count Bernardo and Olaf with us, then no one is as ruthless about bending the rules than we are," he said.
I grinned. "I'll include them."
He smiled again. I wondered if his eyes were smiling behind the dark glasses. "I'll go try to track the big, bad vampires while you waste time at the hospital." He started walking away from me.
"Edward," I said.
He spoke without turning around. "Sorry, I'm sorry, but until I know what Olaf's intentions are toward you, Anita, I don't like you away from me."
I touched his arm, made him look at me. "Are you really more frightened by the idea of Olaf kidnapping me than the . . . Those Who Shan't Be Named?"
He took in a lot of air, let it out slow, and then nodded.
"They'll try to let the Wicked Bitch of the World possess my body, Edward. I'll be worse than dead."
"But they won't torture you first, and I trust you to be strong enough psychically that you'll still be in there, which means we might be able to get you back. If Olaf takes you, Anita, there won't be anything left to save. You have no idea what he does to his victims."
"And you do?" I asked.
He nodded. He looked pale through his summer tan.
"You've seen it in person?"
He nodded, again. "We'd finished a job, and we were all celebrating. We'd gone to a brothel, and I didn't know Olaf's rule that he waits until after a job to indulge."
"What happened?" I asked.
"Another customer was drunk and went in the wrong room, and started screaming. The sound stopped, abruptly. All of us who weren't drunk came out of our rooms, armed; you just knew the sound of screams being cut off like that."
"Yeah," I said.
"The man who had screamed was dead in the doorway. The girl was tied to the bed."
"She was dead?" I asked.
"No." He said it softly.
I gave him wide eyes.
"We thought she was dead, but she wasn't. I wished she were dead when we found them. I would have killed him, but he was standing there pointing a gun at me, at all of us. He bargained with us."
"Bargained how?"
"We could all die, or we could we all live. We lived."
"Why would you ever work with him again after that?" I asked.
"There aren't that many people as good as I am, Anita. He's one of them. Besides, part of the bargain was that he'd never indulge himself again, if he was working with me."
"So you made a deal to dance with the devil to keep him from killing more women?"
"Yes."
"Was Bernardo there?"
"No, he's never seen Olaf's work in person. He'd never work with him again if he had."
"Because he spooks easier than you do," I said.
"Easier than either of us," Edward said.
I took the compliment. "What do you want me to do?"
"If you even suspect that Olaf has decided you're his next victim, kill him. Don't wait for a clean shot, don't wait to be sure, don't wait for no witness, don't wait at all, just kill him. Promise me, Anita." He reached out and grabbed my arm, holding tight. "Promise me."
I could see my reflection in his dark glasses. I said the only thing I could say: "I promise."
Chapter Thirty
LAILA KARLTON LOOKED small in the hospital bed. Her face was very round and with her hair around her face in tight waves, she looked five, an earnest, sad five. The looking small and young could have been because the three men on either side of her were big guys. All three were at least six-four and built big and solid. The two younger men were muscular and fit, their barrel chests fitting into trim waists. The older of the younger men had a flat stomach that promised a real six-pack under the T-shirt. The younger one was softer in every way; though he hit the gym, he didn't hit it as hard as his brother did. The oldest man looked like a slightly aged version of the younger men. It had to be Karlton's father and football-playing brothers.
Once I saw the mountain of men in the room, I was glad that I'd left Nicky and Lisandro out in the hallway. Socrates and I were enough to add to the crowd.
"Anita," Laila said, and her large brown eyes were suddenly shinier, as if tears were threatening. Jesus, all I'd done was come into the room.