Until she passed Ed a swift once-over and said, “How about a tour?”
“Uh-um….”
Sam and Gerry silently eyed them, putting Ed on the spot.
“Of course! It would be my pleasure.” He hastily gestured her back toward the foyer.
It really was just a tour at first. Ed showed her the kitchen and garage, led her upstairs to the sitting room and library, explaining the basement below, which she didn’t press to see, and finally ended at the master bedroom and hallway leading to the widow’s walk.
“You mean the roof? I want to see.”
“Certainly.” Ed pulled down the ladder for her.
“You too.”
“Oh, I… don’t go up there.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t like heights, and while not everything you may have heard about vampires is true, the sun does bother me.”
“Badly or just makes you uncomfortable and weak?”
“The latter.”
“Then you’re coming with me.” She shot him a challenging stare and started to climb.
Ed honestly didn’t know how to refuse her, so with a breath to steal himself, he squinted and gritted his teeth against the surge of panic at being up there without his sunglasses or the comforting presence of Sam.
The sun was still beautiful to him, but it hurt to look at, even in his periphery, and the heat felt like the worst of summer days in the dry desert.
Mim didn’t say anything initially, merely looked out at the view. She’d obviously been giving Ed—and everything that had been going on—a lot of thought.
“This is crazy,” she said at last, not looking at him. “You’re a vampire. A real fucking vampire, who I saw gorging himself on Brock Cramer’s chest cavity. And you’re just as hopelessly in love with my best friend as he is with you.”
She looked at him, a sideways slide of her eyes.
“I have no idea what the right answer is, but if all this comes down to Sam’s safety over his happiness, I’d rather see him alive. So you better think real carefully about what happens next.”
There she was, with Ed in a vulnerable spot, once again threatening him, someone she couldn’t possibly defend against if he chose to attack, and she didn’t so much as stutter.
Ed had to admire that.
“I promise I will put Sam’s best interests first. Always. He’s lucky to have you.”
“I know.” She gave a light flip of her hair. “You know, for a vicious killer, you’re not what I expected. I think I get why Sammy likes you.”
“Oh?”
“He was always a sucker for contradictions.”
MIM WAS full of contradictions—and there was no way in hell she only wanted a tour.
Sam was trying to assist Gerry, but his attention kept being pulled to his surroundings, looking to see if Ed and Mim had returned yet. She was probably giving him a shovel talk. She never gave Lara a shovel talk.
But then, she hadn’t known either of them were killers until today.
Just when Sam was going to excuse himself to go look for them, they appeared, saying they were going to gather snacks.
“For us,” Mim reiterated, and turned to Ed with a lightness she hadn’t displayed before. “No snacking on the humans, got it?” She patted his shoulder, and he blushed faintly as he scurried to follow her to the kitchen.
Sam couldn’t believe how much that eased him, despite the work ahead.
Well, mostly ahead of Gerry, who was fixated on his laptop, but quietly, which wasn’t like him. How else should he act, though, when he’d just seen what Sam was pretty sure were his first dead bodies, a classic movie monster in 3D, and all while learning that his girlfriend was the bad guy.
“Gerr?”
“Mm?”
“I’m sorry about Lara.”
The clicking of the keyboard stopped, and Gerry took a slow breath. “Me too. You’re dating a vampire, and I’m dating a lying sociopath, apparently. Good times.” He chuckled, but Sam could see the strain in his shoulders. “I mean, I’m happy for you if you’re happy, even though this is all really, really weird. But I’m more… sad? Because my killer love interest didn’t turn out to be so nice.”
“I wish I could have told you.”
“I get why you didn’t. I probably would have thought you were nuts.” Gerry opened his mouth to say more but held back before he asked, “Did you really kill Brock?”
“Yeah.”
“And Simons… Ed… he killed the others?”
“Yes, except Shaw, who Black or Lara killed. Brock was my first.”
“And you’re really okay with all that?”
It should have been a tougher question to answer, but when Sam thought about it, he only had one thing to say. “They tried to shoot us. All these people we’ve killed have tried to hurt us first. And Ed only goes after the worst of the worst. I kind of can’t help being okay with it.”
Gerry nodded, not like he was okay with it, but like he could accept that answer. “He’s sort of like a vigilante, huh?” He leaned into Sam’s side with a small smile and then turned back to his computer. “Oh, whoa.”
“What?” Mim asked before Sam could, returning with Ed from the kitchen.
“Lara is Black’s daughter.”
“What?” Mim growled more fervently, but Sam and Ed just looked at each other.
Marie and Daniel assumed Black had kids because of how he acted around the twins. It made sense. He did have a kid. She was just an adult.
“The records got buried when she changed her last name,” Gerry said, “but the trail’s still there. She’s Lara Black. Her mother died when she was eight. The year it happened is when Black first started showing up with a record, then other aliases, and finally, whispers of Midnight.”
“He snapped when he lost his wife,” Sam said.
“And raised his daughter to be a psycho,” Mim added harshly, plopping down beside Gerry and digging into the provisions they’d brought. Then she paused. “Sorry.”
Gerry shrugged.
