“Tell Lucky two weeks. Or I’m going to be a lot less friendly.”
I saw the Englishman frown, right before he glanced at me, his eyebrow raised.
When he did, I felt Black stiffen all over again. Before I had time to so much as raise a hand in goodbye, Black slung the same arm roughly around my neck and turned me around.
We walked to the corner of the roof’s walkway, him talking in a low voice, something about a mall and a show later, but I couldn’t focus on any of his words. All I could feel was that emotion pulsing off him, him breathing harder, his arm gripping my shoulder and neck as he steered me around the corner and towards that red door.
Once we rounded that corner, he began to walk a lot faster.
By the time we were halfway across that second walkway, I had to jog just to keep up.
Six
CHANGE OF PLANS
“WHAT?” I LOOKED at him in disbelief, even as he slid into the leather seat next to me. “You can’t be serious. Please tell me you’re joking, Black...”
He didn’t answer at first, but leaned forward, talking to the driver rapidly in Thai.
He spoke for longer than it would take to simply give an address, or even basic directions. When he finally finished and leaned back, he looked at me from behind the mirrored sunglasses he wore again, his mouth set in a grim line as the SUV pulled away from the curb and began descending down the driveway and away from the Golden Light Hotel.
“You’re going back, Miriam. It’s not open for discussion.”
“You really want me to hop on a plane right now for San Francisco?” I said, disbelief still coloring my voice. “I just got here! I haven’t even slept yet, Black.”
Again he didn’t answer right off but leaned deeper into his seat, exhaling before he took off his sunglasses. I watched him rub his eyes with two fingers, right before he looked at me.
“No,” I said, my mouth firming. “I’m not getting back on a plane for twenty-plus hours right now. Not after what I just heard––”
“Yes. You are.”
He didn’t even sound angry.
He just sounded like he wasn’t discussing it.
I bit my lip, then I turned back towards him. “If you want me to leave Bangkok, then fine. I’ll go to the beaches if you don’t want me here. You don’t have to pay me vacation time, but I could use a few days off, just to––”
He turned. That time, emotion reached his voice, making me jump.
“No,” he growled. “You won’t. We’re going to talk to my friend Kevin right now...mostly because I’m a fucking coward and I can’t do it alone. Then I’m taking you to the goddamned airport. We’re not talking about this any more, Miriam.”
I stared at him, stunned. I continued to watch his face as he sank his body deeper into the leather seat. With him this close and no longer a blank wall next to me, I could feel things on him that made it harder to get angry with him.
Fear. I felt a lot of fear on him.
I also felt something heavier. What might be depression. Or grief maybe.
Both emotions were pretty foreign to what I’d felt on him so far. But the fear was what caught my attention, especially given where we’d just left.
“Fine,” I said, my voice flat. “Then you’re coming with me.”
“No.” He shook his head, looking up at me again. He surprised me then, reaching over and taking my hand in his. He sighed before squeezing my fingers. “I can’t, Miriam. Not right away. You heard him. I can’t leave town. But I’ll follow as soon as I can, I promise. Anyway, if I left Bangkok now, someone would follow us both to San Francisco.”
I thought back over everything that had happened over the course of that meeting, but I knew I was missing things. There was still too much I didn’t know.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think you should stay here alone.”
He looked up at me, his eyes holding a flicker of surprise. Then he let out an involuntary-sounding laugh. “No?” he said.
“Absolutely no,” I said, my voice warning. “I’ll call Kiko. Have her come for you.”
“I thought you worked for me.”
“Don’t give me that!” I snapped.
The driver jumped in his seat, glancing back over his shoulder. Looking forward again, he stared at me briefly in the rearview mirror, surprise clear in his eyes.
Lowering my voice, I focused back on Black.
“Look,” I said softer. “I know I missed a lot in whatever just happened up there. But clearly it’s you they’re after.” I paused, watching his face tighten where he sprawled in the seat. “How the hell is it that they know what you are?”
His eyes darted towards the driver, right before he looked back at me, his mouth hardening. He held a finger to his lips, without raising his head from the leather upholstery.
“Fine,” I said, softer still. “Then where can we talk?”
They. Are. Too. Interested. In. You.
He sent it into my mind that time, hammering the words. I started to respond the same way, but he gripped my hand tighter.
“Don’t,” he said. “Not even here.”
Realizing he still didn’t want me to use the psychic thing, I sighed in exasperation. “Why did you bring me there? You obviously wanted them to see me as––”
“I meant for you to be a distraction,” he said, giving me another warning look before he glanced at the driver. “I wanted you to profile Frank and the others. I didn’t expect Anders to be there...which I’m certain you already figured out. Anders practically threatened you in front of me. He knew who you were...he sure as fuck made sure I knew he knew. Worse, he clearly picked up on far too much about me in relation to you. I want you out of here, Miriam. According to what you told me about Ian, Lucky already knows about your...”
He hesitated, glancing at the driver before he lowered his voice.
“...Your worth,” he said softer. “Which means Anders likely does too. I’m sorry I brought you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. But you’re leaving, doc. Today.”
But I was still trying to make sense of his words.
