by Sharon Green
Freemont and I had almost finished the coffee when the announcement came that the mayor had arrived. We were gently hurried out of the coffee room and out the back of the building, where a wide raised area of concrete was pretending to be a bandstand-type platform. A tall, fairly thin man with light brown hair wearing a light-colored suit stood in front of a microphone, with more than a dozen members of the various media looking up at him. There were even television cameras, and my partners and I were coaxed into positions behind the tall man, along with Granger Allen, Dan Newsom, and, of course, Chief Helms.
"All right, let's get started," the tall man said to the reporters once we were all in position. "As some of you know, we had a rash of murders in this area where we had no idea who was doin' the killin'. We kept the matter quiet to avoid public panic, but we also sent for some outside help. Ms. Bell, Mr. Lees, and Mr. Freemont were the ones we asked for that help."
Camera bulbs flashed at us and larger cameras moved to cover us. There was a small bit of murmuring and a number of questions shouted out, but the tall man, who was probably the mayor, held up his hands.
"First let me finish tellin' the story, and then you can ask questions," the man said. "Ms. Bell and Mr. Lees, former detectives on the New York City police force, were able to identify the creature doin' the killin'. It turned out that some fool had smuggled in a harpy egg, and it was the harpy who was responsible for the deaths."
The former murmur turned into a mutter of louder comments with even more questions being shouted, but the mayor held up his hands again.
"There's no sense in askin' questions I'll be answerin' as I go along," he said when the noise quieted down some. "Let me get on with it, and then it'll be your turn… Good. Now, as I was sayin', a man named James Elbinon brought in a harpy egg, but we don't yet know how he did it. The man went insane and tried to attack some of the officers who had killed the harpy, and the attack was so violent that he was also killed to protect our officers."
The mayor's voice droned on, talking about the way the harpy had been taken down, saying nothing about James being a shapeshifter. That was probably because they wanted to add shapeshifters to the force, but for whatever reason the omission let those like me breathe a little easier. Those like me…
I hadn't seen Eric since we'd reached police headquarters, but that didn't mean I had no idea where he was. I'd been so happy about not drowning in the awareness of his presence that I hadn't noticed how sharp my awareness of him still was, only on a different … plane, so to speak. Right now he stood all the way over on the right, beyond the media crowd and a few steps away from them. And he was staring mostly at me, I knew it because I could feel it…
Shifting just a little where I stood did no good at all. The awareness of his attention was a solid thing, like finding someone staring at you from only a couple of feet away. From this distance I shouldn't have been aware of him at all, but that didn't seem to matter to the reality of the situation. It was as if he'd relaxed his hold on some ability, and because of that I could almost feel his heart beating, the blood flowing in his veins, the strength in his body.
All those sensations made me turn my head to return his stare, and when he saw me looking at him he seemed to come out of some kind of reverie. The awareness of him sharpened, and then it was gone as if he'd thrown some kind of switch. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but this was hardly the time to walk over to him and demand explanations. Freemont touched my arm, and I became aware of what the mayor was saying.
"… all of which makes me really glad our thanks to these folks can be more than just words," the tall man told his audience with a chuckle. "It gives me great pleasure to present this check to these fine folk, the reward that was offered to end the reign of terror and killin's. Please come forward to accept the reward."
The last of that was addressed to me and my partners, so we all stepped forward as requested. But Freemont and George hung back a half step, so I was the one who ended up being given the check along with a handshake. It came to me that our audience had grown quite a bit when applause came from all around along with even more flashbulbs going off. Everyone was happy, and that certainly included me.
The check was for the full $50,000 we'd been told about, and it was even a cashier's check to make cashing it easier. I had a sneaking suspicion that the mayor had decided not to play games with the reward in order to keep us from mentioning that it hadn't been him or his people who had invited us in. We were being bought off to keep us quiet, and I for one was delighted to be bought off.
After that the press was invited to ask questions, and I kept a pleasant smile on my face even when I was asked about being a shapeshifter. We were getting the kind of good publicity it would have cost a fortune to buy, and because of that could expect to be invited into various crime scenes that would otherwise be given to other rogue hunters. The better we were known, the fatter our bank balance would grow.
A good number of the questions were directed to George, and when he spoke you would have thought he was a member of E.F. Hutton. Everyone seemed to listen raptly, giving Freemont and me the chore of keeping our faces straight. More than once George exercised his sense of humor, but no one seemed to notice. I guess ghosts aren't supposed to have a sense of humor.
Freemont's turn came last, and as usual a large number of people tried to get personal answers from him. My partner just smiled his angelic smile while he apologized for not being able to respond in the way those people wanted him to.
"After all," he told them, "I'm very tightly shielded right now. If I weren't, I'd never be able to attend a function like this one. I'm sure you all understand."
We all knew well enough that they didn't want to understand, but no one was rude enough to say so. A few more ordinary questions were put, and then the mayor introduced the police officers involved before ending the press conference. Most of the reporters descended on Dan Newsom and Granger Allen, leaving the rest of us free to sneak away.
