Page 72 of Visions in Blood
I borrowed a six-inch dagger from Sergi’s supply for Ginger to use, but after the first thirty minutes, it was pretty obvious it wouldn’t be her weapon of choice.Besides, if she got that close to a vamp to use it, she’d end up dead.So, we sneaked down to the armory, and I punched in Sergi’s security code I’d figured out weeks ago.That was before he’d understood my skills as a thief.
Devon kept a well-stocked supply of swords, daggers, rifles, handguns, throwing stars, and other weapons of death.Ginger’s eyes danced when I pulled open a drawer and found a collection of derringer pistols.It didn’t take her long to select one with a rosewood grip that fit her grasp perfectly.After a couple practice sessions, I discovered my bestie had wickedly good aim.
Needless to say, no perfectly good armory existed without a fair amount of ammo.In the Trelane House, that included a walk-in closet the size of a master bath with wall-to-wall shelves that ran from floor to ceiling.There was a wide array to choose from, but I grabbed a box of 9mm silver bullets.Sergi would eventually notice a missing box.I had no doubt he kept a tight inventory, but I’d worry about it later.
Between my dagger and martial art skills, and Ginger with her defensive training and silver bullets, we knew better than to think we could take on vamps, but we felt empowered enough to survive until the calvary arrived.
Security had been tight after the incident with the shifters, but Bella and Jacques, who’d been assigned as our bodyguards, took us shopping each day.Ginger requested they take us to the same eastside mall.The vamps never asked why, and after a couple hours, we always returned with bags from various stores.They parked outside and let us go in alone as long as we promised to keep our phones attached to our hips.The general consensus was that no vamp in their right mind would launch an attack at a mall.
What was really happening when we went to the mall was that Ginger spent the time doing what she did best—wandering the stores, trying on anything and everything, and purchasing a little bit of this and a lot of that.I’d leave her immediately, giving her a small fist bump before walking out the back door of the mall that bordered the local metro stop.
Within thirty minutes, I stepped off the bus to this lovely, tree-lined neighborhood.And on this third day of our own little world, it was time to rattle some cages.The fire escape was in good condition and faced the alley between buildings.It was the middle of the day when most of the neighborhood was at work, and though it was a bit risky, I guessed that even in this neighborhood, no one would be surprised by someone on the outer stairs.
After standing in a doorway, scoping out the windows of the next-door building and not seeing anyone, I pulled on a knitted hat and tucked my hair inside.I wore my jeans and sneakers with an oversized T-shirt and a loose windbreaker.With any luck, no one could discern if I was male or female, and most would assume male.
I caught the bottom rung of the ladder on my first try, which was easy after all the wall training Simone had put me through.Once I reached the third-floor window, it took less than a minute to shake my head at the sloppy security and bypass it.Some things never changed.
I didn’t need to take the extra time but decided to play it safe and waited for something loud to pass by.It didn’t take long for a delivery truck to cruise by the main street, and I used the sound to mask sliding open the window, just in case it stuck.
I checked my watch.If he was on time, I had five minutes to spare.I grabbed a hard cider out of the fridge and made myself comfortable on the leather couch, flipping through one of several magazines sprawled across the coffee table.
When voices filled the hall outside the apartment, I smiled at the familiar argument.Keys rattled at the door—first the dead bolt, then a second one, and finally the doorknob.The door burst open and two people stumbled in, both still grumbling until the man and woman came to an abrupt halt when they spotted me.
I flipped another page and smiled up at them.“Hello, Harlow.Trudy.”When the two people from my old crew stared open mouthed like bass after a worm, I grinned wider.“Shut the door, Lucy.You have some ’splaining to do.”
Trudy slammed the door, took the bag Harlow was carrying and walked to the kitchen which was separated from the living area by a long counter.She smiled at me, pulled a beer out of the fridge, and held up a hard cider.“Need a fresh one?”
I nodded.“You might need to get something a bit stronger for Harlow.”
He was still at the door.He’d shut his mouth, but I could see the wheels turning, deciding the best approach.
“Cressa, luv.”He sauntered in, going for the casual approach, and I almost smiled.He dropped his keys in a crystal bowl on the coffee table, then sprawled in the plush leather chair, his grin in place as his gaze rolled over me, making the usual stops at my breasts and crotch.
Trudy smirked when she joined us, handing me a new bottle and Harlow a beer.“How did you know we’d be here or that you’d catch us coming home?”
I chortled.“Late breakfast at the diner, a stroll to the local bars to check in with the crews, a little shopping, then back home.”I gave Harlow a pointed look.“You know better than sticking with a routine.”
He grumbled when Trudy snickered.“Told you.”
“Hasn’t been a problem until now.”His cocky expression disappeared, and his shoulders slumped.His hand was shaky as he ran it over his head, moving it back and forth, making his mess of locks more of a rat’s nest.
I waited to see if he’d say more, but he wouldn’t.Not because he didn’t care.The guilt had been eating at him.He was a specialist at covering his emotions from most people.A quick glance at Trudy, who was frowning at him, only confirmed it.
“Sorrento refused to tell me where he took you.”He broke sooner than I’d expected, and he laid it out in a simple matter-of-fact approach.“I heard him and his bodyguards rubbed someone the wrong way.”
I didn’t have time for chatting over Sorrento’s disappearance and what I knew to be a grisly death.“I’m only here for one reason.”I didn’t have to ask it.He knew.
“It was Stan.”
I shot another glance at Trudy, and she grimaced.But Stan?“Then he must be one helluva an actor.He looked ready to piss himself every time Sorrento stalked by him.”
Harlow cackled, short and dry.“Oh, yeah, he was.That was no act.Sorrento had his hooks in a few of crew members.Mine, Jaconi’s, and Webster’s.”
The big three of the north.Made sense.All it took was Pandora joining any of them for a job, and Sorrento could spring his trap.And to rat out a crew?If they were caught, they’d never work in the region again.In California, that meant they wouldn’t find a crew anywhere up and down the West Coast.
I considered Sorrento’s choice of crew member to target.It had been perfect.There was no doubt Stan was the weakest link.And when Sorrento made an offer, he might as well be the godfather.Still, he had to have had something on Stan to get him to turn on them.
“What happened to him?”I had to know.
