Authors: D B Reynolds
Rajmund (30 page)
"Fun times tonight, huh, boss?"
Raj shook his head. He had to remind himself sometimes that behind Emelie's cover model exterior was a total adrenaline junkie. She lived for this kind of thing. “Everyone set?"
She nodded. “At your word, they'll hit the gas. Two minutes to the front of the house, two minutes inside."
Raj surveyed the situation in back. The grubby yard was surrounded by a battered wooden fence, and if there was a light, it wasn't lit. A lopsided gate was standing wide open, its padlock hanging uselessly on the fence's U-ring, probably put there by the ten or so diehard press types huddled around their Blackberries in the darkness. Occasionally, one of them would glance up at the house, but nothing was stirring up there, either. Sarah's windows were all covered, blinds drawn and curtains closed, but he caught the flash of the landlady's curious face from an upstairs window next door. The woman would have made a great spy. There was no light leaking into the yard from inside Sarah's duplex, and behind him, the alley was just as poorly lit, with no street lights. A motion activated flood lamp, which had lit up when he drove past, had gone dark again. Three cars were parked along the side, all of them heading into the dead-end, and presumably belonging to the reporters, because the residents would know better. “All right,” he said to Em. “I'll give these people a nice nap and then you and I go in the back at the same time Yossi and the others hit the front. They make a big noise, take Angel out as a decoy and storm away. She's about the same size as Sarah, we'll just cover her hair. You exit back here with Sarah and take her to the warehouse. I'll handle Scavetti and whatever else comes up and meet you there later."
"I can handle the cop if you'd rather—"
"He knows me. You take Sarah."
Em studied him briefly. “You're the boss."
Raj nodded. “Give Yossi the go ahead."
Sarah sat huddled halfway up the stairs, hugging her knees to her chest, utterly miserable. Poor Mrs. M. was next door, as trapped as Sarah herself. Scavetti couldn't decide if he was more pissed about Raj, or the fact that everyone would now think the Buffalo Police Department, i.e. Tony Scavetti, was using a psychic to solve their very high profile case. Once he'd agreed to give Raj ten minutes, the detective had thrown his hands up in disgust and disappeared into Sarah's living room where she could hear him swearing at someone on his cell phone. Angel was doing pretty much the same, albeit with a lot less swearing, whispering into her headset like some sort of special ops agent in an action flick.
For her part, Sarah didn't know if Raj's imminent arrival was good news or bad, but she did know he could make her disappear faster than she could have on her own and without involving the police. So she sat on her stairs where no one could see her from the outside, listening to the competing mutterings of Scavetti and Angel, and waiting for Raj who probably hated her.
She sat up abruptly, as two things happened all at once. Angel shouted, “They're coming in,” and a sudden roar of truck engines and squealing tires sent Scavetti racing for the front door. He cursed violently when Angel whipped the door open ahead of him, but then both stood back as four men in black combat gear stormed through the crowd of shouting, angry reporters, stomped up onto the porch and into the house. Angel slammed the door behind them and Sarah's small hallway was suddenly crowded with big, hulking vampires, while Scavetti was all but thumping his chest in anger. The testosterone was so thick in the air she looked up at the ceiling, expecting to see clouds of it hovering visibly over their heads.
"What the fuck?” Scavetti yelled. “Who the hell authorized—"
"I did,” Raj said from the kitchen. With all the fuss and noise at the front door, Sarah hadn't even heard the back door open. She realized that had been the plan, that the team entering through the front had one purpose—to cover their master's entrance from the backyard.
At the sound of his voice, all four vampires turned as one, muscles quivering like horses at a starting gate as they dropped to one knee, along with Angel. Scavetti stared, mouth agog, his gaze traveling from the kneeling vampires to Raj and back again in disbelief.
Sarah heard heavy footsteps, and then Raj's head and shoulders came into view through the banister to her right. Wearing black leather and denim, radiating a dangerous sort of authority, he looked larger than life and twice as lethal as the vampire minions kneeling before him. And while he had to be aware of her sitting there, he didn't so much as glance her way. Her heart clenched painfully. Em strolled in behind him, dressed in black combat gear and looking far better in it than Lara Croft ever did. Raj gestured to the kneeling vamps and they jumped to their feet.
