(16) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Hang on a minute before you go.” Shan turned towards the stairs, shouting, “Race, get down here, now.”

“Yes sir.” Race stood from where he’d been sitting on the stairs to come down and join them.

“Is this the man who gave you the message,” Shan growled.

“You don’t have to ask him,” the Messenger interjected. “I’ll tell you myself, it wasn’t me but it was one of my minions. After all, I may be almost as ancient as Addison but that doesn’t mean I can spend much time in sunlight.”

“And your minion followed him today?”

“He did,” the Messenger replied. “Unless you are stupider than I think, I’m certain you know the reason for all the subterfuge.”

“Yeah, so I’d get in touch with Addie. What if I hadn’t?”

“Then I would have had to come up with something else.” He turned back to Addie. “Whether or not you want to be the Queen, there are both those who will press for it and, I’m very much afraid, those who would see you dead before allowing it to happen. Be careful Addison, very careful. Please.”

While the Messenger was speaking to Addie, Shan beckoned Race closer. “Messenger, before you leave I’d like to introduce you to my friend Race, as you haven’t actually met him.”

The Messenger smiled, holding out his hand. Immediately understanding why Shan had done that, Race shook it quickly before pulling back. He felt something brush his mind just as he had from both Shan and Addie.

With a slow nod the Messenger looked Race over. “Very interesting. I have to wonder if it was coincidence or fate that made my minion select you to deliver my note to Darshan.”

“I’d opt for fate,” Shan said with a slight smile. “But that’s neither here nor there at the moment.”

“No it’s not,” Addie agreed as she stood. “I’ll take all that you’ve said under advisement, Messenger. But for now I need time alone to think about it.”

“I quite understand Addison. I’ll await your decision. You know how to get hold me.” With that he bowed slightly to her and then went to the door, waiting for Shan to let him out.

(15) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Don’t mind me, I’m just the hired help,” Shan told the Messenger, not relaxing his stance in the least.

“You can talk in front of him or leave,” Addie said shortly. 

The Messenger nodded. “May we at least sit rather than standing here waiting for him to try to kick me out?”

With ill grace Addie nodded. Once they were seated she said, “But what?”

"Addison I regret what occurred—many of us do. But that is in the past now. The future is what is important and we need to find a new King."

"Or Queen, don't forget." She stopped, staring at him as realization hit, shaking her head. "Oh no. I hope no one has their sights on me because that is not happening. I don't care if I'm the oldest of our kind in the whole damned world I am not interested. Understand."

"Yes, Mistress."

Addie eyed him skeptically. "First you're calling me Addison, now you're back to Mistress. I'm not liking what that's implying Messenger."

He chuckled. "As an ancient you deserve my respect when you issue what I suppose is an order of sorts."

"Well take my 'order' back to whoever sent you. Let them know I may, just may, attend the conclave but only to cast my vote for someone who deserves to be our King."

The Messenger bowed his head. "As you wish, but Addison please at least consider the idea."

She was about to tell him he should leave now when something occurred to her. “How did you find me, Messenger? I’ve made every effort to remain well hidden. Does this mean you know where I live now?”

"It does, through your friendship with Darshan. I had only to follow him to find your home, but I promise that I will keep your secret. My talents are numerous Addison, one of them being the ability to track the trail of a Were when he teleports. Don't worry, he is very skilled, amazingly so, but I am his equal in some things."

Addie studied him. "You're a vampire sorcerer?"

"It's possible, just as there are Weres who are sorcerers." He shot a look at Shan. “We’ll leave it at that for the moment. Now I must take my leave.”

(14) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Do we let him in?” Shan asked. “Or more to the point can you tell if it’s someone you trust?”

“It’s someone I know. Trusting him is another thing but I seriously doubt he’ll try anything overt, so go ahead.”

At her words Shan disarmed the security system, all of it including the wards, keeping his hand on the buttons, ready to reactivate it the moment the man outside had entered.

Addie opened the door, a tight smile on her face.

"Mistress" The man stepped inside and bowed deeply. "I come with a message."

"Considering you're the Messenger that's hardly a surprise," Addie hissed. "If it's from the bastard King you can tell him where to go and what to do when he gets there."

The Messenger smiled slightly. "There is no King at the moment. He had an unfortunate accident of the head-rolling kind. It seems some of his most loyal followers were more than a bit upset when, somehow," he shot her a look, "word got out that he was a coward."

"Aww, how sad. Not." Addie smiled but she felt somehow bereft. She had wanted to take her own physical revenge on him. But at least she'd been instrumental in his death, in her own way. "So now what, is there going to be a conclave to choose a new King?"

