The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three) (25 page)

She saw Tarin standing behind a
tree trunk. With a gentle nod of his head, he told her it was time to go.

“Excuse me friends,” Jill said.
“Nature calls.”

She ambled across the party,
heading in Tarin’s direction. As she moved, so did he, and she found herself
going faster just to keep up. Tarin led her out of the foyer, and through a
door on the north wall.

She was in the ballroom now. A
sea of round tables spread before a giant stage. Slaves were bustling about,
laying out trays of food on long tables that lined the walls.

Tarin stood in place, waiting
for Jill to catch up to him.

“Stay close to me,” he said
quietly. “No one will question you so long as we’re together.”

Jill walked right next to him,
and together they crossed the ballroom, heading into the adjoining hallway and
into the kitchen.

Tarin moved with speed and
confidence, and it seemed like all the other slaves in the house cleared out of
his way. They cut through the kitchen, coming out to a sitting room on the
other side. From there, they went into an art gallery, and Jill got her first
sense of just how forbidden her presence was in this side of the home. Works of
Van Gogh, Renoir, and Gaugin hung on the walls, each of them covered with
crisscrossing laser beams, the subjects of the paintings seeming to stare down
at her as she rushed across the floor.

Security cameras propped in the
corner of each room looked back and forth from above, but Tarin was always one
step ahead of them. He knew when to move, when to stop, and when to duck into a
corner and hide. Tarin and Jill only moved when the cameras were looking the
other way.

They came to a meeting of three
hallways in a small sitting area. Tarin took her down the hall to the right.

“No cameras in this hall, but
plenty of servants pass through. We’ll be running the rest of the way,” he
whispered. “Kick off your shoes.”

“How far do we need to go?” Jill
asked.

“Just do it,” Tarin hissed.

Jill did as he asked. As soon as
her shoes were in her hand they were running, Tarin moving so fast Jill could
barely keep up. On and on they went, one hallway after another, then a huge
flight of stairs going down.

They came to an underground
living area with the strangest décor Jill had ever seen. Part living room, part
parkour course, the space had high ceilings, a concrete floor, and lots of
platforms and bars stretching the length of the walls. As they ran through it,
Jill imagined Renata spending time here alone, jumping from platform to
platform, hanging upside down on bars near the ceiling, being a vampire.

They were such strange
creatures.

Tarin led her to a steel door
that was locked three times over. He pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and
opened each padlock, starting with the one on top. When he turned the key in
the last lock, the door popped with the sound of a magnetic release.

“Wow, something special must be
back here,” Jill said.

“It’s where she sleeps,” said
Tarin. “They are paranoid about being killed in their sleep.”

“We’re going down to her
bedroom?”

“It’s not a bedroom. It’s a
crypt. And yes, you’re going down there. It’s the safest place for you to work.
No servants will have any reason to go down there during the party.”

Jill looked past the door. A
stone staircase in between narrow walls led into total darkness.

“Could it be any creepier?” she
said.

“Take this,” Tarin said, handing
Jill a flashlight. “Everything you need is down there. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes? You’re leaving
me down there alone?”

“I have to be seen at my post.”

He gave her a gentle nudge, and
she was on the first step.

“Fifteen minutes. You can do
this, Jill,” he said.

Then he closed the door, leaving
Jill alone in Renata’s crypt.

*****

Renata bounced among the trees
until she was in a position to see Frankie running along the perimeter of the
fence. He was magnificent. So fast for a human. Such a beautiful stride, with
strength in every step.

Frankie came to the gate on the
eastern wall and shook it. He wanted to get out. Where did he want to go?

There was enough force in his
arms to make the whole fence move as he shook the gate. It was fascinating to
watch. Renata had left a lot to chance with Frankie’s programming, effectively
turning him into a free man the instant Bernadette yelled go. The only command
in Frankie’s mind was to kill the other slaves in the scrum, something he had
done with an almost elegant efficiency.

It was just him and Deirdre now.
Frankie at the gate, shaking it violently; Deirdre running at him from behind.
The other vampires were gathering in the nearby trees to watch this final
fight. Most of them were banking on Deirdre after that impressive knife toss
she used to kill Oscar.

