Out of Sight

by Stella Cameron

  Her eyes opened as the door closed firmly behind Craig, the man with maddened eyes. When he had come before he had liked his time with her rough, but nothing like the nightmare she had just been through.

  The lights were on and she struggled to sit up, her arms around her calves to stop her from tipping over. Her flesh bled through the wounds he had made. Not once had he touched her with his hands or any part of his body, only with the tails.

  She felt her swollen mouth and looked at more blood on her fingers. The mask felt as if it would cut her, too, and she tore it off.

  Craig?

  He would suffer for this and not in any way he would be expecting, not from a woman he considered less than human.

  When the door opened again, she cringed and tried to lie down again so he would think she was unconscious.

  There wasn’t time.

  But it wasn’t Craig.

  A woman stared at her for an instant before shutting the door behind her and hurrying to kneel beside Ilsa. “My God,” she said. “What has he done to you?”

  Ilsa didn’t answer.

  “You must soak the wounds.” She looked at the sunken pool on one side of the room where water bubbled constantly.

  Some clients could only perform in the water.

  “Take these off.” The woman unzipped the boots and eased them from Ilsa’s feet.

  At least she had managed to take a gouge out of Craig’s back with one of the heels. The thought made her shudder with pleasure.

  “I saw that beast leave,” the woman said. Her perfectly arranged dark hair was pulled back with a tortoiseshell comb on either side and her makeup had been carefully applied. “He must be caught and punished.”

  “He will be,” Ilsa said, starting to smile then sucking in a breath as cuts in the corners of her mouth stung.

  “Let me help you. Are there salts? Not with perfume—that would hurt.”

  “We avoid perfumes for that reason,” Ilsa said. “On the side, see? The white jug.”

  The salts poured in an easy stream from the lip of the jug into the water. They didn’t turn to suds but whirled in opaque white circles.

  “Come on. I’ll steady you.”

  Ilsa took her hand and stepped down into the warm water with difficulty. She closed her eyes as the warm softness enveloped her. Even the sudden smarting pain of the salts felt good.

  “We should not let too much time go by. I’m Jacqueline, by the way. I will get you clothes and we’ll go to the police.”

  “What are you doing in this place?”

  “I heard screams,” Jacqueline said.

  Ilsa laughed a little but doubled over, coughing. “I never thought I would go to the police but I’m finished with all this now and I have a score to settle.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “I know who that man is and I’m going to make sure everyone knows what he is.”

  Jacqueline nodded. “I know how it feels to be abused by a man. That’s why I never go anywhere without this.”

  From the large purse she had dropped to the floor she took what looked like a squared-off metal tube folded into three with a handle at one end. She snapped it open and laughed, looking it over. “This can do so much harm.”

  On one end was a pincer that opened and closed when Jacqueline squeezed and released the handle.

  Ilsa laughed despite the pain. “I can think of a number of things to do with that.”

  “So can I.”

  Jacqueline rammed the pincer end of her contraption over Ilsa’s throat and squeezed it shut. On her knees, she held Ilsa under the water until her flailing grew weaker.

  Then she pushed her to the bottom of the little pool and held her down by the pincer around her neck.

  Little bubbles rose from the nose and mouth. The eyes stared.

  Ilsa’s arms and legs went still.

  Her eyes remained open.

  The little bubbles ceased.

  34

  When Poppy opened the door to her apartment Sykes leaned his elbow on the jamb and looked down into her face. He drove his fingers into the front of his hair. After this bizarre day he needed to be around her.

  “Sykes?” she said in a puzzled tone.

  “I think I just want to stand here and look at you,” he said. “It’s been a long day without you.”

  She blushed. He had never seen her blush before and it made him happy. Poppy’s was the only face he wanted to see.

  “I just came from the morgue. Blades needed me or I would have been here a lot earlier.” He wasn’t ready to overload her with what was there, or talk about one of the bodies in particular.

