‘I thought I’d just watch.’
‘Kinky. Turn over, Lil, Michael’s developed a taste for porn.’
Lily rolled onto her back, her face more or less obscured by lush, chestnut coloured hair. ‘I knew he would. He’s a man.’
February 2nd
‘Two men are coming up the path,’ Twill said. ‘They’re both practitioners.’
Ceri looked up from her tablet and frowned. ‘I wasn’t expecting anyone…’ She sagged slightly. ‘They’re bound to be cops of some sort.’
They were, of a sort. Ceri raised an eyebrow when she found Ed Hoffman and Agent Talbot outside the front door. They seemed surprised to find her opening the door in an over-sized man’s shirt, especially since only the front was opaque.
Talbot blinked and held up his FBI identification. ‘Uh, I’m…’
‘I know who you are,’ Ceri interrupted, ‘and that badge doesn’t mean a damn thing in this country. However, since I should be thanking you for getting me out of gaol, what do you want?’
‘We have a few questions about what happened at the embassy,’ Hoffman said. ‘You’re right, we have no official right to ask anything, but it would be very helpful if we could hear your side of things directly.’
Ceri sucked on one of her canines for a second; it was a habit she had picked up from Lily. ‘You’d better come in.’ She stepped aside to allow them through, closed the doors, and then led the way up to the study. Her lips twitched as she saw Lily, sprawled on the chaise longue with a copy of The Wednesday Witch. She was dressed in a little blouse top knotted under her breasts and a tiny, pleated skirt. Well, at least she was dressed.
Ceri pulled a couple of chairs out from the wall and caught a glimpse of Talbot out of the corner of her eye. He was trying not to look at Lily. Hoffman was considerably less restrained.
‘Morning, Miss Carpenter. I hope we haven’t disturbed you?’ Hoffman said. There was a hint of amusement in his voice; Ceri suspected he had seen Talbot too.
‘I thought we got past “Miss Carpenter” at the ball,’ Lily said.
‘I’m on business,’ he explained.
Lily gave him her best pout. ‘Shame.’ Even Hoffman swallowed at that. Ceri decided to rescue them.
‘Gentlemen, have a seat. Let’s get this done.’ She sat down on her desk chair, crossing her legs. ‘You’ve read the Special Branch report?’
‘Yes,’ Talbot said. ‘You said the man you tangled with looked “unnatural.” What did you mean?’
‘His movements were wrong,’ Ceri replied. ‘He was too deliberate and a little stiff. Almost as if he was determined to get where he was going, but trying to fight it. And his expression, what I could see of it, was… blank.’
‘I think he was being controlled,’ Lily said.
Ceri and the two men looked at her. ‘What makes you say that, love?’ Ceri asked.
‘He had one, really clear, desire in his head. Most people aren’t like that. Even if someone is pretty focused, they have little wisps of wants and needs that are always there. Food, sex, children, winning the lottery… This guy wanted one thing.’
‘How do you know what he wanted?’ Talbot asked, frowning.
‘Miss Carpenter is half succubus,’ Hoffman said. ‘She reads people’s desires. Real succubi use it to make themselves match their victims’ perfect partner.’ He gave Lily a small smile. ‘I did a bit of reading after we met.’
Lily smiled back. ‘Very studious of you. I can’t shape shift like a real succubus, but it’s a very useful ability in the waitress business.’
‘What did he want?’ Hoffman asked.
‘I thought that was obvious,’ Lily replied. ‘He wanted to kill President Wilson.’
‘He says he didn’t,’ Talbot said flatly.
‘Really?’ Lily replied. ‘My, if I’d tried to shoot someone and there was another person who could potentially take the blame, I know I’d admit to it instantly.’ Ceri almost winced at the sarcasm.
‘Who is he?’ Ceri asked.
‘Mark Charleston,’ Hoffman replied. ‘He’s a visa clerk.’
‘He’s been at the embassy here for eight months,’ Talbot added. ‘Before that he spent two years in Beijing, three years in Rio de Janeiro. No record of any kind of problem, no strong political affiliations. He’s a career diplomat and his background checks showed up nothing.’
