That weighed on Christian’s shoulders like an ache he wouldn’t be able to stretch out. “I started to and before you give me shit about it, she had to go to work. It didn’t feel like the right moment to launch into that whole thing. I did ask her if she believed in evil.”
Jonah nodded. “That’s a good introduction, I guess. What did she say?”
“She said yes.”
“Nice.” Jonah yawned. “I’m going back into your apartment to nap. Have a good time taking your pretty pictures.”
Christian rolled his eyes. “Thanks.”
The last thing he wanted to do today involved posing shirtless while he stared at bright lights flashing in his face. Still, if it got him where he needed to go faster, he’d do it and he’d plaster a smile on his face the whole time.
Wind blew through his hair and he remembered the cold spell in Dodie’s apartment. A passing ghost, a harmless specter that came and went without causing any trouble. Could he be that lucky?
He doubted it. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, he got to his apartment after Jonah did. By the time he’d gotten inside he could hear his friend snoring from the back room.
Christian took a quick shower and added product to his hair. Getting ready for the shoot altered only slightly from how he had to get ready for the club every night. No baby oil but prettying himself up took place in both instances.
He’d really gotten sick of the smells. No more baby oil, no more hair product. His father, who had been a master plumber and a real guy’s guy, would never have believed what Christian did for a living. He did want to make them proud, should they actually be watching from some other place.
Of course, they’d probably approve of his work with Master Foy. They’d hunted down and taken out his parents’ killer. The third-level demon would never hurt anyone again.
Christian shook his head. “Why am I thinking about all this crap today?”
The sun shone through the window. He’d spent the night in Dodie’s bed and today’s work would keep him from having to put off his dreams even longer. Things were going along well.
Still, the faces of that family who had been killed haunted him. A glance at the clock told him he had two hours until he had to be at the studio. Just enough time to go check things out.
* * * * *
Northwest Austin was filled with families. With good public schools, it tended to attract people who were looking for safe places to let their kids play outside. Surrounded by two bodies of water, Lake Austin and Lake Travis, the only time Christian had spent in the area involved kayaking and boating on the waters.
Today, with a hat covering his long hair, and casual clothes that wouldn’t draw attention to his presence, he wandered around the street where the family had come to their end.
Neighbors were outside, some speaking to news crews, others simply shaking their heads. Their illusion of safety had been slaughtered along with the bodies of the souls who had lived next door to them. Just as it had been when his parents had died so many years ago.
If he could have slammed his head on the ground he would have. Why had he not recognized the similarities before now? This was the closest he’d come to a murder just like that one.
Bending over, he picked up the dirt and smelled it, nearly gagging when he caught the scent of rotten eggs.
“Sulfur. Damn it.”
The Incubus hadn’t been the only game in town. Some other foul creature stalked and killed people here. Anger surged through his blood and he wished he had his punching bag.
Picking up his phone, he texted Jonah. One word. Demon.
Chapter Eight
Dodie stared at Mindy, who for some reason showed up at the office when she should be resting and trying to get over the trauma that had turned her hair white, as if she had three heads. She wanted to throw her arms around Mindy and simultaneously hug and shake her.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Mindy shook her head, her eyes screaming tiredness in their every red-rimmed blink. “No. I need to be busy. What am I going to do? Sit at home and think about Brian being chopped up? I can think about it plenty here and stay busy.”
“I think we need to get you some professional help for this. People don’t simply get over seeing something like that.”
Her best friend sat back in her seat. “That’s just the kind of thing Jonah talked about last night. Only he didn’t mean for me to go talk to a doctor.”
“How much time did you spend talking to Jonah last night?”
Dodie herself had been preoccupied with Christian. It had never occurred to her that Jonah and Mindy might spend the whole night together. Had Christian’s best friend taken advantage of Mindy while she remained vulnerable?
“We argued for a while, actually. He’s really pig-headed.” Mindy twirled a pen between her fingers. “And then I went and did something dumb.”
So help her, Dodie didn’t care how big and brawny the man happened to be, she’d throttle him herself if he’d gone to bed with Mindy while she was out of it. What kind of scumbag did something like that?
“What did you do?” She tried to keep her voice calm.
Mindy, who usually read her moods like a book, stared across the desk, her eyes distant as if she saw something Dodie couldn’t see. “I told him I couldn’t sleep. Haven’t been able to since I came home from the hospital. So he offered to spend the night on the floor outside the room to keep watch. I let him, which is insane. I should not have made him do that and, even nuttier, he actually did. I slept well knowing Jonah sat out there like some sentry against the darkness.” Her best friend shook her head. “Nuts.”
Dodie needed to apologize to Jonah for all the mean things she’d thought about him. Or maybe she’d never mention she thought them in the first place. That would probably work better.
“I’m glad he did that.”
“Has Christian ever talked to you about their instructor in Chicago? Jonah seems to think he can help me.”
“Right. Yes, the man who got Christian out of jail. He must be a wonderful person. I don’t have a lot of details.”
