suppose I need help.”

“In the books?” Karl pointed into the crowded back seat with his thumb. Discarded books flowed over fast food wrappers and tangled in the sleeves of his leather jacket.

“No. I need practical help. I need to connect with a coven. Never mind what Smoke thinks; there are some things you can only get from people. Grab my computer, Karl. I want you to try and get a signal and go to the database I have online. See if we can find a witch near Washington.”

Karl undid his seatbelt and knelt on his seat to rummage in the back. Amber glanced over and briefly divided her attention between the road and Karl’s wiggling tush wrapped in tight denim. One day without a drain, a good night’s rest, decent food, and he seemed so much stronger. Add to that the feeling of accomplishment for repulsing the morning’s attack and Karl seemed powerful. Vital. Energetic.

And passionate. Amber turned her eyes back to the road and forbade herself to blush. He’d been so polite all morning. There had been no mention of the intimate moment. From when he emerged from the shower until now there had been no blushing, no touching, not even a meaningful smile. She wasn’t certain that he’d written it down in his notebook, either. Amber ordered her heart not to miss any more beats over him. Perhaps he already regretted it. Didn’t winning athletic events bring out the sexual conqueror in men? Maybe he was just celebrating beating on Gloria. Getting something back on the woman who was trying to kill him.

It hadn’t been a true attraction to Amber. It was just that she was in the room, barely dressed and available.

“What will we do if there’s no witch in Washington?”

Karl’s voice cut into her reflections and Amber jumped.

“Karl, my dear boy,” she said, waving her hand regally. “You have no idea how many of us there really are. I remember being surprised at just how many there are in some places. Utah, for example.”

Amber’s phone shrilled and she clicked on the speaker.

“It’s probably Davie with an update,” she said. “Helllllloo.”

“Amber! Where are you?”

“D … Dad?”

The car swerved within the lane and Amber hit the brakes, straightened, and slowed down.

“What’s going on?” shouted her father. “I called you at work this morning and they told me you’d been fired. Fired days ago. Exactly when were you planning on calling me, letting me know?”

“Um, Dad, I’m sorry, I’ve been busy. I was going to let …”

“Busy doing what?”

Her father’s voice crackled through the phone’s little speakers and Amber started to sweat. The ability of parents to reduce an adult to a child continued to astonish her, but right now she didn’t want to deal with her father. Hiding that she’d had an extra chocolate dessert or that she’d broken the window was one thing … if she were to admit to using magic she’d be grounded for life.

“Amber? Busy doing what? I called your apartment; you weren’t there. Your mother says she spoke to you recently and you didn’t mention getting fired.”

“I’m taking a few days off. They had me working sixteen, seventeen-hour days and I’m tired. I’ve … I’ve gone for a drive. I’ll get back to my life in a few days.”

“This is not a good job market to be going on random roadtrips. You can’t afford to waste time. Have you at least rewritten your resume? Spoken to recruiters? What about school? Did you finish your application?”

“Ah … no.”

“Well, in that case I want a copy of your resume emailed to me by end of business today. I’ll check it over and start passing it around my contacts. Tomorrow I want a spreadsheet of your expected expenses for the next few months, just in case it takes a little while to get you employed.”

“Dad, no. I don’t want you to do that.”

“What’s this?”

Amber drew a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm, though the little girl deep within wanted to hide behind the couch.

“Dad, it’s very kind of you to offer to spell check my resume and to put it out to your friends. Thanks for the offer, but it is unnecessary. Also, there’s no power in existence that can force me to send you a spreadsheet on my expenses. You’re not paying me pocket money anymore. If my finances go to hell then it’ll be my fault. I’ll take the fall.”

“Amber, baby. It’s just that I’m worried about you.”

She cringed at the change in his tone. She was not falling for that trick again.

“Sure, Dad, I’m sure that answer was in the exam when you took your daddy license, but I’m all grown up now and doing okay at living my own life. I have savings and a backup plan. I’ll let you know when and if I need help, okay? Until then, this isn’t your problem, it’s mine. I’ll deal with it my way.”

Her father’s sigh drifted out of the speaker.

