Midnight Masquerade Page 20

  "Does he trust you? Enough to walk away without question? Enough to listen to what I have to say with an open mind? Is he a man of character and conviction? Or would he be easy to seduce with the darkness of what we are?"

  "I don't know."

  She could have said more, that Nick Flynn was on the wire doing a difficult balancing act between ambition and ambivalence. She knew how desperately he sought success. Desperately enough to look the other way at Meeker, Murray & Zanlos. Desperate enough to look the other way when murder was done. What leverage would tip that scale to convince him to surrender all that he sought?

  She was that leverage.

  He might not do it for decency or the good of mankind. He might not relent to an appeal to his conscience. But he might do it for her. If she asked him.

  Before she could voice those hopes, Gabriel returned to their company. He looked weary and anxious enough for Nicole to approach with the offer of an embrace. He sank into it gratefully.

  "How is she?"

  He stepped back from the comfort his hostess provided to uneasily regard his host. “She's been initiated. She's weak and will have to be watched carefully once she awakens. She'll be their eyes and ears now in spite of her wishes."

  "Initiated?” Rae's thoughts spun toward summer camp and fraternity hazing. This had to be much worse to bring such a bruising of worry to circle Gabriel's eyes.

  "With a bite,” he told her bluntly. “Once one of our kind drinks from a mortal, a psychic bond forms between them, one that cannot be broken until the death of the vampire in question. Or until the mortal is brought over by another of our kind.” Seeing she didn't understand, he clarified. “Until the mortal dies in their human form and is reborn as one of us."

  Rae didn't want to know the particulars there. She had enough to grapple with already. “So what do we do now?"

  "Bring Flynn here to us. Gabriel will go with you."

  She could see protest form in his expression, but Nicole intercepted it.

  "We will take care of your lady."

  "And if he won't come with me?"

  "As our friend or as our enemy, his choice."

  * * * *

  With the top down in the big Mercury and the feel of the wind in her hair to restore the sense of normalcy, Rae fixed an accusing stare upon the driver.

  "What?"

  "You could have told me."

  "You weren't prepared to hear the truth.” He'd changed from the blood-soaked shirt into a dark pullover belonging to Marchand. Against his shaggy blond hair and dramatic facial planes, he looked noble and a bit poetic. Not at all like a ghoul who fed off live blood to survive.

  "So what's your story?"

  "It's a long one."

  Her steady gaze said she had time.

  "I was a bold and rather arrogant knight who let pride keep me from holding onto happiness when I was lucky enough to have found it."

  "Knight as in Round Table."

  "As in Crusades. My need for the quest left those who depended upon me vulnerable. It cost me the only woman I ever loved. I accepted my fate in order to search for her through the centuries."

  The catch in his voice told her more than his words.

  "Naomi."

  "She is my soul mate reborn, and I will not lose her again."

  The passion, the promise in his tone—to have a man hold a woman up with such reverence amazed her. This was love, she realized. Not the possessive, warped web her father used to trap and ultimately destroy her mother. Could what she felt for Nick evolve into such unselfish devotion? The idea frightened as much as it tantalized. To strip her emotions bare before another, she couldn't imagine a more naked, more vulnerable position. And if that love wasn't returned, what then?

  She studied the angles of Gabriel's face, the tautness of his jaw, the pucker of his brows, the tightness about his mouth. He was in pain and suffering for the sake of love. Is that what she wished for herself?

  She laughed, drawing Gabriel's questioning glance. She shook her head to say it was nothing. Here she was being chauffeured by a vampire, about to do battle with unnatural forces for the soul of the man she loved. Life couldn't get more melodramatic than that without offering the requisite happy ending. She wanted that happy ending with Nick Flynn, whatever the risk.

  But would he come with her?

  "Where to?” Gabriel asked when they entered the traffic flow.

  "My place, so I can change. My wardrobe needs a major make-over now that I'm no longer employed. I don't want to see another pair of stiletto heels for as long as I live."

