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It&039;s a hell of a thing being a vaone as Bobbi feared

And I&039;d better stop thinking so ela before anyone came in

What hit first when I faded back into the real world was the bloodsmell Dunbar had bled a sizable smear all over the floor While my corner teeth didn&039;t automatically bud, it was still a lousy distraction, exactly the wrong kind for limpse of the roos except for the bloodstain and a broken bowling trophy lying under a dent in one wall

Finally there was Angela herself Her back was to me, and she had one hand on a desk phone, but hadn&039;t picked it up yet Maybe she was just thinking about ht by it was a nickel-plated 22 seuess that the muzzle was still warela usually favored aa dark print dress, she was delicate of bone and body, but with the soul of a grizzly bear and twice as mean I could tell myself that in my brief contact with her I&039;d only ever seen her bad side, but it was such as to ht not be room for them Sure she cared about her father, but it was hard for ness to kill people and still try to ht of her was to stare in disbelief as she put the muzzle of a 45 to the back of a er, and blew his brains over the street For all the eht as well have been filing her nails

Then there was the business of last night, when she&039;d been tossing hand grenades around like firecrackers The shrapnel had nearly been too e I&039;d taken, and even withmiserably, she&039;d not batted an eye except to flirt in an atteet information froed to have my apparently dead body du, se of her face; she had Frank&039;s big heavy-lidded eyes, but on her they were attractive, bee-stung mouth, and a little mole just over there

She turned Saw me That sweet un

No aze hard and fast onto her dark brown eyes

" Don&039;t ency

She forgot all about shooting me and rocked back on her heels from the force of it Her eyes went too wide I eased off fro else Her face ceased to express fear and went all blank Not a coht, but better than before I realized et in the way, emotions like my own inner terrors, just what neither of us needed

I took another shaky breath and a few more besides Found my shoulders were hunched up alh to rab it back again

Angela shook her head like a drunk trying to get sober fast "You-you&039;re not

what the hell ?"

"Never mind that, just be quiet"

"No, you-"

"Angela, you will be quiet and listen to ht now"

Another head shake She was really fighting this; I wasn&039;t used to such resistance

She either had a hell of a lot of willpower, had been drinking, or I was going too easy with her

The last, I thought If I wanted to get anything done, I&039;d have to hit it harder than this After a moment to collect myself I ht up to see raceful line of her throat I could hear her heart

Don&039;t go there, buddy

But I didn&039;t have to do anything; all on her own she put both her hands on h ht I could feel, the quick pulsing of her blood just beneath the pale flesh Sweet Jesus, I could smell it and tell the difference between the dead stuff staining the floor and the living stuff rushing through her veins

No

Backward step, my own hands out to keep her in place From the floor below, the band struck up a slow tune We could have danced to it She even followed ain,until the desk was between us Might have felt silly about doing it but for the fact er I looked anywhere in the roo with a perilous combination of fear and arousal

Daot square with ain on this once and for all I wasn&039;t aaniive in to this kind appetite; I didn&039;t have to lose control Hypnotizing men sure as hell didn&039;t do this to me, only women, women who attracted et aith it

Taking all her blood would be great, the finest, I&039;d had enough of a sa from the other woman to know just how fine it would be, but then I&039;d have to live withtime A few ret I had enough of those already fro new ones to throw on the pile

Yes, indeed, it&039;s a hell of a thing to be a vampire with a conscience, but then why not? Better to have a brief twinge of it now than decades of it eating away at s Better not to indulge to start with

I took a long ot a lot calradually receded The next time I looked at her I had hting

"Angela"

She stopped blinking and shaking her head, her attention arrested on me I looked hard for a few seconds, then stared past her That helped So long as I kept the contact brief with pauses in between I et aith this

"Saw you saw you dead," she whispered

"I know you did, but it was ato listen to me now"

"No why should I?"

I said her nah cookie

"Because you have to" Which was a pretty lousy reason to give, so I improvised a better one "Because it will help your father"

There, she stopped fightingwas all attention "How?"

"Just listen and do as I ask First off, I want you to cancel the hit on Charles Escott I want you to forget he even exists"

"Escort?"

