Hard Days Night (The Firsts Book 8) (32 page)

Canzone’s office was silent.  He sat in front of his computer screen, the sun rising over his shoulder,
four men stationed outside of his door, armed with AK’s and a whole lot of attitude.  He glanced at the ball of fire that brightened the sky around other skyscraping buildings, the milky yellow glow filling the room with a softer light than the LED’s that normally burned for illumination.

This morning, he’d turned on no artificial light, the glow from his monitor the only light in the room until the sun brought its billion watt smile.  His head and eyes hurt from little sleep the past two days.  God, he hated where things had gone lately.  He knew it was going to get much uglier before it was finished.

Evidence to that effect occurred moments later when a scuffle outside of the door made him palm an automatic pistol that was never more than inches from his hand.  He still kept his seat at his desk as the door opened.

“Sir?”
Tyrone said, stepping through.  “I hate to disturb you, but there’s a man here, says he’s family.”

Ah, fuck.  Yeah, that shouldn’t surprise him.

Canzone laid the gun back on the computer keyboard.

“Send him in.”

With a curt nod, Tyrone closed the door.   There was another scuffle, some harsh voices he didn’t understand, then the door opened and closed abruptly.

A man stood against it and didn’t advance into the room.

Neither man spoke for several long moments as the sun continued to bring more golden light into the dark, cavernous room.

“Come on in, brother,” Canzone finally said quietly.

Kai walked closer, slowly.

“Hardly.
  Never.”

“I considered you brother from the moment you married my sister.  You never embraced the family you married into.”

“We were on opposite sides of the law.”

“And now my niece brings us back together.  This isn’t my fault.”

“You killed her partner.  That’s unforgivable for a cop, you know that.”

“She was a dog with a bone.  I had to interrupt her.  Would you rather I had my man kill
her
?”

“I would rather you drop dead and solve the problem.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t comply with your request.  Anyway, I did everything I could to discourage her.  Now, her fate is out of my hands.  I have to answer to people above me too, Kai.”

“Where is she?”

Canzone looked surprised.  “I don’t have her.  Not yet, anyway.  Why, is she missing?”

“You better not be fucking with me.  If you have her, for Brigitte, for family, let her go and I’ll get her out of here.  You’ll never see her again.”

“I don’t have her, but if I did, I’d give her to you.  I don’t have any family left, and even though she doesn’t know who I am, I still care about her.”

“Sure.  Good.  Then, you’ll release her?”

“You always had trouble with trust.”

“Just with the untrustworthy.”
  Kai took a deep breath.  “You don’t have her.  You’re telling me the truth?  You really don’t have her?”

Canzone shook his head.  “No, I don’t.  If she comes, I’ll hold her for you. 
Here, give me a number to contact you, and I’ll text you.  But Kai, if I can’t stop her from trying to take down my organization, I can’t protect her.”

“Don’t hurt her, Lawrence. I’m only going to ask once.  If something happens to her, I can’t honor Brigitte’s wishes.”

“Then stop her before she gets here.”  Canzone turned to face the vibrant sunlight filling the big glass wall.  “It was nice to see you Kai. You can let yourself out.”

Kai turned and walked back to the door, opened it and closed the door behind him.  As he walked to the elevator, his jaw tight, he knew that he’d better find his daughter before his ex-brother-in-law did.

He woke slowly, aware that the sun must have dropped, but he didn’t get out of bed.  What was the point?  Even if he found her body, which he still planned to search for, it didn’t change the fact that she was gone forever.

Ahmose rolled over
onto his back and just stared up at the ceiling.   It was almost pitch dark in the room so he stared into blackness that created a canvas for his active mind.  Her image floated past and he closed his eyes again.  This was useless, he needed to get up and look for her.

In seconds, he was in the main kitchen of his hotel room waiting for room service to bring a healthy meal and some coffee.  He had a long night ahead.  He planned to start at the police station where she’d worked, and go out from there.  Surely someone had some idea where she might be.  These were the people who worked with her, who loved her, he was sure
that if anyone was trying to find her, to solve her murder, it would be the men and women who had worked beside of her for so many years.

And her Captain.
  Ahmose knew that the people she’d worked with were very close by how she spoke of them, by the depth of her plea when Luka had been shot.

Someone should know something to help him.

IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC

Ah, she could get used to this
…

She strolled lazily along the soft white sands of the beach, the sea just as lazily caressing the shoreline as she watched the sun rising over her right shoulder.  Mal was breathing easier, and so was her child.  The baby hadn’t made her presence known since Mal landed here three days
ago, she just lay comfortably in her mother’s womb and slept, like normal babies did. 

Mal glanced at the charming house up a slight incline nestled into some trees for protection from the midday sun.  It had a deep underground chamber with a
big, luxurious bedroom and no access to daylight.  Erin had graciously loaned this beach house to Mal while she considered how to deal with her situation.  It would have been much harder to disappear without her help, and Mal was forever grateful for another unexpected vampire in her life.

She rubbed a hand across her slightly curv
ed belly.  She was grateful for the first one, too.  Ahmose had brought her something she’d never wanted…or more accurately, never
knew
that she wanted.  Now, though, she realized how much loss she’d felt so intensely, of a mother that had died too soon, and a father that detached shortly afterward and had never really been there for his daughter either.  This baby would always know how loved she was because Mal planned to be there for her every moment of her life.

