Part 19 (1/2)
The clothes she'd worn this afternoon would have to do, Celluci had certainly seen her look worse. ”Are you sure?”
”Very. Cloud checked out the car when it first pulled up. She said she could smell a gun, so I took a quick look. It's Michael Celluci. Keeping in mind how we met, I'm not likely to forget him.”
Vicki had very little memory of how Henry and Celluci had met, but considering that she was tired and bleeding and about to become a demonic sacrifice at the time, that was hardly surprising. ”What the h.e.l.l ishe doing here?”
”I don't know.” Henry leaned back against the wall and waited while she pulled a T-s.h.i.+rt over her head before he continued. ”But I thought you might like to be there when we found out.”
”Be there?” She stuffed her feet into sandals and stood, running both hands through her hair rather than search for a brush. ”You couldn't pay me enough to miss this explanation and if something isn't very wrong that Ihave to know about immediately - and I'll be d.a.m.ned if I can think of what that might be - I'll have a few words to say in return.”
Because Henry had every intention of living for another four hundred and fifty years, he kept his initial response to that clamped firmly behind his teeth.
”Detective-Sergeant Michael Celluci, ma'am. Is Vicki Nelson here?”
”Yes, she's here. Henry's gone to wake her.”
”That isn't necessary.” Henry must've seen him approaching the house and recognized him.He's got eyes like an owl if that's the case. I couldn't see my hand afoot in front of my face out there, cloud cover's got everything blocked off. ”It's late. Now I know this is the right place, I can return tomorrow.”
”Nonsense.” The woman stepped back out of the way and motioned him into the kitchen. ”You've driven all the way from Toronto, you might as well wait. She'll be right down.”
If they'd gone to get her up, he didn't really have a choice. The only thing worse than having Vicki dragged out of bed, would be having her dragged out of bed and not staying around to explain why.
Slipping his s.h.i.+eld and his ID back into his pocket, he followed a gesture into a chair, keeping a wary eye on the huge white dog who watched him from across the room.This is ridiculous. One more night isn't going to make a difference. And she's not going to be happy about being woken up.
A red dog came out and sat beside the white. It looked less than happy to see him. It also looked larger although, considering the size of the first, Celluci found that difficult to believe. He s.h.i.+fted a little in his chair. ”What, uh, kind of dogs are they?”
”They're descended from an obscure European hunting breed. You've probably never heard of it.”
”Something like wolfhounds?”
”Something like, yes.” She pulled out a chair and sat down, pinning him under a curiously intent gaze.
”My name is Nadine Heerkens-Wells, my husband and I run this farm. Vicki is working for us at the moment, Is there something I should know, Detective?”
”No, ma'am. This doesn't concern you.” In fact, Celluci was having a little trouble dealing with a friends.h.i.+p between the man he perceived Henry Fitzroy to be and this woman. Although physically she was quite striking, with her widow's peak and sharp, almost exotic features, the quality of her surroundings said poor white trash. Her wrinkled sleeveless dress looked as if it had just been picked up off the floor and thrown on.And there's enough stuff scattered around to dress a half a dozen people, provided they 're not too fussy about the condition of their clothes. None of the furniture could be less than ten years old, clumps of hair had piled up in every corner, and the whole kitchen had a kind of shabby ambiance that indicated money was scarce.
Of course, all their spare cash could be going into dog food.
He heard footsteps on the stairs and stood, turning to face the door leading into the hall.
”All right, Celluci, what's wrong?” Vicki stopped barely a handspan from his chest and glared up into his face. ”Someone had better be dying. ...” Her tone added,or someone's going to be.
”What the h.e.l.l happened to your head?”
”My what? Oh that. I was in a car accident this afternoon. I guess I hit the dash.” The fingers on her right hand patted the air over the purple and green swelling. ”The hospital says it's just a b.u.mp. Looks bad butno real damage.” Her eyes narrowed, gla.s.ses sliding down her nose with the motion. ”Your turn.”
Henry, standing just inside the kitchen, hid a smile. Vicki obviously thought Celluci was ent.i.tled to hear about the accident; while she was telling him, the challenge dropped from her voice and posture. The moment she finished, it was back.
Celluci drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ”Can we talk somewhere privately?”
”Privately?”
He glanced over her shoulder at Henry. ”Yeah. Privately. As in I'd like to speak with you alone.”
Vicki frowned. She'd seen that look before. Politely translated, it meant he was ready to make an arrest.
Why he should be aiming it at Henry. ... ”We'll go out to your car.”
”I thought you couldn't see in the dark?”
”I know what you look like.” She grabbed his arm just above the elbow and propelled him toward the kitchen door, throwing an ”I won't be long” to the room in general as they left.
The moment they were clear of the house, Peter stretched and said, ”I wonder why she didn't want to use the living room?”
Henry grinned. ”Where you could've heard every word they said?”
”Well. ...”
”Vicki has a pretty good idea of how well the wer can hear.” He walked to the window and stared across the dark lawn at Celluci's car. ”And sheknows how well I can.”
”Well?”
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Where to start? ”It's about your friend, Mr. Fitzroy.”
Vicki snorted. ”No kidding.”
”I did some checking into his background ...”
”Youwhat?”
He ignored the interruption and continued. ”... and there're a number of discrepancies I think you should know about.”
”And I suppose you had a goodreason for abusing police privilege?” The tension in her jaw pulled at her temple, sharpening the pain and spreading it out over her skull, but Vicki didn't dare unclench her teeth. If Celluci had discovered Henry's secret, she had to know about it and couldn't risk it getting lost in a screaming fight.Later.
Celluci could hear the suppressed anger in her voice, could see the tightening of her lips in the pale oval of her face. He had no idea why she was hanging onto her temper but he knew it wouldn't last so he'd better use the time he had.
”Your reason, Celluci.”
”You think what happened last spring wasn't reason enough?”
”Not if you just started searching now, no, I don't.”
”What makes you think I just started searching now?”
He could see the lighter slash of her smile. It didn't look friendly.
”You drive all the way from Toronto, you barge into a strange house at 11:30 at night, you have me roused from sleep and dragged from bed, and I'm supposed to believe this is information you've had for months? Cop a plea, Celluci, the evidence is against you.”
”Look,” he turned to face her, ”your friend isn't what you think he is.”
”What do I think he is?” This didn't sound good.