Nicole Peeler - [Jane True 01] (21 page)

He came toward us, his tail wagging as I went to greet him. But when he
smelled me his hackles rose and he backed away. I didn’t understand what had
just happened, but it made me sad nevertheless.

“Anyan,” Ryu greeted him, perfunctorily. “What the hell happened here
tonight?”

Anyan’s voice seemed even rougher than it had before, but he’d probably
been woken up, just like us. He spoke to Ryu’s midsection, not meeting his
gaze, and I wondered again why they liked each other so little.

“Nell felt the goblin’s death. Gretchen had some sort of emergency
beacon that went off at the moment she died. Which means her firm will be aware
of her passing, as well, and are probably on their way here. But whoever killed
her wanted to keep them busy. They put the body in that bakery oven so that it
would be found by the humans. It is burned, but not so badly that it can’t
eventually be identified as inhuman. Whoever put it there knew that bakers
start early, and that the body would be discovered before it was entirely
incinerated—”

“Forcing us to scramble to recover it and any other evidence before her
true nature can be sussed,” Ryu finished, and I could see the wheels were
spinning once again.

Ryu looked at Anyan speculatively. “Who is aware of your presence here
in Rockabill?” he asked, finally.

“No one besides Nell, Trill, and the other natives. But they are either
circumspect or unaware of my history.”

“Good. Let’s take advantage of that. Whoever did this thinks that we
will have to wait for Gretchen’s firm to take over, which will give the
murderer time to escape. But I don’t think that’s what’s at stake, here. I
think that Gretchen’s murder is just a smoke screen to keep us distracted, and
I’m starting to see the shape of things behind that cloud of smoke.” Ryu fell
quiet, thinking, and Anyan kept his eyes on Ryu, ignoring me.

“Can you recover the body and its effects?” Ryu asked Anyan, finally.
“And I mean immediately.”

“Not a problem,” the dog answered, straight away. “I’ve done it before.”

“Good. We’ll tell Gretchen’s firm we saw our chance and took it. They
should accept that excuse, especially with your involvement. When you’re
finished, call me and we’ll plan our next move.”

Anyan nodded his head sharply and set off, without once looking in my
direction. I knew things were pretty tense at the moment, and that big stuff I
didn’t understand was going down, but I still thought his coldness toward me
was uncalled for.

Ryu took my hand and we walked back toward his cottage as I pondered the
evening’s events. Then something occurred to me.

“Anyan said he has a ‘history.’ What did he mean by that?” I asked.

“Anyan was the leader of our covert ops during the last Great War of
Succession. I served under him, actually. We owe a great victory to his cunning
and strength, and he could have taken a high position in our Court. But instead
he just disappeared.” Ryu shook his head. “I knew he was out here somewhere,
but I had no idea I would run into him carving out a little existence on the
outskirts of Bumfuck.”

I wanted to tell Ryu that Rockabill wasn’t all that bad, but I knew he
wouldn’t get it. I was getting a pretty clear picture of Ryu’s priorities, and
neither “fresh country air” nor “scenic views” made the list.

I pondered the implications of Anyan being a doggie general, just as
another thought popped into my head.
How was a dog going to carry a body and
its effects out of a morgue?

But before I could ask Ryu, we were back inside the cottage and he was
pulling my coat off me. And my shirt. And my jeans.

“Looks like I won’t be leaving so soon,” he enlightened me, steering me
toward the bedroom. “Does that make you happy?”

“Oh yes,” I murmured, helping him undo his trousers. We fell onto the
poor overworked bed, which creaked alarmingly. And for the next half hour I
showed him exactly
how
happy the idea of his staying in Rockabill made
me.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” my dad said, helping himself to another
piece of whole-wheat toast.

