“Kiriana wasn’t a member of the Frozen when she arrived in Mount Pleasant, was she?” Vince asked as we both sat on a couch.
“No, she married Nye, just like Trisha married Schmitty. She had been a barmaid I believe before…And, well…”
“So humans do stay with you?”
“They are no longer human once they seal with their mate.”
“You became Frozen by killing yourself, is that correct?”
“Yes, and Gabriel offered me a chance for absolution.”
“Why did you kill yourself?” Vince waved his hand back and forth. “I’m sorry. I get in a mode where I ask inappropriate things. This is one of those times. Ignore me.”
“I want to tell you. I wish I didn’t. Maybe it’s Kiriana’s influence. She’s always trying to get us to talk about our feelings and our motivations.”
“It was your father, wasn’t it? He pushed you too much. Did he sexually assault you?”
“Are you still thinking I’m a prostitute?”
“No,” he professed. “I see the darkness in the world, even with the sun shining in my face.”
“Am I the sun?” Heat rose in me at the analogy.
“Esther, you are the first warm thing I’ve felt since I came here.”
“My father said I was possessed by the devil. From the moment I developed. I’d gone from the apple of his eye to his tormentor. If my hair was down it was to entice him. When a boy took interest in me it was because I had drawn him in with my demonic charms.”
“You are not a demon,” he said as he placed his hand on mine. “Not that I am an expert, but it’s hard to imagine you as a succubus.”
“The people who survived my father’s church, did they ever talk about it?”
“Yes, after your suicide, he took a turn for the worse I guess. Locking away young girls. The reason the FBI stormed the place was for child endangerment charges.”
“He believed the devil resided in them, didn’t he?”
“Wow, that sounds word for word.”
“I heard it for over half my life. The devil resides in you, Esther, testing my devotion to God. You are my damnation.”
“He was a pedophile,” Vince consoled me as he took my hands in his. “You worked the land, didn’t you?”
“Every day from the time I could walk.”
“Why haven’t your calluses gone away?”
“I guess because my work is not done.” Our eyes became locked.
With a soft stroke to my cheek Vince leaned in and my lips rushed with blood. Swelling burned my lips as I smelled the scent of man from Vincent. His lips made contact with mine. The rush of hormones coursed through my body and what I would have attributed to a demon, I now had to allow myself to consider it human.
My eyes opened slowly when he released my lips. A pounding in my chest had me trying to catch my breath.
“I’m sorry,” Kiyoshi said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I have some clothes.”
Kiyoshi held out bags of brand new clothes he must have purchased when Vince arrived. Vince excused himself to change and I ran my hand over my head. My hair was loose from its braids and I took off to my room.
I hadn’t seen my reflection since yesterday and I was a mess. Releasing my braid, I rushed into the bathroom to wash my face. I’d taken such care to remove the blood and dirt from Vince’s face I hadn’t even considered mine. My brush yanked on the snarls as I attempted to tame the wild length.
“I can see why your father made you bind your hair. I’m sure the boys at your commune loved its shine.”
Vincent entered the small room and ran his fingers through my hair. Never had such a simple sensation sent chills along my scalp and down my spine. I turned my head into his hands and my lips brushed his palm. Simplicity…gentleness…I wanted to lock him in my room so he’d never be hurt again. He was a man though? Men did not sit at home. Not here, but could he fight with us? Not in a black sweater cradling his body in a way that accentuated his chest and abdomen.
“Esther, where we’re going is not good. It’s a prison. I’m going to need you dressed like a fellow detective.”
“A sweater and slacks?”
“That would work, or a button-up top.”
“I will see what the other women have.”
“Don’t you have normal clothes?”
“I have my fighting clothes and my ones from my commune days.” I shifted, suddenly ashamed. “Vincent, until I came to this compound I never had enough downtime to process anything. I never thought about what my father asked of me or how I responded. To me, I had become one of God’s soldiers. I only know two lives and neither are who I am.”
“Find the middle. You wouldn’t of been able to make the transition to ruthless killer if it wasn’t buried somewhere inside you.”
“You’re like Kiriana, wanting me to discover myself.”
Vince’s fingers reached the end of my hair. Slowly the space between us disappeared. With one hand on my waist keeping me close, he placed a finger under my chin. He lifted my face to his.
“I want to help you on that journey.”
Once again his lips found mine, only this time they parted and his tongue brushed my upper lip. A sigh escaped me and his tongue touched mine. His flavor sweetened from a drink caught me off guard. The strength in his left arm kept my body against his. Heat tore through my body, leaving tingling in its wake. I clung to his shoulders, unsure of the right response. Did I hold my breath? Or did we share one? Should I even be doing this? Vincent was an innocent human devoid of sin.
Shoving him back I regained my senses.
“I’ll find an appropriate outfit and meet you in the foyer.”
Chapter 10
Detective Vincent DeTello
MORON! Dropping down on Esther’s bed, I smacked myself on the face. What the hell was I thinking? Could she have run faster from the room? Then again she didn’t totally reject me, just mostly. Resigning the fact I hadn’t totally blown it I sat up and looked around her room. Totally in order without even an errant sock on the floor. Her bed was a full, but with a handmade quilt. Had that been from her previous life? She’d committed suicide. I’m sure she wouldn’t have had access to her bedroom.