  "I don't know, Sugar Rae. They came in pretty handy at the club."

  She grimaced. “Thanks for the reminder. You came in pretty handy, yourself. Thanks."

  "You broke your cover for Naomi. I'm the one who needs to thank you."

  "Before we start singing “Kumbiya” and holding hands, we need a plan."

  "You sweet talk Flynn, and if that doesn't work, I stuff him in the trunk."

  "That's your plan?"

  He shrugged.

  "I like it."

  "You're all right, Borden."

  "So are you, Sir Gabriel."

  He grinned, the tension relaxing in his expression. It was hard to picture him as anything other than a cocky policeman with punk shirts. Vampire was just part of the package. She could see again the way he'd waded into the men at the bar. Having a vampire as a partner might not be such a bad thing. As long as he was well fed.

  "Naomi ... have you ever...?"

  He shot her a disdainful look. “Never. I've never touched her. We do have some self-control."

  "Unlike most red-blooded males."

  "She doesn't know what I am. It would be unfair to take advantage of her ignorance of the truth."

  Gabriel's prickly dignity made her writhe in shame. Isn't that what she'd done with Nick? She'd encouraged his affections while hiding the truth. The truth that she, like Gabriel, was not what she seemed.

  Gabriel eased the big car over to the curb. “Go on up. I'm going to circle around and check out the area."

  She slid out without question and had the keys she'd recovered from Naomi in hand before he pulled away. In her stocking feet, she padded up the stairs to her apartment, her mind spinning with possible scenarios concerning Nick. All started with telling him everything. His reaction was the only variable she couldn't count on.

  In the darkness of her front room, the strobing light on her answering machine was a beacon. As she went toward it, a voice spoke from the room's shadows.

  "That would be from me."

  She whirled, heart in her throat, to see a figure seated on her couch. The plastic had been peeled off and was folded on the floor beside it.

  "Jeez, Nick. You nearly gave me a coronary. How'd you get in here?"

  Silence, then the soft drawl of his reply told her everything. “You think cops are the only ones who know how to jimmy a lock? Just one of the perks they teach you at lawyer school."

  He knew.

  "Glad to see you made yourself at home."

  "Home is where the heart is. Right, Officer Borden?"

  "If you say so. Give me a minute to change. We've got a lot to say to each other."

  No reply. Not good.

  She quickly shed what she'd deemed her hooker clothes and pulled on her usual comfort attire consisting of bike shorts and an oversized tee shirt. She gathered her hair into a pony tail high at the back of her head then returned barefooted to the living room where Nick had yet to turn on the light. Why prolong the inevitable?

  "I'm a cop from Detroit. I got into it after working with battered women, teaching them self-defense. I wanted to make a difference, to make up for things that I'd done wrong."

  "And did you?” His tone rang flat and neutral. No encouragement there.

  "I like to think so. I wanted to mend my friendship with Ginny and didn't know how. I thought that would be a good start. And then I got the word that Ginny was dead, that it
was too late to make amends. It made me mad as hell that the chance was taken away from me."

  "So you came here and offered your services to the D.C. police."

  "Not officially. I'm working with another group, one that can actually do some good. I needed to get close to Anna Murray."

  "And I provided the introduction.” No bitterness, no accusation, just that same tonelessness that told her nothing of what he was feeling. So she didn't insult him by prettying up her actions.

  "Yes, you did. There was an attraction between us. I felt it after the funeral the first time I saw you. And I used that spark to play on your sympathies. It was an expedient way to get me where I needed to be."

  "Waste not want not. I admire your brevity of tactics.” He didn't sound like it. “They worked like a charm."

  "Nick—"

  "Don't you dare apologize to me.” Finally a flash of raw emotion ripped through his voice. To defuse it, she kept her own calm and professional.

  "I wasn't going to, Nick. My friend and her father were dead, and I needed to know why. The means didn't matter at that point."

