“Thanks,” she said.
“Come on, I don’t know about chocolate, but I need a cup of tea.”
She glanced at him as they turned their backs to the carnage.
“How’d you know I like hot chocolate?”
For a moment, she was afraid he would say he could smell it on her, and that led her to think of Alwyn. She missed him.
“People talk, lady. What can I say?”
They drove to Central Park, and Canton sipped his tea as they watched men play softball on the many fields scattered through the area. Andee allowed the detective to suggest a tea he promised she would like, and as she dipped the bag, promised herself to hold him to his word.
“You said you walked the Ferreira crime scene?” she asked.
“I did. Wasn’t anything to find, but doing that helps me get the feel of the crime, if that makes sense.”
“You guys, you and Jerry, and guys like you, investigate different from the FBI. I’m not saying it’s better, just different.”
“Your point?” he shrugged. “You guys investigate a different kind of crime than we do.”
She dipped her teabag and was slowly building the courage to taste it.
“My point is that I want in on this. Officially, I’m only here as a liaison between agencies. I want all the way in. This bastard has killed friends of mine and attacked other friends of mine. He’s killed my dog. I want all the way in. What I don’t know about what you guys do, show me. I’ll try to hold up my end, but I’m in on the kill.”
He studied her for several seconds.
“You said you want in on the kill. Is that just metaphorically speaking, or are you saying this guy will not come peacefully?”
“What do you think? He’s stacked up more than his share of kills, and he’s done it quick. He won’t stop until we stop him, and I think we’ll have to put him down. He’s a rabid dog.”
“Did you know Meeker put holes in him?”
Her eyes widened, “I didn’t. How bad was he hit, do you think?”
“Not bad enough to stop him, or even slow him down, if this mess today is his.”
“Jerry would go down fighting.”
“He did, and we know he hit the guy, because we found blood. Just not enough of it.”
“Not enough for what?”
Rollo looked at her.
“Enough for an accurate DNA test, for one thing. Or else the sample was tainted.”
Andee looked up from studying the cup of tea.
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, the sample came back showing a mix of both human and canine blood indicators.”
Andee tasted her tea and scowled at Canton.
“What? Don’t like it?”
“It’s not the tea. It’s what you just said. Are you sure?”
Rollo sipped from his cup, then said, “I’m not the lab tech. I only know what was reported to me. They said the sample was tainted. The lab figured it was a mix of human and dog blood.”
He indicated the cup in front of the agent, “You know drinking hot chocolate makes you look like a sissy.”
“Really?”
“Just saying.”
“I’ve got a Glock that would say otherwise.”
“Hey, we all got Glocks these days.”
“What if I had a brace of .54 caliber 1805 horse pistols?”
“You got what?”
She shook her head, “No, I don’t, but I know who does, and I’m starting to think he’s the one we need.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Make plans to travel to upstate tomorrow. I’ve got someone you need to meet.”
The phone had rung three times when Alwyn answered. He looked at the readout, didn’t recognize the number and picked up.
“Lloyd,” he said into the handset.
“I want to see my mate.”
The voice was deep, flat, but masculine. It was marked by no discernible accent.
“I’m sorry,” Alwyn responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know who you are, and I am paying the proper amount of respect by notifying you. Now, I want to see my mate. It is my right.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is of no concern of yours, at this time. I demand to see my mate.”
“When will it become my concern?”
“When my status of mate to your niece Miranda Miller is legitimized, and I am kin to you.”
“Do you honestly think that is going to happen?”
The laugh was cold and carried a tune of cruelness.
“I can promise you it is going to happen. I have claimed her in the old ways. You will understand that, Unum Lloyd. She is mine. I believe I will have you perform the ritual for us.”
“You’re the one who has been killing the humans?”
“Mere sport. Nothing more.”
“Some would disagree with that statement.”
“None who matter.”
“I disagree with that statement.”
A dismissive snort. “My point exactly.”
“You do realize I have to kill you.”
Alwyn kept his voice level, without threat nor challenge. He just wanted to state a fact. The voice that returned was just a flat, just as controlled.
“As the Lloyd Unum, I know you’ll try. I expect nothing less. But that is for another day. Today, we are talking about my right to see my mate and check on the health of my offspring.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.”
“Do not hang up on me. Do not make me angry. I will ravage your family.”
Alwyn hung up the phone. He walked to his fridge, opened it and removed a bottle of water. He turned away, but then turned back and took another. He needed to think and to work through the problem would take a while. With his two bottles, he returned to his study, sat and planned his course of action.
Chapter 16
“Alwyn, how do I go about saying I’m sorry?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’d like to ask you to meet someone and to help us, but I can’t if I don’t set things right between us first.”
The phone was silent for several seconds, and then his voice came back through the connection.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Andee. You, like me, like the rest of the Lloyd family, have a tendency to be passionate as well as hardheaded. There is no need to be ashamed.”
He heard her laugh into his ear through the cell phone, and his stomach tingled.
