* * *
The next morning Cady woke feeling refreshed and full of energy, despite the fact that it was already eighty degrees outside by mid morning. It was going to be a scorcher. Her hair was still woven into a messy braid, and she took the time to unravel it before venturing out into the living room. Combing through it with her fingers, it poofed out in a kinky mess from the tight braid, leaving her looking like a deranged mermaid caught on shore after a storm. Tiptoeing carefully to the bathroom, she ran a wet comb through her hair until it deflated somewhat before washing her face and brushing her teeth.
It turned out her preparations were for nothing, as Ethan was nowhere to be seen when she got to the living room. The blanket sat neatly folded on the edge of the couch, the glass he’d used the night before washed and put away, the front door dead-bolted securely. If not for the bloody hand towel in the hamper, she might have thought she’d dreamt up the entire thing.
A quick shower and a bowl of Tasty-O’s liberally doused with honey had her all set to start the day. She didn’t even need the usual cup of coffee to get her going. The day stretched out before her, full of possibilities. Maybe if she found Ethan in a willing mood, she could talk him into driving her to the coast?
Still dreaming about her prospects, she turned to her laptop in her usual morning ritual, the lead article on the Chronicle’s website killing her festive mood.
Two Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide.
Cady went on to read about a woman, whose identity was not yet released, found murdered in her apartment in the early hours of the day by her roommate. She’d been brutally beaten and ultimately strangled to death in her own bed. Sexual assault was suspected but not confirmed.
The man, identified as Alex Clark, died of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound on the floor in the victim’s bedroom. Clark bore traces of defensive wounds consistent with the victim’s struggles, and early blood typing showed the blood found under the victim’s nails matched his. There was no evident connection between the two, according to the roommate, but the police had yet to question her family.
She’d seen a hundred similarly tragic headlines in the past; it was one of the things that bothered her about reading the news in the first place. But what caught her eye was the picture of Alex Clark. Needing a picture to go with the flashy caption, they’d splashed a picture from his driver’s license from the look of it. Handsome, short bristly hair and hazel eyes.
The exact same guy who’d approached her in the Laundromat, Ash.
Cady stared at the photo for long minutes, trying to figure out what it all meant. Killing the woman seemed to fit the pattern of violent, psychopathic behavior Ethan described, but then why kill himself? Opening another tab, she searched for any other articles on the lurid deaths. There was precious little new information available, except for one report confirmed that she had not been sexually assaulted. That was something, she supposed, not that it made the poor girl any less dead.
A search on Alex Clark himself turned up almost nothing beyond the splashy headlines. An old Facebook account showed no new entries in the past six months, and nothing about where he lived or worked. Hitting a dead end, Cady snapped her laptop shut, going to knock on Ethan’s door without stopping to put on shoes.
There was a long pause before he answered, and this time he didn’t bother to hide the gun in his hand when he pulled the door open. “What’s wrong?” His initial welcoming smile faded when he caught sight of her expression. Cady didn’t answer right away, brushing past him to set up her computer on the breakfast bar.
“Have you seen the news this morning?”
“No, why?” Ethan leaned close as she brought up the original website, furrows deepening on his brow as he scanned the article. “Shit… how could I have missed that?”
“You were shot, I think that earned you a rest.”
“That’s no excuse. I should have been out there.” He pushed away from the counter, pacing in agitation. “Damn it, I should have seen this coming.”
“How could you have?” Cady followed him into the living room, catching hold of his hand to make him stop pacing. “Listen, do you think he actually shot himself or did someone else get to him and make it look like a suicide? I mean, why would he do that?”
That brought him up short. “I don’t know. The only time I’ve known him to take his own life is when he’s in danger of being bound. As far as I know, I’m the only one on this case though.”
“Could there be another Company man in town?”
“No, I’d know about it,” he replied with utter confidence. “There has to be some other explanation. Or maybe… maybe he wanted anonymity after what happened last night?”
“The better to stalk me with?” Balls. Just when she’d started to feel safer. “So now we don’t know who he looks like.”
“Or she. Q can take any form he chooses, it’s just usually male.”
That could make her life one big ball of paranoia. If Ash could take any form, how could she walk down the street without constantly looking over her shoulder? “Is there anything I can do to tell it’s him? I mean, are there signs to look for? Can you tell by looking at him?”
“No, not unless I see him in a vision.”
“Then get cracking!” she demanded, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice. “Do whatever you have to do, pronto. I can’t stay in my apartment forever.” Or could he get to her in the apartment too? What if he got into Kelli and she let her in? Or Ian?
Beaten and strangled. Sometimes he liked a little taste.
Good mood utterly crushed into rubble, it was Cady’s turn to pace nervously, chewing on the inside of her lip until Ethan pressed something small and hard into her hand. “What’s this?”
“I want you to wear this for protection.”
“It’s beautiful.” Intricately wrought, a delicate arrow stretched across a drawn bow about the size of a fifty cent piece, suspended on a silver chain. The pendant itself was darker than silver, some other kind of metal she didn’t recognize.
