"This is the fourth one in the last four months. All the victims, pretty much fit the same description. Long blonde hair, hazel to green eyes, between 5'2" and 5'6", and an athletic build."
Tully added. "All the victims have lived within a 5 to 8 mile radius of St. Francis and most have been killed miles away from it. Two all the way on the other side of town." The three sat in silence for a moment, Yoshi taking in the comments and the boys awaiting her answer. She absently pulled at her lip as she looked past the boys and then arched an eyebrow as she spoke.
"Why's this important?"
Neither boy could fight the smiles of accomplishment that graced their faces. Nate spoke first. "Well, number one, they don't operate like this. It's not like they have fetish week or something. Nothing about these attacks are random."
Tully nodded his head as he leaned on the counter and started talking. "Secondly, this has nothing to do with a meal. These women have normally been reported missing for more than two days and then found after they've been dead for only a few hours. The second woman was reported missing for a week before she was found."
Yoshi wasted no time in asking in her next question. "So, that means what?"
"It means this shit is planned is what." Tully thumped a fist on the counter.
Yoshi glanced at a smiling Nate. "You agree?"
"Hell yeah. I think it also means their looking for something."
The dark woman let out a huff of air. She traced her jaw with a finger as she looked at both boys for a moment. "Hmm. Probably means they know something I don't right?"
Two heads nodded reluctantly. "Maybe, they just know what they're looking for?" Tully's attempt at a bright side came out like a question.
She arched an eyebrow and grunted. It was the equivalent of a smile. They sat in silence for a short eternity until she broke it much to their relief. "When do my books get here?"
"Three." Nate practically shouted.
Yoshi shook her head at their obvious nervousness. She managed a crooked grin as she sat up straight. "Good job guys." Two held breaths were released into nervous laughter. Tully turned and went back to the bookcase and Nate headed back to the back room, only stopping at the sound of his name. He turned around and cut off Yoshi with a wave of his hand.
"Don't even, I'm all ready on it." He smiled crookedly and bounded into the back. The tall woman nodded, continued sipping at her tea, and drumming her fingers into the counter as she silently willed 3:00 to come.
* * *
CH 4: You put your right foot in…put your right foot out…
Riley Witherspoon swiveled in the leather chair and leaned his close-cropped head out of the door to catch a glimpse of the blonde as she tried to make it to her office before Marianna intercepted her. Clarion stuck out her tongue and wiggled her eyebrows as she saw the thin man smiling at her. She was so busy making faces at Riley that she barely had time to whip her portfolio behind her back when Marianna came around the corner and stepped in front of her office door.
"Geez, Mare, scared me there." Clarion stopped in her tracks and held a free hand to her chest. Marianna was only two inches taller than Clarion but she wore four inch heels, just so people would have to look up to her. Actually, it just made the bone thin woman look absolutely gangly and out of proportion. Platinum blonde hair was pulled back in an impossibly tight bun, only adding to her pinched features, making her look like a snobby Ostrich.
Marianna pursed barely existent lips and spoke. "Clarion Larieux," she spat ", late again are we?"
Clarion guffawed as she stepped back. "Late, no way. I've been here for ten minutes. I ran out to the front to ask Charlie about some tickets he promised me." She spied the stocky man out of the corner of her eye and pointed a finger in his direction. "See, you can ask him." When Marianna turned her slender neck in the man's direction, Clarion zipped her portfolio out from behind her back and sent it flying into the waiting arms of Riley. He caught the leather case with a slap and slapped it down on the desk, just as Marianna turned her beaked nose face back in Clarion's direction. She eyed the small woman suspiciously and ran her tongue across her teeth in a sinister manner.
"Anyway, Larieux, I need that pasture picture done today and we need to clean out the blue room to make room for the college exhibit. Can you handle that Larieux?"
‘If you can handle me sucking your eyeballs out through a straw than sure' she thought. Instead, she used her perkiest voice possible and let her Southern drawl fall over every syllable. "Why sure thang, darlin'. By-e." Marianna rolled her eyes and stalked off down the hall at her awkward gait. She was barely out of ear shot, before Clarion entered her office and began laughing with Riley.
Riley hi-fived the woman as she tossed her coat on the hook and proceeded to sit on the edge of her desk. "You are priceless sweetie."
"Whatever. So what's up?"
"Well you're going to tell me what happened to you on Tuesday and what's with the little speed bump you got under your eye.
"Oy." She ran a small hand through her hair. "Just me being adventurous as always." ‘That's putting it lightly.' She sighed and tousled her hair and then stared at Riley quietly for a moment.