"King or Queen. You know there is no discrimination when it comes to that. The conclave is two weeks from today, in his former headquarters in Baton Rouge. I presume you will be there."

Addie shrugged. "If I'm not busy, sure. I can't say it's on the top of my list of things I want to do."

"Addison, you have to be there. You are an ancient, one of the very few."

"And as an ancient, I don't have to do a damned thing I don't want to."

The Messenger's lip quirked up at that. "Getting testy in your old age?"

Addie sighed deeply. "I don't know if you have a clue what I've gone through. I suspect you don't or you wouldn't be here hassling me. So just to make things very clear, I am not in the mood to deal with any of my kind at the moment."

"I am very much aware of the death of your loved ones and the battle that ensued because of it. I know it was you who put the bug in one of his minion's ears, as they say. But…" The Messenger paused, as if realizing for the first time that Shan was standing there listening.

(13) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Dead, dead, and happily married,” Addie said, scratching three more names off the list Shan had worked up of people who might possibly have it in for him.

“You’re too good with that thing,” Shan commented as she punched the last name into a computer search engine he’d never even heard of before tonight. “How did you get to be such an expert?”

“Necessity for the job,” she said tersely as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Behind them, Race watched and listened. He had the feeling, from the tone of her voice, there was more to it than Addie would say aloud. And from the tenseness in Shan’s shoulders it probably had to do with why they were the only two alive of all the people in the pictures on the wall beside him.

“That leaves us with the one you’re looking for. If he doesn’t pan out then we’re back to what we’ve been thinking all along.”

Shan nodded when she pointed to something on the screen, saying, “He’s eliminated.”

“Yes.” She stopped, cocking her head for a moment and then she was on her feet. To Race she looked for all the world like some warrior princess ready to do battle. “We have company,” she hissed. “Or will have in about thirty seconds, at the front door. Security’s on?”

“Always,” Shan told her. “Any idea who or what?”

“Vampire, that’s all I’m reading. Let’s get down there. Race, you’re to stay up here. Got that?”

“Yes ma’am.” Race might have saluted but he knew now was not the time. On the other hand he wasn’t about to hide upstairs while they dealt with uninvited company. Cautiously he inched his way to the top of the stairs and, feeling like a kid waiting for a particularly nasty version of Santa, sat down to wait and watch for what happened next.

Guardian Angels – An Interesting Life (11)

"Yeah." Vic blew out a long breath. "I know you're right, but I still can't stay here and put you in danger. You're not trained for it."

"What part of 'I was in the Army' didn't you understand?"

"As a medic."

"A combat medic. I saw my fair share of battle. I know which end of a gun is which and I was taught hand-to-hand fighting after I enlisted."

"You're not going to give in on this are you," Vic muttered.

"No. First and foremost because I was a medic. I can't in good conscience let you leave until you're in better condition than you are right now."

"And while I'm sitting here recuperating, the blackmailer is trying his damnedest to get Marshall to pull out of the primary race. Presuming, of course, that's what he's going for. From what I was told when I was hired, Marshall has a week to make up his mind before the blackmailer goes public with his information."

Evan frowned. "How long since you took the job?"

"Four days now. Three following the husband around on campaign stops and at fundraisers, and then last night and today here."

"Then we don't have much time to come up with some other way to find out who the blackmailer is."

"Any bright suggestions?"

"No, but between us, we can probably figure out something. Like… catching those men when they come back here and doing a little interrogating of our own."

"Somehow I doubt they're going to spill their guts to us about who hired them."

* * * *

"Shall we tell them?" Dom asked.

He and Paddy had returned to Evan's house as soon as they'd gotten what information they could out of the minds of the two men they'd captured. Once they had, they dropped the men back at their car, having convinced them, telepathically, to forget the interrogation and just tell their boss that Evan had security on his house they couldn't bypass. 

"It would mean revealing ourselves," Paddy pointed out.

"As if we haven't done that before when the situation warranted it."

"But does it now? All we learned was that they work for someone who wants Vic stopped, although they don't know who it is."

"Agreed. We do have the phone number they use for reporting in."

Paddy looked thoughtful. "What if…? No, a strange note showing up in Vic's email, and that's presuming he'd even think to check it right now, probably wouldn't do the trick. He'd think it was a maneuver to throw him off the scent."

"I would, if it were me."

"The same if we wrote out the information and stuck it in Evan's mailbox." Paddy paced until Dom told him to stop or he'd wear a hole in the carpet.

