by Judith Post
"Could you take a break when you bring our pizza?"
"I guess that would be all right."
Danny watched her leave. She wasn't in a hurry, and she didn't seem to be curious about why they were there. He frowned. Showing a badge usually rattled people, made them flustered, but not Paige. He'd guess her to be somewhere in her late thirties with no makeup to hide the acne scars on her cheeks. Her nose was too long for her face; her lips small and thin; and her hair a flat, dull brown. He looked at Enoch. "Are you sure?"
"What? You think plain girls don't get murdered?"
Danny sighed. "If we rule out Gail, every other woman, even Marie, has been good looking. Different types and ages, but all easy on the eyes."
"But he intended to kill Gail. I saw her face when I touched Marie, so that can't be his pattern. If there is a pattern."
There had to be, but Danny didn't see it. The first victim was Luci Jurgenson—a real bombshell. Then he chose Liza Marsdale, blond and pretty. After that, he tried for Katy—lush and sexy with a messy, just out of bed look; then Marie—much older with a kind, gentle face. But Gail? She was even older with heavy jowls. And then Maggie. "Do you think he tried for young and attractive, then decided older was easier until he went for young again with Maggie?"
Enoch shrugged. "I didn't see his list until I touched Marie, so I can't tell."
"Do you think he swings from one opposite to another? Old to young, stylish to unstylish? Some find of weird pattern we haven't figured out yet?" Danny knew he was fixating, but if they could find a pattern, maybe they'd see the reason he killed.
They were interrupted when Paige came with their pizza. She set it on the table, then took a seat in the booth next to Enoch. She sat there quietly, waiting for Danny to talk. He gave his usual spiel about finding a paper with her name on it on the last victim.
Paige frowned. She rubbed her neck, pushing her shirt collar aside to reveal hickeys at the base of her throat. “My name was on the list?”
“Yes. The woman whose name was before yours was attacked tonight. She fought him off, and she’s all right, but he’ll come after you next,” Danny said.
Paige knitted her brows, trying to digest the facts. Her eyes looked flat, as if nothing he'd told her was registering. “I guess I’d better lock my car doors from now on.”
Enoch tried to stress the danger she was in. “The killer’s broken into the women’s houses. He usually attacks after dark. We’d like to keep guard over you. Where do you live?”
“Oh, I’m okay once I get home. I have two roommates in a house we rent on Broadway.”
“Do you share a room with them?”
The frown returned. “No, each of us girls has our own room in case we want to bring someone back with us.”
“So it’s possible no one would hear if the killer snuck into your room in the middle of the night.”
She stared at Enoch. “He’d do that with everyone there?”
“Yes, we think he would.”
She looked at Danny. “And you cops haven’t been able to catch him?”
“We’ve tried. So far, we’ve kept the women safe that he’s gone after, but that’s all.”
“Do you want to put a microphone on me like they do on TV? What do they call it? Wire me?”
Enoch tried again. “We want to stake out your house and follow you to and from work everyday. We want to be your bodyguards until we think you’re safe.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Danny glanced at Enoch and raised his eyebrows. “You don’t want our protection?”
“What do I have to do, leave my window blinds open so you guys can watch me undress? Isn’t that like giving you free peaks?”
She wasn’t the brightest light bulb in the pack, Danny decided. “You can change in the bathroom and then go to bed. We wouldn’t see anything that way.”
“I don’t wear nothing when I go to bed.”
Danny took a deep breath. “We don’t want to watch you undress. You can turn out your lights and get ready for bed in the dark or pull your blinds if that makes you feel better. We’ll be watching the outside of your house.”
“Oh! That might work.” It might, Danny agreed, except the killer kept sliding past them somehow. This time, they couldn't let that happen.
“We’d like you to be more careful than usual,” Enoch urged. “The killer’s getting desperate. It’s been a long time since he’s had any success. You’d be a lot safer if you tried never to be alone.”
“Even when I drive to work?”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll be following you then.”
