Greywalker - Kat Richardson [80]
Mara heaved a sigh. “I know. But so long as you’re fighting it, the Grey will be a minefield for you. Be careful. Learn to accept it.”
“I’m working on it, Mara. I am.”
I wished I didn’t have to.
I was just ahead of rush hour all the way to Bellevue.
Nothing seemed to have changed at Sarah’s house. The motorcycle parts still reposed outside, the lawn still played dead. Sarah answered my knock before I finished. I almost rapped on her forehead. She didn’t seem to notice. She was grinning.
“Hi, Harper! Cam said you might drop by. Come on in. I’ve got some coffee on, if you want some,” she added, holding the door wide.
“So Cam got in touch with you?” I asked as I settled myself at the tiny table.
“Yeah,” she called over her shoulder as she gathered up the coffee things. “He came by kind of late last night. Like, about two a.m.”
She brought the tray and sat down with me. “I was kinda surprised to see him. I mean, you said you thought you’d find him pretty quick, but I didn’t expect it to be that quick. And then he starts telling me this crazy story, and I thought he was jerking my chain, at first. I mean, that is one weird tale. A vampire? Like I think that’s likely. . . .”
“What do you think now?” I asked.
“It sounds crazy, but I believe him. It . . . it kind of fits. Mom is not going to be cool with this, though. I’m still a little out of it on some of the details myself. Cam couldn’t stay a real long time, y’know. He said you’re making him call Mom tonight. Is that right?”
“I’m not holding a gun to his head. I told him it was the reasonable, responsible thing to do. If he had called her a month ago, I never would have gotten the case. Even if he’d made up some kind of lie to tell her, your mother would have at least known he was around.”
“I know,” she said, rocking her shoulders in a queer, rolling shrug. “It’s just going to be hard to tell her the truth and get her to believe it. Mom’s imagination is limited to interior design and party planning.”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
“Yeah, I guess. I got the feeling there’s still some kind of problem, but like I said, we didn’t have a lot of time. Is he going to be all right?”
“I think so,” I replied. “Something needs to be resolved, yet, but once that’s taken care of, things should be OK. But this is pretty strange stuff to be going through on your own.”
“You got that right.” She shuddered. “It makes me pretty creeped out to think about it. Edward could have gotten me, too, y’know.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t gotten a handle on this guy yet, but I don’t think he would have done the same thing to you. You’re not the same sort of person as your brother, and I think the personality clash made all the difference. At least, that’s what I think right now. I could change my mind by this time next week.” I didn’t add that I suspected the natural path of Edward’s games with Sarah would have led to the county morgue.
“In the meantime,” I continued, “I’m going to try to help Cameron resolve his problem. Can I call on you if I need your help?”
“Sure,” she said. “Anything you need.” She got a notebook out of her purse and scribbled on a page, ripped it out, and handed it to me. “That’s my boyfriend’s cell phone number. He left it with me while he’s in Italy.”
I cocked a quizzical look at her. “You’ve had a phone all this time?”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t going to let my mom know that.” She grinned and became a very pretty girl with very ugly hair.
“I won’t tell her,” I promised.
“Thanks.”
Back across the water, I stopped at the office to check my messages.
“Ms. Blaine, of course paying for information is no problem. Up to . . . five hundred dollars? This will be acceptable. Please keep me informed.” Sergeyev really wanted this thing.
I wrote myself a note, then headed home.
I checked Chaos when I got home and found her sleeping, ignoring me with a will. I looked