“You think they’ll try to use me to get at you?” I frowned, still thinking. “For what? To stop looking into the murders?”
“Among other things.”
I frowned, watching him avoid my eyes. I could tell there was a lot he didn’t want to tell me here, where we had an audience, but I also knew if he was serious about me getting on a plane, I didn’t have a lot of time. “I thought that’s what the boy was for. You think you unintentionally gave them more leverage by showing up there with me?”
“Among other things...yes.” He looked up at me in exasperation. “Just trust me on this, doc. Go home.”
When I bit my lip, he made that clicking noise again.
“It’s not a comment on you...or your ability to take care of yourself. This is my fault. I made a mistake.”
“Which was what, exactly?” I snorted. “Introducing me to your psychopathic pals?”
“Letting them see I give a damn about you,” he growled.
I started, then blinked at him in surprise. He averted his gaze.
“It’s my fault,” he said, lowering his voice. “I take full responsibility...and I will make it up to you. If you want a trip to the beach, I’ll take you to Hawaii...all expenses paid.” He smiled up at me, but I still saw that other look in his gold-flecked eyes. “I can’t have you here now, doc. Not now. It’s bad for both of us.”
Frustrated by his vagueness, I glanced towards the driver again. Then, making up my mind, I leaned right up against Black, talking directly in his ear. I felt some kind of reaction off him as soon as I hung over him, but I shoved it aside, speaking lower than a whisper.
“Does this Mr. Lucky want to recruit you because you’re a seer?” I said.
When he didn’t answer, I exhaled in frustration.
I started to move away but he caught hold of my arm. Before I could raise my head, he kiss
ed me. The kiss was warm at first...closer to affection than anything overtly sexual. I felt a lot behind it somehow, a mixture of emotions that confused me more than what I’d felt on him when he kissed me earlier. When he finished the kiss he just looked at me for a moment, stroking my face. I felt him pulling on me again, but that almost felt more like a request for affection, too.
Leaning up, he kissed me a second time, wrapping his hand into my hair.
The intensity behind that second kiss threw me off-balance.
I found myself kissing him back before I’d thought about whether that was such a great idea. When I did, he parted his lips. His tongue was hot in my mouth, causing me to soften against him more. He started pulling on me harder and I kissed him harder in response.
The next thing I knew he’d caught hold of my hips and yanked me on top of him. His hand wrapped around my thigh under the dress once I sat more or less astride him.
He kissed me again.
When I ended that kiss, he let out a low sound, almost pleading.
Remembering what we’d been talking about before he’d successfully distracted me...again...I felt my frustration return. Without thinking, I smacked him hard on the chest.
“You’re really not going to tell me anything?” I said. “...Again?”
He flinched from the hit, then only held me tighter, yanking me deeper into his lap.
“Fuck,” he said. “You know you’re hitting me because you want me?”
“In your deluded dreams,” I snapped, smacking him again.
He laughed but when I started to pull out of his lap he tugged me back onto his legs.
“Just listen to me, Miriam,” he said, breathless, looking up at me. That pain reflected in his eyes. “Just for once would you fucking trust me on something and do what I ask? It’s dangerous for you here. It’s my fault, I know it’s my fault...but I can’t fix it with you here...” When I frowned at him, he gripped me harder. “Remember Ian? Remember when I fucking asked you not to go home? Remember how well that turned out, Miri?”
“Then tell me something!” I said. “Tell me something real!” He closed his eyes when I gripped his hair in my hands. I felt another pulse of that wanting pain waft off him, hitting me in the abdomen. “Tell me what has you so spooked...what happened?”
“Anders,” Black said, looking up at me.
I must have given him a blank look, because his jaw hardened.
“...The English one.” He closed his eyes, longer than a blink, right before he pressed up against me, gripping my leg tighter in his hand. I bit my lip, but didn’t move away, or try to get off his lap. “...He knows who you are. He fucking threatened you, doc,” he said. “It was subtle, but I got the message loud and clear. He never would have done that unless he’d been given a green light by Lucky. Which means Lucky already knew you were here with me. He probably knew as soon as you got off the goddamned plane...if not before. Hell, Anders probably went to that meeting because they knew you were here.”
Glancing up at me, he clenched his jaw.
He looked frustrated briefly.
Then his mind abruptly rose in mine.
...I made a mistake. Several, doc. I didn’t think you still had people watching you in San Francisco, not after Ian left. Now I’m wondering about that, too. Based on what you told me, I thought Lucky decided to leave you alone.
Black clenched his jaw, thinking again. Then, as if making up his mind a second time, he exhaled in defeat, looking up at me.
You asked why I didn’t bring you out here right away? he sent. Well, a big part of that was to make sure it was safe for you here. I wanted a sense of where Lucky was at with the whole thing regarding you. I got assurances...multiple assurances...that Lucky had no interest in you, Miriam. They told me Lucky had no interest in breeding a ‘non-pureblood’ as they put it. They definitely think you have human blood in your genealogy, doc. To them, that makes you a non-viable candidate for any race-related interest they might have had in you otherwise.
When I met his gaze, he held up a hand in what almost felt like an apology.