Ethan took it from her fingers and fastened it around her neck. “It doesn’t mean we’re going steady or anything, but it should keep you safe.”
“Like a good luck charm?”
“Something like that. But with an added extra bonus.” Ethan depressed a tiny catch, where the arrow met the bow and a sharpened spike slid out of the arrow’s casing, tiny flecks of rust clinging to the blade. “If he comes for you again, jam this into him anywhere, and it should buy you some time to get away.”
Cady studied the mechanism, turning it over in her fingers. “I thought you were going to be there to protect me.”
“I am, but I like to be prepared for any contingency.”
She liked the sound of that. “What’s your next move?”
“I start all over again, wait for a sign. I tried another vision again this morning, but nothing panned out. Right now we should assume he’ll try to get at you again. Until I get a clear sign otherwise, I stick to you like glue.”
“Oh really?” Her brows came up. “That doesn’t sound so bad. How are you at pizza and stupid comedies?” Those were Kelli’s favorites to watch. “Kelli’s coming over later and then I have to work tonight.”
Ethan made a face, something between smelling rotten fish and possibly fear. “You should be safe enough in your own apartment, but come and get me before you leave for work, and I’ll drive you down.”
“My own chauffeur service, I could get used to this.” Her grin turned hopeful. “I don’t suppose you feel like driving me out to the beach today, do you?”
“I could, but I should be spending my time training and searching for leads on the murdered girl.”
Which meant she’d have to spend the entire day in the hot apartment. “I could come with you.”
“No, thank you. It’s an active crime scene. It’ll be f
aster and easier if I break in on my own. As long as you’re home safe I should take advantage of the daylight hours.”
“He came to see me during the day before, you know.”
“That’s right.” Ethan paused, puzzling through that troubling fact. “Another thing that’s out of character. Demons usually prefer to move around at night, but you should be safe here. I put the protections sigils around your door this morning when I left.”
“Alright. Don’t you think you’d better give me your phone number then?”
“It’s already in your phone.”
Sure enough, there it was, under David. “When did you do that?”
“When I got up this morning.”
“Oh, I was going to ask you, how did you manage to lock the deadbolt? Or did you go out the window again?”
“I locked it behind me. A little something I picked up in my burglary training.”
Cady wasn’t sure whether he was kidding or not, but another question came to mind. “So… is your name really Ethan or David? I only ask so I know what to yell in case of emergency.”
“It’s Ethan, but nobody knows me by that name anymore.”
“Except for me.”
“Except for you,” he admitted with a faint smile.
“And the Company.”
“That’s right.”
“And Ian.”
A long sigh left his lips as he sank onto the arm of the couch. “I guess there’s no avoiding that.”
“And I might have mentioned your name to Kelli…”
“Fine, Kelli too.”
“But it’s going to be weird if they know you as Ethan and Penny knows you as David,” she pointed out, wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut at the pinched look that came over his face. “Why don’t I tell them you prefer to go by David, which is your middle name?”
“What if you don’t talk about me to them in general? That would be even better.”
“But… you and I, we’re…” He wasn’t starting to backslide already, was he? Was she going to have to kiss him again?
“We’re not supposed to. I’m under strict orders to curtail any personal… entanglements.”
“But I thought…”
This time it was Ethan who initiated the kiss, cutting off her flow of words. “I don’t know what this is,” he admitted when the kiss drew to a close. “But the less people that know about it the better.”
Mollified by the spontaneous sign of affection, Cady was glad he hadn’t moved back to the land of denial. “It’s going to be pretty hard to avoid the subject if you’re going to be sticking to my side like glue though, isn’t it?”
“I can stay out of sight.”
“This is stupid. You’re doing your job, what’s so wrong with that? Right now your job is all about sticking close to me. It seems like your Company would think that acting like you’re my boyfriend would fit perfectly. Haven’t you ever gone undercover before?”
“My whole life is undercover.”
“So what’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is I don’t usually fall for the girl I’m supposed to be protecting.”
Her smile stretched wide. “But your cover would. He’d fall hopelessly, helplessly under my spell.”
“Alright, fine.” Ethan let out a long breath, a look of resignation replacing the doubt. “We’ll play it your way for now. In case anyone asks, my name is David Brown. I’m a freelance photographer who works mostly for industrial catalogues.”
“That sounds kinda boring.”
“That’s the whole point. No one ever asks to see samples of your work when you’re shooting pictures of components all day. No parents, no brothers or sisters, my favorite color is blue.”
“Are those parts true?”
“Yes and no. My favorite color is actually green.”
“Why would you need to lie about that?” Her head tilted to one side as she tried to puzzle through the need for that level of deception.
“So I can watch your face pucker up like that,” he grinned, earning a smack across the abs from Cady.
“I’ll give you a pucker,” she growled, attacking him with a kiss that left them both breathless. “Alright, David,” Cady said, locking her hands behind his neck. “I can keep your secrets if it keeps you close by. And after this is all over…”
“Then we’re in new territory.”