Chapter 8 Ruby
Ruby
Having lunch with Cassie felt oddly comfortable.
Normally I felt a little shy around new people, the pressure to keep up a conversation in the front of my mind.
But with Cassie the conversation flowed more naturally.
Sure, I was well aware that she was asking me questions to help with the case, but somehow her questions seemed a little more personal. It made me want to know her more.
“What about you?” I asked. “Tell me about yourself.”
She looked confused, like maybe she wasn’t used to people asking her questions. Her nose scrunched up a little like she was thinking.
Finally she shrugged. “I’m your bodyguard.”
Well that told me nothing.
“Who’s Anson?” I asked, remembering my father mentioning that name.
Just like in my father’s office, Cassie’s expression turned arctic.
“He’s my father,” she said shortly.
Okay, this was obviously a sensitive topic.
“Wait, isn’t Anson Weatherby a TV commentator?” I asked. “Where have I seen him?”
“He’s a football commentator,” she said shortly.
“Oh yeah.” My mind conjured up a burly guy with a blonde crew cut and cold blue eyes. “He used to be the Seattle quarterback, right?”
Cassie nodded but didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to be a body language expert to see that she wanted to change the subject. Clearly there was a story there, but it wasn’t for me to pull it out of her, no matter how curious I was.
“Okay, so no father talk,” I said lightly. “How long have you worked at Sapphic Security?”
I’d looked up the company after Lois left last night. Their online presence was minimal, but my father name dropped several high profile people they’d worked with. I’d been surprised to see that they had offices in more than half a dozen cities too. They were a big operation.
“I’ve worked there eighteen months,” Cassie said, relaxing as we moved onto safer topics. “Before that I did twenty years in the military. When I retired I moved to Seattle to work at Sapphic Security.”
“So that makes you…?”
“I’ll be forty in a couple of months,” she said shortly.
Ten years older than me. Not that she looked it.
Her skin was smooth and she was obviously very fit, although I wasn’t sure how much of that was genetics and how much was hard work.
As a professional athlete, I understood better than most what was needed to keep your body in peak physical condition.
“What do you do when you’re not guarding people?” I asked.
“Security work. Deep background checks. Surveillance. Monitoring the dark web.”
I smiled as she ticked things off. “I mean outside of work.”
She glanced down, almost like she was uncomfortable, before meeting my eye again. “I like to run. Well, anything physical is something I like to do. It keeps my vamp calm. And I knit.”
“You knit?” It was the last thing I expected her to say. Well, one of the last anyway.
“Yeah it’s something I started doing in the military between jobs. I don’t know why but it calms my mind. It feels almost meditative. And I can do it while watching TV or staking out a location because I mostly don’t need to look at what I’m doing once I get my needles set up.”
“Cool. Maybe you can teach me. I’ve never had much interest in crafty stuff.”
“What stuff does interest you?” she asked, and for some reason I thought the question was loaded with meaning.
I gave her a long look, studying her blank expression. Her emotions showed up in her eyes, I realized. Right now I could see curiosity and maybe something more. Hope?
“Besides soccer, I like to read cozy mysteries, I’m a pretty good cook, and I’m addicted to period TV.”
“Period TV?” she asked in confusion.
“Like Bridgerton and The Gilded Age,” I explained. “I love to do yoga, and I share your love of running. In fact, I usually go for a run every morning. We should go together tomorrow, if you’re up for that.”
“We’ll figure out when it’s safe to go,” she said, prevaricating.
I tried not to bristle at the idea of my activities being impacted by this whole situation. I wanted to be safe, but I also didn’t want to have to ask for permission to go for a run.
Suddenly Cassie stiffened. She pulled a compact out of her pocket, angling it in front of her face. For some reason I didn’t think she was checking her lipstick, especially because she didn’t appear to be wearing any.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“We’ve got an audience,” she said. “Let’s go back to your place. The team will have set up the new security by now.”
“Sounds good.”
I should have felt nervous, but for some reason, knowing someone was watching us didn’t have as much of an impact – probably because I had full faith in my bodyguard to protect me.
We tossed out trash and then Cassie took my hand. I looked at her in surprise, but her eyes were moving back and forth, watching the restaurant.
“Pretend you’re into me,” she said softly.
As if I had to pretend. She was hot as hell, and in case I had any doubts, the little currents of electricity running up my arm from us holding hands made it clear that there was a strong attraction there. At least on my side.
We walked out to the car, striving to be casual. Cassie opened my door for me, then waited for me to be safely inside the vehicle before she strode over to her side and got in. As soon as her door closed, she clicked the locks.
