JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) (8 page)

Chapter Ten

Call or fold

The card sat on the table. It was a linen blend, with his name written in black ink. I'd expected script, but it was fat, bold type. There wasn't an address or a logo, simply a number beneath the single name Malokin.

A Wal-Mart bag containing a pay-per-minute phone sat on the table next to the card. I couldn't risk using the work phone for this. I wouldn't put it past Harold to have all our lines tapped.

I knew he had her. Fate had been right; even as I'd been hoping that I could stay out of whatever this mess was, I'd feared it myself. These people—or whatever they were—had me marked as a target. If they'd gone as far as kidnapping Kitty to bring me into the fold, they weren't going to let this go easily.

I hoped just kidnapping. It was still an assumption. There was only one way to be sure. If Malokin confirmed it, there was no going back. I'd have to do something.

Or I could pretend that this had nothing to do with me. How long would that buy? A week, a month? Then what? Perhaps someone else disappeared?

And the whole time I'd be thinking of Kitty. Where she was, if anywhere. Was she gone for good, deader than anything mortal could ever be? Or did he have her still, slowly torturing her while I went about my day?

I sat there pondering my two choices, neither of them good, while a grey cat did figure eights through my legs. It was one of Kitty's cats, dropped off this afternoon. We'd all taken a cat in. I'd assumed they'd all be black, but I was clearly mistaken. Smoke, the grey cat, was on partial retirement for ineffectiveness. No one took a grey cat crossing their path seriously.

When Smoke stopped moving, I looked down and she shot me a stare. I could've sworn it was accusatory. There was something very un-cat-like about Smoke.

“I don't know if it has anything to do with me. It's just a hunch.”

She let out a meow that was just short of a howl.

“Smoke, it's not that easy.” I reached down and gave her a scratch behind the ears. She let out another accusatory meow, even as she positioned her head for better access. “What if I'm wrong? What if he has nothing to do with her going missing, and I'm just opening myself up to more trouble?”

The cat jumped up on the table and nailed me with a stare, then let out a flat “Meow?” Then I swear, Smoke rolled her eyes.

“It's not that simple. You're a cat. You can't understand the complications.”

Smoke jumped off the table and pranced in a slow manner to my bedroom, and then slammed the door. Great, now even the cat’s pissed off. Good work.

I wished I’d asked Paddy more questions last time I’d seen him. It would help to know who I was dealing with. Maybe I should go stroll through the vegetable aisle or go get a drink.

I knew one thing for sure; if Malokin had taken Kitty, it was to get to me. It needed to end with me. I'd call and work something out. He didn't seem like an illogical sort. This could be handled with minimum exposure and limited damages.

I unpacked the phone but it took me three attempts before I was able to dial Malokin's number correctly. My nerves—which I never used to have—were making my fingers shake and hit the wrong numbers. I took a deep breath to work the fidgets out of my system, so my voice wouldn't quaver when I spoke to him, then hit dial.

“Hello?”

“It's Karma.”

“I'm happy to hear from you.” His voice took on a softer tone.

I bet you are
. There was a gloating quality to his voice that chased my nerves away quicker than a double dose of Xanax.

“You have Kitty.” It wasn’t a question at all, not anymore. I’d known it for sure the second he answered.

“Yes.”

I'd been expecting some denials or a run around, not a clear cut “yes;” but that's what I got. Even the people who I'd defended who were guilty had taken a while to finally spill the details, and I'd been there to help them. Things were a hell of a lot different when there was no penal code.

It was time for the scary question. “Is she okay?”

“Okay? That's debatable. Shall I say, she's as good as she was.”

Even his jokes sucked. His laugh grated on my ears and flamed my anger.

“I want her released.” The words came out between clenched teeth.

“Then I suggest it's time for us to meet. A proper get together, where we can discuss the situation.”

It was hard enough to not punch the wall listening to him through the phone. No, he needed to have a face-to-face sit down.

I stood, crossing my one free arm across my chest. “Fine.”

“Alone.”

I had to think for a second on how much a response of
duh
would affect our future negotiations? Probably shouldn’t. “Figured.”

“I'll know if you aren’t.”

“
Sure
you will.” This time I couldn’t stop some of the sarcasm from leaking out as my eyes rolled in my head.

He rambled off an address and we agreed upon a time for tomorrow evening. As much as I’d have liked to handle this all on my own, I still wasn’t sure what I was dealing with. I needed back-up. If I couldn't find Paddy by then, I’d tell Fate. I wasn’t going to meet Malokin alone if it wasn’t necessary.

It didn’t matter anymore anyway, when I thought about it. If I wasn’t going to be able to fly under the radar, I might as well join their war. Didn’t look like there was much choice, because Malokin taking Kitty meant I’d essentially been drafted.

I was just about to hang up when he started talking again. “By the way, they did throw Suit in a ditch.”

The pencil I'd used to scribble down the meeting details snapped in my fingers. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Come now, I know your memory isn't that bad. Lars didn't want to answer, but I feel you deserve to know. They did bury him out back. Of course, I dug him up and gave him a proper burial.”

