Calvin raised his right hand, as if examining something resting in his palm. “I had no intention of turning you that night. If not for the earthquake, you would have died along with your wife. But once it was done, I had no real choice but to accept it. However, that didn’t make me responsible for you. I’m not your daddy. I had no more obligation to you then than you have to me now. As it was, my situation in Messina was getting precarious. I didn’t want you blundering along behind me. As things turned out, I left the island shortly after the quake.”
I knew well enough from my own experience how precarious the situation with humans could become. “I can accept that. We agree, then, that I have no obligation to you?”
“None that makes any sense to me.”
“Then why come here asking questions?”
For the first time, his gaze seemed to soften slightly. “Are you always this inhospitable?” he asked.
Again, I realized I was acting like I had a grudge against him. “Not always,” I said, trying to be more accommodating.
Calvin scanned the night sky. “It’s going to be light soon. If you don’t invite me inside, I’ll have to be on my way.”
There wasn’t any reason not to invite him in, and I was curious about why he was there, so I unlocked the door and ushered him in.
“Nice place,” Calvin said, looking around before making himself comfortable on the sofa. “How’s this working out for you?”
“It works well enough.”
“Do those curtains keep out the sunlight?”
“Most of it, and the window glass is polarized.”
“And the guy downstairs is a friend of Mio’s, I take it?”
“If that was a question, it sounds like you already know the answer.”
“Just a guess. I’m also guessing Mio never mentioned to you that we’ve met?”
“No, she didn’t,” I admitted.
“Just once. About two years ago. I was up at Lake Tahoe. I saw her get out of a limo and go into one of the casinos. I knew immediately she was one of us. Humans don’t move like that. And I was pretty sure who she was. After all, there aren’t many Japanese vampires her size who dress like royalty and ride around in a limousine. So I followed her into the casino.”
“You talked to her?” I asked.
“She was waiting for me. That surprised me. Apparently she’d noticed me watching her when she arrived. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty good at not being noticed.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Not much, really. She wasn’t exactly friendly when I told her who I was. I suspect that if we hadn’t been in the casino she would have practiced her kung fu on me.”
“Why would she do that?”
“To tell you the truth, I think it had something to do with you. I think she was warning me.”
Calvin seemed to be waiting for a response, but there wasn’t much to say. If he was right, I was pleased to know that Mio had my interests at heart. But I wasn’t going to tell Calvin that.
“Do the two of you get together often?” he asked.
“Only when she’s in town. Why?”
“I suppose I’m impressed. We only spoke for a few minutes, but Mio strikes me as capable of being either graciously accommodating or viciously unpleasant, depending on her own private whims.”
“That impresses you?”
“What impresses me is how different the two of you are, and yet you seem to have a durable relationship. One that evidently works for both of you. That isn’t easy to come by. You and I are a lot alike in that regard. We both find most of our fellow vampires disappointing. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“‘Disappointing’ is a generous way to put it.”
“Yes,” he said, as if distracted again examining his empty hand. “I suppose it is.”
“You were going to tell me why you’re here.”
“For one thing, as I already mentioned, I was concerned that your good deed with the girl might have put my living arrangements in jeopardy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it.
“Would you mind telling me what you were doing in Pollock Pines?”
“I was looking for someone. A girl, but not the one that ran out of your house.”
“So, you didn’t know I lived there?”
“The possibility had never crossed my mind.”
“You must have been surprised. I certainly was, when I saw you in the woods. I knew you lived here in Sacramento, but I never expected to see you up there in the mountains.”
Calvin seemed to know a lot more about me than I knew about him.
“So, why were you looking for this other girl?” he asked, as if there were no conceivable reason why I wouldn’t tell him.
“It’s complicated. Let’s just say I’d started something and I wanted to finish it.”
“And it was this something you wanted to finish, trying to find this other girl, that led you to my door.”
“Yes.”
“Did the path to Pollock Pines lead through Yavorsky?” he asked.
“Not directly. One of Yavorsky’s employees. A guy named Levko. The one who delivered the girls to your house.”
Calvin was thoughtful for a minute before speaking again. “I’m sure you can appreciate my concern, Shake. Yavorsky has his uses, but he’s not very bright and that makes him unreliable. If any of this is going to be a problem for me, I’d like to know before it gets out of hand.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about from Levko. All he did was show me your house. I’ve never laid eyes on Yavorsky and he doesn’t know who I am or that Levko met with me. Levko seems to be genuinely afraid of him. Or at any rate, afraid for his family back in Ukraine.”
“He should be. Yavorsky is a real piece of work.”
“Levko seems to have a similar opinion of you.”
“Yes, well, he knew where to deliver the girls. I wanted
