Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down (20 page)

Bishop’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, the dark SUV redolent with Laveda’s tempting scent almost from the moment he shut his door.  “Are you sure about this?  We just got here.”

“It’s all the same to me what you do
. I was sharing the bit of insight is all,” Laveda shrugged.  “I had the strongest feeling we should leave the party before things got out of hand.”

“You had a feeling we should go, or you should go?”

“Yes… both of us, but for different reasons.”  She shook her head.  “I’m sorry if it sounds a bit daft.  It’s not an exact science, you know.”

“No, it’s fine.  I’ve learned to respect your hunches before,” he smiled, starting the engine.  Only… if things were going to get out of hand, shouldn’t he stick around to be there for Anja?  Not that she needed him.  There was enough security there to wrestle down a mastodon, not to mention Jakob.  And Rob…  No, Anja didn’t need him one bit.   

“Where would you like me to drop you off?”  Bishop asked, pulling out into traffic. 

Laveda’s expression turned hopeful.  “Can’t I go back to your place?”

Damn
.  This really wasn’t how he’d envisioned the night going.  “I can help you find a place if you need somewhere to stay.”

“I’d much rather stay with you.”

Bishop held his breath, he couldn’t think with her fogging his senses, he never could.  “I wasn’t going to go back to my place right now.  I have some work to do.”

“I thought you quit the Order.”

“I told Anja I’d do some poking around, maybe see what I can do to help settle down some of the locals.”  Would it seem weak if he cracked a window?

“I’m certain she’d understand a bit of a delay.  How much work can be done with everybody at the party anyhow?  Go on then, Bishop.  When’s the last time you had a proper taste?”  She leaned forward, fingers trailing down his forearm.  If it’d been bare skin he might’ve lunged for her, but the suit kept the heat of her from reaching him.  Mostly.

“Laveda…” he swallowed, staring straight ahead.  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that would be a bad idea.”

Her lips drew to a pretty pout.  “How am I to take it then?”

“It’s nothing personal, I’m just not in that headspace right now.”

“Fine, we’ll leave your head out of it then.” Her hand dropped to his thigh and he gently scooped it up to return to her own lap before he ended up crashing the car.

“Laveda…”  There was a warning in his tone. 

“It was worth a shot,” she sighed, falling back against the seat.  “She said you’d say that, you know.” 

“Who?”  She didn’t mean Anja, did she?  Christ, he could imagine how that conversation had gone.  “Did you talk to Anja about me?”

“This is her territory, ain’t it?  I wanted to be sure I had a clear path, but I can see now it’s all jumbled.”

“What did she say, about me?”

“She said you wasn’t likely to take what I’m offering.  I hardly believed her, but here we are.” 

“She did.”  That had to mean something, but what?  Was she subtly trying to steer Laveda away from him, or giving her the go ahead?  Bishop realized he’d been driving toward Anja’s old apartment, and pulled over.  “Where are we going?”

“Good question that.”  Laveda reached over to take hold of his chin, turning his head so that he couldn’t escape looking at her without pulling away violently.  “She ain’t yours.  Not anymore,” she said softly.

“I know.”  It was just about the only thing that filled his waking thoughts these days without the distraction of the Order.

“I can help you forget.”

Could it be that simple?  He was attracted to Laveda, that was never the problem, and for a few moments he let her give him the comfort he needed, losing himself in her kiss.  But it wasn’t Anja, and he pulled away before he let his body overrule his heart.

“It wouldn’t be fair to you.” 

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“I would.”  He shook his head, trying to clear it.  “Look, I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but…”

“Since when did you ever bother with feelings?”  The corner of her mouth tugged up in confusion.  “You’ve changed, Bishop.”

“Yeah, I guess I have.”  Because of her. 

“Fair enough.”  Laveda patted his arm and unbuckled her seatbelt.  “I think I feel like a bit of a walk.”

“Are you sure?”  It wasn’t his intention to kick her to the curb.  “I can take you wherever you want to go.”

“I think we already established that you can’t,” she smiled, opening the car door.  “Don’t you worry none about me, I can take care of myself right enough.”

“I never doubted you for a mome
nt,” Bishop smiled back.  “Goodnight, Laveda.  Be safe.”

“Night, luv.  Give us a bell if you change your mind.  I’ll be around.”

Bishop watched her sashay down the street until she disappeared around the corner.  Then he did open both front windows, allowing the cold night air in to clear his head.  Maybe he was stupid not taking what she offered, but he’d meant what he’d said to Anja before.  He wanted more, and he was willing to wait however long it took to find it. 

It wasn’t complete bullshit, his wanting to start his investigation
.  He’d been putting off going to see his friends for a few days, wanting to lessen the sting of his quitting the Order.  But it was time to put in an appearance. 

At first he drove around, trying to connect with some of his old partners, figuring they might actually show their faces since every other vampire in town was likely to be at
Anja’s inauguration.  He tried the Hart and Nightshade, but they were both closed up tight.  Even Dead Lazlo’s lived up to the name, no one there but a bored bartender who offered free drinks as long as Bishop stayed to keep him company.  He stayed for one round of poker out of pity before begging off to head for the HQ building, where he probably should’ve started in the first place. 

Only it was gone. 

Well, not completely gone, but after he’d managed to fight his way through the emergency crews to the heart of the blast zone, he found little more than a smoking hole in the ground where the brick building once stood.  Ignoring the efforts to pull him back from what remained of the blaze, Bishop stared in shock at what had to be a targeted attack against the Order. 

Even if there had been an accidental explosion from the pharmaceutical company occupying the upper floors
, it wouldn’t have caused such devastation to the sublevels.  That meant someone had gained access below and deliberately set off enough C-4 to level a normal city block. 