  “You’re here now.” She took him by the hand and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. “I need you,” she said, taking him to the couch and pulling him down beside her.

  “Pascal had to know every detail of what happened last night—several times. He’s convinced the reason I was the one to find the pages was because I’m supposed to take over his position with the family. He wouldn’t give it up. Marley backed him up, and Gray.”

  Poppy watched his mouth while he talked. She rubbed his forearm and threaded her fingers in his. “What will you do?”

  “I don’t know. Ask me again when everything becomes clear.”

  “When you find the Harmony?”

  “Maybe then.”

  She turned the ring Pascal had given her around and around on the middle finger of her right hand. “I don’t think I should keep this,” she said.

  He kissed her, holding back, keeping it soft. Then he said, “If you want to break his heart, try to give it back. I think he’s already got the two of us together forever. That looks like a hint to me. He sees you as a member of the family.”

  Poppy withdrew her hand and slid to sit against the back of the couch. She continued to play with the ring. “I’m looking for a way to tell you something. But I don’t want you to get mad at me.”

  “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “I made a mistake.”

  “What mistake?”

  “The wrong choice, Sykes. I should have said no.”

  He took her chin between finger and thumb and turned her face toward him. She kept her eyes lowered.

  “Poppy, what is it?”

  “I sort of wondered if Pascal would want David to take over eventually,” she said, her voice so small it was hard to hear. “They seem as if they’ll be close, and—”

  “Poppy, please don’t do this to me. Don’t change the subject. What’s wrong?”

  “Ward sent Bart over here. When I got back he was in the club looking for me.”

  Sykes figured they would get further, faster, if he let her do the talking.

  “Bart persuaded me to go and see Ward. He’d been away and his family gave him a hard time.”

  “My heart bleeds for Ward Bienville,” Sykes said. He knew sarcasm wasn’t what Poppy wanted to hear. “Sorry. Families get into it sometimes. I know that too well.”

  “They told him he’s embarrassed them. I felt sorry for him. I…”

  “Yes, you would, honey.” He didn’t like the way he felt. There was much more she wasn’t telling him. “You know I don’t like the idea of you being on your own with Ward.”

  She nodded her head yes. “I told Otis I was going.”

  “Did you tell Liam and Ethan? How about calling me?”

  “I couldn’t face all the arguments. I decided to go and get back quickly—I felt guilty for ignoring him, Sykes.”

  He stood up because he couldn’t sit still. “Ward Bienville knows what he wants and intends to get it. You don’t have the kind of ambition he does, if you’re not single-minded. He intends to get you. You haven’t encouraged him and the more you try to turn him off the more he comes after you. I hate his guts.”

  Sykes ran a hand around his neck and paced.

  “It was awful,” she muttered.

  “What do you mean?” He stopped in front of her. “Tel
l me what that means, now.”

  “Don’t shout at me. Regardless of what we may feel for each other, I don’t belong to you. I had to do what I thought was right.”

  “But you were wrong.”

  Her jaw worked before she said, “You’re making this so easy on me, aren’t you? Okay, let me get this out.”

  “What’s that?” Sykes said. He bent over her to look at a diamond pin at the neck of her dress. “Are those real diamonds?”

  “I’m sure they are.” She touched it as if she had forgotten it was there. “He gave it to me.”

  “And you accepted it?”

  “I didn’t accept or not accept.” She was on her feet now. “He put the thing on me and I was too surprised to react. I can’t just throw it away but I’ll send it back.”

  “W.W.?”

  “It’s his motto or something.” Her eyes avoided his.

  “Is it?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “What else? There’s more, isn’t there?”

  “I had to run away from him.”

  Muscles in his back hardened. He shrugged his shoulders and waited.

  “He asked me to marry him.” She looked horrified. “He had this extraordinary ring and the wedding bands and everything. He wanted me to marry him right away and, when I said I couldn’t, he kind of went a bit crazy.”