She pressed a button on the steering wheel, activating the hands free function as she slowly backed out of our parking space.
“Hey Cassie.”
“Wanda, I’m with the client and we have an audience. He’s standing across the street from the Chipotle outside the mall.”
“I love Chipotle.”
“Everyone does,” Cassie said impatiently. “He’s about five ten, skinny, likely male, wearing a Mariners hat and ripped jeans.”
I followed Cassie’s gaze to see a guy who looked like he was hanging out playing on his phone. Nothing about him seemed suspicious, but I was sure Cassie knew what she was doing.
“I’ve got him on the feed,” Wanda said a few second later.
“Security cameras,” Cassie said, sensing my question even though her eyes were bouncing between the guy and the road. “I’m taking Ruby home now.”
“Sounds good,” Wanda said. “I’ll track him as far as I can then run facial recognition to see if anything comes up.”
“Thanks.” Cassie disconnected the call.
“How did you notice that guy?” I finally asked. “If I saw him, I would have seen a guy playing on his phone.”
“It’s part instinct, like the feeling someone was watching us, part seeing him loitering there for way too long to be waiting for someone, and partly the way that every time he looked up, his gaze lasered in on you and only you before he looked away.”
I shivered. “Do you think he’s the stalker?”
Cassie shook her head. “He’s likely paid help. With the way that threats are happening in different cities, it seems likely there is more than one person involved.”
“I should warn Eleanor,” I said. “Tell her to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”
“Good idea,” Cassie said but she sounded kind of thoughtful. Whatever was on her mind, she didn’t share.
A few minutes later Cassie’s phone rang again. I expected it to be Wanda with a report on the guy watching us, but it was her boss, Lois.
“Weatherby!” Lois’s booming voice was unmistakable. “What’s your status?”
“Ruby and I are driving to her house right now, boss. You’re on speaker.”
If I expected Lois to acknowledge me or make small talk, I was wrong. She got right down to business.
“There’s been another incident.”
“Here in Seattle?” I asked. “Was it Eleanor?”
“No, some woman named Mary Ellen Mason.”
“She plays for Vancouver,” I told Cassie.
“She came home to find her apartment trashed,” Lois continued. “Pretty much everything inside was destroyed. There was a threatening message on the wall, and her fish was laying on the floor next to its tank. Dead.”
I gasped. “Is she okay?”
“Affirmative,” Lois said. “We’re sending an agent up to British Columbia to keep an eye on her. Hopefully that idiot Janice doesn’t up and decide Mason is her mate.”
“Janice is a certified Mensa genius,” Cassie whispered, rolling her eyes.
Unfortunately her boss heard her comment. “You got somethin’ to say to me, Weatherby?”
“No ma’am.” Cassie was immediately contrite, it was fascinating to see.
“Okay then, I’ll send you the report, and I expect an update from you tonight as well.”
“Roger that.”
“These guys are playing with the victims, stroking up fear before they strike,” Lois continued. “But they seem to be escalating and I don’t like that. Keep me informed what’s happening there.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Cassie pressed the button, disconnecting the call, then sighed.
“Your boss is… intense,” I ventured.
“You have no idea.”
“Is she like a vampire queen or something?”
Cassie burst out in laughter, her face breaking into a smile for the first time since I met her. It was stunning the way it lit up her face. My heart started thumping painfully in my chest.
“Lois is an alpha wolf, very dominant. Even my vampire is intimidated by her, and that’s really rare.”
“Oh, so she’s like Eleanor.”
Cassie shook her head. “Lois eats wolves like your friend for breakfast, possibly literally. I can guarantee you that ten seconds with Lois and Eleanor will be quaking in her boots. There are very few shifters that intimidate my boss.”
She paused, then added, “But that makes her good at what she does. She might seem brusque, but she’ll kill for her clients. Literally. She loves to kill the bad guy, usually as painfully as possible.”
I shivered. What was this world I’d stumbled into? Vampires, shifters, fangs, people devising painful ways to kill. If I had any sense I’d be terrified right now, especially trapped in a car with a vampire who was becoming increasingly agitated the longer we sat in traffic.
She reached over to turn on the AC, turning the vent to blow directly on her face. “Damn, that sun’s hot.”
“Afraid you’re going to turn to dust?” I teased.
I wasn’t sure what all being a vampire entailed, but clearly the turning to dust thing was a myth because we’d been in the sun all day and Cassie hadn’t exploded yet.
“Ha ha,” she grumbled.
“While we’re sitting here stuck in traffic, how about you tell me more about what it means to be a vampire?”