Close Enemies

by Marc Daniel

  “That was Lucy, Daka. Don’t you think I’d recognize my own sister?”

  “Lucy has red hair. Lucy is dead.”

  “She dyed it black. And yes, she’s dead. No argument there.”

  Olivia saw doubt in Daka’s eyes where anger had been an instant earlier.

  “This is the truth, Daka. I even made her hold Ezekiel’s whistle to make sure she wasn’t the chameleon Michael warned us about. That was definitely Lucy.”

  “So, she was turned after all. How did she fake her cremation?”

  Olivia sat down on her bed and related the details Lucy had provided on the subject.

  “We need to find her, Olivia. Find her before she kills someone. A newly turned vampire without a teacher to rein her in is very, very bad news.”

  “What if we find her? What will you do then?”

  Daka looked away without answering: a silence Olivia could interpret only too well. “You are not killing my sister, Daka. Do you hear me?”

  “Your sister is dead, Olivia. This vampire isn’t Lucy. She only looks like her. She’ll kill you in a heartbeat and drain you dry the first time she feels hunger in the pit of her stomach.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Daka.”

  But he wasn’t listening. Fully dressed, he was heading for the door. “I must alert the pack. We need to find her before it’s too late.”

  Olivia was at the door in a flash, blocking his path. “You are not killing Lucy.” Her eyes were smoldering with intensity.

  He reached for the handle, but she grabbed his wrist on the way. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she couldn’t let him go after Lucy either.

  “Please listen to what I have to say. I am begging you,” she said. But how could she make a skinwalker understand when it was already nearly impossible for her to accept Lucy as she now was, a filthy bloodsucker.

  “You have five minutes, Olivia. After that I’m gone and you won’t stop me. I know you could, but you won’t because that’s not who you are.”

  He sat down on her bed and gave her his undivided attention.

  “She’s not a normal vampire, Daka. Her behavior is different. I realize I don’t know much about vampires, but it’s true. For one thing, she was starving, and she didn’t attack me or anybody else. Instead she drank blood from that pack over there,” she said, pointing at the empty bag now littering the floor.

  “And how did she get that blood?”

  “I stole it from the hospital.”

  Daka gave her a look but didn’t comment. “What about the two carbonized bodies we found around Bozeman?”

  “She had nothing to do with those. You said it yourself, it was an elder vampire who was responsible.” Olivia hated to have to lie to her best friend, but she wasn’t about to tell him the truth about the trucker. “You see? She’s not a danger to humans.”

  Daka looked thoughtful now. She could almost see the wheels turning inside his head.

  “It doesn’t make any sense, Olivia. All newly turned vampires are out of control. I don’t know how you got her to drink blood from that bag but sooner or later she will need to feed, and a blood pack won’t be her first choice.”

  “She’s a daywalker too, Daka. Lucy is unaffected by sunlight.”

  “You’re telling me you saw her outside in broad daylight?” He sounded more than a little skeptical.

  “Yes. We went to Gardner on an errand yesterday. It was about noon. The sun did absolutely nothing to her.”

  “This doesn’t make the slightest sense.”

  “But it’s the truth, Daka. I swear to you that’s the truth. Please don’t talk to your pack about Lucy. Don’t hunt my sister down. I lost her once already. I couldn’t bear to lose her a second time. Let me handle this.”

  Daka gave Olivia a long look before grabbing his cell phone. Having found the number he was looking for, he pressed the call button.

  Chapter 81

  Michael and Sheila stood in front of a vacant strip-mall suite located at a busy intersection. They’d only been in Houston for an hour and had come straight from the airport. What had once been the law office of Andrea Hernandez was now an empty suite with a FOR RENT sign on the window.

  “It doesn’t look like business is too good for Miss Hernandez,” said Sheila.

  “I’m starting to wonder if Miss Hernandez even exists,” replied Michael.

  They’d found the lawyer’s website and had tried contacting her by phone, but the line was disconnected. The email address appeared to be valid, but they had yet to receive a reply.

