Immortal Distraction (19 page)

Chapter 17

Over the next week, they continued to ignore one another. Their contact was as limited as possible, and since Brit slept at night and he didn’t, their interaction was easy to avoid. It didn’t mean she didn’t see him at all. In fact, every day she passed him on her way to work in the morning, or on her way in at night. He was blessedly gone a good deal of the time in the evening, and she refused to let her mind consider that at least once this likely meant he was hunting.

Brit spent their week of silence pounding her head against a wall at the precinct. No new bodies had shown, and as relieved as she was, it left her with no new clues to go on. She needed a break on this one desperately. The search warrant had given them nothing of use other than the evidence they’d initially collected, which was now sitting stagnant at the lab until someone had time to process it. Unless she could get her hands on the man, and do it without getting herself killed, she was as hopeless as ever that the end was in sight.

The ME’s report on the newest two victims showed nothing new either. The victims all had cells of unknown origin in their wounds, and while Brit knew full well the cause of that, it really changed nothing. It certainly didn’t help find the man they knew was responsible for killing their victims, and aside from staking out his family’s building, there was little to do but put out an APB and cross their fingers. She wasn’t optimistic.

In truth, Brit knew she was likely the best shot they had at finding the man. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say for him to find her. It was as close to contact as anyone had come, and while she was withholding a good portion of the details, she had reported that she had been attacked outside her home by a man she knew to be Driscoll. Add a few more charges to his file, but it just didn’t matter. He was nowhere to be found.

Brit spent the better part of her days talking to addicts in the seedier parts of Boston, passing out blown up surveillance photos with her business card. In return, she got a lot of hollow eyes, shaking fingers, slurred words, and one man nearly vomited on her; thank God she could move quick.

Every night Brit was home by nightfall, and she was being far more cautious about her safety than she typically was. Angus never left until she was there. Fortunately, Brit had found the pool on the rooftop and spent a few evenings there swimming laps. She had no time during the daylight hours to get to the gym, jogging was out of the question, and she needed an outlet.

One evening, she ran into Truman’s wife Ember while she was there. The woman watched her carefully as she shirked out of her robe and stepped into the water. Brit was rarely good at making nice the way other people seemed to be so easy with it, but the moment Ember opened her mouth, she had Brit at ease—at least by Brit standards.

“It’s been nice to have another woman around this place. I know we rarely see one another, but when I lived here, it was all men all the time. You can’t believe how much time I would spend in this pool just escaping.”

“Why so many men?” It wasn’t like it’d gone unnoticed.

“Many reasons. The former head of the council was … a nightmare … on more than one front. He didn’t hold much respect for women if I were guessing. But vampires are old fashioned too. I mean, they’re like hundreds of years old, so, kinda goes with the territory.” She was smirking at Brit, and Brit could feel the corners of her mouth pulling up. And then holding her hand to her mouth as though sharing a secret, she continued, “Kind of a promiscuous lot. But still, vampires are often commitment phobic in my opinion and impression of those I’ve met. When you live forever, do you really want a wife?” Another smirk.

“Like Angus for instance.” She regretted the words the moment she spoke them.

The sweet young vampire smiled a quizzical smile at her. “Oh I don’t know. He seems pretty taken by you, and he’s certainly not being promiscuous at the moment. Not for a single moment in fact since you came into the picture.” She watched Brit with interest.

Brit decided a change of subject was in order. She’d stopped swimming and was lounging against the side of the pool. The pool was heated and more than comfortable for the time of year. She was relaxed for the first time in days talking to Ember. “Why do you not hunt?”

She shrugged mildly and considered her response. “I’ve never had any interest in it. And I enjoy my husband’s and my … arrangement very much. I have no reason to want anything different.”

“So, it’s not that you have a moral objection to it?”

She regarded Brit with an appraising expression. “Truman found me chained to a wall in a basement when I was ten. I’d been abducted, and the man who’d taken me intended to rape and murder me just as he had two other children previously. He saved my life. Those are the people Truman hunts. The lives that are saved because of the people he kills are countless.” And studying her for a moment longer, she continued, “And the same goes for Angus too by the way.”

