by Olsen, Lisa
“We can see if they got their air conditioning fixed.” In truth, she could care less where they ate, she only wanted to see if Ethan followed.
“Can’t we eat something light instead? How about some frozen yogurt?”
“Fine, frozen yogurt is fine, just keep moving.”
“Boy, you’re grouchy today,” Penny scowled, letting herself be led.
By the third block Cady spotted Ethan again, moving slowly, but still following in their same direction. “Hey, I need to stop here for a sec,” she said once they turned the corner. I’ll meet you in the froyo place in a minute.”
“You need to see the bail bondsman?” Penny looked up at the sign dubiously.
“Yep, just for a sec.” Cady didn’t skip a beat. “I’ll be there in a minute, okay?” She had to get out of sight before Ethan came into view.
“Okay…” Penny frowned, looking back over her shoulder at Cady as she continued down the street. Cady ducked into the office, crouching behind a fake potted palm, trying to ignore the dust while she kept watch on the street through the glass door.
“Jou nee some help, hoaney?” a heavily accented voice asked, and Cady darted a look behind to flash the heavy set, Hispanic woman a quick smile.
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
“Jou got a appoinmen?”
“Yes, um I do. But I’m early. Don’t mind me, I’ll just wait here.”
“What tingh is you appoinmen, hoaney?”
“Um, three.” Cady had no idea what time it actually was, her internal clock was all messed up lately.
“Eet’s already three-thoorty.”
Ethan strolled past the door, not so much as glancing in her direction and Cady came out of her hiding place. “Oh, sorry to bother you then,” she smiled, slipping out the door and falling into step behind him. He approached the frozen yogurt shop slowly, glancing inside casually before crossing the street. Cady jogged after him, ignoring the slow moving traffic, like he did. He spotted her when he turned to lean against the building, his shoulders sagging in recognition.
“Funny meeting you here,” she called out when he looked like he might walk away.
“Not really, it’s my neighborhood too.”
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Cady challenged him, but he merely shrugged. “So, you’re not following me then?”
Ethan shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “No, I’m not following you.”
“Oh come on, I saw you back there blocks ago. Do you expect me to believe you just happen to be going the exact same way?”
“I’m not following you,” he insisted stubbornly. “I’m just making sure Penny is okay.”
“Penny?” she blinked in surprise. “Why wouldn’t Penny be okay?”
“You know why.”
“Have there been any other victims? I haven’t been watching the news lately.” She hadn’t been doing much of anything lately.
“No, which is why I’m back to watching out for Penny, waiting to see if they’ll make a move on her next.” He darted a look to the frozen yogurt’s entrance. “You didn’t tell her about any of this, did you?”
“No, of course not. But… don’t you think maybe I should? If you’re following her you must think she’s in danger.”
“It’s only a precaution, at least until I get some indication where he’s hunting again. Please don’t tell Penny I’m following her, it’ll make it a lot harder to keep tabs on her.”
“Alright, but maybe I should stay with her for a couple of days.” Penny lived alone, which made her a lot more vulnerable.
“No, don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll end up making it worse.”
She scowled at that, waiting to see if he explained his reasoning, but the only thing that came out of his mouth were a few choice swear words uttered under his breath. Cady looked up to see Penny at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. Neither one of them spoke as they waited for her to approach.
“Hey, what’s up? I thought you were coming in to get some yogurt.” Penny smiled at Ethan expectantly. “Who’s this?”
“This is…”
“David,” Ethan interrupted with the briefest of smiles. “David Brown. Nice to meet you. It’s Penny, right?” They shook hands while Cady stared, wondering why he felt the need to give a fake name. Then again, the name on his mailbox was D. Brown. Maybe Ethan was the fake name?
“How do you two know each other?” Penny asked, looking between them.
“We live in the same building,” he answered glibly. “Listen, I didn’t mean to interrupt your girls’ day out. Cady, I…” Ethan hesitated before giving her a helpless shrug. “You have a great afternoon.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you around, David,” Cady said dryly.
“He seems nice,” Penny commented, after he was gone. Not gone, because Cady knew he’d be hanging around somewhere nearby, but out of sight now.
“I’m not sure nice is the right word for him.” Cady hadn’t been sure if Penny recognized him from Inferno or not, and she couldn’t remember how much she’d told her about him before. It was Kelli who’d gotten an earful about her sexy neighbor and his tattoos. What could she say now? “He sort of blew me off the other day.”
“Really? He seemed friendly enough to me. Maybe a little awkward, but he had nice eyes. Oh, is that the guy you went home with the other night? The one with the sexy tattoos?”
“I didn’t go home with him like that, I was helping him out. And what do you know about his tattoos?”
“Kelli said something about you stripping him to get a look at his sexy tattoos.”
Trust that to be the only thing Kelli took out of the conversation. “I did not strip him down just to get a look at his tattoos, you could see some of them for yourself.” They’d been visible down one arm and peeking from the neckline of his shirt as he’d walked away.
“I didn’t notice any tattoos.”
“How could you not have noticed them? You were standing right there. The one that goes down his arm is pretty noticeable.”
