In Plain Sight

“Someone might have called him,” Alex said, indicating the phone where it had fallen on the floor, knocked off the table by Warner’s falling body. “But I don’t think that’s it. Especially since he didn’t kill himself.”

Sorsha looked up at him sharply.

“See how the blood is on the wall in front of him,” Alex explained. “He would have had to turn his head and tilt it up before pulling the trigger. That’s the kind of position he’d be in if he heard someone behind him and started to turn. If he’d shot himself while sitting normally, the blood should be here,” he said, indicating the window on Warner’s right side. “Also, that’s a lot of blood and brains for a .38. Looks like a bigger entry hole too. If I had to guess, it was a .45, like the one I carry.”

Sorsha raised one of her dark eyebrows.

“Are you trying to make me suspect you?” she asked. Alex shook his head and put his hand on Warner’s neck.

“No. This body is still warm,” he said. “This happened within the last twenty minutes, and since you and I were together for that time, I couldn’t have killed him. We do know someone else though, who uses the same kind of gun I do.”

“No.” Sorsha shook her head, a pleading, almost desperate look in her eyes. “It’s not possible.”

Alex pushed on unmercifully.

“Someone else who also had access to your suite.”

“He’s been part of my team for five years,” she said, still not willing to believe it.

“Where is Agent Davis?”

“You said he was at the front door,” Sorsha said, her voice distant.

“I’ll bet you a steak dinner he isn’t there now,” Alex said. “In fact, I’ll bet as soon as he let me in, he came up here and killed Warner.” A disturbing thought occurred to Alex and he stepped around Sorsha and into the hall. “If you’re his target, he might still be here.”

“No,” Sorsha said, confidently. “He knows me better than that. We worked together long enough that he’d know his only chance would be to surprise me.”

“So where would he go? He can’t do anything to help his confederates aboard the floaters, so what’s his play?”

“He’s probably fled,” Sorsha said. “He’d know that the first thing we’d do is lock down the building.”

“I don’t think so,” Alex said. “If he just wanted to escape, he wouldn’t need to kill Warner. He’s still in the hotel.”

Sorsha cocked her head to the side and her hair fell across half her face. She looked like she was about to disagree with him, but then her head came up, her eyes opened wide, and she gasped. Her hands gripped her gut and she doubled over in pain. Alex grabbed her arm, holding her steady as she swayed.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s not in the hotel,” she gasped. “He’s in my home.”

She gasped again, pressing her hand to her stomach and Alex hooked his good arm under hers to keep her upright. Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps and her pale skin took on a yellowish tinge.

“Davis must have had Warner order a floater sent here,” Alex said, helping Sorsha back to the parlor and onto a chase longue. “That’s why he killed him, to give himself time to get up to your castle undetected.”

Sorsha began muttering in that deep, echo-y voice of her spell casting, while rubbing her stomach with her hand. A bright bluish light glowed from under the Sorceress’ palm and spread out over her body. After a few seconds, her breathing became regular and her skin tone returned to normal. She opened her eyes and looked up at Alex, standing over her.

“The kind of magic that protects my home is … intimate,” she explained. “It’s tied to me.”

“What happened?”

“Agent Davis has a spell breaker,” she said. “He just used it to break open my front door.”

“What does he want in your house?”

“He wants to start a war, remember,” she said, standing slowly. “If he drops my house on the city…”

“It would flatten a city block,” Alex said.

“More likely two,” Sorsha said, her composure fully returned. She spread her arms and shook out her hands like a weight lifter getting ready to set a record. “Now stand back. I’m going to go stop Agent Davis.”

Alex stepped close to her, looking her hard in the eyes.

“Not without me, you’re not.”

“This isn’t the time for heroics,” Sorsha said, trying and failing to push him out of the way. “I hardly need your help to subdue one intruder in my home.”

She raised her hands and Alex grabbed her left wrist.

“Yes, you do,” he said. “This isn’t some last act of desperation, Sorceress. Think about it. Davis had a floater brought here before I ever showed up. This was his plan all along. He’s thought it through. He knows he might have to face you to succeed. Whatever his plans are, they include taking you down.”

Sorsha’s face was grim but her cheeks pinked. Clearly she wasn’t used to being so completely wrong about someone, or so thoroughly out-maneuvered.

“I bet his plans don’t include you,” she said with a smile and a nod. “Put your arm around me and hold on.”

Alex slipped his right arm around her slim waist and pulled her against him. He was very aware of her, pressing against him, and he pushed the thought from his mind.