Rachel Caine - Fall of Night

‘That’s on me. I didn’t want you to know.’

I could tell that she checked herself right then, and because I knew her, I also knew that she was thinking that our personal relationship issues weren’t the worst thing happening today. ‘Then tell me what happened today.’

‘Okay, here’s the truth,’ I said. ‘I pass by the house every once in a while – it’s kind of on the way to work, okay? And last time I was by here, I saw this big guy trying to jimmy your front door. I warned him off and asked the cops to step up patrols.’

‘The attempted break-in card,’ Claire said. ‘Was it Derrick who was trying to break in?’

I nodded. ‘Yeah, he introduced himself. He’s a real douche bag.’

‘He’s Liz’s stalker.’

‘Well, that fits. He had the vibe.’

‘So it was Derrick who went in to get her.’

‘No,’ I said, and leant forward to lower my voice. ‘It was four guys in a very slick military manoeuvre – one in a delivery van with a sliding door that blocked the view of the front, and three who went inside. They had master keys, because they opened it up fast and went in quietly. Then, about a minute later, they came out with a girl with a black hood over her face – like some kind of CIA rendition from the movies. She wasn’t protesting too much; I think she was too scared. I was going to move, because I honestly thought it might be you, Claire, until I saw her getting into the van; she didn’t move like you, and she was as tall as Eve, so I thought it must be your friend. One of the men went back inside, and then all of a sudden, Derrick showed up. I don’t think he knew what was going on – he was across the street in his usual spot, holding up the lamp post. All he knew was that the door was open, so he bolted inside; he didn’t even know they’d taken the girl out.’

‘Liz,’ Claire said softly. ‘Her name is Liz.’

‘I know. Sorry. I would have done something, except I’m not in the best shape right now.’

She paused, biting her lip, studying my face. ‘God, Shane. You weren’t kidding, were you? You really got beat up.’

I had, and I felt it. The aches and pains were bad enough, but half my face was throbbing, and I knew the bruising was going to darken into a spectacular tie-dye pattern. Plus, my damn arm hurt as if I’d cracked a bone, though I knew I hadn’t, or at least the X-rays hadn’t showed it. The skin itched something crazy, as if I’d fallen into a bunch of poison ivy. Not too likely, even if we were Ivy League-adjacent.

I really didn’t want to look at Claire directly, because despite the apparent concern in her words, her voice had a fragile, hard tone I didn’t like. I don’t know what would have been worse, seeing pity from her, or seeing … something else. Instead, I stared at a discoloured spot on the table and scraped at it with my thumbnail as I continued my story. ‘Derrick and the other guy came stumbling out less than a minute later, and Derrick looked hurt. They tossed him in the van too, and took off.

‘Do you know where they took them?’

‘Not a clue,’ I said, ‘but I got a picture of the van and the plate, plus at least one of the guys.’ I dug out my phone and passed it to Jesse, who navigated the menus with an impressive amount of ease, considering she was an ancient bloodsucker; I’d already worked out that she had to be pretty old, because she wasn’t particularly worried about the sun. Even with the hoodie and hat, most vampires would have been scared, but Jesse seemed cool and calm and not the least bit flammable. ‘Maybe you’ve got some contacts who can use that?’

‘Likely,’ Jesse said. ‘All right, Claire, you obviously can’t go back home. Whether this was some separate event related to your friend – and I’m going to have her background and family checked – or whether this had to do with you and your work with Dr Anderson, it’s not safe for you there, and it’s our fault you stayed as long as you did in a difficult situation. When you reported the first event to Irene, I should have insisted you get out of that house immediately, but she was convinced that they were only looking for the device, and since it had been moved …’

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘What event are we talking about?’ Because it seemed to me that I’d missed something important. Something Claire should have told me.

It was probably wrong for me to be upset about that, considering how much I’d kept from her, though. Didn’t stop me.

When she didn’t immediately start talking, though, Jesse spilt it for her. ‘Two spy types let themselves into the house the other night,’ she said. ‘While Claire was there. She hid, and they searched the place. Nobody got hurt.’

I felt my jaw go tight, and I tried really hard not to clench my teeth too much. ‘Until now, you mean. Unless you don’t count humans getting abducted as hurt .’

‘Down, boy. I’m not your enemy. Claire called me to help.’ Jesse flashed a brief, biting smile at me. ‘After she asked me if I had gone munchies on her friend, of course. But that’s a sensible and sane question, for someone who’s lived where you’ve lived. I would have asked it, too, in your shoes. Relax.’ She moved her fingers on his phone’s keypad, lightning fast, and then handed it back. ‘I’ve forwarded the pictures on to a friend who can do the footwork. Quick thinking, getting the shot. And not rushing in. You’d have ended up taken just like Derrick, I think. No offence, but it’s likely these are men trained in quick, quiet abduction. It’s not like fighting vampires.’

‘Nothing here is like fighting vampires,’ I said. ‘It’s more like fighting smoke. I think I like it when I had an actual enemy to face.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, you have some. We just haven’t seen them yet,’ Jesse said. ‘But we will. And when we do …’ She showed fang, just for a moment; anybody who happened to catch a glimpse would have doubted their sanity, especially since the teeth disappeared in a flash. ‘When we do, we’ll settle this Morganville style.’

‘What’ll we do about Liz, and Derrick?’ Claire asked. ‘They don’t have anything to do with this, if it’s about me and Professor Anderson and vampires. They’re just caught in the middle.’

‘You know what generally happens to people in the middle, Claire?’ Jesse asked, as she got to her feet. ‘Crossfire.’ She speared me with a long look, and I threw it right back at her. ‘Shane, get her someplace safe. I’m holding you responsible. I have your phone number now, and I’ll be in touch when I have something. Until then, lay low.’

‘What about the police?’ Claire asked. ‘Shouldn’t I call them?’

‘Call them if you like,’ Jesse said, ‘but when you do, they’re going to ask you to explain why you dumped a fresh pizza on the floor inside the house, found blood in your housemate’s room, and didn’t call 911 immediately. They’ll match the store receipt to your route and the time you were seen entering the house. And the first person they’ll detain is you . You had the keys. There was no forced entry. And in the police’s experience, generally the person who lives in the house is the first person to suspect.’

It was all pretty damn logical. Brutally logical. Claire swallowed hard and nodded. ‘No police then.’

‘Smart girl.’

I watched Jesse as she walked away, hood up, hands in her pockets. She didn’t even hurry. Yeah, that was some scary confidence, considering she was essentially vulnerable out here, alone. ‘Sorry,’ I said. Not to Jesse, but to Claire. I was still trying not to look her in the eye. ‘I’d rather talk about all this someplace safer. Can we go?’

‘I’d rather talk about it here,’ she said, ‘because at least if I’m here, I can order coffee, and I probably won’t scream in frustration out loud. Think of it as a public buffer zone.’