Part 2 (1/2)
”What a load of s.h.i.+t!”
Mal had been pacing and now dropped into the empty seat in front of the captain's desk. ”I'd like to recover my little murdering s.k.a.n.k before I get old! Jinx is f.u.c.king evil, Cap, I can't let him stay on the street.”
”Sorry, not happening. Not right now, anyway.” Now, Captain Kordalis stood. ”Look, you guys did good work. That folder has a lot of excellent intel. The implications are obvious, we know what these invoices and manifests mean. But it's not evidence. Just because can make informed guesses on the activity doesn't mean it's actionable. None of this will hold up in court.”
Luka stood by the door, his arms folded.
”Cap, we're careful, you know that. At least let us use some of this information to threaten Berenstein and keep Jinx out of their pockets.”
”Don't. Right now, they don't know we know about this. Find another way.”
Mal nodded and looked at Luka. ”All right partner. You heard the captain, let's. .h.i.t it. Miles to go before we sleep.”
”I mean it, detective.” The captain stepped in front of Mal as she stood. ”Mal, I know you're pa.s.sionate about Jinx. He's a piece of s.h.i.+t and if we're not careful, he's just going to disappear. But you've brought me some solid information, and this is bigger than Jinx. With this information, we can put a stop to some serious s.h.i.+t. It's enough to put surveillance on the docks and watch for actual s.h.i.+pments that we can intercept and investigate. Give it time, we'll get them. Don't go off half-c.o.c.ked.”
”Yeah,” Mal barked out, and shoved Luka out of the small office ahead of her. As they walked past a row of desks, Luka turned to his partner.
Mal was p.i.s.sed. He knew she was looking forward to going after Jinx today and threatening Berenstein to stay the f.u.c.k away this time.
”Cap's right, Mal,” Luka said.
”Yeah, I know it. But it doesn't make it any easier to accept that, even though we know Jinx killed two young girls last month, he'll still walk. f.u.c.k, Luk, I just want to lock that a.s.shole up forever.”
”Welcome to disappointment row. Me, too. But we'll get him. Live to fight another day, right?”
”That's the problem. Jinx is getting to fight again, and he shouldn't!”
”Lunch? My treat. How often does that happen?”
Mal looked up at Luka, who was only slightly taller than her five foot nine inches. d.a.m.n, she loved that handsome dog. He knew her so well, everything that upset her, everything that made her happy, everything that made her laugh. What made her cry. He was the perfect guy for her, except that neither of them had any interest in a s.e.xual relations.h.i.+p. They both knew that this partners.h.i.+p, this friends.h.i.+p, was deeper than any relations.h.i.+p they'd had with another man or woman, and neither of them would risk it for the transitory concept of romantic love.
”Yeah, not often. In that case, we're going to Casey's.”
Luka grimaced. Not the most expensive place in L.A. but not the cheapest either. That didn't matter, but they insisted he wear a tie. But she was smiling again.
”All right, you're on.”
Mal yawned. ”s.h.i.+t. It's just too late. There hasn't been any movement for hours. Why don't we call it a night?”
Luka yawned, too, shadowing Mal's yawn. ”Yeah, there isn't likely to be anything else tonight. Besides, we're out of chips and salsa.”
”Stake-out isn't for the chips and salsa, buddy.”
”It's why I'm here. Anyway, yeah, I agree. We both need to get some rest. I'll call Geraldo in the morning and let him know how the stake-out went so he can inform the Captain. Wouldn't want him to think we're laying down on the job.”
Mal smiled. Her head hurt, she could use the rest, too. Tomorrow night, they'd be back to do this all over again.
IN A FANCY OFFICE BUILDING DOWNTOWN L.A.
”So, you saw someone watching the docks?”
The big man sneezed and blew his nose into a monogrammed silk handkerchief. ”Sorry. f.u.c.king allergies. Anyway, it's the same cops? That hot girl and the Latino?”
”Yeah. It's them. Like freaking dogs with bones! Everywhere I went the past three days, they're on me like white on rice. I just wanna take the girl and...”
”Do not touch her. The girl is mine. I had my eye on her before she became a pain in my a.s.s.”
”Uh, yeah, sir, I just meant, well, that she's p.i.s.sing me off. I wasn't gonna do anything, like, to her.”
