"Wait. How are you having this conversation? Did she call you?"
"Oh, no. We met in a chat room earlier tonight. That guy's letting her use his computer. Hers was stolen, like you said. Anyway, so I told her to call that friend of yours, Luci. She said she would, but then we got kind of cut off, and word came up from the main house that Raphael was on his way and I didn't want to miss that, so..."
Cyn paused, trying to absorb the rush of information. “Okay. Let me call—"
Her phone trilled, interrupting. She checked the display and flipped it open.
"Hey, Luce."
"Hi, Cyn. Listen, I think I have your lost chickie here.” Cyn looked over at Mirabelle and pointed at her meaningfully. “She's a bit twitchy,” Luci continued softly, “but I'm trying to convince her you're one of the good guys."
"I appreciate that. Can I talk with her?"
"Not yet. In fact, why don't you drop by later? She's pretty stressed right now. The guy she was staying with kind of freaked out on her."
"Is she hurt?"
"Not physically, no. A couple of scratches, some bruises, but I don't think he gave them to her, not directly anyway. Not from what she'll tell me. Scared mostly."
"Let's hope she's telling the truth. When should I come by?"
"Give us an hour or two. I'll call, but I think she'll be okay meeting you."
"Can the sister come?"
"She's a vamp, right?'
"Right."
Luci was silent, thinking about it. Cyn could hear television in the background, punctuated by the occasional loud comment. “That's probably not a good idea,” Luci said finally. “Let her see you first, nice human that you are, and then we'll see after that."
"Right. Talk to you then.” Cyn never questioned Luci's instincts when it came to this sort of thing.
Mirabelle was on her as soon as the phone flipped closed. “Liz?"
"She's at Luci's place. I'm heading over there."
"All right! Let's go."
"Um, yeah, about that. Luci thinks, and I agree, it's better if I go alone first. She's safe at Luci's, so there's no reason to push right now. I'll meet with her later and we'll see where it goes from there. She's kind of jittery about the whole vampire thing."
"She knows I'd never hurt her,” Mirabelle protested.
"Not on purpose, no. But come on, Mirabelle, she runs away to California and suddenly here you are. For all she knows, Jabril sent you to find her and take her back to him."
"Oh, right, like Raphael would ever—"
"Liz doesn't know anything about Raphael; she doesn't even know who he is,” Cyn said with waning patience. “She only knows what you told her, and she can't trust that.” She looked up as Alexandra appeared in the driveway. “Nice, Alexandra,” she said, pointing at the topiary garden rapidly taking over the old courtyard.
"Yes, it's going well. I got the inspiration from a book I read while we were in Colorado. One of the other vampires recommended it. The author's name was King, I think."
Cyn blinked, a purely instinctive chill rippling her skin and raising goose bumps. She looked up to find Alexandra studying her with an amused expression and kept her own face carefully blank. Alexandra looked so demure that it was easy sometimes to forget she was old and deadly in her own way. But Cyn didn't appreciate being toyed with by anyone.
"Looks like we've found Liz,” she said instead. “Or she found us. Mirabelle can give you the details.” Her cell vibrated, indicating an incoming message, and she pulled it out, checking the display. “Right. That's Luci, so I'm out of here. I might see you later, depending. If not, then tomorrow.” She looked at Mirabelle. “I'll call you, Mirabelle, after I talk with Liz, and tell you what's up. In the meantime, don't worry."
Chapter Thirty-eight
Cyn hurried up the steps of the house she and Luci had bought and renovated several years ago. It was a fifties-era structure, two-stories with a wide, old-fashioned front porch and wood siding. The half acre lot was in a part of L.A. that had once been the neighborhood of choice for doctors and lawyers. But the city had changed, the doctors and lawyers had all moved south and west, and a lot of these old houses had been divided into apartments for nearby university students. She and Luci had gotten a good price on this one, mostly because it had been in such lousy shape. The elderly lady they bought it from had lived there over sixty years, and hadn't put a dime into upkeep for at least twenty.
