Jennifer Rardin - [Jaz Parks 1] - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I decided my best bet was to circle back to the door I'd come through. I managed to find my way through a maze of potted shrubs and outdoor furniture without making a sound. Part of the twisted remains of a hammock peeked out from beneath the blown door, and the opening it had left beckoned. I'd just decided to run for it when her voice froze me.

'I thought you might come back here.'

Shit! I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but figured that was a part of Liliana's overall plan and decided to leave it to her.

I turned around, my Lucille mask firmly in place.

She held out her hand, her smile both condescending and triumphant. Three dark blotches on her chest were all that remained of the bullets I'd fired. 'The ring,' she said, wiggling her fingers to make me move faster.

She had me on strength, speed and pure evil intent. I'm sure she expected me to cringe and shuffle. Which is why my kick swept right up the center of her body without a block, or even a delay. It contacted her beneath the chin, driving her head backwards and breaking her jaw from the sound of it. Off-balance and staggering on her too high heels, Liliana's only move was to reach forward, try to regain her balance. I couldn't allow that.

I kicked her three times in quick succession, contacting her high on the chest, moving her backwards several steps each time. When her heels hit the lip of the roof I jump-kicked her right over the side. She fell loud and long, her body making a spectacular watermelon-under-the-sledgehammer whump when it hit the pavement.

Oh no, it wasn't over. People wouldn't be willing to pay such a high price for immortality if it didn't come with some major perks. Her screaming might have stopped when her body met asphalt, and she'd be in no shape to demand anything more of me tonight, but she'd heal. Quickly. Bed rest and fresh blood would put her back on her feet by tomorrow night. But for tonight, I had won.

I peered over the edge of the roof. The headlights from a couple of stopped cars lit the scene like something out of a Hitchcock movie. Liliana's body sprawled on the street, twisted and disjointed as a scarecrow's. One driver yelled into his cell phone while the other checked her pulse. Liliana's car pulled up, screeching to a halt from its short trip around the block. All four goons piled out and went to work.

Two held off the protesting drivers with handguns while the others grabbed the unconscious vamp by the wrists and ankles and carried her to the car, reminding me of the deer Albert and Dave used to haul out of the woods after a good morning's hunt. They'd barely gotten her stowed and driven off into the night when sirens announced the arrival of cops who, having seen damn near everything, would probably believe every detail of the drivers' stories.

Considering the noise we'd made in the room before coming to the roof, I decided even my I.D. might not stand between me and a visit to the police station. Not a comfy thought with Vayl due any minute and dawn following him like a stray dog.

I ran down the stairs, gritting my teeth against the pounding my poor feet were taking. When I got to the room I went straight to my socks, pulled them on and wrapped my jacket around my feet before punching into my phone the special combination of numbers that would provide me with some semblance of privacy while I talked. Ignoring the blood spatters on the wall, I stared hard at the drawer pull on the end table next to my chair while I waited for an answer. I got one on the 12th ring.

'Hullo?'

'Pete? It's Jasmine.'

'Don't tell me you wrecked another car.'

'Okay.'

Medium pause. I heard rustling, probably him checking out his bedside clock because the next thing he said was, 'Do you know what time it is?'

'Not really.'

Silence. I half expected him to start snoring.

'So why did you call at nearly four in the morning?'

'I didn't wreck the car.'

'Spit it out, Jaz.'

I winced. 'Please don't yell at me.'

'I'm not yelling.'

'I know. But you might be. Soon.'

'If you don't start passing on some real information soon I'm going to yell at my wife. Then you'll have guilt.'

'Manipulator.'

'Spill.'

I ran a hand through my hair and got Cirilai caught in some tangles. As I tried to free myself I said, 'I pushed a vamp off a roof tonight.'

'Not part of the mission, but acceptable.'

'Not really. The cops are coming up here soon, and they're not going to believe I'm innocent when they see the bloodstains.'

'Bloodstains?'

'I shot her first, here in the room. And her goons came and took her away while I was still on the roof, so I have no proof she and I fought.'

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