How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back (22 page)

“All I want is to be sure you're safe,” I said, not directly answering the question.

Jane simply nodded. “I'll be out in five minutes.” She gave Victor a smile as he reached her side, murmured to him that she had a headache and would be leaving soon. It was clear he understood it was fiction, but he simply nodded, pulled out a phone, and called for the driver to bring the car around.

I slouched in relief as Jane moved off, and let my gaze drift around to the rest of the event. People were beginning to filter into the ballroom where I could see tables laid out with expensive-looking china and crystal, and decorated with gorgeous centerpieces of white flowers. Jane moved through the crowd with ease to where a tall and stylish blue-eyed woman with honey-blond hair stood with a younger broad-shouldered man. He had the same blue eyes and honey-blond hair as his mother. Nicole and Andrew Saber, both talking to a man with his back to me. Nicole wore an off-the-shoulder, dark red gown with a beaded top and a flowing silky skirt. Andrew wore a tux that sure as hell wasn't a rental.

Edging slightly closer, I heard Jane greet Nicole warmly, then watched as Jane gave a slight wince and put a hand to her temple, apologized for a headache and her need to leave soon. Damn, but she was smooth. My admiration for her grew.

Jane shifted her attention to the other man with them, and the surprise in her expression gave me only a whisper of warning before he turned and swept his gaze my way.

Brian.
I froze, and my gut gave a horrible lurch. Brian, standing here dressed in a goddamn tuxedo, talking to the Sabers as if they were old friends.

His eyes rested on me briefly, narrowed, and then he continued his casual look-around as if he hadn't seen me, while my pulse raced like an Olympic sprinter. Was he going to sell me out to the Sabers? Or did he simply figure this was too public a place to take me down? Either way, I knew the risk for Jane had abruptly shot up.

“Congresswoman Pennington,” I heard him say. “It's a pleasure to see you, as always.”

“Mr. Archer,” Jane replied. “I didn't expect to see you here. Is Pietro here as well?”

“No, ma'am, he's not,” Brian said. “I'm up here on my own.”

Nicole looked from Brian to Jane. “Pietro Ivanov?” She tilted her head, smiled. “Oh, yes, I remember seeing something about you two dating. What a shame he couldn't be here. The chef they brought in for this event is outstanding.”

Jane looked as if she wanted to press Brian for details about what was going on, but she simply gave Nicole a bland smile. “Yes, we've been dating for a while. Don't you remember? We ran into you at the Gourmet Gala in Louisiana.” Then she lifted a hand and made a dismissive gesture. “But I can understand if it slipped your mind. I'm sure you have far more pressing
worries
than remembering the details of a random congresswoman's social life.” Jane's smile remained fixed and her eyes hard on the other woman. The “worries” was no doubt a reference to Saberton's money troubles. It was clear Jane didn't care for Nicole Saber one stinking bit.

Nicole's hand tightened on her champagne glass. “Yes, the Gala. How could I have forgotten something so
unforgettable
.” She jerked her attention to where her son stood silently watching the exchange. “Andrew, finish with Mr. Archer while I have a word with the congresswoman.”

Jane's bodyguard stood a few feet behind her. I quickly moved to him, angling as best I could to be on the side away from Brian and the Sabers. “You need to get her out of here,” I told him in a low, urgent voice. “Please, trust me.”

Victor glanced at me and frowned, but to my relief he didn't question or protest before moving to Jane's side and touching her arm.

“The car is out front, ma'am,” he said. “You should probably leave before your headache grows worse.”

She met Victor's eyes, then looked past him to me. I gave her my best
Gah! Shit! You need to get the hell out of here 'cause there's danger!
look—but in a calm and socially acceptable way, of course.

“Thank you,” she murmured to Victor. “Yes, I should be going.” She returned her attention to Nicole. “I'm so sorry, but I'm simply not feeling well at all.”

Nicole darted a look toward Andrew and Brian, and gave Jane a smileless smile. “Certainly,” she said stiffly, clearly not at all happy to let Jane go but unable to physically stop her. “You take care of yourself. Perhaps we can do lunch tomorrow?”

“Perhaps,” Jane echoed. “Have your people call mine. Have a good evening.” And with that she turned away to allow Victor to guide her to the exit while I quietly died of relief.