"Charles Escott, the tall, skinny guy with a big nose, you&039;re gonna leave him co and nobody, not worth your tiht you tell your boys to do the saain"

She did so, but it was a struggle I oodOnly then did I relax with a sigh of relief The really i to be enious plan Not that it wasn&039;t i able to force it through With this kind of hypnosis you can get anyone to do anything, and Ito admire the view on the way down The normal kind used by doctors and in sideshows you can&039;t take so far because it&039;d be against the nature of the person you put under That was so I never had to worry about, but ainst a person&039;s basic instincts would wear off with time unless I reinforced the around a person&039;s natural objections, so they wanted to go along with ain, and I already knehat angle to try on Angela

"Now, about this Sean Sullivan and what you&039;re planning to do" I began

Conore it, not when the music suddenly stopped and the shouts and screaht between the patrons, a fire, or worse I told Angela to stay put and went to the door to see

In the hall outside were a bunch of othertheir necks toward the source of the noise, trying to figure out as happening A few of the fast toward exits The shouts got louder and at the far end of the hall I spotted a knot of bouncers tearing up the stairs, pushing hly out of their way They were closely followed up by another knot Those boys were in dark blue coats and carrying fire axes

"Raid!" soela had skimped with her payoffs to the cops this week Everyone had the idea by now and was trying their best to escape A dozen of the the door, but they bulled in, cursing and breathless, heading for a second door at the back of the office

With all this going on, Angela woke right up and rab for the 22 on the desk I swatted it out of her hand before she could bring it to bear It thu off and landed by the bowling trophy

"None of that, sweetheart, we&039;re getting out of here," I said

She replied with a ripe and very unladylike word or three, the general et out of her way Her usual encies would put people in the casualty wards, so I slipped a quick arm around her waist, lifted, and threw her overto carry her out like a sack of potatoes if necessary She swore and squirave her behind a couple of stinging swats and told her to shut up and behave She squaith sincere outrage and called ood measure At least I assu me in fast Italian now I didn&039;t know any of it, but illing to bet hers weren&039;t the kind of phrases that would show up in a Berlitz course

With her under control, I joined the growing crowd flowing through the office

They oozed into another hall and stairhich were both choked with flailing bodies trying to get out So around an openCold air blasted its way in,with the stink of sweaty desperation

"Not this way, you idiot," Angela snarled at et my attention

"Where, then?"

"Toward the office"

I looked "We are not gonna get in there again"

"Not in the office, toward it Put me down and I&039;ll show you"

What the hell, why not? I thought, and did so She eeled through the bodies, heading upstreaht behind her, but instead of the office, she veered to the right and yanked open a door sporting a sign that read janitor Maybe she was figuring to hide out there until the worst of the fuss was over Seemed a fine idea to me We could block ourselves in, and if there was any kind of light inside, maybe I could finish what I&039;d started with her then call it a night

Crashing, splintering noises, and an odd, out-of-tune ringing sound The cops with fire axes wereshort work of the slot machines Funny, you&039;d think they&039;d hold off on that for later The usual routine was make arrests first, then chop up the property for the reporters and their ca well protected frounfire, not yet All I had to do was keep Angela out of things and maybe it would stay that way

She dove inside the janitor closet with ainst further interruptions The place sela found a switch and flicked on a twenty-five-watt bulb overhead I looked for some kind of inside latch or lock, but had no luck there, just an eainst the door and lean on it

Angela glanced up at ht from the excitement of the moment Oh, but didn&039;t she ree? He should be the one alone in a closet with her, notit out of the way A rug? Why would anyone put a rug in here? She twitched it to one side, revealing the rectangle of a trapdoor

"Help me pull it up," she said

"Where&039;s it lead?"

"Where do you think? Jeez, were you born yesterday?"

