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Subject: {ASSM} FEMMES FATALES (1/2)(Fm, Fdom, MC) Trey and Arduinna Gallant
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FEMMES FATALES
Chapter 3 "To The Rescue"
Reprise and Synopsis --
In "From Whose Borne No Traveler Returns/Lilith," Carl Williams fell
prey to Lilith, while driving in the Eastern Blue Ridge Mountains west
of Washington. Now his family, on the advice of a Lieutenant in the
Virginia State Police, engages a local law firm and their chief
investigator, Mara, to find their son. She finds the locals, many
related to her, to be strangely uncooperative. Meanwhile, Harker, a
vampire hunter, contacts the family and the lawyers to warn them that
they are up against something more sinister than a mere disappearance.
The warning comes too late to prevent Mara, too, from being captured by
Lilith.
FEMMES FATALES
Chapter 3
"To The Rescue"
by Trey and Arduinna Gallant
copyright 2000
Mara Foster hurried down K Street on her way to her brothers' law firm,
where she worked as a special investigator. Her anxiety over having to
take the Metro back into the city at this hour of the night made her
oblivious to the beauty of the holiday decorations that were going up
all around the city. Irritation at the thick crowds of shoppers even
after the 7 p.m. end of the rush hour made her pulse race. She paused
as she rounded the corner to allow herself to calm down, when the
handle of her briefcase chose that exact second to snap. She bent down
with a muffled oath and retrieved the case from the gutter where it had
fallen, then headed across the street, hugging it to her. Mara could
feel her blood pressure soar as she pulled her keys out of her coat
pocket and unlocked the door to her office. She tossed the key ring
onto the center of her desk, and turned to see a tall, dark-haired man
standing in the doorway, an amused expression on his face.
"You still haven't learned how to slow down, have you, Foster?"
"Adam!" Mara smiled at her old friend, a lieutenant in the Virginia
State Police. She took off her coat and hung it up, frowning at the
mud stain on the side where she had held the briefcase against her
after its handle broke.. "What brings one of Virginia's finest here at
this hour?"
"I do." A tall, distinguished man in his early 70's came into the
office. His grim expression caused the smile on Mara's face to
disappear. "Lt. Corwin told me that your firm might be able to help
me. The Virginia authorities seem to have done as much as they can in
helping me find my son."
"You're a little early, Adam," came a voice from the door. Mara looked
over as her oldest brother, Jeffery, entered the office and greeted
Adam Corwin with a firm handshake. "Mr. Williams?" Jeffery inquired.
The older man nodded briefly, and also shook hands with Mara's brother,
who turned to her. "Mara, when Bryan and Steven arrive, please tell
them I need them in my office." He then escorted the police lieutenant
and the other man into his private office and closed the door before
Mara could speak. She sighed in frustration. The other Foster
brothers arrived ten minutes later, their twin faces showing mirrored
anxiety. They did not need to be told, but headed directly to Jeffery's
office.
Ten minutes later, the door opened again, and Jeffery stuck his head
out. "Mara, can you come in here, please?" Mara entered her brother's
office and sat down on the only unoccupied chair, as Bryan closed the
door. "I'd like you to meet George Williams. He has just hired our
firm to look into the disappearance of his son."
"Are you certain that she should get involved?" Mr. Williams asked as
he looked Mara over. "You don't know what you're getting into. It
could be dangerous."
"Mara is not a helpless female, Mr. Williams," Jeffery replied as he
leaned back against the front of his desk, crossing his arms. "She is
quite capable of looking out for herself, as she has proven many times
over the years." He actually allowed a proud smile to cross his
features for a moment. "She also has other skills which will come in
handy during our investigation."
"For someone who looks as if she would be better suited to teaching
kindergarten," Mara amended. She smiled briefly at Mr. Williams's
startled expression. "Don't feel bad about your reaction, Mr.
Williams. I get it all the time." She leaned forward in the chair, her
expression as grave as that of the man she was facing, knowing she
needed to reassure him from the very beginning that she was capable of
handling this case for him. "I've worked with my brothers on cases
part-time all the way through college, and started full-time when I
quit teaching about four years ago." She looked around at Adam and her
brothers, her irritation mounting. "Would someone mind telling me what
this case is about, or am I going to have to guess?"
"Mr. Williams's son was driving out west to visit with some business
acquaintances about a month ago. He never arrived," Adam stated as he
fixed his dark eyes on Mara. "He brought the matter to our attention
and we did what we could to track him. We reached a dead end, there
were no witnesses, no further clues to pursue..."