But Renata wasn’t. She had faith
in her Frankie.

He let go of the gate and
kneeled down to pick up his hatchet. He must have heard her coming. This was
going to be a thing of beauty. Frankie took one look behind him, gauging the
distance to Deirdre, and then turned back to the gate.

“What is he doing?” Steffy said.

Frankie lifted the hatchet high
over his head with both hands, then with a single, mammoth stroke, he broke
through the lock on the gate.

Cheers and laughter broke out
among the vampires in the trees.

“Look at your boy, Renata!”
Peter shouted. “It appears he’s had enough.”

“I can’t believe he did that,”
said Steffy. “One strike and he broke through a solid piece of metal. I don’t
even know that I could do that in one swing.”

“The problem is he’s ruined his
ax,” said Mark. “He put a big divet in the blade.”

“Here comes Deirdre!” Zachias
yelled.

The little blonde killer was
only fifty yards away now, and once again had her knife raised as if to throw
it.

“Come on, Frankie,” Renata
whispered. “Go back and kill her.”

Frankie did just the opposite.
The lock broken, Frankie kicked the gate wide open and started to run.

“He’s off the grounds!” Laura
shouted with glee. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Not that I can recall!” Mark
said. “But I don’t think he’s getting very far. Deirdre’s winding up….and there
it goes!”

Deirdre launched her knife
through the air, just as she had done to Oscar. It was a great shot, making a
low arc as it flew end over end, headed right for Frankie.

With reflexes that made Renata
proud, Frankie swung his hatchet through the air and batted the knife out of
the way.

“Oh! Did you see that?” Mark
shouted. “This is so awesome!”

“She still has another knife
left,” said Zachias. “And Renata’s boy is turning tail!”

It was true. Frankie was bolting
out of the grounds now, running faster than any human Renata had ever seen. The
trees were more widely spaced outside of the fence and she had to plan her
leaps between them more carefully. She couldn’t remember the last time she had
so much fun.

“There’s a hill up ahead,”
Steffy announced. “Frankie loses the advantage of his long legs on the hill.
Come on, Deirdre! You can do it!”

Steffy’s prediction proved
correct. Not only did Deirdre’s shorter legs serve her well on the hill, but
her shorter stature made it easier for her to move among the low-lying bramble.
Within minutes, she was right behind Frankie, moving the second knife to her
throwing hand.

As if sensing her intent,
Frankie darted to the left, putting a tree behind him right as Deirdre threw
the knife. The blade landed in the bark with a thunk. Deirdre rushed to
retrieve it.

“No, no, Deirdre, he’s setting
you up!” Zachias yelled, but it was too late. As Deirdre reached for her knife,
Frankie swung around from the other side of the tree, hitting her head with the
broad end of his hatchet.

The girl’s skull made a
crunching sound as it fractured. She fell to the ground, dead.

“Yes!” Renata shouted. “I win!”

The other vampires broke out in
applause.

“What an incredible scrum!” Mark
said. “Best in years. Congratulations Renata. A well-earned victory from a most
impressive specimen.”

“Oh, and there he goes!” Lena
said, noting that Frankie was running up the hill again.

“Does the boy never get tired?”
said Peter. “I am shocked at his stamina. What did you do to him, Renata?”

“I’ll never tell,” Renata said
with a grin.

“We must come back next year,”
said Steffy. “I want a rematch. This was too much fun.”

“Aren’t you going to go get him,
Renata?” Lena said, pointing at Frankie, who was almost at the top of the hill.
“What’s the command that brings him back to normal?”

“It’s just his name,” Renata
said. “Spoken with my voice.”

“Don’t say it yet,” said Steffy.
“He’s so good and this has been so much fun—let’s race to catch him.”

“Oh, that sounds fabulous,” Mark
said. “Catch him and carry him back to the gate. First one to get him back into
the property wins.”

“Be gentle, you guys,” Renata
said. “I need Frankie in full working order to help clean up after this party.”

