Blood Red

Maggie knew more. Or at least she thought she did. The pictures of the two of them on the front page of the paper woke her up as surely as a good cup of coffee would have, but without the fun of actually getting her morning caffeine jolt.

All she remembered about that night was running from the two of them and then watching them get devoured by the shadows. She still had to blame Lance Brewster for her faded memories of the near rape she’d survived. This was almost sad, because, really, he hadn’t been a bad client until that night. Now he was on her shit list, and so far his two phone calls had gone unanswered.

She set down the paper and walked over to her trusty Mr. Coffee. It had done exactly what she’d programmed it to do and brewed a nice pot of black ambrosia while she was showering. “My one true love,” she said to herself as she added two sugars and a dollop of heavy cream. She could do without a lot of things in her life, but coffee? She’d sooner have her teeth pulled without benefit of Novocain.

She dressed while she drank, pulling on her school clothes and making sure she looked right for the day ahead. Only two classes today, which was especially good because she had a client to satisfy.

Jason Soulis was paying her very good money, and for a change of pace Tom would have no part of what she earned. She didn’t think of it as stealing from him. He hadn’t worked as her agent in this case; he’d only hooked her up with the man who was acting as her agent.

She looked over the single sheet of paper that Soulis had given her the night before and shook her head, puzzled by his selection of men she was supposed to seduce. Most of them she had never met, but three names in particular stuck out. They were men she had seen regularly for several years, but never in a professional capacity.

She would be done with her classes by noon, and after that she could mark off at least one of the men on the list if she played her cards right.

After she was done dressing, and packing away her outfit for after school, she took the poem someone had sent her and taped it to the wall next to her mirror. She’d always loved that poem.

And then it was a quick breakfast and out the door, smiling to herself as she started the day. Maggie started her car and drove toward the campus, unaware of the crows that watched from the trees that lined her path to Winslow Harper University.

II

The early October air was refreshing. Kelli had a little time for herself and did what she almost always did when she could catch a few spare minutes. It was reading time, and today she was having fun with the latest Janet Evanovich novel. The woman could write circles around most of the writers she’d run across, and Stephanie Plum was her secret hero. She wanted to be just like Stephanie when she grew up. Well, except maybe for the whole bounty hunter thing. She didn’t think most escaped convicts would be terrified by her.

Her Mountain Dew called seductively and she answered, drinking down half the bottle before coming up for air. Across the street from her, the sprawling black mansion caught the light of the sun on its windows and shot blinding flashes at her face. Kelli used her book to deflect the beams, savoring the quiet.

Two minutes later the silence was shattered by the phone ringing.

“Damn it . . .” She carefully set the book down and walked back into the house, lamenting that she was too damned stupid to remember to grab the portable on her way outside.

“Hello?” She snapped the phone out of its cradle before the third ring had finished.

Bill Lister was on the other end. “Kelli? Hi.”

“Hi, Mr. Lister.” She tried to make her heart behave itself. Every time she heard his deep voice, her hormones went apeshit on her. She’d been working for the Listers since she was sixteen, and in the five years since she’d started in their employ, the man of the house had always been a perfect gentleman. Still, part of her kept dreaming that sometime soon he might decide to change his ways. Bad thoughts, but she never acted on the fantasy, so it couldn’t really be a sin, could it?

“Listen, Michelle and I are going to be going out tonight. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. We probably won’t be home until after midnight. I know it’s short notice, but is there any chance you can stay with Teddy tonight?” His words were rushed and apologetic. They always were, at least when he was asking for a favor.

Kelli was supposed to have her weeknights free, the better to handle her homework, but at least half of the time her employers found ways to keep themselves busy. The good news was that Teddy was normally pretty well behaved. The great news was that the Listers almost always gave her a nice tip for taking the extra time.

“Ummm . . . yeah, it’s all right.” She smiled at the wall, imagining what it would be like to go dancing with Bill Lister. A nice, slow dance; nothing too flashy, just a good excuse to be held in his arms.