Honeyed Words (35 page)

We made it to the hospital without any more mishaps and sat in the parking garage a few moments before going inside.

“I spoke with Frank,” she said to me, slipping into her boss voice.

“Okay. How’s Frank?”

She looked at me, thinking how best to tell me something hard, I’m sure.

“He says Anezka’s good people, despite the crazy. She’s been working for a benefactor for many years. Someone who pays her bills, keeps her flush, and in exchange she does work for them. She has really good insurance.”

“Anyone we know?”

“He suggested it was a little iffy and that the last he’d heard, Anezka had fallen out with this benefactor over the sculpture she’s currently working on.”

“The dragon piece?”

Julie looked at me, startled. “He didn’t say. But dragon artwork, Seattle benefactor, flush with insurance … Sound like anyone you recognize?”

Fuck … Nidhogg. Surely not. “Really?” I asked. Damn, I’d have to touch base with Qindra, see if it was true. Double damn. I hated being entwined with them.

“I think Anezka’s upside down on the deal right now. Once that sculpture is finished, the final payment will be deposited in a trust fund of some sort.”

“Well, I guess we need to help her get that set done then.”

“Frank said it’s bad blood, something Anezka won’t discuss even with him, and they’ve known each other for twenty years or more. Ever since she first moved out here.”

“I’ll ask Bub about it, if she won’t spill,” I promised. “We look after our own, right?”

Julie nodded. “Aye. Oh, and Sarah?” She reached out and touched me on the arm. “I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

I looked at her and rolled my eyes. “Please,” I said. “Like I’d let you off the hook that easy.”

She looked at me, confused.

“I’m not done with my apprenticeship. You owe me another year, as far as I’m concerned.”

She smiled and squeezed my arm. “Eighteen months, to be exact, but you’re right. But we have an obligation that goes beyond master/apprentice. I think we’re friends.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Now let’s go and get Anezka before you make me cry.”

She laughed as she got out of the car. She barely leaned on the door as she got the cane out of the backseat. She’d be okay, I could tell. For the longest time, I thought the depression and the trauma would sink her, but with Anezka needing help, she seemed to be coming out of herself. Made me happy to see.

They brought Anezka down in a wheelchair—hospital protocol. We spent the better part of thirty minutes discussing various medications, follow-up appointments, et cetera; then I went out and got the car.

When I pulled up to the doors, Julie and Anezka were laughing and talking like old friends. I held the back door for Anezka, but she gave me a look. Sassy at least—that was a good sign. She climbed into the front, and Julie walked around and held her hand out for the keys. I handed them to her and climbed in the back. At least they didn’t make me ride in the trunk.

As we rode over the pass, the chatter consisted mainly of the way certain doctors and nurses looked in their uniforms. I knew Julie was strictly into guys, but she had a good time discussing the various females that Anezka mentioned. It was funny to listen to. I stayed out of it, spent most of my time wishing I had my damn cell phone so I could text Katie. She’d think this was all hilarious.

I’d see her after we got Anezka settled in. Julie would drop me off at Black Briar, and we’d commence with the secret meeting. Julie was invited, but I think she and Mrs. Sorenson had a big gin rummy game planned. Honestly, how she put up with that was beyond me.

It broke my heart when we got to the house. From somewhere Bub had found pink streamers. The entire house was wrapped in pink and white crepe paper, ribbons were tied around all the sculptures, and one of the warrior statues was standing in the middle of the carport, holding a dozen balloons.

Anezka did cry, and we let her head to the house on her own while we hung back, giving her space. Bub sat on the stoop, anxious and fidgety. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what Anezka was going to do, but she passed right by him and walked into the carport to pluck the balloons from the statue.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” She turned to Bub and held the balloons out, accusingly. “I told you to never touch the work,” she ranted. “If you hurt them…”

I looked at Julie quickly. Holy crap. Was she losing
her
mind?

Bub blinked a few times, and then slunk off to the side of the house, his head down and his long arms dragging on the ground.

“Stop her,” I said to Julie and ran after Bub. He was around the corner before I could catch him. I raced around the side along the back, but he was gone. Damn it.

I walked past the dragon statue and the rest of the warriors. None of them had been moved, other than the one in the carport. I heard a screen door slam as I entered the carport from the backyard. Anezka and Julie must have gone inside the house.

I examined the warrior who had been holding the balloons. Bub had cut a big smile into the otherwise blank sheet of steel that made up the face. It was sweet, if somewhat destructive to the piece.

Still, not an excuse to fly off the handle like that. I wandered into the house, and Anezka was seated at the kitchen table drinking a beer. Julie was getting a glass of water out of the tap.

“Don’t start,” Anezka said when I walked in. “You’ve made yourself at home here, but you don’t get to defend him.”

I glanced at Julie, who just shrugged.

I pulled out a chair and sat opposite Anezka. “Did it occur to you that Bub did all this?” I pointed out the window to where ribbons were hanging down. On the counter was a sheet cake that read W
ELCOME
H
OME
. “It was his idea for the cake.”

She watched me, her eyes hard while she took another long drink of beer. “What are you playing at?” she asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“You come in here, disrupt my life, steal from me, use my home like you own it.” She waved her hand in the air, stabbing at me with clinched fingers. “You have no right; this is my place. You are a snake, a lowlife…”

I sat there, dumbfounded. What the hell was going on with her? She was happy and laughing in the car. Sure she was upset about the statue, but this was nuts.

Julie pulled a chair out and sat down at the end of the table. “Grow the fuck up,” she said, slamming her water glass down on the table.

Anezka and I both jumped. Water sloshed from the glass and began to spread across the yellow Formica tabletop.