“I'll see you tomorrow.” I clicked the phone shut.

There'd been only two people in the room when I'd said that: Lars and Fate. I was certain he didn’t get that information from them. As I looked around the condo, every nook and cranny took on a different light. Had that bastard tapped my condo?

•••

“Meow?” Smoke sat on the kitchen counter, staring at me as I waved a strange wand over every wall, fixture and trim.

“Don't look at me like that.” I'd already gone through the living room area. The guy at the store said this would reveal any bugs. The more I searched, the worse I felt. There had to be a bug, because if there wasn't...

Not Fate, but what about Lars? Perhaps, but I didn’t think so. I knew a liar when I met one. I swiped the handle past the dome light in the hallway. Beep, goddamn you!

Paddy, where the hell are you?
I couldn't even say it out loud anymore, for fear Malokin would hear somehow. I walked out onto my balcony and leaned over to make sure I was alone out here.

“Universe person? You out there somewhere? Could use a little help. A note? Something?” I leaned on the railing and then looked up again. “Look, this is the thing, I know I muddled up some of your plans before, and maybe I was a bit pushy about getting what I wanted. I'm trying to say, I know I wasn’t that cooperative in the past, but I'm trying to be now. Problem is, I don't know what to do.”

Scanning the horizon, I waited for something. I slid down and sat on the wooden deck and just watched the waves break. After more than an hour, with no notes sailing down to steer me in the right direction, I walked back inside and closed the door.

My work phone sat on the counter and I punched Fate's number in but hit delete. I did this three more times as I paced the living room before I threw the phone on the couch.

I'd meet Malokin alone. He wanted me. As long as he did, he wouldn't kill Kitty or me. I'd go, find out what he wanted and figure out a way to give it to him. And if I couldn't, I’d figure out a way to kill him. 

Time to go shopping for an arsenal, because as of right now, I was a highly under-stocked agency of one.

Chapter 11

Table for Two

Malokin had offered to send a car to my condo but I'd declined the gesture. Instead, I climbed into my ancient Honda Civic and did my ritual rub of the dashboard, before turning the key. The engine whined to life after making a couple of choking noises.

“Sorry about this.” I patted the dash again. “I guess neither of us planned on sticking around this long.” I switched on the FM radio and found a classic rock station before I pulled out of my lot. “Now, tonight might be a bit rough, so try and conserve your energy. We might be making a run for it later on this evening. I'm going to need you at your best.” I tried to have faith in my old Honda, but if she had to be my getaway car, I was dead before I even got there.

My plan was to go, scope Malokin out and gather intelligence. Best case scenario, I discovered Kitty's location for a future rescue mission and got the hell out of there. Worst case, I might be changing employers...again. Hopefully this would be a temporary position and not another thousand-year commitment.

It took me about two hours to get to Charleston, since using the doors wasn't an option. I wasn't ready to disclose where I was going, even to beings who rarely spoke and had acquired a fondness for me. More likely it was the polish I supplied them with, but I’d prefer to think it was me. Hey, we all wanted to be liked.

Driving usually had a calming effect on me but not this time. Even as I drove into one of the most stunning areas of South Carolina, I couldn't relax enough to enjoy the beauty.

Malokin's address was a magnificent old waterfront mansion, with columns framing the entrance. It looked as if it had been there since before the Revolutionary War. The guy did seem to have impeccable taste. Sticking out like a donkey in a herd of stallions, I parked in front of the house and walked up the stairs toward the grand entrance.

A servant dressed in black answered the door. He spoke before I uttered a word.

“Follow me.” He turned and started up the grand spiraling staircase before I replied, leaving me to shut the door and follow. I trailed him through several rooms until I wondered if this whole tour was simply about demonstrating Malokin had money.

I felt like tapping the butler on the shoulder and saying,
Yeah, I get it, he’s got some cash. Isn’t there a direct route?
Finally, we made our way through a sitting room and out onto a second floor veranda, which overlooked the back gardens.

Malokin was sitting at a table in the shade of the blue roof, two glasses of wine sat on the table, a bottle between them.

He stood as I approached.

“Join me, please.” He smiled and pulled out the chair for me. “I'm glad you called.”

“There are always two sides. I'm open to hearing yours.” The bullshit I spewed was so thick it was amazing he didn't laugh in my face as I said it. He didn’t look naïve. I needed to thread in some discontent or I'd have no shot of him buying it. “The Kitty situation will need to be resolved, of course, before we can move forward.”

He walked around to his chair, dressed in another expensive black suit. I rubbed my hands along the jeans I wore and smoothed down the loose blouse. It's not like I could've worn a skirt. I had knives holstered at my ankles and a gun tucked against my ribs.

“I believe in going into a negotiation with an open heart and mind,” he said as he sat down across from me.

His open-heart comment hit a note in me. Had I made sure the safety was on the gun I'd bought off the Jinxes? Hoped so, because I couldn't check it now. I leaned to the left, trying to leave a little room between my skin and the gun handle, just in case.

