Part 15 (1/2)

”I'll be okay,” he grinned and took off. He'd been gone an hour and a half when my phone rang.

”Lissa, this is Tony,” he said. At first, I thought it might be Gavin calling but the number was unfamiliar and the ID was blocked.

”Tony, how are you?” I asked brightly. It was nice to hear his voice.

”Lissa, I'm fine. Actually, I'm on a plane headed your way,” he said. ”We'll be landing in about half an hour. Is there someplace I can meet with you?”

”Tony, why are you using your cell phone when the common herd gets slapped on the head if we even look at our cell phones on a commercial flight?”

That made him laugh. ”I'm special,” he replied.

”Honey, we all think we're special. That doesn't mean we get to use our phones on airplanes.” I know, I was teasing him and I was smiling while I did it.

”Now Lissa, stop beating around the bush and tell me where I can find you.”

”There's a Barnes and n.o.ble on Rock Road,” I said. I'd scoped it out on my computer the night before. One of the books I bought in Overland Park was the first in a series and now I wanted the others.

”That's good enough,” he said. ”Don't keep me waiting.” He hung up.

”Who was that?” Dalroy asked.

”Dalroy, it's better if you don't know,” I said. ”I need to meet this guy alone. He doesn't need to see me with you or Rhett. I'm just trying to get Winkler and the Grand Master out of this the best way I can. If you have to report this to Wlodek, go ahead. He may lift my head from my shoulders as a result but this is what I know to do.”

”You don't know much about how the Council looks at the American vamps, do you?” Dalroy asked softly. ”We're upstarts to them. None of us old enough to know anything. I'm surprised they thought to contact Rhett and me, instead of flying their own bunch in here. If you don't have a foreign accent, you're too young to have any sense at all. There's not a single American on the Council and no American Enforcers.”

”Yeah, I get that too,” I grumbled. That's exactly how Gavin treated me most of the time.

”So, how long have you been vampire?” he asked.

”Just a little over a year,” I said.

”And they're sending you out to do this?” Dalroy didn't know what to think.

”I'm a mister,” I said. ”And I can mindspeak.” That caught Dalroy's attention.

”That how you got out of the hotel without anybody seeing you?” There was a light in his eyes.

”Yeah. That's how I got out.” Rhett walked in carrying bags of clothing. I could have kissed him. I took the fastest shower I could, dressed in jeans that had been pre-washed while I silently thanked Rhett, a top that wasn't too bad, my athletic shoes (I hadn't asked him to buy shoes), and borrowed the keys to the Cadillac. Dalroy said they'd see about getting a second car when I walked out the door.

The Barnes and n.o.ble wasn't far from the safe house and I was only ten minutes late to meet Tony. He was sitting in the cafe, having a latte and flipping through a magazine.

”Lissa,” his eyes and his kiss were both warm when he stood and greeted me. We sat down. ”Winkler's lawyers are as busy as ants, right now,” he said, first thing. ”I spoke with Winkler this afternoon and the FBI is talking to the local authorities. We know neither he nor the other man are involved in this, Lissa. We have camera footage, showing who actually did commit the murders. What we're trying to figure out now is how they got the fingerprints all over the guns.”

”They used more than one? Why?” I couldn't believe this.

”No idea; both employees were killed in the same room. But one set of fingerprints was on each weapon-one belonging to the Harper man, the other to you, Lissa.”

”Tony, I didn't kill those people.”

”I know you didn't, Lissa.” He reached over and took my hand in his. ”Unfortunately, the local authorities ran both sets of fingerprints through the nationwide databases. They got a hit on yours, Lissa. Care to tell me how you're here instead of in Oklahoma City where they reported you missing over a year ago? Also how you manage to look like you do now instead of like the photographs I was given?” He took his hand away and drew a copy of the photo they'd used for my ID badge at the courthouse from his jacket pocket. That's where they'd gotten my fingerprint records, too; the courthouse fingerprinted all the employees and the records were kept in a database by the Sheriff's department. f.u.c.k.

My skin was quivering so badly, I didn't know what to do. I twisted my fingers together to keep Tony from seeing how much they were shaking. ”Tony, all I'm asking is for you to get Winkler and Weldon out of this mess,” I begged. ”And then let me walk away from you tomorrow morning, right at daybreak. I promise you won't have to worry about me past that.” My eyes met his and I was pleading silently with him to do this. I could have placed compulsion, but without a doubt, there was back-up for Tony somewhere. In fact there was probably a crowd of people there at the bookstore, waiting for big, bad Lissa to do something untoward and they'd come blasting their way in, guns blazing.

”And what will happen if you walk away from me at daybreak?” Tony asked softly, his eyes searching my face for information I couldn't give.