She opened the door without knocking and went straight back, passing through a large living area. A wide-screen television was exploding with the color and sound of a movie Cyn didn't recognize. Couches, chairs and floor were filled with teenagers who gave her no notice as she walked by, although she suspected it was more a matter of choice than attention span.
Luci's office was at the back of the house near the kitchen, in a small room that had once been a butler's pantry or something. They'd ripped out the plumbing and put in windows for Luci's many plants which were threatening to overrun the tiny space.
Luci was sitting at her desk, her back to the door. A teenage girl sat in the chair next to her, and the resemblance to Mirabelle was undeniable. She looked up when Cyn entered the room, her eyes weary and suspicious. Cyn gave her a little nod, looked at her friend and said, “Luce."
Lucia spun around, concern dissolving into a welcome smile. “Cyn,” she said warmly, standing and coming over for a hug. Luci was a very huggy kind of person. Cyn really wasn't, but she tried for Luci's sake. Liz watched the exchange closely.
"Liz, this is my very good friend Cynthia Leighton. She and I opened this house together, lo those many years ago."
Liz's big blue eyes studied Cyn carefully, checking her mouth, her hands, even her eyes. Looking for vampire indicators, Cyn thought. Not that she was offended by it. She'd have done the same thing.
"So, you're a friend of Luci's?” Liz asked doubtfully.
Cyn nodded. “From college."
"And you're working for my sister?"
"Not really working for, more like working with. I'm sure Luci told you...” She glanced at her friend for confirmation. Luci nodded, then sat, pulling over a scarred wooden chair for Cyn to do the same.
"Jabril actually hired me to find you,” Cyn continued, reluctantly taking the uncomfortable seat. “But then I met Mirabelle and, well, hell, I met Jabril. I broke Mirabelle out of there and came looking for you. Lucky for me, you decided on L.A."
"There's some other guy looking for me too,” Liz volunteered cautiously. A slight twang became more evident in her speech as she began to relax.
"Yeah. I met him. Beefy guy with short white hair?"
"I think so. I didn't see him myself, but some of my friends told me he was looking. That was before—” She looked away, uncomfortable, and Luci intervened, reaching out to take Liz's hand in both of hers.
"It's okay, sweetie. None of that matters now, and Cyn understands. Don't you, Cyn?"
"Sin?” Liz said. “They call you Sin?"
"Cyn with a C Y,” Cyn said. “I always hated the name Cyndi and Cynthia sounds so ... I don't know ... proper.” Luci snorted and rolled her eyes, surprising a little laugh out of Liz.
"My parents always called me Elsie,” Liz volunteered. “I thought I hated it too,” she added wistfully.
Cyn knew enough about the girl's parents and their untimely death to change the subject. “So tell me what happened, Liz. I've been looking for you all over the place."
"Yeah, I heard. You sounded okay, and you gave those food coupons to all the kids. But I didn't know who I could trust.” She stared down at her hands, held tightly by Luci. “And all those girls were dying.” She looked back up, meeting Cyn's eyes. “I was scared and Todd started coming around. He does a lot of stuff with the street kids, basketball games and shit like that. He started talking to me and he seemed really nice, although he's kind of old and out of shape for a guy who plays sports. He wears those big striped shirts all the time, you know, like those Australian guy
s do? But all the kids seemed to know him, so...” She shrugged.
"When he found out I was from Texas, he said he had family there too. Some cousins or something. And I told him about Mirabelle and Jabril and everything, and how if I could just hide out until my eighteenth birthday everything would be okay, because then I'd have my own money. So he said, why don't I come stay with him until then, you know, ‘cuz it was only like two weeks away.” She paused to give Cyn a forlorn look. “He seemed like a nice guy,” she repeated.
"So what happened? What made you change your mind?"
