by L. A. Banks
“Of course, you do,” said a deep feminine voice fairly dripping with sex. “Come right in, gentlemen.”
The ornate gates slowly opened.
Stan’s partner, Charlie, said, “Man, they must have really good cameras. She knew there were two of us. And did you hear that voice? I can’t wait to get a look at her.”
“No ogling the customers,” Stan warned. “You know how touchy that twit, LaSalle, gets if a customer complains. You do still want to be working during the holidays, don’t you?”
At twenty-two, Charlie was half Stan’s age and had only been working for LaSalle’s Antiques a little over a year. He looked up to Stan, even though they were a Mutt and Jeff pair, and he was actually about six inches taller than Stan.
“All right,” he hurriedly said, his head bobbing up and down. “I gotcha.”
When they got to the front of the house they figured the butler would come out and direct them around back. Instead, the front door opened and they could see the silhouette of a shapely woman standing in the doorway. “Bring it right through here, gentlemen.”
Charlie and Stan moved with alacrity, getting out of the truck and quickly opening the back to reveal a very large wooden crate in the belly of it.
“What is that?” Charlie whispered to Stan as they climbed in back to fit the crate into the dolly so they could safely lower it on the lift.
“Hell if I know,” said Stan. “But LaSalle promised both of us an extra C-note if we would deliver it to this address in the middle of the night. Customer’s request.”
“I wonder why?” Charlie said. “Do you think she’s a vampire?” He laughed nervously.
“Less talk and more work,” Stan said. His tone was firm, but without rancor. He liked the kid. Charlie just had a tendency to find everything worth commenting on and his incessant yammering got on his nerves.
Soon, they were rolling the crate through the double doors of the mansion. Curiously, there were no lights on in the house. Dozens of candelabras sat on tables, on floors, and anywhere else they could be set.
The woman who greeted them was so exquisite that each of them stood mesmerized for a few seconds before following her to an adjacent elevator.
“I’d like it in the basement,” she was saying as she turned and began walking toward the back of the house. They followed, watching the sensuous movements of her hips in a tight white dress. She had flawless brown skin, large brown eyes, luscious red lips and slick black hair that fell to her waist.
They didn’t even try to guess her age. Beauty like that was undoubtedly ageless.
They encountered no one else in the house as they followed her but were curious as to why the air was so damp and musty. Couldn’t she afford central heat and air?
Stan figured she was another one of LaSalle’s eccentric customers. At least that’s how LaSalle described them. Stan thought they were nuts.
It was insane for a woman living alone to open her door to a couple of deliverymen in the middle of the night without asking for any identification whatsoever. It was insane for someone who could afford a house this big to neglect to turn on the electricity and to let mold grow in it instead.
Stan sneezed. Yeah, his allergies were acting up.
“Bless you,” said Mrs. Martin.
They arrived at the elevator and got on it. It was a little cramped inside and too dim for Stan’s comfort. He wondered how it worked without electricity.
“Don’t worry, gentlemen,” said Mrs. Martin, as if reading his mind. “This house was among the first built in the city with an elevator. This baby has never let me down. It works on the pulley system.” She closed the cage door and released a lever. Down, they went.
Stan was pleased with how smooth the ride was. “I’ve never been in one of these,” he said, his voice awe-filled.
“And I assure you, you won’t ever see another one,” Mrs. Martin said pleasantly.
In the basement, they placed the crate in the middle of the room as Mrs. Martin instructed. Then, they got back in the elevator.
“I do appreciate your coming out tonight,” Mrs. Martin said as the elevator rose back to the main floor. She reached into a pocket in that skintight dress and produced two crisp hundred-dollar bills. Handing them to Stan whom she must have sensed was the lead man on the job, she said, “For your trouble.”
“Oh, it was no trouble, Mrs. Martin,” Stan said. “We’re already being given a bonus for the job.” Not enough of a bonus, but a bonus, nonetheless.
“You’re a kind man,” Mrs. Martin insisted. “I’ve always thought kindness should be compensated.”
Stan looked into her eyes and somehow felt compelled to take the money. She placed it in his palm and when her hand inadvertently touched his, for a moment she appeared to be an old ugly hag in a deep red robe. Then, she smiled and stepped back a little and she was once more a vision of loveliness.
Stan’s voice cracked when he said, “Thank you.”
When the elevator arrived on the main floor, Stan hurried out of the conveyance.
Charlie had to nearly run to keep up with him. “Good night, Mrs. Martin!” Stan called over his shoulder.
Charlie, who was pushing the dolly, walked swiftly alongside Stan. “Hey, man, what’s the rush?”
“Come on, Charlie, keep up!” Stan said angrily. Fear made him testy.
Stan ran down the steps and was standing at the back of the truck impatiently waiting for Charlie. He pressed the button for the lift. “Come on, come on,” he growled.
Charlie, nervous now because of Stan’s behavior, nearly tripped as he rolled the dolly to a stop. He stepped onto the lift with the dolly and Stan operated the lift.
Charlie looked back at the house while he was going up on the lift, but the house was no longer there. They were suddenly in the middle of a cemetery. The only living beings in a cemetery at one o’clock in the morning!
