Out of the Shadows (8 page)

When she raised her head, Keri thrust a paper cup filled with water into her hand.

She hadn’t even noticed the adjoining door opening. “Thanks,” Lori said. She swished the liquid around her mouth, spitting it into the toilet before she flushed. It helped to rid her mouth of the awful taste, but not much. Standing, she ignored the concerned blonde and crossed to the sink. She slathered toothpaste onto her brush and started to scrub.

In the mirror, Keri hovered, concern, worry and pity pasted on her face. Just what Lori didn’t want or need. She spat into the sink, then assaulted her teeth with the brush once more.

Keri tentatively touched Lori’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Lori nodded.

Unfortunately, that didn’t appease the blonde. “You’re not…pregnant, are you?”

Lori nearly choked on the brush. Yanking it from her mouth, she swallowed a laugh. “No,” she said, trying to appear as truthful as possible. Wouldn’t that just make her life peachy, if she was pregnant? A last remnant of Terrence.

Even the thought burst the small bubble of mirth which had surfaced.

“Just a hangover,” she lied. She bent to rinse her mouth out with clean water. There, minty clean. She could get on with her day.

And whatever new terrors it held.

“You’ve been through a lot lately,” Keri said. Her voice was soft, like she spoke to a skittish horse. “Would you like to talk about it? It could help.”

Trust a psych major to urge her to talk about her feelings. Lori shook her head, striding into her room.

Unfortunately, Keri followed.

“Are you sure? There are proven studies–”

“No.”

“How about a friend, then? I’ll even let you do my makeup.”

Keri’s pity nearly made Lori sick again. However, hard as it was to force an angry, intimidating demeanor after having been caught throwing up, Lori had to try. “I have friends.”

“What about your boyfriend? I haven’t seen him around.”

“We broke up.”

If only it was so simple. But her relationship with Terrence had never been simple. Lori bit the inside of her cheek. The pain grounded her.

“What’s that?”

Lori jumped at Keri’s inquisitive tone. What was she looking at? Please, not the stake…Lori couldn’t explain that. She should have thrown it out, except…that led to the capture and identification of murderers, didn’t it? Better to keep it on her until she could bury it for good.

Bury it. Now there was a thought.

But Keri wasn’t staring at the stake hidden in Lori’s boot. The blonde bent to pick up the note Lori had discarded. Her eyes were wide when she resurfaced.

“Lori? I thought you said this had stopped.”

It had. But short of saying that, Lori didn’t know what to do.

Keri continued, “You have to go to the police.”

“I had a PI on it.”

“Had. Past tense. Why are you putting up with this? It’s dangerous.”

Lori shook her head, trying to find some reasonable argument to stop Keri from going on a rampage. “It isn’t the same guy.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. There are no murders with these notes.” Or so she thought. Jeremiah’s face flashed before her eyes. Was he connected?

But why would any murderer go after him? It had been years since she’d even talked to him. The murder brought a stab of alarm, but it didn’t compare to what she’d felt upon learning her parents had been killed. Or her friend Ritchie. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense for it to be connected.

“You should be careful, Lori.”

Reassurances wouldn’t help. Making nice wouldn’t help. Look what it had gotten her so far–a slim blond barnacle determined to make her discuss things she would rather leave in the past. Time to switch tactics.

Using her coldest leave-me-alone face, she said, “What does it matter to you? You can’t pretend we’re friends.”

Hurt blossomed over Keri’s pretty features. “We could be.”

“I don’t want to. Go back to your own room, Keri. I’ve got things to do today.”

Guilt twisted her stomach as Keri left, but it was for the best. Staring at the ground, Lori wondered if what she’d said was true. What did she have to do today?

Then she remembered. She had to meet Devin at seven.

* * * *

Underground was still devoid of the regular faces to fill out the masses. Without those familiar faces, the club seemed almost alien. Fortunately, Scissors manned the bar. Lori slid into her regular seat and waited for the faux-vampire to notice her.

“Still slow, huh?”

Scissors nodded. “It will be for a couple more days , I imagine. I’d be with them if I didn’t have to take this shift.”

“Don’t you have another bartender?” Lori craned her neck, scouting for Heaven.

“She called in sick today, poor thing. Apparently she’s got a stomach flu and everything.”

Well, at least Lori wouldn’t have to deal with her.

“What can I get for you?”

Lori noticed Scissors’s wary gaze. She ignored it. “Coffee.”

A broad smile broke across the vamp’s face, displaying the pointy tips of fake fangs. “Coming right up.”

Then Lori realized this was the first time in three weeks she hadn’t ordered scotch. Maybe her life was finally getting back to normal. She smiled at the thought, and settled in to wait for Devin.

Midnight passed and he didn’t show. Lori nursed the rage boiling through her veins. What, he only wanted her if she was determined to have him four thousand miles away? Being stood up, like she had done to him, didn’t help her already poor opinion of him. Why had she even agreed to see him to begin with? Clearly, this was a sign. She had other things to do, better things. And Devin was too short for her tastes, anyway.

As of this moment, their association had ended.

Nodding to Scissors, who busily served customers, Lori fished money out of her pocket and left it on the counter. Then she strode from the club. At the door, her cellphone vibrated.