  “Let’s ask the neighbor,” said Sheila, walking towards the drycleaner occupying the adjacent suite.

  They pushed the shop’s door which triggered a bell sound. A woman in her sixties came out of a back room. “How may I help you?” she asked, visibly surprised by the lack of garments in her visitors’ hands.

  “We’re looking for a lawyer. A friend referred us to Miss Hernandez, but she seemed to have moved. Do you know where her new office is located?”

  The lady started shaking her head sadly. “There’s no other office. Miss Hernandez died last year. A hit and run. She was killed crossing the street to go get a sandwich.” The woman was pointing to a small mom-and-pop deli on the other side of the intersection. “Very sad. She was so young, so nice… and pretty too.”

  Michael had seen the lawyer’s picture on her website and he had to agree with the woman’s assessment. Andrea Hernandez had been a gorgeous woman in her thirties. With her olive skin and long raven hair, she could have given Katia Olveda herself a run for her money in any beauty pageant… and that was saying a lot.

  “You knew her well?” asked Michael.

  “Yes. She was a good customer. We cleaned all her suits and sometimes her dresses too.”

  “Do you remember precisely when she was killed?”

  The woman searched her memory a moment before replying, “I don’t recall the exact day, but it was right around Halloween. I know because Andrea was all excited about it. Halloween was her favorite holiday. I remember feeling so sad because she died before she got a chance to enjoy it.”

  Sheila and Michael thanked the woman for her help and took their leave.

  “What do you think?” asked Sheila as soon as they reached their car.

  “I think a lot of people are dying these days. A lot more than would seem natural. We need to find out the exact date of Miss Hernandez’ fatal accident.”

  “You’re wondering if she died shortly after visiting Katia in prison, don’t you?”

  “That’s precisely what I’m wondering.”

  Knowing that she was now looking for someone deceased, Sheila was able to pull the lawyer’s obituary on her phone within a few minutes.

  “She was hit by a black sedan on October 28th. Neither the driver nor the car were ever identified.”

  “And when did she visit Katia in prison?”

  Sheila consulted her notes. “On the 27th. So, Andrea died a day after meeting with Katia Olveda.”

  “What an unfortunate coincidence.”

  Chapter 82

  Equipped with comfortable leather armchairs and other designer furniture, the waiting room was luxurious enough to serve as the lounge of some fancy private club. The Houstonian lawyer was apparently not hurting for money. Katia Olveda had spared no expense for her defense. It hadn’t helped her much in the end. She’d been found guilty of conspiracy and several counts of accessory to murder and had received a twenty-nine-year sentence.

  “Have you thought about what you were going to do about Helen’s little discovery?” asked Sheila, sitting on a leather couch beside Michael.

  It had been nearly two days since Helen’s revelation, and it had been on Michael’s mind ever since. “I’m not sure there’s anything to do about it. I’m not going to come clean to Helen, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve already played dumb and asked if she was serious; there’s not much more I can say or do at this point.”

 
“What are you going to do about her, Michael? What if she exposes you?”

  Although they were alone in the waiting room and Sheila spoke in a soft voice, Michael didn’t particularly want to have this conversation in a public place. But Helen’s latest visit had generated some tension between him and the journalist and he didn’t believe asking Sheila to shut up was a good idea at this point.

  “Who’ll believe her if she exposes me?” he asked, but the argument didn’t even convince himself. The DNA evidence was damning, but only for his bear half… “She doesn’t have a sample of my blood to cross reference. She’d never be able to prove that I am the bear who saved her.”

  “Does she need to? If she goes public with the results, praeternaturals will be exposed, Michael. Whether she mentions your name or not doesn’t change this fact.”

  “I don’t think that’s her goal. She wouldn’t have come to me if she wanted to go public with the info. That’s not what she was after.”

  Sheila made a show of turning in her seat to stare at Michael. “I believe we both know what Helen Fletcher is after,” she said, her voice full of innuendo. “Helen is suffering from a whole new kind of jungle fever.”

