Protect Page 8

  “Are we finished here?” Asked Daniel, looking at the bags lined up on the floor.

  I was rather proud of myself. My luggage was a three-piece set, plus a vanity case, which was as necessary as the rest. My laptop had its own case, with room for the rest of my devices. There was my backpack that managed to hold most of the books I would be taking, with the rest sharing space with my clothing. I should give Jack credit, but this was the first time I had packed for an extended leave that did not include two extra bags and a cardboard box. The one box we had, the perishables, we set out in the hall, knowing someone would take them. I probably should credit it all to Lenny. I am the kind of person who would go out the door on vacation and come back to a bunch of rotting vegetables and moldy cheese.

  I thought we were going to leave in a conventional manner, by taxi or their unmarked patrol car, but when Daniel had that hurried look, he was very serious about rapid transportation. He didn’t want to go by vehicle. He wanted to fly.

  It was early morning. The sun hadn’t climbed high enough yet to shine solidly over the top of the high- rise buildings. They cast dusky shadows that could hide the swift-moving and the cunning. We went out the same fire escape we had climbed up earlier, hauling the luggage with us. We gathered in the same alley, with the same stubbly grass seeking its best to be aromatic.

  They shape-shifted together. It was monumental! I had seen them shape-shift individually, and all of them shape-shift in the park, but my mind had been too filled with alarming events to truly appreciate their magnificence. Some medieval accounts described them as looking like golden peacocks. That’s not accurate. They looked more like one of those Japanese paintings of a mythical bird with a swan-like neck and long, gracefully-feathered tail.

  Even in the shady alley, their feathers glowed. The tips were the color of fire. The luggage looked like packages gripped in their talons, but their claws curved gently, careful not to inflict damage.

  Daniel bent his swan-neck so I could slip over it, on to his back. This back-riding could easily become a thing. It was sort of like women with horses. Nearly all women love them; either horses or unicorns, winged or unwinged. There is a connection as old as mythology. Maybe it’s a genetic memory. We remember the bliss of being lifted into the air, of flying over land.

  With a phoenix, you’re literally flying. The golden plumage is softer than down. It’s more intimate than riding a horse, more sensual. I stretched out over his back, my arms around his neck, enjoying the view of a harpy-free landscape.

  The brownstone they had referred to as their more secure apartment, looked like a fortress! It was an older building, probably built at the turn of the twentieth century when they were far more serious about making buildings last. An iron fence surrounded the yard, with an ornate iron gate at the entrance. The windows all had shutters that were currently closed and locked from the inside.

  They didn’t bother opening the gate. They flew over it and shape-shifted back to their human form once they had all gathered on the colonnaded porch. They entered a code into the keypad and the door swung open.

  I was stunned. I had imagined one of two things; either signs of old wealth befitting their longevity or the clutter of a policeman’s life. It was both and neither. Nothing had been scrimped for the thick, oak panel walls and marble floors. The architecture was distinctly modern, a face-lift inspired sometime in the late 1990’s. High ceilings, long, hanging, solar-powered lamps, a single asymmetrical wall with a staircase flattened against it. The staircase was purely decorative and mean only for hanging baskets of plants. A corner entrance led to the true second floor, which I was still too over-whelmed to view.

  The first room also contained a built-in, wall to wall theater, overstuffed furniture that defied all sense of style perched on an extremely expensive Persian rug and a tank full of fish in one corner. The second room was more like a foyer. It had a small, round table for playing games and an alcove for reading books. It had a china closet, end tables on each side of the two sofas, and a small cabinet, all of which I slowly began to realize were German antiques, at least three hundred years old. Not only that, the items that decorated the surfaces were enormously valuable, a few dating back two thousand years.

  I stood next to the landing, not at all sure how I should respond to this casual display of wealth. All I could really think was, “they hired an architect, but not an interior decorator.” Somehow, that managed to put me on equal footing.

  Daniel

  She looked so forlorn standing by the staircase, not knowing what to do, it made my throat hurt. Poor kid. She had been through a lot and still hadn’t broken down; even once. I didn’t count the time in the park. The instinct for humans is to run when faced with danger, and it wasn’t completely foolish. She had headed toward the shelter of the trees, which was the smartest tactic for someone without wings. When cornered, she had reacted just as she had in the subway. She picked up a stick and defended herself; and Lenny.

  Maybe I had been too hard on Lenny. Everyone makes mistakes, but some mistakes are costly. Lenny’s could have been. It could have been the kind of mistake you can’t fix, the kind you will regret for the rest of your life. The kind that will come back and haunt you over and over.

  I lost Bethany. It’s been nearly two hundred years, but I still can’t forget. Bethany was a pretty, young girl straight from Ireland who worked as a seamstress. She was very good with needle and thread. It wasn’t long before some of the finest houses in New York were asking for her services. She wasn’t mixed up with the mob. She didn’t choose sides, which is probably what made her vulnerable. When tensions heated to the boiling point, she tried to serve as a mediator advocating peace.

  That’s how I met her. Our first duty is to the keepers of the peace. We don’t take sides with warring factions, but we protect the innocent. Bethany was innocent and kind, an ideal target for the lurking underground that fed on violence.