“Maybe the mom was killed by a vampire,” Sam suggested. “That would explain why they’re so obsessed.”
“I’ll keep digging.” Gerry dove back into his work.
“What about when it’s time for you to see Black?” Mim asked. “Is that what the bodies are for, to prove to him you killed them?”
“If he presses, sure,” Sam said, “but we need damning evidence to put him and Lara away. Those bodies might come in handy.”
“What if he just kills you as soon as you show up? Or plans a sting to finish framing you?”
“He’s not done with us yet. He wants information on other vampires so he can keep stealing from them.”
“Sam,” Ed called softly, making Sam finally realize that while he and his friends had taken up the sofa, Ed stood off to the side.
And Sam did not like his expression.
“It may still come down to killing them. If that happens and all the evidence against me is too much, I’ll have to run. I’ve done it before.”
“What?” Sam pushed to his feet and went to him. “Run? Without me?”
“I don’t want to, but I might have to.”
“You can’t. This could just as easily get pinned on me. We don’t know what Black has planned if things go south. The only way to beat out potential evidence against us is by making sure the evidence against them is solid. You can’t kill them.”
“After everything they’ve done to you…,” Ed bit out, eyes flashing yellow in anger.
“I know,” Sam said, grabbing Ed by the back of the neck to pull him close, “but we can make this work. Black will still pay. Trust me, it’ll be worse sending a cop to prison.”
Ed laughed weakly but relaxed against him. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I am. And you are not running, even if the worst happens. Not without me. Promise me you won’t.”
He hesitated a few too many anxious heartbeats before he whispered
, “I promise.”
“God, you two are unbearable,” Mim groaned, causing Sam to laugh. “Either get a room or get to work, because no one is ready to face Black yet.”
They weren’t, and the next few hours were filled with more of the same—research, eating when they thought of it, and trying to make sure they hadn’t missed anything important before they messaged Black to meet.
As the day wore on, Sam thought he’d asked Gerry a thousand times for the same update.
“What about proof that Black is Cheroneau?”
“I’m sorry, Sam, I just don’t know. I can’t find anything. He couldn’t have done this for so long, especially transferring to different precincts, if he wasn’t good at covering his tracks. I don’t think I can find what you need in time.”
“It’s getting late,” Mim noted.
“And I just heard Daniel’s car,” Ed said from the patio archway, having opened the doors again to let in the cool air as the sun set. “He must be home. Black will be expecting us soon.”
“Daniel…,” Sam repeated, and then leaped to his feet. “We have Daniel! I forgot about Daniel! We can use Daniel!”
“What are you talking about?” Ed frowned.
“You mean the cop?” Mim questioned.
“Yes! It’s a risk, but I think I have an idea.”
“What?” Gerry asked.
“I’m going to go confess.”
ED COULD hardly believe they were at the Neu-Ryans, and Sam was confessing to Daniel… that he’d found Shaw’s body in his hotel room.
He lied a little too, tweaking the timing for when Black was there, and saying that Black was the one who’d cleaned up the body afterward. Then he admitted that Black was Cheroneau and explained that he’d been too afraid to come forward, until Cheroneau was in Ed’s house that morning and threatened them when Daniel stepped outside.
It was mostly the truth, which Sam confessed wholeheartedly, and Ed could tell that while Daniel was skeptical, sitting with them in his living room, he wasn’t dismissive.
“I knew Cheroneau was bad news,” Marie said from the doorway.
She’d taken the kids upstairs to bed but had obviously snuck back down.
“Sorry,” she said when Daniel shot her a sharp look.
He sighed like he wasn’t surprised, but it was clear he didn’t know how to handle the situation.
“I know this sounds crazy,” Sam said, “but I need very little from you to prove that Cheroneau is trying to frame us.”
Since there was no hiding anything from Marie anymore, she came in and took one of the chairs as Daniel paused to digest everything.
“You’re saying that my partner has been framing you for murder for weeks, months almost, threatening you, all to get Ed’s money? Yeah, it sounds crazy. But you have my attention. What do you need to prove your case?”
Sam explained, and Ed was truly impressed by the final plan. If everything went well, they’d have Black for sure, Lara too, but Daniel had to agree to let them handle things on their own until they called him.
He did, gave Sam what he asked for, promised he’d be ready for their call, and they went back to the house.
All Sam had to do then was send Black the message that the Cramers were dead, which Ed read over his shoulder.
It’s done. We’re at the Cramers’ hideout in the warehouse district. You can come to us.
After all, Ed could get them there in minutes.
Fine, but no tricks.
Wouldn’t dream of it.
“Mim, Gerry,” Sam said, “you stay here.”
“Um, no,” Mim protested. “We’re—”
“Staying here,” Sam said more firmly. “I need you to take care of their car. You might not be used to dumping bodies, but we’ve all dumped cars before.”
That was an interesting tidbit to learn, but Ed supposed carjacking was a fairly common act for a thief.
“We can join after,” Gerry said, surprising Ed, since he didn’t seem the type to be up for a fight.
“No,” Sam affirmed. “There are too many unknowns. I’ll call you when it’s over. Ed and I will be fine.”
