Chosen (Anna Strong Chronicles #6)

I can't find David.

He's no longer in the entryway so I try the kitchen. Dena is busy icing more champagne. I tell her she can go home because the party is about to break up. I encourage here to leave quickly, not telling her if she doesn't she'll likely get caught when the cops come.

She looks confused but takes off her apron and slips out the back door. I hope Frey knows a way to get that gate open. Breaking it doesn't seem such a bright idea now. Shortsighted if we end up having to haul David's ass over the top of it.

I make my way upstairs. I hate being here. Hate having to pass the door to Avery's bedroom. I wonder what Dena thought when she saw the damage I did to it the last time I was here and if she'd had it repaired. I don't open the door to find out.

There are six bedrooms on the second floor. I stop at the head of the stairs. Listen.

Heavy breathing. Grunts. Giggles.

Shit.

I find the playroom door and hope what I'm hearing isn't indicative of what's going on.

At least let them still have some clothes on.

The door opens quietly as a whisper. David is sitting at the end of the bed. From my vantage point, all I see of the girls are the tops of their bobbing heads.

"Jesus, David. What are you doing?"

One stupid question deserves another. David turns around to look at me, big eyes still glazed. He has something in his hand.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

The girls pop up, allowing me to see the low television console behind them. They have something in their hands, too.

Game controllers.

David is grinning at me. "What did you think we were doing, Anna?"

He sounds like a six-year-old. Whatever he's on, I hope it wears off soon.

"Come on. It's time for us to go."

"Not yet. We just started."

I reach across the bed and pluck the controller from his hand. "It's time for you girls to leave now, too. Do you have a way home?"

Reluctantly, the girls stand up. One of them says, "We came with Mrs. Williams. She said she'd take care of us."

Despite my threat, I know what Judith Williams is capable of. I seriously doubt if taking care of these two involves seeing the girls safely home. I crook a finger. "Come with us. My friend and I will take you home."

David is delighted. "They can come home with me."

Yeah. Right.

I open the door and step into the hall first. Quiet. No footsteps pounding up the steps to try to stop us from leaving. I shepherd the three downstairs and into the foyer. Still, nothing. The only noise is the hum of conversation from the living room. I hope Judith Williams isn't dumb enough to think I was bluffing about calling the cops. She should be rustling her crowd out the door, too.

David and the Bobbsey Twins giggle their way across the foyer and out the front door. I try to get them to hurry, but it's like wrangling chickens. I've never seen David so loopy. I wonder if he's going to remember any of this when he sobers up.

I wonder if Judith Williams really told him that I was a vampire.

It's a long way down the winding driveway, the gate hidden until we're almost on top of it. Dena is sitting in her car in front of it, window rolled down, jabbing without success at the remote. When she sees us approach, she jumps out of her car.

"I don't know what's wrong. The gate won't open."

Frey pulls up then, at the other side of the gate. I don't remember giving him my car key, but at this moment, it hardly matters. He's still on one side of the gate and we're on the other.

I motion David and the girls off to the side. If I were alone, I'd jump the fence. I take a look at the gate. It's eight feet of wrought iron with an iron lock. I still have the guard's keys in my pocket. If I can get the lock open, I should be able to push the gate open.

Frey watches as I fish the keys from my pocket. There are about twenty, all about the same size and configuration. I start to jab them into the lock, one after the other.

"Give them to me," Frey says after a minute. "Let me try." He bends over, examines the lock, shuffles the keys until he finds one that to my eye is indistinguishable from the other nineteen on the ring. That's the one he slips into the lock and gives a turn.

The lock opens with a metallic snick.

"How did you do that?"

He grins. "It's the Y chromosome."

He worked his magic. It's my turn to work mine. I put my shoulder against the gate and heave.

The gate flies apart.

David says, "Way to go, Anna."

The girls giggle and clap their hands.

Frey holds open the car door. "That extra X chromosome ain't no slouch, either."

