"It's Cynthia."
"Yeah, let me get somewhere quieter.” She heard him moving, heard more than one door open and close, and then the sound of traffic. So, he wasn't getting somewhere quieter; he was getting somewhere he couldn't be overheard. “Are you okay? Where are you?” he asked.
"I'm home. What's going on?"
"Bad shit, Cyn, really bad shit. They found Carballo's body, and I thought...” She heard him take a deep breath and knew he'd been worried about her.
"I'm okay, Dean. What happened?"
"Vampire. She was completely drained, then dumped off in the hills near Malibu Canyon, along the freeway. Some Cal Trans workers found her. She'd been there a couple of days, looks like."
Cyn was surprised at the pain of loss, surprised at the tears that filled her eyes. Benita had been a friend, no matter what had happened later. But she had also betrayed Cyn to the vamps, knowing exactly what Albin and Pushkin planned to do to her. A part of Cyn couldn't help feeling that a certain poetic justice had been served.
"Cyn?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"The bastards killed her.” He was angry, disappointed in Cyn.
"She was your snitch, Eckhoff,” Cyn said flatly. “She told me herself.” She proceeded to describe the night at the ranch house, how Benita had coaxed her to the party and set her up, then bragged about how she was playing the cops.
"Damnit,” Eckhoff swore. “Goddamnit. Okay, listen, Cyn, you lay low for awhile and don't be surprised if they pull you in for questioning—"
"I didn't do anything!"
He sighed. “Carballo left some notes, deliberately casual stuff, but enough to let us know where she was going that night and who she was going with. You. She made it look an awful lot like you were the one feeding the vamps information, which was probably the plan all along until it backfired on her. Now that I know where to look, it'll—"
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"I do, but a cop is dead, Cyn, and everyone knows you play with the vampires. They'd rather believe it was you than believe one of their own was dirty."
"Great. You know, I'm beginning to think waking up wasn't such a good idea after all."
"What?"
"Nevermind. Damnit. This blows. So what should I do now?"
"Just lay low. I'll do what I can from here, and eventually they'll have to admit the truth. But, Cyn, it might be awhile."
"Yeah,” she said glumly. “I know.” No matter how much evidence they uncovered that pointed to Benita's guilt, no matter how squeaky clean Cyn turned out to be, there would always be someone who believed the worst about her. “Look, thanks for believing in me, Dean. It means a lot."
"Hey, I care about you, grasshopper. You know that."
"You may be the only one.” She sighed. “Listen, I've got to go. Stay in touch, okay?"
"Sure thing, sweetie."
She hung up and was seriously considering going back to bed when she realized there was one more message waiting for her. She hit play, freezing at the sound of Duncan's even voice. “Ms. Leighton, we need to arrange for final payment on your contract. It would be best to meet in person. Please call with a time and place that would be convenient. I believe you have my number."
She remained frozen, staring down at the colorful tiles of her kitchen floor, until a knock on her front door startled her into movement. Walking automatically across the still dust-strewn living room, she peered through the peephole of the new door. Her housekeeper stood on the porch, looking perplexed as she sorted through the keys on her key ring. New door, Cyn remembered and wondered halfheartedly where the keys were. She threw the deadbolt and yanked open the door.
"Sorry, Anna,” she apologized wearily when the woman looked up with a confused smile. “New door."
Anna bustled in, ready to get to work. She stopped and looked around the living room in dismay. “Miss Cynthia?"
"Oh.” Cyn looked around as if seeing the mess for the first time. “The workmen. They made a mess. Don't worry if you need extra time today, whatever it takes."
"Yes.” The housekeeper nodded slowly, then took a good look at Cyn and scowled. “You've lost weight,” she said sternly. Shaking her head, she went on into the kitchen, depositing her purse in the cupboard beneath the island and going immediately to the utility closet for her supplies.