Part 18 (2/2)

She found her a.s.sociates standing in the doorway. They had a distance between them, like they'd been arguing. You could always tell, could always catch the snap of tension between two people after they'd had words with each other.

Glancing at Frank's s.h.i.+rt on Dawn, Kiko walked forward first, Breisi trailing behind like she wasn't so sure Dawn would be happy to see her. He sat on the floor, started sifting through some photos then depositing them in the s...o...b..x. He smiled at one, held it out to Dawn.

In its time-preserved colors, she was maybe thirteen, dressed in a leotard and holding out a trophy she'd won during a gymnastics meet. Her pigtails and bright smile clashed with the heavy eye makeup she was already wearing in a fit of rebellion, making sure she distanced herself as far away from the ”naturally lovely” Eva as she could. It made life at school-a place where reputations were based on parents-easier. Her vehement denial of her legacy, her pa.s.sion for sports and for keeping her body fit and healthy, had made her an outsider early on. While the other brats had been getting stoned every day, Dawn had been practicing in the gym, hanging out with baseball-playing boys, avoiding the life of a star's kid.

She cradled the picture in her hand. ”Good times.”

Breisi had crept next to Kiko, staring at a photo, her face ravaged. When she carefully laid the picture in the s...o...b..x, Dawn saw that it was the one of Frank and Eva at their wedding.

”Frank lived here an awful long time,” Kiko said, pointing to a photo of him in the backyard in a hammock. ”I'm surprised he never moved from L.A.”

”He always said that he wanted to raise me somewhere else, but his parents lived here, and he liked to stay near them. They died a few years ago.”

But, Dawn added to herself, even though Frank had been good at getting close to some people, he'd managed to put a canyon between Dawn and Eva. He'd raised his daughter to be a tomboy, emphasizing how she was nothing like her mother at all. In return, Dawn had created the same s.p.a.ce between her and the Hollywood kids, knowing she really wasn't a part of their scene because Frank had repeatedly told her so.The positive side? She'd avoided the suicides and drug problems that plagued many stars' kids.

The negative side? Last night at the Cat's Paw when she'd been in heat, competing with the ghost of her mom again.

Just then, Breisi gasped. Dawn stiffened, instinctively starting to reach for her revolver that lay on the bed, but that wasn't necessary.

It was only the picture. The one that Dawn had heaved across the room in the hope that it would somehow go away.

Breisi was holding it in front of her, eyes saucer-wide, hand over her mouth. Kiko took it from her, looked at it, glared up at Dawn.

”Dear Lord,” was all he said.

Already on her feet, Breisi stumbled toward the door. Her footsteps faded toward the direction of the kitchen.

Again, Dawn shut it out. She tasted bile in the back of her throat.

”Dear Lord, Dawn,” Kiko repeated. ”Why'sthisin your dad's d.a.m.ned bedroom?”

”I have no idea.”

”Dawn?”

Reluctantly, she met Kiko's gaze. He was looking at her like she was a freak show, probably wondering why she wasn't screaming in sheer terror, even now, years after the picture had been taken.

”I don't want to talk about it.” She felt sick. Sick and tired. ”Not now, not ever.”

”I understand.” He sounded like a therapist, not that she'd know.

In the background, they could hear Breisi's voice on the phone, her tone high and wobbly, on the precipice of tears.

”Is she okay?” Dawn asked.

”I doubt it. We're not all troupers like you.” Kiko hesitated. ”You probably figured out that she and Frank were...close.”

Dawn packed up a few more pictures. ”Close.”

”d.a.m.n it, Dawn, would you stop it! Look at me!”

Don't do it, don't do it, said the glue that had been holding her together for years.

But she did. She met Kiko's big, kind blue eyes and tried not to break down.

”With all that's been going on, she wanted to wait before she told you.”

”Were they...?”

”Serious? Uh-huh. They were serious enough to be arguing about how Frank needed to get Eva out of his system if he wanted Breisi to stick around. It got to the point where they broke up the day before Frank disappeared.”

The news crashed into her solar plexus, a sucker punch. Why? Was she expecting Frank to always love Eva? And why would Dawn evenwantthat?”Breisi's coming to terms with a lot of things, Dawn. Like having you around. We knew we had to contact you about Frank, but she was making herself ill about meeting you, along with everything else. She was angry because you'd left Frank. Love made her protective of him.”

Love. Dawn's temples throbbed, and it wasn't just because of this bombsh.e.l.l. She felt for Breisi, knew exactly what she was going through and wished there wasn't another person on earth who had to suffer through the horror of fearing for Frank.

Kiko wasn't done. ”She knows how much you care about him, you've proven that you do. So maybe...”

Dawn allowed her hand to fall away from her head. ”What? Maybe we can be best buddies and go shopping for back-to-school items together? Maybe we can have a Jamba Juice at the mall then go slay some vamps afterward?”

Harsh. But she didn't know how else to take this. Any other reaction was an effort, an act.

”Listen, I'm not going to sit here and watch Breisi go through this.” Kiko's face reddened. ”That woman is like a sister to me, and I'd doanythingto help her get Frank back.”

When Dawn met his eyes again, she could see the potential for the same kind of support forher. The desire to grab on to it almost shattered the fragile bones that propped her up.

But habit, year after year of rebelling, preserving, died harder than that. She knew she had to take care of herself without weakening, without glomming on to someone else.

Meeting him halfway, Dawn nodded, her thanks unspoken.

”Why don't I finish cleaning up in here,” Kiko said softly.

His request was an encrypted one. He was actually asking her to go to Breisi. And he was right. d.a.m.n it, he was right.

Rising to her feet was like pulling herself out of a tar pit, difficult and slow.

”I'm just going to...” She gestured toward the door.

”Good.” Kiko smiled to himself and picked up another photo. ”That's good.”

Footsteps heavy, Dawn went to the kitchen, where she found Breisi sitting down, her phone laid neatly in front of her clasped hands. She was staring at the family room, her eyes red-rimmed, her face a blank, just like she was seeing the same memories Dawn had encountered in this house. When she spied Dawn, she blinked, jerked upright in her chair, started to say something and then stopped.

But even the forces of nature couldn't keep Breisi from being Breisi.

After wiping her eyes, she started to spin the phone around on the table while launching into a quivering update.

”There's lots to talk about, so listen. First, Marla Pennybaker left a message saying that she doesn't know where Nathan is, either, so she'll contact us when she hears something.” She swallowed, but kept on going, h.e.l.l-for-leather. ”Second, I got results from that skin sample I took from you last night. There were no traces of acid or burning agents in the vamp spit, so the temperature of it was actuallythathot. And I was thinking I might be able to adjust those locators. I can see if they'll sense that vamp spit, working on a temperature gauge or...something...” She faltered, but her hands kept going, waving around. Her voice followed. ”That's only an idea. And the boss-he'd like you to set up a meeting with that Matt Lonigan. And-”

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