"In this form?" Paddy replied scathingly. But he did come to a halt. "We don't have to 'appear'. We could come to the front door and say we're… the police? That we arrested two men who'd been seen trying to break in to houses in the neighborhood and they'd copped to why they were?"

"Given the way Vic feels about the police at the moment, you probably wouldn't get past 'Police' before he slammed the door in your face."

"You're trying to make this difficult."

"No, I'm just being practical."

"Revealing ourselves is practical?"

Dom nodded. "Once we get them to suspend their disbelief. And appearing in front of them should go a long way toward doing that, as you well know."

With a sigh, Paddy admitted he was right.

(12) When all else is lost the future still remains

“Wait, let me guess.” Race looked at Addie. “You said you knew vampires who were beautiful creatures, Shan. She’s beautiful so I’m betting she’s one of them.”

Addie smiled. “Thank you for the compliment, Race, and I am. Did Shan really call me a creature?” She shot a glace at him, pretending to be upset.

Shan held his hands up in mock surrender. “I did, but you know I didn’t mean it that way.”

With a kiss to his cheek she told him, “I’ll forgive you, this time.” Then she turned her attention back to Race. When he looked at her she locked eyes with him for a very long moment and the nodded. “You’re quite right you can’t be mesmerized, not even by one as old as I am.”

“So you’re going to tell me you’re around two-hundred, too, like Shan.”

Addie laughed. “Not even close. I’m well over one thousand, and no jokes about how I only look such and such, I’ve heard them all.”

“Honestly, if I’d been guessing, I’d have said you were only a couple of years older than me.”

“As Shan told me that you’re twenty-one you’d be spot on.”

“By the way,” Race said, “I did feel you touching my mind. And you, yesterday,” he added as he glanced at Shan.

“Now that’s very interesting.” Shan looked at Addie. “He’s sensitive in more ways than just the physical touch thing. I wonder…”

When Shan didn’t continue Race asked, “What””

“Nothing, well something but I need to give it some thought before I say anything.”

Addie nodded. “It’s a possibility.”

“Now I feel like I’m in some bad movie where everyone knows what’s going on but the dumbass hero,” Race grumbled.

“I’ll tell you in time,” Shan said, gripping his shoulder. When Race jerked away Shan pulled his hand back, apologizing. “Sorry, I forgot.”

Race let him think he’d done that because of the touching but it had been more than that. In the brief seconds of contact Race had felt the overpowering sense of loss at the core of Shan’s being. And once again he wanted desperately to help him get past it and move on with his life.

(11) When all else is lost the future still remains

One look at Race’s face as the young man came into the living room told Shan that something had happened. He gave him time to put down his pack and collapse onto the sofa before asking what. Quickly and succinctly Race told him. When he’d finished Shan asked, “Are you certain it was the same man?”

“I wouldn’t take a blood oath on it, no. But if it wasn’t it was his doppelganger, unless there’s a whole troop of men wandering the city dressed like that. And in this heat I sort of doubt it.”

“I agree.” Shan paced for a moment before saying, “This sort of puts a whole new light on things. After all, the man who gave you the message obviously knows where I live.”

“That’s what I was thinking, so why follow me?”

“As a part of his game, especially if he’s aware that you didn’t leave here until this morning.  Quite possibly he intentionally allowed you to see him at the end so you’d come back and tell me.”

“It worked. So what are we going to do now?”

Shan smiled slightly at the ‘we’. “I am going to go get a friend of mine and bring her back here. You are going upstairs and unpack your bag while I do.”

“I can’t come with you? Bummer.”

“Trust me we’ll be back before you’re half finished. Now get.” Shan pointed to the stairs.

Race muttered softly under his breath about bossy men as he headed up. Shan chuckled, not bothering to inform him that, with his hearing, what he's said had come across loud and clear. An instant later he was gone from the room, only to appear two minutes later with Addie.

She grumbled, as always, about how much she hated teleporting and then looked around the living room. “So, where’s the kid?”

“I’m not a kid,” Race announced as he came down the stairs.

“I can see.” Addie smiled, holding out her hand. “I’m Addie and you must be Race.”

Race hesitated for a moment, glancing at Shan, and then touched Addie’s fingertips. “Another one,” he said, drawing his hand back.

“Non-human but a different species,” Shan replied in agreement.

