Magic of Three (14 page)

No rest for the wicked
.

* * * * *

Hours later a yawning Lisa turned to lock the door to CM. Her security system beeped one last time before setting into what she called sentinel mode. Well after two o’clock, she thanked god that they didn’t do breakfast. Not that she’d be going in at all tomorrow. Sleep late. Take a leisurely shower. Maybe go in for a manicure. Get a full acrylic set, maybe even in a fancy air-brushed French design. Add some sparkle too. Janice kept bragging about her nail lady. A hot date rated new nails at the very least.

Cars zoomed by, filling the air with a constant engine roar and the noxious smell of exhaust. New York wasn’t the only city that never slept. Twenty-four hours a day people drove and walked the streets of Las Vegas. A city filled with life and decadence, it deserved the title more than the Big Apple did.

A crunch of rock against asphalt gave her warning of impending trouble a split second before strong hands grabbed her.

She tried to scream but a hard palm slammed over her mouth, cutting the sound off to a muffled yelp. Her hands clawed at her attacker’s fingers, trying to pry free. Her heels scraped the concrete as the man jerked her into his body.

Lisa’s heart slammed against her rib cage. Her stomach knotted and her body shook convulsively. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.
God
,
please
.
I don
’
t want to die
.
Don
’
t let me die
.

She reached back, clawing at the man’s face, feeling his flesh jam under her short nails. He grunted but didn’t let go, instead increased the pressure of his hold. He pulled her along toward a dark-colored van parked away from the streetlights.

If he gets me in there I
’
m dead
. Pictures of what a body dumped in the desert would look like after a couple of weeks flashed in her mind. Sun and insects.
Dear sweet god
.

Lisa kicked and growled beneath the hand on her mouth. With his arm hooked around her waist both her hands were free. She took advantage of his mistake. She reached back again but not to claw his face. She meant business. To hell with gross. She found his eyes, shoving in with both her thumbs.

A soft pop sounded and viscous fluid flowed over her hands. The shriek he gave defined the word “inhuman”. The high-pitched screech shook the glass of CM’s windows and had Lisa cupping her ears. But she didn’t stick around to see how much damage she did to him. She felt liquid and flesh clinging to her skin and that was enough for her. She staggered forward, away from her attacker and away from his howls of pain.

As she dashed toward the safety of the lights and people she tripped over something. It skidded across the ground in front of her as she stumbled, managing to keep on her feet.

A briefcase. A familiar, black, nondescript briefcase. The businessman’s briefcase. It popped open, duct tape and knives flying everywhere across the asphalt.

Lisa’s stomach heaved, causing her to gag. Her teeth chattered. Panic froze her muscles as her vision wavered and grayed. But the sound of feet staggering behind her and her attacker’s harsh breaths punctuated by pain-filled whimpers set her back in motion.

Starting to scream, she ran for the gas station across the street. People and a phone. She needed people and a phone.

Please let me make it
.

Chapter Twelve

Heart racing, sweat covering his entire body, bile coating his tongue, Julian jerked awake. Darkness embraced him as his muscles trembled, spasms tossing his body. Bed sheets twisted around him, tying him in place. Car exhaust and blood filled his nose. When the vision struck hard, particularly brutal, he had trouble pulling himself back to the present reality.

The king-sized bed shifted as Tim grumbled next to him, yanking Julian free to curl closer beneath the satin sheets. Julian pulled him in his arms and forced several deep even breaths, chills racking his body as the image of Lisa’s terror-filled face burned the back of his eyes. He could still hear the ear-piercing scream of the man as her fingers shoved into his eyes, blinding him. Her panting answering cries as she ran for safety echoed endlessly in his fevered mind.

She
’
s okay
.
You know she
’
s okay
.
She got away
.
This time
.

He squeezed Tim and kissed his forehead, using him as a focal point. He needed an anchor to hold on to, to bring him back to the real. Tim smiled in his sleep and snuggled closer with a snuffling noise. Julian took comfort in the darkened room and the warm feeling of his lover tucked next to him. His chest loosened and tears that threatened to fall never came.

It took several minutes before he regained his composure. But when he was ready to deal with the crisis and turn it to their advantage, Julian reached over to his nightstand and grabbed the cordless. He punched in a familiar number.

“Hello, Detective Ramirez speaking,” a deep voice rumbled in his ear, the hint of a New Mexican accent still present after all these years in Nevada.

Julian remembered the first time he met Manuel in boot camp. Big, beefy, a linebacker of a man, he’d pegged Manuel as being a clone of his father and prepared for the snide, cutting comments, if not outright physical bullying. Instead much to his surprise he found a friend trustworthy enough to let in on a few of his secrets without worry of contempt. A man he could depend on in times like these.

“Manny,” he said without preamble, “I need a favor.”

“Damn, Julian,” Manny all but whined. The rapid-fire click of his ballpoint pen echoed over the line. “Not another one of your dreams. I’m not gonna get hit with another serial homicide or spree killing? Tell me you want tickets to the charity ball. Carla’s just getting used to me being home at a halfway decent hour.”

Julian grimaced. He didn’t blame Manny for his petulant response. They didn’t socialize as much as they used to. His life centered on loving Tim and trying to find Lisa and saving the world from demonic invasion. Not much room left for downtime. Instead Julian found himself butting in on Manny’s professional life. The last case he’d helped with had left him with nightmares for weeks, and he was used to seeing the cruelty of human kind on a grand scale. He could only imagine how his bighearted jovial friend had dealt with it. “This is a little more serious than a nice date night but not a homicide. I had a dream about a woman I know. I want to check on things.”