"...He just dropped off the face of the earth?" Mara asked skeptically.
"His car was found at the bottom of a ravine along a back road near
Martinsburg, West Virginia," Adam replied. "But there was no body, no
sign of anyone being injured. He had filled up on Rt. 7 near Leesburg.
The tank was still more than 3/4 full, but the gas line was clogged.
The car couldn't have been driven more than an hour after he had gassed
up, certainly not all the way to Martinsburg! That places him in Mosby
Co., probably, where you all grew up, when his gas line clogged and his
car had to stop. You know the area, the people. They'll be much more
likely to answer your questions." More likely than they were to answer
ours, his look said.
"We believe he was forcibly abducted," Mr. Williams spoke up, his eyes
lowered to hide the distress Mara could see in his body language. "It's
the only explanation we can think of for his not contacting us."
Mara frowned. "But the lack of a ransom note, or sign of distress have
left the police high and dry," she commented, finishing the man's
thoughts. She nodded to Jeffery. "You were right to think I might
like to handle the investigation."
"Are there any other specifics?" Jeffery asked Adam as he pulled a wad
of cash out of the top drawer. The Lieutenant produced a file folder
and handed it to the eldest Foster brother, who passed it to Mara with
the money. "If that isn't sufficient, give us a call."
Mara nodded and put the money in her jacket pocket. "I'll take the T-
bird. I'll send in the usual daily reports. How can I get in touch
with you, Mr. Williams?"
He took out a hotel business card and wrote his name and room number on
the back. She accepted it from him and breezed out of the office.
Adam looked over at Jeffrey. "She still doesn't waste any time, does
she?"
"One reason why she's the best at what she does," Jeffrey replied. He
turned to the man seated nearby. "Don't worry, Mr. Williams, if anyone
can find your missing son, Mara can. And she has the full resources
our office can muster behind her."
Eager to be on the 'hunt,' Mara picked up the Ford Thunderbird from the
firm's motor pool in the office building's basement parking garage.
Pausing at her Roslyn, Va., apartment only long enough to pack an
overnight bag with a few essentials, she drove to the George Washington
Parkway, from which she picked up Rt. 123. She turned right on Rt. 7
and headed west. The fact that she would be doing her work in her old
childhood home only made the case that much more enticing. She could
catch up with her cousins, maybe spend some downtime there once the
case was solved. She hadn't had a vacation in over three years, and
she could feel the need for it in the way her blood pressure and
irritation level had risen. ***
The object of all this attention, though he was not aware of it, was at
that moment no more than 30 miles from the Beltway. Carl Williams was
not, at this time, aware of much beyond his Mistress Lilith. He could
not recall how or when he came to be here. Indeed, he had trouble
recalling even what had happened yesterday, as distinguished from today
or the day before. Except for the sessions with Lilith, about once a
week. These and the chores Lilith gave him, were about all Carl was
conscious of, all that she allowed him to think about. Currently, he
was performing one of those chores, serving his Mistress a late supper.
Lilith regarded him with affection and concern. His emotions were
shrouded in the sensual fog in which she enwrapped him. She permitted
him to be aware only of the "pleasurable" feelings, the enormous erotic
sensations, the joy of release, the inevitable bonding which resulted.
Yet down deep, buried by her suggestions, she could sense the embers of
his fear, resentment and hatred glowing. Denied expression, even
unconscious expression, they survived still. She kept Carl entranced
all the time, unlike her other servants: Lilith could not trust him
under merely post-hypnotic suggestion. His will was too strong. It
was one of the things she loved about him.
"Thank you, Carl," she said as he removed the dishes from the main
course. "You may serve dessert now."
He placed the dishes on the serving cart, and, responding to the hidden
post-hypnotic suggestion Lilith had just uttered, returned and knelt in
front of her.
She drew up her skirt to free her legs and expose her mons veneris.
Then she slipped her hand under Carl's chin, and raised his face until
he was looking directly into her eyes. "Carl," she began, "when I
count to five, you are going to awaken. You will feel wonderful,
refreshed and alert. You will remember nothing of what has happened to
you while you have been entranced, except that you will remember and
follow all the post-hypnotic suggestions I have given you. Ready,
one...feeling more awake now, becoming aware of your body.
Two...feeling your arms and legs, your fingers and toes.
Three...becoming aware of the room around you. Four...more and more
alert, now. And five...wide awake! Wide Awake, now! Good evening,
Carl. How do you feel?"
