by Kat Simons
She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—something along the lines of a corporate secretary screening calls with, “Mr. Holland’s office, how may I help you?” So when the deep, accented voice snapped, “Holland,” down the line, Cary froze. For a shaky few moments, she couldn’t find her voice.
“Hello?” he barked. “Who the bloody hell is this?”
Before he could hang up, Cary managed to force air through her vocal cords. “Mr. Holland, this is Cary Redmond.”
“Ms. Redmond!” His tone changed instantly, both surprised and pleased. “How are you? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”
The fact that he’d been expecting to hear from her at all was more than a little disconcerting. She scowled at the lockers across the corridor and almost backed out.
“What can I do for you?” Holland said, professional and pleasant.
She took a deep breath. Too late to change her mind now. “You can arrange a time to meet with Jon and me. Somewhere neutral. And public.”
“Jon is interested in my job offer, then?”
“We’re going to sit down and listen to what you have to say. No more, no less.”
“I see. And if he decides to take the position?”
“We’ll have another meeting with his mother present, so you can explain to her how you’re not involving her son in anything dangerous and illegal.”
Holland laughed. “We wouldn’t want to irritate a mother now, would we?”
“And if Jon says no, outright, at this first meeting?” Cary asked, trying not to hold her breath.
“He says no,” Holland answered easily.
Cary inhaled then hurried out her condition. “You’ll agree to leave him alone. No more attempts to ‘bring’ him to a meeting. No more surprise conversations to try and change his mind. No more scare tactics. If he says no, I want your word you’ll leave him alone.”
The pause on the other end of the line was like a lead weight. He knew what she was asking. The fact that he didn’t promise immediately, off-handedly, confirmed her suspicions. If he gave his word, Holland would stick to it.
At least, she hoped that was the reason for the silence…
“A concession from you then, Ms. Redmond,” he finally said, after what had felt like a long time. “If Jon, and his mother, say yes, you will abide their decision and stop trying to keep him away from me.”
“I may continue to serve as his bodyguard while he’s under your employ,” Cary said. “I won’t promise to stop looking after him. But I’ll accept whatever decision he and his mother make.”
“Your word?” There was an amused lilt to Holland’s voice now.
“Do I have yours?” she asked.
“Very well. I give you my word that if I cannot convince Jon and his mother to allow Jon to work for me, I will walk away.”
“You’ll leave him completely alone?”
“I will make no effort to see him again.”
“And your other employees?”
“Will do what I tell them.”
“And what will you tell them to do as far as Jon’s concerned?”
“You are clever, Ms. Redmond.” He laughed. “I will make it clear that no one is to go near the boy once his decision is made. Violation of this will mean facing my displeasure.”
Cary shuddered. She didn’t envy the poor bastard stupid enough to cross Holland. Did that mean she should be worried about herself?
Probably.
“Do I have your word then, Ms. Redmond?” he asked. “You will not interfere with Jonathon doing his job if he chooses to work for me.”
There was a trap in that phrasing. She could taste it. “I give you my word I will accept Jon’s decision, whatever it is. But I reserve the right to continue to serve as bodyguard if he and his mother want me to.”
“Fair enough,” Holland said. “It’s a deal then.”
Why did she feel like she’d just negotiated a deal with the devil?
They agreed on a meeting time for the next afternoon, after Jon’s last class, at an expensive restaurant in the Pearl. “For a late lunch,” Holland said.
“Are you paying?”
“Of course. I want to make a good impression on my future employee.”
Cary scowled. His smug confidence didn’t make her feel any better. But at least the restaurant was a public place. Except, “Don’t they closed after lunch and not open again until after five for dinner?”
“They’ll open for me.”
Great. Maybe not so public after all. But there’d be waiters and staff. That was better than a back alley in Old Town.
She stood in the corridor for a few minutes after ending the call. She’d gotten the thing she’d wanted, Holland’s word to leave Jon alone if he said no.
Now, she just had to convince Jon to say no, no matter how glamorous the offer looked, and convince Deacon not to meet them after school tomorrow.
She wasn’t sure which of those two things would be harder.
Deacon called her just after the last bell, while she was waiting for the halls to clear.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t be there today.”
He sounded so upset, she nearly smiled. “It’s okay. I’m sure Jon and I can make it home on our own just this once,” she teased.
“It may be several days.”
Cary resisted the urge to jump up and down in relieved excitement. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s exactly wrong.” He hesitated a beat. “We’ve just gotten in two tigers confiscated in a raid on an underground…fighting pit.”
“A what?” She lowered her voice when Jon and Mr. Young gave her a strange look. “A fighting pit? Really?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Her stomach rolled. A part of her had always hoped that kind of blood sport was an urban myth. She should have known better. “Were there a lot of animals?”
“Not left alive.”
“Oh god.”