“I'd like to hear why you seem to have such an interest in recruiting me?” That might have been the first truly honest thing I'd said in a month. Why me? Couldn't they find someone else to drag into their mess? First Suit and now him? Don’t you people ever chase willing girls?

“I'm sure you've noticed that this world isn't running very well.”

“That depends on your perspective, to a certain degree, doesn't it? Perhaps it's not going the way you prefer, but maybe it is for others?” I weighed the risk of being poisoned and decided to take a sip of wine. I'd strolled into his lair. If he wanted me gone, he didn't need to poison me.

“Have you noticed how unbalanced things seem?” His voice dared me to deny the obvious.

I'd been thinking the very same thing myself, just the other day, as I'd done a job in Montreal.

“No, not at all.” I denied it anyway. Hopefully he’d assume I was stupid and therefore worthless to him.

“I can see you aren't as open minded as you'd like to have me believe, but that's okay. I have confidence you'll come around.” He lifted the bottle and topped off my glass. “I think it's time for new management. I want you to join me.”

“You think you could do a better job?” Of course he did. His type always thought that. To be fair, though, this place did look quite a bit better than what we had going on over at the office.

“Definitely.”

“But why me? Why do you want me so badly you have to drag Kitty into this?”

He reclined back in his seat and crossed his legs. He looked like a southern gentleman, but I was sure he was anything but.

“Cigarette?” he asked, opening up a jeweled case that sat by the wine.

“No, thank you.”

He lit up and then blew out a stream of smoke before he began to talk. “I need people who have control. Did you know you had more control over your existence than any other human I've ever encountered in all the years I've been around?” He stared at me while he spoke, watching for a reaction.

And I was having a strong one. The idea that he’d been in my life—on some level—for longer than I knew, revolted me, but I tried to hide my disgust. “You clearly know me very well. Who exactly are you?”

“For now, let's just say I'm someone that thinks it's time for a change.” He smiled and said nothing more on the subject.

I leaned back and took a sip of red wine. He could smile, because as of right now, he had all the control. In fact, he had everything I didn’t; control, money, and information. I was the epitome of the underdog in this situation.

I smiled now. That was okay with me. I liked being the underdog. Victory’s never as sweet as when you’re coming from behind.

“What is it you want to do?”

“The short answer is, take complete control.” He took another drag of his cigarette and the light glittered in his eyes, making me wonder if I was sitting with the devil himself. I knew some things didn’t dwell in our dimensions, but perhaps they came by for visits?

“The first part would be the hardest. We'd have to do some restructuring of management.”

Getting rid of Harold? Yikes, that was one thing I might be interested in. Why did this guy have to scream “evil dude?” Why couldn't there be a sane person suggesting restructuring?

It didn't matter. If Malokin was serious, he wasn't going to get very far targeting Harold. He was simply the paper pusher. Maybe this guy didn't know too much. That was a good sign.

“Of course, Harold doesn't pull the strings. His departure would be simply to upset the apple cart and shake a few loose.” More wine, another puff and he continued. “But you have a unique in with someone who does. Paddy.”

My leg stopped in mid swing. “Paddy is just an old man. Why would you be interested in him?”

“I didn't initially recognize him, but I'd never gotten that close to one of them before.” He looked at me, smoke swirling around his head like he really was straight from hell. “Strange how familiar the two of you were, though.”

“One of who?” I scoffed. “I'm telling you, Paddy's just some old guy I met at the grocery store.” I started swinging my leg again.

“He's upper management.”

“You're mistaken.”
I think you’re dead on
.

“I could be, but I’m not. It's like spotting a unicorn when you’ve never seen one before. It could be a horse, except for the massive glowing horn on its head.”

And what had been Paddy’s horn that had given him away? The curiosity building in me wasn't enough to ask and confirm. I agreed. I wouldn't be responsible for slipping and giving him something he could use against Paddy. Although I had no real knowledge, it didn't mean something I said wouldn't be of use to him. It was time for another subject switch. “Where’s Kitty?”

“You know I can’t tell you that, right now.” There was no emotion when he spoke; he simply stated the obvious.

“Is she alive?” I had more emotion than I wanted, but I tried to swallow it back.

“Perhaps,” he said, purposefully leaving me hanging.

It was hard not to grab one of my knives and go for his neck. “She'll need to be released for me to continue on in good faith.”

“If you sign on, I won't have any further need of her or any of your other co-workers.”

“And what about Kitty?”

“We’ll come to a mutual agreement about her as we proceed.” He stood and I followed suit. “I know that's the only reason you’re here, but it doesn't matter. I have every confidence you'll find your place with us.”

“What is it exactly you want me to do?” I asked as I watched him open the door to the interior.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be in touch.” He held it open for me, signaling the end of the meeting. All I could think as I passed him was if he was standing just a few feet closer to the railing, I’d be tempted to end this now and figure out where Kitty was afterward.