Ed wished he could be as certain. He didn’t worry for his own safety, but Sam was still weak, still recovering from the blood loss last night, much as he tried not to show it. If anything went wrong….
“Ready?” Sam turned to him.
Ed wanted this over with so he could look at Sam and thoughtfully decide what was best for their future without the weight of being surrounded by enemies.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m ready.”
SAM WASN’T sure if he was ready, but there was nothing left to do but enact the final stage of the plan.
Ed brought Sam and the bodies to the warehouse well before Lara and Black arrived. There was no sign of anyone else, least of all the young man from before, and they didn’t try to hide the bodies since they’d already implied the kills had happened there. They merely sprawled them out, made the place look like a fight had occurred with a few overturned chairs and clutter, and waited.
As Sam had hoped, Lara and Black arrived together.
“You took your time,” Sam said, standing close beside Ed.
Lara was dressed simply compared to her father’s nice suit and trench coat, and while she always looked pretty and put together, there was an air of exasperation about her, like she hadn’t gotten the best of sleep lately—just like the Cramers.
Being questioned for murder probably hadn’t sat well with her.
“We’re not idiots,” Black said, and as they drew closer, Sam saw the resemblance between them now, mostly in the twists of their smiles. “We walked around the back first to make sure you didn’t have an ambush planned.”
“Couldn’t help but notice that dear sweet Gerry and your other friend weren’t at their hotel today,” Lara said. “You understand our concern.”
“They’re not here,” Sam answered easily, since it was true. “It’s just us. Just you. And them.” He indicated the bodies.
“Nicely done.” Black acknowledged the act as if genuinely impressed. “Joint effort, maybe? It finally really is just us, but I don’t want you trying anything stupid, so let’s make a little exchange before we continue.
“You come over here—” He motioned Sam toward him. “—and Lara will go by Mr. Simons. You know, just to keep things friendly.”
Sam didn’t like that, but it did seem fair if Lara was swapping with him.
Ed didn’t like it either, given his knitted brow and wary glance, but Sam nodded anyway.
“As long as we move at the same time,” he said.
Sam gave a goodwill gesture by stepping forward first, and Lara followed, each of them moving slowly but in time until they crossed paths without incident and had switched positions.
“Good boy,” Black said. “You really can take direction, can’t you?”
Ed’s fists clenched in Sam’s defense, but Sam refrained from doing the same and crossed his arms instead.
“We know what you want. Why you killed all those people to frame Ed, everyone who worked on his house, Shaw, and who knows how many others.”
“Do you now?”
“Money. More of it. You think Ed can give you names and addresses of others like him to be your next victims. That’s why you haven’t tried to kill us yet.”
The expression on Black’s face didn’t change, other than a slight raise of his brow and a subtle nod. “Smart, makes sense, and up until you two, Mr. Goldman, that would have been the right answer. But we’ve squirreled away plenty of funds from our past victims. We don’t need any more names or addresses. It’s time to end this.”
End it? “Then what do you want?”
“We’ll get there. First, we need to even the playing field.”
“What—”
“Ah!” A cry from Ed startled Sam to look back at him, where he’d fallen to one knee with a crossbow bolt the length of someone’s forearm sticking through his left t
high.
Not someone’s.
Lara’s.
She grinned as she lifted her sleeve to reveal a hidden device strapped to her arm, enough of a surprise to bring Ed down, but a wound like that couldn’t possibly—
The lights in the warehouse went out, and in their place came glaring blue, intense and painful to look at. But however painful it seemed to Sam at first, the lights were only an annoyance. To Ed, who started panting, his body falling farther forward rather than recovering and ripping the bolt free, those lights were agonizing.
“UV,” Black said, nonchalant and smug. “The sun you can withstand for a time, but direct UV works quicker. And hurts more, doesn’t it?”
Sam jerked as if to run to Ed, but Lara raised her arm at him, threatening that she had another bolt ready. He couldn’t see through the blue haze around them if Ed’s skin was already turning red, but his mewling gasps made that old joke about imploding seem far less funny.
“We never would have agreed to meet somewhere we hadn’t already secured. How do you think we survived this long taking out others like Simons?
“Now….” Black coaxed Sam closer, even though they were already only a foot apart.
Sam didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of moving, so all he did was stand firm.
And then flinched when a bang echoed around the warehouse and the worst pain he’d ever felt spread throughout his stomach.
He gasped, barely able to believe it as he looked below his crossed arms to see the blood beginning to pool, and then looked up at Black and saw the gun he’d had hidden in his jacket. They were the idiots….
“Sam!” Ed roared, but Black stepped forward and brought the gun less than an inch from Sam’s temple, keeping it there even as Sam too staggered to his knees.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Black warned Ed. “At this range and in your state, you can’t beat a bullet to the head. Had to catch you by surprise, I’m afraid, but all this is necessary to make sure you’re agreeable.
“See, I thought framing you would be enough, but this is better incentive, because you’re all soft on Sammy here, so I know you’ll want to save him. Don’t worry, stomach shots take a long time to kill someone. He’ll survive if you cooperate quick enough.”
Their Dark Reflections Page 20