Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife) (4 page)

            
"My friends call me Ethan," he offered, that pleased smile still lingering even after he released
Marcia’s hand.

            
"It’s very nice to meet you Ethan," Jennifer glared back at her co-worker when she drawled
the line out like a purr. Now that she thought about it however she couldn’t deny that these two were a
better fit for one another. Marcia was all pristine beauty, she had skin that was flawless and copper-toned, raven colored hair that shined nearly blue it was so black and almond shaped eyes that tilted like
a cats, surrounded in thick black lashes. Marcia was around the same height as herself and possessed
a figure that was well displayed because of course being the group medium and potential negotiator
allowed for a certain kind of wardrobe that Jennifer would admit she probably wouldn’t wear herself
even if she could. Marcia wore a nicely tailored suite that hugged her perfect curves, it was a subtle
shade of blue that seemed to bring those natural high lights out of her hair. To finish the ensemble the
woman was wearing an insanely high pair of heeled shoes that would make escape if necessary
impossible. In comparison Jennifer would always be found lacking, she was in jeans, t-shirt, and
running shoes because she did a lot of running. She shouldn’t be surprised at all that the beautiful man
in front of her had so quickly had his attention diverted from her.

            
In order to kiss Marcia’s hand he had removed himself from the slot that had kept her from
paying for her drinks and escaping, so without hesitating she passed the clerk a five dollar bill knowing
that it would cover the two drinks and hoped that she could snatch them from the counter and dart out
the door without waiting for her change. She was just about to grab the drinks and do exactly that
when Marcia pulled a pen from out of her purse and Jennifer stupidly paused as unexpected anger
boiled up in her. She realized that she had not been listening to anything the two had said to one
another while she was handing over the money and couldn’t believe how angry the idea of him asking
for Marcia’s number made her. She tamped the ridiculous urge to lunge at her co-worker
and.....Jennifer stopped, the thought of lunging for a coworker disturbing her, lunge and do what? Had
she really been about to contemplate violence over a man she didn’t know, that was not like her.

            
Blanking her thoughts out Jennifer forced herself to stand by stoically while her co-worker
scribbled, presumably her phone number, on the strangers hand. "Thank you," she listened to Ethan
thank Marcia with that crooked smile that was so drop dead gorgeous and tried not to feel like the loss
of his attention had thrown an eclipse over the sun. "Who knows how long I would have had to keep
her here to get her number." The words made Jennifer’s brain stall, and without thinking she pushed
herself off the counter to stare at what Marcia had written on his palm. He did not try to hide the hand,
thank god because she wasn’t sure what she would do if she touched him but sure enough a glance at
his palm revealed her cell number scribbled there.

            
"That’s my number," she blurted stupidly, why was that her number?

            
"That’s happy news," Ethan drawled not at all perturbed by the fact that she was staring at her
number dumbfounded.

            
"Why is that my number?" She felt like an idiot asking but what on earth was Marcia thinking
giving her number to a random stranger.

            
"Your friend says you and your boyfriend broke up," he gave in answer with a shrug.

            
"She..." Jennifer barely contained the urge to lunge at her co-worker this time. She did not
know Marcia particularly well so this seemed peculiarly personal for the two of them.

            
Marcia shrugged and smiled trying to look demur but failing considering her back-stabbing not
moments before. "Your phone is ringing."

            
For a moment there wasn’t a sound and she was fully aware that her phone was in no capacity
ringing, but without missing a beat Jennifer’s phone rang as if on cue. Jennifer sometimes forgot that
Marcia saw things before they happened or sensed things before they happened or whatever it was
mediums of her caliber did. Without hesitating Jennifer pulled out her phone and answered, sure
enough Zip was on the line. She could picture him back at his terminals where he worked monitoring
police radios and city cameras gathering information for the purpose of finding their monster. "Ryan,"
Jennifer quickly announced in her usual fashion over the phone and nearly smacked herself in the
forehead when she remembered the stranger named Ethan was still hovering and would now know her
last name as well.

            
"I’ve got our guy," Zip’s voice was muffled by the sound of electronics buzzing in the
background but Jennifer paid close attention as he rattled off a location.

            
"We’re on our way, keep me informed if he moves," Zip did not say anything further simply
hung up and she did the same. She turned to tell Marcia that it was time to go and found that the
woman and both her drinks had already disappeared out the door. Out of habit she went to follow and
pulled up short when the stranger placed his hand on her elbow. If anyone else in the world had done
that she would have reacted differently but his hand on her made her knees feel weak and instead of
decking him like she aught have she simply froze in place.

            
"I will be seeing you soon Jennifer Ryan," he said it so matter of fact that she couldn’t dream of
denying that he was probably right, she hadn’t realized that she was nodding until he smiled and
released the loose grip he had on her. "Be safe out there in the dark Jennifer," his words probably
should have struck her as odd but she chose to ignore their meaning and instead ran out to meet the
others by the pumps. She knew for a fact that Zip would already have text the location to Malcolm so
when she stumbled out by the van she was not expecting to be greeted by a smiling Marcia and a
fuming Malcolm.

            
"What was that about?" Malcolm asked without moving, clearly furious with her although for
what she couldn’t be sure, Marcia was the one who had given Ethan her phone number.

            
"Not now Malcolm, it’s time to go," she waited praying that he wouldn’t be stubborn at a time
like this.

            
"Here you go," Marcia quickly handed Malcolm the drink that Jennifer had made for him.
"Yours tastes like shit by the way," she offered to Jennifer as she passed handing her the drink before
hopping in the van and sliding the back door closed behind her.

            
Jennifer didn’t wait for Malcolm to say or do anything she simply tossed the coffee in her hand
in the trash and made her way to the passenger side of the van hoping that ignoring him would make
him get in the van and drive. It took him a little longer than she would have liked to get over himself but
after a minute he was moving toward the drivers side door, a scowl communicating that he was far from
over the issue.