(10) When all else is lost the future still remains

Mid-morning of the next day, at Shan’s insistence, Race had gone to collect what little he owned from the two spots he’d called ‘home’ for the last couple of years. He’d always considered himself lucky that no one had hassled him at either place, or stolen any of his meager belongings, which amounted to one battered backpack crammed full of stuff—all he had to show for his life on the streets.

He headed back to Shan’s later in the afternoon, wondering how soon it would be before he ended up out on his ass again, searching for a new spot to call his own. He knew good and well that the two squats he’d been using would be snapped up within days by other unfortunate kids needing a safe place to bed down.

As he walked the narrow path along the edge of the river he got the creepy feeling that he was being observed. It came from the sort of sixth sense any long-term denizen of the streets developed in order to avoid cops and other predators. Clambering up the grassy bank to the sidewalk above, he shaded his eyes, searching for the source of his nervousness. There were plenty of people around, as he was fairly close to tourist section of the city, but none who seemed the least bit interested in him.

Adjusting the pack on his shoulders, he joined the flow of pedestrians along the walkway leading to Riverwalk and the Aquarium. A few minutes later he was sitting on one of the benches between Jackson Park and the Cathedral, trying to look like nothing more than a wore-out tourist taking a break. With the shadows lengthening as the sun began to go down, he decided he’d better keep going before Shan began to worry, presuming of course that he would.

As he stretched and started to get up, he again had the sense of being watched. Casually he looked around. He was about to give it up as before, thinking it was just nerves, when he caught sight of someone standing in Pirate’s Alley deep in the shade of the Cathedral wall. He might have thought nothing of it but the person, a man from his height and build, was wearing a long coat that reminded him of the one the guy who had hired him had worn.

Now why are you following me, if you are. You know perfectly well where Shan lives so you can’t be trying to find that out. He started walking slowly down Chartres in the opposite direction from Shan’s place, dodging tourists while using them to cover him as he checked shop windows to see if the man was behind him. At first he though he was in the clear, then he saw the man’s silhouette in the last light of the sun on the horizon. 

Turning the next corner onto one of the side streets, Race ducked through the first open door he saw, finding himself in a small knick-knack shop. The cluttered aisles gave him a perfect hiding place, while allowing him to watch the window. Moments later he saw the man pass by. Race waited for several minutes, toying with the ubiquitous strands of beads that almost every shop in the Quarter carried, and then cautiously he left, retracing his steps back toward the Cathedral and from there he hurried on to Shan’s home.

Guardian Angels – An Interesting Life (10)

"Just because I'm a one-man operation doesn't mean I don’t call in help when I need to," Vic said. "Well, unless doing so means breaking my confidentiality agreement with a client. Of course, if I find out my client is doing something illegal and is using me to further their ends then all bets are off."

Evan chuckled. "Now I'm picturing you in a dingy office in one of the older downtown buildings—a battered desk, a coat-tree in one corner where you hang your fedora."

Laughing, Vic shook his head as they went back inside. "I'm really very up-to-date. I've got a nice office, computers, modern furniture, and a receptionist. I've even been known to wear a suit and tie when meeting with prospective clients."

"So did Sam Spade, at least in the movies."

"That was in the forties. Everyone did, back then."

"True," Evan agreed. Changing the subject, he set the gun down on the kitchen table, asking, "What do we do with this? Do you know how to lift fingerprints? And even if you do, what good will it do us?"

"I can, but obviously not here. I don't have what I need. At the moment though, that's beside the point. Whoever tried to break in must have been looking for me, which means I definitely need to get out of here before they try again."

"You're jumping to conclusions. How would they know you were here? I mean, here specifically. Yeah they lost you somewhere in the neighborhood but…"

"You think they were going to break into every house on the block to check? No. Somehow they narrowed it down to this house. Maybe they came back earlier today and found something. I wasn't exactly in the best shape when I got away from them. By the time I got to your yard, I'd already fallen a couple of times and I crawled across it to where you found me."

"Then why the hell did they leave? They did start to open the window."

"Instinct, maybe. Or they heard us coming. Maybe they had someone watching the back of the house and he saw you come out. There could be a hundred reasons." Vic sighed as he sat down. "Whatever it was, you can bet they'll be back again and next time, they might come in guns blazing."

"Why didn't they this time?"

"Damn it, Evan, I'm not a mind reader. How the hell would I know?"

"Sorry," Evan muttered.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bitten your head off. I'm tense. I hurt. I'm worried that I've put you in jeopardy by being here. So, as I said, I should go."

"That won't stop them. If they see you leave, they'll follow you." Evan frowned. "You know, that could be exactly what they had in mind. Make it look like they were breaking in to force your hand and get you out where they can grab you again."