  He didn't respond to her blunt claim right away. When he did, he was in control once more. “And now they do, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

  "The only thing I can focus on right now is making sure Zanlos and Murray pay for what they've done. I can't let my feelings become an issue."

  "How very conscientious of you."

  "I have to be, Nick. These are some bad, bad people. Ginny and her dad were all the family I had, and I owed them to do whatever it took to see them avenged."

  "Well, lady, I'll give you this, you're more than willing to pay to play. You certainly had me fooled, fool that I am."

  "Game's over now. I blew my cover tonight."

  "Hanging up your fuck-me pumps?"

  She blinked at the fiercely rendered crudity. “I've never heard it put that way before. But yes, gladly."

  "I'd have thought you'd had it put to you in all sorts of ways by now."

  Color burning in her face, she said, “That was a cheap shot, Nick."

  "Oh, cher, there's nothing cheap about you."

  Glad for the darkness hiding the contempt in his expression which dripped from his voice, Rae said softly in her own defense, “I never—"

  "Don't forget who you're talking to, Detective. I know exactly what you were willing to sacrifice for the job."

  "Am I interrupting something here?"

  Mortified that Gabriel had heard the last exchange, Rae concealed her discomfort by shedding light on the situation. Blinking in the soft glow of a table lamp, the three of them regarded one another stoically.

  "Don't tell me. Another cop."

  "Rae's partner, and if you ever speak to her in that tone again, I'll tear out your throat."

  The mild, conversational statement would have had less impact if Rae hadn't witnessed him doing just that earlier in the evening. She put a staying hand on his arm.

  "It's all right, Gabriel. He has the right."

  "Thank you for that small concession.” Then Nick studied Gabriel with renewed interest. “You're the boyfriend. The one Naomi was talking about. I'm worried about her."

  "She's safe with us."

  "Us, who? Are you in on this covert little venture, too? Don't any of you people do things by the book any more?"

  "We're using a different book, Nick, and different rules,” Gabriel remarked casually. “Somehow they found out that Naomi was leaking information to me, and now her life is in danger. Would that tattletale be you ... Nick?” His eyes glittered dangerously.

  "I asked her to get certain documents for me, and Zanlos found out about it. If she's in danger now, it is my fault. I should have taken better precautions to see she didn't get pulled into it."

  Gabriel backed down at the evidence of his sincerity, his own guilt weighting his words. “We both should have. Now they know who Rae is, and she can't get close enough to get any hard evidence on them."

  "They already knew who she was, maybe from the very beginning. They were playing her the same way she was playing me."

  Rae winced at his harsh tone but couldn't argue the truth of his claim.

  "The thing is, while they were busy watching her, they weren't paying much attention to me."

  "What have you got?” Rae demanded.

  "Besides a big dose of humiliation? I've got everything. Tapes, records, eyewitness testimony, everything you need to put them away."

  Initial elation gave way to caution. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Had she been totally wrong about seeing good in Nick Flynn? “And what's this information going to cost us?"

  He stared straight at her. “A damned good apology when I'm ready to hear it.” He broke eye contact and addressed the rest of his speech to Gabriel. “At first I thought it was straight blackmail. All the little nooks and crannies at the Noir feature video cameras to catch naughty indiscretions for future extortion. Only they don't ask for money, they require certain favors. A change in lobbying position here, a push for a certain variance there. Amazing what a man will do with his career on the line, especially in a town where public opinion can make or break it. I would imagine they have quite the video library built up. I managed to snag a particular volume for my own personal viewing pleasure.” He glanced at Rae so she would catch his meaning and relax. Their escapade wouldn't be popping up on one of the late night cable channels any time soon.

  "So we've got them for extortion. What else?” Gabriel wanted to know.

  "When that little deal doesn't work, like in the case of Thomas Grover who was so proper he squeaked, they applied more direct pressure. I can't prove that Zanlos had his daughter killed, but he showed up after the funeral that day with one of her personal belongings just before Grover blew his brains out. Zanlos forged those documents right in front of me. He was in a big hurry to get import rights into New Orleans and wasn't about to let something like the man being dead get in his way. He wants to bring something into the country, but I don't know what."