“I know,” he said. “My team and I are on our way there to pick up the rest now. The tigers are the two biggest exotics, and they’re going to need a lot of care and medical attention. But there are dogs, a mountain lion, a few snakes, and two crocodiles left. Those are just the animals we’re taking. Animal rescue is looking after the myriad mice, roosters, and rats. They just can’t take so many of the bigger animals.”
“You can deal with them all?” she asked, trying to ignore another poke in the conscious that she didn’t know much about Deacon Jones and his normal life.
“We’ve got a facility specifically for exotics,” he said. “But it’s going to take several days to get them settled, get their wounds tended, tract down new homes.”
“If you can’t find any place to take them, what happens?” She pressed her lips together, afraid to hear his answer. A lot of rescue facilities tried to keep their animals alive until homes were found. But animal rescue and the city pounds couldn’t afford to do that. With so many large animals, even most rescue facilities would have a hard time keeping the animals long term.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We keep them until homes are found. If no other facility can take them, they become center mascots.”
“Thanks,” she murmured, though she wasn’t sure exactly what she was thanking him for.
“I’ll be so busy,” he said, “I won’t be able to see you.” He sounded pained by the admission. “I’m not sure I can stand to stay away, but…”
“The animals need you. And I need you to take care of them.”
“I knew you’d understand. Be careful.”
“I will. You, too.” For some reason, she didn’t want to end the call. Stupid. She’d see him in a few days. Not like he was saying goodbye. “I’ll see you soon,” she forced herself to say. Did she sound upbeat or desperately cheerful? Hard to tell when her chest felt so heavy.
“I’ll miss you,” he said.
At that, she smiled. “I’ll miss you, too. Isn’t that strange, though? We haven’t even known
each other a month.”
“It only took me ten minutes to know I’d miss you when you weren’t around.”
“Yeah, but you have a better sense of smell than I do.”
He laughed, the first time during the conversation he’d sounded anything but tired and sad. “I’ll call you later.”
Jon looked up from his conversation with his friend Will when she ended her call. “Deacon can’t come?” he asked.
“He’s got some work to do.” She didn’t even ask how the kid knew she was on the phone with Deacon.
Once they were safely in the car and headed toward her house, she broached the subject of the meeting with Holland. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Jon turned as far as his seatbelt would allow to face her. “Is it Deacon?”
“No. This is about Holland.”
She told him about the phone call and the planned lunch. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but if you hear him out and then turn down his job offer, he’ll leave you alone.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?” Jon said.
She glanced at him briefly. “Ask you?”
“Why didn’t you ask me first before setting up the lunch meeting?” he said. “Maybe I don’t want to see Holland in person again.”
Cary paused. She hadn’t considered Jon might have an opinion one way or the other. She’d just assumed he’d be as happy as his mother to get this mess settled.
“You’re right,” she said. “I should have asked first. I’m sorry. If you don’t want this to happen, I’ll call Holland and cancel.”
Jon shrugged. “I suppose I could listen to what he has to say.”
“I have to tell you, both your mother and I would prefer you turned down his offer. It won’t lead to anything good, no matter how attractive he makes it sound, how much money he offers.”
“But what if he just wants me to talk to his pets? You know. See why they’re not eating or something. I’ve heard people can make lots of money telling rich people why their pets are depressed.”
Cary laughed. “That’s true, actually. I always figured it was a scam played on people with more money than sense. In your case, though, you really could tell them what was going on with their animals. Hey, that might not be a bad career choice for you.”
“You think?” Jon grinned.
He looked so young. She just couldn’t let Holland get his hooks into this kid. “I think that could be a good option. But I doubt that’s what Holland wants. He’s a bad man, Jon. Nothing he could want you to do for him will be good.”
“But if he’s paying well, and it’s not that bad, Mom could really use the money.”
“You think your mom would want money you earned selling drugs or robbing a bank?”
“This isn’t the same,” he said with a scowl.
“How do you know? Holland is evil. You heard him threaten to kill me. He said it casually.”
“He said he didn’t want to have to kill you.” Jon’s voice dropped to a sullen murmur.
“He meant it,” she said. “He would try to kill me if I got in his way. Is that the kind of man you want to work for?”
“He couldn’t kill you. You’re indestructible.”
“No, Jon. I’m not. And if anyone could find a way to kill me, it’s Holland.”
Jon shivered and looked out the side window. “Deacon wouldn’t let him.”
“That’s not the point. The point is Holland is bad. I hope you’ll make the right choice tomorrow.”
“But it’s my choice, right? You’re not gonna make me turn down the job?”
“It’s not my decision,” she said, even if she wanted to make the decision for him. “It’s yours.”
“Will you stop talking to me if I take his job?”
Cary pulled the car to a stop in her driveway as the garage door rose and turned in her seat to face Jon even though he still wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I will continue to be your friend and to protect you for as long as you need me.”
He finally looked at her.
“But know this,” she said firmly. “If you start doing things that hurt others, I will switch to protecting those others from you in a snap.”
“You’d turn on me.”
“I won’t allow you to hurt anyone. Any more than I’ll let Holland hurt you. That’s how it is.”