“I’m just saying, I didn’t see any tattoos,” Penny shrugged. “I get it now though, why you’re obsessed with your dream man.”
The whole business with the tattoos didn’t make sense to Cady. She could have sworn he didn’t have them when she first met him, but now she could see them and Penny either couldn’t, or had turned into the most unobservant person in the world.
“What?” Drawn from her reverie, Cady struggled to recall Penny’s last words in an order that made sense. “Wait, what does this have to do with my dreams?”
“I can’t believe you don’t see it,” Penny shook her head sadly. “You’re hung up on that David guy. He’s the one you should go after.”
“What? That’s crazy, I hardly know him,” Cady scoffed, even as her eyes tried to pick him out on the street.
“Oh please, I could tell by the way you looked at him.”
“He doesn’t want me, he made that perfectly clear.”
“And that bothers you.”
“So? Of course it bothers me, the guy was a total jerk about it.”
“It bothers you because you like him.”
“This isn’t high school, Penny. It doesn’t matter if I like him, I can’t make him like me back.”
“I think he already likes you back.”
Her eyes found him then, catching his gaze briefly before he looked away, pretending to study the menu taped to the window down the street. “Then he has a shitty way of showing it.”
Chapter Seventeen
The washing machines were full in the basement laundry room, all four of them. Cady could wait until later, but she already had the bulging bag slung over one shoulder, the basket with soap and fabric softener in her arms, her pockets jingling with quarters. Ian needed at least one clean shirt for work that night, so she decided to trudge up the stairs and h
ead to the Laundromat a couple of blocks away.
In general, she hated doing laundry, but at least this way she wouldn’t be stuck in the dingy laundry room for a couple of hours. She’d already learned the hard way that the signs that said “don’t leave your laundry unattended” weren’t kidding.
Most people in the neighborhood had been flocking to the Laundromat by the soup kitchen that offered internet gambling while you wait. For five dollars an hour, you could sit at a computer and play all kinds of games for a chance to win up to three grand. There was even a big spin type deal. Lucky regulars who clocked in enough hours could walk away with a carton of smokes or a bottle of booze.
So there were plenty of machines open in the middle of the afternoon at the regular Laundromat that boasted Court TV on the battered screen bolted to the ceiling, and Cady filled two of them. Running to the newsstand across the street, she bought a copy of a magazine showcasing articles like: “Twenty Days to a New You” and “Ten of the Hottest New Looks This Summer”. Satisfied that no one had tampered with her clothes in the short time she’d been away, Cady settled into one of the hard plastic seats and leafed through the magazine.
“Hello.”
The voice startled her; she hadn’t even noticed the guy sit a couple of seats down from her. “Hi,” she replied, looking back down at her magazine, hoping he wasn’t a talker. There was nothing worse than being stuck someplace for a couple of hours with a talker.
“It’s me.”
Cady looked up, her eyes narrowing as she studied him closer. “Do I know you?” She didn’t think so. Dressed in a white t-shirt and cargo pants over scuffed boots, he fit into the neighborhood alright, but he didn’t look familiar. Cute, with short, bristly hair and hazel eyes, he stared at her expectantly before his expression crumpled in disappointment.
“No,” he frowned. “I suppose not. I’m sorry to bother you.”
“That’s okay, it happens,” she smiled briefly, turning back to her magazine. Instead of moving on, he slid into the next seat, leaving only one space between them. “I meant it’s okay that you bugged me once. That doesn’t mean I feel like talking.”
“But you love to talk.” His brow crumpled in confusion.
“I… guess I do, but usually with people I know.”
“How else would you get to know me?” he grinned. “You can call me Ash.”
He really was cute, but come on. Hitting on women in a Laundromat? How cliché could you get? Cady bit back a smile, returning her eyes to the printed word without replying. She didn’t want to encourage him.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to go somewhere and talk?”
“No, thank you.” Now she sounded like Ethan. “I pretty much have to stay here with my laundry.”
“Afterwards then?”
“No, thank you.” Nervously, she chewed on the inside of her lip, not looking up at him, hoping he’d give up.
“No, of course not. Something public. Something safe,” he murmured. “A walk in the park? Or maybe on the beach?”
It wasn’t the usual offer of a drink or a date, and she couldn’t resist looking up at him again. Why was he trying so hard? “No, thanks. I’m not…”
“You’ve given up on men, I forgot,” he muttered distractedly, scratching at his forehead.
“What did you say?”
“You smell so good.” His head dipped forward suddenly. “I don’t remember you smelling this good.”
What a total nutjob… “Um, thanks, gotta love the April fresh scent of Downy.” Cady looked around, wondering if anyone would help if she squawked. “Listen, I think maybe you’d better go sit over there.” Cady gestured to the other side of the room with the back of her magazine, rolling it tightly in her hands in case she had to use it as a weapon.
“What don’t you like about me?” His brow crumpled in dismay, making no sign of moving. “I’m very muscular, and I’ve been smiling plenty. Do I need more tattoos?” He lifted the sleeve on one shoulder to expose more of the design there.
