United Service (9 page)

“Ethan Allen,” Sterling corrected, noticing where Kate now sat. He walked from one end of the apartment to the other collecting what he needed for the trip. When the two of them stared at him, he added, “What? I like nice things.” Sterling always thought a room with only one piece of furniture looked too eerie, especially if that one piece of furniture was just a bed. He liked the decor and had just called up the company, quoted a page number in the catalog, and had the entire room delivered. He had found the task quite easy to do.

Speaking of nice things, Sterling looked over at Kate. She took beauty to a whole new level. She sat playing with her long brunette hair. Her legs were crossed and she looked … well, gorgeous to him. Sterling had always found women to be beautiful since they had the cure he needed to remain sane, but Kate was different. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, but he didn’t know why. Kate then smacked her gum and blew a bubble, ruining the moment.

“You even have plastic plants.” she commented. “Really, Sterling? Plastic?”

Sterling glared over to Ben, “Women feel more at home if there are plants in the room.”

“Fake ones?” Ben asked.

“What? Like I’m going to remember to water real ones?” Returning to the task, Sterling opened the coat closet and took out a box labeled ‘lost and found’. He pulled out a red gym bag. He dug through it to find a pair of sneakers. “Check if these fit.” He tossed them over to Kate as he reached for his carry–on bag for his own clothes to take on the trip.

“Someone else’s shoes? Ewww.” She made a face as she stared at Sterling.

Beautiful, but annoying. “Better than being left behind,” Sterling pointed out.

While Kate busily tried on the shoes, Ben pulled Sterling aside as the two walked into the kitchen to get some fresh bagged blood. “Lost and found?”

“Don’t judge me. At least I donate the stuff to Goodwill once the box is full.”

“Let me guess. You caught a woman on the way to the gym one night. She must have figured she’d burn more calories doing you than the Stairmaster. And after you compelled her to leave, you noticed she left her gym bag.”

“Sure. We’ll go with that.” Sterling replied.

Ben laughed. “You don’t remember when this gym bag appeared, do you?”

Sterling shook his head. “No clue.”

“They’re a little too big,” Kate complained loudly from the living room. “Your girlfriend must be Sasquatch. They aren’t even a good name–brand.”

“If they’re big, it means they fit,” Sterling yelled back. He then leaned in towards Ben and whispered, “How can someone that beautiful be this irritating?”

“Irritating, huh?” Ben glanced over at Sterling. “Looks like someone has a little crush on the pretty vamp lady.”

Sterling looked over to Kate and corrected Ben. “The very beautiful goddess that is sitting on my bed?” She was mesmerizing. “Hell, yes.”

Once in the car, the three drove to Powel Airport. Sterling felt a reprieve when Kate grabbed the backseat since his gut reaction had put him on the defensive. He remained unsure of what to say to her, or how to act around her. He feared he would come off sounding, or acting, like a complete jerk in front of her — which seemed odd to him since he never considered himself to be too self–conscious of how others perceived him.

He always had an end objective in mind when meeting women, but not so with Kate. He was excited about what could happen this time. Yet he remained unsure how to woo a vampire woman, especially one that seemed to dislike him. And, more important than anything else, he didn’t want to blow his shot with her. That is, if he even had one.

He decided to focus on the case. Like that would take his mind off the goddess in the back seat.

Sterling bought electronic plane tickets they could pick up during check in at the airport. Both he and Ben hated flying commercially, but Kate was a civilian and it was hard to compel humans over the phone while making flight arrangements.

Kate fidgeted through her backpack as Sterling busied himself with his phone. “Sterling, I can’t pay for the flight right now. I’ll have to pay you back. Okay?”

Sterling shifted in the seat so he now faced Kate. She was so lovely, but he had a job to do. A job which would be easier to do without a civilian in tow. “If you share what the suspect told you, you won’t need a ticket.” He studied her and cocked an eyebrow. “What do you say?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “I say I’ll pay you back later. Tiffany is important to me and the police questioned me like I was a criminal because they thought I would hurt her. I’m coming along to help find her.”

