I'm Not Dead Yet
We awoke at seven. Jaime popped over minutes later, and from the looks of things, hadn't slept more than an hour or two. While Lucas picked up breakfast, I took a quick shower. I'd just stepped out when someone rapped at our door. Lucas probably, with his hands full again.
"Could you grab that?" I called to Jaime.
I dressed, then opened the bathroom door to find Jaime standing there.
"Vampire at the door," she said.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
I sighed. "Please tell me it's not Cassandra."
"Short auburn hair? Looks about my age? Perfect makeup? Designer outfit?"
"Shit," I said, leaning against the wall.
"How about I don't invite her in?"
"Unfortunately, that doesn't work. Cassandra goes where she pleases, invited or not, wanted or not. Crosses, holy water, icy glares, nothing keeps her out."
"I heard that, Paige," Cassandra called from the main room. "Stop hiding in the bathroom and tell me what this is all about."
I walked through the bedroom into the living area. Cassandra was lounging by the window, taking in the sunlight and, sadly, not bursting into flame.
I turned to Jaime. "Cassandra, this is-"
"I know who she is," Cassandra said. "I have a television."
"Oh, but you two had already introduced yourselves-No, wait…" I looked at Jaime. "You didn't know her name. So how'd you know she was a vampire?"
"Easy. It's like you witches and sorcerers can recognize one another. I'm a necro. She's dead. So I can tell. Only dead things walking around are vamps. Well, there are zombies, but they don't smell like French perfume."
"Don't be ridiculous," Cassandra said, fixing Jaime with a glower. "I'm not dead."
"Of course you are. So you came all this way-?"
"I am not dead."
Jaime slanted me an eye-roll. "Sure, whatever. Now-"
The hall door opened. Lucas walked through, then stopped. He looked at Cassandra, then down at his tray of breakfast for three.
"Don't worry," Jaime said. "She doesn't eat. Well, she does, but even you aren't that hospitable."
"Ah, Cassandra, I presume," he said, laying the tray on the dinette table.
"Cassandra, this is Lucas Cortez," I said. "Lucas, Cassandra DuCharme."
Cassandra's gaze skimmed over Lucas, assessing and dismissing him in a millisecond. Anger darted through me, not so much at the insult as at the coolly confident way she did it, with a look that said, if she had wanted him, she could have him. Now I knew how Elena felt.
"Cassandra's just leaving," I said. "Seems she took a wrong turn on her way somewhere else."
"I'm not leaving until I get an explanation."
"First, we don't owe you an explanation. Second, if I thought you'd leave once we gave it, I'd tell you in a heartbeat. We're very busy, and as much as I appreciate your interest-"
"You said my name came up in reference to this case. I want to know who, how, and why."
"Don't know, don't know, and don't know," Jaime said. "It didn't tell us."
"It?"
"The spook."
Cassandra crossed her arms. "Spook?"
"Ghost," I said. "Or maybe not-we haven't determined that yet. A spiritual entity of some kind has been pestering Jaime and it has something to do with you. That's all we know."
"Me? Why on earth would a ghost want to communicate with me?"
"Maybe because you put him there," Jaime said, "Dinner coming back to haunt you. Literally."
Before Cassandra could answer, our room phone rang.
"Jesus," Jaime muttered. "Grand Central Station."
Lucas picked up the extension from the side table. He announced himself, then waited. His gaze flicked to me, a slight frown on his lips.
"Yes, of course, perhaps we-" He paused. "Oh, well, certainly then. Come up." Lucas hung up and turned to me. "That was Sean Nast."
"Savannah's-Kristof's son?"
"Yes, he has something to tell us, about the case. He was phoning from the lobby."
"You want me to skedaddle?" Jaime said.
"No need. He knows from the trial that you've been working with us. But perhaps…"
He looked at Cassandra.
"I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers," she said.
"Yes, I understand, but given the animosity between the Cabals and vampires-"
"It's not animosity," Cassandra said. "To have animosity, you have to acknowledge that the other party exists. You needn't worry. I will be as the Cabals wish me to be: invisible. Since no one can outwardly recognize vampires"-she shot a pointed look at Jaime-"there's no need for him to know what I am."
A knock at the door. Lucas opened it. Sean Nast walked in, followed by a man who could only be a Cabal bodyguard. Sean turned to his guard.
"Wait outside," he murmured.
"Mr. Nast said-" the guard began.
"Please," Sean said.
The guard nodded and retreated into the hall. Lucas closed the door behind him.
"Granddad's getting paranoid," Sean said. "I feel like I'm twelve again."
"Sean, this is Jaime Vegas," Lucas said. "Jaime, Sean Nast, Thomas Nast's grandson."
Sean grinned. "Hey, my frat watches you on The Keni Bales Show every month."
As they shook hands, Sean's gaze flicked to Cassandra.
"Sean, this is Cassandra," Lucas said. "Cassandra, Sean Nast."
If Sean noticed the lack of a surname for Cassandra, he gave no sign of it, only shook her hand with a "Pleased to meet you," then turned to us.
"Tyler Boyd is missing." He glanced at me and added, "That's the Boyd CEO's youngest son. He's seventeen."
"He's missing? Since when?"
"We aren't sure. Tyler went to his hotel room around eleven last night. When he didn't show up for breakfast, his dad sent someone to get him. His bodyguard was in the room, dead, and Tyler was gone. Mr. Boyd called Granddad and the Cabals have been out searching ever since."
"Good," Lucas said. "My father has excellent shaman trackers."
"That's the problem. They didn't call your dad, or anyone in your Ca-your family's Cabal."
"What?" I said. "But he went missing here, right? In Miami?"
"And the Cortezes have all the resources here, I know. It's crazy. I am so fucking-" He glanced at Jaime and Cassandra. "Sorry. I'm just fed up with their crap. Joey's dead and now Tyler's missing and all the Cabals can do is bicker about who's to blame and who's trying to take control of the investigation. Without your dad's trackers and CSIs, all we have is a bunch of VPs and bodyguards milling around the city, hoping to bump into Tyler."
"So you want me to call my father."
Sean rubbed his hand over his chin. "Yeah, I know you're on the outs with him, and I hate to ask, but I don't know what else to do. I tried phoning his company switchboard but, of course, they just kept routing me to some junior, junior assistant who won't even relay a message. If you have your father's direct number, I'll make the call."
"Your family wouldn't appreciate that. Better let me handle it."
"I'm not worried about what my family thinks. You can tell your dad I'm the one who told you to call."
"I'll call him, because he has the resources to process the scene and search for Tyler. I won't, however, tell him it was at your instigation. You're angry, with good reason, but that's not a decision you want to make right now."