CON
“So you think that she’s a vamp,” Fox guessed twenty minutes later. “If she’s a vamp, then she’s a tiny one. She’s also had to have help over the last fifty years to conceal herself from you, because I was with you that night. I know the lengths you went to, to make sure it was actually her in that fire.”
“Likely whoever helped her knew the lengths I would go to, to make sure,” I confirmed. “So she either died in that fire, and was brought back like I did Chen and Acadia, or she was a vampire before she perished. But she couldn’t have been one long, or I would’ve sensed it that night before I left.”
“So what we really need to know at this point is who was helping her,” Pavlov guessed.
I nodded. “Yes,” I confirmed.
“Do you have any suspicions?”
“I think I can help with that.”
I looked up to find Abraham standing in the doorway, a funny look appearing on his face when he saw me standing next to Acadia.
“It seems that I missed a lot while I was gone,” he drawled.
Acadia watched Abraham warily. She didn’t know him as well as the others. She’d only met him the once—the night she was nearly drugged by the vampire bartender. The very first night I laid eyes on her when she wasn’t bleeding to death in a car accident.
“You’ve missed much, my old friend,” I concurred. “Have you found what you were looking for?”
Abraham hadn’t been absent so much as not in attendance as much as usual. He was there, yes, but he wasn’t there.
“Do you remember when we told Adelaide to take care of your lady friend?”
Abraham’s words brought up Jolie’s image. A buxom blonde that was nearly as old as I was, she was quite entrancing. Until you got to know her, that was. Once she let you know how superficial she was, you quickly realized exactly how disgusting she was.
I’d dated her for all of a week when I’d realized that whatever Jolie had been chasing wasn’t going to work between the two of us. She was selfish, catty, and overall a bore to be around.
Not a date had passed where she didn’t talk about herself or what she’d accomplished over her lifetime—which wasn’t much, considering she’d had over a hundred lifetimes on most people.
“What about her?” I asked warily.
“Apparently, Jolie doesn’t like being ignored,” Abe said. “Adelaide happened to mention last time I called, when I checked in on her after her incident to make sure that her face was healing okay, that Jolie hasn’t abated in trying to get a hold of you over the last couple of months. In fact, things have sort of fast-forwarded to the point that she calls over ten times a day. Adelaide just stopped relaying the message and has been dealing with it on her own.”
“You’re kidding.”
Abe shook his head. “Negative, Ghost Rider.”
I flipped him off.
He flipped me off right back.
“Boys,” Pavlov drawled, a hint of his accent leaching into his words. “Let’s get back to the real problem at hand. Why are you bringing this to our attention? Does it have any significance to what is going on right now?”
“Yes,” Abe said. “Very much so.”
“Well could you possibly share that info, or do you want us to go grab a bite to eat while you decide to share?” Acadia snapped.
Abe turned his gaze to her.
Acadia closed her mouth shut so fast that I would’ve laughed had this situation been the least bit funny. Abe was an intimidating man if you didn’t know him as I knew him, and seeing him through new eyes, I realized that quite possibly Acadia wasn’t anywhere near as brave as she appeared at first sight.
Abe saw the steel in Acadia’s spine as she stared him down, also saw the wariness and sadness there as well, and decided to move the ship forward despite his desire to stall as he usually did.
Not that he intentionally did so, but more because he liked to collect his thoughts as he spoke. It was something that I’d learned to live with, which was why I hadn’t pushed him. Acadia, however, hadn’t lived with the man as a best friend for the last eight hundred years.
Abe turned away from Acadia and returned his gaze to me.
“Looks like you have a fuckin’ harem fan club of members who hate you.” Abe grinned. “Congratulations.”
“Explain,” I ordered.
“Well, I didn’t do it by myself,” he started.
Acadia looked up at the ceiling, and I could practically feel the exasperation rolling off of her.
“Hold, please, while I call my partner in crime.” Abe grinned as he pulled out his phone.
Seconds after dialing, Adelaide’s clear, distinct voice filled the still air of my office.
“Let me guess, you finally got to the part where you wanted to share the information?” Adelaide guessed correctly. “If it makes anyone feel any better, I had to deal with this crap from him for the last month.”
Snorts and chuckles of amusement filled the air, and even Fox grinned.
Adelaide and Abe had a thing. Nobody talked about it because realistically nothing could happen between the two of them. Adelaide couldn’t be turned into a vampire, and Abraham wasn’t willing to lose another woman like he had his wife who’d refused death’s kiss over seven hundred and fifty years ago.
Since Abe wasn’t willing to bend in that aspect, and Adelaide couldn’t control mother nature, they were at a stalemate, and had been for a while. Fox, obviously, was more in the middle of it than any of the rest of us were since he was her brother, but I’d been pushed nearly to the breaking point by their antics over the last hundred years. They either needed to shit or get off the pot.
“How about you just get on with what you wanted to tell them,” Abe suggested facetiously.
Adelaide growled in aggravation.
“I was trying to find a way to get Jolie to stop calling when I inadvertently stumbled along another man who was much in the same position as you. He’s a much younger and less-seasoned vampire than yourself, Con, and he had all sorts of interesting stuff to share,” Adelaide continued. “Jolie’s apparently done this before, and has left quite a few unsuspecting men out to dry, so to speak, after taking them for all they’re worth. Since she’s such an old vampire, and her maker is one of the council, no harm has come to her yet due to her actions.”
Acadia leaned into my side and I threaded my arm around her waist as I continued to listen.
“He was very informative, and I think you’d enjoy listening to what he has to say,” she explained.
“I talked to him. Despite the fact that he’s scared of his own shadow, he’s quite intelligent, and I hope you don’t mind, but I offered him a job at our company. Despite Jolie cleaning him out, he was able to get it all back, and he’s made it his new mission to fix whatever Jolie fucks up.”
I grunted in reply.
“Abe was supposed to come today and give you this information,” Adelaide continued. “When he found out about your daughter and her grave, I had a man we had on retainer go take a look, and he reported back about an hour ago that there was a trap set.”
“Why a trap?” I asked.
“When Jolie’s attempts at luring you out again failed, she started asking around with the help of her maker, and apparently paired her services with another that also has a bone to pick with you.”