"Possible… I guess." Vic leaned back, staring off into space. "If that is why, and I do leave…"

"They beat the shit out of you again."

"No, maybe this time they take me to their boss and then I find out who's behind the blackmail."

"And end up dead in the process, which is sort of counterproductive."

"I can take care of myself," Vic grumbled.

"Yeah, I saw how well you did that."

"I'll be prepared."

"Vic, right now you couldn't take down a baby in a fair fight and you know it. It's been less than twenty-four hours since they beat you up. If it weren't for the pills, you'd be in a hell of a lot more pain than you are. So do not think you could handle—anything."

Meet 'The Runaway and the Enforcer'. Out today!

The Runaway and the Enforcer

http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_94&products_id=2178

 

Beau, thirty-five, is a gangland enforcer who has gone into hiding rather than following the orders of his boss, Mercer, to harm a rival's kid. Now, all Beau wants to do is eliminate Mercer before getting out of town.

When Rick, an eighteen-year-old denizen of the streets, witnesses Beau killing one of Mercer's men who has found him, Beau takes Rick under his wing instead of killing him, as well. He offers Rick a place to stay while he figures out how to put his plan to take Mercer out into action -- without ending up dead himself.

Befriending Rick is an act Beau may come to regret. Rick convinces Beau to take him along when he leaves town -- thus working his way into Beau's dangerous life on the run -- and perhaps, into his heart, if Beau can come to grips with the fact that Rick is half his age.

Note: This story contains scenes of graphic violence.

EXCERPT:

Resting his elbows on the table, Rick stared at Beau, asking, "Why are you in hiding, and from who?"

"Whom," Beau replied with a trace of a smile, getting a raised finger from Rick in return.

"Well?" Rick said when Beau remained silent.

"I refused to do something my boss ordered me to. He took umbrage with that and decided I was a loose cannon who had to be eliminated."

Rick nodded slowly. "Who did he want you to kill?"

"Kid, you're too smart for your own good."

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Rick leaned back, looking hard at Beau. "That's what you do. You kill people."

"If I said yes, would you pack up and leave?"

"I saw you kill that guy last night, and I came home with you."

"That doesn't answer the question. As far as you were concerned, you put it down to self-defense, which, to a certain extent, it was. Him, or me, and I like living."

Rick got up to pace the living room. He stopped to peer out the window for a moment. Then he turned to ask, "Good guys, or bad guys?"

"Competitors, mostly. Sometimes our people," Beau responded, understanding what he meant.

"So people from another ... gang? The Mob? Whatever you want to call it?"

"Yes."

"And you're okay with that?"

Beau nodded. "It's a job. It pays well. And I'm protected, or I was. There's no way the cops could get to me, because I was always alibied."

"If they did, you'd sit in jail until your boss's high-powered lawyer got you out."

"It's been known to happen. Not to me, but to guys I work with."

"Doesn't it bother you, at least a little bit, that you're hurting or killing people?"

"They're our competition," Beau replied.

"You don't go after normal citizens, or cops?"

"First off, killing a cop would be stupid. They don't stop looking for the killer when that happens, which makes things harder for everyone, us and the other guys doing what we do."

"And civilians?"

"In my defense, for what it's worth, I haven't killed any, and I wouldn't."

"What if you were ordered to deal with, oh, I don't know, the wife or kid of one of your competitors, to teach the guy a lesson?"

Beau tapped his fingers together. "That's why I'm sitting in a rented, furnished apartment, instead of in the nice house I own halfway across the city."

Rick smiled. "So you do have some morals."

"Damned few." Beau smiled briefly. "One of them, maybe the only one, is that I won't kill a kid, or harm one, no matter what."

"Nice to know," Rick replied dryly, "since you seem to think I'm a kid."

Beau chuckled. "You're under twenty-one, so in my book, you qualify."

Rick came back to sit at the table. "Why are you here, instead of on the other side of the country?"

"I've got something I need to do, first. And no, I'm not telling you what."

"If this place is rented, can't they track you that way?"

Beau snorted. "How stupid do you think I am? It's not in my name, or any name I've ever used."

"That's good to know, I guess."

"You don't sound too sure."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything," Rick replied. "I see a man killed, I end up hanging with his killer, then find out you're, I guess a mob enforcer?"

"That's what my boss calls me." Beau smiled sourly. "Among other things, now, I'm sure."

"I can think of several things to call him, if he wanted you to kill a kid," Rick said angrily. "Like a little kid?"

