She walked past all of them. None of them paid much attention to her. Not enough to make them try to stop her.
Her breath steamed out in puffs of vapor on the chilly night air. It was cold out, but her anger kept her plenty warm. She walked until she reached the end of the driveway. She turned to look at the house and the chaos surrounding it. She wanted nothing to do with any of that right now. Not Rico, not the FBI, not the house, not the memories, nothing.
Rico might think he was in charge of this, but that time was over. She was in charge now. Joe was her mess to clean up. And she would. Her own way. Her own permanent way. Because the world didn’t need a man in it who was craven enough to shoot the woman who’d been at his side for twenty-seven years, that much she knew.
Not to mention the guy he’d killed and used as his body double in the car accident.
The whirr of an insect made her swat at the pest even though she didn’t see it. What kind of bug would be out in these temperatures? She stared at the house. Did Rico even know she was gone? The lights were blazing, and movement was visible inside and out.
Joe wouldn’t come back here. Not now that he knew the feds were involved. She had no doubt he’d do everything in his power to find her, though. Especially if he thought she’d taken the money.
That absolutely meant he could go after the kids. He knew how easy it would be to use them against her.
The cold hit her suddenly. She wrapped her arms around her torso. She had to deal with him now. Immediately.
The insect buzzed closer, and again she swatted at it without seeing it.
Then a third time, closer still. Enough that she ducked and swung around toward it. The twisting caused a sharp pain to pierce her side. Had she reopened the wounds?
Her eyes found the insect, which wasn’t an insect at all. She shivered.
A fae drifted in the air above her. Close. Too close.
Two thoughts crowded her mind. Hurry up, Temo. I really need some iron jewelry.
The fae smiled at her, its skin stretching hideously over its angular features. “Hello, wounded vampire. I smell your blood. Your delicious blood.” It closed its eyes and inhaled. More smiling. Then the smiling stopped. “I smell fae on you. The girl. You have been with the dhamfir.”
Rixaline’s wooden heart. Did that carry the girl’s scent?
The fae spread its wings. “You are quite the prize, aren’t you? Too bad I have to take you alive.”
Donna had no weapon, only her heightened abilities, and in her wounded state, she wasn’t sure how far those would get her.
Time to find out.
Chapter Twenty-two
Fangs out, Donna brought her hands up to fend off her attacker. The growl of a car engine caught her attention, but the fae seemed oblivious. Its wings spread wider as it prepared to strike.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the fae to see if the car was driven by friend or foe, but she prayed it was Temo.
It was. The SUV screeched to a stop beside her, and he jumped out, engine still running. Temo threw himself between her and the fae, then stomped his foot and gave a fierce cry. “Tofa!”
The ground rumbled, tilting and lifting, and shockwaves radiated from the spot where Temo’s foot had struck the ground.
The fae was thrown back like it had been punched in the stomach. It screeched as it disappeared into the night sky.
Donna fell to the ground. She winced as she landed, letting out a little gasp of pain.
Temo turned, his expression full of apology. He reached for her and helped her up. “Boss, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you.” She brushed her backside off, moving gingerly to keep the wounds from opening up any more than they just had. “Pretty sure you just saved my life. That was impressive. What was that you did?”
“Mini quake. Basically. C’mon, get in. Before it comes back.” Temo suddenly grimaced. “Sorry. Please.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. And you don’t need to apologize in times of war.” She went around to the passenger’s side and climbed in.
He got behind the wheel, hitting the button to lock the vehicle as soon as her door was shut. “War?”
“What else would you call a fae trying to capture me?”
“Good point.” He glanced at her. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I am.” She looked in the rearview mirror. “What about the pies, though? That was a hard stop.”
“Nell gave me a bigger box to put the smaller boxes in, so I think they’re fine.” He put the SUV in drive and circled around to head back to the penthouse. “You, I’m not so sure about. What’s going on? First the fae, then I saw the ambulance. What happened?”
She put her seat belt on. Carefully. “The fae was unrelated. It just showed up as I walked to the end of the drive. I wasn’t thinking, frankly. My mind was on what had just happened.”
“Which was?”
“In a nutshell, it didn’t go as planned. Joe confessed to some things that will put him away for a long time, but he didn’t come alone, and his partner, some woman named Carmella, helped him escape. She shot one of the FBI agents.”
Temo glanced at her before looking back at the road. “That doesn’t explain why you’re not wearing the clothes I dropped you off in.”
This wasn’t going to go over well. “Joe shot me.”
He muttered something she didn’t understand, presumably in Samoan, then spoke to his phone, which was clipped into a dashboard mount. “Dial Charlie.”
Ringing filled the car, then Charlie answered. “Hi, Temo. What’s up?”
“I have the boss with me. She’s been shot. Better call Dr. Fox.”
“Shot?” Charlie’s calm disappeared.
Donna leaned toward the phone. “I’m fine.”
“Was the bullet wood?” Charlie asked.
“I’m pretty sure it was a standard bullet. Whatever metal they’re made out of.”
“Is it still in you?”
“No, through and through.”
Charlie’s questions kept coming. “Are you still bleeding?”