‘And I’m a foreign national, from your viewpoint, and therefore the preferred suspect.’ Ceri watched them; a flicker of annoyance passed over Hoffman’s face, but Talbot’s lips twitched slightly.
‘Except that I saw the shoulder holster you say he was wearing,’ Hoffman said. So he was annoyed that she should jump to the conclusion that he was on Charleston’s side. ‘So did one of the other agents.’
‘He wasn’t wearing one when I interrogated him,’ Talbot said.
‘How long between him being arrested and your interview?’ Ceri asked.
Talbot frowned; no, he scowled. ‘Around thirty minutes.’
‘So a man who appears to have been controlled by someone has a holster on him when he’s arrested, but not thirty minutes later,’ Ceri said. ‘I think you should be looking at your own people. I did some reading too. You’ve had a few presidential assassinations, none of them by foreigners. I don’t see why someone outside the US would want to. Wilson is strong on growing America’s external links. That’s not an entirely popular idea, is it? He said as much himself when Cheryl and I were briefing him on our power experiment.’
‘You have connections with the Chinese government,’ Talbot almost blurted out.
‘I have a personal acquaintance with the Chinese Ambassador’s translator, and I’m on speaking terms with Mei Long.’ Ceri looked straight at him. ‘Why would the Chinese want to kill President Wilson? Pro-diplomatic links, remember? You’re clutching at straws, agent.’
‘Special Agent,’ Hoffman said. ‘If you want to be precise.’
‘I’ll try to remember that,’ Ceri replied. ‘He’s still building his logic on shaky foundations.’
‘Oh, I agree,’ Hoffman said, a smile starting to form. It stalled. ‘I think you should know. The reason I’m here is to handle this investigation from the Secret Service’s end, but my government is putting through an extradition request for you. I’m supposed to escort you back if that succeeds.’ Once again Talbot looked annoyed; he had not wanted Ceri to know about that either.
‘Good luck with that,’ Ceri told him. ‘You want the government to grant an extradition order for an emotionally charged crime carrying the death penalty with highly dubious evidence. Britain has no ratified extradition treaty with the US precisely because you hang on to the death penalty.’
‘There’s precedent,’ Talbot said.
‘Yeah,’ Ceri agreed, though her expression suggested sarcasm. ‘We’ve shipped a couple of murderers across the Pond because we didn’t want them either. We’ve never extradited a British citizen to the US, to my knowledge, only an American national living over here.’
‘It’s unlikely they’ll even try before I file my report,’ Hoffman said, ‘and I’m not ready to do that. Not even close.’
Ceri smiled at him, her eyes taking in Talbot. The extradition request had already been put through, at Talbot’s request. The FBI man was smug about it. ‘I think you’ll find,’ Ceri said, ‘that someone has jumped the gun. That’ll work against your chances.’ Both men’s faces fell. ‘Is there anything else I can help you with?’
Hoffman glanced at Talbot. ‘I believe we’ve wasted enough of your time,’ he said, ‘and probably ours.’ He stood, Talbot following his lead without saying a thing.
‘I’ll show you out then,’ Ceri said.
‘Don’t be too long, Mistress,’ Lily said, in a submissive, wheedling tone, ‘I’m getting… restless.’
Ceri hid her smirk by heading for the door while Talbot went bright crimson. It probably was not the best idea to tease the FBI agent, but Ceri had to admit it was eno
rmously tempting.
Soho, February 3rd
With the full moon due on Tuesday, the Dragon had far more werewolves in it and they were getting far more boisterous. Not too bad yet, but it was still wise to have your hips on auto-evade. Ceri side-slipped her way past a table of Serpent pack males out on the prowl, heading for the bar with a tray of empty glasses. That was when she spotted Kate sitting on a stool chatting across the counter to Alec.
‘Evening, Detective,’ Ceri said as she put her tray down for Alec to clear. ‘Three red wines, Alec, table fourteen.’
The redheaded detective sergeant smiled. She was out clubbing, it seemed, dressed in a short skirt and a spaghetti-strapped tank top. ‘Evening, Ceri. How’s things?’
‘Y’know? Suspected of trying to assassinate the US’s head of state.’
‘I heard. I don’t see how they can even suspect you.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I mean,’ Kate went on, ‘if you were trying to kill him, he’d be a pile of ash by now.’