Sterling listened to her defiant tone and watched as her jaw tightened and her chest puffed out. She was here for the long haul, and there was nothing he could do about the additional company.

After a few minutes, Sterling pocketed the phone and announced, “Tickets are purchased. Go to the American Airline terminal.”

Sterling noticed that Kate never stopped chewing her gum loudly and blowing bubbles. Did she not know how loud the gum smacking was? The noise sounded like a cow chewing its cud in the backseat. Maybe the sound just seemed louder since Kate sat directly behind him in the car. The bubble blowing noise was interrupted by another annoying sound — her phone. It was the third time the phone rang since she had been in the car. Sterling planned to scream if Kate’s father was calling her again.

Kate answered her phone, “Hi, Mom. I was going to call you. … I did. I went to the FBI headquarters and I got the information I needed.” Bubbles burst from her gum while she talked. Sterling wondered how she could talk and blow bubbles at the same time. Wouldn’t her jaw eventually get tired and give out? Perhaps the gum blowing was a ploy to appear younger than her actual age?

“I’m on my way to Tennessee. … The suspect told me I’d find Tiffany there. … I’m with two federal agents. … Don’t worry. I’ll compel them if needed. I’ll talk to you later.” Kate pressed ‘end’ on her phone and gave out a frustrated growl.

“Problems with Mommy?” Ben asked.

“It’s like living with Gladys Kravitz – her nose is always into my business and she needs to butt out.” Kate stared out the window.

Sterling tried not to listen to Kate’s phone conversation, but it is hard to ignore when the conversation is taking place two feet from your ear. He turned towards her. “Did you tell your mother you were with two human agents and you would compel us if we gave you any trouble? Did you just lie to your mother?”

Kate made eye contact with Sterling. “Believe me, it’s best to appease the woman so she can get off my back. Otherwise, she worries over nothing.”

Ben shook his head. “You went with me and Sterling to his apartment within an hour of meeting us. No one knew where you were and you had no idea what we would do to you. I think your mother needs to worry, Kate.”

Sterling agreed. “You shouldn’t lie to your mother, Kate. You should respect her more than that.”

Kate shook her head. “God, when did I step into this after school special. I’m well out of diapers, so chillax!”

The only response was raised eyebrows from the two older vampires.

“Chill and relax.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m a lot older than you think. I just don’t show it that much, that’s all. I’ll be graduating this fall with a degree in psychology.” She continued to look out the window and smack her gum.

The bursting bubbles sounded like a ticking time bomb to Sterling. He dreaded the idea of a pressurized airplane cabin and what it would do to his soon–to–be migraine.

They arrived at the airport two hours before their flight took off. Sterling shifted in place as they stood in line at the security desk. “Good Lord. How much longer is this going to take?” He glanced to the head of the line. “They’re taking off their shoes? What is this?”

“Kate, please excuse Sterling. He hasn’t flown commercially in a long time,” Ben said.

Sterling glared at Ben. “Whatever.” Sterling preferred military transport, but a civilian flight was taking off sooner than the military one.

“Oh, are you scared to fly, Sterling?” She smiled up at him. “Does the big airplane scare you?” She now talked in baby talk and touched his arm as if he were a small child.

“Stop,” Sterling growled. She touched his shirtsleeve and physically stood next to him. The scent of sweet peaches hung in the air and he realized it emanated from Kate. It was her shampoo or a perfume; which smelled fantastic, but he didn’t want to be treated like a scared child.

Kate took her gloved hand off Sterling’s arm. “Can’t we compel our way through this line?”

Ben leaned in and whispered in a high pitch sound only vampires and dogs could hear. “We can’t compel the entire line, Kate. We’ll have to wait and compel the ones at the scanners.”

“And, keep your voice down, Kate.” Sterling whispered in the same pitch. “Don’t ask questions we don’t need the world to hear.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said in her normal voice pitch.