  Michael sighed heavily. “There are no bears in the jungle.”

  “Really? That’s your response? And what about Baloo?”

  “Baloo’s a sloth bear. That doesn’t count.”

  Michael was saved by the lawyer’s assistant entering the room.

  “Mister Blackstone will see you now,” she said, showing them the way.

  They were ushered into a large office with a view overseeing downtown Houston. Even Michael, to whom large cities had about as much appeal as a trip to the dentist, had to admit the city looked nice seen from that angle.

  “Please sit,” said the lawyer, pointing at chairs on the opposite side of his modern-looking glass desk.

  Michael and Sheila complied, and the lawyer continued, “How may I help you? I see from your file that you are having problems with an assistant district attorney?”

  This was the excuse Sheila had used to get them through the big-shot lawyer’s door. And it had still taken them three days to get an appointment.

  “Well, technically, our concern is with an ex-assistant DA. I’m talking about Katia Olveda, I believe you know her well.”

  The man’s impassive face immediately started showing signs of irritation. “Are you saying you came here under false pretense?”

  “No. Not really. Katia Olveda was an assistant DA, wasn’t she? What we came to ask you is why she got rid of you and hired Miss Hernandez to represent her?”

  “This meeting is over,” said the lawyer, getting out of his chair and pointing to the door.

  “Listen. I’m sorry about the misunderstanding,” said Sheila, flashing a smile that would have disarmed Michael but had no effect on Blackstone. “All we need to know is whether your meeting with Ms Olveda on September 21st of last year was at her request or yours.”

  “I am not answering any question. Anything that was said between my client and myself is protected by the law. Now you either leave of your own accord or I’ll have security escort you out.”

  The lawyer’s face was getting redder by the second and a vein was visibly pulsing on his left temple. Blackstone was in great physical shape but his gym-sculpted body looked rather puny when Michael slowly got up from his chair and held the lawyer’s gaze. “It’s a simple question. You answering it doesn’t violate any ethical code.” His tone had been measured, but the lawyer correctly identified the threat posed by the giant currently staring him down. His hand hovered a foot away from the telephone in the corner of his desk for a moment before coming down to his side.

  He finally sat down and consulted a leather-bound planner. “As I seem to recall, I didn’t have any meeting with Miss Olveda in September. The last meeting I had with her was in March of last year. Over a year ago.”

  Michael felt Sheila’s eyes on him. The journalist had likely come to the same conclusion he had. “And I suppose you weren’t the one who decided to stop representing Miss Olveda,” he asked Blackstone.

  “As you can imagine, lawyers seldom fire their clients,” he said in an icy tone.

  “Any idea why she fired you?” asked Sheila.

  “No idea and I couldn’t care less. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have paying clients to attend to.”

  Chapter 83

  Lucy and Olivia had driven to Jackson to have a discussion away from prying eyes and ears. The town was located sixty miles south of Yellowstone, at the South Entrance of Grand Teton National Park. It was unlikely anyone would recognize Lucy in this area commonly referred to as Jackson Hole.

  They were having coffee at a local joint when Olivia’s phone rang.

  “Olivia? Hi. I have some news I thought might interest you. Where are you?”

  “A coffee shop in Jackson.”

  “Jackson? What are you doing there?”

  “Drinking coffee.”

  “I take you’re not alone…”

  Olivia didn’t answer.

  “Good! I’d rather you stay with her as much as possible. Keep an eye on her at all times. Maybe that’ll stop her from killing someone. Or at least slow her down.”

  He hadn’t pronounced Lucy’s name. He still refused to see her as something other than a vampire. Olivia couldn’t argue with him though. His concerns were all too real. Lucy had killed before and Olivia had little doubt she’d do it again given the opportunity. Her first one had been a scumbag, but it wasn’t an excuse.

  Olivia was just grateful Daka hadn’t mentioned Lucy to his pack yet. At least that’s what he’d told her. He’d dialed Cameahwait’s number while still in her room but had ended the call before the connection was established. She owed him big for that. He’d gone way out on a limb and he’d done it all for her.

