“I could fly commercial.”
She smiled more broadly, her eyes lighting up a bit. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you for offering. Frankly, security would have a fit, and rightly so. No, tomorrow will be fine.”
I surprised myself by saying, “I wish you were coming, too.”
“As do I. I hate this more than you know. Chiyoko has kindly offered to stay and to advise Adriana.” The bitterness in the queen’s words was palpable.
“Oh, hell.”
“Indeed. I had hoped that using the video conference idea you had given me, showing her that I am recovering, would dissuade her from this unseemly grab for power…” She let the sentence trail off unfinished.
There was nothing I could say. From what I’d seen nothing, ever, would dissuade Chiyoko from anything. I had never spent more than a few minutes with her, but they’d been memorable. Besides, power-hungry people are never satisfied. It’s an addiction. Any addict always wants more.
I looked at my aunt. She was wearing out. Sirens might be tough, but they weren’t invincible, and the terrorists had very nearly succeeded in killing her, thanks to the information Okalani had provided.
Perhaps the queen was right. Or not. I just didn’t know. I did know there was nothing more for me to do here. “I’ll let you get some rest. Try not to worry any more than you have to.”
She gave a snort of amusement, then nodded, a silent gesture giving me permission to leave.
Taking my cue I rose, bowed, and walked away.
Baker led me down one of the back stairwells after notifying Griffiths that we were leaving and telling him where to meet us. I’d turned off my cell phone to meet with the queen and switched it back on as we went down the stairs. There were five missed calls, all from Laka.
I knew I should call her back. Maybe Okalani had come back. More likely, she hadn’t and her mother just wanted updates. Whatever, I didn’t want to deal with it. Not now, with my conversation with the queen so fresh in my mind. Later. I’d crush Laka’s hopes for her daughter later.
The car pulled to the curb, Griffiths at the wheel. Baker led. She was cautious, spraying Griffiths with holy water from both a general purpose container bottle and from one that looked to be part of her own private stash, to make sure it was truly him and not a shape-shifted spawn, before letting me get into the backseat.
“Where to?” Griffiths half turned, looking at me over the top of the front seat as Baker climbed in on the passenger side.
“Home,” I answered. “Take me home.”
“Princ … Ms. Graves, we’re here.”
I blinked in surprise, waking. Griffiths seemed to be a quick learner, or perhaps Baker had clued him in on the “no princess” policy. I reached into my bag and pulled out the remote that granted me entry to my home. It’s not just one where you push a button, like a garage-door opener. I have to enter a code and press my fingerprint to a pad. Magical biometrics. Good stuff.
Cooper Manor is a large estate with elaborate security, for which I’m grateful every day. There’s a long, winding drive through manicured lawns that leads to the mansion. A small branch off of that drive leads to my parking lot.
“How long was I asleep?” I was shocked. It wasn’t even ten in the morning and I’d dozed off?
“You’ve had a rough couple of days,” Baker said. “And there are more of them on the way. Rest when you can.”
She was right, of course. My life had been rough, and for longer than a few days. But the fact that I’d fallen asleep was a good sign—I’d chosen well. With Helen Baker as my “partner,” I felt secure. And Griffiths must have proven himself to my subconscious, too. Trust is a wonderful thing. As Griffiths pulled the car into the little parking lot near the guest cottage, I made up my mind. I needed more than rest. I needed peace. Until I got things straight in my head and my emotions under control, I was going to be useless. “I’m going to the beach.”
They didn’t say a word. Of course, they were sirens, so they’d know all about the call of the ocean. I pulled my house key from my pocket and tossed it to Baker. “My bedroom is the yellow one. Feel free to take either the blue or the white.”
I climbed from the car, grabbed a beach umbrella from the storage box on the back deck, and went looking for peace. My private bit of beach is a little strip of sand and rocks that edge onto the ocean. It’s too rough and rocky for good boating or surfing, but it’s beautiful. I found a sandy spot next to my favorite rock, pitched my umbrella, and sat staring at the ocean and watching the gulls play.
Within ten minutes I reached an unpleasant conclusion. Two hours later, I hadn’t changed my mind.
I couldn’t help Okalani, no matter how much I wanted to.
I’d given my information to the police via Alex and to Rizzoli via voice mail. Alex was good at her job. If she found the kid, Okalani would be arrested and probably turned over to the feds. If the feds found her, or got her from the police, she might be able to make a deal—information in exchange for witness protection. I’d seen it happen before.
But if the sirens found her, she’d be killed. Honorably or dishonorably, she’d be just as dead.
The best thing I could do for Okalani was stay the hell away from her and pray that the good guys who didn’t want her dead found her before the ones who did; and that either set found her before the villains.
It sucked.
Staring at the ocean didn’t make it suck any less. I was hurt, sad, and angry. I wished … Not that it mattered what I wished. As my mom used to say, “If wishes were horses, we’d be up to our eyeballs in shit.” In fact, I might be anyway.
19
My flight would leave at 2:00 P.M. from a private airstrip not far from town. It was probably an hour’s drive from the office. Since it was private, I’d be able to pack whatever weaponry I cared to bring. I could strip the safe bare if I wanted. I was going to take spell disks, my guns, various ammunition, my knives, and some One Shot brand squirt guns filled with holy water. I probably wouldn’t need the special loads on Serenity; there are no monsters on the islands. Well, there aren’t supposed to be. But we’d be going straight from Serenity to Rusland, and I might need them there, so I needed to pack them now if I wanted them later.
I would also have time to meet with the client who’d been on the books since the day I got back in town.
I could hear Ron and Dawna arguing the moment I climbed from the car. So help me God, if I hadn’t had to go to the bathroom so bad I would’ve climbed back in and have Griffiths drive us somewhere else. But the morning rush hour had offered up bumper-to-bumper traffic and I’d drunk two large mugs of coffee. So I steeled myself and entered the lion’s den.
“I’ve had it!” Ron is not a small man. He towered over Dawna, even in her heels. But she stood toe-to-toe with him, not giving an inch. Years of putting up with his crap had finally come to a head. I could tell that from across the room. Ron was an idiot if he didn’t recognize it. “That woman is a menace.”
That woman? That would be me. It always is.
“All right, what’s up?” I asked. Baker had entered ahead of me and Griffiths was behind. They both kept one hand close to their sidearms, ready to act as backup, but they didn’t need to. On my worst day I could handle Ron without breaking a sweat. He’s a big bully, but there’s no substance to it.
He whirled around at the sound of my voice. “You!” He pointed a meaty finger at my face.