Sin Eater (26 page)

Well, as long as the cell was working she was reachable. Speaking of which, she should really plug it
into the charger.

Claudia went through her suitcase to find the charger, got it plugged in, then remembered Damien watching her place. They’d discussed Iola, and that’s when Claudia realized she should really warn her friend.

Knowing that Iola would be at work, she dialed the number anyway and left Iola a message as well, saying “Hey, it’s Claudia. Call me when you get in, no matter what time it is. I need to tell you something, call my cell.” She did her best not to sound scared.

If just
one
other person could know where she was … But that was pretty risky if that maniac was out on the streets. Plus, as small as he was, Claudia was still plenty scared of him.

She flopped on to the bed and flicked on the TV, decided she was uncomfortable, and got up to put on flannel pants in lieu of her jeans. Man, she was twitchy. Maybe being in pajamas would mellow her out.

She pulled a pair out of her suitcase and something hit the carpet at her feet. She frowned, picked it up, a smile touching her lips just slightly. She opened the square of paper as something slid out, landing on the foot of the bed.

It was a piece of her notepaper from home, a quick note scrawled out. “I’m taking care of your place. And your plants. And your neighbour. Are you
sure
you want me to sleep with her though?” It wasn’t signed and didn’t need to be. Claudia almost laughed.

She picked up the chain from the foot of the bed, turning the pendant over in her hand. It was Damien’s necklace, not that she’d looked at i
t terribly closely before. She recognized it nevertheless. The pendant was silver, a relief of what look like a goat’s head. The chain was similar to what the armed forces’ dog tags were hung on. She could swear it was still warm.

She held it in her palm, and feeling ridiculous, she put it on, dropping it under the neck of her T-shirt. The second it hit her skin the rest of her felt as warm as it was. She shook herself back to reality and we
nt to the bathroom to change into PJs.

Iola had to get it together. She was having a hell of a time concentrating, and the show was one of the shittiest she’d even put to air, without a doubt. So she cut down on her chatter and just played more songs.

She had the shakes like she’d missed a meal or something. And she couldn’t concentrate. Everything just felt so
wrong
.

She felt wretched. Gross. Incredibly dirty. Like she’d done something very inappropriate. And it had all started after Jasper left the control room.

She shook herself back to the here and now to introduce the next song. “And now folks, the kind of song you just
need
to hear, late at night, maybe driving home from somewhere you shouldn’t have been in the first place. Here’s
Bobcaygeon
by the Tragically Hip on KLCD Late Night.”

She rubbed her forehead. She was trying to squ
ish that terrible image out of her head through her ears. She did
not
see Jasper that way, not at all.

When he’d come back from the press conference he’d been all business, pre-recorded his newscast and then took off again. By now she knew his shift was definitely over, thank god. The less he was here the better.

She noticed that her cell phone screen lit up, so she picked it up and read the text message she’d just received.

U sound off. I’ll pick U up @ 2. V.

She smiled down at the phone. Somehow knowing that Vinnie was listening made her feel better instantly. She sent him a message back.
Sounds gr8. See U then.

Crap. Which song was next?  She checked the screen and realized the news was next, and it was already loaded up and ready for her to hit “play.” She checked her phone again, no new messages, set it down, then just listened to the dying chords of the song.  When the time came she spoke over the end of the song. “Now it’s time for the news with Jasper McKay, but I’ll be right back after that. You’re listening to Late Night with Iola Day.”

The news music started, and she hit play on the computer. Jasper’s news cast came on, starting with a sound up on a suspect wanted in connection with two violent murders. A suspect that escaped police custody for the second time in as many days. Most recently the man, named Charles Goodwin, had been arrested for assaulting a police officer.

Iola frowned. He’d escaped again? Did Claudia know?
Stupid, of course she knew.

She picked up her cell and dialed Claudia’s phone at home. When there was no answer, Iola tried her cell. Claudia answered after a couple of rings. “Hello? Iola?”

“Claudia – what’s going on? Are you okay?”

Her friend laughed, and Iola could just see her pushing her hair behind one ear as she did it. She was probably shaking her head, too. “That’s my line, Day.”