Jane paused by me, leaning close and lowering her voice. “I expect you to explain all of this as soon as we're outside.”

“Yeah, you got it,” I said with a firm nod, though my attention remained on Brian. He was watching me again, but at the moment I'd take that as a good thing since it meant he wasn't going after Jane. I tore my gaze away from Brian long enough to check and see that yes, Jane was at the double doors and leaving, then allowed myself a brief sigh of relief. Now I simply had to get myself out of this mess.

I felt Brian's eyes on me like a knife sliding through flesh. He was obviously up to some shit with the Sabers, but I had zero desire to stick around and confront him. Yet at the moment he was between me and the doors, which meant I needed to find another way out.

The crowd had abruptly grown thick as everyone began working their way toward the ballroom—where I most certainly did not want to go. Gut tight, I turned and started swimming upstream through a river of overdressed people in the direction of a side door. Someone stepped on my toe, and I resisted the urge to drive an elbow into their ribs to get them off me. I settled for their hasty apology, quickly lost in the chatter and music as I slipped between bodies, grateful I was slim, and even more glad I was short enough to get lost in the crowd.

Didn't matter, as a glance behind showed Brian heading my direction. He didn't seem to have any problem getting people out of his way without making a scene. I tripped on the hem of my skirt, seized it up while cursing the stupid heels and barely avoided crashing into a tittering woman. I finally made it to the side door and burst through it, then had to stop for a second to get my bearings and figure out where the hell I was.

Restrooms. And down at the end of the hall was a sweet and glorious EXIT sign. I still couldn't run without attracting a bunch of attention, and I certainly didn't want to risk being stopped by security, but I did a goddamn Olympic speed walk in my pretty, sparkly shoes toward that sign.

Less than ten feet from the exit I heard a door open behind me, accompanied by a brief outpouring of music along with voices and polite laughter. A quick glance back as I hit the bar of the exit door confirmed it was Brian, and right before I slammed the door behind me I saw him start my way. A quick look around told me I was on the deserted sidestreet near the sewer worksite I'd seen earlier, and nowhere near where I was supposed to come out, which meant that none of my people were anywhere around. I knew I only had seconds before Brian caught up with me, and I used two to kick off the shoes then pelted barefoot toward the main street.

The sound of the door echoed along the buildings. “Angel!”

Shit!
I tried to pour on the speed and instead got my legs tangled in my skirts. To my horror I went sprawling, scraping palms and knees as I slid a few inches in some nasty gunk on the pavement. I was like one of those stupid teenagers in a slasher movie, with extra grossness.

Before I could scramble to my feet Brian was on me, literally, with a knee in the middle of my back, pinning me down firmly as I twisted and struggled.

“Angel, I'm not going to hurt you,” he said, voice urgent but low. “Don't run away from me. We need to talk but first we need to get away from here.”

“Get
off
me!” I snarled as I fought to get out from under him, which only served to grind the yuck more thoroughly into the dress. “I swear to god, I will scream bloody murder.”

“Angel,
stop!
I'm trying to get Mr. Ivanov back, and I know you are too.”

I twisted my head to glare at him. “You're fucking up the dress! And I
saw
you being all friendly with the Sabers here, just like I
saw
you kidnap Dr. Nikas. I watched the video!”

Shifting off me, he seized my upper arm and pulled me to my feet. “I was trying to determine if the Sabers would work a deal to release Mr. Ivanov,” he said, maintaining an iron grip as he slapped my purse into my hand. “And, yes, I kidnapped Dr. Nikas. It was that or risk Saberton abducting him as well. He wouldn't get into the car, and I couldn't let him stay.”

“How did you know he was at risk?” I snarled. Maybe I could bite him and make him behave the way I made Philip behave? Desperate, I lunged at him, teeth bared.

“Jesus Christ, Angel!” Brian growled as he evaded my bite, then twisted my arm up behind my back. “Would you
stop?
” He glanced back over his shoulder at the door we'd exited from. “I knew he was at risk because ten minutes earlier I defused a bomb under my Escalade, then tried to call Mr. Ivanov and got only voicemail.”