I hauled at a rope handle and the thing caes Not as smooth or subtle as the one in Escott&039;s kitchen, but it worked well enough Within was a gli down into utter darkness Even , Angela swung her legs into the narrow space

"How far?" I asked

"Find out," she answered, going in

I followed, thinking this was a really lousy idea, especially withto kick up The walls were so close here I barely had room for my shoulders to squeeze in Once away frooing all tight around my heart God, but I hate small dark places

"How far?" I repeated There was a distinct whine in my tone

"Don&039;t be such a baby Hurry"

I could hear her clattering away from me Had to take the stairs by feel now, couldn&039;t see a da in this pit

Then she stumbled That&039;s what it sounded like Thu on the wooden steps She cried out

"What?" I called

"Help!" she called back, desperation and pain in her tone "Oh, God, helpup totoo fast and likely to stu on"

Soht me around the ankles and pushed up hard and fast It was too quick, too unexpected; I toppled forward Hell&039;s bells, I was falling Panicked, I lashed out with my arrab, I just slaainstAt the last, the very last second, I ed to vanish so I wouldn&039;t crush her when I landed

Da I spun faster than before, couldn&039;t get out of that part of it just yet Daot htly between the walls, trying to figure which end ofas I floated one way and concluded I was heading toward the ceiling Wanted to call out to her, find out what had gone wrong, but no voice in this state A les that h, I one ahead and was beloherever she was One way to find out If she noticed anything odd I&039;d fix it later

I materialized cautiously Dark piled on top of dark ular The trapdoor Then it suddenly slaet withoutin hell

Ironically, that&039;s when the dawn started to break in my brain

It was hter coh as when she&039;d been throwing hand grenades

"You goddaured out what she&039;d done: faked a cry for help, dropped into a ball to trip me as I rushed to the rescue, then shot back up the stairs while I was still playing avalanche If I&039;d been a normal man I could have broken my neck in the fall She sure as hell hadn&039;t stuck around to find out

Using , and sh the trapdoor Went solid The closet was empty Damn, but she was fast

Eased open the door to the hall for a peek The place was still croith dozens ofto spot her sure in the press

Like I said, fast She could be halfway to Cicero by now, da for her, buttoIt seeain I could find a quiet corner, wait until the fuss died down, then et a clue on her next bolthole, if she had one Probably did She was one lady it didn&039;t pay to underestiood a place as any to lie low Se, and I could leave the light on If anyone opened the door to check inside, I&039;d have plenty of time to not be there for them Went back to it-none of the other men had noticed it yet-and closedone eye to the otherwise useless keyhole More of the sa on in the hall, then the cops really started in, ordering everyone to shut up and make a line No one was in a mood to cooperate just yet and punches were thrown Fresh outbreaks of yelling, cursing, I heard Irish accents do the rest; it was a real donnybrook for everyone

Then my peephole was abruptly yanked away as sohtened; a sainst ela, not nearly sht be one of the taxi dancers and changed aloshes She looked up and there was the falasses

"Why, Opal, what a pleasant surprise!" I said, grinning down at the Paco&039;s bookkeeper

Alarm washed over her features; she expressed it with an inarticulate chirp and tried to back out, but I had fired her in, and kicked the door shut with ht her hands, looked into her eyes, and told her to knock it off She did exactly that

Okay, so I&039;d lost Angela, but Opal was the next best choice, having very quickly becoirl of all numbers Of all the people in the Paco mob, she would probably knohere her boss lady would run for cover

"Where&039;s Angela?"

Mouth open, Opal shook her head "Dunno"

Well, I could trust the truth of that, not just from my brief influence over her but froht out of it to stare up at me

"They said you were dead," she stated in her flat voice

"They rong, then"

A scowl for me "You should be dead"

"Stop, you&039;re hurting s"

"Because you&039;re so mean And don&039;t make fun of ize Let&039;s start over again"

"I don&039;t want to Just go away and let estured at the trapdoor

"No" She gave me a look like I was prize pupil for the dunce&039;s corner "The stairs"

"Fine with me, I&039;ll help you"

"I don&039;t need your help"

I got out of her way and let her wrestle the trap up "Where will you go?"

"None of your business"

"It&039;s really dark in there, be careful"

Another withering look She opened her huge purse and pulled out a flashlight, switching it on Down she went into the passage, a real Girl Scout, prepared for anything I followed, pulling the trap shut behind

"I don&039;t want you to corumbled

"Too bad" The place was still too narrow for ht made me feel almost brave "Not much you can do about it"

No reply, aloshes

The walls were bare plywood and threw back what noise wearound in a dru and tried the doorknob It turned, but the door wouldn&039;t budge ainst it Two inches more, but it tuckered her out

"Lemme try"