Suddenly a grumble pushed against her hand.  How long had it been since she ate?  She couldn’t remember, and that usually meant too long, so she headed back to the house to make a sandwich and grab some chips from her full larder.  Erin had called ahead and had a local man drop off supplies
sometime before Mal arrived. Fresh linens, a large variety of food items, sundries, even lightweight sundresses, a bathing suit, nightshirts and satin underwear were all waiting for her.  Mal hoped she would get a chance to thank her and maybe pay her back someday.

As she climbed the steps into the house, Mal heard a
vehicle arriving and stopped to watch.

A small truck slowly rolled to a stop a few yards from her.  The man who got out had brilliant white teeth and a shock of bright blonde hair, skin tanned golden from the sun, and tight fitting shorts that showed very tight buns when he leaned into the truck and pulled out a small box.

When he turned back, the smile widened.  “Hi, I’m Jack.  Welcome to Whitby.  I’m your handyman, for lack of a better term. I take care of the property for Erin when she’s not around.”

“You’re the one who brought the supplies,” Mal supposed.

“I am.  If you need anything else, let me know. My number is on the fridge.  When I was here, I forgot to drop off a box of back-up batteries.  You will likely need these at some point.”

“Thank you, I can see that. I’m Bridget.  Erin is allowing me to stay here for a while.”

“She  informed me.  Have you been to North Caicos before?”

“I haven’t.”

“It’s paradise.  Pretty much as good as it gets.  Are you here on vacation?  Or for work?”

Mal had her cover set. “I’m a
painter.  Trying my hand at seascapes for the first time. This is sort of an artist’s retreat.”

“Outstanding. 
Well, it’s nice to meet you.  Like I said, if you need anything, let me know.”  He started to get back into the truck, then turned.  “That includes anything.  Tour of the island, advice about anything, transportation.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.  Thanks again,
Jack.”

He hesitated once again,
his eyes lingering, then got back into the truck and threw a hand up as he drove back around the tree-lined dirt road.

Mal smiled.  She’d seen the spark of interest.  He was
attractive, no doubt, but she had no interest in a relationship at this point.  Her child was her priority now.

Besides, as handsome as Jack was, Mal found herself automatically comparing him to Ahmose, and he just didn’t measure up.  She remembered the size of
Ahmose’s cock and grinned. 
No, not likely!

Mal would love to have had a chance to hook up again someday with Ahmose.  But what Erin told her, that nothing would stop him from taking the baby, spooked her too much.   It wasn’t worth the risk.  She clearly remembered being frozen, and the forced compulsion.  There was no way she could stop him if he came and tried to take her.

The local bread was soft, with a unique flavor due to the blend of whole grains.  She added meat, cheese, and some of the potato chips for crunch and wandered back out onto the attached deck to enjoy her sandwich while she watched the ocean caress the earth.

This was the closest she’d been to nature
in a lot of years.  Since she’d come here, she’d captured numerous little sea creatures and released them.  Now, she watched seabirds looking for their own lunches, and geckos running all over the grounds.  The small lizards were plentiful here and, while at first they creeped her out, she’d adjusted and made fast friends with them.  Her daughter’s influence, Mal thought.

That was another thing she’d had plentiful time for since she’d come here
,
thinking
.  Mal’s life had been nothing more than action and reaction for so long that it felt strange, yet good, now that she had time to just sit and ruminate.  She shook her head, wondering where that word had even come from.  That was a dictionary word for a girl like her, not a word you ever used.  Certainly not one she ever
had
.

But now, her mind clear, her body and spirit calm, she was thinking about her life, about choices, about time passing and making decisions that lead you where you wanted to be.  The concept that Ahmose was a thousand years old had reminded her of her own brief life and that she was spending it  trapped in endless engines of someone else’s agenda. 
Not anymore
.  Now, she was a footloose, fancy-free, carefree, mom-to-be.  Stretching out bare toes, she slid her new pale pink sundress up and revealed her legs to the warm UV rays to get a little color so she wouldn’t stand out quite so badly when she went into town tomorrow.

Ummm
.  Erin might have a permanent house-guest.

IN
SOUTH AFRICA

Starla was thrilled.  Ahmose was finally home and they could get back to normal.

“Ahmose, honey, I’m so sorry about the woman.  But I’m glad you’re back where you belong.  Your daughter ha
s been wondering where you’ve been.  Not to mention your son, who has actually been asking for you.”

“I am sorry,
my Star.  I am home now to stay.  The need for
vacation
or time away has been satisfied.  I am sorry if my absence has posed any problems for you.”

Starla grimaced and held her belly, which felt as if it was expanding exponentially faster than it had with Er
as.

“Now, I feel awful.  Ahmose, you were more than entitled to take a break
.  Oh, hell, I sounded bitchy, I get that.  Please, my friend, take what you need.  Eillia told me that you’re hurting from this loss and maybe getting back to the normal village activities will be too difficult.  But do stop and see Eras right away.  He’s with Jacob in the waterworks that Jacob installed near our dwelling.  Over and above everything, I am grateful to have you home and well, and that psychotic Lamont gone forever.”

“As am I.
  I will go straight to our son, and then, if you will indulge me, I would like to dine alone tonight.”