Chapter 2

            
Jennifer wasn’t sure what exactly she should have been expecting, she was a fraction of the
way in her seat when Malcolm revved the van to life and charged out of the parking lot. The passenger
door which she hadn’t yet managed to close slammed shut striking her arm so hard it shot an answering
spike of pain through her injured side. Again it took everything she had not to gasp in pain and she
swallowed back the tears that were threatening to come pouring down her cheeks. It hurt like hell and
took a minute before she could breathe evenly enough to reach for the seatbelt, but once she could
breath she did just that. When she was strapped into the seat she turned a glare on Malcolm but said
nothing, it was not an argument worth having since she was in fact injured and she wasn’t about to give
him anything he could use against her.

            
She took a moment to try and convince herself instead that he hadn’t given her the chance to
situate herself because he was trying to get them there as quickly as possible in hopes of saving some
lives. It was exactly the kind of thought that she used to have about him before he’d revealed to her
what a selfish bastard he could be. "Who was that guy at the station?" He finally blurted out yet again
proving her wrong as apparently he’d taken off in a rage because the sight of her through a window
with a random stranger had elicited a temper tantrum.

            
"Nobody," Jennifer grumbled hoping that he’d drop the subject so she could try and put her
focus on where she needed it but before Malcolm could take it further Marcia did.

            
"That was Ethan, he was very charming by the way," at the last additive Jennifer risked searing
pain in her side to turn in her seat and glare at the other woman. She bit her lip as the pain lanced
through her but it was worth the quailing look she shot the woman.

            
"He was a complete stranger," Jennifer bit out only relinquishing the cold glare she pinned the
other woman with when Marcia blanched and looked away. Once that was accomplished she turned
in her seat and went about trying from that moment on to ignore Malcolm beside her, of course he
wouldn’t let her.

            
"He didn’t seem like nobody," he all but growled so Jennifer turned her eyes on him, wishing
like hell that he would leave the subject alone.

            
"We have bigger concerns," Jennifer tried to keep the ice out of her voice but she was past her
breaking point with Malcolm at this point. She knew for a fact that the current look she was aiming
Malcolm’s way would shut him up because he’d confessed to her on more than one occasion that he
was uncomfortable with the current look on her face. He had compared it previously to Manson’s
concentrated glare when the big guy was gunning monsters down. She couldn’t say that it was a notion
that pleased her that he had felt like she wanted to kill him, but it had its uses now that they were
broken up.

            
"I’m sorry," Malcolm gritted out and she hated that he was only letting it go for now, at some
point he was bound to bring it up again.

            
Looking away Jennifer tried to take a moment to focus, ignore the pain, ignore her ex’s drama
and just put herself in an empty space in her own mind. She didn’t want to say that the rest interfered
with what needed to be done. People kept telling her that it was good to have something to hold unto
outside of her work, that it was in fact unhealthy to cling to work like a safety net. She had visible
proof that this was true, Manson despite his cold death stare had a wife and a daughter, they kept him
grounded, kept him human, Clive had a wife and two sons. Both preached the importance of a life
outside this one, she knew they were right and so she’d tried but she was beginning to wonder if being
more like Tom, who was the job, didn’t have its own merits. After all she wasn’t like Manson who had
earned his stone cold look through years of survival and combat, she felt as though she’d been born
with hers. That wasn’t true she knew, the day her father died was the day that emptiness had been
born in her, and the worst part was that even though she’d been five years old when it happened she
couldn’t recall what had taken place that day, she knew with certainty that it had been violent but
couldn’t recall the details. She knew only that one day her family was gone, mother, father and older
sisters all gone. She didn’t try too hard to remember what had happened, she didn’t think she wanted
to know what it was that had created the thing inside her that made her more than just capable of doing
this job but made her good at it. Of her family there was only her cousin and herself left and he was
perhaps her last close standing human relationship left outside of work. She could try and count Tom in
there as she’d known him since she was little but it would, in the end, be like claiming a government
issued killing machine as a loved one. So her cousin, her dog, and this job was all there was in her life
and the more time she spent exposed to Malcolm the more she was coming to believe that was the best
thing for her. "How long till we get there," she asked trying to break the silence without tempting
whatever Malcolm’s problem was back to the surface.

            
"ETA ten minutes," his answer was angry and clipped but to the point.

            
Jennifer nodded, it was time for her to start putting her gear on if she wanted to be able to head
out as soon as they arrived. Without another word she unbelted herself and stepped back to her own
seat, then grabbed one of her many weapons of choice from the pouch on the vans door where she
kept them. It was only big enough to hold her M9 9mm Beretta, it was a standard military issued pistol.
It held a fifteen round magazine, she shifted the weapon from her left hand to her right, testing the
weight. The pistol, loaded and all, weighed almost three pounds, she was curious if her right hand
could handle the weight right now for more than a few minutes. She put a round in the chamber and
clipped the safety on, her right arm was just going to have to deal with it. Her regular arsenal, to her
standards had been cut off a great deal since yesterday. Yesterday she’d had an M16 with her 5.56
caliber, maximum range of 300 yards 900rpm, capable of both full or semi automatic. It had been a
shame to lose the rifle, it was really almost heartbreaking. She’d had the rifle for almost two years,
maybe it sounded stupid but she missed the thing. She even had a nifty M79 grenade launcher that fit
unto the M16 like a glove, who ever said men didn’t accessorize with anything. Damn she missed that
rifle, the grenade launcher wouldn’t be as useful without it. She had plenty of other weapons at home
that she could use otherwise but the M16 had been her favorite. She had to stop thinking about the
rifle, it was distracting in a sense that it was like losing a limb.