  "Or who,” Gabriel added in a pensive aside.

  "Zanlos thinks I'm still on the fence. Maybe I can find out more—"

  "No."

  Both men looked at her, startled by the vehemence of her response.

  "You're in danger, too, Nick. Not from Zanlos, but from this woman who calls herself Anna Murray."

  "What would she want with me?"

  "Probably things you don't want to know about. It has something to do with your family."

  "My family? My family are crackers from Louisiana."

  "Not if you go back far enough,” Gabriel interjected with just enough melodrama to peak his interest.

  "I want you in protective custody, Nick,” Rae insisted.

  He shook his head. “No chance. The only one I can trust at this point is me. That's the way it's always been, the way it always will be."

  Rae twinged at the isolating fierceness in his voice, but she was in no position to give assurances or comfort. Not yet. Not until he was ready for that apology.

  "It'll be light soon,” Gabriel noted. Nick missed the significance, but Rae did not. “He should be safe until nightfall. Then we need to bring him in."

  "In where? I told you, I'm not setting myself up in some cop fishbowl."

  "That's not what we have in mind, Nick. You'll provide us with what we need to get Zanlos and Murray? Your word you won't try something funny?"

  "I have absolutely no sense of humor at the moment. I'm going back to my room. You can find me there when you're ready to start playing the game again. I'd appreciate knowing my part ahead of time though. I'm not in the mood for any more surprises. You get my testimony, but you don't get to play me for the fool anymore. That's a role I'm tired of.” He got up and, without a further glance at Rae or Gabriel, went to the door. “You might say you can trust me about as much as I trust you."

  The door shut quietly behind him.

  "Do you want me to stuff him in the t
runk?” Gabriel asked at last, observing more of Rae's shattered psyche than she'd like.

  "Let him go, Gabriel. They won't move on him until tomorrow night. By then he'll have gotten over his ego and will be ready to come with us."

  Gabriel made a disparaging noise.

  Rae didn't quite buy her confident claim, either. For all she knew, Nick could be on the phone now spilling everything to his boss.

  But she didn't think so.

  Because, though he had no reason to trust her, she'd begun to trust him to do the right thing.

  A restless Gabriel glanced about her apartment. “If you're all tucked in here, I'm going to go..."

  "Go tuck Naomi in. Go.” She waved her hands at him. “No reason both of us should be miserable.” At his questioning look, she made another shooing gesture. “Don't ask. Just go."

  "Get some sleep. I'll see Flynn gets home safe."

  "Good night, Gabriel.” She smiled wearily and locked the door after him.

  Gabriel was surprised to find Nick Flynn waiting for him on the front step.

  "I need a small favor, cop, since I'll be doing such a big one for you."

  "Fair enough.” Gabriel glanced down at the news clipping Flynn passed to him. “What's this?"

  "I need the article that goes with that photo. It's from early March of this year. Can you have it faxed to my hotel?"

  "Sure. It shouldn't take too long."

  Flynn nodded.

  "Anything else?"

  "No. That'll do it.” But he hesitated, wanting to say more. Finally, Gabriel said it for him.

  "She'll be fine. She's one tough cookie."

  "Don't I know it."

  * * * *

  "Dad? Sorry, did I wake you?"

  A mumble, then an irate, “It's four in the morning. Did you think I'd be out jogging?"

  "Dad, I need to know some things ... about our family. About why Mom left."

  A long pause. “Now?"

  "No time like the present."

  The time was long overdue, and they both knew it. The elder Flynn's reluctance dragged out into a lengthy silence, then his sigh carried along the line.

  "Why now, Nick? What's the urgency?"

  "I'm in trouble, Daddy. I need to come clean with some things I've done. I've got enough bad things hanging over my head. I don't need any more surprises. I've always known there was something you weren't telling me. I've let it slide, but I can't any more. I've got to know the truth."