“I never said I was ashamed, Alwyn. I am what I am, like me or not. I only said I was sorry for some of the things I said to you, your mother and Miranda.”
“This phone call squared you with me. I have missed not having you here. As to the rest, you will have to discuss that with them next time you're here.”
“I’m hoping that will be tomorrow.”
“I can send the helicopter, if you would like, or Miranda. I know she would like to see you.”
She laughed again. “You know, sending Miranda just might get me there the quicker of the two.”
“It might,” he agreed.
“I’m bringing another person with me, if it’s alright.”
“Oh...”
“He’s the detective who took over for Jerry.”
“Oh, of course. I look forward to meeting him. Should I send the helicopter?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, I’ll have it there around ten o’clock tomorrow and you and your...”
“My partner, Alwyn. His name is Rollo Canton, Detective Rollo Canton.”
“You can be here in time for lunch. I know Miranda would love to see you.”
“And your mother?”
“What?”
“You didn’t mention your mother. Will she be glad to see me?”
“You’ll have to take that up with her.”
The limo came to a stop under the portico at the front of the h
ouse. Again, Lady Lloyd stood ready to meet them. The woman made no move to help unload the overnight bags the two had brought, but no Palace guard ever stood more still. Next to her stood Alwyn, who also made no move to assist.
As Trakes and Canton rounded the rear of the car, the woman smiled and spoke.
“Special Agent Trakes, so very good to see you again, my dear.”
Her expression resembled a child being forced to eat her peas.
“You once said I could call you Auntie Gennie,” Andee interjected, “If that...”
The woman interrupted, “Due to the official nature of your visit, wouldn’t Lady Lloyd be better suited?”
Andee looked from the woman to her son, who stood mute and motionless. She refocused on the woman.
“As you wish. Lady Lloyd, allow me to introduce Detective Rollo Canton, of the NYPD.”
Rollo, tense and unsure, as the tension between the two women tainted the introduction, smiled and offered his hand.
“It’s good to meet you,” he said. “You have a beautiful place here.”
“Thank you,” the older woman said, taking the detective’s offered greeting. “Allow me to introduce my son, Professor Alwyn Lloyd.”
Again, hands were offered and shook. Nods were given, and the polite expectations of society was exchanged under the cloud of tension between the women.
Unexpectedly, Lady Lloyd turned to the detective, and took him by the arm.
“I am a woman who believes in being upfront,” she said coolly. “I know you are here to discuss an investigation with my son. Please pay no mind to the rift between Agent Trakes and I. Do not let it hamper your discussions. The two of us have a small difference of opinion we’re working through.”
“Oh,” Canton said, very much uncomfortable. “I’m sorry to hear that. Agent Trakes speaks very highly of you and your family.”
Lady Lloyd turned, smiled at Andee and gave her a nod of thank you. She returned her attention to Canton and said, “It’s a small matter. She wants to marry my son, and I don’t think she’s the right woman for him.”
Canton’s reply stumbled as he tried to say something, anything, intelligent. He settled for, “Doesn’t your son have a say in this?”
The elder lady smiled and squeezed the detective’s arm, “Not as much as he might like.”
“Oh,” Canton managed, and then added, “It’s a situation I’m not unfamiliar with. My grandmother, a voodoo priestess who lived in Port-au-Prince, felt the same way about my Doris.”
“Doris?” asked Gennadiya.
“Yes,” he smiled, “Doris the woman I wanted to marry. My grandmother, God rest her soul,” he crossed himself, “told me if I married the woman, I’d be cursed in ways not yet counted. She predicted we’d have no children, that our marriage bed would only know sorrow and I would be poisoned by her poor cooking.”
He smiled at Gennadiya and added, “That last part wasn’t really a curse, more of a warning. The woman really couldn’t cook.”
Gennadiya looked over the detective’s build, as he was a man well-fed.
“And yet you married the woman anyway. You did not heed the warning of your grandmother.”
“Not for a minute,” he shook his head. “Doris and I ran off and got married two days later.”
“And your grandmother’s warning?”
“Doris and I have seven children. Our oldest daughter, Tamara, has recently been selected for medical school. Our marriage bed has been more than happy. It took a few years for her to learn how to cook, but look at me, starving is not my biggest fear any longer.”
“But your grandmother,” Lady Lloyd lamented, “she must have been heart-broken.”
“She was. She was heartbroken for exactly fourteen months after our wedding. That’s when our oldest was born. Once the grandkids started coming, all was forgiven.”
“You think I’m a foolish woman.”
There was a coolness in her voice.
“No, Lady Lloyd, I think no such a thing. I think you love your son, as my grandmother loved me. She worried about me as you do your son. I do not think you are foolish in the least.”
Andee, forgotten, tagged along behind the couple, and Alwyn, silent other than to greet Canton, walked beside her. He had ignored her to the point of being rude. She fought against the rage within her. Her embarrassment was deep and the disappointment she felt toward Alwyn hurt more than the anger she felt toward the old woman. He had not so much as uttered a sound to stop his mother. He had stood silent and allowed his mother to paint her as little more than a love-struck girl, foolish in her affections. He had allowed his mother to belittle her to a professional college. She’d never forgive him.