Beau shook his head. "Not kill. Beat up. And he was sixteen. His father wanted to go off on his own. My boss didn't like that."

"And you refused?"

"For what it's worth, yeah. And that's all I'm saying on the subject. The less you know, the better -- for both of us."

Rick frowned. "What if he sent someone else to do it, since you wouldn't?"

"The kid's safe, now. I dropped a hint that it might be a good idea if he vanished."

"That must have pissed your boss off."

"No shit."

"So, you vanished, too. But not so well, since that guy found you last night."

 

 

(9) When all else is lost the future still remains

A few hours later, once Race had chosen a room, settled in and gone to bed, Shan made a phone call.

“Addie,” he said when she answered, “I may have a problem.”

“May?” she replied and he could envision her eyebrow cocking up in question.

“Alright, probably do. A message was delivered to me a few hours ago. It said, ‘Bang, bang, you’re dead’.”

There was a long, drawn out pause before she asked, “How was it delivered.” He could tell she gone immediately into ‘investigator’ mode.

“A young man brought it. A street kid, though he’s hardly a kid. And before you ask, no he couldn’t give me any real description of the man who paid him; just that he was tall and dark-haired.”

“You’re certain this kid was telling you the truth about that?”

Shan chuckled. “Certain enough that he’s now sleeping in one of my bedrooms.”

“Shan! Damn it. You’ve got some punk off the streets living in your house?”

“I do, but he’s different Addie. Special. He can sense us even though he can’t tell what kind of, as he puts it, ‘non-human’ we are. And, so he says, he can also tell if people are good or evil.”

Shan heard a tapping sound and knew it was Addie’s fingernail on the phone as she thought about what he’d said. “When do I get to meet him?” she finally inquired.

“Tomorrow night if you want, assuming he doesn’t cut and run come morning after he’s had time to think about things.”

“Does he know about me and if so did you tell him what I am?”

“He knows who you are; he saw the pictures in my office. But I didn’t tell him you were a vampire.”

“Good. Alright, now for that message, do you have any thoughts on who sent it?”

“Not really. We can rule out anyone blonde which narrows the field by one.”

Addie agreed. “That one is, let’s pray, gone forever now. One option is someone from the King, although why he’d target you instead of me would be the question.”

“And why warn me ahead of time. If he wanted me dead he’d just send a couple or ten of his minions after me.”

Addie laughed. “It would take ten and even then I think you’d win. But still, let’s not rule him out. He could be threatening you knowing that you’d let me know about it.”

“Good point. And honestly I can’t think of anyone else who hates me enough to play games. There are a couple who wouldn’t mind seeing me dead but they don’t know what I am so they’d just send a shooter if they wanted me eliminated.”

“Think about it Shan and make a list. We can go over it tomorrow night.”

“Will do. See you, when, around eight?”

“That works.” She blew out a breath. “Come and get me, just in case whoever sent the message is watching your house.”

“Got it, and good point. Later Addie.”

“Night Shan.”

(8) When all else is lost the future still remains

“From the outside you wouldn’t think this place was so big,” Race commented when Shan had finished showing him ground floor.

“Looks can be deceiving, in houses and in people.” When they got to the second floor he pointed the door at the top of the stairs. “That’s my room. There’s two more bedrooms as I said, plus one I turned into my computer room slash office. You play games?”

“I used to,” Race acknowledged. He chuckled, adding, “I haven’t really had a chance to in the last few years.”

“Come on, I’ll show you what I have and set you up.” The grin on Shan’s face said this was something he was eager to do. “You get good enough and I’ll challenge you, and beat you.”

“Hey I was pretty good, if you mean those on-line games.” Race grinned back as he followed Shan into the office. “Wow, that’s quite a setup you have there.”

“Yep. Game playing helps take my mind off of things at times.”

Looking around, Race saw some photos on one wall and went over to check them out. “Friends or family?” he asked, looking at one of a beautiful woman standing arm in arm with a good looking man, two young children in front of them.

“Friends.” Shan saw which one had caught his attention. “That’s Addie. Sometime soon you’ll probably meet her.”

Race nodded as he scanned the rest. One of them stood out like the centerpiece of the collection. It showed Shan with his arm around another man. The looks on their faces said they might be more than just friends. Then Race frowned as he looked at the photo with the woman Shan had called Addie. “Who is the man?”

Shan came to stand beside him. “The one with Addie was her lover. And before you get the wrong idea, the man in the picture with me was his twin brother.” There was a deep sorrow in Shan’s voice that Race picked up on immediately.