“He’s not said anything at all about who he hunts to me.”

“Well, I’m guessing he doesn’t think it’s a topic you want to discuss. And it’s not really an appropriate topic for him to discuss with a cop regardless of how much he may like you.” She offered another small smirk. “I like you, Brit. You’re strong, driven, and moral … but you’re damaged. Don’t worry, I am too.” Her face was angelic as she spoke. She was calm as though discussing such emotionally charged topics was nothing new to her. “We all are to some extent. Truman lost his sister to rape and murder hundreds of years ago and has been trying to destroy every last monster since that day. Angus walked away from the only family he had when he transitioned, and it was so uneventful to his family that they never even looked for him. Didn’t really care he was gone at all. And I spent the better portion of my life fearing men … fearing life in general for that matter … until Truman came into my life again. You don’t have to tell me where your damage comes from. But try to understand we’re all human, in some form or another, and we move through this life carrying the baggage of our past. Every ideal we hold has roots somewhere along that path. Just because we see things differently than you doesn’t make us evil. Angus is one of the most moral men I’ve met, though he likely doesn’t see himself that way. But then, that’s what happens when you come from a family who doesn’t care if you live or breathe.”

And then she was swimming toward the stairs. “You sound like a shrink.” Brit tossed out toward the girl. She was smiling when she said it, odd.

“And in fact I am. I work for child-protective services. I work with children who have been the victims of crime.” She smiled warmly as she wrapped her robe around her and turned to leave. Pausing at the door, she turned. “I really am glad you’re here, Brit.”

And she was gone, leaving Brit with more provocative words to process than she knew what to do with.

When Brit pulled herself from the warmth of the pool water it was because her phone was ringing.

“Brit … Brit … Oh fuck … uh Brit?”

“What, Mom.” She sounded higher than a kite. Nothing new there.

“Have to come get me. I’m in Chinatown.” Her voice was slurred and lazy.

“What? What the hell are you doing there, Mom?”

“You don’t know nothin’ ’bout me an what I do. Jus come get me, damn it.” She was obviously in a great mood, but since Brit was livid, it seemed appropriate. After her mother gave her something closely resembling an address, she hung up on Brit, leaving Brit talking to herself for a moment, before cursing loudly at the empty poolroom. “Fuck!”

When she returned to Angus’ residence, he wasn’t there, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d at least not have to deal with him. Brit had been on her own for as long as she could recall, and suddenly having someone oversee her every move was a bit out of Brit’s comfort zone, even if she understood the concern.

She jumped in her freezing-cold car that Jonathan had just brought around and cursed her mother again that she’d have to be out in the cold. She was tired, more than ready for Angus’ large, albeit lonely, bed and now this. It was an argument waiting to happen. She could sense it coming with every mile that passed.

When she pulled to the curb, she found herself wandering around aimlessly until she finally located her mother standing in an alley with a man. The streets were abandoned at this time of night and with the temps hovering near zero. They were bundled in warm parkas, and she could see little of the man except he was standing by her mom with his arm around her. If this was a john, she had half a mind to arrest the man. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d come across one of her mother’s men.

And then he turned toward her. Brit froze in place for half a second, pulled her gun from its holster in one smooth, effortless move, and trained it at the small sliver of the man’s visible neck. She needed a better shot, but he held her mother partially in front of him, and she was helpless. “Hi, Brit. Good to see you again.” And then she slowly lowered the gun to her side as she blinked, and she became confused at why it was in her hand and why she’d been aiming it at the man in front of her.

* * * *

He was nearing his panic threshold as Truman tried to trail her car. She drove fast, and with no warning, they’d been left playing catch up. Fortunately, she’d at least mentioned to Jonathan where she was headed, and they had a direction and a most probable route. They’d caught sight of her on more than one occasion, but with her ridiculously fast speed, they’d struggled not to lose her in the traffic. What the fuck was she thinking?