She pressed herself small into a corner to avoid all contact with me I put my shoulder to the coldreluctantly gave on the other side Another effort and we had enough space to squeeze through

"Soet out," I said

"I&039;d have gotten through"

"Oh, yeah, in a week or three"

"Le first to check things I nearly tripped on a hunk of wood sticking out; it was incongruously attached to the lower part of the door I savedicy hipped between the buildings, rattling an ar in hope for someone to empty them One had been pushed in front of the door to block it The can&039;s base was partially eaten away by corrosion and had been patched over with a small load of cement, about a hundred pounds&039;

worth Opal could have ela, but not easily There&039;d have been hell to pay with the fire marshal, but son on the door A couple of two-by-fours had been bolted across it, top and bottoht my ankle The effect, when the door was closed, was to make it look completely boarded up Pretty clever

Opal slipped out and started walking down the alley

"Hey, wait up!"

"No!" She kept going, her purse banging hard against her hip She brought it around and dropped the flashlight in

"You got no choice in the matter, lady You&039;re stuck with me"

"I don&039;t like you"

"Your loss, but I&039; with you no matter what"

"Why?"

"Because I need to talk with Angela, and sooner or later you&039;ll lead me to her"

"No, I won&039;t, so leave"

"No"

She growled so and walked faster, but I kept up the stray-puppy routine

"It&039;ll be all right, Opal Angela and I were talking just before the raid hit All I want to do is finish our conversation Angela wants the sa Of course, if you can tell o away so fast you&039;ll feel the draft"

She had plenty of tiive me one Another confirela was just yet She probably kne to contact her, though "She wanted to kill you"

"Nah, orked it all out, we&039;re all roses and sunshine now"

That one got me a snort of disbelief Couldn&039;t blaht Really sick I saw"

"I got better, honey"

"Don&039;t call ?"

No answer She got to the end of the alley It was a different street froht theater and looked a lot nastier, but there was no coons here I noticed a nu their heads dohen they weren&039;t glancing behind They must have been lucky escapees froain and began digging in it I heard the jingle of keys She cut left onto the sidewalk and approached a parked Cadillac Froed to the late Vaughn Kyler

As new as it was, no one had put so er mark on its fresh wax job, let alone attempt to hotwire and steal it The locals knew better

She unlocked the driver&039;s door and climbed in; I hitched a hip next to hers and slid her over

"Get out!" she screeched

"No!" I shouted back "No ive me the keys and tellhard Not really enough light co, but it turned out to be unnecessary She slapped the keys into er door, crossed her ar in every line of her body

I found the ignition, the starter, got the ears and clutch "Where to, ma&039;am?"

She looked too er in a forward direction Probably too it, that or she didn&039;t know to use it in the first place Her worldly education had soaps in it, I knew

I pulled sedately away from the curb S I could get used to it real fast, and the crazy thought flitted throughthe Caddie to h with her, it was the least she could do Escott&039;s bullet-pocked Nash was in for repairs, he could drive ht, Opal?"

She pointed left I brought the steering wheel around and drove us well away fro the other way It&039;d be a busy night in the holding tanks I wondered if they chopped up all the ga equipment Usually they kept sos, they weren&039;t being all that careful

"What happened back there?" I asked "Did soh to look the other way?"

Opal shrugged

"You feel okay?"

"No"

"You&039;re not hurt, are you?"

She shot ood" I sneaked another gander at her, but she see twenties, but with a hard face, I wondered what it would take to make her soften up and smile Maybe she didn&039;t kno She knew squat about the social graces; the only thing that hn Kyler had discovered her perfor enius, and hired her away to bigger and better things than collecting tips for parlor tricks She did the books for hiela The last I&039;d seen of Opal had been on the yacht Elvira Maybe she was intellectually short in some areas, but she et herself and Kyler&039;s coded account books away and clear My hat was off to her

"You want to tell ?"

"No, I don&039;t"

Daet used to her literalness all over again and watch how I phrased onna have to know sooner or later or we&039;ll just drive in circles until the gas runs out"

After a et there"

I told her that was fine with etting newer, ain We reached a kind of halfway point between two such areas when she ordered me to stop at a run-down hotel

"This is it?"

She nodded

"You live here?" I reela had promised to pay her fifteen hundred a month to keep the books She could do a lot better than this joint