Part 31 (2/2)

Dawn and Breisi were in the bustling reception area, where people cried out for attention. Down the row of seats, a drugged-out woman had vomited on the floor, and an orderly was rapidly-and not so happily-mopping it up. Across from them, a little African-American girl was stretched out over a few seats, her head in her mom's lap. The older woman, who was hooked into an iPod, probably to block out the cacophony, stroked her child's hair, singing ”Hush little baby, don't say a word...”

The song made Dawn turn away.

”A broken back,” she said for what had to be the hundredth time. She'd removed her shoulder holster due to her new fas.h.i.+on accessory: a sling with ice packs attached to her injuries. She barely felt their wet chill over the throbbing. ”It's my fault. I should've made sure Robby went after me before Kiko. I could've taken it. I've crashed into a lot of walls, and I know how to do it without getting hurt. Once, during some harness work for a flying stunt, I flipped wrong. I almost broke my back, so I know how to handle this kind of-”

”Don't.” Breisi had her legs crossed, her ankle bobbing at top speed. ”Pain comes with this job.”

Dawn didn't doubt it, but...G.o.d. Limpet was having Kiko transferred to the Cedars-Sinai Inst.i.tute for Spinal Disorders, where he'd be diagnosed in more detail. Now, as they prepped him for departure, Dawn felt useless. She fought to stay cool and distant, but exhaustion and then the tremors of Robby's violation started to creep back into her.

No problem, she told herself. She could deal with the trauma. Right?

But when she realized that someone had to cancel Kiko's big audition Monday, it was all over. She coughed, but she and Breisi both knew it was actually a tight sob.

She felt her a.s.sociate's hand on her good shoulder-way above the vampire-spit burns. Strange. She was getting too used to being touched like this-caringly. But, somehow, it wasn't as terrible as she'd imagined. Especially right now.

”We need to get back to work,” Breisi said gently.

For a second, Dawn thought she was joking. But then she remembered that Breisi wasn't much for humor.

”Believe me,” the other woman added when she saw the look on Dawn's face, ”Kiko would kill us if we hung around fawning over him. He's got an ego, to be sure, but he's also dedicated to this job and would want us out there taking care of it. The boss is sending over a Friend to look after him while we-”

”What?” Dawn said it with such rancor that the girl across from them grabbed her mother's hand and held it to her ear.

Even over the hubbub of the waiting room, Dawn had been too shrill. She lowered her tone. ”Are we going to run around town chasing Robby? Why? We know from Jonah's buddies that they haven't seen vampires around the Pennybakers' tonight, so Robby probably cut his losses and went into hiding. Maybe that's why he left me intact-he doesn't want more trouble.”

”Klara Monaghan gave us a list that we still need to cover. This isn't over yet.”

Wasn't it? With resurrected agony, Dawn remembered what Kiko had looked like at Bava: a pile of flesh and clothing; a bad imitation of the vital guy she'd come to know.

Breisi decided to get even more maternal, resting a cupped hand on the back of Dawn's head. ”We've made headway. Think of what the coroner's office told me.”

Sure, okay. They'd already known that Klara had bled out from her injuries, but now they'd also been informed that the damage to her throat had been caused by human teeth-not fangs. They'd also discovered that there hadn't been a case similar to this in L.A. County for the last fifty years.

So was Klara's death the work of a weirdo, not a vamp? Did that mean Robby wasn't even a suspect?

Come to think of it, Dawn hadn't even questioned him about it. h.e.l.l, she'd been busy with a few other things at the time.

And there was more than that to worry about. Was it possible that the people at the coroner's office were lying when they said that the culprit had been human? Were they trying to cover up a case that would cause the public to get hysterical about monsters in their midst?

Dawn had asked Breisi this earlier, after the initial urgency for Kiko had abated, but the older woman thought the coroner's office was on the up-and-up. After all, she'd seen the autopsy reports and had gotten a peek at Klara's body, herself. There was nothing obvious indicating subterfuge.

So the killer was human, Breisi insisted. And she was betting the DNA results would confirm that.

