She took the keys. “Where should I leave it?”
“You can have it. I don’t drive all that much anymore and we have the truck.”
Startled, she stared at him. “That’s incredibly generous of you.”
“Oh, that car’s an old piece of shit and we all know it. But you can drive it until it gasps its last breath.” He patted her hand.
An hour later, Lexi was on the road.
She hadn’t planned where she might go next but she had the money from Mike and that would keep the car filled for a while. The vehicle also gave her somewhere to sleep. Things would be all right. She decided to head for Indianapolis but no sooner had she crossed the bridge on the east side of the city than her plan went awry.
Her gaze flicked to the rearview mirror and she froze. What looked like Braxton’s vehicle with him driving it was three cars back. Her gaze darted from the road ahead to the rearview mirror several times.
Maybe not.
A minute later, she saw him again. He’d veered out to check her location and ducked in again.
Shit!
“Why did I trust that vampire? Why the fuck did I trust a fucking vampire?” She realized he must have left her and gone directly to Kindred.
Lexi pulled off and followed the signs to the Target parking lot. She parked right outside, climbed out, and didn’t look back. Distinctly nervous, she glanced around as she strode to the entrance and briefly met the eyes of a middle-aged woman in a black skirt-suit with her hair in a severe-looking bun.
She looked away, then back again as the woman turned to take her purse out of her car. Immediately, she dismissed the stranger as a threat and entered the store. The plan had been to go through to the exit and drive away while her Kindred unit searched the store. A security guard noticed her agitation immediately so she veered into the clothing department and glanced at her cellphone as though she was in a hurry, a reasonable cause for her agitated state. It worked, fortunately. He remained where he was while she moved farther into the store.
Casually, she selected a pink top, moved to the changing room, and slid into the last cubicle. She looked at the three-foot space and almost laughed. Her only hope was that her unit wouldn’t expect her to trap herself in such a tiny area. No Kindred in their right mind would do something as stupid as that.
“Hi, can I try this shirt on?” Maggie’s voice gave her pause. Was she prepared to fight her sister?
A door opened and closed, then another.
“At the risk—” The whispered voice almost gave Lexi a heart attack.
She spun and stood face to face with the power-suited woman from the parking lot. One wall of the cubicle had disappeared and behind that was an office with a desk, lamp, laptop, and window. She must have frightened her unexpected visitor when she spun because her hand went to her heart.
Another cubicle door opened.
The woman tried again, still whispering. “At the risk of sounding terribly unoriginal, come with me if you want to live.”
Maggie’s feet stopped outside the cubicle. Lexi looked at the feet and quickly at the woman. In a split-second, she made her choice.
In the next moment, she looked wildly around the office while the woman sat at the desk. “Who are you?”
“I’m Dolores.” Her rescuer slid a pair of glasses on and stared at the laptop. “The exit’s behind you, dear.”
Utterly bewildered, she turned to gape at the door. “That was a fae door we came through.”
Dolores looked up. “Correct.”
Lexi casually walked closer to the exit, although the woman seemed unconcerned that she might escape. “Where are we?”
“Denver, Colorado.”
Lexi narrowed her eyes. “Why did you help me?”
“You looked like you needed help and it’s what I do.” She pecked at the keyboard one key at a time.
She clutched the door handle. “Well, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, dear.”
Completely bewildered now, she stepped out of the office, walked down the stairs, and stepped out onto the street. She looked in both directions and located a coffee shop across the street. With nothing better to do, she crossed quickly, bought a latte, and sat at a table at the front from where she could stare into Dolores’ window. She could see her still at her desk.
After a few sips, she took stock. She’d been the proud owner of a piece-of-shit car for roughly an hour and now, it was gone. Her bag was still in it, along with the katana and her other weapons. She had less than a hundred dollars.
The coffee went cold and an hour passed while she stared at the back of the woman’s head. It was time to move.
Before she could argue her decision, she hurried to the building and up the stairs, knocked on the door, and walked in.
“What do you mean when you say it’s what you do?”
Dolores removed her glasses and looked at Lexi. “While Kindred are the official police of the supernatural world, their approach isn’t always appreciated. Simply because someone complains about the vampire next door playing loud music doesn’t mean they want them beheaded or sent to a cell in The Hollows.”
Lexi blushed. If her returned memories had told her anything, it was that their actions weren’t always as justified as she had always thought.
“Do you think a more balanced approach is something you’d like to be a part of?”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know as much as I need to. Why don’t you come and sit?”
She walked across the office and sat opposite Dolores. “I left all my belongings in the car in Illinois.”
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I forgot about that.” Dolores put her hand into her purse and brought out a toy car. She placed it on the desk in front of her.
Why was the woman giving her a toy car? She narrowed her eyes and looked more closely. As
