Smoke and Mirrors - Hollywood Knights One (3 page)

Lori leaned back into the couch cushions with a sigh.
“Yeah, it does.”

“I thought you and Parker were dating.”

She shrugged. “Kind of. But it doesn’t make it okay
that Seth lied to me.”

“No, it doesn’t.” We were both quiet for a minute,
and then I added, “When I get back, we can have a giant man-bashing
session. In his house. While we drink his Scotch.”

Lori grinned then. “Have I told you lately that I
love you and that you’re amazingly awesome?”

“Not lately, no. Tell me again.”

Chapter Five

Elizabeth handled the airport and the first leg of
the flight pretty well, all things considered. I wasn’t sure how
much our layover in Dallas would bother her, but we didn’t have
much choice but to grit our teeth and muddle through. She stayed
close to me as we wended our way through the airport.

“You want to grab food before we head to the gate?” I
asked her.

She shook her head. “Too crowded.”

I nodded and kept walking. Once I had her settled at
the gate, I could double back and grab some burgers. We wouldn’t
have to starve, and she wouldn’t have to deal with the people
swarming around the fast food outlets.

When we found our gate, we also found a surprise
waiting there for us. I’m not sure how he had managed it, but Chris
was there, bags at his feet and eyes scanning the crowd. I knew the
moment he noticed us because his entire bearing changed. He went
from sitting half-slumped in his seat to alert and smiling. As we
drew near, he hopped up to hug first Elizabeth, then me, then
Elizabeth again.

“What are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked him.

“Catching a flight to Florida. Wanna come with
me?”

She grinned and hugged him again.

My brother is a big guy --nearly six-and-a-half feet
tall, with the build you’d expect from an ex-linebacker who’s
always taken staying in shape pretty seriously. The top of
Elizabeth’s head might have reached his collarbone. Hugging him,
she looked tiny and vulnerable, and it brought my protective streak
to the fore. I scanned the crowds, looking for any signs of danger
and reaching out with my sixth sense as well. Everything seemed
fine. Still, I found myself wishing that my 9mm wasn’t in a lockbox
in my checked luggage or that I had some sort of magical ability
that I could use in place of the weapon. I ran through a couple of
breathing exercises to center myself and then offered to go and get
food for the three of us.

When I returned with the burgers, Elizabeth was
telling Chris about Seth’s new friend and about Lori’s meltdown
over the whole thing.

“Yeah, I don’t blame her for being pissed,” Chris
said. “But at the same time, it’s kind of hard to be completely
honest sometimes. I mean, what was he supposed to say? I can’t hook
up with you because your brother will rip my balls off? Seth didn’t
want to start a war.”

“Still sounds like an excuse,” I said, tearing into
my burger. When I could speak around my mouthful of beefy, cheesy
goodness, I added, “Not that I would ever tell Lori that.”

“It’s not like he’s not into her,” Elizabeth
said.

Chris nodded, and he and I exchanged a look. By
unspoken mutual agreement, I said what we both were thinking. “I
think he’s just into someone else more.”

“The merch girl?” Elizabeth asked.

Chris and I had another silent conversation, and this
time, he took the lead. “He seems to really like Hailey.”

“Hailey?”

“Yeah. Merch girl has a name,” he told her with one
of his lopsided grins.

“So he’s talked about her?” Elizabeth asked. “And you
didn’t mention this, why?”

Chris shrugged, chewed, and swallowed. “Nothing to
mention, yet. He seems pretty happy, but it’s not anything
serious.”

“So it’s a relationship of convenience?” I asked.
“Road fun?”

“Sort of. I mean, he actually likes her. It’s not
just a hookup. But the convenience thing had to have played a part
in them getting together. Anyway, from what he’s told me, she’s a
nice girl, so I’m happy for him.”

“She’s young enough to be his daughter,” Elizabeth
pointed out.

“And you have two boyfriends,” I told her.

“Yes, but they’re awesome.”

I laughed. “Who’s to say Hailey isn’t awesome?”

“She’s not old enough to be awesome. The best she can
hope for is awesome-in-training.”

“I don’t know about that. Lori isn’t much older, and
she’s pretty awesome.”