"Detective Scavetti,” Raj said calmly. “Is Ms. Stratton under arrest?"
Sarah jerked at the sound of her name, while the police detective glared daggers all around. “I don't fucking need this crap, Gregor,” he snarled.
Raj's heavily armed vampires bristled with outrage at this disrespectful treatment of their master, and Sarah shrank back against the wall, expecting violence. But Raj only smiled. “Let me take this off your hands, Detective. I assure you it is none of Ms. Stratton's making. If you're looking for the person who leaked her identity, you should call Edward Blackwood."
So she'd been right about Blackwood. Not that there'd ever been any doubt. The bastard had been phoning almost nonstop all afternoon, clearly figuring Sarah would have no one to turn to but him. He didn't know that she'd rather let Scavetti arrest her than put herself into his greasy hands.
"For all the fucking good it will do,” Scavetti muttered in response to Raj's comment about Blackwood. He looked around. “Obviously, you have a plan."
"Angel here will serve as a decoy.” He gestured at the diminutive woman. “My people will exit through the front door, as though spiriting away Ms. Stratton, taking off into the night with great fanfare and drawing as much attention as possible."
Sarah looked at Angel who caught her gaze and grinned conspiratorially. She was leaning into the heavily muscled vampire standing behind her and Sarah wondered if they were a couple, if that was why Angel, who obviously wasn't a vampire, was a part of Raj's company.
"Meanwhile, my lieutenant,” Raj was saying, indicating Emelie who snapped off a quick salute in response. He gave her a quelling look, but there was a small smile playing around his mouth as he did so. “My lieutenant,” he continued, “will take Ms. Stratton out through the back and transport her to a location known only to my people."
Scavetti had looked satisfied up to that point, but now he scowled. “We'll want to know where you're taking her. And where the fuck will you be during all of this?"
Raj gave the detective a patient look. “I thought you and I could take this opportunity to update one another on our progress, Detective, including, of course, Ms. Stratton's location. Our goal in this matter has consistently been to assist in your investigation, not impede it. Once we have concluded to your satisfaction, I will rejoin my team."
Scavetti looked like he had swallowed something rotten, but he nodded.
For her part, Sarah had some pretty real doubts that Raj had any intention of informing anyone about her whereabouts once they left this house. She also couldn't help noting that it was Emelie who'd be taking her away, not Raj. So much for the knight-on-a-white-horse scenario. She was pretty sure none of those scenes involved having the knight's sidekick ride away with the rescued maiden. She also wondered if anyone was going to ask her opinion about any of this, or if she was going to be treated like just so much baggage—
"Is that acceptable to you, Sarah?"
Jerked out of her thoughts, she raised her head and found Raj looking at her for the first time since he'd shown up out of nowhere. She studied his ice-blue eyes and found not a trace of warmth for her anywhere in their cold depths. She swallowed around the tightness in her throat and nodded. “Yes. Thank you."
Raj held her gaze a moment longer. “You should call your neighbor and see if she wants to be rescued as well,” he said in a cool voice.
"Okay,” Sarah whispered. She rose quickly, grateful for the excuse to go upstairs and away from the speculative looks of Emelie and the other vampires. She had taken only one step when a thought occurred to her. She stopped and turned around to ask, “What about my car?” Raj just looked at her. “I'll need my car wherever we're going,” she insisted. She didn't know exactly what she'd do or where she'd go, but she definitely knew she didn't want to endure this frigidly polite Raj any longer than necessary.
He held her gaze a moment longer and then glanced at Emelie. “Give me your keys,” she said, addressing Sarah. “I'll have one of the guys bring it to the safe house later."
"Okay,” Sarah agreed. She went upstairs to call Mrs. M. and to grab the duffle bag she'd packed earlier, before the press had descended and thrown all of her plans into the dumper. She'd go along with Raj's escape plan for now. But at the first opportunity, she would be gone. If he didn't want anything to do with her, that was fine. She didn't need him to get away from this town. She'd orchestrated her first disappearance when was she eighteen years old and broke. She could sure as hell do it now. Raj wouldn't have to worry about her much longer.