It nearly made me laugh when I realized he’d been worried I might take the “human blood” thing as some kind of insult. Even as I thought it, he gripped my thigh tighter.
Trust me, doc...I was nothing but relieved when they told me that, he said, sending a heated cloud of that relief as he spoke. I don’t give a rat’s ass about their ‘racial purity’ b.s., other than the fact that it meant Lucky didn’t intend to stick you in a lab somewhere and harvest your ovum, or have seers gang rape you in an attempt to get you pregnant...
When I tensed, looking down in alarm, he exhaled, combing his fingers through his hair.
I wasn’t lying, doc, he added. I brought you out here thinking you could help me find the killer. He waved his free hand vaguely before placing it back on my leg. But I also thought it would be safe for you. I knew Lucky might be pissed because I’ve been interfering with his trafficking network...but I’ve been doing that for years and he’s rarely done more than get my visas yanked here and there. Or use local police to harass me or my staff, issue temporary cease and desist orders, that kind of thing. He’s let me operate with surprisingly little interference. Mostly, I suspect, because I don’t have the resources to be a real threat to him.
I stared at Black, confused. “You’ve been interfering with human trafficking networks?” I said. Realizing I’d spoken aloud, I glanced at the driver, then back at him. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Black? Isn’t that how people get disappeared?”
He shook his head, but not exactly in a no.
“It’s a small operation,” he said. “We mostly rehabilitate those who get away.” He shrugged. “Of course, we help some of them get away, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the size of the real problem.” Feeling what must have been surprise from me, he glanced up at me almost defensively.
“I’ve been doing it for years, Miriam. He’s never threatened me like this. He’s never ransomed a fucking kid before...any kid, much less one they yanked from outside their networks totally. He’s never done anything remotely like this before. I thought he’d decided to tolerate what I was doing here since it’s good PR for him in a way. It makes it look like something is being done, which probably benefits him more than hurts him, frankly.”
Looking away from me, he shook his head, making that clicking sound again.
“I never thought he’d ever go so far...with the boy or with you. He didn’t seem to care at all that I’d infiltrated his street gangs. Truthfully, I didn’t think Lucky gave a rat’s ass about the killings before now. I thought one of his people had gone rogue, gone on some religious kick and started killing kids to make some kind of statement. I mean, with the religious iconography and so on in the placement of the bodies, I knew Lucky’s group had to be involved somehow...but I didn’t think it was anyone above the street level. Certainly no one he’d miss.”
Pausing a beat, Black added, “If they’re seriously threatening me like this, it means someone they deem important enough to protect is involved. That means one of his higher-ups. Someone he can’t easily replace.”
I nodded, turning over his words.
They all made sense.
More than that, the evasiveness I’d felt on him earlier was completely gone. It felt like he was telling me what he really thought, not leaving giant holes in his story you could drive a truck through. I didn’t know what caused him to change his mind, but I was grateful.
“And who is this ‘Mr. Lucky’ exactly?” I said. “Are you going to tell me?”
Black frowned at me, then shook his head.
“No,” he said, making an odd emphatic gesture with one hand. “No, we’re not going to talk about that right now, doc. Frankly, the less you know about that, the better...at least until I can get you out of the country.”
Before I could argue, he leaned up, kissing me again.
His arm slid around my waist, tugging me closer
when I returned the kiss. I started stroking his hair and his other arm clamped around my back, pulling me roughly against him. When I leaned away a few minutes later, he let out a much more frustrated-sounding gasp.
“I’ll explain everything else when I return,” he said, averting his face. After another few seconds, he looked up at me, firming his mouth. “Did you get anything off them? You should tell me any thoughts you had on the four of them before you go. Anything you think might help me. If I can figure out who’s killing those kids, I might be able to convince Anders to get Lucky to stop it from his end.” He gripped my thigh harder. “...Anyway, I need us to talk about something else right now, doc. I’m going to obsess on having sex with you if we don’t.”
I frowned, crossing my arms. Deciding to ignore the last thing he said, I exhaled.
“I thought you didn’t want me to look at them?” I said.
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t mean...” He glanced at the driver then looked back at me. “The other stuff. The doc stuff.”
“You mean besides the fact that they’re all different breeds of psychopath?” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “Besides that.”
When I shook my head, leaning back on his thighs, he sharpened his voice.
“You must know what I want to know, Miriam.”
“I have no idea what you want to know, Quentin,” I countered. “Were they dangerous? Yes. You don’t need me to tell you that. All of them were dangerous, potentially at least.”
“Was one of them a pedophile though?” he said.
I flinched, then glanced over my shoulder at the driver.
He was staring studiously straight ahead and didn’t give me so much as a glance in the mirror that time. Flushing a little, I started to pull away from Black’s embrace, but he gripped my back again, holding me. I didn’t fight him. Truthfully, even now, I didn’t really want to fight him. Maybe some part of me was trying to use him to wash the slime off of me from having to listen to those four men on the roof.
Thinking about them again, I let out a sharp exhale.
“You mean apart from all of them being totally okay with referring to living, breathing children as ‘merchandise’?” I said, meeting Black’s gaze. “Or was it ‘acquisitions’?”
Black As Night (Quentin Black Mystery #2) Page 9