"He never touched me. Not like that. I would have been out of there if he had, because he's ... well, like forty or something. Anyway, he started getting really bossy. Like I had to tell him everywhere I went and what I was doing and everything. And then I got the message from Mirabelle saying she was here and we should meet. I'd lost my computer, but he was letting me use his to like check my message boards and stuff. He works at night somewhere, and I didn't want to go out after dark, plus it was a good time to try to reach Mirabelle and let her know I was safe. So anyway, I got this message saying she was here in California, and it seemed weird. I mean why would she be here? So I wrote back to her how I wasn't sure and how did I know it was safe? And she told me about that Raphael guy, that he's not like dickhead Jabril or anything, and she's living in a nice place and I can come stay with her."
Cyn nodded. She'd already heard most of this from Mirabelle.
"Anyway, so I'm online with Mirabelle, and he comes in and starts freaking out about vampires and especially Raphael, and he tells me Raphael's been arrested for killing those girls and he doesn't want me to have anything to do with him or with Mirabelle, because that fucking vampire—that's what he called him, that fucking vampire—he's using Mirabelle to get to me because I'm his type. And I said, what do you mean I'm his type? But then he says I don't have to worry because I'm not like all those other girls."
"Not like them how?” Cyn said quietly.
"He said all those girls hung out with vampires and that's why they died."
Cyn exchanged a look with Luci. “What'd you say his name was, Liz?"
"Todd. Todd Ryder. He lives down near the beach, but in that kind of scummy part where it's really crowded. Venice, I think they call it. Someone told me they have canals there like in Italy, but I never saw any."
"I'll show them to you sometime,” Cyn said absently. “So what happened then?"
"The fucker tried to lock me in his house, that's what happened! After we argued, I like stormed into my room and fell asleep. And when I got up, he'd locked the bedroom door! And all the windows have those like jail bars on them, you know? So I'm pounding on the door, but he's gone to work and left me there without even a bathroom or anything!"
Luci looked over her shoulder at Cyn with a pleased grin. “My girl Liz here broke the door down,” she said.
Liz blushed, embarrassed and proud at the same time. “Yeah, well, it was one of those cheap hollow doors. It didn't take much. He had this like old metal lamp on the table. Really ugly, but heavy. So, I pounded and pounded. Trashed my arm, but once I broke through it was pretty fast. I stuck my hand out and unlocked the door, and then I got the hell out of there. I didn't have anything but my purse anyway, so I grabbed it and ran.” She looked up at Cyn and shrugged again. “And here I am."
"So here you are, and I'm very happy to see you,” Cyn agreed. “What do you want to do now?"
"I don't know. I didn't really think past getting here."
Cyn nodded. “And you're probably okay here for now, but you need to be careful. Jabril's man won't think twice about breaking the law to grab you. I'd feel better if you stayed with me until we get everything cleared up."
"I don't want to live with vampires."
Cyn opened her mouth to point out that she didn't live with vampires, but Luci spoke up. “Maybe Liz could stay here for awhile,” she suggested. “Everything will look different after you've had a couple days to think about it,” she said to Liz.
"What about Mirabelle?” Liz asked, looking at Cyn. “Is she living with you?"
Cyn shook her head. “Mirabelle has nutritional needs I can't meet. She's staying on Raphael's estate, at his sister Alexandra's house, which is separate from everyone else. The two of them have discovered Internet shopping, God help us.” She shivered dramatically. “If you don't want to stay with me right now, maybe you can at least go by for a visit with Mirabelle. I'd be happy to give you a ride, and I know she'd like to see you, to know you're really okay."
Liz twisted her mouth, biting the inside of her lower lip in thought. She glanced at Cyn, then back at Luci. “I think I'd like to stay here tonight at least. I trust Luci.” Cyn ignored the implication that she, on the other hand, was not to be trusted. “And maybe tomorrow night,” Liz continued, “I can see Mirabelle. Would that be okay?” She directed the question at Luci, not Cyn.
Luci leaned forward and hugged the girl, then stood. “Of course, whatever you want. Come on, we'll get you set up. You need a shower, and I think I've got some clothes that will fit you.” The two of them pretty much ignored Cyn as they started out of the room, but Cyn touched Liz's arm, drawing her startled attention.
"Can you tell me where this Todd guy lives? If not the address, then how to get there?"