“Bishop!”

Bishop looked up to find Frost calling his name, waving to him from the other side of the parking lot.  Frost wore his usual tactical gear, blending in well with the first responders.  His dark hair was messy, but clean, leading Bishop to believe he’d only arrived after the explosion. 

“Report,” Bishop barked as soon as he came within speaking distance.  Never mind that he had no right to request any information from Frost, not anymore.  For his part, Frost didn’t hesitate. 

“Word is we’re looking at four separate detonations, one on each of the levels.  Whoever did this had military training for sure, they blew the fuck out of us.  The locals are gonna be picking our ash out of their hair for a week.”

“Casualties.”

“Trick is gone, so is Preacher.  No one else was in the building, thank God.”

“What about Jenessa?  Cage?”

“Those two were the only confirmed kills.  Jenessa’s been off the grid for a few days, and Cage reported in about a half an hour ago.  He’s been laying low in Milpitas.  I haven’t heard back from Stone, Corazon or Mason yet.”

“I thought Mason was still working down in San Jose?” Bishop frowned.  Was there a chance his friend had been in the building?

“We had to pull him up here with all the shit coming down the pipe.”

“Alright, keep an eye on the local investigation, see what you can find out and keep trying to round up the troops.  Once we know who’s left we can figure out our next step.”

“Copy that,” Frost nodded.  “Bishop… I know you’re not officially here, but we could
totally use you right now.”

It felt nice to be needed, but Bishop put aside the question as to what it might mean for his future.  “I’m here, whether I’m on the payroll or not.  This shit has to end once and for all.” 

“Good to have you back, man.”  Frost clapped him on the shoulder before wading back into the middle of it. 

Even though he’d already asked Frost to keep an eye on the scene, Bishop circulated among the rescue workers until he found the fire chief.  A simple compulsion and the husky man confirmed most of what Frost had told him, adding that the
Department of Homeland Security had also been contacted, given the extreme force of the blast and the materials used.  Their forensic team would be arriving momentarily, and the chief was peeved they weren’t allowed to continue their search for survivors in the meantime. 

Bishop knew there wouldn’t be any bodies recovered in the investigation, dead or alive, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been any other casualties.  He was on the phone before he made it halfway back to the car, pulling up Mason’s number.  “Come on, buddy… pick up,” he
mumbled as it rang and rang.  Right before it went to voicemail, Mason clicked on the line, his voice slurred with drink. 

“I’m not doing it, I don’t care if Frost is offering triple time.  I’m not going near that inauguration.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Bishop let go of one worry.  “That’s not why I’m calling.”

“I don’t care how spread thin we are, I’ve paid my goddamn dues.  I want the night off to die in peace.”

Bishop recognized the note of self pity in Mason’s voice and he spoke more sharply, trying to draw his friend out of the self induced pit of misery.  “Hey, crawl into a bottle some other night, I need you sharp and focused right now.”

“Why… what happened?”

He’d managed to capture Mason’s interest at least.  Bishop gave him a brief report on the explosion and the known losses.  “So you can see why it’s not a good time to joke about dying.”

“Fuck me sideways,” Mason
murmured, no longer sounding all that drunk anymore. 
“You really cashed in on the shitstorm sweepstakes, didn’t you?  Wait… I thought you quit the Order.  Shouldn’t Frost be making this call?”

“You didn’t answer Frost’s call.”

“Point taken,” Mason acknowledged.  “Does this mean you’re back?”

“It means I’m going to do everything I can to end this war before the Order sends reinforcements.”

“Maybe they should?  We’re dying out here.”

“I’m hoping now that Anja’s back she can keep a lid on this.”

“That’s your great plan?  Pinning your hopes on Anja?” Mason let out a snort.  “She doesn’t give a shit about us.” 

“You don’t
honestly believe that, do you?”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.  I’ve obviously lost my ability to read the women in that family.”

“Are you on the outs with her sister again?” 

“She flat out dumped my ass.”

“You’re kidding.”  The last time they’d talked about it Mason had sounded close to retiring and going full-scale suburban with Hanna.

“Nope.  Kicked me to the curb like last night’s garbage.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Bishop sighed.  “But I can relate.  I blew my chance at fixing things with Anja.” 

“That sucks, man.  I hate to say I told you so, but…”

“Yeah, I know, it’s my own fault.”  And he’d been kicking himself for not realizing it sooner.  If only he’d opened up to Anja that night she’d been shot, when she begged him for some sign that he still cared.  That was one of his biggest regrets. 

“Alright, well… let me take a quick shower to try and clear my head and I’ll get out there.  Where are we meeting up?”

“I’ll let Frost decide on that one, he’s technically in charge.”

“Right now he’s in charge of a fucking donut hole where our headquarters used to be, so excuse me if I’m not taking any orders from him for a while,” Mason griped. 

“Mason…”

“
Right, I know, it’s not his fault.  I’ll see you later.  Welcome back to hell, buddy.”

“Stay safe out there,” Bishop cautioned before hanging up. 

His next call was to Jenessa, but it went straight to voicemail.  “I hope this means you’re laying low.  If that’s the case, stay wherever you are, don’t come back to the city unless you hear from either me or Anja that it’s safe.  If you need me for anything call, I’ll do the best I can.” 

The next conversation would be better served in person, but Bishop stopped himself about halfway to Anja’s house, not sure if he could take showing up to find her and Rob in bed together.  Maybe that was selfish of him, but it was an image he’d rather not have burned into his memory, his imagination was troubling enough.  Better to give her a heads up, and he dialed her number by heart.