No. Please not another text.

But the number was one she recognized. From Sanders, a fellow Order member.

RIP Charlie Munro, aka Byte.

What? She groped for the door frame as her knees suddenly weakened. She’d seen Byte, perfectly healthy, only yesterday. What had happened?

Maybe the threatening notes were connected to the murders, after all.

Chapter 6

Night shrouded Heaven in darkness and cold. She crept along the streets in pursuit of her quarry, extra careful not to draw attention. One misstep might cost her life.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Heaven braced herself, but the low growl was all the warning she got before she was hauled off her feet and slammed against the nearest wall. Her teeth clacked together, adding another point of pain to her back, head, shoulders, and upper arms. The last would no doubt have bruises from the pressure of the fingers clenching her.

Act the ditz
. Squirming, Heaven mustered her best brain-dead-teenager face.

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice being pressed up against you.” A lie, of course. “But Terrence, I’m kind of in the middle of something important.” Even now, her target strode farther and farther away. She would lose him, before too long. And she hadn’t spent the last seventy-two hours sleeping in gutters and chugging energy drinks to lose him now.

“You should be watching Lori.” Terrence’s maw was close enough for her to kiss his fangs. Not that she would. His blue eyes glittered with malice.

Fear curled her toes, but she tried to contain it. Who would be more dangerous, Terrence or the stranger she stalked? Her prey had killed Byte. But in that moment, Terrence looked capable of anything.

Bluff. Look unperturbed
. “Lori will survive. In case you haven’t noticed, this guy might be a danger to her.”
And everyone else in Shark’s circle
.

“I know.”

But still, he didn’t lower her to the ground. Her arms were really starting to ache. Not to mention her fingers tingled from disuse.

“Just let me go. Before he gets away.” She couldn’t lose this guy, not after committing to following him. Over the past three days, he’d visited the homes of various Order members. Most had had the sense not to be at home. One, he’d spoken to in public. Now, he had exited his motel room long past the time he usually did. She might finally get some answers.

For instance, what business did he have with the Aka Druj Spenta Michos?

To her surprise, Terrence complied with her request. Her knees buckled as her feet touched the pavement again.

“Watch Lori,” he said, looming over Heaven. “Let me worry about this weasel.”

So he said, but as he strode away, he moved in the opposite direction from where her target had wandered. Heaven scrambled to her feet. Did she still have time to catch the guy? He might have boarded a bus and disappeared from her radar.

She scampered down the street, being a good deal less careful than she should have been. But Terrence had wasted time she couldn’t afford to spare. If she wanted to find answers, she needed to hurry. She broke into a jog.

There. Her legs turned to pudding as she spotted him ahead, but she forged on. At least she was still on track.

Strangely, he didn’t hail a cab or board a bus, even though both passed while they walked. Why? The surest way to lose a pursuer would be to take transportation and hope they chose not to. Clearly, the man had no idea he was being followed. Talk about oblivious. They passed one or two stragglers on the street, but the sidewalk was by no means crowded.

Sooner than Heaven expected, the man reached his destination. A cute bungalow on a deserted street. Everyone must be tucked up in their homes. How heartwarming. Heaven scuttled from lawn to lawn until her quarry stopped and knocked on a door. Who lived there?

A taller man opened the door. Light framed him, spilling out onto the street and she made doubly sure she couldn’t be seen. Whose house was this? The occupant turned to the side, gifting her with his profile and overlong nose. Sanders, an Order member. Heaven tensed. This couldn’t be good.

“Mr. Sanders. We spoke on the phone. Would you mind if I came in?”

Sanders stepped aside. “Sure. Sorry for the mess. Wife took the kids to see their grandparents today.”

The door shut behind the pair, cutting off the conversation. But Heaven wasn’t willing to admit defeat. Even if she stupidly hadn’t expected her quarry to conduct his business indoors, she needed to listen in on this conversation. She dashed across the lawn to the living room window. Closed. Fortunately, she was a master at breaking and entering. Sliding out a thin knife, she wedged it into the window seam and wiggled until it opened. Just a crack, but it was enough.

“How long have you known about the Order?” Sanders’s voice.

“Not long at all. Have you been with the Order for long?”

“Years. Judy doesn’t know, though, so if she happens to bring the kids home early, mum’s the word.”

“Years. Quite a long time. You must know nearly everyone else within the Order.”

Heaven craned her neck. How to see the pair without being seen? Unfortunately, windows tended to display things on both sides. Finally, she gave up. Shrinking down below the sill, she continued to listen.

“Not everyone. Goodness, I don’t think anyone knows.”

“But you know everyone who meets at the warehouse. Like Lori–sorry, you must know her as Shade.”

“Shade, yes. I know her. I’m afraid there won’t be very many…meetings anymore.”

“Oh, why is that?”

Heaven pursed her lips to keep from crying out in rage. How dare he pretend like he didn’t know? He’d murdered a nineteen-year-old! How could he live with himself, let alone act like he didn’t even know about it?

Sanders said, “A member was murdered there days ago. Add to that another few members have been popping up dead and, well, it doesn’t look good for the Circle. Things have been difficult enough these past months without killings.”