“New York is such a long way away and it’s an expensive place to live when you’re between jobs.”

“I’ll be fine, promise.”

“Until I get your updated resume I’ll circulate the old one. I know the details of your time with Trishanara. You can have until Monday to get over your mood and then you have to get on this job search.”

“Don’t do th …” Before Amber could finish, he’d hung up. She sighed and waved her hand toward the phone.

“Karl, meet Dad. Dad, meet Karl, the guy whose life I’m trying to save. The job that’s more important than sending you a spreadsheet.”

Karl snorted and resumed his work with the computer.

Amber wished she could bang her head on the steering wheel for a while, but thought it would frighten the other drivers; certainly it would distress Karl.

“I thought I was hard up with my mom sending me T-shirts and boxers,” said Karl after a moment’s silence.

Amber snorted and shook her head.

“I wish Smoke were here; he’d be doing the ‘happy me’ dance up and down the turnpike. He’s been trying to get me to tell my dad to butt out for years.”

“I take it he doesn’t know about you and magic.”

“Good God, no. He still thinks that the purpose of children is to be accurate and perfect reflections of their parents. I think I’ll wait until he realizes I’m my own person then I’ll introduce him to the idea gradually.”

“Gradually, huh. What are you planning?”

A wicked light came to Amber’s eyes and she chuckled.

“Well. I thought about enchanting his hall runner into a flying carpet. There’s got to be a flying spell somewhere.”

Amber guided Karl through the maze of security on her site and divided her attention, dangerously, between the increasing traffic and the names on the screen. The database listed three witches in the greater Washington area. Of them, only one was home to answer Amber’s phone call and willing to meet them late that evening.

While Amber talked to the Washington witch, Karl took advantage of her distraction to use her computer to book them into a four star hotel in the Georgetown area. He did a quick mental calculation of the current balance of his accounts and credit card. He could afford a suite for one night. If they stayed longer it might be a problem. He could do a little shuffling of his savings and checking accounts and probably pay for the second night in the suite with cash. He didn’t want to tap the emergency money that funded his bookstore during the lean times. His inheritance would support the store for another year if he played it right. Especially if the current increase in sales continued.

He tapped in the instructions and hit the send button. Amber had put them in good rooms, five star hotels, the last few nights. Now it was his turn to be host and he was not going to stint. He wanted to impress her. All he’d been until now was problem and passenger.

Leaving Amber to continue chatting with the distant witch he went to the home page of Amber’s World Wide Witches Research website and started reading.

“Nice,” Amber looked through the revolving doors at the tall marble columns and fountain in the middle of the reception area and smiled.

Karl grinned. “Oh, it’s okay I guess. I wanted to take you somewhere classy.”

He enjoyed watching Amber bending over the side of the car as she tipped the last of the books from the back seat into an open box. Her eyes were lit despite her fatigue and she was trying not to laugh. As soon as the last of the books were loaded, the bell boy started pushing his cart into the hotel. Karl handed the Mustang’s key to the valet and took Amber’s arm, slinging her computer case over his shoulder.

“I don’t know that people who stay in upscale hotels refer to the hotels as classy,” said Amber. “Isn’t that sort of a middle-class term?”

“Oh, it’s strictly a redneck saying, my dear. I was just trying to prove that I’m multilingual.”

Amber laughed, then noticed a tall, plushly built woman who had risen from an overstuffed chair and was studying the books piled high on their cart with interest. The woman nodded to them both and smiled.

“Amber Kemp?” she asked.

Amber closed her mouth with a snap.

“How did you know?”

“I recognized a couple of titles. I must say, I didn’t expect that you would be traveling with your entire magical library.” The woman pitched her voice carefully, so that it wouldn’t carry to the ears of anyone else standing in the foyer. “Hi. I’m Sandy Clark. We spoke on the phone this afternoon.”

Karl was the first to recover and released Amber to extend his hand. His first thought was Sandy looked more like a preschool teacher than a witch, but his prejudices had taken a beating the last few days and he gave her a broad smile. He couldn’t honestly say that Amber looked or behaved very witch like, although only a fool would discount her power.