"What's going on Claire?"
"Do you think I should do something with my hair?"
From the yelp that the man let out, it could have been mistaken that he just won the 64 million dollar jackpot. He hopped up from the chair and grabbed the wide-eyed Clarion by the hands. "Are you serious, Clarion?"
"Uh..I don't know, but you're scaring me, and you're hurting me." She smiled and then laughed as Riley dropped her hands and did a little impromptu jig. "Calm down man, it's just a suggestion."
"But a suggestion that I think is long overdue, my dear."
"Oh you do?"
"Un huh. A suggestion that we should talk about as we get some lunch."
Clarion threw back her head in laughter. "Riley, I just got here."
"P-shaw! Fuck her! Let's go." Clarion couldn't contain her laughter as she was pulled off her desk and guided to her coat. "We need to discuss hair." Riley added a decidedly New York accent to his words as he did his best impression of a Long Island mother.
"All right. Don't get all verklempt on me." Clarion shot back in her own impression.
_________
The two friends were walking arm and arm down the strip gossiping about some rich lady's supposed face lift, when Clarion stopped their strolled. Riley stopped a second later and turned to find his friend eyeing the sign on the window of a small book store. The Orchid it read. He continued to read the door, finding that it specialized in Asian culture.
"In the market for one of those little Zen gardens honey?"
Clarion laughed and turned to Riley. "Nah, just doing a little research."
"Por quoi?"
She shrugged. "Thinking about introducing an exhibit to the museum. Maybe silk screen prints or something. Not sure, but I need to start somewhere right." The truth was Clarion was just intrigued with the woman that saved her. At least she thought it was a woman. She felt an involuntary shiver run up her spine as she remember the sweet husk of the Hunter's voice. It had to be her, there was only one woman Hunter left and Clarion wanted to find her. Just to thank her and then go running to the hills before she sniffed out her secret and then impaled her on her blade. The brief remembrance of piercing blue eyes caused her to shiver again, this time alerting Riley to her discomfort.
"You okay Claire?"
"Yeah. Hey, why don't you go and put in our order and let me run in here for just a second." Riley stomped his foot on the ground. "Oh don't be a baby. By the time that guy takes the order, messes it up, and redoes it as something completely new I will be in and out and by your side. ‘Kay." Riley grumbled something unintelligible and then stalked off to the deli two doors down. She laughed at his show and then entered the store.
The ringing of chimes caused Tully to raise his head from the pile of books on the floor. As his eyes fell on the green eyed blonde standing in the doorway he almost fell over. He scrambled to his feet as she flashed him a bright smile. Tully took in the rich chocolate color of the woman's slacks and the deep tan of her cashmere swing coat and almost lost himself. Clarion took his appreciation in stride as she widened her smile.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked up and touched a hand to her forehead. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten that tattoo on my forehead, do you think it's too much?"
The absurd question snapped Tully out of his stare. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The tattoo."
"The tattoo? Oh, I'm sorry, I- uh, I'm sorry."
She touched a hand to his shoulder. "It's okay, really." She removed her hand as the boy smiled nervously.
"Sorry, um, can I help?"
"Yes, I think you can." She clapped her hands together. "I'm looking for some books on Japanese warriors."
"Really." He nonchalantly glanced behind him, silently willing Nate to look at the damn monitor. "Well, what kind of warrior?" He decided stalling would be best. ‘C'mon on Nate!'
"What kind, oh boy. Um, little help here."
"Well, I mean, you've got Samurai, Ronin, who technically are Samurai, Ninjas, mythical, real, anime. There's a lot."
Clarion let out a huff. "Maybe I should have put some more thought into this." She nervously chewed her bottom lip.
Sensing her want to exit, Tully raised his hands. "One sec." ‘She's gonna kill me' "Hey! Yoshi! Need ya out front!" The boy's bellow caused Clarion to jump. "Sorry, boss is in the back." Clarion nodded as she smiled at the boy, handing him a business card and not noticing the entrance of the tall dark woman.
"Tully!, didn't I tell you to stop yelling like…"
Clarion had picked up her head at the sound of the voice, immediately locking jade eyes with two impossibly blue eyes. Blue eyes that she remembered. Tully looked from the blonde at his right back to the form of his boss and stepped from between them for fear their gazes would saw him in half with laser precision.
Yoshi lost her words as the searing gaze she had prepared for Tully melted into the undeniable leer of someone appreciating a thing of beauty. What the woman assumed was a freak reaction two nights ago, happened again. She hesitated. "Um," Yoshi swallowed hard, "you need something?"