David and the girls crowd into the backseat of the Jag. Dena pulls out of the gate. I consider trying to blockade it in some way but what's the point? We'll all be back here in forty-eight hours and between now and then, I really don't care what goes on in the house.

The girls turn out to be college students, with an apartment up on Montezuma near the San Diego State campus. David is disappointed I won't let them go home with him. They part with kisses and an exchange of telephone numbers. When David isn't paying attention, I slip the girls' numbers out of his shirt pocket. The less he remembers about the last couple of days the better.

When we're back on the road, David slumps down on the backseat and falls asleep.

Frey says, "Shall we take David to your house?"

I give it a moment's thought. "No. Let's take him to his condo. If he wakes up in my place, he'll start looking around for food. We've already gone through that once."

Frey gives me one of those oh-what-does-that-mean quirks of an eyebrow.

"Not what you're thinking. I brought him home to sleep off a drunk. He slept on the couch."

I glance into the backseat. "What do you think she gave him?"

He raises a shoulder in a half shrug. "Hallucinogenic? Meth or ecstasy? A cocktail of all of the above? Hard to say. The good news is he hasn't been exposed that long. Hopefully, he'll sleep it off."

When we get to his place, we're able to rouse David to his feet and into the elevator. He doesn't appear to have keys on him, but I have a set on my key ring so at least this is one door we don't have to break into or down.

David looks surprised to find himself at home. "What happened to the girls?"

Frey and I steer him into the bedroom, strip him down to his tighty whities and bundle him into bed. David smiles up at me and holds up a corner of the sheet.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

Frey clears his throat. "I think I'll make some coffee."

He leaves for the kitchen and I take a seat on the edge of the bed. David's eyes have already closed.

I brush a lock of hair off his forehead. "David?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Did she hurt you?"

A snort. "You mean Judy? If anything, I probably hurt her."

Okay. Too much information. "Did Judy say anything strange to you while you were-uh-having sex?"

One sleepy eye pops open. "You mean did Judy tell me that you're both vampires?"

"What did you think when she told you that?"

"I thought"-he pulls the sheet up to his chin and rolls on his side-"that it explained a lot."

Frey is standing in front of the picture window in the living room staring out at the downtown skyline. The morning sun blankets the city with crimson rays of molten silk. When he hears me coming up behind him, he says, "This is quite a place. Must have cost David a bundle. The fugitive apprehension business must be more lucrative than I imagined."

He's holding a mug of coffee in each hand and holds one out to me.

"Business is good," I say after taking a sip. "But not this good. He bought the condo when he was still playing football."

Physically, it looks like Frey is focusing on the view but I can tell his mind is elsewhere. Probably thinking of what he might be doing now. At home with Layla. Or at school. Anywhere except here dealing with another of my crises.

"Frey?"

He half turns toward me.

"I'm sorry."

His brow wrinkles. "For what?"

"For dragging you into yet another drama. You should go home now. I'll stay with David. Then when I know he's okay, I'll go back to the cottage and take a look at your notes."

He places his mug down on the coffee table. "I will go home," he says. "To shower and change. Then I'll go by the cottage and get the book. I'll be back in an hour."

"What about school? How many days have you missed now?"

He holds up a hand. "Two words. Student. Teacher. She has lesson plans and an attitude. She'll do fine without me."

I walk him to the door. "Let me give you my keys. Take the Jag."

"I have a set of your keys. Remember, I drove tonight when we left Avery's?"

Yeah. That's right. "When did I give you a set of keys?"

"You didn't. I managed to abscond with the extra set you keep-make that kept-in the sugar bowl on the kitchen counter."

"Very resourceful."

"We cats are."

He pulls the door open. "You're not mad?"

How could I be mad? "I should have thought to give you a set myself."

He leaves with one last admonition. "Lock up. We don't know how pissed off Judith Williams is, but there's no sense taking chances. A locked door won't keep her out, but it'll slow her down."

I close the door behind him and turn the deadbolt. Then I head for the kitchen and a phone.

I hope Judith was smart enough to get her new best friends out of Avery's house. Time for her to know I don't make empty threats.

It's time for me call the cops.