Once we were back inside the building I expected us to be introduced to the mayor. But the mayor had disappeared somewhere along with Chief Helms, so my partners and I headed for the front way out and our car. Not only hadn't we been introduced to the mayor, I didn't even know the man's name. Not that I needed to know his name in order to cash his check. All I needed was the location of the bank the check was drawn on, which I got from the desk sergeant before we walked outside.
"Eric's already waiting for us by the car," Freemont observed once we stepped through the door. "And from the expression on his face, I think we're about to be teased."
"If he's ready to tease instead of complain, I'm happy and relieved," George said in a murmur as we moved toward the place where Eric waited. "Someone else in his place would be annoyed that he hadn't been included in the press conference even though he wasn't part of the incident. He is a member of the team now, after all."
Freemont made a sound of agreement, but I didn't do the same. It seemed a better idea to withhold all comments right now, and then we were up to the car.
"I can't tell you how impressed I am to be in the company of such heroes," Eric said to us with a bland smile on his face. "It makes a man feel humble to be in the presence of giants, especially such modest giants. None of you said a word about the dirtier side of the incident, the part where Taz put her life on the line. Every single one of them seemed to miss that part of it."
By now Eric was no longer smiling, and the annoyance was clear in his eyes. It looked like our newest addition was angry, but not for the reason we'd expected.
"When it comes to press conferences, Eric, the danger has to be titillating, not deadly," George told him, faint amusement behind the words. "The idea is to make those listening to the report feel that they could have done the same job if they hadn't been occupied with other matters. No one really wants to think about how many lives could have been lost in taking down that harpy."
"And now we're going to the bank to depo
sit the reason I put my life on the line," I added as Eric sighed before nodding to acknowledge what George had said. "This money will keep us going for quite a while, so we don't have to sweat out waiting for the two bounties to be deposited. If not for the help of a grateful senator, it would take two months to get the bounty money instead of two weeks. You might want to remember those facts of life before coming back to the glories of rogue hunting, Eric."
"Getting a weekly paycheck is habit-forming, but I'll manage," Eric said as we opened car doors and got into the Saturn. "Waiting two weeks is easier than washing dishes or waiting tables to keep yourself fed."
There was no arguing with that statement, so I simply started the car and went looking for the bank I needed. The bank in question was only a short distance away, so after I parked I left my weapons belt in the car and went inside alone. The bank manager checked my ID so thoroughly I thought she meant it memorize it, but once she knew for certain who she was dealing with our business was taken care of quickly. The check was cashed for me and the cash was wired to the account in my own bank, and once we had confirmation of that I was able to leave. Considering the fact that we would soon be gone from this area, leaving before getting that confirmation would have been stupid.
Between the press conference and the amount of time I spent in the bank, it was going on noon before we were on our way back to the motel. We had just started a discussion about where to have lunch when Freemont's cell phone rang, and he pulled out a pad and pen before answering the call.
"Yes, that's us," he said in answer to the question of whether the caller had reached the team of Bell, Lees and Freemont. "This is Freemont. May I help you?"
"Is your team free to take an assignment that isn't actually in your line of work?" I heard the woman on the other end ask Freemont. "We're responsible for the protection of a certain scientist, but for reasons I can't go into right now we're afraid we can't do the job properly. Is bodyguard work something your team won't consider doing?"
"I'll have to check with my partners about that, but I can give you an answer in a few minutes," Freemont replied. "Why don't you supply some details about who you are, where you are, and how you found out about us, and I can get back to you."
"My name is Allison French, and I'm the assistant to the chief of our governor's security force in Georgia," the woman answered. "Right now we're in Atlanta, where the scientific conference is going to be held this weekend. I happened to be watching the news, and saw the report about the harpy you and your partners were instrumental in taking care of. When I suggested that we try to hire you to protect our problem child, my chief agreed. It's just too bad that there are only three of you."
"Actually, we've just added someone to our team," Freemont said, his faint smile showing some kind of satisfaction. "A rather large man who's an experienced rogue hunter."
"Oh, that makes it perfect!" Allison French exclaimed softly. "We can offer your team five thousand dollars for the weekend, plus all expenses. Assuming your teammates agree, how soon can you get here?"
"We have a few loose ends to tie up here in Chattanooga, so it would be about three hours or so," Freemont said. "Does that fit in your time frame?"
"It fits perfectly," the woman said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "Here's the number you can reach me at when you call back."
Freemont wrote the number down instead of putting it directly into his phone, and then they exchanged goodbyes. When he closed his phone, my partner turned to look around at the rest of us. We were in a parking space near the motel, but I hadn't turned off the car engine. If I had, we would have lost the use of the air conditioning.
"Did everyone get that?" Freemont asked. "I know Taz and George did, so how about you, Eric?"
"Yes, I was also able to hear her clearly," Eric said with amusement in his light eyes. "I wonder why she considers my being part of the team so perfect."
"We can find out when we get there, but I happened to know she'd feel like that," Freemont responded with a laugh. "Are we agreed that this is something we want to do? Taz? George? Eric?"
