Susan was completely baffled by what the woman was talking about. Apollite? What was that? Some sort of diet soda? And what the devil was a Daimon? The only time she'd ever heard that term was when her e-mail bounced back with trailer-daimon attached to it.
Alicia handed her mother more bandages before she left to do her mother's bidding.
As soon as they were alone, Patricia moved to grab a small doctor's bag. "We'll need to get those bullets out of you so you can heal."
Sure, and why not just give the man a piece of leather to bite on for the pain, too, while they were at it? How backwards were these people?
"He needs a doctor," Susan insisted.
Patricia ignored her as she started setting out her supplies on a nearby table while Ravyn sat down on a stool. "Are you sure she's a Squire?"
Ravyn shrugged. "She said she worked with Leo."
Patricia paused. "With... or for?"
"For," Susan said.
That got Ravyn's full attention as he turned those deeply annoyed black eyes on her. "You're not a Squire?"
Before she could answer, the door opened again. "Mom," Jack said. "We have a serious problem."
"What?"
Jack held up a Sony portable TV monitor that had a breaking news story.
Susan's heart froze as she saw the news cameras that were trained on her little Cape Cod house.
"According to police, three unidentified men and two local officers were just reported as slain while trying to apprehend two people suspected of murdering a local veterinarian, her husband, and a clerk earlier this afternoon in a local animal shelter." Disbelief filled her.
The scene flashed to one of the men who'd chased Susan from her home. He was covered in blood and had a bandage wrapped around his head.
"I knew I should have ripped his throat out, too," Ravyn snarled.
"It was insane," the man said into the microphone. "We were just trying to sell magazine subscriptions and as soon as we knocked on the door, they pulled us in and killed my friend. I thought I was dead. I really did. If I hadn't been pretending I was dead, they would have killed me, too. They're crazy, man, crazy."
The scene went back to the anchorwoman. "As you can see, this is quite an unsettling event. Authorities are posting a reward for any information that leads them to the whereabouts of Ravyn Kontis and Susan Michaels, the two suspects for the murders. If you see either of them, please do not attempt to apprehend them, as they are considered extremely dangerous. Call the special line at 555-1924 and let the police know where they are."
Susan's jaw went slack as they flashed an old photograph of her and a police sketch of Ravyn. It was followed by a shot of her leaving the animal shelter with the cat cage. Jimmy had been right. There was a police conspiracy.
Her sight dimmed as her heart started racing. This couldn't be happening to her. It couldn't be.
But as shocking as that was, it was nothing compared to the next picture they showed.
It was the animal shelter again with all the yellow warning tape that kept it sectioned off from a small crowd of people.
"We finally have the names of the couple who was killed... Angela and James Warren. James, or Jimmy as he was known, had been married to Angela for the last five years and was known to often visit his wife at her clinic..."
Susan staggered backwards until the wall stopped her. Angie was dead? Jimmy?
And she was wanted for their murders...
From the deepest part of her soul, deep, wrenching sobs overwhelmed her.
Ravyn cringed as he heard the sound of her tears-he'd never been able to stand the tears of a woman. They tore through him and reminded him of a past he'd just as soon forget. "We've seen enough, Jack."
Jack cast a sympathetic look to Susan before he turned the monitor off and left.
Patricia moved toward Ravyn, but he brushed her off. "Give us a moment, okay?"