“Jonah stayed vague on them too. He thought I might benefit from some time there.”
“Are you really thinking about leaving?”
Mindy shook her head. “No.”
Just then the room shook as someone slammed open the door from the outside. A secretary shrieked and then loud popping noises filled the room. Dodie whirled around. What the hell had happened?
“Dodie!” Mindy shrieked. “Down.”
Thrown to the floor by Mindy’s weight on top of her, the world became a blur of movements, shouts and booming noises.
“What is happening?” she shouted, but no one answered.
* * * * *
Huddled in the corner with Mindy and the fifteen members of the office who still lived, Mindy shook. Two of their coworkers were dead—the secretary who manned the reception desk and their CEO, who had thrown himself in front of one of the tech guys to save his life. Both dead. Gunned down and piled in the corner like garbage the men with guns couldn’t have cared less about.
A tear slipped from her eye and she batted it away.
Mindy’s white hair glowed under the fluorescent lighting like a halo around her head. “If I get out of here, I’m going with Jonah. He said I can be strong.”
Dodie had been doing a good job not thinking about Christian up until that moment. How typical for her life. She finally found the perfect guy and now some psychos held them hostage without even mentioning any demands and they would kill her.
She pushed the thought away. Somehow she’d make it out of here and see him again. “Being strong doesn’t stop a bullet,” she whispered. “I don’t care how many martial arts you learn, a bullet hits your abdomen and you’re dead. End of story.”
“I think I must be cursed. I mean, did I piss off a voodoo witch? Why is this happening to me?”
Dodie laughed, covering her mouth so t
he arguing hostage-takers wouldn’t hear her. “You have been having a string of the single worst possible luck, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I really, really have.” Mindy shook her head.
“Or you could look at it quite differently. You’re alive and everyone around you is having the worst possible stuff happen.” Dodie sniffed, wiping away another tear.
“Oh.” Mindy nodded. “So it’s just that I’m bad luck to everyone around me? You, Brian, my parents.”
“Maybe we’re both a curse on those around us. My folks are dead too, and my grandparents.”
“Would you two stop yapping? They told us to be quiet. I’m not going to be killed because you can’t shut your mouths.” Nora, the woman who worked next to Dodie, hissed out.
“You know, Nora.” Dodie spoke in a low voice. “This seems like as good a time as ever to tell you I have never, ever liked you and I think you are really bad at your job.”
Nora gasped and Mindy laughed, covering her mouth with her hands.
“How dare you speak to me like that?” Nora’s beady little eyes rounded and she pushed her glasses up her nose.
“How dare you take credit, even partial, for all the extra work I do on the project?”
There were four men with guns holding them hostage and one of them, a blond man who looked to be about forty-five, with a beer belly and acne all over his cheeks, poked his head in. “I thought I told you to all be quiet.”
Everyone in the room remained silent. Dodie sat back straighter against the wall. An obvious truth occurred to her. She clenched her jaw and tried to force her pulse to slow down. If the lunatics with the weapons let them see their faces, they didn’t mean to let any of them out of there alive.
No masks. Why hadn’t she cued in on that earlier?
Maybe because she’d been trapped in abject terror since the crazies busted through their door. Why had they? It didn’t make any sense. They were a small, not even mid-level, startup software company hoping to have a big first hit with the online role-playing game they developed. She’d spent the last two years working on a character that could turn from a man into a unicorn.
They’d had some nice write-ups in some tech magazines with small circulations and a brief mention in a local news broadcast when they’d done some charity work for a pet rescue. No reasons she could think of for them to be taken hostage.
The man ducked back out of the room and Dodie looked at Mindy. Her bestie had been through enough—too much, really. Telling her these would be their last moments seemed cruel. Dodie would keep her newly realized discovery to herself.
Why make everyone as unhappy as she was? I’m sorry, Christian. I really would have liked to have seen where this could go. I was well on my way to falling in love with you.
Too bad he couldn’t read minds or hear her thoughts telepathically.
A loud bang filled the room and she covered her ears, hitting the ground. This time she didn’t need Mindy to cue her in to the danger. Something just exploded. Shouts sounded and Dodie closed her eyes. Whatever was about to happen, she didn’t want to see it.
* * * * *
“Miss?” Dodie sat in the police station, a blanket around her shoulders, giving her statement for the fiftieth time to the fiftieth police officer who wanted to hear it.
“Yes?” She looked up.
This time it was a female detective. “Is there someone we can call for you? Someone who can come to the station and give you a ride you home? Things are too insane here. It’s going to be hours until we can take you.”
Her auto-response was no. Mindy had always been her phone call and, a quick glance across the area confirmed, her friend remained in the same room as her.
But this time she could say there was someone else to phone.
“Yes. My boyfriend.” It was the first time she’d used the phrase in regard to Christian. “I have his cell phone number in my phone. They took it from me.”
“What’s his name?” The woman held a small tablet and pen, waiting to write the information.
Dodie gave her Christian’s name and the police officer left to call him. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the clock. How can it only be lunchtime?