Liz gave her a worried look. She glanced at Luci for reassurance, and Luci patted her on the shoulder. “Why don't you go on up,” she said to the girl. “It's the room at the top of the stairs, with the blue door. I'll be there in a minute.” She gave Cyn a somber look as Liz took the stairs two at a time.
"I have Todd's address,” Luci said quietly, going back into her office. “We've never had any problem with him. He does a lot of after-hours stuff with the kids, organizing games and so on, to keep them off the streets. He used to do some outreach, too, when he had a girlfriend, but they broke up and he sticks pretty much to the organized activities now."
Cyn played a hunch. “The girlfriend have a name?"
"Um, Patty something, I think,” Luci replied, keying the search into her computer database. “She was younger than Todd, not beautiful, but pretty enough. Kind of a pointy face and small mouth. What?” she asked in alarm, seeing the distressed look on Cyn's face.
Chapter Thirty-nine
On her way to Venice and Todd Ryder's house, Cyn gave Mirabelle a quick call, explained the situation and told her to count on a visit from Liz the next night.
"Why not tonight? She could stay here; Alexandra wouldn't mind."
"First of all, she's pretty wiped out, Mirabelle. It's been a rough couple of weeks for her in a strange city, all alone on the street. I mean, give her a break. And secondly, she's not exactly thrilled at the idea of living with more vampires, you know?"
"I guess. But doesn't she want to see me, at least?” The last bit was more of a plaintive wail.
"Sure she does. And she will. Tomorrow night. Besides, it's almost dawn already. By the time we got there, you'd be ready to go to sleep."
"I suppose you're right. But she's definitely okay, isn't she? You're not like protecting me from the truth or anything?"
"I wouldn't do that, Mirabelle. Liz is fine. Really tired, but that's it. You'll see for yourself tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks, Cyn. You want to talk to anyone here?"
"No, thanks. I'm heading home too. Listen, I'll call you before we come over. Sleep tight."
Mirabelle gave a girlish laugh. “Right. You too. Bye."
Cyn dropped her phone onto the console as she pulled onto Ryder's darkened street. Contrary to Liz's dismissive observations, this was actually a pricey neighborhood, although at first glance it might not look like it. The homes were small and crowded together, and there was a bit of a crime problem from vagrants who made the beach their home. But it was only a few blocks to the sand, and Ryder had to be doing pretty well to afford to buy this place. Of course, it was always possible he rented. Cyn hadn't run a background check on him y
et. She'd wait and see if a little felonious breaking and entering turned up anything worthwhile first.
She parked her truck a couple of houses down and across from his and sat studying Ryder's place. It was an older house, narrow with a single story and detached garage. The houses to either side had been remodeled to add a second story—the lots were small and people had to build up for extra footage—and Ryder's house seemed to huddle in on itself between its neighbors, cringing beneath the disdainful gaze of the two updated homes. Liz told her Ryder kept a regular schedule, leaving for work and coming home at pretty much the same time every day, which meant he shouldn't be back for a good couple of hours yet. It would have been better to wait and go in right after he left for work on another day, but it was Friday and Liz didn't think he worked Friday or Saturday nights. Which meant Cyn would have had to wait until Sunday night to catch him going to work, and patience had never been her strong point. Besides, Mirabelle's audience with Raphael was Sunday.
There were no lights on in Ryder's house, not even a porch light. His neighbors had both installed low-level outdoor lights and one showed the faint gleam of what was probably a night light upstairs. She tapped her fingers nervously on the steering wheel and decided to take the chance. Flicking off the overhead light, she switched her phone to vibrate, slipped it into her jacket pocket and cracked her door open silently. She made her way down the dark street, passing by Ryder's house only to cross and come up on his property from the garage side. The narrow driveway was unfinished except for two parallel lines of concrete pavers which Cyn followed as she made her way quietly to the back of the house.
It was a matter of a few minutes work for her to get inside. Pulling on thin rubber gloves, she slipped the lock and went in through the back door. The front was too open to the street, and besides, like so many people, Ryder's back door had a much flimsier lock than the front. Why did people assume the bad guys would use the front door?
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