“A little, maybe. I don’t think it’s completely closed up. Still hurts when I move. I put some bandages on it.”
“Good. Did you die?”
Donna hesitated. “Say that again?”
“Did you physically die? Are you breathing out of necessity or habit? If you blacked out, you may have died.”
“I don’t remember blacking out.”
“Hold your breath. If you don’t feel the urge to take a breath pretty quickly, you died. It’s nothing terrible,” Charlie said. “Most vampires are dead.”
Donna took a breath and held it. A couple seconds later, she exhaled. “I still want to breathe.”
“Okay, that’s good to know.” Some of Charlie’s calm had returned. “I’ll get Dr. Fox here.”
“I don’t think I really need—”
“Ma’am, with all due respect, you’re the governor. We’re not taking any chances. Especially when you’ve been shot. This is standard operating procedure.”
Temo looked at her and nodded.
Donna gave in. It was easier. And they meant well. Plus, she’d taken the job, so she needed to follow procedures. “Okay, whatever you need to do. Thanks.”
“Great. See you when you get here.” Charlie hung up.
Temo hit the end call button. “Better safe than sorry.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“How’d it happen?”
“He was trying to get away, and I went after him, and he shot me. Then he jumped into the car with his girlfriend—”
“Ouch.”
Donna laughed, although it came out a little bitter. “It’s nothing new. He’s had several over the years. It’s kind of expected with these Mafia guys. But apparently, this new one, Carmella, she’s in on the whole faked-death deal. She’d have to be, I think.”
Donna looked over at Temo. “I did slug him when he firs
t came to the door. That was nice. Knocked his false teeth right out of his mouth, which was how he was going to pull off the body in the car being his until he learned that wouldn’t work.”
“So how did he do it?”
“He got his dental records switched. Can’t imagine what that cost.” She sighed. “Joe always was a schemer.”
“That’s pretty hard-core, though. Being willing to get your teeth pulled to make it look like your body is the one that got burned up. Although putting someone else’s body in a car and setting it on fire to fake your own death is pretty next-level too.”
“I agree. But that’s how these guys are. Ruthless. Willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want. And what Joe wanted was to take the Russians’ five million and disappear. I guess with his new chickie.”
“And leave you and the kids behind?”
She looked out the window. “Apparently. I can understand him leaving me. We haven’t had much of a marriage in a long time. But our kids? If I’d known he had so little love for them, I would have left with them years ago. I just always assumed he’d come after me because of them. Maybe he would have. Who knows? He probably would have done me in then. With a man like Joe, anything is possible. That body in the car? That was a Ukrainian mobster he killed for the Russians.”
Temo grimaced.
She sighed, setting off a little twinge in her side. “What’s done is done, right? No point bemoaning the past. Can’t change it.”
“Nope.” He grinned. “Glad you got to slug him. Wish I could have seen that.”
“You probably can. I’m sure the camera by the door caught it. Rico might give me the footage.” Although they hadn’t exactly parted on great terms.
“Looking forward to that.” He went silent a moment, his smile fading away. “You think he’ll leave you alone? Now that you know he’s alive?”
“Absolutely not, but not for that reason. He thinks I had something to do with his money being gone, which I did, obviously. Of course, I didn’t tell him that.”
“Pierce made sure it’s back where it belongs.”
“All but the one million I donated to the church. But Joe said he intends to make me pay. Although…I wonder.”
“What about?”
“If he thinks I’m dead. For all I know, he thinks that bullet killed me.”
“You think he really intended to kill you?”
“Definitely.” She leaned her elbow on the console between them. “It’s more than that, though. He knows I was complicit with the feds on this. That I was part of the setup to catch him.” She frowned. “He won’t let that go. Rats don’t get forgiven in the Mafia. It’s part of the code.”
“Does he know you’re a vampire?”
“Nope. Not a clue. Not sure he’d believe it even if he somehow found out.”
Temo shrugged. “That gives you an advantage.”
“It does.”
“So what are you going to do?”
She stared at her hands. “I pretty much told Rico that I’m going to handle this myself, and at the time, I meant it. I was overcome by rage.”
“But?”
“But I don’t know if I can. Killing accidentally and killing on purpose are very different things. And I’m not a killer.”
“Do you know where Joe is? We could just go get him and subdue him and then turn him in to the FBI.”
She thought about that. “That would be the right way to do it. At least then he’d stand trial and face all the terrible things he’s done. Plus that would prevent him from going after the kids to punish me. But no, I don’t know where he is. Probably in some cheap motel. Or at that floozy’s house.”
“So? How many Carmellas can there be?”
Donna laughed. “In Jersey? A lot. I’m sure the FBI is on it, though.”
“Yeah, but are you sure they’ll be able to get him tonight?”
“No, I’m not.” She took a deep breath, and the little wooden heart tucked into her bra shifted. An idea began to form. She leaned toward Temo slightly. “But we have something the FBI doesn’t have.”
“We do?”
She nodded. “We have Rixaline.”
Temo grinned. “The finder of things.”
