by Sharon Green
"Yes, it's me, Zyoril," Oldon said in answer. "How are things going for you?"
"Not as well as they're going for you, my friend," the other man replied with a chuckle. "Mio has been passing along the word, so we all know that it was you who brought those rogue hunters to the meeting that exposed our blackmailer. I can't tell you how everyone has been buzzing with comments about those Rogues, Inc. people. Every time they turn around they're helping us out in one way or another."
"You don't know the half of it," Oldon said with a small chuckle of his own. "That's why I arranged to be part of their team for a while, and with that in mind I have to say we're in Atlanta right now – and have just found out about those new Whippe meals. You've heard about them, I'm sure."
"Of course I have," Zyoril answered, now sounding the least bit disturbed. "What I don't understand is how you found out. Those meals haven't been distributed everywhere yet, not when they're only just going into full production."
"So it isn't likely that every distributor would have them yet," Oldon said, his words thoughtful. "If I give you the name of a distributor, can you find out if the man is supposed to have the meals?"
"Certainly," the other vampire answered. "What's the name of the distributor?"
Oldon got the name from Shell and passed it on, and after a short pause the other vampire responded.
"Okay, now I can check," Oldon's friend said, sounding as if he'd written down the name. "In the meantime, don't accept any meals that might turn up in a 'lucky' way."
"I already have," Oldon admitted, sounding really annoyed with himself. "And my blood supply also comes from the same man. I ate the breakfast meal without anything bad happening, but my teammate kept me from swallowing down the lunch meal without hesitation. She tends to be on the paranoid side, which has already saved my life once before since we got here. I won't be surprised to find that she's done the same a second time."
"As I said, those Rogues people are something special," Zyoril responded with a chuckle that disappeared almost at once. "Right now I'm going to send someone to wherever you are, to pick up the meal or meals you have left and to get you a blood supply that won't be tainted. For that I'll need your address, and once we hang up I'll check on that distributor."
Oldon gave his friend our address, then the two said goodbye and disconnected. Shell was looking really bothered about what had happened, but before he could say anything Oldon looked at him and smiled.
"Don't start feeling guilty, Shell," Oldon told him, the words so firm and sure that the vampire couldn't be doubted. "If you hadn't ordered these meals and an enemy of mine is behind them, that enemy could have found a better way to reach me. Now I have the chance to reach him instead, so that means I'm ahead of the game."
"You have no idea how relieved that makes me," Shell blurted after a moment, but he looked more upset than relieved. "But I'll need to know if my distributor is to blame or is just being used. It makes a difference, you know."
"I certainly do know and I'll be sure you're in the loop," Oldon answered. "Now we'd better put this meal back into the refrigerator, so it isn't a complete mess when my friend's friend comes to get it."
"I'll put it with the other one," Shell said, picking up the dishes Oldon had returned to the package. "That way everything will be easier to hand over. And the blood you're drinking is from the supply I got before you all moved in, so do you think it's all right?"
"Yes, that probably means it's fine, but let's not take any chances," Oldon answered. "It won't hurt me to wait a few hours until I get another supply, and it won't hurt any of you either."
Oldon chuckled at that, in effect promising Shell that he would not end up a snack for a vampire. When the rest of us also chuckled, Shell smiled and nodded, then headed to the kitchen. His attitude said that if a bunch of rogue hunters weren't worried, he wasn't going to be worried either.
The rest of us gave our attention to the stuffed shells on our plates, and in no time at all the food was gone. Half way through the meal Jack had come out with more of the shells, but that hadn't mattered. All the platters and plates were cleaned, and finally we were able to sit back with our coffee.
"Now that I know what we missed, Amiol, I'm going to be sure not to miss lunch again," Freemont said to our dark elf teammate. "And if anyone tries to get us to move out of here, we're going to have to find something really horrible to do to them."
"Not a problem, Freemont," Amiol answered with a small laugh. "I have lots of horrible things to do to someone who's completely heartless. But right now Fainis and I are going into the sitting room, where we'll try to come up with a spell that will keep poisons and poisoned food from being brought in. That will mean no alcoholic drinks, of course, but we should be able to live with that."
"Yes, we can live with that, but Shell and Jack need to be warned," I pointed out. "In fact they need to be checked with first, to make sure we won't be messing things up for them."
"Good idea," Amiol agreed, getting ready to leave his chair. "I'll go right now and – "
But that was as far as he got. The next moment there was a figure forming in one of the empty chairs, showing that George had gotten back from the hunt.
Chapter Twenty-two
"George, how did it go?" Freemont asked at once, looking at our partner. "I get the feeling there's some good news."
"Right as usual, Freemont," George confirmed, sending his own smile in return. "Those shapeshifters were able to track the one who hired them, right back to where the man lives. Three guesses who he turned out to be."
"Roland Helms," I stated, but wasn't the only one who spoke the name. Eric and Amiol joined me, with Oldon only a second behind them.
"Give those folks a seegar," George said in a tone that brought to mind the old-time tent shows. "That's exactly who the shifters led the police to, and they even identified Helms as the one who paid them. Helms has been arrested, but the only thing he said to the police was a demand for his lawyer."