“I just heard about this Charles Goodwin. What the hell?”

“Yeah, I just found out tonight, too. So I’m in hiding right now.”

“In hiding?”

“I’ve checked
into a motel, and it’s being kept on the down-low, you know, in case there’s someone in the department leaking information. I’m supposed to be off for the next few days anyway.”

“Oh, thank G
od you’re taking this seriously. But nothing happened?”

“No no. They just don’t know where he is, and no one knows how he got away again. It’s starting to look fishy, so I’m sequestered.”

“Man. Now
I
don’t want to go home.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? I have to worry.”

“No, I mean, I asked Damien to stay at my place. So there will be someone across the hall in case something happens.”

Iola was silent, wrestling with her internal monologue. She didn’t want Damien there. So close. Without Claudia around. Again … she didn’t trust herself.

“Iola?”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“I said not to worry. He’s not going to be putting any moves on you. He promised me.”

It’s not him I’m worried about.
“Well, I guess that makes me feel better?” She let the phrase end weakly, which made Claudia laugh again.

“Hell, Iola. If you want
, have at him. But I would be very disappointed in you. After all, Vinnie is … Vinnie is perfect for you.”

Iola smiled, noting that the newscast would be ending in about a minute and fifteen seconds. “Yeah, I think he is, too. But I gotta go, news is almost done.”

“Oh hey – Jasper’s back at work, hey?”

“Yeah.”

“Was he sheepish about that dumbass phone call he made?”

“Yeah, he was really embarrassed. And he apologized profusely.”
And then I imagined I was about to have sex with him
.

“Good. The dumb ass.”

“I really gotta go.”

“Okay, call me if you need anything.”

“Ditto.”

Iola hung up the phone just in time to catch the news music as it faded out. “That was your twelve-thirty news break. This is KLCD Late Night with Iola Day, and now let’s pick it up just a little bit. How about a little Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? This is
Learning to Fly.
”

Jasper was in the corner again, facing dirty concrete walls, trying his best not to listen to what was going on. This time didn’t seem as bad. Charlie wasn’t so … fucking insane, even though he was strangling a woman with his belt.

Her lights were fading, and he could smell the death that was coming for her. When she saw nothing, he knew somehow that there was still another ten minutes before she was actually dead. He could save her, maybe. Some CPR, mouth-to-mouth, he might be able to bring her back.

But then what would Essum do to him?

Jasper was beginning to suspect that Essum was a lot more than he made himself out to be. He
was showing Jasper how to use his own mental abilities to control what other people did with their thoughts and bodies. Like this woman? Essum showed him how to completely paralyze her so Charlie could have his way with her.

Always with the rape. Why did he need to rape them? Christ, at least this time he came on his own. Jasper
so
did not want another assist on a Charlie orgasm. But Jasper was starting to understand where this was going.

The more sins he took away, he stronger his abilities would get. Essum basically confirmed it. If they kept Charlie like a little sin-gathering lap dog, they’d have a never-ending supply of evil depravity to harves
t. And with Charlie, they knew very damn well he was never going to try and run away. He was in like Flynn, all the way.

Charlie let the woman’s body drop, and when Jasper could only hear the sound of
Charlie’s rasping breath, he turned around. She was dead on the dirty concrete floor of an abandoned building, and Charlie was looking at him with expectant, hopeful eyes while doing up his pants.

He wants me to do this, this is his new contact high
, Jasper realized, just as Essum’s voice echoed through the room and right into Charlie’s head.

Take it from him, Jasper. Just like I showed you.

Charlie stepped forward, wiping his hands on his pants and smiling. This was the new
why
for Charlie. He didn’t make a big mess this time. He didn’t get blood all over the place. Wasn’t he a good boy?

Jasper put a hand out, and Charlie ducked his head under it, breathing in deeply. Jasper found the fresh sin that Charlie had just committed, focused on it, and plucked it from his brain like a dandelion. Charlie sighed and leaned back from his hand, eyes closed and face breaking
into a wide grin.

“Thank you,” he whispered, almost tearful.

Jasper swallowed painfully, just nodded.