"What? Where am I?" Carl blinked, and shook his head. What was he
doing kneeling in front of this woman...? Lilith. He remembered her
name. He remembered the last time, waking up lying on a bed, with her
standing over him. And a time before that, sitting in a chair, with
her sitting facing him. And at... another time, waking bound to a
frame that held him standing, while she walked around him, talking to
him and touching him... And one more time earlier, sitting on a couch,
drinking tea, listening to her and looking into her eyes. Her deep,
dark eyes... He looked up, and again his gaze was caught by hers.
"There now, Carl," Lilith went on. "Take a deep breath."
Automatically, he obeyed. She took his face between her hands. "Hold
it," she paused. "Now let it out slowly. There, that is better, yes?
It feels so good to be hypnotized by me. You are a little confused,
are you not?"
"Confused...yes," Carl mumbled, transfixed by her stare. "I feel ...
strange."
"Yes," Lilith continued. She began tracing slow circles on his
temples with her middle fingers. "You feel strange and confused, but
so good, so peaceful and content to just kneel there and look into my
eyes and listen to me. So confused, it is so hard for you to think
clearly." She paused to elicit a response.
"... hard to ... think...clearly..." he repeated.
"That is right," she affirmed, her voice sinking to a coaxing murmur.
"You find it so hard to think. But it is so easy and pleasant to just
kneel before me and listen to me. Just kneel for me and listen to my
voice. It is soo pleasant and comfortable. You do not have to think,
just kneel to me and let my words flow into your mind. Kneel to your
Mistress, and slip back under my spell. So easy and pleasant to slide
into my hypnotic spell."
"Wait...No...You're trying to hypnotize me again!" he protested.
"I am hypnotizing you again," Lilith confirmed. "You enjoy being
hypnotized by me. It is so comfortable and easy to let yourself go ...
to just listen to my voice and relax. You want to just give in and
listen and look at me. Each time I hypnotize you, you will go deeper
and deeper." She released his face, and drew her fingers down along his
cheeks and forward along his jaw, ending with her hands resting lightly
on her knees. Cued by her touch, he swayed towards her, almost losing
his balance as he leaned closer. She mirrored his movement, leaning
towards him, then drawing him even further into her intimate personal
space by leaning back again, parting her knees as she did so to lure
him ever deeper into her influence. Without even being aware of his
movements, he followed her gestures be moving forward between her legs.
His thoughts were slowing, fogging, and were fixed now on her words in
any case, as his eyes were captured by her gestures.
"Look at me," she intoned. "Let your eyes follow my hands up my legs
and over my body." She drew her fingertips up along the inside of her
thighs, then up her abdomen to her breasts. She leaned forward again,
lightly gripping her breasts and pushing them towards him. "You love
to look at my body. Let your eyes slip in between the soft, fragrant
flesh of my breasts...and where your eyes go, your mind follows." She
was close enough that he could feel her breath fanning his face. Her
perfume enveloped him. "My nearness arouses you," she whispered. "My
scent draws you nearer, ever closer. The closer you come, the deeper
under my spell you go...come closer...go deeper."
Leading him now by three of his senses, she began gradually
straightening up and lounging back once more. "Breathe in my
perfume... my essence. Look at me... at my breasts, so soft and
inviting... inviting you to come closer. The closer you come, the
deeper you go. Listen to my voice, inviting you... calling you to come
closer... come closer... go deeper... closer... deeper.... Inhale my
essence. Let my aroma lead you deeper... closer." Helplessly, he
swayed even further towards her.
"Look at my body," she said as she ran her hands caressingly down her
torso. "So shapely, so delightful. It arouses you to be this close to
me... to look at me so near to you... to listen to my voice caressing
your mind... to smell my feminine scent. It arouses me to have you be
so close... to see you become excited by my presence... to have you
become so docile, so obedient. It excites you to be close to me, to
obey me."
"...Obey... no," he moaned, feeling his manhood come erect in response
to her nearness and suggestions. Not again, his inner core protested
silently, not... a... gain..., and then faded, as the clouds of the
sensory pleasure of her, the sight, smell, sound of her, was joined by
the sense of touch. She reached out with her left hand and caressed
the back of his neck, while reaching between her own legs with her
right to fondle herself.
She felt his sexual arousal as an increase in the life force within
him, and an increase in the sexual tension in the room. Her immaterial
self stirred in response, awakening and reaching out to connect with
his sexual energies. But she no longer hungered as she had on that
first night. She savored, she sipped...and she tasted the still
resisting center of his being as a hot, bitter tang underlying the
sweetness of his surface compliance.
