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"Look. You don't seem to be able to stop him. You can't protect me."
"We're looking into who might have alerted him to your presence at the conservatory. I really don't know who I can trust anymore."
"Try to understand," I say and continue packing. "He can do pretty much what he likes, so why shouldn't I just go back to my apartment? If he's coming for me, he's coming for me."
"I don't think it's wise for you to do this, but I can't stop you." Ed's face betrays exasperation. "If you were anyone else, I'd say there's the witness protection program but you're too valuable to us."
"Thanks. Too valuable to let go, but not too valuable to protect."
Ed sighs.
"Call me, anytime of the day or night if you feel in danger and I'll have a car over in five minutes, just in case he does come by. You can consider this a time to catch up on reading material."
"Oh, I'm confident that if he wants to, he'll come by. I'm also confident that no matter what you do, he'll be able to get to me."
I walk him to the door and lock the deadbolt behind him. What Julien taught me by coming to hear me play was that a vampire is able to get by mortal defenses. Someone as well-trained as Julien more than most.
The first night I’m home, I sleep with a knife beside me. During the day, I stay inside and check the street frequently to see the unmarked car. The second night I’m home, I get a call from Vasily.
“Come downstairs, Eve. You are not safe in apartment. Come to warehouse.”
“There’s a security detail on me,” I say. “They’ll know I’ve left.”
“No,” Vasily says. “They are Julien’s. They will report you were home all the time.”
And so I return to the warehouse and the ostentatious bed, but other than Vasily, the apartment’s empty. Julien isn’t there.
Chapter 14
“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”
Aristotle
I sit alone in the small living area and switch on the television. The local news is on and I watch a reporter and his cameraman standing at a police barricade about two blocks from the SCU, cameras rolling. A crowd assembled to watch and overhead comes the sound of helicopters. Police cars with lights flashing and uniformed officers line the barricades to keep onlookers from entering the protected areas.
I sit on the couch, my feet tucked under me, and wait, flipping from channel to channel to follow the commentary, my nerves on edge. The anchor for Channel 7 speaks while the camera zooms in on the scene, the image enlarging to show the empty street across from the SCU, the other buildings like granite caverns all around it.
"We're here live at the scene of a standoff at a building near the waterfront. Right now, there's some kind of hostage situation. Boston SWAT have surrounded the building. It looks as if a man's stepping out of the front of the building – yes, there is a man stepping out."
The camera zooms in for a closer shot, and I gasp as I recognize Ed's characteristic shiny dome head. It has to be him.
Julien enters the apartment at that moment, distracting me from the television.
"You’re here," he says.
"Vasily picked me up last night,” I say. “Ed’s involved in some kind of stand-off with the police."
"Oh, that," Julien says, making a face. "I was going to tell you. Ed became a liability. I had to take care of things."
I turn to him and he shrugs, raising his eyebrows as if he’s sorry but helpless.
"Youwhat?"
"I had to turn him over to the police for some nasty business he was involved in. Killing a police officer, if I recall correctly. Shame. He was a good asset while he lasted."
"They're going to take him into custody?"
"No," Julien says, shaking his head. "That wouldn't be a good idea. He knows too much.”