Looking out into the hallway I listened for movement since I didn’t see anyone. Returning to the bed I let my finger pull ever so slightly on the handle of her nightstand. A Bible, not surprising, pens, notepaper with scribbling, but nothing showing more about her…until I shifted the Bible and noticed a bump. Flipping the book open I found the sucker I’d given her. Most people pop the Dum-Dums I pass out in their mouth, but not Esther. She’d placed it with what to her must be a prized possession. The Bible had a soft leather jacket that was worn smooth. Parts of the text were highlighted with hand-scribbled notes in the margins.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. First Peter four, living for God. Esther had highlighted the passage. Returning the book, I felt dirty as if I’d rummaged through her underwear drawer and not flipped open a Bible. I needed to know more and the only way I’d know it would be to look through her private items, but for the first time I didn’t want to. She’d never known privacy in the commune. Here, she had a semblance of self that she wouldn’t have been allowed to explore growing up. Now as a woman of…she must be close to seventy. Her flawless complexion mixed with the innocent look she had when dressed in a rough muslin wouldn’t place her age over twenty-two. Even when clad in leather and dressed to kill I couldn’t put her past twenty-six.
She was two women trying to become one.
“Find what you were looking for?” Kiriana’s voice made me jump. “When has a woman ever liked to have her diary read?”
“I wasn’t reading a diary, I was just thumbing through the Bible.”
“To Esther, that is her diary.” Kiriana pushed the drawer shut and crossed her arms. “Are we going to see my dad or w
hat?”
“You’re going too?”
“He might be more willing to talk with me there.”
“How’s your relationship?”
“It was great when I was twelve.”
Kiriana turned on her heel and left the room. Resigned to give up my search of the room I followed the loud voices in the foyer. It appeared Nye wasn’t too happy about Kiriana’s decision to join us.
“Over my dead body,” he barked.
“That would kill me too,” she stated plainly. “Thus defeating the purpose of protecting me.”
“Kiri, if you leave this compound—”
Kiriana pulled his face to hers and kissed the living hell out of him. At first he fought it, then he fell in line. In the archway to the living room Esther shifted uncomfortably at the public display. When she caught me watching her from the staircase she nodded slightly and a pink blush broke out across her cheeks.
“I’ll be careful,” Kiriana said when the embrace broke. “And Vince won’t let me get hurt.”
“We’ll keep her close,” Esther assured as she fidgeted with the handle of a knife strapped into a sheath on her hip. It looked strange against her gray pleated pants, white and red striped button-up shirt, and charcoal-colored V-neck shirt. Her heeled boots made me smile and think someone had helped her dress based on what TV cops wore, not real ones. But that was okay because it did make her ass look tasty.
I tamped down my hormones and went to stand next to her. Instead she headed for a door and placed her hand on a panel. A loud click was followed by the door opening into a cold structure. A dozen cars of various styles were parked where traditionally horse stalls would be. Kiriana squeezed in behind the wheel of a cross-over SUV from Audi. Esther took a seat in the back and kept her head low as I buckled into the passenger seat.
When we pulled out of the barn next to Bruce’s trailer I was floored.
“Wait…how?” I struggled to figure out how a house over ten thousand square feet at least was hidden in a barn.
“It’s easier to not think about it,” Kiriana said. “I’ve been living there for almost six months and new rooms pop up all over the place in there.”
“You weren’t lying when you said his farm was bigger than I thought.” I looked over my shoulder to see Esther giving me a meek smile. “Are we okay?”
“We?”
“Yeah, I thought…never mind.”
Discussing strategy took all of three minutes for the ride. Kiriana had yet to decide if she could face her father. It seemed her mother had gone into hyper-ninja-mode when her dad had been arrested. Training her to fight and shoot. Everyone was to be mistrusted, according to her mother, but now she knew it was because her mother feared the influence of demons.
“I still don’t know if what my father did was really him or a demon influencing him.” Kiriana turned into the parking lot for the medium security facility at the edge of town. “I’m not sure how I’d react to learning it wasn’t him, but a demon.”
“Why?” Esther asked. “It should bring you comfort.”
“The last decade I’ve spent ashamed, embarrassed, and afraid of my father. I can’t even process how nasty I might have been to him…if he was innocent—”
Kiriana shook from head to toe, then gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“I can’t go in,” she declared. “I thought I could, but not until I know for sure.”
“We shall return shortly,” Esther declared with confidence.
When we got out I noticed she still hadn’t removed the knife she’d sheathed on her hip.
“You know you can’t go in with that,” I said as my finger touched the handle. A purple light exploded from what I thought was a solid dark stone handle. Instead it was glass. “Wow, that’s bright.”
“Why can’t I carry it in?” Esther’s voice trembled as she fumbled to pull out a wallet holding a very good forged badge. “I’m a police officer.”