“We’ll be careful, we promise,”
said Steffy. “Everybody ready? On your marks…get set…”

*****

Renata’s crypt was a horrifying
place. Stone floors, stone walls, and a stone ceiling—it had all the ambiance
of a tomb. Against one wall sat a computer desk. Against another, a coffin. In
between was wire shelving that held two skulls and ten jars. Jill aimed the
flashlight at one of the jars and shrieked at what she saw inside.

Easy, Jill
, she told
herself.
No worse than what you saw in Merv Tremblay’s room of perversions.
You’re here to do a job. Just do it.

There was a small desk in the
corner. Renata’s phone was sitting on it, hooked up to a laptop, ready for Jill
to hack. She went to the computer and sat down. Her heart was racing. Her hands
were shaking.

You’ve done a hack like this
dozens of times before
, she told herself.
This one is no different than
the others.

*****

“Yes, Daddy,” Kim said. “Shannon
Evans.”

“Are you certain?”

Was she certain?
God, her
daddy could be so dense sometimes. Kim wanted to hold the phone away from her
ear and scream at the top of her lungs,
YES, I’M CERTAIN YOU ASSHOLE!

Keeping her cool, Kim said, “She
mentioned Shannon by name.”

“Who? Who are we talking about?”

“Annika Fleming! She and Jill
were talking. Have you not listened to a word I’ve been saying? Annika talked
about getting a room for Shannon at some hotel in Rio. The Praya Desol or
something.”

“Praia de Sol,” her daddy said.
“On Ipanema beach. Lovely hotel.”

“Gee, thanks for the review.
I’ll be sure to stay there next time I go. DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT THIS
MEANS?”

“Easy there. You don’t need to
yell.”

“Shannon Evans is alive, Daddy!”

“Did they mention her last name?
Maybe it’s another Shannon.”

“It’s not another Shannon.”

“But you have to be certain. If
we take this to the immortals, they’ll want to have a look in your mind.”

“We’re not taking this to the
immortals! Are you out of your gourd you stupid old man! We’re holding this
over Annika’s head.”

“Annika Fleming? What on earth
could she have that we want?”

“Are you kidding? It’s was a
text message from Annika that started this whole mess! It’s Annika’s  friends
who are propping up Nicky Bloom. It’s the way they do whatever the fuck she
tells them to do. It’s like a cult and Annika’s the one pouring all the
Kool-Aid. If she decides that I’m the Coronation candidate to support, then
it’s game over for Nicky Bloom.”

“And you think, with enough
pressure, Annika would tell them to support you instead.”

“I think she’d do anything we
asked her to if she knew her life was at stake.”

“I feel like we need more proof.
Just because you overheard a conversation about a girl named Shannon--”

“I’m telling you this is Shannon
Evans we’re talking about! It makes so damned much sense. We should have known
this from the beginning. Annika and Shannon were tight. Best friends ever. And
then Shannon disappeared and Nicky got her spot.”

“I heard from a very reliable
source that Shannon disappeared because her father made Daciana angry.”

“And a more reliable source is
telling you right now that Shannon is alive and is a part of the giant shitball
that is the Nicky Bloom campaign. If we expose them, Daciana will have their
heads and I win by default!”

“Is Daciana there tonight?”

There was a bit of desperation
in her daddy’s voice. It disgusted Kim. Her old man had always been in love
with Daciana. Or at least, in love with the idea of her.

“I haven’t seen her,” Kim said.

“I wish you had. I haven’t heard
from Daciana in a long time. I’m worried that she isn’t returning my calls.”

Kim shook her head. Pathetic.
For all his power in Washington, for all the fear he commanded in this town, in
his heart, Galen Renwick was a needy, pathetic man.

“It doesn’t matter if we have
Daciana in our pocket or not,” Kim said. “All that matters is that Annika
thinks we do. She and Jill and Nicky and Shannon are making a mockery of the
Coronation contest! They’re deceiving the immortals! They know that if someone
finds them out, they’re all dead!”

“I still think we need more
evidence.”

“Well go and find me some, then!
Jesus Christ, it’s like I have to do everything around here.”

“We would need evidence that
Shannon is still alive.”