"You have no such friends. You have no one at all." He looked at him again, the same dead look in his eyes that more than terrified Ollie. "Touch them, any of them, and I will enjoy taking you apart, piece by tiny little piece. And you can threaten me all you like … you'll still be a dead man that no one will ever find parts of."
Then he was gone. Ollie looked around and realized that he was the only one on the aircraft … even the staff had left him there. And the woman with the brat had gotten away as well. Ollie gathered his own case and was disembarking when he saw the small piece of paper in his jacket pocket. Pulling it out, he fell back against the wall when he saw what was there.
A picture of his office with all his notes hanging from pinup boards. Even the ones that he'd gotten from Fredrick. But it was what was written on the back that had him looking around. It was a list of the people that he'd killed over the last month and a half. The one on top, Bobby Ware, wasn't even the last one. Ollie was being followed.
~~~
Grady watched his friend coming down the long corridor. He'd called a month ago, begging him to come and help out with his new venture. Of course, Kurt had turned him down every time he asked, but just yesterday he'd called and said he was coming, and asked if he could be picked up at the airport.
"You have a nice flight?" He told him that he'd not, as a matter of fact. "It's because you're too large for the seats. I told you to stop being a cheap bastard and go to first class and you'd do well there. It's not...." He realized that Kurt wasn't paying any attention to him but staring at Harper who he'd made sit down to rest once they got here. "That is my future wife, Harper Bailey. We're waiting on tests and licenses right now. She and I are getting married-"
"She's being hunted; did you know that?" He told Kurt that he knew. "The man that I saw, he comes for her. He rode with me on the flight. He means to take her and the jewels from the rest of the women, and sell them off to the highest bidder."
"You know where he is now?" Kurt pointed to a shorter man wearing an impeccable suit. "He looks harmless enough. How do you know that he's looking for Harper?"
"I know." It was all the answer he was going to get, and really the only one he needed. If Kurt thought this man was going to be a danger to them, then he would be. "He is going to try and herd-his words, not mine-the young miss over there out of your reach and kill her. He doesn't have any idea what she has in the way of some jewelry, but he wants it. Perhaps you can help me understand why someone would kill a woman and her child over a bauble."
"It's not a bauble, but a relic of magic." He looked at Harper when she stood up. "Let's go to my house and I'll explain. Harper needs to rest."
Harper stood up when they reached her. He could feel her exhaustion, and even if he couldn't he would have seen it on every line of her face. She'd told him this morning that she wasn't sleeping well, and they were getting a new mattress for her as soon as they dropped Kurt off at his house.
"Grady said you were a vampire. I was curious why you can be outdoors." Grady smiled when her face turned pink. "I'm sorry. Since I've become this cow, I don't seem to be able to filter what I say anymore. You don't have to answer the question. I was rude, and I'm sorry."
"It's all right, my lady. I think you're refreshing. But to the reason why I can be out so early in the day is because I'm not wholly a vampire. I have a little of this and that in me." She asked him what he meant, and Grady wasn't sure he was going to answer her. He did, but waited until they were in the car. "My mother was a half breed … part vampire and the other part faerie. My father, a man of considerable age and power, was a warlock. He passed to me a variety of things, one of which is the power to withstand a great deal of sunlight, as well as the ability to have a fine meal with a beautiful woman should I want."
"You're full of malarkey, as my grandma would say." Kurt laughed and when he did, Grady joined him. Kurt looked at him, just shaking his head as Harper continued. "So you're a mutt, so to speak. I am as well. Part German, Irish, and Dutch, and then there is a small mixture of Native American and a touch of Welsh. I'm not sure that any of them gave me any special powers, but here I am."
"There you are. And your child, do you know what he is? I can tell you should you like to know." She looked at Grady and then back at Kurt. "Have I fallen into more trouble than the man on the plane?"