”See that you don't. Or anyone else who might think to take liberties. First off, she's a f.u.c.king cop and I don't need complications with the authorities. Secondly, if something needs to be handled, I'll handle it the way I see fit where it don't affect the business. You comprehend me?”
”Yes, sir.”
”All right, Jinx. Get outta here and just keep me apprised.”
Jinx left his boss's office as quickly as he could without seeming like a wuss. Canzone was no one he wanted to p.i.s.s off or even worry. Mostly, he just wanted to stay off the radar. Canzone was about as big as they got in this city, and he knew he was just a p.i.s.s-ant to him. Jinx had no desire to be near someone who would stomp him out as soon as look at him.
But he was Canzone's second-in-command right now, through the untimely death of Canzone's former second-in-command. His efforts to appear reliable and efficacious were not meeting with success, so he wanted to get the f.u.c.k out of California. Planning to head northeast and get lost in New York or Maine, he needed some seed-money, so he was trying to make it until he could take it. He was screwed if these cops had gotten onto them.
After he cleared the room, he slammed his fist against the dashboard of his Suburban SUV. He really wanted to take out that b.i.t.c.h cop. She'd been on him for months. Canzone's attorney had only just sprung him a few days ago and the cop was back on him again.
”b.i.t.c.h got a hard-on for me,” Jinx said, as he started the car. ”And that ain't gonna end well, no way. Not unless I get her first.”
Another morning, another sunrise that interfered with sleep. Mal rolled over and sighed, exhausted beyond her ability to even think straight. She and Luka were spending their nights watching the docks and the recently released a.s.shole Jinx ”the fingers” Jones.
Glancing up at the window in her bedroom, she closed her eyes and slid a hand against her bare skin. Two things she needed right now. A good light-blocking curtain, and a nice o.r.g.a.s.m.
Maybe Bev was right. A week or two away from the job, some one-on-one with a hot guy who would make her feel like a woman again, and an ocean view...yeah, she needed that a lot right now. As soon as they got Jinx, she was going to take off and just let herself breathe again.
Her fingers found their way between her legs and just lingered. She smiled, thinking that she did have a vibrator somewhere. Probably didn't even work anymore. When had she given up s.e.x? Finally, she drifted back off to welcome dreamless sleep.
Chapter 3.
The ocean waves were gentle tonight, the sea calm, providing the perfect backdrop for Ahmose as he stood on the balcony of Windari's beach house, sipping a local wine that wasn't anywhere nearly as good as the wines back home.
But it would do. He was on the third gla.s.s as he leaned against the railing watching the three-quarters waning moon, strangely elegant in its asymmetrical phase, as it reflected off of the sparkling water. It was something that he rarely got to see. As a child of the moon from southern Africa, his village sat on the edge of the magnificent Victoria Falls, but it was too far from the sea. The view made him feel calm on this first night he'd chosen to take a sabbatical from his village. He needed the rest, the disconnection, the quiet, just for a little while.
This past year had been crazy. It had seen the arrival of a woman with whom he knew he was destined to love and bring forth the next generation of first blood vampire children to the world. Then, destiny threw him a curve. Yes, the beautiful vampire that came to his village was meant to bear his children, but not to be his lover and mate. That revelation had broken his heart, yet brought a brother into his life that he'd learned to love against all odds.
His son had been born, a beautiful boy who would champion the Mother Earth someday in the future. It was clear from the beginning that the child was exponentially more powerful than previous generations, and that he was a protector. Ahmose couldn't love Eras more, the child was his heart and soul.
So was his lovely mother, the newly-made vampire Starla, mated now to Jacob. Now the three of them, Ahmose, Starla and Jacob, were accepted equally by Eras as parents. It still shocked Ahmose how well it worked. Male vampires were, by their very natures, jealous of another male near their women. But Jacob tolerated Ahmose's close relations.h.i.+p with his mate that required them to parent together, and although she was inseminated to begin the children, it was still an intimate relations.h.i.+p.
He was happy. Now, Starla was pregnant with the second of the three children prophesied by an empath who had helped guide them to this future. Another miracle.
But he was here, across the globe, away from his people and land, away from his child and the one who would arrive soon, looking at the moon from the other side of the world. He was happy, yes, ecstatically so...but he needed this respite. Tonight was the first time he'd been alone for centuries, and, by the grace of the Mother, it felt good.