“The finder of things.” Donna shook her head. “Part of me hates to ask her to use that skill for me. After all, that’s exactly what the fae wanted of her, but this is a different situation.”
“Very different,” Temo said. “We’re talking about your life and the lives of your kids. And they don’t have your skills to protect themselves. Boss, I think she’d love to help you. I think she wishes she could do more now. Although she loves taking care of Lucky.”
“I hope you’re right, because the last thing I want her to do is think I’m taking advantage of her. Or only helping her because of her skills.”
“I don’t think that’s how she’ll feel at all. You’ve been very kind to her. The way you’ve taken care of that girl makes me proud to know you.” He shook his head. “Claudette wouldn’t have done that.”
“You don’t think so?”
He shot Donna a look that was followed by a gruff laugh. “I know so.”
“Well, then, I’ll ask her. And we’ll be very careful that finding him doesn’t turn into a dangerous situation. We’ll track him down and handle it very swiftly.”
“Right.”
“We have to take him and the girlfriend, because she shot one of the agents. They’re going to want her too. So we grab them, then dump them in front of the FBI headquarters and call it in.”
“I like that. It’s a good plan.” He got a dreamy look on his face. Like he was thinking about something that made him happy. “We could get Neo to help.”
Scratch that. Someone who made him happy. Donna smiled. “Call her. I want to do this tonight.”
“I don’t think Dr. Fox is going to clear you for that.”
“I don’t care. I want this handled. It needs to be handled. The longer Joe’s free, the more damage he can do. What if he decides to call Joe Jr. or Christina and tell them he’s not really dead? Or worse, tries to lure them home and into his grasp? I don’t need them dealing with that. No, this happens tonight. We have a little over five hours before sunup. Plenty of time. Especially because I’m sure he’s not far away.”
“You’re the boss, boss.”
“That’s right. And in this case, what I say goes. Call Neo.”
She was on his speed dial, no surprise there. Donna was going to do her best to make sure they had more time together. Like by giving Temo a night off as soon as it was possible.
Neo answered quickly. “Hello there.” Her voice was a smooth, low purr. Not the Neo Donna was used to.
Temo cleared his throat. “Hi. You’re, uh, on speaker with me and Donna.”
“Oh.” She giggled. Giggled. “Hey, Donna.”
“Hi, Neo. I feel like I’m always calling you for help, but how’d you like to help me out again?”
“More muscle?”
“Something like that. Probably a little more hands-on this time.”
“Gimme some deets.”
Temo tilted toward the phone. “Joe shot her.”
“What?” Neo’s screech nearly cracked the windshield. “No he didn’t. You okay?”
“Yep, he sure did. But I’m fine,” Donna stressed. “It was a flesh wound that’s almost healed.”
“What happened?”
“I helped the FBI run a little sting operation this evening, and things didn’t go quite as planned. That’s why I had to leave group early. Anyway, Joe and his new girlfriend evaded arrest, and with the way he threatened me, I can’t let him run free.”
“Also, girl, he shot you.”
“That too. So you in?”
“Hells yes. When?”
“Tonight. I need to see the doctor about this gunshot wound, then we’re out the door. Plan is to track down Joe and his girlfriend, truss him and the sidepiece up, and dump them at FBI headquarters.
”
“I’m down. I can head to your place in about ten minutes.”
“You know I’m at the penthouse now, right?”
“Oh yeah.” Donna could practically hear the smile in her voice. “Even better. See you soon. Bye, Temo.”
He got all moony again. “Bye, Neo.”
“That’s the plan, then,” Donna said. “Tonight is Joe’s last night as a free man.”
“You got that right.” He pulled into the parking garage of the Wellman Towers. “You going to tell your FBI buddy?”
“No. Not until we have Joe and Carmella in the back of this SUV and we’re about to leave them on his doorstep. I think Rico would try to stop me. And I’d rather ask forgiveness than permission.”
“What if he just wanted to come along? Help?”
“He’d still want to do things by the book. And this is not going to be that kind of operation.”
Temo nodded. “Roger that.”
This was going to be down and dirty. Tonight she wasn’t so much a vampire as a mama bear protecting her cubs.
Joe wasn’t going to know what hit him.
Chapter Twenty-three
Temo carried the pies as he and Donna went up to the penthouse, then he put them in the kitchen and went back down to gas up the SUV. And possibly wait on Neo, but that was just Donna’s hunch. She kind of hoped that was exactly what he was doing.
Charlie and Pierce greeted her at the door, with Rixaline not far behind them. All three looked exceedingly worried.
She held her hands up. “I’m fine. I feel better now than I did thirty minutes ago. I’m sure it’s healing.”
Charlie frowned. “On the outside, maybe, but the inside takes longer.”
“Oh?” Donna hadn’t realized that. One more thing that ought to go in the vampire handbook that desperately needed to be written.
“Yes. But Dr. Fox is here, and he’s set up in the salon. If you’d like, I’ll introduce you.”
“I would like, but first…” She reached through the neck of her big sweatshirt and retrieved the little wooden heart. She held it out to Rixaline. “Thank you. I think this came in very handy tonight.”
Rixaline didn’t need to know about the fae Donna had run into.
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