“A woman?” Manny asked, the teasing note he was infamous for singing across the line, almost overpowering his relief. “Tim know about her? Do I need to be ready to break up a domestic call up at that pricey condo of yours?”

“Yes, Tim knows and we just met so quit with the innuendoes. I may move fast but not that fast.” Julian paused as Tim cracked one droopy eye open and scooted his head back to his own pillow to get a better look at him. Julian patted his hand in reassurance. “Her name is Lisa Harrington. She was attacked tonight outside her restaurant, Culinary Magic. She escaped, leaving her attacker wounded, possibly blinded.”

“Okay, what do you want from me? It’s out of my area. I don’t get the kidnapping or rape cases unless there’s a body involved.”

Tim laced his fingers with Julian’s and kissed his knuckles. Julian appreciated the wordless support. This is where things could get tricky. He didn’t know exactly how Manny would react to the situation, not if he knew everything. ESP was one thing, demon hordes another entirely. But how much could he get away with telling him? “I know, no bodies, not your thing. Actually all I need you to do is give her some advice for me without telling her it’s from me. There’s more trouble heading her way and I’d like to know she’s safe, taken care of.”

“You saw more?” Manny asked, intrigued now. Julian’s power always piqued his curiosity. Hopefully being intrigued was enough to get him to go along with the rest of Julian’s plan. “This wasn’t a random attack,” he stated, mentally getting his facts straight. “Okay, what do you need her to know?”

Julian held on to Tim, his personal touchstone. Here’s where he could lose Manny. “Have her contact my company for security,” Julian said, quick to continue before Manny could ask for an explanation. “I want to be in charge. She’s going to need all the help she can get for this and I’d feel better being in on it from the beginning. Maybe stop it before she becomes one of yours.”

“Attracted a crazy stalker? Trying to keep her alive?” Manny stopped for a second then snickered. “Or are you using your gifts to hit on people now? Tim not enough for you so you’re scouting out the weird realms for dates? Man, I had more respect for you than that.”

Julian refused to rise to the bait. He wouldn’t win. Even being able to see into the future he didn’t have enough power to match verbal wits with Manny Ramirez. “Not quite. Tim’s always taken good care of my needs, thanks for asking. Will you do it?”

Silence met his question, seconds ticking by. Finally he heard Manny taking a deep drag on one of the cigars his wife refused to let him smoke in her house. He could only sneak one when he was in the privacy of his office. “Protect and serve,” he muttered on his exhalation “I admit I’d like to be preventative for once, keep my workload down. One less cold one on the slab, one less unsolved homicide sounds fine by me.”

Julian closed his eyes, thanking that bit of divine intervention that had put Manny into his squad all those years ago. Who knew how much one good friend could affect the rest of your life? “Thank you.”

“Do you want me to tell her the name of the company’s owner?” his friend teased, unwilling to let things be.

“No, not yet,” Julian answered, waiting for the interrogation to begin. But the harassment he had to deal with now was worth it if he knew that Lisa would be safe. He’d be there for her this time, be able to protect her. If he was right this attack was only the beginning of a major assault.

“Oh, she doesn’t know about your little extra something-something?” The wheels in Manny’s head spun so fast Julian could hear them chugging and clanking over the line. “Want to keep her in the dark?”

Julian decided to give him enough to satisfy his morbid curiosity. He looked down at Tim, whose eyes filled with worry. He held Tim’s warm solid hand and pressed it against his chest, over his heart, before he answered. “Not unless you have to. We have a date with her tomorrow and don’t want to scare her off. Tim and I are enough to handle by ourselves.”

“You
and
Tim?” Manny chuckled, his chair squeaking over the chatter of other officers in the background. “You’re both dating her? Damn. Where were you guys before I got married? The things you could’ve shown me.”

“Somewhere far away from you. I’m sure Carla is happy that she demanded a ring before you enlisted.”

Manny’s chuckle grew to a wall-shaking full-belly laugh. He tried to talk but only managed a few incoherent word fragments. It took several minutes before he managed to put his thoughts into real words. “Yeah well, maybe you’re right. I got no desire to piss sitting down. She’d cut off certain parts of my anatomy that I’ve grown rather accustomed to if she thought I wanted to try swinging with her.”

“For good reason,” Julian added He liked Carla. Manny needed a strong, no-nonsense woman to keep him in line and grounded, especially in his line of work. Manny’s Carla more than fit the bill. A tiny package but a real spitfire. “Better be careful unless you really want to start pissing through a plastic tube.”

Manny snorted but didn’t bother trying to disagree. “You be careful yourself, man. Tim doesn’t seem like the kind to share either, no matter what he does for a living. He’s male, no matter what his sexual tastes are. He’s gotta feel territorial. You might be putting yourself and the little lady in a bad position.”

Julian smirked, glancing down at Tim and taking in the lecherous expression spreading across his boyish face. It looked like the man in question wanted to try some positions all right, just not bad ones. No. Ones that would make Julian feel oh-so good. “That’s why we’re both going out with her, not just me.”

“Shit, I can’t keep up with you tonight,” his friend grumbled when Julian didn’t rise to his bait. No fun teasing someone who wouldn’t be teased. “I’ll see about tracking down your Lisa and passing on the word.”

“Thanks, Manny. I owe you one,” Julian mumbled as Tim slipped his knee up his thigh and reached over to cup his balls, rolling them in his palm. Julian closed his eyes and fought off a groan but couldn’t keep from filling with arousal.