“What?” She had trouble following him, it was like they were having two different conversations.
“Should I have brought you a gift?” he asked earnestly. “I didn’t know where to find wildflowers in this place.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re making me really uncomfortable.”
All at once he seemed to clue into her distress. “This is all wrong.” He lurched to his feet, eyes darting around uneasily. “I’m sorry to have troubled you.”
Cady stared after him, making sure he wasn’t about to double back. She caught the eye of a careworn woman trying to keep two toddlers entertained while her clothes dried. “It takes all kinds,” the rawboned woman shrugged. “At least he didn’t whip it out.”
“Thank God for small miracles.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Total waste of time,” Ethan growled, throwing his worn army jacket against the couch in frustration. The late afternoon sun baked his apartment with punishing heat, and he threw open all the windows, pacing in agitation until the cross breeze offered some relief. Ordinarily the heat didn’t bother him so much, but all the inactivity had worn his nerves to a frazzle.
How many nights had he spent parked outside of Penny’s apartment building? And for what? Nothing, not a goddamned thing. Closely scouring all the news outlets, no other victims had turned up either. For all he knew, subject Q had picked up and moved to another city.
He’d stopped trying to access the visions, all they showed him was Cady, Cady, Cady. It was like an obsession, and he didn’t know whose it was, his or the demon’s.
It was past time for another Company update, but Ethan had been putting it off, hoping for something to actually report. Even now, he set the phone down instead of making the call. Hanging up his thrown jacket neatly and pouring himself a cooling glass of tea -- anything to delay the account of his utter failure.
Finally, he decided he might as well get it over with, going through the motions to identify himself until the familiar feminine voice prompted him to report.
“Currently still in pursuit of subject Q. Subject has not surfaced in days, no additional casualties to report.”
“Do you believe the subject is still in play?”
“Yes, I think so. He’s probably laying low, picking the right opportunity to strike.” The line went silent for a few seconds, and Ethan fancied he heard the sound of keys tapping.
“Intel indicates that is highly unlikely, given the nature of the subject,” she said after a pause. “Subject Q is characterized by his impulsive, often irrational behavior, premeditation does not fit the profile.”
“I’m aware of that,” Ethan replied shortly. “But I nearly had him the last time, maybe that gave him something to think about.” Regretting the words instantly, he pressed his lips together. The Company didn’t deal in maybes. “Or, it’s possible he’s moved out of my sector.”
“Stand by one.” Another stretch of silence, followed by a series of clicks. “Do you require a diviner?”
It was tantamount to admitting to failure, but he was stuck. His visions were a complete and utter failure. It was almost like the subject was hiding from him, as out of character as that might seem. But if Q had moved out of the area, the Company deserved to know in order to activate another reaper.
“Shaw?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say yes, but at the last moment he changed his mind. He didn’t want to bring Cady under the Company’s radar, and who knew what a diviner might turn up? “No, that won’t be necessary, I have other resources at my command. Standard protocols are still in effect.”
Command proved to be an overly optimistic word, as Gobi’s phone went straight to voicemail. The quirky psychic wasn’t always the most reliable guy, but he’d helped him out before, and it was as good a place as any to start. Ethan was about to give up and try something else when he heard the tail end of the outgoing message.
“Th
e message of the day is brought to you by Thomas A. Edison, Pisces, and badass inventor. Tommy reminds us that our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. So try me again, dudes and dudettes. Gobi don’t do voicemail.”
Try just one more time.
What could it hurt? If he got nothing, he’d go stalk Gobi’s ass until he tracked him down. Ethan laid out the chalk circle, removing his shoes and socks. It was still unpleasantly hot in the apartment, and the windows were painted shut in his office, but he pushed aside his discomfort, focusing on grounding himself before he began.
“Dominus in lucem, mittere signum. In sapientia tua precor.” Rocking in time to the chanted words, he opened himself to the universe. This time when he got images of Cady, he didn’t shut them away in disgust. This time, he followed the vision, seeing where it led him. It was dark, but Ethan could make out her profile, lit by the sliver of pale moonlight from the window. She slept, at peace, in no visible danger.
As he watched, shadows played across her face, the light nearly obscured. A figure crept into the room, definitely male, definitely not her brother. He slipped in through the open window to stand at the foot of her bed, motionless. The moon lit half of his face and Ethan saw him clearly, lips parted in rapt attention as he watched the sleeping girl. The man was dressed in a t-shirt and cargo pants, a far cry from the tailored suits he usually preferred. To that end, he was handsome enough, but less of the pretty boy that Q usually chose. All the same, Ethan was certain it was him.
Cady shifted in her sleep, eyes half lidded as she noticed the intruder, and the man rushed forward, pressing his hand over her mouth.
“It’s me,” he said, eyes alight with fevered anticipation. “I forgot to tell you the most important thing.” Cady struggled against his grasp, her nails sinking into his flesh hard enough to draw blood, but the man didn’t so much as flinch, easily holding her down with one hand. “Shhh,” he soothed, stroking her hair gently. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other, just like you wanted.”