Still fighting her influence! She felt a thrill; disappointing, yes,
that his essential emotional orientation had not changed to match his
external behavior, which she controlled so well, but exciting, too! So
strong, so vital. Her pulse speeded up, and not just in response to
the sexual tension between them. What a life-mate he would make, if he
would just give himself to her! What a father for her child!
For now, though, just lead him a little deeper into her control. She
caressed the back of his neck in the same rhythm as she fondled her own
sex. Each time she stroked up, she increased the pressure ever so
slightly, ever so subtly, so that her right fore finger sank into her
vaginal lips, a little deeper each time, and she drew his face a
fraction closer with her left hand, letting him sway back away from her
on the down stroke, but never quite as far back as before. Now. She
let him sway back almost erect, and brought her right hand away from
her crotch to caress his face, making sure that the finger which had
been inside her passed repeatedly under his nostrils. "Inhale deeply,
carl," she whispered. "Take in my scent...let it fill your mind, as my
voice fills you mind. You can smell how aroused I am, just to see how
you respond to my presence. It gives you such pleasure to let me
arouse you. Surrender to the pleasure, carl. Surrender to me. Each
time you surrender to my spell, you will become more and more
submissive. Let the sight of me... the sound of my voice... the touch
of my hands... the scent of my sexual arousal lead you closer to me."
She gently increased the soft pressure of her hand on the back of his
neck, while drawing her other hand back towards the joining of her legs
with a beckoning gesture. "Your will becoming weaker and weaker, as
you go deeper and deeper. Closer... deeper...surrender... deeper..."
She pointed to her engorged and now wet nether lips. "Kiss me. Give
me your kiss of submission." Mindless now, Carl buried his face
between her legs. "Pleasure your Mistress, carl," Lilith intoned, and
he complied. The contact provided her with a small charge of the
erotic energy which was necessary to her, much less than she had taken
on the first night, but enough to sustain her. More importantly, it
reinforced his habit of obedience to her commands. Each time, he
submitted more readily, resisted for a shorter time. Yet still he
resisted! And yet, each time he inevitably submitted.
And each time, she was more inclined to think of him as the future
father of her child. His vitality, the force of his character, the
basic *goodness* which tempered his strength, were all acting upon her
own being. The stimulation of having him so near, of taking him so
often was hastening the approach of her period of fertility. *****
Mara pulled into the parking lot of the Mosby County Sheriff's Office,
where her cousin, Edward Foster, was the current Sheriff. She went
inside the one story building and a large, beefy man got up from behind
his desk and approached the counter, a puzzled look on his face. "Yes,
Ma'm?," he started, then paused and pulled his glasses out of his
uniform shirt pocket and put them on. "Wait a minute." He smiled,
"Mara! What brings you back here, and in the middle of the night?"
"Our firm was hired by a man named Williams to find a young man who
went missing in this area about a month ago," Mara replied. She looked
away for a second to retrieve the photograph Adam had given her, and
missed the alarm on Edward's face. He calmed his expression and leaned
on the counter. "I remember the case. Your friend Adam Corwin of the
State Troopers sent us some information and asked us to look into it.
Now, if you and your brothers are involved, that puts a whole new light
on the investigation." He took the photograph from her and pretended
to examine it. "Same as the one we were sent. I can't say I've found
any evidence that Carl Williams was anywhere near here. Maybe he took
Rt. 7, further south?" Edward saw that Mara was not listening to him,
her thoughts already racing ahead of his anticipated report of failure
to unearth a trace of the missing man. After all, if the Sheriff's
Department had found any sign of him, she wouldn't be here. He laid
his hand on her arm, and she looked up at him. "Are you going to want
the same set up as the last time?" he asked.
"I think I can work better from Gran'pop's house, Edward," Mara
answered with a shake of her head. "That is, if it's available."
"You know it's yours whenever you're in town, Mara," Edward reassured
her. He pulled the key ring from his pocket, detached a key and handed
it to her. "Why don't you get settled in, and I'll stop by in the
morning."
He waited until she had left the office, and then dialed a number on
the 'phone. "Things are heating up," he spoke into the receiver.
"That Williams guy sent my own cousin to look into his son's
disappearance. Yes, I know we can't let her find out the truth. What?