“No problem.” I smiled at him. I’d made sure to be home that morning by
nine, leaving Ryu fast asleep. I’d managed to snatch a few more hours of rest,
which was all I really needed, so I felt fine despite our marathon evening of
debauchery. When I woke up at eight, Ryu was out like a light but he’d left a
note saying he’d pick me up that evening after sundown. Watching him sleep, I
was once again hit by the fact that he wasn’t human. I called what he was doing
sleeping
, but when I touched him he didn’t respond at all. I shook him
gently, thinking he’d want me to say good-bye, but it was like he’d flipped a
switch and turned himself off. I knew that he could function during the day;
we’d met during daytime hours. But he’d said his kind weren’t at their most
powerful during the daytime, so they must choose to take their rest during the
hours the sun was up.
And when they rest, boy, do they ever
, I thought,
poking him rather aggressively in the forehead about ten times in a row, just
to check. He didn’t even twitch an eyelid, and his breathing was only
perceptible if I held my own breath, put my ear to his nose, and waited for
what felt like ages.
No wonder people have thought they were the undead
.

“What are your plans for today?” my dad asked, interrupting my reverie.

“Well, I have lots to do around the house,” I said. “And I’ll make us
dinner. Ryu’s picking me up later.”

“That’s great your friend’s stayed so long,” my dad said. “It’s nice to
see you busy.”

“You’re just glad I’m out of your hair,” I teased.

“I’m serious, Jane. I’m happy when you’re happy. And I know you feel
responsible for me but I hate that I’m causing you to miss out on your life.
Your mother and I had a child because we wanted to share our love with someone,
not because we wanted a nurse to take care of us in our old age.”

I remained silent, feeling guilty because his sickness wasn’t the real
reason I hadn’t had much of a social life.

As if he knew what I was thinking, my dad continued. “And I know things
haven’t been easy for you since Jason died, and I know that certain things said
about that night made it even more difficult. But you and I both know, even if
no one else does, that Jason’s death was an
accident
. A horrible
accident and something that should never have happened because things like that
just
shouldn’t
happen. But it did, and it’s not your fault. You have to
understand that, somehow.”

I pushed my scrambled eggs around my plate. What Ryu had said that
morning, what my father was saying now, it was a nice thought, but it was
untrue. The fact is, if I’d just told him I swam, Jason never would have died.
It would have taken less than ten seconds to utter those words, but I never
did. And I’d live with that guilt for the rest of my life.

“Anyway,” my father concluded, recognizing my “I don’t want to talk
about it” face from long experience, “I’m just glad that you’ve got a… friend,
and that you’re going out like a woman your age should. It makes me happy. It’s
time you moved on.”

He was right. It
was
time I moved on, no matter what I still felt
about Jason’s death. So I smiled at my dad, acknowledging what he had said,
while I took the opportunity to change the subject.

“What would you like for dinner, tonight, Dad? I’m feeling like steak.
And maybe some creamed spinach…”

*   *   *

Ryu
stayed for dinner that night, so I was glad we had decided on steak. I’d
realized when I was checking over my neck and wrists for any signs of last
night’s activity why I was craving iron-rich food. But for my unusually large
appetite, however, there were no outward signs that I was screwing a
blood-sucking creature of the night. Except for the faintest, and I mean almost
invisible, bruising on my neck and wrists, I was entirely unmarked by Ryu’s and
my affair.

I watched, happy to be quiet, as my dad and Ryu talked about poker. My
dad loved poker and would even watch it on TV, which to me was the equivalent
of watching paint dry. But for some reason, I was not at all surprised that Ryu
was equally keen on the game.
I bet he’s got himself quite a poker face
,
I thought, just as he caught me watching him and gave me a toothy grin.

I smiled back, realizing, at that moment, just how happy I was that he
hadn’t had to leave Rockabill so soon. It felt like every minute I was with Ryu
I was seeing a new Jane solidifying on the horizon.
Maybe,
I thought,
if
he stays long enough, she’ll get so solid you can just jump into her, and leave
Old Jane behind
. I took a second to ponder the likelihood of being able to
give New Jane thinner thighs…

When we were done eating, Ryu helped me load the dishwasher before we
said good night to my dad. Then we were in his car and heading past Nick and
Nan’s old bed and breakfast—now a struggling boutique hotel run by Stuart’s
parents—and out into the wilds north of Rockabill.

