“Um, which way?” she asked.
Kevin got up with a sigh. “Follow me.”
To his credit, he did grab the remaining duffel bags as they went to the elevator.
“Do I need a hat?” Alex asked. “Is there a lobby? I’m not exactly ready for my close-up.”
“No worries, Ollie, this goes straight to the apartment. By the way, bro, nice beard. It’s a good look on you. In that you don’t look like you as much anymore.”
“Um, thanks?”
“About this friend…” Alex began.
Kevin sighed again. “They can’t all be Arnies. Sorry, shorty, this might get rough.”
“You don’t trust him?”
The elevator opened into a plush hallway… or was it an anteroom? There was only one door in the space.
“I’ve paid her through next week, so I trust her about that far.”
The hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood up. Daniel had gotten her more used to human interaction, but she knew she still had some pretty severe people issues. As they walked the length of the short hall, she struggled with the duffel in her right hand, trying to free some fingers so she could pull a syringe from her belt. Just as she caught hold of the one she wanted, Daniel touched her wrist. She glanced up, and he was giving her a look that seemed to imply she was overreacting. Frowning, she slid the syringe back into place. It wouldn’t take long to draw it if the need arose anyway.
Kevin had a key to the single door. He took a deep breath as he pushed it open.
At first Alex wasn’t sure they hadn’t stumbled into the lobby after all, because she’d never been inside an apartment with a wide marble staircase up to another story. The place was lavish, sleek and modern, and lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that immediately had her feeling exposed. Through the glass, the sun was just beginning to droop toward the DC skyline. There didn’t seem to be any other apartments close enough to look into this one, but a telescope would make it possible. Or a rifle sight.
“No,” a hard—but somehow still velvety—voice announced from behind them.
Alex whirled. The apartment stretched back the other way, too, wrapping around the front door and the hallway beyond. On one side was a huge white kitchen; on the other a dining room with seating for ten, with more window-walls framing each. Leaning against the marble kitchen island was the most exquisite human being Alex had ever seen in real life.
The woman looked exactly like the facetious description Alex had conjured up to describe Kevin’s improbable mental image of the Oleander. She had honey-blond hair, thick and long, that stood out from her head in full waves like a Disney cartoon’s. Sapphire-blue doe eyes, full red lips turned up at the corners, and a straight, narrow nose, all set with flawless symmetry in an oval face with prominent cheekbones. Swan neck over elegant collarbones. Of course, the generous hourglass figure with a tiny waist and legs that seemed longer than Alex’s entire body. The woman was wearing only a short, black kimono and an irritated expression.
“It’s temporary,” Kevin said in a conciliatory voice. “Obviously, I’ll pay you the same for each of them. Three times what we originally agreed on.”
The surreally perfect woman raised one eyebrow and looked pointedly at Einstein. His tail was wagging furiously. He stared up at the blonde with the proverbial puppy-dog eyes.
“Four times,” Kevin promised. He dropped the bags he was carrying. “You like dogs.”
“Kate?” Daniel asked suddenly, surprised recognition saturating his tone.
The woman’s face dimpled into a toothpaste-commercial-quality smile.
“Hi, Danny,” she purred. “I almost didn’t know you with all that scruff. Well, that does make me feel better. You left a nasty welt on my ego, but at least you didn’t forget me.”
“It’s, er, nice to see you again,” Daniel stammered, flummoxed by her greeting.
The blonde’s eyes cut to Kevin. “Okay, he can stay.”
“It’s just a few nights,” Kevin said. “I need the little one, too.”
“You know I don’t like women in my space,” she said in a flat voice, flicking her eyes to Alex, then back to Kevin.
“Oh, that’s okay, Ollie’s not a real girl,” Kevin assured her.
Daniel dropped his bags and took half a step forward before Alex hooked the back of his shirt with her one free finger.
“Not now,” she muttered.
Kate—or whatever her real name was—shrugged gracefully away from the island and glided toward them. She looked down her nose at Alex; easy to do, as she was a good six inches taller.