"What a surprise," Eric scoffed. "But I think he should have asked for a magician. That's what he'll need this time to get his neck out of a noose."
"Not necessarily," I disagreed, not happy with the way my thoughts were going. "As long as you have lots of money, there's always the option of buying your way out of trouble. Is he going to be arraigned right away, George?"
"It's Saturday, Taz," George pointed out. "The man won't be arraigned until Monday, which added to his pleasure when he was told he'd be behind bars for the rest of the weekend."
"That will probably do nothing more than give his lawyer a chance to find a judge he can pay off," I said, more certain of that than I was used to being. "I think I need to be in the courtroom when Helms is arraigned."
"And I think you're right," Freemont said, his gaze unfocused again. "They're going to do something that's basically against the law, but I don't know what that will be."
"If Taz is there, she'll take care of it," Amiol said with a satisfied expression. "Now Fainis and I will talk to Shell and Jack, and then she and I will work on that spell."
The two dark elves left to do their chores, and only a few words by Freemont told George what the problem was.
"So someone can be after Oldon," George said with a very vocal sigh. "What a surprise that he might have almost as many enemies as we do."
"Yes, it's a real shocker," I agreed while everyone else smiled without much humor. "Once we find out if our suspicions are based on fact, we can go after –"
My words broke off when my cell phone rang, and seeing it was Allison meant I answered fast.
"What's wrong now?" I asked without stopping to say hello first, just putting her on speaker. "Not more light elf trouble, I hope."
"Well, this newest does have to do with the light elves, but it isn't trouble," Allison answered with a grin I could hear. "The State Department called to tell us that everyone the rogue light elf took over – or targeted – would be getting an official apology – an
d a cash compensation of $25,000. I don't know about you, but I don't consider that trouble."
"No, getting money is usually the opposite of trouble," I said while the rest of the team made sounds of delighted surprise. "But what about the ones we killed, the ones who tried to shoot us? Money won't do anything for them."
"I've already raised the point, and was told that the money would go to the families of the slain," Allison said, less amusement now to be heard. "The dead can't be brought back to life, but at least their families will be compensated a little for the loss. I don't know how much comfort that will bring them, but it's better than nothing and now they know the dead weren't guilty of trying to kill on their own."
"That knowledge may or may not help, but there's no sense in demanding miracles that won't be coming," I agreed with a sigh only on the inside. "But now that I have you on the phone, there's something I meant to ask you to check into. Will you mind if I mention it now, or would you rather I wait until later?"
"What sort of something?" Allison wanted to know. "If I wait to hear, I probably won't get anything else done while I try to guess what it is."
"First you need some background," I told her, then went into the trouble we'd been having with Roland Helms. "The man may be in custody right now, but he's bound to try something to get away with his hobby again. I'll be there in court to see what I can do to stop him, but it occurred to us to wonder if Helms had others of Rolfe's customers killed. Do you think you can check on that for us?"
"I don't see why not," Allison said slowly, as though thinking out loud. "I'll get a list of all bodies found in the last few months, then get with your friend Rolfe to find out if any of them were customers of his. I don't think any of us will enjoy hearing what I find out."
"If there are no connections to Rolfe, he'll be glad to hear it," I corrected. "Let me give you Rolfe's phone number, and you can get in touch with him when you have the list. I won't call him first, though, just in case this turns out to be a dead end. No sense in making the man agonize over a possibility that never comes up."
"Good idea," Allison agreed, and then, after I supplied Rolfe's number, we said goodbye and disconnected.
"That was very kind of you," Fainis's voice came from behind me, and I turned to see both her and Amiol coming back into the room. "It's a point that does need to be looked into, but Rolfe doesn't need to worry himself sick in advance. And my young cousin here has taken care of your protection with a new spell."
"Thanks to Fainis's help," Amiol said, sending the woman a smile. "Shell and Jack were fine about not having alcohol brought in. They said if they wanted to drink they'd go to a bar to do it, so we're all set."
"Which means it's now time for me to leave," Fainis said, looking around at all of us. "But I have to tell you… I'm thinking about leaving my apartment and moving in here. If I do, will it bother you folks?"
"Oh, certainly we'll be bothered," Freemont said at once with a laugh and a grin. "I mean, the way we've all been arguing with you from the time you first got here. I don't know if we'll be able to stand it on a regular basis."
"Well, I love arguing, so I'll probably be moving in as soon as my lease is up," Fainis came back with the same kind of laugh the rest of us contributed. "And it shouldn't be long before the lease runs out, so I'll see you all soon again."
We all said something about looking forward to the time, and then Fainis headed for the kitchen and the garage. Amiol went with her to open the garage door, so the rest of us were able to go back to our drinks. I sipped some coffee for a minute, then decided to get to a chore I really did need to see to.
"George, can I speak to you out in the hall for a minute?" I said, looking toward my partner. "There's something I want to tell you and it won't take long."
"Certainly, Taz," George agreed, getting up just as I was doing. "It isn't about more trouble, I hope."