“Hi, Sandy,” said Karl. “Thanks for meeting us. And, no, this isn’t the complete library. This is just the contents of three shelves. Maybe one day Amber will invite you up to see the rest. It’s pretty impressive.”

“I’d be happy to,” said Amber.

Karl noticed that the receptionist was watching them with barely concealed annoyance. They and their books were blocking a considerable section of her desk.

“Let’s check in, Amber, and take the stuff upstairs?” Karl offered, reaching for his wallet. “We can get room service.”

“Deal,” said Amber, “but it might take a little while to get stuff up to us. I’m going to hit the hotel café for some coffee and cake to go while you’re checking in.”

Amber and Sandy wandered off in the direction of coffee. They’d taken a moment to look each other up and down and apparently decided they were long lost sisters, judging from the familiar way they were talking. Karl allowed his gaze to linger on Amber’s slender figure, remembering the way her skin had shivered under his hands. Dragging his mind back to work he faced the reception desk again and concentrated on the sign-in card. He couldn’t afford to let himself get distracted. Until his mind and soul were completely free of the threads his life was on hold. Not a comfortable feeling.

He finished filling in the registration card and waved it to attract the attention of the receptionist. When Karl caught her eye she startled and looked almost afraid, then walked over to take the card from his hand.

“Are you Karl Benn?” she asked, then glanced over his shoulder.

“Y-yes. That’s me,” Karl turned, wondering if Amber had come up behind him. His breath caught as he turned to find himself face to metal with a police ID.

“Karl Benn?” repeated a heavy formal voice. “I’m Detective Forth. This is Detective Craig. Washington P.D. We’d like you to come with us and answer some questions.”

“About what?”

“About sexual assault and attempted kidnapping.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

Karl found his upper arms gripped firmly as Detective Forth, a tall black man with a runner’s build, transferred Amber’s computer bag from Karl’s shoulder to his own.

“No, but apparently the woman you assaulted last night thinks so. Please come along with us.”

Karl struggled to free his arms and the detective’s grip tightened.

“What woman? Who said I hurt her?”

“We will discuss this at the station.”

All around the hotel lobby staff and visitors were turning to stare. Karl saw Amber come rocketing out of the small coffee bar, Sandy followed close in her wake.

“What is going on?” Amber demanded.

“Who are you, miss?” asked Detective Forth.

“I’m Amber Kemp. I’m a friend of Karl’s. What is this all about? Let’s see some ID.”

“Amber, leave this alone,” said Karl urgently. “Wait for me. They just said they have some questions.”

“Is he under arrest?” demanded Amber. “If he isn’t then he isn’t under any legal obligation to accompany you.”

“Amber,” hissed Karl. “Don’t annoy the guy.”

“As it happens, we do,” said the detective after a pause.

Amber stepped back, her jaw dropping. “You have an arrest warrant?”

“There must be a mistake,” said Karl. “We have to get it sorted out.”

Karl’s chest was tight. The police were waiting specifically for him. Why and how, he’d no idea. He couldn’t remember anything happening in Washington on any of his visits to the Capital before. No drunken misbehavior, no foolish letters or political activity. No goddamned sexual assault and kidnapping, either. Amber ignored him and continued to concentrate on the detective.

The detective gave Amber a narrow look and took his identification out of his pocket again. Amber made a show of examining it closely, rubbing her thumbs over the bright metal, before returning it. Detective Forth tucked the wallet away.

“I don’t have a warrant for you, miss, but this is where we’re going to be taking him,” he said, handing over a business card. “We’ll need to talk to you, too.”

“Fine,” Amber straightened. “When I have a lawyer, I’d be happy to. In the meantime do I come with you or follow in our car?”

“Make your own way to this precinct. Mr. Benn’s car has been impounded as it is believed to be have been used in the commission of a crime.”

The detective nodded in the direction of the foyer doors. Amber and Karl saw officers supervising the loading of the Mustang onto a police tow truck and their luggage, books included, going into a cruiser.

Sandy tapped Amber on the shoulder. Her face was pale and worried.