Random act of violence…
The police told them neither rhyme nor reason explained why the gunmen chose their company. They’d simply wanted to kill some people, to torment an office somewhere in the vicinity, and they’d had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Two people she’d seen every day were dead. They would never go home to see their families or finish any undone business they’d started up. Tears filled her eyes and she pulled her knees up to her chest, even though the chair she sat in didn’t lend itself easily to the position.
How could anyone ever be safe anywhere?
In the back of her mind, she heard laughter. Turning around, she tried to locate the source, but she couldn’t see anyone who looked happy, not to mention ready to burst into humor. She shook her head to clear it. If she lost her mind today, it wouldn’t surprise her.
* * * * *
Christian’s cell phone rang and he crossed the room to pick it up. The photographer transferred the shots they’d already taken onto the computer and he, along with Christian’s agent, pointed at one of them. Maybe a hair had been out of place? He’d reshoot if they wanted, but he really wanted to get out of there.
A run at the gym and then catching sight of Dodie before he had to go dance sounded like heaven.
The number that came up on the phone didn’t ring a bell to him, but he picked it up anyway. It could have been one of his fellow dancers needing a ride or another one of Foy’s soldiers who had to change numbers for some unknown reason.
“This is Christian.” He yawned, covering the phone so the other person couldn’t hear it.
“Mr. Casillo, my name is Detective Patrice Morgan with the APD. I have your girlfriend Dodie Chase here. She gave us your number. I’m not sure if you’ve been watching the news, but Ms. Chase has been the victim of a terrible incident. She needs to be picked up and…”
He interrupted the woman. His heart beat too fast against his ribs and his throat felt as if it might close up at any second. “Is she okay?”
“Yes sir. Physically she’s unharmed. But her office was held up at gunpoint today in what seems like a random act of violence. She’s been through hell.”
“I’m coming. Tell her I’m coming.”
He hung up the phone and sent out a text to Jonah with news of what happened.
In two seconds, he’d run out the door. Somehow he’d make it up to the photographer later or they could take the time from his check, whatever they wanted.
All he could focus on was getting to Dodie. His girl could have been killed and it couldn’t be coincidence. A demon targeted Dodie to get his attention.
He rushed toward his car. “Well, you’ve got it, fucker.”
* * * * *
At the police station, as at the hospital the first night he’d been with Dodie, he walked into a beacon of pain that would have floored him had he not been solely focused on reaching one of the hurt people inside.
Jonah grabbed his arm, coming up next to him. “Is Mindy in there?”
He looked at his friend, glad to see him, relieved even. Christian hadn’t even questioned whether or not Jonah would show up. One text and he’d known he would have help.
“I don’t know. Could you look for her while I find Dodie?”
“Count on it.” Jonah rushed away from him and Christian pushed past a sign-in desk to find Dodie.
She sat by herself, her legs pulled up in such a way that he knew instantly she felt vulnerable. His heart thudded, missing a beat when he saw her. If he’d had any question as to whether he loved her, it vanished right then. The woman would have to handle his life and the battles he fought because he could not live without her.
In two strides, he’d reached her. Kneeling in front of her, he tried to smile, t
hough he wanted to rage against the world that this happened to her.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little bit, but you came and it means more to me than you can possibly imagine.”
“Of course I did.” He pulled her into his arms. “I’ll always be there for you. Nothing like this is ever going to happen again.”
“I’m not sure you can make that promise.”
He turned his head in time to see Jonah hauling Mindy out over his shoulder. She shrieked, but it didn’t dissuade his friend and the police officers, surprisingly, didn’t interfere either.
“Jonah is going to get arrested and I’ll have to bail him out. Again.” He turned back to his love. “I can make you that promise and as soon as we get out of here I’m going to explain to you why I can.”
She nodded, standing up. He didn’t like her silence or the way she stayed stiff in his arms when he put his arm around her. He kissed her hair and then her forehead. “Did they get all the guys who did this?”
Dodie squeezed his hand. “They shot all of them. What is weird is that they didn’t even seem to care. They’d come to hurt us for no good reason whatsoever. I guess its terrorism, right? I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“No.” He shuffled her out of the police station and away from the reporters, who would have been thrilled if they had stopped. No one would bother Dodie today. “You should be surprised this happened. It’s not normal, not natural.”
Mindy and Jonah climbed into the back of the car. Mindy swore at Jonah and he rolled his eyes. In other circumstances, he might have focused on the interesting dynamic between them, but now it didn’t matter. They’d work it out. Everyone lived through the day. For that they all needed to be grateful.
* * * * *
Christian had brought Dodie to his apartment, after leaving Jonah and Mindy alone to argue about Chicago in Dodie’s apartment. The girls would need to stay together, so Mindy still couldn’t go home.
“Listen, sweetheart.” They sat together on the balcony and he kissed her on the shoulder. “I have to go. Jonah and I have to handle what happened. There’s a reason these things have been happening. We’re going to make sure it never happens again.”