A nurse, dressed in scrubs and with her dark hair slung back in a high ponytail, bustled over to inform them that Kiko would be transferred within the next half hour. They thanked the woman as she took off toward the administration desk.

”There shouldn't be any more for us to handle. The boss has taken care of all the paperwork that will keep anyone from investigating Kiko's injuries.” Dawn got up. ”When's Jonah coming to see Kik?”

”He's not. He's a shut-in.”

”He can't come out,” Dawn asked, ”even for Kiko?”

”As I said, Kik will have no problem with that. The boss has always told us that he'll go outside when it's absolutely necessary; not before. That's why he employs us-we do what he can't beyond the walls of his home right now.”

The term echoed in Dawn's head. A shut-in. It almost gave some humanity to the voice Dawn had gotten to know on such a superficial level.

Superficial versus...intimate.

Out of nowhere, Matt Lonigan's kiss-the warm, sentimental simplicity of it-came back to her, and she touched her lips. She'd left a message for him earlier, as well as one for Jacqueline Ashley, who'd also called. In her return messages, she'd told them both where she was at, what her new phone number was, and that she would to get back to them later.

And, ironically, there'd also been a summons from a female stunt coordinator who was wondering what Dawn was up to. But she hadn't had time to return that one yet.

Shouldn't she be dancing around like a fool at the contact? Dawn sighed. The career that had seemed so all-important this afternoon was nothing compared to what was going on now. All the same, no matter what time it was, she should leave a message with the coordinator out of professional courtesy. Who knew when she'd have another chance.

”I've got to make a quick call outside,” Dawn said. ”Too noisy in here.”

”I'm running to the girls' room.” Breisi got out of her chair. ”Keep your gun handy and stay by the doors, around people. I'll be out soon.”

With her good hand, Dawn patted her jacket pocket, where she'd transferred her piece, then headed toward the doors, dodging and not even glancing up at a man who was on his way in. He said something, but she kept right on moving.

Then, finding a spot at the side of the building, near a couple of paramedics who were taking a cigarette break, Dawn awkwardly got the gun out. When she realized she had no other choice but to hold it with the same hand as the phone, she crouched, setting the weapon near her shoe, hidden from the workers. Then she extracted the encrypted phone from her jeans pocket, tried to dial it. But her left fingers weren't as dexterous as her right, and she couldn't manage the easy task.

Frustrated, she made another attempt at dialing, failed. She ground her teeth together as her right side blazed with growing awareness of its injuries.

”G.o.d-d.a.m.nit.”

”Need help?”

She glanced up to find Lonigan leaning against the wall, dressed in a long leather jacket. His gaze was bright, his body alert, as if he was the one who was caffeinated. And maybe he was. It seemed to come with the territory-along with the pain.

”I was just going in as you were coming out,” he said. A shadow covered half of his pugilistic features. ”Been standing here waiting for you to recognize me.”

”I wasn't looking. You know, Matt, you're going to scare the life out of me with all your sneaking around.”

She stowed her phone but kept the gun out, nestling it under the right side of her jacket as she stood, then turned to him. To his eyes, she probably seemed to be warding off the cold, one hand hugging the other side of her waist.

”An a.s.sociate was monitoring the scanner,” he said, his tone making it clear he wasn't giving a lot of credence to whatever he was about to say. ”She heard a strange story: that a midget had been messing around at Bava-practicing stunts with his friend in a supply room?-and had fallen from a table. Funny how Bava just happens to be a rumored location for vampires. I remembered your partner, tried to get a hold of you to make sure, but then started worrying that you'd gotten hurt, too.”

Brus.h.i.+ng a gaze over her cheek, her arm and shoulder, he took a step away from the wall. Dawn's flesh came alive, but she quelled her excitement, thinking that this couldn't be filed under her ”save the world” reason for running out on Kiko.

With an unreadable look, Matt redirected his footsteps away from her, so that he turned a corner, darkness closing over him as he disappeared around the other side of the building.

What was up with him? Dawn gripped her revolver, glancing at the hospital's exit. She'd keep her eye out for Breisi.

Then she followed.

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