Jon was silent for a long moment. She held his gaze, letting him know just how serious she was. Finally, he nodded and climbed out of the car. She wasn’t sure where that left them, but at least he was clear on her intentions.
Inside, she brought up the subject of telling Sally about the meeting. “If you’re interested in Holland’s offer, we can tell her then and arrange for her to meet and talk with him. If we tell her now, she’ll just worry.”
“I could’ve told you that,” Jon said. “We can keep it quiet until after tomorrow. She might not let me go if she knows anyway.”
Cary’s gut tightened with discomfort and guilt. She didn’t like hiding something like this from his mother. It felt a lot more despicable than hiding the meeting from Deacon, and that felt bad enough. But she really didn’t want Sally there giving Holland another vulnerable target. And there was every possibility Holland would manipulate Jon through Sally, if given the chance. The less people Cary had to protect from the demon in one sitting, the better.
“I’m not telling Deacon yet either,” she blurted. Then scowled. Geez, the kid didn’t need to know about her private dealings with Deacon.
Jon grinned. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out. I mean, my mom will pitch a fit, but she’ll get over it. Deacon’s gonna yell.”
“No, he won’t.” His voice would probably drop to that low, dangerous tone that was a lot more terrifying than a yell. “Besides he’s got a lot on his mind at the moment.”
“What?”
“The sanctuary just got in a lot of exotic animals to take care of.” She wasn’t about to tell Jon about the blood sports. “Deacon will be busy for days getting them all settled.”
“Hey, I could help,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen. “We could go after the meeting with Holland.”
A sweet offer, but Cary wasn’t at all sure she wanted Jon to hear what these particular animals had to say. She didn’t want to discourage his helpful, generous impulses, though.
“I’ll talk to Deacon about it tonight.” Then to change the subject and distract him, she said, “That reminds me, what were you and Scratchy talking about the other day?”
Jon poured himself a glass of juice and she made a pot of coffee as he regaled her with the tom cat’s stories. They didn’t talk about Holland and the impending meeting again.
23
The restaurant’s main floor was quiet and empty of any customers besides Holland’s group when Cary and Jon arrived. Sounds from the kitchen assured her there were at least some staff around, but a few cooks and waiters weren’t going to help much against a demon. In fact, now that she was here, she realized they just gave her more people she’d have to protect if things went wrong.
The maître de led them past tables covered in pristine white table clothes, set for the upcoming dinner service, to the back of the room where Holland sat alone. The five goons who’d accompanied him to the park on Saturday were sitting at two tables on either side of his with plates of food already in front of them.
Holland’s table was empty but for a glass of red wine.
He rose at their approach. “Ms. Redmond, Jonathon, so nice to see you again.” He motioned for them to sit.
She shrugged off her beat up brown leather jacket and let it drape over her chair back as she sat. Then she rested her elbows on the table, her chin on her folded hands, and met Holland’s sardonic gaze. His lips ticked up at the corners in a subtle grin as he stared back for a long moment.
Finally, he turned to Jon, breaking eye contact first. Cary felt a silly sense of triumph at the small victory. She’d played too many do
minance games with her little dog pack—from the beginning, she’d had to make sure Fred knew she was the big dog.
“I haven’t ordered yet,” Holland said smoothly, his accent rolling the words. He didn’t seem the least perturbed by the staring contest outcome. “Please, order whatever you like. It’s on me.” He smiled. “A business expense.”
Jon’s eyes lit up as he looked at the menu. “Holy shit, this place is expensive! Even the burger costs twenty bucks.”
Cary scowled at Jon for his language.
“But it’s an excellent hamburger,” Holland said, without missing a beat. “Will you have a glass of wine, Ms. Redmond?”
“No,” she said. “I’m driving.”
“Surely one glass won’t hurt.”
“Easier not to have any and know my reflexes will be good.” She smiled, showing teeth. “Besides, I’m on duty.”
He dipped his head slightly, a silent touché.
Holland chatted easily with Jon while they placed their orders. Cary ordered one of the most expensive dishes on the menu because Holland was paying. A raised eyebrow was his only reaction.
“Not afraid I might’ve had the food poisoned?” he asked her.
Jon’s eyes widened. Poisoned food had obviously never crossed his mind.
Cary shook her head, casually confident. Poisoning her now would be an effort to get her out of the way and allow full access to Jon, so her Protector magic would ensure she wasn’t actually effected by it. If she wasn’t looking after someone, that was another story. But Holland didn’t need to know that.
Beyond poison not effecting her, she’d also be able to taste if anything had been added to their food. She intended to sample everything Jon ate in the demon’s company. When she sipped his water once before setting it back in front of him, his eyes got even wider.
She grinned. “You’re like royalty. You’ve got your own taster.”
“Cary?”
The tremor in his voice twisted her heart. “Don’t worry,” she assured. “Nothing will happen to you while I’m around.”
Holland said, “There’s no need to fear. We’re here to discuss a job. I was only…teasing Ms. Redmond.”