No! That would only draw more attention. Besides, she's family. All
right. You let me handle it from here." *****
Lilith hung up the telephone, her serene expression hiding the turmoil
within her mind. This was not good! More new people snooping around,
and this one with local family contacts. And the Sheriff, he had
actually said no to her! Was Carl's resistance to her control
catching? A moment's reflection stilled that panicky thought. The
Sheriff was correct; another disappearance so soon would only bring
more unwanted attention. Better to wait and let him deal with his kin
in his own way, although she felt a momentary twinge of anxiety at
leaving Edward so much initiative. His was not a strong mind, like
Carl's, resisting submission to her. Instead, he was like a dangerous
animal, a half domesticated wolf, loyal, but unpredictable. And now,
it would seem, loyal to his own, as well. That could be a problem, if
there were to be any conflict.
For half a second, she contemplated erasing Carl's memories and having
one of her minions drive him up into the mountains and release him.
She dismissed the impulse. Carl was hers! She controlled him. She
wanted him. He would be her mate, she decided, confirming in her own
consciousness the choice her body had already made. And in spite of
his resistance, she would soon make him want to be hers, forever. *****
Unaware of her cousin's duplicity, Mara drove down the town street and
up the mountain a few miles to the old house that had belonged to her
father's parents, where she and her brothers had spent so many happy
summers as children. The house was a two-story monstrosity that had
been built around the turn of the last century. Several generations of
Fosters had been born, raised and mourned in this house, and Mara felt
as if it welcomed her back. She shook her head to clear it of this
fancy, and went inside with her luggage..
She set her bags inside the bedroom door, and went to the living room
to raise the thermostat. The family kept the house furnished and ready
for any visits by out-of-town relatives; the propane tank was kept
filled and the gas furnace pilot lit, and there was a fire set in the
fireplace in the study. She opened the damper and lit the kindling,
then set her laptop computer on the desk and sat down to work. She set
the file Adam Corwin had given her beside the laptop, and opened it.
She pulled out a loose sheet that was on the top of the information on
Carl Williams, and saw it was a list of people who had gone missing in
the vicinity starting about eight years ago. Some of the names she
recognized from when she had worked on background searches for her
cousin Edward in her spare time, when she was still a student or
teaching. The couple who had disappeared while hiking on the
Appalachian Trail; the truck driver whose rig was found abandoned near
the County Airpark; the college English and folklore professor who had
been collecting Northern Appalachian ghost tales... Most of them were
male, she noted, and they had all been reported missing about a year
apart. That, in itself, was rather strange. Carl's name was near the
bottom of the list, next to last. The last was a woman: Julia
Jameson, reported missing within the last month, by a Mr. Leonard
Harker. She put the list back in the file and connected her computer
through its modem to the 'phone jack. "If this were the work of one
person, the folks around here would have noticed. They have to have
some help, both local and from outside. Let's see...." she mused, as
she ran a map program showing the last reported location of the missing
persons. She saved the map and navigated to another demographic site.
"Who has moved into the county in the last eight years who might be
worth looking into?" she read through the county recorder's records and
jotted down the names and addresses of several new residents over the
past ten years. In this part of the county, that was far fewer names
than she had thought; most of the development spreading from Loudoun
Co. was along Rt. 7. When she plotted the addresses into her search
map, only half of those names appeared near the cluster of red X's
which marked the disappearances. Indeed, the red X's seemed to encircle
a group of the blue squares marking the new residents. "Better and
better," she muttered to herself, as she deleted the names on the list
which did not make it into the circle. "This should keep me busy. I
wonder just where I should start?" She answered herself with a yawn.
With a start, she checked her watch. It was long past midnight. She
had accomplished enough for one night, she decided. The next step was
a good night's rest and an early start tomorrow. She banked the fire,
and turned in.
The next morning, as she was fixing herself breakfast she heard a loud
knocking on the kitchen door. She went to see who was there, and found
a short dumpy man in an insulated coverall over a faded flannel shirt
standing there with a cardboard box in his arms. Mara unlocked the
door with a smile and embraced him warmly. "Cousin Fred!" she crowed
as she brought him inside. "What brings you here?"
"Heard you were back, Mara," Fred said in his slow careful manner.
"Thought I'd come say hello, and drop off some groceries, as I was out
this way to make a delivery." He nodded to the tall, square built man
who was still standing on the porch with his head down, a shy smile on
his broad face. "Mind if I bring Homer in?"
"Not at all. Nice to meet you, Homer," Mara replied as she saw the two
men inside. "Would you like some coffee?"
