remained in the shadows. With my arms stil at my sides, I lifted my palm to him, silently encouraging him to keep it that way. We held our weapons out where Sanji could see them as we approached him and the front door. “Please,” he said again. “She said she would go as soon as she spoke to you.”
“Did she give you her name?” Vayl asked.
“Bemont,” he said. “When she checked in she said her name was Mrs. Bemont.” Even Aaron knew better than to gape at Cole. But we al felt the shock that shot through him at hearing that whoever had anticipated a move we’d only just decided to make was posing as his wife. I reminded myself, once again, to create a whole new vocabulary for our line of work, because
“creepy” just didn’t cover it.
When we didn’t show any signs of movement, Sanji asked, “Are you ready now? Mrs. Bemont is not a patient woman. You should hear the yel ing if we are late with her breakfast.” Vayl held up his hand. “In a moment. Cole.” Our sniper stepped forward. In his hand he held a duffel ful of clean clothes and a second padded bag containing his rifle, a Heckler & Koch PSG1
that was nearly new but had already seen action (translation: Saved our asses) in Marrakech. Vayl said, “Find the back way in. Clear it if necessary. Then cover Mrs. Bemont’s room. But before you go, give Raoul your pistol.”
Cole reached into his shoulder holster and pul ed out his Beretta. Handing it to my Spirit Guide he said, “I know it’s been a while. Do you need a refresher course so I don’t have to worry about you shooting off your big toe?”
Raoul took the gun with a wel -practiced hand, making sure to keep the business end pointed away from the rest of us. “I haven’t forgotten.”
Vayl said, “I suppose I shal need something as wel . Sanji, give me your gun.”
“I-I have nothing of the sort!” blustered the manager. “I’m a peaceful man—”
“I beg to differ,” Vayl replied, his voice so mild Sanji had no idea how close he was to getting his head slammed against the wal . “You run a rotten hotel in a neighborhood infested with criminals.
Where do you keep it, behind the counter? If not, I wil be happy to tear this place apart until I locate it.”
“No! No, that won’t be necessary.” Sanji rushed into his office and came out carrying a sawed-off shotgun.
I said, “Now I’m having weapon envy.”
My
“She’s in the honeymoon suite.”
We stared up at the sagging building. “You have a honeymoon suite?” It was the first time Aaron had spoken since he left the bus. And I was sure these words had been ripped out of him by pure disbelief.
Sanji shrugged. “It’s the biggest room in the establishment, real y two rooms put together. Up there, on the corner of the second floor.” He pointed to the windows, the curtains of which were closed tight. Vayl nodded to Cole, who left so swiftly that Sanji didn’t even notice. He just kept blabbing in the way of lonely innkeepers, “I think they forgot to put the wal up in between them when they raised the building, so now it’s the honeymoon suite. It has a wonderful view of the river.”
“How does Mrs. Bemont like the view?” I asked.
“I don’t think she ever looks. She just complains about no running water and makes us haul buckets up to fil the tub we had to buy for her. She bathes quite often. ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness,’ she says, and then she cackles in that awful way she has, as if she’s got razor blades stuck in her throat.”
We al nodded sympathetical y until Vayl was final y satisfied that we were set to meet Cole’s fake wife. He’d made sure that I stil carried Grief and that I was armed both with the holy water I carried on my right wrist and the bolo sheathed in my pocket. He’d also checked to see that Raoul stil carried his holy blade, it was just hidden beneath the back of his jacket at the moment. Bergman, as usual, hadn’t thought to arm himself, and Aaron was without weaponry as wel .
Vayl handed Bergman his cane, saying, “I noticed you turned your ankle slightly while you were debarking the bus earlier this evening. Here, please feel free to use this to aid you for the rest of the evening.”
Bergman received the cane as if he were being given the care of a kingdom’s crown. His reverence nearly brought me out of the intense concentration I’d thrown myself into the moment the lights came on. Aaron’s whine, “What about me?” did the rest of the job.
“You’d manage to kil one of us with a butter knife,” I snapped. “Stay out of the way until further notice.”
He looked to Vayl for support, which amused me. Like some kid running to Daddy for permission after Mommy’s barred him from the cookie jar. The twinkle in Vayl’s eyes let me know his mind had fal en into the same track. He said, “Jasmine is right. If you would like to be trained so you know what to do in these situations in the future, I wil be happy to accommodate you. But for now your life, and ours, depend on your staying safely out of the way.” I smiled inwardly as Aaron bobbed his head. Final y a little respect from the would-be kil er. And al it had taken was major risk to his own hide. As soon as he fel to the back of the line I al owed myself to refocus. This deal, whatever it was, smacked of foul spel s and demoncraft. I’d need to be on my toes if I wanted to bring everybody back from this one. And oh God, did I ever want everybody to survive. One more second to recognize the crack in my shel , to realize nearly everyone I loved was in this place at this time. And then I shoved that sucker together, sealed it with superglue, and got on with my job.
Which, at the moment, was to fol ow Vayl and Sanji into a building I’d never scouted before, knowing ful wel it could be boobytrapped, packed with enemy forces, or just plain bad for the sinuses. I whispered down to Astral, “You go ahead of us. Let me know if you see hostiles.” She trotted ahead, slipping through the doorway as soon as Sanji opened it, and disappearing into the recesses of the building long before we reached its lobby.
I’d taken Jack’s lead from Vayl and wrapped it around my left wrist. But since I needed both hands to shoot straight, now I knotted it through my belt loop. “Be calm, boy,” I told my malamute, whose ears were perky enough to say he was enjoying this outing, but whose sleepy eyes thought I was way overreacting to a few surprise neons and what quite possibly was just a bitchy ex-girlfriend.
“Oh, I would be so pissed off if that was the case,” I whispered down to my dog. “Do you think he would actual y date somebody that crazy? Don’t answer that. I already know.” Fol owed closely by Bergman, Raoul, and Aaron, Vayl and I trailed Sanji into the lobby, which held several shelves ful of snack foods as wel as necessities like
