“I’m fine,” I said because it was true. I’d gotten more sleep than she had; if anyone was looking pale, it was her. “What about you? Do you need a breather? I can take notes when Angela gets back.”
Vanessa chuckled. “I can survive another day or two on naps. Don’t you worry about me.” She grew somber as she looked down at her phone. “I really hope the Velazquezes incriminate themselves soon. We can’t keep involving the Smiths like this. They’re civilians. It’s too dangerous.”
I didn’t know what to say so I just kept eating my breakfast.
An eternity later, Angela came back.
“They don’t think it’s safe to meet yet,” she said with audible relief. “Fadele said we should stay close until he can get us safe passage out of the country.”
“They probably want to watch you,” Vanessa said, “make sure you’re on the up and up.”
“Precisely. His cover story is that he has a legitimate job now and knows the Wards are in Seattle, so he tries to respect their previous agreement by staying just out of reach. He said he still has friends in the underground who can help smuggle us to China, but it will take time.”
“They’re choosing to keep their distance but keep tabs on you. They’re being cautious.” Vanessa drummed her fingers against the desk and gave a frustrated exhale. “I guess there’s a reason they’ve never been caught before. Well, that’s good news for you guys. If you just stay put and give their tails nothing suspicious to report, the Velazquezes will have no reason to think you’re not being completely honest with them. Let’s get back to translating the audio.” She tapped on the laptop again and the recording continued.
The three of us listened to the Velazquezes chat for a while.
“They’re saying they will send a messenger to the lizard,” Angela said. “They’ll meet tomorrow night. Then they’ll contact us again to get us on a boat. They’ll keep track of us from now on. It isn’t safe to have us wandering around unchecked, especially if they have to—” Angela gasped. “If they have to get rid of Izz and Segil.”
Why was she surprised? If Mr. and Mrs. Ward continued to ignore them, of course the Velazquezes would have to get rid of the soon-to-be-senator and his wife. It would be the only way to ensure this proposition never passed.
“Now they’re complimenting each other and talking of going to bed,” Angela said when she was done processing her emotions. But then she paused again. “They’re, uh, talking about being turned on by their scheming. I think they’re going to have sex.”
Vanessa threw me an anxious glance. I glared in response. I wasn’t that sheltered!
“Is it really necessary to hear this part?” Angela asked, her voice strained.
“I’m sorry but we can’t risk missing something. Just let me know if there’s anything being said that’s pertinent to the investigation,” Vanessa said with an apologetic smile Angela couldn’t see. When she glanced at me again, she sighed. “Come on. Just put your earbuds in for a bit. You know Vic would kill me if he ever found out I let you listen to this.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, abandoning the remainder of my breakfast to go hunting for my phone. It wasn’t like I wanted to hear that shit anyway; I just didn’t like Vanessa thinking I needed protecting. Once my ears were filled with the loud tunes of Esmer’s most recently recommended band, Vanessa turned back to her laptop.
I was done with my burrito and had paced the length of our hotel room three times when she finally gave the all clear. I tugged the earbuds out as I joined her by the phone again.
“They’re planning their day,” Angela was saying. “They say they’ll call us early in the morning to keep their plan in motion. Fadele will go to work and Nij will contact the messenger…They just said goodnight.”
The rest of the audio was white noise.
Vanessa closed her laptop. “Thanks, Angela. We’ll call you in about an hour or so when we get the latest recordings. We’ll need you to translate live at some point today too. Please, don’t leave your hotel for any reason.”
“Understood,” Angela said. “May I speak to Charlie?”
“Go ahead,” Vanessa said, pushing the phone toward me.
I took the call off speaker mode before putting the phone to my ear. “What is it?”
“Would it be all right with you if I called Jasmine? I’m concerned about her. It couldn’t have been easy to be left behind.”
I’d been updating my sister via text this whole time so she couldn’t feel too left out. But I knew Angela and Jasmine had something and, as much as it weirded me out, I was glad Jasmine had someone else to talk to. She’d always wanted a friend. I couldn’t stand in the way of whatever was developing between them.
“Yeah, sure,” I murmured.
With a note of relief, she said, “Thank you. Will you be going on the stakeout today?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Vanessa had finished packing her laptop and tablet away. Now she was pointing at the bathroom and mouthing, Shower.
I nodded in acknowledgement.
“You were about three blocks away from Fadele and Nij yesterday, and you didn’t feel their presence, correct?”
“No,” I said after I’d thought about it for a second. “I could sense you guys when we were in the same building, but I never thought about it with the Velazquezes.”
“Don’t worry yourself; it’s something I just thought of yesterday. Jerald and I can sense our brethren if we are within a couple miles of each other, but we can only sense you and Jasmine when we are mere feet away. Just remember to keep a healthy distance when you’re out there. I don’t want them to know there are others who have been cursed by Death.”
That would be best. It was bad enough two immortal couples already knew