We pulled up to a beautiful log cabin that was entirely wrapped around
by a lovely verandah, or deck, or whatever the proper name for a log cabin
porch was. Nell was on the porch rocking away in her little rocking chair,
while Trill was playing Frisbee with Anyan. I smiled at the sight, watching as
the big dog made an enormous leap into the air to catch the Frisbee. Trill had
a powerful arm, and if Anyan hadn’t caught it I think it might have taken off
the top of a tree. Trill grinned at me and Anyan wagged his tail slowly, but
didn’t come over.

We headed up the porch to where Nell sat rocking. “Good to see you
again, child,” she greeted me, and then turned an appraising eye on Ryu. “You
look pleased with yourself, youngling,” she told him. He gave her a cheeky
smile and his courtly little bow.

Moving inside the cabin, I admired its neat, homey interior. The first
thing I noticed was the smell—it smelled deliciously of lemon wax and
cardamom—and then I noticed all the art. There were amazing sculptures all over
the place, tucked on top of and between various pieces of battered but
attractive furniture. I hoped I’d get a chance to look at the sculptures up
close, but now was not the time. I did, however, give as good a snoop as I
could as we walked through to the seating area. The kitchen was surprisingly
modern, with a state-of-the-art refrigerator and range. I assumed this was
Nell’s cabin, but I wasn’t quite sure how she could reach the top of the stove.
Which I didn’t think was the most polite of questions, so I surreptitiously
looked around for a footstool as Ryu and I settled onto the overstuffed leather
sofa. Meanwhile, Trill sat down at my feet while Nell dragged her little
rocking chair inside and sat down across from us. Anyan lay half in, half out
the cabin’s open front door, as far away from Ryu and me as he could get.

Nell nodded at Anyan and, causing the dog to flinch, said, “While you
two were amusing yourselves, Anyan has been very busy. The body is disposed of,
and he’s collected Gretchen’s effects. Her briefcase was only slightly damaged
by the fire, but her files and business planner had already been removed. Her
killer overlooked her personal planner, but it contains very little information
outside of her dental appointments. Goblins like to keep their teeth sharp,”
Nell informed me, as an aside. I nodded gamely. “Anyway, Ryu, you might be able
to make something of its contents. Finally, Gus is on his way because Anyan was
clever enough to remove
that
, as well,” Nell said, pointing to a large,
jagged quartz rock sitting on a copy of
National Geographic
in the
middle of the coffee tale.

I blanched when I figured out what it was: the stone that had bashed in
Peter’s skull.

“Nice work,” Ryu said to Anyan, and for a second I got the impression
he’d almost called Anyan “sir.”
Maybe that’s what this tension is about
,
I thought.
Ryu used to be Anyan’s underling, and now they’re supposed to be
equals. That can’t be a comfortable situation
. I looked curiously between
Ryu and the barghest, as if by comparing the two their secrets would be
revealed.

Ryu took my hand just as we heard footsteps coming up the gravel drive,
and Anyan whirled about to greet the new arrival. It was Gus, moving as slowly
as ever, his eyes floating as if in space behind his glasses.

He gave us all a curt greeting, taking a moment to peer at Ryu and me,
his enormous eyes blinking disconcertingly, before his attention was drawn to
the stone sitting on the table. He walked toward it the way another person
might walk toward an abused animal, before he gently picked it up and stood
stroking it, humming to it like it might startle otherwise.

I shuddered. Gus’s rapport with the stone was giving me the willies. Not
only was it just weird, but I could see that the rock still had blood and, I
imagined, wodges of brain goo on it. The rock was not something to be caressed;
it was something to be Lysoled.

Ryu squeezed my hand. “Gus, dear,” Nell admonished, gently. “Can you
tell us anything?”

Gus looked up and I could see that he was nearly crying. “Oh, it’s
awful,” he said. “She saw
everything
. She’s still very upset.”