Paige looked at Enoch. “Every day?”
He nodded assurance.
“And when I’m here?”
“You're safe. Other people are around. He only attacks when a woman's alone. But what about during the day when you're at your house?"
“Salli works nights too, so we hang out together while Roxy's at the factory.”
“Good.”
Paige looked confused. “But what should I do now? I need to finish my shift.” She looked to Danny for answers.
“Do everything like you always do, just don’t take off during the day by yourself. Stay with Salli. Make sure you have a friend with you whenever we’re not on guard. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Good.”
A man at a nearby table raised an empty glass for Paige to see. “I’d better get busy. I’m the only person waiting tables tonight.” She went to check on her other customers, and Danny and Enoch looked at each other.
“This girl might take more work than usual,” Danny said.
“We’ll talk to her manager and roommates. We’ll ask them to keep an eye on her when we’re not there." Enoch looked apologetic. "I’ll spend as much time on her as I can, but I can't take an entire night shift. Voronika gets too restless on her own at night.”
"Won't one of your vamp friends watch over her when you're not there?"
"No, they only protect humans. They're Caleb's generals. He won't let them interfere with Vlad."
"No problem," Danny said. "You've already done more than you should. I'll assign someone to stake-out duty. We'll cover her, so you can stay with Voronika." He didn't want anything to happen to vampire girl because Enoch was helping him with a case. It wouldn't be right.
When they finished their pizza, he and Enoch went to the kitchen to find the manager. Danny explained the problem. "Paige shouldn't be alone after dark," he said.
“You don't have to worry about her when she's here," the man told them. "Paige is always on time, always on the clock. She doesn’t sneak out for cigarette breaks like some of the other girls. When she’s here, she’s working.” But he promised to keep an eye on her. So did the guy making the pizzas.
"Does she have set hours?"
"She usually works Mondays through Fridays, four to midnight," the manager said. "But this weekend, she's covering for Gloria, so that Glory can get her house ready for her family's Christmas exchange on Sunday."
"Paige is working twelve days in a row?" Danny shook his head. He thought his hours were bad, but Paige was no slouch either.
"She wanted extra money for the holidays. She helps her folks out."
Danny nodded. He respected that. As they walked to his Buick, he told Enoch, “I can drive you home, then come back when Paige finishes her shift. Maggie's at her brother's, so she's safe. Voronika's probably crawling the walls by now. I would be, knowing Vlad was sending his goons after me."
"When will you sleep?"
"I'll grab a couple hours and go to the station late. I'll let Tony know I pulled an all nighter." Danny drove Enoch to his apartment and dropped him off. "See you later, pal, and thanks." Then he drove to a gas station and got a huge cup of coffee. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 39
When Enoch walked into the apartment, Voronika was sitting in his recliner, feet up, reading a book. "How's it going?" he asked.
"Better. I'm making myself think of your place, not as a cage, but as a haven. And I'm going to do some catching up on things I haven't been able to before."
"Like what?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I thought I'd start with reading. There are hundreds of books that I've missed. I spent nights prowling for food, and most libraries aren't open during my hours, but your apartment has all the classics—most of them signed first editions—and comfortable accommodations. I thought I'd take advantage of them while I could."
He grinned. She could take advantage of them for centuries, as far as he was concerned. Anything to keep her here. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? Have you made yourself anything to eat?"
She frowned at the kitchen. "I thought I'd leave that to you. I'm not the homemaker type."
"Will steaks do?"
"Raw or cooked?"
He shook his head. "Whatever sounds good."
She came to watch him take two steaks from the refrigerator and toss them on the grill in the center of his stove. She sipped wine while he tossed together a salad. "You're pretty handy in the kitchen."
"I enjoy cooking, especially when I have someone over."
They sat at the kitchen counter to eat, and she asked him about the clown killer. "Did you warn the next girl? Why aren't you watching over her?"
"Danny's taking the stake-out tonight, and he's going to assign someone to it after that."