“Like I want to hear from a cripple,” Anezka spat.

Julie picked up the glass and tossed the water onto her.

I stood quickly, knocking over the chair and holding my hands in the air, like a little water would make me melt.

Anezka sat there, blinking, her mouth open like a landed fish.

Julie walked to the sink and began refilling her water. I stood there, watching Anezka, who didn’t move but just sat there while the water dripped off her face and hair.

Once Julie was seated again, she took a sip of the water and cleared her throat. “Frank Rodriguez speaks very highly of you,” she said as if she and Anezka hadn’t been cutting up for the last few hours. “But where I come from, we don’t treat our friends,” she motioned to me, “or our loved ones,” she pointed out to the carport, where Bub had reappeared, taking the ribbons off the statue—“like scoundrels and villains.”

“The little bastard…” Anezka growled, but stopped at the look Julie gave her.

“I don’t know who you have in your life,” Julie said matter-of-factly, “but that little guy out there has missed you as much as any friend or family member I’ve ever known.”

“He’s a menace,” she said. “Those statues are important.”

“I’ll fix it,” I said, leaning against the doorframe, my hands behind my back to bear the weight.

“That’s not the point,” she said. “Everything that’s gone wrong here is because of him.”

How easy that was, blame everything on the little demon dude. Yeah, he was odd, and could eat a truck, but he loved her, would kill for her, and she suddenly didn’t give a shit about him. What happened?

“You know he’d take a bullet for you, right?”

“Justin told me you were running wild here. Said I should watch my back.” She made a face and took a long pull on her beer. I wanted to smack her, shake her, knock some sense into her … I could feel the anger rising, the heat building, and realized it before I reacted. This place was a hot spot, and with her and Bub both hurt, doubly so. “You saw Justin?”

She laughed. “He called me, warned me about your meddling.”

What the fuck? “You know he’s screwing with you, right? Remember how he took your stuff, stole your designs?”

She stared at me a minute. “He said you’d be defensive, worried he’d see through your schemes.”

“I’ve never met the bastard,” I said, defensive. “But he was mixed up with Duchamp, dabbled in some nasty shit.”

“You’re just jealous of him,” she said, sounding more and more like a lunatic. “You don’t understand his genius.”

Julie leaned forward. “This is the young man who hurt you?”

Anezka turned her head slowly toward Julie and shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. He’s not important.”

“Look,” I said. “You’ve been through a lot in the last week or so. Maybe you’re just tired.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she said, pushing back from the table. She drained off the last of her beer and sat the bottle in the middle of the table. “But I need to get laid and drunk, not necessarily in that order.”

Julie raised her eyebrows. “Don’t look at me.”

Anezka looked at me, and I winced. Seriously?

“Drunk it is,” she said and turned to the fridge.

I crossed to the table and pushed the door closed before she could get it open. “I’m not sure beer and your meds go together too well.”

She looked at me: hurt, anger, fear, and lust warred on her face. “Kiss me,” she said. I stepped back, and she laughed, opening the fridge. She grabbed a beer and walked toward the back of the house.

Julie looked at me, stunned. “What the hell was that?”

I glanced around the room. “There’s something seriously fucked up about this place, and it seems to be getting worse.”

I knew what I had to do. I only knew one person with expertise in magic. I needed to call in the big guns. Best way to find out if Nidhogg was involved as well.

“I’ll make a call.”

Julie nodded at me, took her water, and walked into the living room.

Careful who you owe a favor to, huh? I hadn’t talked to Qindra since the night of the Flight Test meeting. She’d been very personable at the bar afterward.

I reached for my cell phone, cursed colorfully since I didn’t have it, damn it all. Who else had her number?

Jennifer … Flight Test had records for all board members. I walked to the back of the house. “Anezka, you okay?”

She came out of the bedroom, naked, and sat on the beanbag chair, drinking her beer.

“Lovely,” Julie said.

“I’ll be okay,” Anezka said. “As soon as the acid kicks in.”

And I didn’t think this could get any worse.

“Can I use your cell phone?” I asked Julie, specifically avoiding looking at Anezka.

“Please,” Julie agreed, fishing it out of her pocket. “Whoever you are calling, tell them to hurry.”

I walked out the front door and to the carport, calling to Bub. He and I had to come to an agreement before I could call Qindra. Some things needed to be kept secret; I just had that feeling.

Fifty-one

It took me three phone calls to track down Jennifer. Don’t know why I didn’t try Carl’s place first. Silly me. They were so much in the goofy stage of lurve, it was hard to listen to. I only got off the phone by promising to bring Katie by for dinner sometime soon. Sheesh.

I called Qindra’s number. She answered on the first ring and didn’t even pretend to be a normal person. “Hello, Sarah,” she said. “I see you are in need of something major.”

That wasn’t creepy, nope. Not one little bit. “Hello, Qindra. Yes, I need a favor.”

“That makes two of us.”

Awesome. I couldn’t imagine a favor I could do for her. “Could I bother you to take a road trip?”

“Yes, well.” She paused. “How far out?”

“Chumstick, out Highway 2, out past Leavenworth.”

There was some movement on the other end, and I thought I heard glassware clinking. Crystals, maybe?

“I need to show you something anyway,” she said. “Easy enough for me to come to you. Can you be more specific about exactly where you are?”

I told her, and we wrapped up. I had the strangest idea that she was put out that she didn’t know where I was. Was she tracking me, somehow?

Next I needed to let Bub in on the game plan. I spent the next few minutes talking him off the roof of the house. “She’s sick,” I told him, “but I’ve called in some help.”