Okay Charlie, you’re free to go. Take the rest of the night off … but go only to your hotel room.
Don’t
go anywhere else.

“Yes, M
aster.” Charlie said, nodded and wrapping his arms around himself and he left the building out the front way.

Jasper waited for Essum to take shape, which he did, standing on the other side of the woman’s body. He was looking at her thoughtfully. “This one was actually quite pretty, wasn’t she?”

Jasper just shrugged.

“I think I smell a little sin on you, too.” Essum said, stepping over the body and coming closer. Jasper didn’t dare step back from him.

“Me?”

“What did you get up to last night, my dear boy?”

“What?” He knew it was pointless to play dumb, but he couldn’t help it. Part of him hoped there were still things Essum couldn’t see.

“That girl in the stairwell. I watched you take her. And good job with that little mental jab.”

Jasper felt his armor crack. He thought, to his horror, he might be about to cry. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never done anything like that before - ”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. You are going to be beyond humans very soon. They are just the tools we use to do our jobs.”

Jasper took a breath and nodded, knowing instinctively to not argue with Essum. The guy knew how to give someone a brain hemorrhage just by looking at them. Jasper was not signing up to be on his shit list.

“Just be careful. Having to constantly break you two out of jail will waste a lot of time. You are getting stronger by the day, and when the time is right I want us to be able to
act
without hesitation. If one of you is locked up, that’s all this hard work right out the fucking window.”

Jasper nodded, then asked weakly, “Is there anything else we need to do?”

Essum smiled, and the sight was so cold Jasper wished he had gloves. “No, we’re done for tonight. I want to give Charlie some time to recuperate after the previous killing. He was quite explosively violent on that one.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Essum shot him a look. “Don’t get judgmental. Think about what that episode made
you
do last night. All on your own, with no one making you do it.” Essum stepped so close Jasper would have felt his breath if he’d actually been using air. “At least Charlie only does what he does because I compel him to. What’s
your
excuse?”

Jasper met his gaze, but of course he looked away first, nodding. “Point taken.”

“Good. Now go home. That blonde from the elevator is waiting for you outside your apartment door. And she’s not wearing any underwear.”

Voro felt he needed a shower as the fat man in front of him that reeked of BO fell to the ground in front of him, covering his head and weeping at the visions that Voro was stirring up.

This guy liked to kill little old ladies. He just strangled them with his bare hands and left their frail bodies to be found by home-care workers or family members. There was no reason that Voro could find, no sad sob story to provide background. But for some reason the man thought these killings increased his desirability to the opposite sex.

Voro watched him sob on the ground, wondering how
anyone
would find the guy attractive. But as the golden, warm cleansing feeling came over him, the fat man flopped over on to his back and looked up at Voro with grateful eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” the man whispered.

Voro shook his head. “Apologizing to the wrong team, son. I don’t do forgiveness.”

The man was thoroughly confused but didn’t ask any questions as Voro left the fat man’s used bookstore, the bell ringing as the door closed behind him.

That was an awful lot of sin-eating for one night. He was … gorged, actually. Not that he carried any of the burdens, but … his head was tired of the degradation and he was sick of the begging. And tonight he likely caused the deaths of two people by relieving them of their darkest secrets. Three if fatty in the bookstore had a heart attack in the next few minutes.

This took him back, though. Trying to
best the number of sins he’d consumed the night before. This was his damn purpose, not getting all simpering soft over a human woman.

Which reminded him, he had to go back to Claudia’s to make sure Iola was okay.

Right. How long did it take a lesbian to pussy-whip a Sin Eater? Apparently two nights of sex should just about do it.

But that wasn’t it, and he knew it. Iola held him enraptured, and at least he had the
frustro/decipio
aspect to blame that on.

His wandering had brought him full-circle to the block where Claudia and Iola lived. After checking his watch he realized it was one-thirty. Iola was off work at two, usually getting home around two-thirty.  His head was pounding and he felt dirty all over, so it was maybe a good idea to call it a night well spent and head upstairs to
a shower and sheets that smelled like chocolate and Claudia. Plus a common wall between him and someone that smelled overwhelmingly of jasmine and vanilla.