‘Thanks, I think.’
Kate giggled and then leaned toward Ceri, her face straightening and her voice dropping. ‘You remember my friend in Special Branch?’
‘The necromancer?’
Kate nodded. ‘She told me they’re keeping an eye on you. The Americans have started extradition proceedings.’
‘Yeah, I figured they had. I got a visit from the Secret Service and the FBI. They dropped some hints. And the pack spotted someone trying to watch me last night.’
‘Trying?’
‘Humans don’t keep up with werewolves too well. We weren’t trying to lose them, but it was our turn to do the boundary run.’
Kate grimaced. ‘They’ll assume you were trying to get rid of them. They probably know squat about werewolf pack behaviour. Hell, half of what I know came from talking to you.’
‘Hey, Kate,’ Lily said, strutting up and leaning against the bar. She favoured the detective with a smile that produced a slight flush and then moved her eyes on to the room, looking for customers needing a waitress.
‘Lily,’ Kate said. She had a sexual preference for supernaturals and Lily pushed all her buttons.
‘What’s up?’ Lily asked.
‘Special Branch are watching me,’ Ceri said quietly.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Lily said, ‘the couple on table thirty.’
‘You can tell,’ Kate asked, ‘just like that?’
‘Well, I didn’t know they were Special Branch, but they’re not a normal couple.’ Ceri looked their way and saw a fairly ordinary pairing. She was a practitioner, they seemed to be fairly into each other. ‘They look like they’re on a date,’ Lily went on, ‘but neither of them wants the other. They aren’t drinking either. Sasha took them those drinks when they arrived and they’ve barely touched them.’
The detective grinned. ‘Gorgeous, sexy, observant, intelligent. Why aren’t you ruling the world, Lil?’
‘God, who’d want that? I mean, stress, responsibility, constantly having to tell people what to do.’ Lily gave a little shudder. ‘Not for me.’
‘But you could have hordes of willing slaves,’ Kate suggested.
‘If she wants that she could have it anyway,’ Ceri said.
‘I’m picky about my slaves,’ Lily said, adding a little extra purr to her voice. Kate, who had been to bed with both of them, flushed again.
‘Well,’ Ceri said, ‘at least Special Branch seem a bit more circumspect about it than MI5. And we aren’t sunbathing on the roof this time of year.’ She grinned. ‘How’re things with John and Lorna?’
‘Good,’ Kate replied. ‘I’m over there tomorrow to feed Lorna. John and I are both off duty so… well, we’ll probably have a drink or two and one thing’ll lead to another.’
‘John still needs a drink to get involved?’ Ceri asked.
‘Not really, but he’s more fun that way. And we don’t always go there anyway. Mostly I just pop over to their place and give Lorna a snack.’
‘I’m glad it worked out for you,’ Lily said. ‘Lorna deserves to have good stuff in her life. She’s almost had it worse than Ceri.’ Her gaze flicked to the other end of the room. ‘Table sixteen, love.’
Ceri started off across the floor. Lorna had been turned into a vampire against her will and left to eat her husband; she almost had. Lily thought Ceri had had it worse? Well, she had been kidnapped, tortured twice, hospitalised multiple times… She stopped at the table and smiled. ‘Can I get you anything else?’ she asked. Yeah, maybe Ceri had had it worse than Lorna. Crap.
Northern Line Tube, February 4th
‘You know,’ Ceri said, ‘I hate being under police observation.’
‘Yeah,’ Lily said, ‘you don’t let me start anything before we get home.’
‘I don’t feel comfortable being watched,’ Ceri replied. Both Lily and a slightly tipsy Kate looked at her. ‘Well, by cops.’
‘MI5 agents is okay?’ Lily said, raising an eyebrow.
‘I couldn’t see them.’ She looked down the carriage to the two men who had followed them from the club. ‘Those two I can see.’ The policemen studiously looked at anything but the three women. ‘Do you think it’s discouraging to them? Us spotting them so easily.’
‘I don’t really think they’re trying to stay hidden,’ Kate said. ‘They could be in another car. It’s not like they don’t know where you’re going.’
‘Good point.’ Ceri turned her gaze back to Kate. ‘Are you sure you want to go back to your place tonight? It’s way late and ours is closer.’