“Was, as in they’re…dead,” Race asked softly.

Shan nodded. “Of all the people in these pictures, Addie and I are the only ones left. Sometime, maybe, I’ll tell you about them.” He studied the face of the man in the photo with him, touched it gently with one fingertip, and then turned away. “Come on; let me show you what’s what on the computer.”

Race watched him cross the room, sorrow and pain limning his demeanor, and wished there was something he could do to help alleviate it. Then he shook his head. He was here because the man, for some reason, had decided he trusted him. He wasn’t going to do anything to betray that. Even though, if he was going to be honest with himself, he found Shan extremely fascinating in more ways than just the fact that he was the first Were he’d ever met. He walked over to stand behind Shan, observing what he was doing.

Shan looked up at him and smiled slightly. “I’m fine, so stop worrying. Now, I’m going to…”

He went on to explain as Race watched, all the while wondering if he really was ‘fine’ as he put it.

(7) When all else is lost the future still remains

Resting his elbows on the table, Shan looked at Race seriously, asking, “Where would you go if you had your choice?”

“I don’t know,” Race replied slowly. “I’ve never been anywhere but here. There’s a whole world outside the city I’ve never seen.”

“So pick a place.”

“Umm, Baton Rouge?”

“Race you could drive there. Besides its pretty dull.” And not all that safe at the moment.  “Be daring.”

“The moon,” Race told him with a grin.

Shan laughed. “That’s a bit beyond even my powers to reach.”

“Figured. I don’t know, honest. I’d love to visit England, Italy, the mountains, the north-east, there are so many places. Maybe someday I will,” he said wistfully. “Right now though, let me do the dishes since you cooked, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Where to? Behind some dumpster or in some squat somewhere?”

“Not behind a dumpster, that’s gross. I’ve got a couple of places I use that are safe enough.” Getting up he started clearing the table.

Shan watched him for a moment then made a decision. “You’re welcome to stay here, for the time being at least. I’ve got the room and two extra bedrooms.”

Race spun around to look at him. “You don’t even know me. I could rob you blind and then disappear, or worse yet kill you in your sleep because as far as you know that could be the real reason that man sent me here.”

Shan roared in laughter. “Race you couldn’t kill me even if you tried, and you said you can’t be compelled by anyone so I don’t think he’s planted you here to do that. As for robbing me,” he shrugged, “there isn’t anything here that can’t be replaced so if you have that in mind, have at it.”

“I don’t,” Race replied sincerely.

“Didn’t think so. Look, as I said, I’ve got the room so you’re welcome to stay. No strings attached.”

Race chewed his lip then nodded slowly. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. Come on I’ll show you round the place and you can pick which room you want to use.”

(6) When all else is lost the future still remains

“The last decent meal I had was, damn, a couple of months ago if you don’t count the parts of steaks and such that the restaurants toss in dumpsters.” Race stood uneasily in the center of the kitchen as he answered, uncertain what he should be doing, or not doing.

Shan sensed his discomfort and said, “Either sit or get over here and help. Okay?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Plates and such are up there.” Shan nodded towards the cupboards. “Silverware’s in the second drawer down.”

“Set the table in other words. That I can handle.” Race stopped at the sink first to wash his hands.

“Hope you like lasagna. I have a half a one left over from a couple of nights ago. It just needs nuking.” As he talked Shan took the glass container from the fridge, putting it in the huge microwave that sat on one end of the counter. “You do salads?”

“Eat them, sure. I’m not so hot at fixing them though.”

“Fixing’s easy. You chop up some lettuce, toss it on a plate and add dressing. Like so.” Shan demonstrated.

Race snorted in amusement. “Not quite restaurant quality but it works for me.”

Soon enough everything was on the table and the two men sat down to eat.

“Can I ask something?” Race said once he’d made a fair dent in his meal.

“Can and may. What do you want to know?”

“Why do you live in the heart of the city? I mean seems to me you’d want to be out somewhere where you can run.”

A shadow crossed Shan’s face before he replied. “I live as a human, Race. This is where my business and my friends are these days. When I feel to need to connect with my Were side I teleport out to the bayou, or just about anywhere else I want to be depending on my mood.”

“Whoa. Just like that you can be here one minute and somewhere else the next? Wish I could do that.”

Guardian Angels – An Interesting Life (9)

Paddy knew the moment trouble arrived, even before Evan's comment. But then, that was his job. He left the house with Dom right behind him, heading to one of the windows on the north side.