  “What’s your news?” she asked.

  “Silvia’s men are on the move. Two of my packmates were staking out their stronghold in San Francisco. They just sent us the message. Silvia’s top lieutenant and three other guys left the Western Covenant thirty minutes before sunrise.”

  “I didn’t know you had friends watching them.”

  “I told you we’d avenge Lucy. We’re still working on it, but we need to be smart. We knew we couldn’t take them on their turf, but sooner or later they were bound to get away from their little friends. That’s when we’ll strike.”

  “Do you know where they’re going?’ asked Olivia.

  “It’s still too early to tell, but it looks like they’re heading our way. If that’s the case, they should reach Bozeman a couple hours after sunset.”

  “That would make things easy. They could also be heading for Yellowstone. Maybe the Fida’I are preparing an offense and requested some backup.”

  “Michael is out of town, but I’ll let him know as soon as I hang up with you.”

  “Thank you, Daka. For everything.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, Olivia. Not for anything,” he answered before terminating the call.

  She knew exactly what he’d meant by his last statement. Hopefully things wouldn’t get to that. But if they did, she’d have no choice but to fight him. The only way the skinwalkers would get to Lucy was over her dead body.

  “What was that all about?” asked Lucy.

  Olivia related the conversation to her sister.

  “I don’t like it. I have a bad feeling about this,” said Lucy.

  “What do you mean? You’re worried about those vampires?”

  “Yes, and about the wolves too. The whole thing stinks. I need to skip town. I need to go somewhere no one will come looking for me. I hear Mexico’s nice this time of the year.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, Luce. You’re staying with me. I’ll protect you.”

  “You remember how that worked out the last time you tried to protect me, sis?”

  Olivia had nothing to reply to that.

  Chapter 84


  Sheila was sitting with legs extended on a couch she didn’t find particularly comfortable. “I’d sure prefer to be sitting in my recliner right now,” she said.

  The Airbnb idea had been Michael’s, and although Sheila could understand his concerns, she missed the comfort of her house sitting empty a mere twenty-minute drive away.

  “Nobody will look for us here. The last time we stayed at your house, things didn’t go so well. Until this whole mess is cleaned up, we’re not going there,” replied Michael.

  Sheila sighed and returned to her furious searching of the internet. She’d been making some progress but hadn’t found what she was looking for yet. The illegality of what she was doing was in part responsible for the slow progress of her research. Looking into people’s bank accounts wasn’t something journalists were supposed to be doing. But when one had the need for it and the tools to do so, the temptation was impossible to resist. Thanks to a couple of hacker friends, she had the tools and was now shamelessly using them to trace back a number of wire transfers made to an account in Switzerland. An account belonging to a certain high fae running a certain praeternatural-killers organization.

  “I need to go to Huntsville to try and learn something about Katia’s visitors. Samantha Lewis told me she could get me through the door if needed,” said Michael.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “I don’t know yet. There’s a good chance Katia will refuse to see me, but I may learn something from the warden.”

  “He’s unlikely to tell you that it was a chameleon that impersonated Blackstone during his latest visit.”

  “I don’t need him to confirm this. It’s already an established fact. I doubt Blackstone lied to us, he had no reason to. I’m also fairly certain it was the chameleon that visited Katia the second time as well, this time impersonating Andrea Hernandez,” replied Michael.

  “Unfortunately, Andrea Hernandez is unlikely to corroborate your theory. But why would he need to impersonate two lawyers? Why didn’t he stick with Blackstone instead of bringing Hernandez into the mix?”

  “I have been thinking about this. Assuming Katia is the one behind this, I think the visit as Blackstone was a first contact. A meeting to discuss the terms of the contract. I’m still unclear as to what the second visit was about. Maybe it was simply to provide supplemental instructions for the killers… But in that case, why did the chameleon choose to impersonate Andrea Hernandez?”