“You know how I like my fire engines, girl.”
Tatiana wet her lips. “Have any suggestions, little bird?”
Sammy said nothing.
Cindy stopped by the table. “Can I get you two anything?”
Golden Boy leaned forward. “Pills?”
“I’ve been told they’ll be unveiled at nine.”
Tatiana shook her head. “I’d like to talk to your sommelier about your wine selection.”
“I don’t think we have one of those.”
“That explains the selection.”
“Girl, this is a strip club, not La Grenouille.” Golden Boy patted her arm. “She’s still sore about security taking something from her. What did they take?”
“My knife.”
“The chairs are safe now,” Sammy said.
Tatiana smirked, sipping her wine.
Cindy looked from him to her. “What kind of knife was it?”
“A sharp knife,” Tatiana said, her gaze unfocused. “I’m sure it’s dull by now.”
“Why’s that?”
“Dullards make dull knives.”
Cindy nodded, looking as if she were waiting for Tatiana to explain. “Do you want any more wine?”
“Dig into the vaults for something special.”
“I’ll look around.”
Sammy looked over her shoulder, wondering if she should follow.
“Did they take anything from you, little bird?”
“Just my dignity.”
Golden Boy laughed.
Tatiana swirled the wine. “Are all of your other virtues intact?”
Sammy stepped back. “Got to go.”
“Stop by later when they bring the pills out,” Golden Boy said. “We can share.”
Tatiana grinned. “I’ll let you have a lick.”
Sammy bounded out of the lounge, catching a guy waving at her.
“Some wine?” he asked.
“Do I look like I work here?” Sammy asked, pulling her shirt taut. “You have bigger ones than I do.” Laughter rolled out behind her as she marched into the back.
Cindy was by the kitchen door, asking another hostess which of the two wines was better.
Sammy slipped behind the basement door. Exposed pipes ran overhead, and to the right were fenced-in heating and air-conditioning units. Farther down on the left must be Johnny’s office containing a safe with all her money in it. Next, she’d learn to open safes.
She continued toward the front and found another door, but it was locked. The next door had the glass strip like Johnny’s office. Stainless-steel gadgets sat on a table along the side, looking like future kitchen appliances. Another table ran along the far wall, and in the middle was the machine she’d stolen. She spotted Leo coming from the back of the room.
Sammy stepped in. Johnny sat on the edge of a table in the back. “I’ll come back later.”
Leo waved her in. “We’re almost finished.”
Johnny looked up with a goofy grin. “There she is. I take back everything I ever said about you.”
“Do I have to do the same?”
He chuckled, rocking against the table. “You know I feel light-headed, but I can still think clearly.”
Leo nodded. “In lower doses, it can help increase focus.”
“And I almost feel that if I jumped up or turned quickly, I’d leave my body.”
“In higher doses, people have had out-of-body experiences.”
Sammy snickered. “If you get a chance to get out, run.”
Johnny grinned, still rocking. “This is good. This is really good.”
Sammy looked over at Leo, who shrugged.
Jonathan stood, a little unsteadily at first. “Just to show there are no hard feelings, I’ll get you another mask.” He staggered to the door and laughed. “A tight leather one.”
“How about getting me my money!” The door closed.
“Glad you decided to come,” Leo said, studying her. “Did anything happen to change your mind?”
“You know more about this than I do, so I’m hoping for some answers.”
“Well, you have all the answers. It’s just a matter of uncovering them.”
“How are you going to do that?”
Leo puckered his lips.
“You don’t know?”
“There are several avenues open to attack this,” Leo said, scanning the room. “I would’ve been more prepared if you let me know you were coming.”
Sammy turned to leave. “It was a mistake.”
Leo grabbed her arm. “We’ll start with deep visualization techniques.” He set a chair in front of a poster with what looked like honeycombs.
“You want me to sit there?”
“Not just yet.” He snapped open the legs of a tripod and set it a few feet away from the chair. He mounted a bulky camera on top. It looked as though it’d set him back a few dollars. “Okay, we’re all set.”
“Feel like I’m going under the microscope.”
“It’s a camera, Sam. We have to monitor any changes to determine efficacy.”
Sammy sat. “It doesn’t look like any camera I’ve seen.”
“It has infrared and spectrometer functions. I was lucky to get my hands on it.”
Yeah, under the microscope all right. She turned back to the poster. It looked like one of those found in an advanced chemistry class. She was supposed to take it next year.
“Face straight ahead and relax.”
“You going to shine a light in my face next?”
“We’ll just go with the visualization first. Close your eyes and think of someplace relaxing… An open field… A warm day at the beach…”
Sammy thought about the place in the country that Uncle Danny talked about where the grass felt like cool velvet.
“Whatever scene makes you feel comfortable, stay in it as I move my chair closer.”
The chair’s wheels rolled toward her.
“See the scene and all its wonder. The colors are vibrant but pleasing… Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, and the gentle breeze through your hair…”
Everything seemed green, a bright beautiful green. A patch of sun filtered through the big tree’s canopy, warming her chest.