“Right,” I responded, biting back my frustration as I reviewed the fake ID. “But they don’t let anyone take weapons in. It’s a safety issue. What if an inmate grabbed it?”
“I will catch his wrist and twist his arm until it snapped.”
Her plain explanation and matter of fact voice tickled me as I tamped down a smirk.
“Leave the knife.”
“My claustranima is not just a sharp way to spread butter. It kills demons. It’s the only way to truly send them to their maker. You saw what happened when I shot a bantling.” A tremble worked its way up my spine from the memory of the charging animal. “All I did was slow it down to a gallop from an all-out blitz attack.”
“You’re wearing your guns, aren’t you?” I asked as I instinctively pinned her against the car and felt her torso.
My hands patted along her sides and she bit her bottom lip. I tried to stay focused on the situation and not the fact I wanted to strip her shirt down and fully check her body. The thought of tasting her soft skin wasn’t helping me move on as I was caught in the shimmering violet of her eyes. From her hips to right below her chest I felt along her side. When I moved in I felt the small lumps on her belly where her Rugers were.
“They have metal detectors,” I scolded. “Leave the weapons.”
“I can’t…” she gasped as her hands moved onto my chest. Heat burst from them, scorching my pecs. “You don’t understand.”
“It contains her soul,” Kiriana said as she rounded the car. “She could take or leave the guns, but it’s not the fear of attack.”
“Your soul?” Esther’s eyes turn downward and I bent down so I could catch her eyes without letting go of her. “Your soul is held in a knife?”
She released the snap holding the knife in place and slowly removed it. Holding it horizontally she rested it on her palms and I stepped back. The six-sided blade, beyond being highly illegal, was luminous. Seven inches from tip to hilt caught the light of mid-day. The handle had a small glowing orb bouncing around the etchings with a light that alternated between blinding to dull.
“That’s me. All of me. My body is but a shell.”
“A beautiful one,” I replied and cradled her head in my hands. “Your soul will be safe in the car.”
“I’ll protect it with my life,” Kiriana added. “I know its importance.”
Esther sheathed the knife and trembled as she passed it on to Kiriana along with her guns. Holding her hand we walked up the long driveway. She curled against my arm and held on for dear life. When we approached the double doors, I stopped.
“If we’re partners we can’t walk in holding hands.”
“I’ve never had it out of my possession unless it was locked away in my room.” Esther wasn’t ready to let go of me so I pulled her in close. “Not outside a compound.”
My heart raced as she clung to me as if she feared even breathing. The fierce warrior who, when clad in leather, wouldn’t flinch from a fight, now trembled in my arms because a weapon containing her soul was fifty feet away.
“You can go back to the car.”
“No, I can’t. You need one of us there. If a demon is possessing or near Warren Brown I’ll know. We need to do this together.”
“All right,” I said as I turned her head up and leaned down, placing a small peck on her lips. “You ready, Officer Benson?”
“It’s Special Agent.” She smiled at me. “I out rank you.”
“In so many ways.”
We separated and she smoothed out her shirt, then dug in her jacket pocket for her ID. Visiting hours weren’t a major issue when law enforcement came knocking in a prison. Those on the outside gave those who worked on the inside their due. Unlike me, these officers weren’t given the luxury of weapons to protect themselves from rapists and murders. They had to use their wits and confinement to keep the peace.
The single meeting room was bare except for two chairs and a table. Esther stood at the edge of the room as we waited for Warren
Brown. When he came in the room shackled in four points I tried to see Kiriana in him, but she was absent. The shorn hair only showed the age of a graying man. His face was drawn and gaunt. Although he was a large man the last thing he brought to the table was fear.
He eyed me with the look of the incarcerated. It never went away. The look of the imprisoned might as well of been imprinted deep in the soul. The next night he’d spend outside of these walls not shackled would be on the mortician’s slab.
“He send you?” his voice grumbled.
“Who?” I replied, not giving away anything.
“I’ve been locked up for too many years for the police to care.” His fingers fiddled with two links of the shackles. “I haven’t heard of anyone being killed in here lately, so I’m not sure why you’d be here.”
“We found another body,” Esther chimed in with a sure voice. “We think it’s one of yours. Just trying to clean up the last of the paperwork.”
“Toss it on the pile. At this point you might as well add Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart, and the Lindberg baby on me too.”
“Jimmy’s not a blond,” Esther said as she walked over and leaned against the table. “That’s what you like, blondes, right? Your wife was blonde, wasn’t she?”
Warren turned his head down and slumped.
“And your daughter? She was a blonde too?”
“Was?” Warren’s head shot up. “What happened to Kiriana? I’ve been in here, but he said he sees her every day. Did he touch her?”
“Who?” I repeated as Esther opened a folder and flipped through blank pages. “Who’s your partner?”
“I didn’t have a partner,” he replied with certainty.
“Then why are you shaking?”
“You’re acting like my daughter has been one of my victims. I’m in here which means someone killed my daughter.”
“I never said she was dead.” Esther snapped the folder shut.
“You said she was a blonde,” he snapped. “Emphasis on the ‘was.’“
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