Hit List (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 20)

EDWARD'S PHONE RANG. When it wasn't Donna, apparently his ringtone was an old-fashioned ring. Good to know. "Forrester here."

I heard a man's voice like a rumble over the phone. I wondered if Ethan could actually hear the other side of the conversation.

Edward went straight into his Ted voice, all cheerful and aw-shucks. "Tilford, that's good thinkin' if ya got a good enough psychic."

Ethan raised eyebrows at the change in Edward's voice, but it wasn't just his voice. Edward stood a little differently; his facial expressions matched the voice. There was more than one reason that he'd been so good at undercover work. He wasn't just good at killing people; he was, in his way, as good at hiding among his prey as the Harlequin.

"Really, Morrigan Williams."

The moment I heard the name, my stomach tried to drop into my feet. She was a very good psychic. A little too good if you were keeping as many secrets as Edward and I were.

"So Morrigan Williams was here visiting. You lucked out, Tilford." Edward grinned at the phone as if Tilford could see him. He could do the Ted voice without the whole body and face going with it, but he tended to stay in character if we were with more law enforcement, as if he were more concerned about not dropping the act when he knew he'd be "Ted" for a long time.

He'd mentioned the name twice so I'd be sure to get the point. Neither of us would want to be spending much time near her. She was entirely too good, and her specialty was things that dealt with death. She specialized in serial killer cases and other violent death. Violence spoke to her psychically, the way it drew Edward and me in real life.

Edward got off the phone. The moment he was off, his face began to close down, go from smiling Ted to blank and serious. His blue eyes were cold when they looked at me. "You heard."

"Neither you nor I can be anywhere near her," I said.

"Why? She helps the police solve cases and talks to ghosts. Why should that be a problem for you guys?" Ethan asked.

"I've had psychics tell me that I'm covered in death. That my energy was so stained with all I'd done that they couldn't be near me. They were gifted, but like most psychics they got impressions more than anything else. From all accounts Morrigan Williams gets much more detail."

"You're afraid she'll see something about you two and tell the other policemen," Ethan said.

"Yes," I said.

"She's that good?" He made it a question.

"If her reputation is deserved, yes," I said.

"Can you avoid her?" Ethan asked.

I liked that. We'd told him the situation and he went straight to testing for a solution. "I don't know."

"Tilford has her at the first murder site now."

"You mean the first murder site in this city," I said.

Edward nodded. "You're right, it's not even close to the first, but yeah, he's at the softball field."

"That was fast," I said.

"Apparently, she contacted the police. She was told that she could help them find what they seek."

"That sounds like the regular psychic stuff," Ethan said.

"True," I said. I looked at Edward. "Maybe her reputation isn't deserved."

"Maybe," he said. We looked at each other for a minute.

"What does Tilford want us to do?"

"He's got a feeling that she'll give them a direction to hunt in, so he wants us back to help finish the hunt."

"That's a lot of faith," I said.

"I think Tilford trusts you and me at his back more than Newman."

I grinned. "Well, who wouldn't?"

"Is Newman bad at the job?" Ethan asked.

"No," I said.

"We don't know yet," Edward said.

"He is literally the new man on the team," I said.

"So untried commodity," Ethan said.

"He's fresh out of the training and he's never been on a real vampire hunt."

"I wouldn't want him at my back either," Ethan said, "or at least not just him."

"We can't leave Tilford hanging just because the psychic may see something she shouldn't," I said.

Edward nodded. "I know."

"What are you going to do?" Ethan said.

"We're going to the crime scene," I said.

"What will you do about the Williams lady?"

"We'll try to stay at a distance," I said.

"Will that help?"

Edward said, "Will it?"

I thought about it. "She'll be in the middle of experiencing a very violent crime scene. If she's like most psychics, especially the good ones, she'll be overwhelmed with violent images and really bad emotions. She probably won't be able to tell our stuff from the crime."

"Probably," Edward said.

"Probably is the best I got unless you want to leave Tilford to hunt these guys without us."

Edward sighed. "No."

"Then we go," I said.

He nodded.

Ethan asked, "Do you really think I'm in danger?"

I looked at Edward. He motioned at me. "I'm not sure."

"He can't go to the crime scene with us," Edward said, "so he's safer staying here, just farther into the underground where they'd have to fight their way in."

"If I knew for sure he was a target, then I might disagree, but I think it's the best we got."

We all agreed. I made sure that the two guards on the door outside walked Ethan back away from the entrance. One of the guards asked, "What about you guys? You're only human. He's not."

"George is carrying my bullet in his side, not anyone else's. I think I did okay."

"He moved through us like we were standing still," the guard said, and his eyes looked haunted. "None of the rest of us could touch him. You did better than just okay, and you know it."

"Thanks," I said.

He motioned to Ethan, and the three of them walked down the corridor. I unholstered the Browning and put a round in the chamber.

Edward looked at me.

"I shot him because I had the gun out and aimed. If I'd had to draw first, I'd have missed."

Edward didn't argue, he just got out his Glock and jacked up a round, ready to fire. "Any other advice?" he asked.

The fact that he asked me was very high praise. "I appreciate your asking, but no."

"Let's go see if Morrigan is as good as her rep, and if Raborn will really let Tilford order a full-blown hunt on the basis of a psychic's vision."

"I'm betting he won't," I said.

"I'm betting you're right," Edward said.

"Which is another reason Tilford wants us there. If Raborn doesn't sign off on it, then we'll be going in with just the marshals with us and some of the locals."

"Yep," Edward said, already sliding back into his Ted persona. He started up the tunnel, and I fell in beside him. We walked out with our guns drawn and ready to fire. There were no bad guys waiting for us, but I didn't feel weird about having my gun out and ready, I just felt safer.

When we got to the SUV we put on the full gear for monster hunting, including the vest, which I hated the most. It hampered movement and it wouldn't stop either a vampire or a wereanimal. They'd peel it off us like getting a turtle out of its shell, but regulations stated that the vest was part of the outfit. I had to change out my holsters to accommodate the vest, so that I could still get to the Browning, but the Smith & Wesson had to move even more to a front cross draw. Only the knives got to stay put.

"Hate the vest," I said.

"Think of it like an air bag on your car."

I looked at him. "You wearing yours more often?"

"Some."

And just like that I knew Edward had changed. Or was it me? I was harder to hurt and healed almost anything short of a death blow and Edward didn't. He was more fragile than I was; it seemed so wrong.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." And, in the end, there really was nothing to say but it made me sad.