Clarion did her best to reign in the lascivious smile that threatened to break across her features as she managed a subdued smile. ‘Oh yeah, need, want, crave, as in must have or head will explode!' She took a breath as she realized she hadn't answered the question. "Oh, yes, um. This nice young man here was explaining to me how I was way in over my head in my research and that perhaps I should narrow my sights."
Yoshi nodded and began walking towards the woman, surprised her legs were moving. Tully walked around the oblivious woman and stood at the counter with a red-faced Nate. "What is it that you're looking for?" Yoshi stepped a little closer and angled her head towards the bookcase, so the smaller woman didn't have to crane her neck to look up.
Clarion noticed the gesture and smiled. "I'm looking for a uh, woman. I mean..a warrior." Clarion shook her head and groaned. "I mean, I'm looking for a book on women warriors in Japan." She enunciated each word clearly more for her benefit than the tall woman who seemed to be fighting a smile.
An alto purred out, "A book on women warriors."
"Yup."
They shared a brief moment of silent staring that Yoshi broke with a gesture of her hand. "Then try this." She pulled down a soft cover book and handed it to the small blonde. Yoshi watched as the woman read the cover. "It should give you some good information and get you started. Help you narrow down your sights so to speak.
The blonde avoided the taller woman's eyes as she looked down and dug in her pocket for a ten dollar bill. She came up with it just as the front door swung open with a jangle. Four pairs of eyes were focused on the slim gentleman staring daggers at the blonde. "There you are! We need to go babe." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. Clarion gritted her teeth at the man. "I'll be there in two shakes Ri, just start walking." She smiled at him hard praying he got the hint. He tapped his watch without verbal comment and closed the door. Clarion let go of the breath she was holding and turned back around holding up the ten dollars. "For the book."
Yoshi mechanically removed the bill, scissoring it between her index and middle finger. It was subsequently snatched out by Nate only to be replaced by $2.15 cents. Yoshi barely noticed the action behind her as she and the blonde tried not to stare to hard at one another. Yoshi ignored the warmth of the young woman's hand as she laid out the change in it. Clarion pocketed her change and began to turn.
She stopped her turn and looked back at the woman who Clarion could swear was holding her breath. She shook the book in the air. "By the way thanks for the book and the help." She shot a glance at the two boys behind the register with the million dollar smiles plastered on their faces. ‘This should be easy.' "Oh and yes."
Yoshi stepped back and raised a slim eyebrow sky high. "Yes?"
"Yeah," Clarion smiled, "in answer to your question." She tossed her hand out and shrugged like it was the most logical statement.
The tall dark woman was clueless. "What question?"
Clarion chuckled. "About you wanting to get me coffee?"
Both eyebrows rose. "I want to get you coffee?"
Clarion clapped her hands together in excitement. "Well sure, I would love to get coffee with you, thanks for asking." She smiled brightly at the tall woman who was obviously fumbling for a thought. Clarion held in a laugh and spoke before the woman collapsed from the effort. "So, what time do you get off?"
A moment of silence went by as Yoshi fumbled with an answer, until Tully came to her rescue, yelling out "Six!"
Clarion had to look at the floor to keep from laughing. "Wow, you throw your voice really well. Six, that's great. I'll meet you here around six. Name's Yoshi, right?" The dark woman nodded dumbly. "Cool." She flashed the woman a toothy grin and then stepped to her right and waved at the two boys behind the counter. "Bye guys."
"Bye.", Nate and Tully sang out in unison. They continued waving until the woman was out of the door. The boys walked from behind the counter and stood next to the wide-eyed woman who was scratching her head in a gesture of disbelief and confusion. They stood quietly until Tully spoke.
"Blonde."
"5'2" to 5'6", Nate added.
"Green eyes." Yoshi said in a breath.
The conversation came back to Tully. "Great a-
Yoshi cut him off. "Athletic build."
"That's what I was going to say."
"Uh huh." Nate added absently.
Suddenly, Yoshi released a groan. "Crap, what's her name, her name, I didn't…"
Tully quickly took out the small white card and held it out between Nate and himself. "Clarion. Giselle. Uh…Olathe. Larieux." Yoshi reached out without looking and took the card from Tully, reading for herself. She stared blankly out of the front window and held the card up and out to the side. "Nate."
The card was quickly snatched up by stubby fingers. "Got ya, if she's got a credit card, I've got her."