The maneuver went off like clockwork. Not that Sarah expected anything else. Emelie seemed to know what Raj wanted before he could ask for it, and there was no arguing once something was decided. His vampire guards paid almost fanatic attention to every word he said, but then, what he said seemed to make sense, so why not?
Mrs. M. had agreed to be evacuated and plans were quickly made to drop her at her son's. Raj said he would take care of her after everyone else was gone, and he and Scavetti had finished their discussion. And he hadn't said a single word to Sarah since asking her to call Mrs. M.
When the time came, every light in the house was doused, and Raj's team of black-clad vampires, with Angel tucked amongst them, stormed through the front door and into the yard as if the Dogs of Hell were on their heels. Before they were off the porch, Emelie was hustling Sarah out the back door and through the yard, where she almost tripped over someone's body. She stifled a shriek and grabbed Em, who laughed quietly.
"Don't worry. They're still alive."
"What happened to them?” Sarah whispered, maneuvering around what she now saw were several people, looking particularly ghostly in the bluish light of their Blackberries and cell phones.
"Raj happened to them,” Em said, with some satisfaction.
"What does that mean?” Sarah snapped irritably.
Em tsked, holding up a hand for quiet as they went through the gate and into the alley, where a boring white Taurus was parked behind Raj's sedan. There were tens of thousands of white American sedans just like this one all around Buffalo. They were as common as the wind, and Buffalo was a very windy city.
In minutes, they were out of the alley and onto the street. Emelie made one disparaging comment about the car's gutless engine, but she stayed within the speed limit as they headed toward the airport. She glanced at Sarah and said, “I'm taking you to the warehouse for now."
"Why didn't Raj leave with us?"
"Because anyone can drive this tedious little car, but only Raj can do what Raj does."
"What does that mean?” Sarah demanded again.
"Make all the reporters go away,” Emelie said in a spooky movie voice and laughed.
"Great,” Sarah muttered, not seeing the humor.
"Don't worry. He'll mess with their memories a bit, but they'll all be fine, even that nasty police detective—or at least as fine as he ever gets. Raj just doesn't want anyone to remember a bunch of vampires arriving en masse to save your cute little ass."
Sarah blushed. “I don't care what he does to them. I hate those people."
Emelie gave her a longer look. “Is there somewhere you'd rather go? Family maybe?"
Sarah stared out the window and shook her head. “No. No family."
"What about your parents, or your brothers?"
Sarah turned and gave Emelie a flat stare. “You checked me out."
Emelie nodded easily, no embarrassment, no apology. “It wasn't easy, if that's any consolation,” she offered.
Sarah took a deep breath and let it out. “It doesn't matter anymore, does it?” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “They all know who I am now. I'll have to start all over again."
"Raj could help you with that. The vampire community has resources."
Sarah laughed bitterly. “I don't think Raj would give me the time of day unless he had to."
Emelie gave her a puzzled look. “He rode to your rescue today, didn't he?"
"Yeah,” Sarah admitted. “But only because he wants this case solved and I'm the best lead he's got. So far, anyway. I probably won't even be that for much longer."
Emelie startled her by reaching out to snap her fingers in front of Sarah's face. When she recoiled, Emelie said, “Huh. Well, you're not blind, so the only alternative is stupid."
"Excuse me?"
"Raj is crazy about you, little human."
"Raj hates my guts, skinny vampire."
Emelie laughed. “
Skinny vampire
,” she repeated. “Awkward, but accurate. So tell me, Sarah,” she said deliberately. “What exactly did you do to my master to turn him around the way you have? He's been a bitch to get along with the last few days and I think it's your fault."
Sarah met Emelie's certain gaze and turned away, unwilling to admit what she'd done.
"Oh, come on, Sarah. We're going to be spending a lot of time together for a couple of days. It'll be more fun if we can talk girl talk—you know, guys, makeup, hair, shit like that."
It was Sarah's turn to laugh at the idea of Emelie being interested in
girl talk
. “What did Raj tell you?” she asked.
"You may not have noticed, Sarah, but Raj can do a fair imitation of the Sphinx when he wants to. He hasn't told me shit. And that's saying something, because Raj tells me pretty much everything. He's my Sire and that makes him pretty damn important, but he's also my best friend. He was the first person ever to see me as something other than what he needed me to be. I would die at his command without hesitation and I
will
kill anyone who harms him."