She sat straighter and glared at him. "So that you can stay here with me?"
"I'm not the only one who can do stake-outs. Danny has trained men."
"None as good as you. The killer almost got Maggie. You came home to babysit me, didn't you?"
"I wanted to check on you. That's all. To see if you wanted to go out again."
Her chin went up. "Danny's a mortal. When is he supposed to sleep?"
"He said he'd grab a few hours before he went to the station today."
She pushed her empty plate away and got to her feet. "I'm just fine here by myself. Call Danny. Send him home and go watch over that girl."
"She's already home. Danny stayed until she got off work at midnight, then he followed her."
"Good, that's perfect. She's safe at the pizza place, right? We can go for walks when the sun goes down, and then you can leave here to protect the new girl. What's her name?"
"Paige."
Voronika glanced at the kitchen clock. "Call Danny. Tell him you're on your way, and you'd better not let the killer slip past you again, or I'll watch over Paige myself."
Enoch started to defend himself, then let it pass. He wouldn’t win anyway. He flipped open his cell phone and called Danny. When his friend argued with him, he said, "Do you want to talk to Voronika? Because she won't listen to me."
"What's the deal? She doesn't trust us?" Danny sounded miffed.
"She said that if we let the killer get past us again, she'd guard the girls herself."
"Is that so? Well, I'd like to see…" Then Danny went quiet. "She would, wouldn't she?"
"Yes, and she'd be in a lot more danger."
"I'll see you soon then." Danny's voice was strained. He wasn't any happier with the arrangement than Enoch was. "And tell Voronika to stay safe."
"Will do." Enoch got directions to a two-story on Broadway. "It's close to Bluffton Road," Danny said. "The girls share the rent."
Enoch parked at a transmission center across the street and watched Danny pull away. His Land Rover blended with cars on the lot that needed serviced. From his vantage point, he could watch both the front and back doors of Paige's house. Usually, he turned his car engine off and huddled into his heavy coat for his long vigils, but tonight a chill dampness seeped into his bones. He let the car idle and turned on the heat.
By the time Paige and Salli got up and moving in the morning, gray clouds roiled overhead and wind whistled past his car. Sleet pelted the hood and bounced on the sidewalks. A film of ice made the streets slippery. Enoch watched cars creep to their destinations. On his drive home, fender benders were everywhere. Cops were stretched thin. What a crappy Monday! Enoch was glad he could cocoon at home—at least until three when he'd drive here to follow Paige to work. Not his usual routine. But he was worried that the killer might change his routine, throw them a surprise to stay a step ahead of them.
When he reached Lafayette, there was a wreck that would take some time to sort out. He decided to take the long way home and turned into his apartment parking lot from the back street. Cursing, he had to stomp on his brakes when a woman pulled out of her spot directly in front of him. Her back window was fogged and she didn’t see him. He glanced up at the gloomy sky, waiting for her to get out of his way, and noticed two figures on the train overpass farther down the street. They were mostly hidden from view, but from their vantage point, they could watch his apartment. . . and Voronika.
He drove through the parking lot and exited on Lafayette, went around the block, driving closer to town, and parked a short distance away. Then he rummaged under the back seat of his car for the duffel bag that was always there.
A faded brick building sat next to an alley. It had a fire escape that led to the third floor. Enoch tossed the bag's straps over his shoulder and climbed the metal steps. The wind blew in his direction, and he sniffed the air. The scent of old blood clogged his nostrils. Vampires.
When he was a little higher than the underpass, he opened the bag and took out two wooden stakes. Bracing himself, he leaned into the wind. Sleet stung his face. With a stake in each hand, he took aim and hurled them at the vamps three blocks away. Easy targets. He’d thrown stakes much farther in worse conditions.
The sharpened points found their marks. Screeches whipped toward him in gusts of icy rain. One vampire turned, the point of the stake protruding from his chest. He searched for his predator, but dissolved in a heap of dust before he saw Enoch. His ashes joined his friend's. Soon, even those were gone, blown away by the freezing wind.