”Why don't you try it and see?” I asked, hugging myself and hunching my shoulders in fear. I kept telling myself that walking into the sun was the best thing, now. Doubtless, this was what Kelvin and whoever he was in league with were planning all along. Expose Lissa and Weldon. The only thing that we had in common was the successful defense against Lester Briggs, Bart Orford and their horde of henchwolves. Most likely, Tate Briggs and Kelvin Morgan, if that was his real name, had somehow planned this together. Too bad Tate had gotten his in London. I wondered if Kelvin would have included Winkler in his plot for revenge if he'd known that Winkler executed Tate. If Tony wanted, he could now uncover the vampires and the werewolves with very little effort. If Kelvin had been anywhere around at the moment, I would have killed him right in front of Tony and then allowed Tony to arrest me and haul me in. If they tried to move me anywhere in daylight, they wouldn't have anything except ash to show for their efforts.

Tony wasn't saying anything; he just kept staring at me, his fingers still on the photograph of me at my frumpiest best-overweight and graying slightly. ”How many people are here in the store with you, Tony?” I asked. ”How many have guns, ready to shoot me if I make a wrong move?”

”You told me to contact you at night for a reason, didn't you?” Tony's face was showing disbelief. ”You always worked nights and slept days before, didn't you?” Christ. He was putting it together, right in front of my eyes. ”And now,” he went on, ”you want me to let you walk into sunlight. What will happen, Lissa? Why won't I have to worry about you after that?” His gray blue eyes held a hint of steel as he questioned me.

”You'll just have to trust me, won't you?” I mumbled, dropping my eyes. ”What are you going to do about Winkler and Weldon? Anything?”

”Winkler is very important to us. You know why-you suggested he come to me in the first place,” Tony said. ”He's the one who can upgrade the software. He knows all about it, Lissa. The man is a genius. We have the footage of the shooter; he looks young, about five-ten or so, dark hair.”

”If it's who I think it is, he's been going by the name of Kelvin Morgan but I don't think that's his real name.” I turned my head; I didn't want to look at this man any longer. He was trying to trap me. Sure, I could tell him everything. And the vampires would find me afterward. They wouldn't hold back from killing me a second time if I exposed the race. Better to walk into the sun. That would be my decision.

”If I hazarded a guess at what you are, Lissa, what would happen?”

Still not looking at him, I mumbled, ”I'd be dead. Very, very dead.”

Tony's cell phone buzzed; he had it on vibrate but I heard it clearly. He looked at the ID and answered. ”Yes?” he said.

”We have the shooter,” the voice on the other end replied.

”Good. Where did you find him?”

”One of the detainee's friends tracked him down and handed him over. Some guy named Davis Stone.”

If I could have, I'd have given Davis a huge kiss. As it was, I wasn't likely to see him again.

”Where?” Tony asked. A location in Overland Park was given. I had no idea where that was. ”We'll be there in a few,” Tony said and ended the call. ”Well, Lissa, I'd like to bring you with me for this. Am I going to have to handcuff you to do it?”

”No.” My voice was sullen. Tony took my arm and led me out of the store. Three men detached themselves from whatever it was they were doing and followed us out. I kid you not; two of them wore sungla.s.ses.

There was a van waiting outside and I was loaded into the back seat. One of the three men scooted in beside me. I sniffed him; he was human enough, as were the others. He also wore a gun in a shoulder holster-he'd opened his suit coat and pulled it back a little just so I could see the weapon. I wondered what he'd do if I told him I'd been shot in the back three times and lived over it, even after Gavin had dug around to get the bullets out without the benefit of anesthetic. Now I wondered if anesthesia would even have an effect on me. Alcohol didn't unless it was mixed with blood or my donor happened to be drunk.

We drove along for fifteen minutes before pulling into an underground garage beneath a red brick building. The agent or whatever he was that sat beside me opened the door and motioned for me to get out. Did he think I was going to jump him? So far, he hadn't done anything to warrant that.

Tony was already walking swiftly toward the bank of elevators located in a corner of the well-lit parking garage. There were two other vehicles parked there-another van and a dark sedan. The whole place was low ceilinged and claustrophobically concrete, interrupted by rows of thick columns holding everything up. There were no signs anywhere to tell me where I was and our footsteps echoed as we followed Tony toward the elevators. An elevator answered Tony's call after he inserted an ID card in a slot and we all loaded in. The doors closed, Tony hit the b.u.t.ton for the third floor and up we went.

A long, carpeted hallway stretched out before us as Tony led the way again. One agent was behind him, two others were behind me. If they left me inside a room, I wondered if I'd have enough time to turn to mist before they saw it on a monitor somewhere. Tony pulled the card out of his pocket again, swiped it through a reader outside a door and we followed him inside an interrogation room.

Kelvin sat at a wide table, handcuffs on his wrists, his expression sullen and angry. Two other agents were already in the room, sitting at the table opposite the prisoner. Kelvin was staring at the tabletop but as soon as he got a whiff of my scent, he drew in a huge breath and stiffened, his dark eyes wide as he lifted them to stare at me. I almost growled at him but held myself in check. No need to show everybody there just what it was I was trying so hard to hide.

”You're afraid of her,” Tony said softly to Kelvin, looking from him to me.

”Hmmph,” Kelvin lied.

”He's lying,” one of the two men at the table looked up at me. I got a good whiff of that agent and the one who was sitting next to him.