She allowed herself a sideways glance in his direction. He walked one step behind her, his head erect and his eyes forward. He was ignoring her, and the realization stabbed her, an instant of emotional pain as sharp as its physical counterpart. She felt the hitch in her breathing. She turned back to watch the couple ahead of her.
The four stepped through the outside door and onto a raised flagstone patio surrounded on three sides by balustrades only open to the lawn in three places. A long table ran the center of the patio, and it was covered by a checkered table cloth. The table was set for lunch. White platters and bowls were lined along the table. Crystal goblets stood adjacent to silver cutlery. The family worked together to prepare the meal. Andee estimated some fifty people hurried back and forth between the table and whomever was preparing the food inside the house.
The agent smiled when she caught sight of Miranda, who was as pretty as ever. The redhead looked up from her duties, and their eyes met. A huge smile jumped onto her face, and she came to Andee almost on a run.
“Sister,” she called and when close, embraced Andee with a complete and loving hug.
“I’m so glad you came back. Alwyn will be so happy to see you. You know he misses you.”
“Miranda, please. I saw how much I was missed. Alwyn and his mother met us at the door. All she needed was a shotgun to chase us away, at least me, away. He hasn’t spoken to me and barely looked in my direction.”
Miranda glanced at Alwyn and a shadow of disappointment momentarily clouded her expression. She turned back to Andee and took her by the arm.
“Come with me,” Miranda said, and led the agent away from the table and toward the garden. Once distance gave them a sense of privacy, the redhead turned to the agent.
“Look, think of this as a divide-and-conquer exercise. As far as my aunt goes, her bark is much worse...well, you know the rest. But my point is she’s afraid of you. She recognizes how Alwyn feels, even if you don’t. She’s afraid he will abandon everything she has worked for and focused on all of his life in order to be with you.”
Andee studied the woman and thought about what she had said. The agent didn’t like it, but she made sense and a twinge of sympathy surged through her.
“Maybe you’re right,” she countered to Miranda, “but that doesn’t excuse the cold shoulder Alwyn is giving me. He could be a little nicer.”
Miranda looked across the space and watched her family. She turned to Andee.
“Look over there,” she directed to look at the gathering. Andee looked and watched.
“Have you ever found a pair of four-inch heels that you just had to have?” Miranda asked.
“Yeah,” Andee replied, unsure of what one had to do with the other.
“When you first wore them, you knew they were perfect, but after a few moments they became uncomfortable and hard to walk in. You doubted your purchase and almost wished you could take them back?”
“Yeah,” Andee nodded, “been there.”
Miranda nodded in return.
“Then you get a small idea of what Alwyn, our Unum, is going through. He has been raised for the position he now has, and he is doubting himself. He’s not sure he can do what is expected, and more to the point, he’s not sure he wants to.”
“He told you that?”
>
Miranda shook her head.
“Alwyn would never say such things. But I have been around him most of my life. I know him as well, maybe better than he knows himself. It is not by accident that I was chosen to be his Vox Secundo. I know what he thinks before the thought forms in his head. I know how he feels before he’s identified the emotion.”
“You think he loves me?”
“Sister, I know he loves you,” she smiled. “How this will all work out, I haven’t a clue, but if you’re patient and stay in the game, it will. And I think in a way you’ll like. My aunt has one card to play. She has to persuade you to leave. Don’t let her win.”
“You really do like me,” Andee smiled. “We really are sisters.”
Miranda returned the smile.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, but, and you know we don’t lie, I’m not doing this only for you. I’m doing this for my uncle. For him to be the Unum he wants to be and the one his mother want him to be, he needs you. Neither one of them know it, but you’re the missing part of him.”
Andee’s vision blurred, “You really think so?”
“I wouldn’t say it otherwise. Now get tough and claim your man.”
Andee blinked several times, then said seriously, “Don’t you mean my wolf?”
The two giggled. They linked arms as they returned to the gathering.
As they closed the distance, they saw Lady Lloyd and Canton sitting at the table, turned to watch the commotion of the children playing on the lawn. Boys were wrestling, girls laughing and running. The adults stood nearby, all conversing and relaxed. Just before the distance was covered, Miranda stopped them and turned to Andee.
“You see all that?” she asked.
Miranda nodded.
“Alwyn is responsible for the safety of all of them. A position that, like new heels, pinches until you get them broken in.”
Andee nodded and smiled, “I am only now starting to see the wisdom you possess.”
Miranda giggled. “You thought I was just a pretty face.”
“Miranda, Miranda.”
The sound of her name turned her around, and across the lawn, little sister Anna stood, waving, and calling to them.
The three walked toward each other and when close, hugs were shared all around.
Shadow of the Moon: A Fantasy of Love, Murder and Werewolves Page 26