Enoch scanned the tops of buildings close by. No sign of anyone else. He picked up his bag, made his way down the slippery steps, and returned to his car. By the time he rode the elevator to the penthouse, sleet melted and ran under his coat collar. Cold trickles slid along his spine. He’d have to put his hat in the car—something to protect his head and neck from the snow's run-off. When he walked into the apartment, he found Voronika pacing.
“Did you see them, watching me? I might as well be a freak at the zoo. I should have gone out there and finished them.”
“You’re safe in here. They can't get in."
She shrugged. “Those two were no threat to me, probably only a couple hundred years old.”
“Those are the ones we saw.” Enoch hung his coat on a peg by the door. Water dripped onto the carpet. “The ones we don’t see are the ones I worry about.”
She looked out the French doors that led to the balcony. “There’s no light today, gray and gloomy. We could go for a walk.”
Enoch reached for his coat and pulled it back on. “You’ll need this.” He rummaged in his closet and brought out two hats, one for each of them. “It’s wet and cold.” He smiled as she slid the worn fedora over her sleek hair. It didn't match her black leather jacket, and she had no boots. He needed to buy her a few essentials.
When they left the building, Voronika breathed in deeply. “Fresh air, I didn’t think I’d miss it so much.”
They walked for almost an hour before they returned. Enoch’s shoes were soaked through. Next time, they'd both wear boots, he told himself. The bottoms of his wool trousers were soggy. Even his heavy wool coat had a musty feel and smell. Voronika’s clothes didn’t fare any better, but she looked radiant, shivering but rejuvenated.
Back inside the apartment, she yanked off her shoes and hung her coat on the peg next to Enoch’s. “Thank you. I know that had to be the last thing you wanted to do.”
“This is hard for you. I understand.” He went to the kitchen and inhaled a cup of steaming coffee. That finished, he poured h
imself another one.
"Are all angels as thoughtful as you are?" she asked.
"Yeah, look at Caleb. He aims to please."
She arched a brow. "And you never expect anything in return?"
"Then it would be a ploy, not a kindness, wouldn't it?"
"But you try so hard to be a good boy." She looked down at her tight, black pants. “I need to dry these.” She stripped them off. She touched the sleeve of her black knit shirt. “Wet.” She peeled it off. She stood in front of him in her bra and panties. “I’m still not comfortable.” Her underclothes hit the carpet. She gave a long sigh. “I’d like to snuggle up in bed, but I’m not one bit tired. Any ideas?”
Her beauty took his breath away.
"Move it, angel. I'm getting goosebumps."
His clothes came off faster than hers had. He scooped her into his arms and hurried to the bedroom. He laid her on the black, silk sheets and swallowed hard. “You’re exquisite.”
“Then make me feel that way,” she told him. She pulled her hair off her neck. “You don’t bite, do you? My neck used to be my best starting point.”
He lowered himself beside her and sprinkled kisses up and down her throat—a cool, alabaster column. Her body tensed, and he moved to the hollow above her collar bone, then to the tops of her breasts. He wanted to explore every inch of her. Her breath caught, and he skimmed his hands over the smooth skin of her shoulders, her slender waist, her firm abdomen. Everything responded, coiled for passion. He reveled in the feel of her. She groaned, and desire shot through him. His pulse quickened. His hands sought the warmth of her inner thighs. He licked her nipples, sucked on her lush breasts, as his fingers explored her farther. When she arched her back, he slid his finger inside her. He stroked and kneaded until she shuddered. Her hips lifted off the bed and her fingers gripped his shoulders. He wanted to take it slow, but she pulled him on top of her, then thrust herself at him. Soon, he was in her, and their bodies moved in rhythm, grinding deeper and deeper, until she spasmed and screamed. He came a second later, and they lay, exhausted, in each other’s arms.
He cuddled her, enjoying the touch of skin on skin, until their bodies relaxed. Then Voronika pushed away from him. “That’s just what I needed.”