“You take notice of something in the distance,” Leo said. “It is a mere curiosity, but something about it is different.”
Sammy lifted her head off the grass. Someone was running toward her. No, he was being chased.
“You have a clearer view of it now. It’s dangerous. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous, and you have to hide.”
Cat was being chased. A dog was chasing Cat, a big dog foaming around the mouth.
“You’ve found your hiding spot, but you’re far from being secure…”
Sammy hid behind the big tree. Cat was up on a branch. The dog sniffed at the base…
“You’re watching and waiting, thinking you may be okay. Suddenly, you’ve been exposed…”
The dog saw her and charged. Something sharp stabbed her leg. Sammy’s eyes shot open. She felt flushed and her heart raced.
Leo pulled a needle from her thigh. He smiled, resting the needle on his lap. “Extraordinary.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
______________________________
Leo rolled a light up to her, bright enough to cook. Sammy knew it would only be a matter of time before he started poking. “You trying to blind me with that thing?”
“You can close your eyes.”
“I’m not closing my eyes around you.”
Leo angled the light down. “We needed a reaction.”
“Yeah, now I want an unreaction,” Sammy said. “Was that visualization just bullshit?”
“I always say there’s nothing like a shot of adrenaline to speed things along.” Leo bent over to get a closer look. “It replicated the poster surprisingly well and even maintained the same reflective properties.”
“Real interesting. Are you done?”
“The pattern is
static, though,” Leo said, tilting Sammy’s head. “Most chromatics’ coloration changes with movement.”
“Speaking of movement, back away.”
Leo backed up, pulling the light with him. He stepped behind the camera and told her to turn sideways. “Okay, turn a little bit more to the right.”
Sammy leaned back and glared at him. “Enough already, Leo.”
He looked up from the camera. “I suppose that’ll do.” Leo picked up a small foil wrap from the table behind him and tore it open. “Turn away slightly.”
“This better be it.”
Leo stretched her skin under the ear and scraped.
Sammy pulled away. “What are you doing?”
“A skin scraping.”
Sammy shot up, looking down at a small sharp blade and a glass strip. “Are you crazy?”
One of Johnny’s guys ducked in. “Are there any…” He stared at Sammy, squinting. “Is that a new mask?”
Sammy glared at Leo, wanting to take that blade and do more than a little skin scraping.
The guy turned back. “Hey, Rhino, check out this new mask.”
Sammy rushed out the door, zigzagging through hulking suits and sweet, musky cologne. She ignored the distant call and raced up the steps. She bolted out the door, catching the flap of Grish’s jacket.
Shadowed figures milled about the front. “Is that you, little bird?”
Sammy ran into a deserted lot fifty feet back from the club. Another hundred feet past that was a field of felled bricks, the mortar whitening them in the full moon. Farther down were the skeletal steel remains of a several-story building. She didn’t think the zone came up this far.
“There you are.” It was Leo.
“Stay away from me.”
“Sorry about that. Should’ve locked the door.”
“You don’t even get it, do you?” Sammy said, turning to him. “You used me. I came to you for help, and you used me.” She teared up and turned away, wiping her face, her hideous-looking face.
“Admittedly, I didn’t take into account your feelings.”
She dried her cheeks. “That’s real big of you, Leo.”
“Haven’t you ever been so enthralled that you’ve ignored certain conventions?”
Sammy spun around. “No, because I’m nothing like you.”
“I suppose I see things quite differently.”
She stared at the glass in his hand.
“I hope you’ll forgive my bad behavior.”
He looked like one of those rich people who strolled out on the beach or a dock, carrying a drink.
Leo noticed her looking at the glass. “It’s for you.”
It smelled like booze. “What is it?”
He shrugged. “It is cold. I don’t know how anyone can carry these for long.”
“You don’t know what it is?”
“Temperature is the key,” he said, switching hands. “I’m not sure how much longer I can hold this. Shall we begin?”
“Begin what? You’re not making any sense.”
“You wish to turn back to your normal skin coloration, true?”
Sammy stared up at him. She always had trouble reading him, and now was no different. “Yeah. What do I got to do?”
He glanced down at her shirt. “I think this will work best if you tuck your shirt in.”
“What does that got to do with any of this?”
“You can either do this or find the cat.”
Sammy tucked in her shirt. “Happy?”
“That’ll do,” he said, moving the glass to the other hand. “Now turn around.”
“Why? You going to stab me in the back with another needle?”
Leo shook his head and made a spinning motion with his finger.
Sammy glanced up at him, wishing she could read him better. She turned around and felt a slight pull on her collar. Ice rattled against the glass, stinging cold scorched her back, and then a deep cold radiated out, chilling her to the core. Sammy spun around, knocking the glass free. It shattered against the ground like an explosion. The ice pooled against her lower back. She hopped, tugging at the shirt as if she were on fire. She pulled the shirt out, spilling the ice to the ground. “You’re crazy!”