"Five thousand for the weekend plus expenses sounds really attractive," George said without hesitation. "Not to mention the fact that there shouldn't be rogues for you three to face. You can consider it a small paid vacation."
"A paid vacation on the first day I join the team," Eric said, shaking his head in an effort to hide what looked like heavy amusement. "I know I could have gotten the same in any one of a dozen different jobs, but somehow I knew it would happen with you people soonest. Now do you understand why I'm not interested in going elsewhere, Taz?"
"What I understand is that we'll probably end up with something horrible trying to rip our heads off," I answered with my own amusement mostly hidden. "The woman is official, but she and her people are 'afraid' they can't do the job of protecting their 'problem child.' If that's your idea of a vacation, guys, you'd better start using my dictionary to get your definitions."
"Does that mean you want to pass on taking the job?" Freemont asked, joining the other three in sobering up. "I know there will be trouble, Taz, but it shouldn't be anything we can't handle."
"Meaning you don't have any details about the trouble we'll find," I interpreted, finally turning off the car. "But no, I'm not refusing. We can use the money while we wait for all that publicity to do us even more good, so let's go for it."
Since we were all in agreement we got out of the car, and Freemont only waited until we were in the motel's lobby before he called the woman back. We were all packed so we only had to check out, and then we could be on our way. To a paid vacation, with none of us sure about what we'd be paid in…
Chapter Twenty
It didn't take long for all of us to get our bags down to the lobby, and then we checked out. A short discussion had brought us to deciding to have lunch in the motel after we put our luggage in the car, and then we'd have no need to stop on our way to Atlanta. Freemont had gotten driving directions to the hotel we'd be staying in, so as soon as we decided which car we'd keep we'd be ready to go. Eric wanted to stay with the Jeep, but I had my reasons for wanting to keep the Saturn.
"Let's order and then we can argue," Eric said once we'd been seated at a table in the restaurant. "And you have no idea how happy I am that you're willing to argue. Most people think that arguing is the same as having a fight."
"That nonsensical idea seems to be spreading everywhere," George put in from his chair to my right. Freemont sat on my left again, with Eric back in his place opposite me. "Taz and I used to argue all the time when we were partners on the force, but we never really fought."
"Not everyone gets the same pleasure out of arguing that you three obviously do," Freemont put in as he glanced over the menu. "Personally, I prefer peace and quiet to a lot of yelling, even if the yelling isn't a prelude to a physical … extension of the disagreement."
"I'm usually willing to argue because I have an open mind," I said virtuously as I also scanned the menu. "Only when your mind is already made up do you refuse to exchange ideas with those around you."
"And an exchange of ideas is always a good … idea," Eric agreed, also working to sound virtuous. "Especially when someone else's idea is actually better than your own."
"That, of course, is something you can't know until you hear what that other idea happens to be," I added, not about to let him think he could get anywhere by making a bunch of vague comments. "And I think I'll have the Reuben."
"The Reuben sounds good to me, too," Eric put in, sending me a smile. "There, see how reasonable I can be?"
"Let's hear it for sweet reason," Freemont said with his own smile as George chuckled. "The cooking here is good enough for me to chance it, so I'll also go with the Reuben. Isn't it nice to have unanimous decisions?"
"But the decision isn't unanimous yet," I pointed out, going for innocent instead of letting my grin show. "How about it, George? Want to ask if they have a Reuben especially for ghosts?"
"Absolutely not," George came back, doing nothing to hide his grin. "This time they'd probably try to produce the dish, and I refuse to be a guinea pig for an overly determined chef."
That made us all laugh, and because we'd put down our menus our waiter came over to take our orders. Eric asked for a Coke with his, I asked for a cream soda, and Freemont ordered a diet Coke. The waiter actually turned to George once the rest of us were done, and when George firmly shook his head we couldn't help laughing again.
"Okay, now for the argument," Eric said once the waiter had left to place our food and drink orders. "I say we ought to take the Jeep because it provides a lot more room than the Saturn. I'd really hate to make the trip to Atlanta with my luggage in my lap."
I smiled and parted my lips to get down to the nitty-gritty, but before I could say a word we were interrupted by the arrival of someone who wasn't a waiter. The newcomer was female and looked to be in her early twenties at the most, medium tall and lithe with blond hair, blue eyes, and a girl-next-door prettiness. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and she wore jeans and running shoes as well as a powder-pink tee shirt.
"Eric, why aren't you upstairs?" she asked in a voice that told everyone how shy and sweet she was, her large eyes filled with concern. "When you didn't show up for the meeting they sent me to look for you."
"Lauren," Eric said, more a dismayed utterance than an attempt to speak to or introduce the girl. "Lauren, everyone should have been told by now. I resigned yesterday so I won't be at any more meetings. Please go back and let the others - "
"No, Eric, please!" the girl interrupted, heavy distress making her wring her hands, the look on her pretty face almost pitiful. "You're one of the good guys so you belong with us! Grail and Jaril know that, and that's probably why they didn't say anything. They don't want you to go either, so they're going to pretend you didn't resign. Please, just come back with me and you'll find out I'm telling the truth. We've barely started to get to know each other, so please come back."