‘You could sleep in the spare room… if you want,’ Lily suggested.
‘I should really go home…’ Kate said, and then hiccupped. ‘Okay, maybe not.’
Lily smiled one of her predatory smiles. No way was Kate sleeping in the spare room.
Kennington
Their Special Branch tail trailed them out of the Oval tube station and across the road to the corner of Kennington Park. Ceri and Lily were on either side of Kate, half-supporting her as they walked through the trees. Overhead, scudding clouds more or less obscured the light from the Northern Lights. The cloud cover was thick enough to be providing a little insulation and Ceri actually had her coat flapping open rather than buttoned up tightly against the cold.
‘It’s starting to feel a bit like spring,’ Ceri said.
‘I think February is a bit early to call it,’ Kate replied, though she had just put on a light jacket over her top and did not seem too uncomfortable.
‘We could give the Specials heart attacks,’ Lily suggested. ‘Snogging Kate up against the tree up ahead…’
‘I think that tree’s occupied,’ Ceri said. Her eyes narrowed as she summoned up a night vision spell and the vague impression of something out of place crystallised into the shape of a man lying along one of the branches like a leopard basking on the Serengeti. Well, leopards were not noted for wearing black jumpsuits and carrying night vision binoculars, but it was good imagery and she was sticking with it. ‘He doesn’t really look like Special Branch and I doubt MI5 is involved in this.’
‘Perhaps we should ask him,’ Lily said. They were getting closer and the man in the tree obviously heard them. His head turned to look at them and Ceri saw his shoulders sag a little.
‘Nah,’ Ceri said. ‘If he wants to spend the night up a tree looking at illusory windows, let him. It’s not like he can see into the house.’ The man in the tree sagged a bit more. ‘Probably should’ve done more research,’ Ceri added as they walked under the tree. ‘Obviously not local, since local intelligence would know about the illusion on the house. I guess he’s American.’
‘Another FBI guy, you think?’ Lily asked.
‘FBI has one man at the embassy for police liaison,’ Kate replied. ‘He’s more likely CIA, so he’d better not get caught doing that or he’ll probably get sent home for spying.’
Ceri glanced back as they parted to walk through the arbour. The Special Branch officers were standi
ng under the tree, looking upward. Well there was not much point in them following Ceri anymore. She wondered whether it was really a good thing to be annoying American agents right now, but if they were going to be that sloppy…
‘Come on, love,’ Lily said from the doorway to the second kitchen. ‘I want to get Kate chained to the cross in the dungeon before she sobers up too much.’
There was a squeak from inside the house and Ceri giggled, heading inside.
Soho
‘Good evening, I’m Ceri and I’ll be your waitress for this evening.’ Ceri smiled at the woman at the lectern. ‘Table for one?’
The woman smiled back. She was tall, slim, very attractive in a willowy way, with long, black hair in a ponytail down her back. There was something a little exotic about her features though Ceri did not recognise the type. Her dusky skin suggested a non-Caucasian component to her heritage. ‘Yeah,’ she said in a voice with barely any hint of accent, ‘I’m alone.’
‘Please follow me,’ Ceri said and led the way through the club to table fourteen, one of the booths at the back.
The woman slipped off her coat and dropped it in ahead of her. She was dressed in a light camisole top in white which contrasted nicely with her skin, and a very short, black, leather skirt. Some of her height came from her four-inch heels, the ankle straps closed with small, silver padlocks. The smile was there as she sat down, her eyes sliding up Ceri’s body without the slightest attempt to hide it; well, eye candy was what the waitresses were there for.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Ceri asked.
‘White wine?’ she replied. ‘I’m Nita, by the way.’
Ceri smiled. ‘I’ll be right back with your drink.’ Turning on her heel she headed back toward the bar, stopping beside Lily. ‘White wine, Alec, table fourteen.’
‘She’s hot,’ Lily commented. ‘I don’t recognise her, and I think I’d remember someone like that.’
‘She says her name is Nita,’ Ceri replied.
‘Told you her name? Right off the bat?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘She was checking out your arse on the way to the table. She’s trying to get into the knickers you aren’t wearing.’
Thaumatology 07 - Eagle's Shadow Page 8