  Sykes’s heart beat faster. He visualized Ward’s face and came close to sending an unpleasant message in the man’s direction. The last time he had sent a dart into someone’s face at a distance, he had been a teenager dealing with a bully. He was too mature for games like that now.

  “Did he put a hand on you?”

  “No. I ran away.”

  Sykes boiled. “Does that mean he would have done something to you if you hadn’t run away? And how come he didn’t catch you—he’s got to be faster.”

  “I made it to the house and locked him outside in the garden. Then I got away.”

  “You went to his house alone. My God, Poppy, what were you thinking?”

  “I still thought I owed him a break. He had never been anything but nice to me. Sykes, there’s something about him I don’t understand.”

  “Big surprise.”

  “Please go with me on this. He’s not used to being turned down. But I saw something. In his brain waves. I’ve been thinking about it ever since and I think I know what it was. He could be mad, Sykes, as in crazy. Just for an instant, he wasn’t—he wasn’t in any control of himself.”

  He held her face and brought his own very close. “I don’t own you, but will you promise never to go to him again? And don’t think he won’t keep trying to see you. I know a persistent man when I see him.”

  The doorbell buzzed and Poppy went to look through the peephole, happy for the reprieve. She threw open the door. “Gray and Marley. Wow, you’re the last people I expected to see, and the people I’m happiest to see. Come on in, please.”

  Gray ushered Marley in front of him and she promptly sat down on the nearest chair. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just tired. Boy, I thought Pascal was never going to wind down today.”

  “Yeah,” Sykes said.

  “Can I leave Marley with you?” Gray said.

  “Oh, Gray,” Marley said, looking embarrassed.

  He rubbed her shoulder. “Pascal and Anthony went out and Nat called me in. I don’t want Marley alone, not now.”

  Sykes stared at Gray. “Now? What is there about now?”

  “Nat will tell you all about it,” Gray said. “Let me get going.”

  “What do you know?” Sykes said. He automatically requested to enter Gray’s mind but got a muddled reaction. Gray was still a neophyte with his psi skills.

  “You need to tell them,” Marley said. “And stay calm, Gray. I’m just fine and all of this will work out.”

  “I should let Nat decide who knows or doesn’t,” Gray said. “Okay. Ward Bienville’s been arrested again and he isn’t likely to get out in a hurry this time.”

  Sykes watched Poppy’s reaction. She took a step toward Gray, stopped and wound her hands together. “Why? I saw him this afternoon,” she said. “He wasn’t happy, but there was nothing wrong. You’ve seen that tape. You saw the man who killed Sonia. Have you found him yet?”

  Gray hesitated, looking at Sykes. “Maybe. Look, take care of Marley for me. I’ve got to get going.”

  “Finish what you started to tell me,” Poppy said. “Why has Ward been arrested?”

  Gray looked uncomfortable.

  “Tell me,” she said. “Please.”

  “He’s staying in a house next to his primary home,” Gray said. He rubbed his face and looked tired.

  “He owns three properties in a row there,” Poppy said distractedly.

  “Well, he’s running out of places to live, at least on St. Louis Street. That or he’d better stop waking up to find dead bodies in his house.”

  Poppy paled.

  From the way Marley kept her eyes on her hands, Poppy could tell she already knew all of this.

  “A woman’s body was found in Bienville’s conservatory. They think she was drowned—that would be after she was horribly beaten.

  “Bienville says he was upstairs sleeping. Sound familiar? He reckoned he was tired from traveling.”

  “He has been traveling,” Poppy said, but her voice broke. “Did they pick up anything on the cameras?”

  “There aren’t any in that house,” Gray said.

  “This is horrible,” Poppy said. “Who is the woman?”

  “Tentative identification suggests she was Ilsa Semmers. She worked as a dominatrix.”

  35

  “A prostitute,” Poppy said. She couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. “It’s going to be the same as last time. Someone’s trying to frame Ward.”