Elizabeth thought about that while she wiped her face
with a paper napkin. “Lori is pretty awesome.” She sighed. “I want
Seth to be happy, and if this Hailey girl makes him happy, that’s
good. But I remember what girls are like at her age. This can’t end
well.”

Chris crumpled up his burger wrapper and dropped it
in the bag. “I’ve dated a couple of women who weren’t much older,”
he admitted. “And I think you’re probably right about it not
working out well for Seth. I don’t think she’s what he needs in the
long-term, but if he’s happy for now, then more power to him.”

I sat up a little straighter and looked my brother in
the eye. “Are you saying that he can’t be happy if he’s
single?”

“Oh crap,” Chris said. “I take it back, okay? I take
everything back. Let’s just not get into this again.”

I smiled and let him off the hook. “You are so much
fun to fuck with, Chris.”

Elizabeth looked like she was physically biting back
words, and her cheeks were turning pink. I knew what she had to be
thinking, and I rolled my eyes.

“I acknowledge my poor choice of words,” I said. “Now
can you get your mind out of the gutter?”

“My mind was not in the gutter,” she said. “I was
just thinking about ice cream.”

“Ice cream? I don’t buy that.”

Chris was looking at her like a lion about to pounce
on a gazelle. “Ice cream, huh?”

Elizabeth smiled up at him. “Ice cream.”

I decided I did not want to know what the hell they
were talking about. I dug out my headphones and the book I’d jacked
from Seth’s library and spent the rest of our layover pretending
that my brother and his girlfriend didn’t exist.

Chapter Six

On the plane, I ended up trading seats with my
brother so that he and Elizabeth could do whatever it is that
couples do on an airplane while surrounded by 150 strangers. As I
was stowing my gear, the lady in the window seat asked if I’d mind
switching, since she didn’t like to be by the window. I happily
gave her Chris’s aisle seat and settled in by the window, where I
split my time between reading my book and staring out into the wild
blue yonder while thinking about all the things I still needed to
accomplish before I could get back to work.

One of my east coast friends, Donovan, had agreed to
pick us up from the airport. Donovan, like almost all of my friends
and associates in Jacksonville, was someone I had met through my
contacts at the Agency, an off-the-radar government organization
that deals with magic (or, as they prefer to call it, metaphysics
and thaumaturgy). Unlike most of the people I knew in Jacksonville,
I actually liked Donovan. He was a tracker, and we’d worked
together a lot over the years, and he was also a good person and a
good friend.

After I claimed my checked bag, I texted Don to let
him know we were headed toward passenger pick-up. We had been at
the curb for maybe thirty seconds when he pulled up in his
Emerald-green SUV and hopped out to help us throw our bags in the
back.

“Jennivieve,” he said in a thick, Jamaican accent as
he leaned in to kiss my cheek. “So good to see you.” He turned to
Elizabeth with a brilliant smile. “Who is your lovely lady
friend?”

Chris put a possessive arm around Elizabeth’s
shoulders and grinned at Donovan. “Elizabeth is mine,” he said.
“And you can drop the bad accent. You’re from Denver, for God’s
sake.”

Don threw his head back and laughed. “Christian! I
didn’t recognize you. Jenny didn’t tell me you were coming
along.”

Chris greeted Don with a big smile and a firm
handshake. He put his arm around Elizabeth again and said, “Beth,
this is Donovan. Don’t let the charm fool you; he’s nothing but
trouble.”

Don laughed again. “Once, maybe. I’m respectable
now.”

“Respectable, huh?”

“Wife and two beautiful little girls. I’ll bore you
with pictures later. I think security wants us to move along.”

With that, Don opened the rear passenger door and
bowed us in. I think he would have waited around to close the door
for us ‘ladies,’ but Chris shooed him away and took care of that
himself. Once we were all in our seats and belted up, Don launched
us into traffic. Elizabeth looked pale and she hugged herself. I
could see her short nails biting into her arm, and I wondered if
she might actually have been wishing she were back on the plane. I
understood how she felt. Don drove like a maniac, and it could be
pretty damn scary. But he’d never been in an accident. There’s
something to be said for having freaky superpowers, I guess.

I told Elizabeth as much, but it didn’t seem to help
any. No surprise there, considering the crappy luck she’d had with
magic.

