Embrace the Night (10 page)

Her gaze dropped into her lap. “No.” She hated when Ralph called her out like this, but she supposed that was what made him such a great friend.

“Exactly. Why are your expectations so high? You've got to stop seeing Wyatt in every man you date. Besides, he was your sister's mistake, not yours.”

She ran a hand over her forehead. “Man. I can't believe I screwed things up like this.”

“You're all set, Tiffany.” Ralph tapped the teen on her shoulder, and she went off to find her mama. “You know, T, God can still bless you, despite your own stupidity. Ava is proof of that.”

In her mind's eye, she could see her niece's sparkling brown eyes and sweet smile. “You're right, Ralph.”

He chuckled. “I know I am. Don't sweat it. I'm sure your...” he cleared his throat and leaned in, “...other job will bring you together again soon enough. Then you can apologize.”

She stretched her legs out in front of her, tugging down the green blouse she'd worn to the salon with her favorite black slacks. “I wouldn't even know what to say to him after the way I acted.”

Ralph waved her off. “I'm sure you'll think of something.”

A barrage of shouts broke into their conversation.

“Oh, Lord!”

“Hey! Mrs. Jenkins's dryer is smoking!”

Tatiana shot out of the chair and darted across the room with Ralph on her heels.

I guess I was needed here today after all.

After escorting the shaken Mrs. Jenkins away from the dryer, Tatiana placed a call. Within an hour, an electrician was dispatched to tend to the frayed wiring that led to the problem. She was watching him make the repair when her PHOENIX cell phone vibrated in her pants pocket.

Scampering to her office and closing the door gently behind her, she answered the call. “Lieutenant Yates.”

“Lieutenant, it's Junjie.”

She perched on the edge of her desk, filled with anticipation over what he was about to say. “Have you culled all possible details from the note?”

“Yes, ma'am. In fact, in light of what I discovered, I think we should meet tonight.”

She blew out a pent up breath, knowing this must be a very big break in the case. “I'll call a meeting right away.” She turned to glance quickly at her office wall clock. “We'll assemble at headquarters in an hour.”

“Understood.”

She disconnected the call and held the phone in front of her. Pushing the blue buttons that would automatically alert John and Marcelo, she recorded a quick voice message for them, informing them of the meeting. Grabbing her black blazer and handbag from the back of the chair behind her desk, she hurried to the door and flung it open.

And nearly knocked Ralph right off his feet.

“Ralph!”

“Sorry,” he said, looking only semi-guilty. “When I saw you dash out of the room, I knew something juicy was going down.”

She wanted to pop him upside his big bald head, but she restrained herself. “Ralph, what I do in the evenings is dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt.”

He nodded. “I get it.”

“Good. Then stop being so damn nosy,” she scolded, even as a laugh escaped her. Ralph had been that way ever since she'd known him, so nosy his nickname could be Axle Foley.

“I'll try. Anyway, go handle your business. I'll close up here after the electrician leaves.” He shooed her toward the door.

“Thanks, Ralph.”

Easing out the door and down the steps, she left the shop and headed for her car in the parking deck across the street. It was a good thing she had on flats today, because she had a feeling things were about to get very interesting.

CHAPTER 10

When John pulled up to PHOENIX regional headquarters, he could see three other vehicles already there. That meant he was the last to arrive. With today being one of the evenings he had posted office hours to meet with his students outside of class, he hadn't really had a choice but to stay on campus later than usual. He glanced at his wristwatch, realizing he had about five minutes to get inside before the emergency meeting started.

He was eager to find out what new information his friend Junjie had discovered. For the first time in a while, though, he was not eager to see Tatiana. As thrilled as he was that the clue he'd found would probably help catch the jackasses stealing the museum's priceless artifacts, he wasn't really in the mood for any lip from Lieutenant Attitude. Exiting his car, he pulled his trench tighter against a chilly breeze that rustled the trees around him, the scent of pine sap wafting past his nose. Soon he completed the security check at the door and was let in by the electronic system.

He drifted down the hallway, and could see the yellow light coming from the conference room near the opposite end. It was nearly silent in the corridor, except for the beeping of various equipment PHOENIX used to monitor the building twenty-four seven. He figured they were waiting for him, so he picked up his pace, and soon entered the room.

Marcelo was reclining in a chair on the table's left side, near the whiteboard. Junjie was jotting something on the whiteboard with a red marker, and Tatiana was sitting on the edge of the table, her back to him. As irritated as he was with her for the way she'd behaved the night before, he couldn't help noticing the way the black slacks gripped her full, round behind. Nodding to Marcelo, and vowing to keep his mind on the matter at hand, he sat down next to the sorcerer.

Junjie turned momentarily from what he was writing. “Glad you're here, John, because I've dissected your clue and it's solid gold, man.”

He smiled. “Glad I could be of assistance.”

When he spoke, she turned around at looked at him, as if she'd just noticed him. “Hey, John.” Her voice was as soft as he remembered her skin to be beneath his hands, and her eyes held a quality of uncertainty.

“Lieutenant.” He kept his expression blank. If she thought she was going to squirm her way out of this with the sad puppy dog eyes, he had news for her.