Leo grinned. “You’re back to normal coloration, although perhaps a little flushed.”
Sammy wrung out the back of the shirt. “You’re certifiable, truly certifiable.”
“We should work on less drastic means in the future.”
“Future?”
“Now you have two incidences from which to draw. Either one or a combination can be used in a visualization exercise.”
“I’m doing some visualizing right now, Leo, and it’s not pretty.”
“Whatever it is, it seems quite intense. That’s a good start.”
Sammy threw her hands up and stomped off.
“Tomorrow? Same time?” he shouted after her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
______________________________
Tatiana stepped out from the shadows. “Where are you running off to, little bird?”
That was all she needed now. “Home.”
Tatiana took a long lick at a pill pinched between her fingers. “Are you wet?”
“Yeah, wet and cold.”
“Want a ride?”
“I got a few more rides left on my phone.”
“I can give you a towel at least.”
“You carry around a towel?”
She nodded, leading Sammy to the car parked in front of the place. “You never know when something will pop up and you’ll have to get your hands dirty.”
Sammy wondered what people kept in trunks. This one seemed empty except for a bag stashed on the side.
Tatiana rifled through the bag and pulled out a plush beige hand towel. She offered it, then pulled it back. “Here, I’ll do it.”
Sammy turned halfway. She wasn’t feeling too trusting.
“Let me guess, Scotch and water?”
“All I know is that it was wet and cold.”
Tatiana patted down her lower back. “It’s good enough for now.” She handed her the towel. “Take it for your ride back.”
“Thanks,” Sammy said, reaching into her pocket for the phone, but it was gone.
“Something wrong?”
Sammy jogged to the back, retracing her steps to the big splash. Lumps of ice still marked the spot but no phone. She remembered feeling it when she’d tucked in her shirt.
Tatiana was halfway between the front and back, licking her pill. “Find what you were looking for?”
Could Leo have taken it? “Lost my phone.”
Tatiana dropped the pill into her mouth. “Come on. Let’s get you out of those clothes.”
Sammy shivered, following her to the car. She put the towel against the back of the seat.
The tires squealed, jerking Sammy back. Must go through a bunch of tires the way she drives. The car raced around the boxy transporters dotting the roadway.
Tatiana grinned, glancing at Sammy. “Nothing like being your own driver.”
Sammy held onto the door handle. “The way you drive, I’m not so sure.”
She laughed easily as if the speed was intoxicating. The car skidded on turns, which seemed to delight her. She slowed down enough to make Sammy think she was coming to her senses. She pulled the car up in front of one of the luxury buildings just south of Midtown. “Makes you feel alive, doesn’t it?”
“Not for long.”
Tatiana grinned. “Let’s get you out of those clothes.”
“Where are we?”
“Someplace toasty,” Tatiana said, swinging her door open.
“I thought you were going to take me home.”
“This is closer.”
Sammy stepped out of the car. “The way you drive, any place is close.”
Tatiana held open the door to the building. “Come on, little bird. We don’t want you to catch a cold, now do we?”
Sammy followe
d her. “I told you I don’t like to be called that.”
“It’s a term of affection. You do like affection, don’t you?”
Yeah, this was definitely a mistake.
They took the elevator to the third floor. Tatiana fished out her keys from her purse, almost dropping the phone inside. She plunked the purse onto the low table and strode into a back room. The place seemed to be about the same size as hers but looked a hundred times better with plush cream-colored carpet, off-white walls with geometric monochromatic framed pictures, an overstuffed black leather sofa, and two chairs ringing the low table in the center of the room.
Tatiana strolled back in, holding a long mustard-colored T-shirt. “Put this on.”
“This is yours?”
“No, it was from the last little bird who came here.”
“Where can I change?”
She sauntered around a half wall separating the living room and the kitchen and came back with a tall white plastic bag. “Put them in there, and I’ll have them cleaned.”
“A place to change?”
Tatiana slouched into the corner of the sofa and propped her feet on the low table. “We’re all girls here.”
Sammy just stared back at her.
Tatiana rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist. “Pick any room you want in the back.”
Sammy settled on the bathroom and locked the door. The walls were white marble, the vanity a dark maple, and the shower walled-in glass. She dropped the shirt into the bag and wondered about the trousers. They were wet around the band, so she put them in too. She took a washcloth folded on a shelf, wet it, then wiped down her back and neck. The bra strap and her panties were a little damp, but she wasn’t taking them off. The T-shirt came down to her mid-thigh. It looked putrid, but at least it was dry.
Tatiana had her shoes off. “My little yellow bird. We have to get you a matching wig.”
“I have one at home.”
“Not that rubber cap. I’m talking about one that looks and feels natural,” Tatiana said, slipping a phone out of her pocket. “You won’t even know it’s on.”
The purse sat at the other end of the low table. Did she take the phone out and put it in her pocket?
Tatiana grinned, scrolling through the screen. “Hope I can find a place that delivers.”
The Girl Thief Page 18