I decided to try a different tactic: distracting
Elizabeth from Don’s driving by luring her into a discussion of
lunch choices. She foiled that attempt, too, though.

“We can order something when we get to your place,”
she said. “
If
we get to your place.”

Eventually I did manage to get her and the guys to
agree on what to order —Chinese— and tell me what they wanted so I
could phone in our order. As I looked up the number for my favorite
Chinese delivery place on my cell, despite my earlier desire to
never use a phone again, I did the math in my head and determined
that the food should get there shortly after we did, unless the
traffic cleared so we could make better time.

We got to my neighborhood and into my driveway
without so much as a scratched fender, just as I knew we would.
When we climbed out of the car, I thought Elizabeth might drop to
the ground and kiss the pavement. Instead she glared at me as she
jerked her bags out of the back of the truck. I refused to
apologize for getting us to my place safe and sound, so I ignored
her glare and led the way into my apartment.

Home for me was a two-bedroom apartment behind my
landlady’s house in a quiet neighborhood. The apartment sat above a
garage that housed two cars and a motorcycle; my non-descript,
four-cylinder coupe was parked on the street in front of the house.
To the left of the garage proper was a standard door that led into
an enclosed staircase up to my apartment.

We all trooped up the stairs, me in the lead to
unlock the door, and into the apartment. I’d been gone for months,
but my landlady had kept an eye on the place for me. When I had let
her know I’d be coming back long enough to pack, she’d said she’d
be sad to see me go. She’d also offered to turn the air
conditioning on so we wouldn’t walk into a sauna. It might be late
September, but Jacksonville was still experiencing summertime
temperatures, so the blast of cold air from the apartment felt
pretty damn good.

Once we were inside, Elizabeth set her bags by the
door and looked around, wide-eyed. Chris dropped his backpack next
to Elizabeth’s gear and took a good look, too.

“It hasn’t changed much,” he said. “God, there are a
lot of memories here.”

He was right. The apartment, hell the whole city, was
full of memories and ghosts. I was ready to put them all behind
me.

“Yeah, a lot of memories,” I agreed, pleased that my
tone of voice didn’t give away what I was feeling. “And a lot of
junk. We have our work cut out for us.”

Chris shoved his hands in his pockets and meandered
past me into the first bedroom, the one that served as my office
and an occasional guest room. It had been his room when he’d lived
with me a million years ago.

“That’s why,” he said and turned to face me. His eyes
were full of pain and shiny with suppressed tears.

I didn’t ask what he meant. I didn’t need to. Two
seconds in my apartment and big brother had figured out the real
reason behind my move from the Sunshine State to the Golden
State.

When I didn’t respond, he looked away again. A moment
later, he turned back with a small, forced smile.

“Looks like Mrs. Hayward is still looking out for
you,” he said, pointing at something out of my line of sight.

I moved to the doorway and peered into the room.
There, leaning against the wall by my desk, was a stack of
flat-folded boxes, ready to be taped and filled. A dispenser roll
of packing tape sat on my desk, along with a pretty wicker basket
filled with homemade goodies.

“Fuck,” was all I said.

I turned on my heel and headed back the way I’d come,
past Elizabeth and Donovan, down the stairs, and out the front
door. I’m not sure where I thought I was going to go, but I wanted
to be alone for a few minutes. Instead, I almost ran right into
Mrs. Hayward, my sweet, little, old landlady.

“Jenny, honey, what’s the matter?”

“I’m going to miss you,” I blurted out. “I already
miss you.”

“Oh, honey,” she said, laying one thin, gnarled hand
on my arm. “I’m going to miss you, too. Sue Evans isn’t nearly as
much fun as a 42 partner.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “I’m going to miss our
games. And Sunday afternoon tea. And sipping lemonade while I
pretend to help you garden. I don’t know why I’m leaving. I think I
made a mistake.”

Mrs. Hayward, or Gran as everyone under the age of
sixty called her, frowned up at me. “This isn’t like you. Come to
the house and talk to me. Tell me what’s happened.”

So I did. I followed her into her cozy kitchen and
she made me a cup of tea, like she had a million times before, and
I told her that Robbie had been killed in the line of duty. Her
gentle eyes filled with tears.