"Oh she's got credit cards all right." Tully rang out with a laugh.
"Yeah, way too many." Yoshi added monotonously. When she heard Nate scamper off she turned to Tully, who leaned on the counter doing his best to hide a smile. "Tully, I need your help." The boy piped up and smiled genuinely. "What do you do on a date?"
It was only out of the knowledge that she could rip him limb from limb that he didn't laugh out loud. He only shook his head at his tall friend and guided her to the stool behind the counter. "Don't worry Yosh, it's just coffee, not a date."
She rubbed her hands nervously on her jeans. "It's not?"
Tully smirked. "No. This is like a pre-date. It's pressureless, like a trial-run."
She focused blue eyes on soft brown. "That's what they do now."
‘So lost.' He gave Yoshi's shoulder a squeeze and leaned on the counter. "Yoshi, when's the last time you went on a date?"
Silence ensued for a hard ten seconds as a black eyebrow raised in thought. She scratched at her chin and then answered. "The cold war I think." Tully groaned. "No, maybe, the stock market crash."
Another moan, followed by a mumbled "Oh God."
"Nah, the Renaissance, yeah, yeah."
"European!"
"No!", she shot back as if disgusted, "Harlem."
Tully threw his hands in the air. "Still. Oh man."
"Yeah, definitely Harlem." She wiggled her eyebrows sharing her own private joke as the young man stepped away and walked to one of the bookcases.
"There's got to be a Zen book of dating around here somewhere." He began to search the shelves until a wad of paper hit him in the skull. He turned back towards the woman, took note of the look on her face and broke into a laugh.
Yoshi sat up straight and looked around the store. "What?!"
He cocked an eyebrow. "You're pouting."
She let out an indignant "Ha". "I'm what?"
"Yeah, you're pouting. Your lip is basically on the floor." He pointed.
She attempted to look down at her lip and then in a huff she replaced her usual mask that catered to only two emotions: annoyed and opening up a can of whup-ass. "All right enough. Ugh! Do some work." She stood up with a thud. "I'm going for some lunch." She brushed by the young man and grabbed her jacket as she walked to the door. "And call Gregor and tell him, I want my freaking books!" With that she stalked out of the front door and turned left. The empty store quickly filled with the laughter of Nate and Tully.
Tully clutched his aching sides and through big breaths asked, "please say that's on tape?"
A renewed bout of laughter and a nod from Nate kept the boys busy with giggles as they went back to work.
* * *
CH 5: Fancy meeting you here
Fall was without a doubt, the best season of them all, followed closely by spring. Clarion had seen countless seasons, but she always longed for Fall. The colors, the smells, the air ripe with the cycle of life, the shorter days, the crisp nights, and the shorter days. Clarion let out a stream of curse words as she walked out of her office. That was the bad part about fall, the sun had this tendency of setting around 5:30p.m. And here it was 5:45. Clarion suddenly felt like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight. She'd be lucky if her carriage turned into a pumpkin and the horses into mice. As she rode the elevator down five flights she tried to decide between taking her car or just breaking into a leisurely run to cover the two blocks to the bookstore.
With her hand on the car door, she sighed inaudibly. ‘Shoulda' ran.' When she turned her head around, she was all smiles. There were four of them this time and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad. So instead of lashing out into some defensive position, Clarion did what she did best, she started talking. "You guys have got to be kidding right? I mean, do I have lo-jack on me or something? Cause you guys cannot be this good. Not that you're not good, but this is extremely irritating." She chuckled as she mentally sized up her four attackers. They were dressed in their standard uniform of black accented by long black trench coats. It was eerie, in that City of Angels meets The Matrix meets the Lost Boys of thing.
A pale-faced man wearing sunglasses and bearing his fangs stepped forward to speak. "C'mon now and we won't hav ta beat you." A strong English accent smothered his words.
Clarion smiled in interest. "You from London, Essex, right?" She didn't wait for his answer. "Damn, I love the country side don't you." He snorted in response. Two of the others stepped forward. Clarion stepped back colliding with her car. She held up her hands. "Okay, okay, look, here's my last ditch effort. I've got a hot date, in like ten minutes. If it goes well, you guys can meet me right back here tomorrow same time, same place and I'll go. Or hey, if it goes bad, I'll come and throw myself at your feet. Whadya' say, eh?" The pale man from Essex licked his lips and smiled as if he was contemplating her answer. He shifted his eyes to his companion at his right and she pressed the button on her keychain.