  She didn’t want to look at Sykes, but he said, “You’re probably right. This is too much of a coincidence.”

  Poppy smiled at him, trying to convey her gratitude—and how much she loved him just because he was Sykes.

  Another knock at the door startled Poppy. “Come in,” she said, and all eyes turned expectantly to see who would arrive next.

  Six-and-a-half feet tall, hazel-eyed with dark brown hair curling past his collar, built like an agile heavyweight boxer, though no boxer had the kind of straight nose Nick Montrachet had, Poppy’s latest visitor wasn’t smiling.

  Liam and Ethan came with him.

  “Nick!” Poppy smiled. She had always liked Nick and the rest of the Montrachets a lot. “This is great. Welcome.”

  He gave her a bear hug and she got the full force of that piercing hazel stare. Nick’s mouth was, according to some female friends, something that should be against the law.

  “Sykes,” he said, looking past her. He nodded to the rest. “This isn’t a social call.”

  Poppy’s tummy dropped. She didn’t know how much more tension she could shrug off.

  “Liam and Ethan brought me up because I asked them to. There should probably be a lot more of us here. I know what’s going on. Did you ever intend to contact the rest of the families?” He spoke to Sykes.

  “Sit down,” Sykes said.

  “I’d rather stand.”

  Poppy sat down instead and didn’t like the troubled expressions on her brothers’ faces.

  “I intended to talk to you,” Sykes said. “We’re going through some crazy times.”

  “But you don’t think that, since they implicate all the psi families, you should have included us?”

  Sykes bowed his head. “Mea culpa,” he said. “Guilty of carelessness. I got so tied up in what’s going on I only thought about sorting it all out. I’m sorry.”

  “So am I,” Nick said, but the lines of his face softened a little. “I do know how it is to get caught up with things. I know there’s big stuff going down in New Orleans and it has the families’ names all over it.”

  “How do you know?” Poppy asked.

  Nick glanced around, taki
ng in all players. He singled out Gray. “You’re married to Marley?”

  “I am,” Gray said.

  “Okay. I had a visitor, someone who apparently decided it was time to involve me. Disaster time has arrived, kiddies. He was a dude in old clothes—said he was Jude and I think he was one of yours, Sykes. He looked like you. He told me a long story, very long. He brought me up to date on the Embran?” He raised a questioning eyebrow and continued when everyone nodded. “This has been going on for months.”

  “I hoped we could clear it up without spreading panic,” Sykes said.

  That got him a very direct stare from Nick. “I don’t panic. We need this Harmony, or whatever the Ultimate Power is that it holds.” He pointed and kept his finger extended.

  Four small gold keys shimmered in the air.

  “To open this.”

  A gold globe appeared above the keys.

  “Still the good, old powerful Nick,” Sykes said. “I get the picture. You’re involved and we’d better not forget it again.”

  Nick lowered his hand and the visions disappeared.

  Absolute silence followed.

  “I’m glad Jude came to you,” Marley said. “The more of us the better. We think we could be on the edge of an explosion of these Embran.”

  “Something’s been puzzling me,” Poppy said. “We do have four keys but according to the missing pages each of the seven families should be holding one. Just about all of them turned up in the Court of Angels.”

  “My grandfather told me about it,” Nick said before he turned sharply to Sykes. “You saw the missing pages? Where are they?”

  “They’re safe but the Harmony isn’t with them.”

  Nick nodded. “My grandfather told me about a meeting long ago. And about the keys. He said he had no proof but he’d heard rumors that some of the keys had gone missing.”

  “Like the fifth, sixth and seventh ones still are,” Poppy said.

  From his pocket Nick took a small leather bag. He pulled out two keys just like the others. “Only the seventh is missing,” he said. “My grandfather gave these to me before he died. He was afraid some of the keys would be missing because so much time passed. Could be a bunch of them were kept together in the end.”