Charlie screamed and shoved the dolly to the back of the truck, then jumped down.
“Close it, close it,” he yelled at Stan as they attempted to close the roll-down door.
“Screw it,” said Stan, turning to run to the driver’s side. “It’s empty anyway.”
“Right!” said Charlie.
He beat Stan inside the cab of the truck because he was younger and had longer legs.
Stan was praying hard for the engine to catch without its usual trouble as he turned the key in the ignition. It did. He threw the truck in gear and sped through the huge wrought iron gates.
In his rearview mirror, he could now see the huge sign above the open gates: Heavenly Slumber Mortuary.
Charlie was sweating next to him. “What just happened, man?”
“Listen,” said Stan. “When weird stuff like that happens the best thing to do is to tell yourself you just imagined it.”
“I didn’t imagine that!” Charlie cried, shaking. “We just delivered a crate to a ghost!”
“Yeah,” said Stan. “But don’t tell nobody about it, if you don’t want to be spending time in a rubber room.”
Several feet below ground, Embeth was happily opening her lovely new toy. She’d returned to her normal appearance, having no patience for illusion. Inordinately strong, she handled the crowbar like a pro. When she finally got the top off, and had lowered all four sides of the wooden crate her new toy seemed to sparkle in the candlelight.
She stepped forward and lovingly touched the blade. Drawing her forefinger across her tongue, she tasted blood. That baby was sharp.
She threw her head back and laughed with glee.
Chapter Five
* * *
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and Sarai had gone in to work to take care of a pile of paperwork that she and Jim had been unable to go through before the holiday. She had let him slide so he could spend quality time with his kids.
Sitting at her desk, she placed her hand on her belly. Soon, Jim wouldn’t be the only one who could use that excuse. She still hadn’t given Daniel
the news!
Her neighbor, Serena Abraham, was working today, too. Serena was single with no kids. She was trying to get a well-earned promotion, so she worked as much overtime as she could get away with.
The two women had been there since seven that morning, and it was now after two in the afternoon. Neither had taken a lunch break. There had been intermittent small talk between them all day, but nothing substantial.
However, Sarai had noticed Serena giving her frequent surreptitious looks when she thought she wasn’t looking.
Serena did it again, and Sarai called her on it. “What?” she asked, more curious than irritated by her friend’s behavior. “Do I have a booger?”
Serena laughed shortly. “Now, you know I’d tell you if you had a booger.”
“Then, what? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. You’ve been stealing glances at me all day. Have you gone gay on me all of a sudden?”
Serena laughed. “Girl, please, I love men too much for that.” She frowned suddenly. “Didn’t you tell me that Daniel was taking a few days off from work?”
“Yeah, that’s right. He’ll be home for another week.”
“So, he and his assistant don’t have any reason to be spending time together?”
“No, Daniel hasn’t seen her since he got back. Why?”
Serena averted her eyes a moment, then looked Sarai straight in the eyes. “I’m telling on myself by telling you this because I was at the club with a married man. But night before last, I saw Daniel and Maya having a blast at The Inferno.”
Sarai laughed shortly. “The night before Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah. It was late, around two in the morning.”
“You couldn’t have seen Daniel at The Inferno. He was in bed with me at the time.”
Serena looked confused. She bent and got her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. “Hold on,” she said. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so I took their photo with my cell phone.”
Sarai stood up and walked over to Serena’s desk. Serena handed her the cell phone.
Sarai looked at the photo, which was astonishingly sharp. The date on which the photo had been taken was clearly printed below it.
In it, Daniel was smiling into Maya’s upturned face. It looked as if they were going to kiss any second now. Sarai almost expected the photo to turn into a video and she’d have to watch them kiss right before her eyes.
She handed the phone back to Serena. “That looks like Daniel and Maya. But in order for him to have been at The Inferno at that time, he would’ve had to have gotten out of our bed, dressed, and left the apartment. I would have heard him.”
“Were you awake at that time?” Serena asked, being the Devil’s advocate.
Sarai shook her head, no. They had exhausted themselves with a great lovemaking session that night. There hadn’t been any more premature ejaculations for Daniel.
Lately, he’d been insatiable. It suited her because her pregnancy symptoms had kicked in and she was equally unstoppable in bed.
“Daniel can’t be having an affair with Maya,” she stated bluntly. “Believe me, we’ve been making up for lost time. He hasn’t got the energy to make love to anybody else.”
“I hope you’re right,” Serena said. “But if I were you, I’d definitely find out what the hell he was doing there with her. I was just watching your back, girl.”
“I know,” Sarai said. “And I appreciate it.”
“Really?” Serena asked, sounding skeptical.
“Yeah,” Sarai assured her. “I’d rather know.”
“Some women would just like to stay in the dark.”
“I’m not one of them,” Sarai said. “I believe in fidelity. If that’s lost, then where does a couple go from there? Cheating ruins everything.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Serena said. “The married man I’m seeing? He keeps telling me he’s leaving his wife, but never does anything about it. I know he’s lying. And I wish to God I’d never met him, but now he’s gotten under my skin, and I’m just letting it play out. I’m such a fool!”