"Wouldn't mind it at all, Mara," Fred smiled slowly. "I'll get it
myself," he continued as he carried the box of supplies to the kitchen.
Mara watched as Fred made his way to the counter, the limp that was the
last remaining sign of his nearly fatal accident causing him to move
carefully. He set down the groceries, and poured out two cups,
spooning sugar and adding fresh cream from a small carton that had been
in the box he brought. He passed one cup to Homer. When he turned
back to Mara, his smile had been replaced by a look of concern.
"Heard you were looking into the disappearances around the area. Are
you sure you should get involved in that, Mara? Other people who've
come looking joined the list of the missing." He took a sip from his
cup, and looked at her seriously. "I would hate it if anything
happened to you."
"I wasn't aware that there were others looking, Fred," Mara answered.
"Edward never mentioned it." She hid her annoyance at the fact that
Edward was keeping things from her; she would talk to her cousin about
it the next time she visited his office. Come to think of it, Adam had
not specifically indicated that there were other hunters, either. If
*he* knew. She retrieved the list she had printed out from the county
records, and handed it to Fred. "Perhaps since you run one of the only
three grocery stores in the area, you might know some of these people."
Fred took the sheet of paper from her and looked over the list. He
took a pen out of his coverall pocket, and sitting at the kitchen
table, jotted down some notations next to the various names. He put
the pen back, and handed her the list with a shake of his head. "Most
of these people are older couples who've moved back to their family
homes after spending their younger years in the cities. Come to
retire."
He got to his feet, placing the now empty coffee cup in the sink.
"Better get going. Have to drop Homer off with his employer's supplies
and then get some errands run before I get back to the store." He
turned to the younger man, and was surprised by the transfixed
expression on the man's face. Homer jumped, blushing guiltily, when
Fred laid his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Homer."
"Good-bye, Homer," Mara smiled, extending her hand to the quiet man.
"It was really nice to meet you." Homer smiled and nodded. He hurried
out of the house, and Mara turned to Fred. "Doesn't say much, does
he?" She kissed Fred on the cheek. "I appreciate your help, Fred.
Let's get together for dinner one night this week."
"I'd like that," Fred smiled absently as he nodded. He raised his hand
in a farewell, and left the house. Mara watched him and his silent
companion drive away in his old pickup, and then locked the door. Homer
intrigued her. About ten years older than she was, she estimated.
Although quiet and childlike in some respects, he did not give her the
impression of being slow. And unless she was mistaken, he had been
quite taken with her. More to the point, she was certain he was not
from the county, she would have remembered him. Yet his name did not
appear on the list of new residents she had compiled. She turned to
the task of putting away the groceries which Fred had brought. *****
Fred drove up towards the top of the mountain, along Rt. 9. When he
reached what was known as the 'high valley,' he turned into a
entranceway nearly hidden by a thick screen of old trees and shrubs.
There, a large stately house sat at the end of a long drive. He
stopped in front and rang the doorbell. A young woman in a maid's
uniform answered the door, and stepped aside to let him enter, while
Homer retrieved the groceries from the back of the pickup with the help
of a young man. Fred went into the study and waited.
"Hello, Mr. Foster. Here for your payment?" a warm, sultry voice
purred as its owner entered the room. Fred turned, his features
flushing slightly as his eyes filled with admiration. "I hear your
cousin is in town," Lilith said as she sank down on the white plush
sofa, patting a space at her side. Fred sat down beside her quickly,
but reluctantly. He always felt awkward in this woman's presence, and
had the uncomfortable feeling that he did not know what was going to
happen next. Her dark eyes fixed on his, holding him quiet and still,
although squirming inside. She ran her hand along his thigh, slowly;
he could not even move to that touch. "I hope she is not here to cause
any trouble. Is she, Fred?"
"She's here looking for a missing person, Ms. Preston," Fred replied,
swallowing first to get his voice past the thickness in his throat. He
did not even pause to wonder how she had heard of Mara's arrival. He
was too busy trying to deal with the conflicting emotions that this
strange woman evoked in him whenever he had to make a delivery to her
home. In any case, he had lived all his life in a network of friends
and family through which news was transmitted almost with the speed of
thought. It did not occur to him that Lilith Preston, as a newcomer
who kept to herself, might not be plugged in to that same network. He
gulped as Lilith handed him a check, her fingers stroking along the
back of his hand as she relinquished it. "I better get movin'. I got
things to do."
