The Cabbie and the Cop – 26

Simeon woke instantly but kept his eyes closed, his body still, using his other senses to determine whether the person he felt in the room was friend or foe. Then he chuckled, sitting up. “Couldn’t live without me for even a day?”

Vergil uncrossed his legs and got up from where he’d been sitting on the floor by the window. “Actually there may be a grain of truth in that, though not the way you meant it.”

“Trouble?” Simeon leaned against the headboard, ignoring the fact the sheet slid off him in the process.

“Depends on your definition.” Vergil’s eyes flicked down to Simeon’s crotch, lingering there for a moment before he raised them to the vampire’s face.

“Trouble: an event causing distress or pain; a source of difficulty; an unfortunate or distressing position, circumstance, or occurrence. Any of those cover it?”

Vergil couldn’t help but laugh. “All of the above. And speaking of covering…” He walked to the side of the bed to pull the sheet up high enough to hide Simeon’s cock from sight. “I don’t need that distraction right now,” he told him when Simeon arched an eyebrow.

Simeon patted the bed. “Sit and tell all. I promise to behave.”

Vergil did, finishing with, “And so I’m going to disappear for a while, at least as far as anyone who knows me or about me is concerned.”

“Including me. Thanks for the warning.”

“Hush. That was a blanket statement, not an individual one. I could use your help with this if you’re willing.”

“Of course I am. What do you need?”

“The man Harwood hired will be looking for me, which won’t be hard since he’ll have pictures of me from the videos Harwood made. Obviously I can and will change my appearance, but there’s one thing I can’t get rid of.” Vergil pulled back his sleeve. “The marks, both of them, are undoubtedly very visible on the films. I have places to go to ground but they’re in other parts of the country, not here in the city.”

“So why not use them?”

“That would just put off the inevitable since Harwood wants revenge. He was caught dead to rights so the case against him doesn’t need my testimony. He just wants me dead, or so I’m presuming. You don’t send a hit man after someone to capture them.”

Simeon nodded. “True.” He tapped a thumbnail against his teeth. “You need a safe place to hide and a way to get around without being obvious. I can give you both.”

“I hoped that would be the case. I don’t usually ask for help but I’ve been told the man who is out to get me is not one to take lightly.”

“Does he have a name?”

“Calaul.”

Simeon stared at him in dismay. “There is only one assassin who would call himself that. Others have tried, and died by his hand. Yes, Vergil, whoever told you he was not to be taken lightly did not lie.”