“Dude. Chill,” Eli said.
A moment later, the spiraling wind eased to nothing. “You really got a pair of big ol’ brass ones, don’tcha, Jane?” Without another word, Evan left the room.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I murmured to the tabletop.
CHAPTER 6
Well-Trained Junkyard Dogs
The rest of the day was busy but fruitless. Eli got nothing much from Alonzo. The driver of the black cab that had taken Bliss and Rachael from the party had taken the driving gig through his Internet Web page, and it had been paid for with PayPal. Which was just amazing. Vamps using PayPal. Who’da thunk it? The driver gave Eli the PayPal info and e-mail, which went nowhere when the Kid tracked it down, and the address where he took the girls when he picked them up from Guilbeau’s. Which was another vamp party, at the Arceneau Clan Home.
There was nothing new on any case by the time I got dressed for vamp HQ, and I was feeling pretty itchy at the inactivity, and useless in my own house. I wasn’t going to a party or a fight, so I didn’t dress for either. I was in jeans, ancient black Lucchese boots, a T-shirt under a silk shirt I’d bought in a consignment shop, my gold nugget on its doubled gold chain, with the mountain lion tooth wired on. And I wore only a few weapons. By my usual weapons’ standards I was nearly naked, but, because of the rain, I was being driven to my appointment, and self-protection was never a problem when Eli was around. I could see no weapons on him as he steered the French Quarter streets, wipers on low against the drizzle, but I was betting he was carrying three handguns and as many blades, with extra mags easy to hand, and that the back of the SUV was full of weapons, secured just under the floor.
The drive was silent beyond me saying, “Thanks for keeping Big Evan from trying to hit me. Or blow me away.”
To which he answered, “Big dudes bleed, and it’s a pain in the butt to get out of wood floors.” I laughed and Eli gave a slight smile—tantamount to a belly laugh for him.
After that there was only the patter of rain, the swish of wipers, the splash of vehicles plowing through standing water, and the hum of motors. It was pleasant.
When we slowed in front of the steps leading up to HQ, Eli said, “You sure you don’t want me to come with?”
“Nah. Help the Kid keep Evan occupied.”
“Alex has him looking at surveillance footage from the hotel.”
I thought about that for a moment and said, “Stuff Alex has already viewed, and found nothing, so that Evan doesn’t see something first, and go off half-cocked?”
Eli let his lips stretch to something nearly like a smile. “My brother came up with that all on his own. Devious. I think we’re rubbing off on him.”
“I think he’s growing up.”
“Yeah.” There was a note of confusion in his voice. “Call when you need a ride. Call if someone else brings you home. Keep me informed.”
“Will do.” I opened the SUV door and scampered up the stairs and into the air lock in the foyer. Eli’s SUV motored away, the powerful engine thrumming steadily. I went through the meet-and-greet with the two newest twins. None of them were really related, but whoever put the teams together was going for a look-alike theme. This time the team was male and female, with long blond hair in ponytails, dark eyes, sculpted bodies, and similar heights, about five-ten or so, dressed in black. They looked polite and deadly, as if they’d smile convivially as they shot you dead.
I deposited my weapons and the leather file on the tables and the woman frisked me, still smiling. I needed to get up-to-date on the names of new security personnel, and make sure that only teams with the most experience got access to the doors. Good gatekeepers were a necessity and I hadn’t taken that into consideration when I redid the security protocol handbook. That was change number two. I hated the paperwork that went into being Leo’s part-time Enforcer. Old blood-servants weren’t always the easiest to retrain, and the ones in security needed to be flexible, hence me in the position, helping out the hundred-plus-year-old Bruiser, Leo’s primo. My weapons were locked away as I watched. “You are aware that in a security situation I’d get to keep my toys.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said together.