“We have a long wait and we need to stay focused.” Ben nodded toward a traveler in line looking at them. “We have to avoid calling attention to ourselves.”

Kate chewed her gum and fidgeted with her hands. “This line is taking forever. How much longer is it going to be?” She followed the line in front of her as the people inched forward. She tripped over her own feet; her shoulder pushing against Sterling’s shoulder as she almost fell.

“Walk much lately?” Sterling asked as he steadied her. Maybe the oversized shoes posed a bigger problem for her than he had originally thought they would be. He held her arm tightly and helped her walk to the sensor, “Stay close to me, Kate. I’ll take care of you.”

Ben walked to the left security sensor and Sterling and Kate to the one on the right. Digging into his overnight bag, Sterling scanned through the various IDs he had, selecting the air marshal one. He flashed the ID, and the guard let him pass.

Ben and Sterling each carried a gun, a silver whip chain, and at least one dagger on them. Sterling compelled the human to believe the pat down had already occurred. When he looked up, he saw a third security guard take Kate away. Frustrated, he angrily compelled the nearest officer. “Tell me where they are taking her.”

With dull eyes, the man answered, “Random security check.”

“You’re done with me.” He left and followed Kate and the security guard. Once he caught up to them he told the guard, “You’re done with her. You’ll now walk both of us through security.” The compelled woman complied and led them through to the gated area.

Ben waited for them. “What took so long?”

“They were taking Kate away to check her. Evidently she looks like a threat.” Sterling said.

“Compelling is hard to do,” she confessed in a hushed tone. “I can only get it to work a fraction of the time. They thought I may be drunk or on medication.”

Sterling had at first thought that too. “Yeah, what is your deal, Kate? You can’t even walk straight, even in sneakers.” Sterling knew she was past her Jahrling Year and a full vampire female, so human disease should not affect her. She didn’t reek of liquor, and anyway, it would take a lot to affect a vampire. There was only one other thing he could think of. It was a long shot, but he still decided to ask. “Do you have an inner ear infection or something? Your gait isn’t normal.”

“My ‘gait’? I’m not a horse, Sterling,” Kate protested.

“You never heard of the expression ‘graceful as a horse?’” Sterling jokingly asked. Standing this close to Kate, he smelled sweet peaches again and wanted to take a bite. He noticed her full red lips as she smiled at his joke, but he forced himself to look away.

“You’re inexperienced with compelling. It gets easier with time and practice.” Sterling didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but it was a true statement.

“Maybe she’s drunk,” Ben suggested looking at Sterling.

Sterling looked at Ben and replied. “She’s been with us for a while now. Alcohol would have worn off.” Now looking back at Kate, he asked, “So what’s the deal Kate?”

“I’m fine. Drop it,” was all Kate offered. “We need to find our gate.” Kate’s phone rang again as she walked toward a flight schedule board to find their terminal.

Sterling glanced at his watch. “Stupid to get here so damn early.”

Ben studied Sterling. “Your aura is blue,” he said, using his special ability. “How much agony are you in?”

“The pain’s not bad. I can manage it.”

Looking over to Kate, who appeared out of earshot, Ben whispered, “If you were nicer to Kate she may be willing to help you out. But no, you have to be an ass to her every chance you get.”

“Shut up.”

“There are plenty of women here. If you don’t take care of yourself before our flight you’ll be an irritable mess before we land. In fact, here comes a pretty brunette our way. … Damn, she’s fine,” Ben noticed.

Sterling looked over at the brunette. Brunettes tended to be his favorite. The woman walking toward them had the same body shape as Kate, same hair color too. She wouldn’t be picked out of a lineup for being Kate, but she looked a great deal like the lady vamp they were traveling with. Sterling couldn’t put his finger on the feeling he had, but he didn’t want to soothe his pain with a Kate look alike, especially if they were to be spending the next few days together. He’d have to go after a woman who looked nothing like her if he was going to have a visit with the fairer sex.