A high pitched wailing was emitted from her car startling her four would be captors for a brief second. She took the time and rolled over the hood of the car, praying she didn't mar the new finish on her mint-condition 1967 Stingray. Thick-soled brogans hit the ground and she ran. She could hear the man yell out "spread", but she had all ready hopped the garage railing to see which way they went. The chase was on.
----------
It was going on 5:45 when Yoshi had finished packing the seven thin volumes in her backpack. For the fifth time. Tully laughed as he shut out the back lights and joined Nate up front. Tully placed a gentle hand on the tall woman's shoulder and she just about jumped through the roof. "Jesus! Yosh! chill out. It's just coffee."
"He's right, calm down. Let's go out front, the cool air will calm you down."
Yoshi shook her head and ran a nervous hand through dark locks. She had way too much nervous energy and she knew it had to be more than just an impending coffee date. "Guys, I should be home reading." She followed the boys out of the front door and tugged on the handle as it closed. She stared up at sky out of habit and glimpsed the last remains of the sun in orange and red tendrils that creased the sky. "And, I've got work tonight." She glared at the boys.
Tully grinned. "It doesn't have to last all night Yoshi."
"Unless you want it too." Nate squeaked. He was rewarded with a playful punch to the arm. She was thinking up a comeback when a swirl of black caught her eye. He was across the street in a long trench coat, blonde hair braided down his back, and he was wearing sunglasses. She pretended to be pushing at her cuticles when she spoke quietly. "What do you make of that boys, 3 o'clock?"
Nate and Tully had been asked this type of question enough to know how to be discreet. Nate answered first. "Could be a yuppie businessman with good fashion sense waiting frantically on his date with Sally from the copy room."
"Or it could be a well dressed blood-sucking night crawler awaiting a certain fair headed runner."
Yoshi dropped her bag to the ground and swung on her leather coat. It wasn't her trench, but the cargo actually had a few worthy amenities. "Is that your final answer?" she asked flatly.
Tully smirked as he watched the woman pull on her jacket. "Yes, Regis, yes it is."
She kept her eyes on the pacing man across the street. "All right take this bag to my house and dump it. Take the back way, drop it, and leave. Where's her office?"
"Two blocks up on Madison, what about-
She shook her head. "Don't do anything. Just go home, I'll see you tomorrow. Keep trying to find out who she is and keep your ears open. Go now." The boys left her without a word as they watched the tall woman eat up the sidewalk with a determined stride.
The dark woman was a block away when her hearing picked up the shrill whine of a car alarm. She got off the main sidewalk via an alley and broke into a dead run. She heard the distinct sound of panting as well as the rush of leather soles slapping concrete heading her way. She stopped running and stood in the shadow of dumpster as the blur of sound rushed by. She waited until a full head of blond hair streamed by and then she stepped out of the dark. The pale faced man that had been on Clarion's tail almost lost his head when his neck ran into a leather clad arm. His head snapped back with force as he was thrown to the ground. He found himself staring up the long length of denim clad legs that straddled his head. He was hoping it would be quick. It was.
Clarion was too busy racing down an alley to hear the strangled cry of her former chaser. Besides, she heard new footsteps, in the most unlikely of places…above her. She actually managed to stay on her feet for a moment as she absorbed the weight of the girl that leapt from the fire escape and newly attached herself to her back. Her momentum carried her a few feet, before Clarion tripped up and they tumbled to the concrete, knocking the wind out of herself as her back thudded to the ground. The fanged girl took advantage of Clarion's disorientation, grabbing her by a handful of hair and ramming her head into a nearby dumpster. She tipped her head back prepared to give a round up call, but the swift removal of her larynx ended that attempt. The girl clutched at her gaping wound out of pure reflex. She was still very much alive, but she was certainly in pain.
Yoshi shook moist muscle from her skin and stood in front of the girl. "They're dead. Do you know who I am?" A brisk nod and an angry middle finger were her response. Yoshi let out a deep laugh before lashing out and snapping the offending finger in two. The girl fell to the ground in pain. Yoshi grabbed a hand full of hair and pulled her up to her knees. "I guess I should have waited to rip out your throat after I talked to you, huh." Yoshi shrugged in amusement. "Crawl back to your coffin and tell whoever it concerns that I'm on to you." She leaned down close to the girl, almost nose to nose. "I don't know why you need her, but you can't have her." The girl defiantly thrust her other middle finger in the air. Yoshi flinched at her and the young girl ducked to avoid the blow that never came. Yoshi laughed and growled out, "get out of here." The girl obliged scurrying down the alley.
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