“You’re not a fool,” Sarai told her sincerely. “You just got caught up. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”
Serena smiled. “Thanks, Sarai.”
“I mean it,” said Sarai, going back to her desk to retrieve her shoulder bag. “Now, I’ve got to have a conversation with my husband. See you!”
“Go on, girl, and handle your business,” Serena said encouragingly.
Sarai rode her bike home, and by the time she got upstairs where she expected to find Daniel working in his home office, she was convinced that the couple Serena had photographed at The Inferno had been Nephilim.
They had obviously known that Serena had taken their photo. In fact, they had probably planned it that way. They had known Serena would show her the photo.
Although that part of the plan could have gone against them. Serena had apparently considered not mentioning it to her. Otherwise she would have told her first thing this morning instead of a few minutes ago.
Sarai walked through the apartment, calling Daniel’s name. He wasn’t there.
Then, she heard a loud thud on the terrace.
Hurrying to the terrace door, she turned the handle only to find that it was locked.
She opened the door and stepped outside. It was very cold, and the wind was biting.
Yet, Daniel was out there in his shirtsleeves leaning over the railing, peering down at something on the street.
“Daniel!”
He turned around. “I’m saved! I thought I heard your bike. At least I hoped it was your bike. I came out here to take a look at that patio chair you said needed repairing and I forgot and let the door slam behind me without disengaging the lock.” He laughed. “Where was my mind?”
Looking at him curiously, Sarai propped open the door to prevent both of them from being locked out, then went and hugged him tightly. “You could have frozen to death!”
“I was only out here about half an hour,” he said.
Sarai thought his body should have felt cooler to the touch if he’d been exposed to thirty-degree weather for that long, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she looked into his eyes, trying to discern if this were truly Daniel. If that wasn’t Daniel at The Inferno two nights ago, perhaps this wasn’t Daniel, either. Maybe Daniel never came home from Washington. Daniel would have known about the key under the plant. Her heart thudded, but she tried to hold on to some semblance of calm.
They went inside, and she shut the terrace door and secured it. Daniel pulled her into his arms again. “You’re home from work early.” He grinned. “Couldn’t stay away from me any longer, could you?”
“You guessed it,” Sarai said, tiptoeing to kiss his cheek. She walked past him, and spun on her heels to face him. “But I also came home to deliver a message—your dad phoned. He’s upset because you won’t talk to him. He’s sorry about arguing with you the last time you spoke.” Her eyes were pleading. “He’s so desperate for you to call him that he begged me to intercede on his behalf. Won’t you call him, Daniel?”
She waited, her heart doing double-time, and her stomach muscles twisted in knots.
Daniel had a pained expression on his handsome face as he regarded her. He seemed to be at war with his conscience. Then, he sighed heavily, and said, “All right, I’ll give him a call right now.” He turned and left the room, utterly oblivious to the turmoil he’d thrown Sarai into when he’d said he was going to phone a dead man.
Sarai was wracked with indecision. She wanted to launch herself on him and tear his throat out with her teeth, she was so enraged. Where was Daniel? Had this impostor murdered him? Or did he have him stashed somewhere?
She’d never find out if she killed him.
But, her anger prevented her from thinking straight. She had to get out of there.
“Well, I’ve got to get back to work, babe!” she called to him, her voice sounding much more convincing than she expected it to unde
r the circumstances.
The impostor jogged back into the room, looking like a laid-back Daniel in Daniel’s skin and with Daniel’s face, and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Okay, baby. How about I take you out to dinner tonight?”
“That sounds good,” she said, smiling lovingly.
He patted her on the butt when she turned to leave.
Edina was lying on the chaise lounge in her bedroom reading her favorite book of poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar when her field of vision turned white, then bright blue. She recognized this as a precursor to receiving a running video in her mind.
After years of receiving them, she knew not to fight them. She calmly put the book down, lay back on the lounge in as comfortable a position as she could, then closed her eyes.
The images moved swiftly, however the vision was not simply a mini-movie in her brain. The sights were augmented by sounds and the sounds were intensified by emotions.
She saw Daniel and Maya being kidnapped. Daniel by a driver named Malcolm. Maya kidnapped by a man masquerading as her boyfriend. He picked her up at her apartment and took her to a house in Englewood.
Daniel had fought Malcolm when Malcolm had made him get out of the car at gunpoint at the house in Englewood. But Malcolm wasn’t really a human and Daniel, though he fought bravely, was soon violently subdued.
Maya screamed so much that she was knocked out. In Edina’s last glimpse of her, her face was purple and swollen.
While inside the vision, Edina strained to try to see Daniel again, but she was unable to. When the vision ended, she was physically drained. The visions always sapped her energy. Nonetheless, she got up and went to the phone on her nightstand and dialed Sarai’s cell phone number. When Sarai answered, she instantly sensed her daughter’s distraught state of mind.
“Sarai, I just had a vision. Daniel’s been kidnapped.”
Sarai’s voice broke when she asked, desperately, “Is he alive?”
“They’re both alive. Maya was kidnapped, too. I know where they are.”
“Did you see anything at all about the son of a bitch who’s been sleeping in my bed for the past five days?”