Seemingly hurt, she turned back toward Junjie at the whiteboard.

“Basically, this is what the note says, decoded,” Junjie announced, stepping away from the board a bit so everyone could see what he'd written.

John read the text in his mind.

Tempest,

Bring the Meadowlark Lemon uniform and the Virginia Dare Painting to the Port of Wilmington, General Cargo Terminal, CSX Transportation station, on October 31.

-The Merchant

“Wow. How did you get all of that out a bunch of numbers and letters?” As Marcelo asked the question, his voice was filled with awe.

“It actually wasn't the most complex of codes. The first set of numbers on the slip represented latitude and longitude, and I figured the second set was a date. Once I knew the city, the other abbreviations weren't too difficult to crack.” Junjie place the marker back in the tray, and leaned back against the board.

“Impressive, Agent Yu.” Tatiana patted J on the back. “Very impressive.”

She stood, and he got a very distracting view of her long legs encased in the tight fitting slacks. His mouth began to water, and he dragged his eyes away.

“Marcelo, have you finished the containment spell?”

The sorcerer nodded. “I finished it last night.” He reached into the pocket of his coveralls and pulled out a vial, about the size of a cologne bottle. “One spritz of this will render a sublimer's powers useless.”

“How long does it last?” She folded her arms.

“It will last about 24 hours, and cannot be washed off once it's applied. I figured the perps would try to remove it once they understand what it does, so I eliminated that concern.”

John shook his head. He'd never understood the sorcery thing. “Marcelo, how do you do this stuff?”

He shrugged. “I owe it to the power that dwells within me, John. And I did enlist the help of my younger brother, Carlo.”

John nodded. He'd heard of the other sorcerer, Carlo, before. According to the archives, he and his brother had recently taken down a prostitution ring up in the mountains. Whatever power the Spirelli brothers wielded, it was obviously pretty damn strong.

“This means the drop is planned for Halloween,” she said, her hand on her chin as if she were thinking out loud. “That's nine days from now. Any idea of the time?”

Junjie shook his head. “I would imagine they do this on a regular basis, so there was no need to mention the time.”

He scratched his head, wondering how this was going to work out. That week, he would be swamped with mid-terms. This year he'd assigned papers to his students as their mid-term, on various historical topics pertinent to their respective classes. He knew he would have to finish grading the papers earlier than usual, since the students would be expecting them back on Monday the first of November. He'd been lucky in the past five years, no mission had ever been assigned to him around mid-terms or finals. He shrugged it off, figuring he could get a student assistant to help him if he needed to.

“Does anyone have any conflict with traveling to Wilmington on next Saturday?” She looked around for a moment. “I will have to tell my sister I can't watch Ava.”

Junjie and Marcelo shook their heads, both stating that they never worked weekends.

“I'll leave Lalah in the capable hands of her sisters for a few days while I'm gone. Since she got pregnant, they love to dote on her anyway.” Junjie smiled as he talked about his fiancee, who was carrying his first child.

John remembered the day J had told him Lalah was having a baby. They didn't know if the baby was a girl or a boy, or what kind of powers it would have. As crazy as John thought they were, they insisted on letting both those tidbits of vital information be surprises.

“What about you, John?” She turned her attention to him, hitting him with those eyes again.

“I'll be grading mid-term papers, but other than that, I'm in.”

She nodded, and looked like she was searching his face for a moment. Then, she picked up her phone and purse. “Dismissed,” she announced, and everyone gathered their things to leave.

Marcelo left first. John stopped J for a minute to ask how Lalah was doing.

“Other than complaining that she feels like a beached whale, she's great.” He chuckled. “I keep telling her she's glowing and beautiful. Some days she believes it, other days, not so much.”

He slapped his friend on the back. “Keep your head up J. You only have, what, two and a half more months?”

“Yeah, but the question is, will I survive them?”

Still chuckling, Junjie made his way out.

“Take it easy, man,” he called after his friend, who waved over his shoulder as he sidled out.

That left him alone with her, again.

His plan was to get the hell out of there before she said anything. But just as he tried to ease out the door, she called his name.

“John, wait.”

He stopped, but didn't turn around. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Why are you being so formal with me?”

“Isn't that how I'm supposed to address my superior?” He turned around, leveling his serious gaze on her. “Surely, you don't think you're more than that to me, do you?”

Her lip trembled, her eyes becoming wet. “How can you say that?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “After the way you behaved, I don't know why you're surprised.”

“What if I wanted to apologize?”

He kept his gaze impassive. “Why should you apologize? You were just showing me who you really are.”

Her expression changed, as if his words stung. She wiped at her eyes with one hand, clutching her purse with the other. “Oh, I see. Then I guess I'll see you here next weekend, Agent Groves.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she stalked past him without making eye contact. He stood in the corridor and watched as she barreled toward the door, head down, and finally out into the crisp night air.

On the heels of her exit, he felt a twinge of something. It made him wonder if he'd been too hard on her. But if she was that kind of woman, who let jealousy overrule common decorum and could let it make her act so childish in public, he knew it would never work between them.