I stopped struggling, bit my lip hard to try and stop the damn tears of frustration, but I felt a couple sneak their way down my cheek. How did all this get so fucked up? “Why didn't you tell anyone?” I asked, voice quavering.

He began walking me toward the main street while he continued to shoot wary looks behind us. “No one to tell. No one to trust. There's an unknown insider. At least one. And you need to get away from here.”

“You couldn't even trust me?” The hurt in my voice wasn't faked one bit.

He sighed. “I'm sorry,” he said still moving toward the street. “With Dr. Nikas in my care, I couldn't risk contact with anyone.” He glanced behind him again. “Who's here with you?”

I set my mouth stubbornly. “How do I know I can trust
you?
”

The sound of the door echoed off buildings again, followed by running footsteps. Brian released my arm and gave me a little shove. “Angel,
run
. Now!” He turned and sprinted to a building across the street, leaped up to catch the fire escape ladder, pulled up and began climbing. I didn't waste time watching him. I saw the men pelting my way. I grabbed my grimy skirts and
ran.

Kyle was leaning against the building about fifty feet away from the corner, but he pushed off and immediately scanned for threats the instant he saw me running toward him.

“We need to get out of here!” I gasped.

“Slow down,” he ordered in a low voice. “Look normal and walk.” He took my arm casually, though we continued to walk with purpose. My pulse gradually returned to a more normal pace. There were a lot of people on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, and I doubted Saberton's goons would try and grab me in public. Plus, Kyle would totally kick their asses.

“I had to lose the shoes,” I said through a clenched-teeth smile. Not sure how normal I was able to look with a grunged-up dress and no shoes. And my makeup was probably smeared to hell and back. Oh, and the weird blotch on my face.

“What happened?”

I gave him a quick rundown of everything—warning Jane, seeing the Sabers with Brian, the incident on the sidestreet, and everything Brian told me. “I don't know what to think about Brian,” I confessed as Kyle hailed a cab.

He made a noncommittal noise as a taxi pulled to the curb. He folded himself in after me, then told the driver, “One twenty-seventh and Lexington.” I hadn't been in New York long, but I knew that was way the hell from where we were staying. I didn't question it, though. Everything was so fucked up now it didn't really make a difference. I tried to brush some of the yuck and grime off my feet, then gave up and wiped my hands on one of the few remaining clean spots on my dress. Didn't help. I'd only succeeded in spreading the dirt around. I clenched my trembling hands together and tried not to think about how crazy I must look to the taxi driver. Then again, this was New York, so they probably saw worse several times a day.

“He let you go,” Kyle said quietly after a few blocks.

“Yeah, he did.” I exhaled. “At least Jane got away.”

“Saw her come out,” he said with a nod. “Good work.” His phone rang, but when he pulled it from his pocket he frowned. “It's your number.”

Baffled, I yanked my purse open and dug through it. “Shit. It's not in here.” Gulping, I looked at the phone in his hand. “Answer it.”

Kyle hit the answer button but didn't say anything. After a second or two my zombie hearing picked up Brian's voice.

“Is this Kyle?”

Kyle remained silent another couple of breaths before speaking. “Hello, Brian.”

“Do you have Angel?”

“Yes.”

I heard Brian exhale.
“Thank god. I know you think I'm guilty. I'm not. We need to work together, or we'll end up bumping heads as badly as almost happened tonight.”

Kyle remained impassive. “Do you have Dr. Nikas?”

“I do. He's safe.”

“I'll need to speak to him.”

“Let me talk to Angel.”

Kyle shifted his eyes to me and handed the phone over.

I took it. “Brian?”

“Hey, Angel, you okay?”

“Yeah, except some jerk stole my phone.”

“I needed to be able to contact you since you weren't in the mood for calm conversation,” he said. “Plus, we sort of ran out of time.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I grumbled. “Where's Dr. Nikas?”

“He's here with me,” Brian said, and then my heart leaped as I heard the lilting accent of Dr. Nikas in the background.

“Let me talk to him,” I demanded.

“Hold on.” I heard muffled voices, and then Dr. Nikas came on the line.

“Angel, I'm so sorry.”

It was him. It was definitely him. “Oh god, are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” he said, though he sounded tired. “What about you and Philip? I didn't finish the procedure.”