Lilith nodded and watched as Fred nearly ran from the house in his
haste to be away from her. She was both amused at his embarrassment,
and vexed because it had up until now kept her from capturing his mind
as she had the Sheriff's. Still, he had confirmed what Edward had told
her last night, and likewise indicated that this Mara Foster could not
be dealt with as she had that silly Jameson woman. She needed more
information. She rang a bell, and the young woman in the maid's costume
appeared. "Please have Homer come in here, Julie, " Lilith commanded.
The maid nodded and went to find the handyman. Lilith sank back into
the sofa, a calculating look on her beautiful face. When Homer came
into the study, she invited him to sit next to her, laying a hand on
his knee. "I understand you just met Mr. Foster's cousin, Homer. Tell
me all about her." *****
"All right," Mara said aloud to herself many hours later as the last
rays of the sunset faded over the mountain. She had been out most of
the day, talking to old friends and relations. She had kept her
questions casual, slipping in her inquiries between catching up on
local and family news. But it hadn't done much good; everyone seemed
to know she was here investigating a missing person, and also seemed to
assume that her interest extended to the earlier disappearances as
well. But they just weren't talking. So it had been a process of
eliminating what they *would* talk about to find the persons and topics
they avoided and left blank. Then she had come back here and tried to
piece it together with the computer data. She looked out the window at
the gathering autumn dusk, and stretched to relieve her stiff muscles.
"I could use a break now." She went to the bedroom and lay down on the
bed; sleep claimed her almost instantly.
As Mara lay sleeping, a masked figure, who had been watching the house
from the shelter of a nearby grove, crept up to the bedroom window and
opened it. He climbed in slowly and quietly, and moved to stand over
the bed, looking down at the unmoving woman. He sat down on the
mattress beside her, his hand clamping down over Mara's mouth. "Hello,
Mara..." he began. Her hands came up to his covering her mouth. She
seized that hand with both her thumbs on the back of his, and twisted
in and down. He turned and rose, to retreat from the pain, and slipped
off the side of the bed. Allowing his weight to pull her up and
around, Mara maintained the pressure just short of breaking the
intruder's wrist, and pinned him to the floor, his wrist bent in and
his elbow locked straight. Holding him easily with just one hand, she
reached down with the other and removed his mask. "Hello, Mara," he
repeated with a grin that had more than a slight wince of pain in it.
"I'm really glad you're back."
"Larry!" Mara laughed as she recognized an old childhood friend, and
pulled him to his feet. "You scared the life out of me!"
"I didn't want to do that!" Larry exclaimed. Something about the way
he said that made Mara grow more serious. "You've only been back one
day and you've already drawn some dangerous attention to yourself,
Mara."
"What are you talking about, Larry?" Mara asked as she went to the
kitchen to fix herself something to eat. Actually, she would not have
been surprised if Larry's attack on her had been for real, by someone
who was serious. The resistance she had met to her questions today had
bordered on hostility. But that it had turned out to be Larry, good
ol' Larry, disarmed her for the time being. Sure, he had turned into a
n'er-do-well, in and out of trouble with the law and the more
respectable members of the community, but she had known him as long as
she could remember, and it was impossible for her to attribute any
malice on his part towards her. She knew better than to expect any
straight answers from him, but maybe he knew something that he would
reveal. "Would you like something to drink? I'm going to fix myself a
sandwich and some cocoa."
Larry shook his head and settled down at the kitchen table to watch
Mara fix herself a meal. "I've watched you grow up from a scrawny,
freckled kid into a beautiful woman, Mara," Larry said plaintively as
his hand caressed the wooden table top. "I've waited for you to notice
how I felt about you. You never did."
"I did notice. I just never felt that way about you, Larry," Mara
replied honestly as she spread butter on bread. "You know that.
We've had this discussion before, and it always comes down to that one
basic fact."
"I can protect you, Mara, from the people who want you hurt," Larry
said obliquely, his eyes filled with pain. He saw the skeptical, self-
confident expression on her face and sighed. "If you're still
offering, a cup of cocoa would be welcome." Mara nodded and took out a
second cup, setting it down in front of him. When the kettle whistled,
she poured the water over the cocoa powder, and turned away to fetch
her sandwich. As she turned, Larry took a small vial out of his pocket
and poured the contents into her cup. "How about we go to dinner
sometime while you're in the County?"
"That would be nice," Mara said absently as she sat down and took a sip
of her hot chocolate. "That's funny," she said as she set it down. "It
tastes odd. How is your cocoa, Larry?"