  We knew Bethany was in danger. The mob riots had been fueled by rivaling demons. Jack and I thought once we took the demons out, the battle would be short-fused. We hadn’t counted on gargoyles. They are powerfully muscled beasts, with massive heads and chests; sort of like pit bulls on steroids. In their active state, they stand taller than a man. It was my first encounter and I completely froze when I saw them. It was only for a few seconds, but it was a few seconds too late. By the time I had collected my thoughts and shifted, the gargoyles had snatched her up and carried her away.

  I never saw her again. I searched for her for ten years before giving up. There was too much death and destruction, too many lost souls. She became an untraceable number. I never forgave myself and I knew, if Lenny lost Tanya, he would not forgive himself, either. It was better that he hated me and stayed alert than to let him think it’s okay to daydream on the job because the boss had his back.

  I shouldered the backpack full of books and picked up the three pieces of matching luggage, leaving Tanya with only her laptop case and vanity kit to carry. “The bedrooms are on the second floor,” I explained, leading the way. She followed timidly, her feet making no sound at all on the carpeted stairs. “I think you’ll like your room. It has a nice view.”

  “Of brownstones?”

  “Of the yard.”

  The windows were still shuttered when I opened the door, turning the room almost pitch-black. I turned on the switch, keeping the controlled lighting soft, and walked over to the windows to roll back the shutters. The moon was just coming up. Tania set her small cases next to the bed and approached the window stealthily. I knew that cautious step. She was afraid of exposure.

  “It’s okay. It’s a private view. We’re at the back of the house.”

  The area I wanted her to see was fenced in, with ivy climbing the walls and apple trees shading the yard. Directly under the window, a rose garden grew. She clapped her hands together with delight. “Open the window. I want to smell the roses.”

  I opened it a few inches and locked it i
n place. We were secluded, but there was no need to take chances. She inhaled the aroma in deep breaths. Her hair was silvery in the moonlight, and her skin like porcelain. “I don’t remember the last time I lived in a house that had roses growing under the window. It seems like it always should have been. I think I’m disoriented. I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t anymore.”

  Her voice wobbled. She had really been pushed to the edge. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She nodded and walked over to the bed, sitting with her legs swinging over the side. I waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, paced a few steps then sat next to her. “I’m sorry for my outburst earlier. I didn’t mean to frighten or upset you.”

  “it’s not that. I understand. At least I think I do. You can’t let down your guard.” She frowned and pulled up her knees, hugging them. “Why are they after me?” She moved closer and leaned her head against my arm. “What have I done?”

  The way she sat, the way she looked at me reminded me of a young girl. Tenderly, I pushed back a lock of hair that had escaped her pony tail. “I’m not sure. Most harpies work alone. They will select one target and pursue it, but not ask for help. Maybe it’s a sisterhood. We’re trying to find out.”

  Those emerald eyes were dangerously close to tears. Her upper lip turned a bright pink as she fought to hold them back. “Why come after me at all?”

  “Harpies are hags. They are extremely jealous of youth and beauty.” I looked at the soft face tilted up toward me and became mesmerized by the sparkling eyes. “You must have something special. Courage. Purity. Kindness.” Each word dropped like a ping growing fainter.

  Before I had finished saying the last word, I felt her lips press against mine. They were juicy sweet, like fresh berries. Her skin was like silk. There are times when you don’t think, just react. This was one of those times. I had wanted her since the first time I saw her, swinging around a bag of books, her face filled with defiance. It didn’t really surprise me that a harpy hated her, only that the beast had enlisted help. I met her lips with a kiss of my own, a kiss that was growing hungrier with each second.

  It wasn’t very professional of me, but protocol had gone out the window a long time ago. I cradled that sweet, dimpled chin in my hand and pulled her face closer, drinking in the nectar of her kiss. My only regret is, the timing could have been better. In that split second when heaven was closing in around my ears, the door burst open.

  I straightened up just as my team members rushed inside, all clamoring at once. “Boss, I think we found a lead,” shouted Lenny above the rest, then fell abruptly silent, his sad, puppy-dog eyes glancing from me to Tanya, then back again accusingly.

  The others were slightly less uncomfortable. Phoenixes are passionate creatures. We fall in love easily but learn to love in the moment. Humans are so frail, their lives so short. We must love them freely and with all our heart, or not at all. For phoenixes, a hard heart isn’t an option.

  Jamie and Jack understood. I’m the oldest by less than a hundred years, which put all of us close to the same age. We’d all had our human affairs. Humans are more unpredictable in their behaviors than other species, making them more interesting for intimate relationships. Mermaids are as appealing as Karma Sutra dancers, but more docile than human women. Feline shape-shifters are smoking hot and take erotica to whole new levels, but their first loyalty is to themselves. They take the good times, ditch you during the bad times. Human women are somewhere in between, constantly delighting and surprising you.

  Jamie finished filling in for Lenny. “We were scanning some videos taken from the traffic cams at Central Park. I think Tanya needs to look at this.”