“Yeah, something weird's going on with that,” I said, then gave him a quick recap of Philip's overprotective fits and the weird rot patches. “Look, I need to know if I can trust Brian.” It suddenly occurred to me that Brian could be right there listening in on the conversation and holding a gun to his head or something like that. “If I can, um, tell me why Jacques needed the duct tape.” No way would anyone who wasn't there for the procedure know that.

“I trust him with my life,” Dr. Nikas said, a smile in his voice. “And the duct tape was to keep you from rolling your stool around.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, I gave Kyle a thumbs up. “Awesome. So, can you fix this thing with Philip and me?”

He muttered to himself for a few seconds. “Perhaps. I have very limited supplies. I need some time to consider the problem. For now, take two tablespoons of blue-green algae along with three thousand milligrams of vitamin C twice daily with plenty of water. That should even things out for now, especially for Philip.”

Algae?
Ugh. I listened carefully as he gave some more instructions, including specific brand names. Fortunately, Kyle could hear everything, and he gave me a nod to let me know he'd help me remember. “Okay, got it. Thanks,” I said. “Can I talk to Brian again?”

“Certainly. Take care, Angel.”

Brian came back on the line. “What did you tell Dr. Pennington? Does she know Mr. Ivanov is missing?”

“I told her as little as possible,” I said. “Only that he was in some trouble and that she needed to get the hell out of that place.” I quickly explained about finding the invitation at Andrew's apartment, and why I'd figured she was in danger.

“She's going to be worried,” he replied. “Which means she might make waves.”

Make waves? Didn't he think it was important to make sure she was safe? “Well, it's tough to tell her too much without giving it away.”

“One of us is going to have to contact her. She
can't
tell anyone.”

“Yeah, I know that,” I said, annoyance rising. Did he think I was an idiot? “I'll get in touch with her.”

“Call me back when you do,” he ordered, “and better to do it sooner rather than later.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” I said sharply. “And it'll be oh-so easy to call you back since you have my phone.”

“You have a fucking phone in your hand,” he snapped. “I'm sure it will work just fine. Let me talk to Kyle.”

Throat tight, I shoved the phone at Kyle. When he took it I crossed my arms over my chest and stared out the window. The dress was ruined, the shoes were lost, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I saw Kyle's reflection in the window as he looked over at me. I knew he could see my reflection as well, and that I was crying, but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

“Kyle here,” he said into the phone.

“Angel's going to connect with Dr. Pennington to keep her from doing something dangerous,”
I heard Brian tell Kyle, because apparently I couldn't be trusted to pass that information along.
“Once that's done, we need to coordinate.”

“Understood.”

“I have to go. More later.”

Kyle lowered the phone after Brian hung up and gave me blessed silence for several minutes as we made our way north.

“You can let us out at the corner,” Kyle said, leaning forward to pass the driver money. I knew we weren't anywhere near the address he'd given, but I didn't argue. He seemed to know what he was doing. He bundled me out of the cab, slipped an arm through mine, and walked me half a block down a side street before hailing another cab.

“He can be a dick,” Kyle said after we were in the second cab and on our way to yet another address I'd never heard of.

“He was right,” I said with a sigh. “I'm being stupid. Anyway, as soon as we get back, I guess I need to call Jane.”

“Face to face would be better.”

“I need to clean up first, and get this
thing
off my cheek.”

After a few more minutes Kyle stopped the taxi and paid the driver, helped me out and walked me to the cross street. “Start with hot water and brains,” he said as he hailed a third cab. “Once we get back I'll find a pharmacy and get the algae and C. And you should take my phone for now.” He deftly slipped it into my purse.

“Thanks,” I said, then looked up and met his eyes. “Thanks.” I didn't even know how to say how much it mattered that he
got
why I was so upset. I wasn't even sure I completely understood it myself, but I really felt that he did.

He gave me a hint of a smile, then opened the door of the cab that pulled up. “No worries.”

This time he gave an address that was actually in the vicinity of our hotel. We rode in comfortable silence, and once we arrived he escorted me to the door, quietly making sure that I was safe and okay before striding off down the street, somehow managing to look like an unassuming nobody who didn't require a second glance.