"Not the brightest bulbs in the pack," Dom commented, as they moved in on the pair of men who were just inching the window up.

"Or they have no clue who owns the house and what he does," Paddy replied. He walked silently up behind the larger of the men, which considering what Paddy was, was no problem. He never made noise when he moved, unless he wanted to. At the moment, he didn't. He grinned when he saw the man was carrying a gun tucked into the back of his waistband. Sorry to do this to you. Not. He pulled the gun free and hit the man sharply on the temple, smiling wickedly when he collapsed on the ground without making a sound. Tossing the gun into the shadows under a low bush beneath the window, he turned to check on Dom.

Dom had been more subtle. He'd wrapped his arm around the other man's throat until he passed out from lack of air.

"Leave them here?"

"Nope, but we have to move fast," Paddy replied, hearing footsteps approaching from both inside and outside the house. "The garage." Instantly the angels and their two captives were gone. As soon as they were in Evan's garage, Paddy dropped his prisoner. "We need somewhere better to hide them while we have a long heart-to-heart about who hired them."

"I saw a house at the end of the block with a 'For Sale' sign."

"That should work, but let me check it out." Paddy left their captives in Dom's capable hands while he went to scout out the house. When he returned, he said, "It'll do."

Transporting the men there only took a couple of moments, which was a good thing, as the one Dom had choked was beginning to regain consciousness.

"Restraints?"

"No problem." Paddy stripped his man of his shirt, tore it into strips and used it to bind his arms and legs. With what was left, he gagged him. Dom got the picture and did the same with his guy.

Then they set to work.

* * * *

"It's obvious someone was here. Why the hell did they run?" Evan asked, when Vic joined him outside.

"Especially since at least one of them was armed," Vic said, pointing to a pistol barely visible under the bush by the window.

Evan bent to pick it up with his fingertips, being careful to hold it by the barrel. "In case there's fingerprints," he said.

"Planning on calling in the cops?"

Evan glanced at Vic. "We should, but no. I get you'd rather keep this between the two of us for now."

"Yeah, since one of the men who might be the blackmailer is a police detective with strong ties to the NRA."

"Ah, finally an explanation for your reluctance to involve them."

Vic smiled slightly. "You thought I was trying to play Lone Ranger?"

"Once I decided you weren't a wanted criminal—yes."

(5) When all else is lost the future still remains

“I take it I’m not the first non-human you’ve run into,” Shan commented.

“Nope. I ran into a vampire believe it or not. I think I scared him as much as he scared me. He grabbed me and tried to put me under his power so he could feed.”

“Tried to? But he couldn’t? You’re getting more interesting by the minute Race.”

“Apparently a positive side effect to all this. Whatever’s fucked up in my brain keeps me from being mesmerized.” Race chuckled wryly. “The vampire and I parted ways without his getting to feed, but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone I’d run into him. He was actually fairly harmless as vampires go, or at least he wasn’t vicious like the ones in the movies.”

“A lot of them aren’t.”

“You know some?” Race looked at him in shock and then chuckled. “I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise given what you are.”

“I’ve known several. Some are beautiful creatures who just happen to need blood to survive, others are truly evil, and the rest run the gamut between those two extremes. Just as with humans, there are the good, the bad, and the ones who should have been destroyed at birth.”

Race leaned back, looking at Shan. “And you’ve met all those kinds, human and non-human. How old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-nine,” Shan replied with a laugh. “At least I hope I don’t look older than that. In actuality I’m just over two hundred.”

“Whew.” Race whistled in surprise. “How does that work? You’re just born to age slowly?”

“It’s comes from shifting. Every time a Were shifts they regenerate, as well as heal from any wounds they might have sustained. It keeps us young and handsome.”

“No ego there,” Race muttered. Then something occurred to him. “You said whoever sent the message could be after you because of what you do for a living.”

“One possibility. I’m a security specialist, both for setting up security systems and protecting clients when needs be. I’ve made a few enemies in the process.”

“And whoever that man was could be one of them. Can I be nosy and ask what the message was? You can tell me to mind my own business if you want to.”

Laughing, Shan said, “I think we’re sort of past that at this point. It was short and not so sweet. ‘Bang, bang, you’re dead’.”

Race snorted. “How original, not.”

“Not everyone who might want my hide is a genius by any means.” Shan frowned. “Just some of them.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Right now? I’m going to fix supper. Are you hungry?”

“I could eat, yeah.”

“When was the last time you had a decent meal,” Shan asked as he stood up. Beckoning for Race to join him he headed to the kitchen.