"No, just something to do with me," I answered, leading the way out into the hall. From there I went to the laundry room, then turned to face my partner. "Freemont already knows about this and doesn't seem to be bothered, but it's definitely bothering me."
"What's wrong?" George asked, studying my face the way he used to do when we worked together on the New York police force.
"I … asked Bari to join the team without first talking to you and Freemont," I said, feeling as if I were admitting to a crime. "I'm not the head of this team, not when you two are just as responsible for our success as I am, so what I did was-"
"What you did was what we all would have agreed to anyway if we'd talked," George interrupted to say, his expression serene. "I meant to suggest that we invite Bari to join us, so you must have picked up the vibes from me and Freemont. I know he likes her just as much as you and I do."
"I still shouldn't have just blurted out the invitation without checking first," I said, for some reason trying to keep from being comforted. "I've never done that before and shouldn't have done it this time."
"Taz, it's all right," George said, his voice calm and sure. "When Freemont and I wanted to add Eric to the team and you didn't, you went along with our decision even when you didn't agree with it. If you jumped in this time without asking us, the action just makes us even. Next time we'll go back to talking before we make a decision."
"Next time?" I echoed, trying to decide if I felt better or not. "How many more people do you think we'll be adding to our team?"
"What about your dragon friend?" George suggested, the hint of a smile behind his words. "Any chance he'll be interested in joining?"
"So far he's just taken to napping with me from time to time," I answered, glad that George was teasing me. It meant he really wasn't bothered by what I'd done. "But if the time comes to ask him to join us, it really will have to be a group decision. I have the feeling our non-dog friend is the least little bit too dangerous to associate with on a casual basis."
George made a sound of ridiculing agreement, but before he was able to say anything my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, almost afraid of what I'd see, but it was a friend rather than more trouble.
"Hi, Art, how's it going?" I asked when I connected with his call. "I hope your life has been quieter than ours has been."
"Taz, I'm a doctor and you're a rogue hunter," Art answered with amusement in his voice. "If my life wasn't quieter than yours, then I'd be entitled to complain to everyone I talked to. Are you people really finding that much action?"
"A bit more action than we like, but at least we're closing out some problems," I told him with a smile. "And I'm glad you called, because it should now be safe for you to visit us here. The one behind most of the attackers coming at us is permanently done, and not by us. We just found the being, a light elf, and his people discovered that he was completely insane so they … disposed of him."
"To each his own, I guess," Art said, a sigh clear behind the words. "I prefer trying to solve problems rather than destroying them, but that's just me. And if I can now come visiting, that takes care of the question I had for you. I want to give you that silver headband, but I can bring it instead of having to meet you somewhere."
"Yes, you sure can bring it, and that way we'll be able to show you how well we're being provided for," I said, startled to realize I'd almost forgotten about the headband. "And you can meet our new team members, one of whom you already know. The vampire Oldon decided he wants to work with us on a regular basis for a while, so we made him a member of the team."
"I don't blame him for wanting to join you folks," Art said, for some reason sounding pleased. "You tend to make life safer and more pleasant for those around you. I have a couple of things to take care of around here, and then I'll be over. Assuming I don't get called to an emergency, it should only be about an hour."
"Sounds good, my friend," I told him. "See you when you get here."
Art echoed my words before we both disconnected, and I looked up to see George trying to swallow amusement.
"What?" I asked, wonde
ring what he thought was funny in an ordinary conversation.
"I was just picturing us calling Art to tend your dragon," George answered. "He's a doctor rather than a vet, I know, but if it was a matter of emergency medical treatment…"
"Then we'd call Art," I agreed, now sharing his amusement. "And if he needed to bring his medical bag inside he might not be able to do it. Considering the new spell Amiol cast, and the fact that some medications are also poisons…"
My thoughts kind of blurred at that point, moving so fast that I could barely follow them. What I could do was see the conclusion I came to, which was more of a question than anything else."
"George, if Amiol cast a spell concerning poison and we still have the meals sent to Oldon, shouldn't the spell have … pointed out the meals or something?"
"You know, that's an excellent question," George said after blinking at me for a moment. "But maybe we're just not looking at the matter in the right way. Let's go ask Amiol, since he ought to be back in by now."
It would have been stupid not to agree with that suggestion, and I try to conserve what stupidity I have so that I don't run out. With that in mind George and I left the laundry room and headed for the dining room, but Amiol wasn't back in his chair. That observation let us change course for the kitchen, and when we walked in it was to see our dark elf friend closing the door to the garage. Neither Shell nor Jack was in the room, meaning we were essentially alone.
"It'll be great if Fainis does move in," Amiol said when he saw us, his smile wide. "Her encouragement has let me come up with some really neat stuff."
"Talking about neat things, Taz has had a thought," George said with his own smile. "That spell about poison you spoke… Would it point out any poison already in the house, or just what people try to bring in?"
"Both," Amiol answered, his own smile faltering. "We'd want to know if anything was already here, and we've already checked out cleansers and that kind of stuff–"
When our teammate's words broke off, George's smile turned wry.