"Just fine," Larry replied, as he sipped at the hot liquid. "Maybe
you've forgotten what our mountain water tastes like. No chemicals;
limestone filtered." He smiled to himself as Mara took another sip.
They sat in companionable silence as she ate her sandwich and drank
some more of the chocolate. When she went to set her cup down, she
almost missed the table, and it fell off the edge. "Oh!" Mara cried
out, her eyes wide with confusion. Larry rose, and took her by the
arm. "Let me get that for you," he said as he guided her into the
living room and over to the sofa. He went back in and cleaned up the
mess, being careful to leave no trace of the doctored cocoa on the
floor, table or in the fragments of the cup, washing them before
throwing them in the trash.
When he returned, Mara was curled up on the sofa fast asleep. "I know
you don't like me much, Mara, but I'm not going to let Her harm you.
Even if you don't want my help, you're going to have it." He picked
her up and carried her out to his beat-up jeep. He laid her in the
back and was covering her with a blanket just as Sheriff Ed Foster
drove up.
"Hey, Sheriff," Larry smiled furtively as he moved to conceal the
blanket covered form in the back seat. He started to get in behind the
wheel. "If you're looking for Mara, she just left. She said she was
going to get some dinner when I pulled up."
"Oh?" Edward frowned. Mara's distinctive T-bird had not passed him as
he drove out from town. He couldn't see if it was in the garage from
his car, but many years experience had taught him that if Larry Snopes
said one thing, suspect something else. He stopped the engine and got
out. "Might as well make certain she has everything she needs while
she's here." He headed towards the house, and Larry picked up a tire
iron from behind the seat of his jeep. As he swung it, the older man
dodged aside, turned and caught him by the arm and threw him to the
ground. Edward sat atop him and pulled out his cuffs. "Now just what
have you been up to?" he growled as he dragged Larry to his feet and
over to the jeep. He lifted the blanket in back, and groaned when he
saw Mara lying there. "You idiot! Do you *want* to bring her brothers
and their hired muscle down here?" A further suspicion struck him.
"Did She send you down here? Was this Her idea?"
"Yeah," Larry snarled, lying as much out of habit as the hope of being
believed. "So you better let me get about Her business, since you
serve Her, too!" The Sheriff shoved Larry in the back of the squad
car, none too gently, and carried Mara back into the house, laying her
down on her bed. He returned grimly to find a much-subdued Larry
waiting in the back of the car. "She couldn't leave it alone, so She
sent Her dirty work boy!" Edward gritted in cold fury. "I told Her to
leave it to me. Do you realize how close you came to ruining
everything?"
"What are you going to do, Sheriff?" Larry asked as Edward drove away
from the house. Surely, he would let him go, and cover for him, just
as he had every time since they had both entered Lilith's service.
"Something I've wanted to do for a long time," snapped Edward. All the
humiliation of having to protect Snopes and ignore his crimes petty and
major, just because they both served the same Mistress, came to a focus
in his mind. He suspected Larry of everything from peeping tom
offenses to murder, and by no means all of it had been on Lilith's
behalf. But always She had protected Larry, and made Edward shield him
as well. Too much, for too long. He had not gone into law enforcement
for this. He had been a good cop, dammit, before he had looked into
Lilith's dark eyes. He remained silent, driving quickly out into the
country where Larry lived alone on an almost abandoned farm. He yanked
Larry out of the back of his squad car and shoved him inside the run
down trailer which served as his home. He looked down at the younger
man, his eyes cold and hard. "You brought this on yourself, Larry.
You should have stayed away from my cousin." He picked up a baseball
bat that was leaning against the wall near the door.
"Sheriff, please!" Larry pleaded as Edward came slowly forward,
slapping the bat in his callused hand. "I wouldn't have hurt Mara. I
only wanted to protect her!" He pushed himself back away from the
furious lawman, until he came up against the wall, his eyes large with
terror.
"She was in no danger, Larry," Edward said as he stepped closer, his
eyes deadly. "I would have seen to that." He smacked the bat into his
palm in front of Larry's eyes, and a cold smile crossed his face.
"There's going to be a tragic accident. "County man dies in fire'."
He lifted the bat and brought it down across the side of Larry's head.
He removed the handcuffs, then kicked over the kerosene heater and
left. As he drove off, the flames were already rising from the tinder
box of the old house trailer. *****
To be continued...
--
You can read Homer Vargas stories at
http://www.storiesonline.net (Thanks, Lazeez.)
and
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Vargas/www/ (Thanks, Kristen)
--
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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