They lost her as they neared Chinatown, and not having an exact location of any sort, they’d been forced to drive aimlessly, searching desperately for her car. It was likely nothing, but he wasn’t willing to take chances with her. When they’d spotted her car, she was nowhere in sight. Truman had dropped him at her car while he circled the block, looking for her while Angus searched on foot, and when he stopped cold at a nearby noise it was to study it. It was voices and one was Brit’s. The other was a woman’s slurred speech. No doubt her mother from what Jonathan had told her. But then the scent of
him
hit his nose. He’d only caught the scent once at Brit’s home, but he’d committed it to memory. And as he registered what was happening, he took off in a dead sprint toward the voices.

He rounded the corner of the alley toward them, his heart pounding loudly in his ears in terror, and he skidded to a stop, frozen in fear.

“Mom, we’re leaving. I don’t care about your new friend, no offense, but this is ridiculous!” She was pissed, furious, but worse than that, she was oblivious. He’d wiped her fucking mind.

“Brit!” he yelled, his voice sounding harsh and only barely controlled. All eyes snapped to his, and Brit’s face showed fury.

As she stalked toward him, she started yelling at him. “This is none of your damn business. So what, you’re following me now!”

“Brit!” He grabbed her arm, yanking her harshly to his side from her place in front of him as she stared stunned at his face.

“What the…?”

“Quiet!” He knew she was furious at him, but he didn’t give a shit. And then turning his attention to Driscoll, he spoke on a low voice that bordered a growl. “If you so much as hurt either one of them, I will end you.” Brit was now stunned into silence as her focus shifted back to Driscoll.

He blew off Angus’ comment, meeting her confused eyes. “Well, Brit. Like I said, it’s good to see you again” Driscoll’s words were hissed on an evil breath. Her brows shot up for half a moment in shock and recognition before her hand moved to her holster, grabbed her handgun, and pulled it in an arch to aim.

“Let her go!” she screamed at them as her mother’s drugged body was supported by Driscoll—held captive by him. Her eyes were barely open, and she had a lazy smile on her face. And while Brit aimed, Driscoll clicked his tongue.

“What are you going to do Brit, shoot me? I’d have thought Angus would have told you enough to know it won’t do you any good.” He was nuzzling her mother’s neck as he spoke, licking at her skin as he went. His teeth were barred and he was threatening.

“Let her go, you fucking coward, and face me.” Angus could barely contain his fury. In truth, he felt helpless. He couldn’t do a damn thing with Brit’s mother in such a precarious position. When he grazed his teeth slowly and tauntingly down the side of her neck, Brit whimpered and Angus leaned to her ear. “Put that gun down now.” And she lowered it with shock and pain showing on her face, he stepped slowly in front of her. As much as he wanted to pounce and attack, he couldn’t risk it, and it had his blood boiling. Any sudden movement at all could send his canines through her skin before anyone could react. Driscoll knew it, and Angus damn well did too.

“Please just let her go. Please. You don’t have to do this.” Brit’s words were desperate and Angus focused on the man. He was waiting, waiting for any opportunity he could take, itching to make his move.

“You have no control here, Brit.” He was still nuzzling against her neck, opening his mouth occasionally and grazing across her neck. There were red lines streaking across the skin of her neck where his teeth had scratched the surface ever so slightly. “You couldn’t even stop me from making you forget me. The only reason you remember me now is because I released your memory. What makes you think you can save your dear mother. Why do you even want to save her? She’s nothing more than a fucking dirty whore, just like you!” He seethed the words at her like some slithering reptile before kissing her mother’s neck and smirking his evil smile.

When Truman yelled out to them from far off, Driscoll shifted his focus out the alleyway. In a flash he thought incapable a human, Brit’s hand flew back up with trained precision, and she discharged two rounds. She’d hit him square in the neck with the aim of a sniper and the speed of an immortal. Her mother was thrown into the wall beside her as Driscoll shrieked and bound over the tops of their heads. When Angus turned and started to pursue, he heard Brit shrieking for her mother. He stopped and turned back once and had to fight the urge to stay with her. Truman appeared at the mouth of the alley as Angus darted past him.