  She didn’t react right away. She was staring at Lenny, an expression on her face that hovered between guilt and despair. When I stood up and straightened my clothing, she scrambled to her feet and said in a rush, “that’s good news, isn’t it? If the cameras caught them changing, we can identify them.”

  Jamie took her by the elbow, leading the way. “Not quite that. The harpies – all the shape-shifters – know about the cameras. They’re very good at avoiding them when they’re changing.”

  Our home office was located on the lower landing, back of the foyer and across from the kitchen. In some ways it was my favorite room. It was at the back of the house, with sliding glass doors that opened onto a patio and a stone walkway through the rose garden. We all used the garden to meditate when we were working a gnarly case or when we just needed to refresh ourselves. I suspected, right now, we could all use a little refreshing.

  I fell into step beside Tanya, who looked like she needed a little moral support. She refused to look at me, instead, watching her feet clipping down each stair. “I don’t know what got into me,” she said in a low voice. “I’m not usually like that. I hardly even date. All at once, I just wanted to.”

  I felt the warm brush of her shoulder against my arm, reminding me once again of that stolen kiss, as sweet as a drop of honey. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

  She blushed, which was enormously enchanting, the pink color starting high in her cheeks and spreading down over her uncovered neck. Those off-the-shoulder blouses she wore so casually, were maddening. That Venus-de-Milo bust was made for laurels and gold jewelry. I could take in the rest with typical male appreciation. I get it. The blonde hair, the long legs, the small, athletic waist. But I’m a neck and shoulders man, and her neck and shoulders were the inspiration of the ancient Greeks.

  “Sometimes it’s just hard to be alone,” she mumbled apologetically.

  I couldn’t argue with her there. I knew how bleak it could feel to be alone when your whole world is turning upside down. Her world had crumbled, and she had no one to turn to except her family who would not be able to protect her, who would not even believe her if she told them who was pursuing her. She just needed someone to lean on.

  I wasn’t going to make her feel more uncomfortable. I used a brisk business manner as I strolled into the office and checked the data stream on police reports. “Any news on the DNA sample?” I asked.

  Jamie shook his head. “No match. The case a month ago is unrelated to the harpy that attacked Tanya and Lenny.”

  “At least we know it’s not one family. No identifying match with the criminal base?”

  “That’s why we wanted to bring Tanya down here. The DNA profile matches a middle-aged woman named Meredith Reichman. She was being investigated for two disappearances in Philadelphia before she disappeared. We weren’t able to make a positive match, but facial recognition software traced the movements of someone who could be her sister or could be our suspect in disguise. She was seen in the company of four other women near the park entrance just minutes before the attack.”

  “We have her.”

  “We have a lead. It’s inconclusive. But we’re hoping Tanya can identify one of the five women.”

  I stared out the glass sliding doors with the moon spilling over the rose garden. We had her. I was positive before Tanya even sat down at the desk. There is something about moonlight and roses that keep your mind calm.

  Tanya

  I’m such an idiot. I’m beginning to think there isn’t a thing I can do right unless it involves sitting behind a computer. In the middle of a police investigation, I kiss the sergeant. You daydream about these things, but you don’t act on them. I did. He was so close to me, I could hear his heart throb rapidly in his chest and feel his body heat. He smelled of cinnamon and cloves. When he spoke, his words rolled like the crooning of a guitar.

  It wasn’t that I was lonely. I live alone by choice. I enjoy my solitary pursuits. If I wanted or needed company, there were plenty of colleagues or friends I could look up. I learned at an early age, the more you depend on others, the greater your chances of falling. All they had to do is walk away, the way my mother did to my dad when I was fourteen, and your happy, secure life is over. My mother left my dad for a wealthier man. It devastated my father and ruin
ed his military career once he began drinking. It’s an old story. Divorce sucks and somebody always suffers. For me though, it was a lesson learned. Never put too much trust in anybody.

  There was something about Daniel. He felt solid. He felt trustworthy. He felt safe, so I kissed him. Then he kissed me back and I realized I was tired of standing on my own two feet. I wanted someone to sweep me off them and he had, literally. Now he was doing it metaphorically, until we were interrupted.

  I honestly don’t know what would have happened if the other team members had not barged through the door. It was a suspended moment that crashed like a B-52 bomber. I tried to act nonchalant about it. After all, we were all consenting adults, but as soon as I saw the look on Lenny’s face, I felt like I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. He didn’t look angry or bitter, just hurt. I never intended to be that person. I never meant to fool around with his heart strings. He was boyish and heroic and a little bit of a rebel. I adored him so much, I wanted to carry him around in my pocket.

  They came in to say they had a lead and wanted me to look at some photographs. I pulled my pride and dignity back together as best I could and nearly leaped from the bed to show them it was just a momentary distraction. I couldn’t bear to look into anyone’s eyes, however. It’s embarrassing to appear weak. Weak people feed on sympathy. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. I wanted a champion and I knew Lenny was one.

  I would have told him so many things, but I couldn’t. All I did was cause him pain. I followed the others back down the stairs, wondering what I could say to relieve the tension. Should I just pretend nothing happened? It’s what Jamie was doing. As soon as we reached their work station, he led me to a desk and sat me down in a chair.