“Hey,” he said. “If you meant to kill my partner, you bungled the job. She’s made of stronger stuff than that.”
There was no response from the darkness. Malcolm stayed close to the edge of the staircase, hoping that the basement didn’t have another exit. A secret tunnel seemed unlikely, and he hadn’t seen any other way in or out from the house exterior of the house.
“Do you want to start over?” asked Malcolm. “We’ve met before, you know. In Terri’s Tavern. I get the sense that you aren’t evil, or at least you had a good reason for doing what you did.”
Do I really think that, or am I just getting better at sweet talking my enemies?
“I remember,” said Chaste Widow. “I didn’t mean to do that to your partner. She surprised me, and I just… panicked.”
She stepped out of the shadows. She still only had a towel on, and her expression was all remorse and fear.
“Like I said, she’s tough,” said Malcolm. “Now, tell me about the men.”
“It’s hard for me to think right now,” said the woman. “I’m just so scared!”
She took a step toward him, and the fold of her towel came loose. Malcolm had noticed her body the first time he’d met her. It was everything he’d imagined it to be. Her breasts were large, with faint, half circle tan lines. She had a trim waist, thick thighs and a firm butt.
She made a feeble attempt at covering her nudity, slowly closing the distance between them and averting her eyes. Malcolm wasn’t stupid. He knew what she’d try to do next.
“Hey…” He reached out with his hands, taking her shoulders, and also taking her power with his mimicry. “It’s okay. I’m here now.”
“I’m so scared,” she said. “Please… will you hold me?”
She turned her mouth up toward his. Malcolm grinned and gave her a quick kiss. As expected, nothing happened, her power canceling out against itself, now that he’d absorbed it from her. The look on Chaste Widow’s face was enough to make Malcolm chuckle.
“I’m out of your league,” he said. “Sorry. Nice try though.”
“You…” Chaste Widow slowly shook her head. “My power… doesn’t work on you?”
“So when you kiss people, they die?” asked Malcolm. “That seems more unfortunate, than useful. Is there any way for you to-”
He was interrupted by Chaste Widow’s lips. She gave him a quick kiss, the same kind he’d given her, and then followed it up with a deeper, more passionate one. Malcolm was too bewildered to do much in the way of kissing her back. He shook his head as her lips broke from his.
“I don’t think jamming your tongue into my mouth will make your power more potent,” said Malcolm.
Chaste Widow flashed a coy smile.
“What happens if I surrender?” she asked.
Malcolm blinked, feeling as caught off guard by her sudden change of heart as he had by the deep kiss.
“What?”
“If I surrender to you,” she said. “Theoretically, what would happen?”
“And why would you do that?” asked Malcolm. “You tried to kill my partner and me to escape. You don’t seem like the surrendering, submissive type.”
Chaste Widow leaned in closer to him, letting her naked body push against him.
“I’m not,” she whispered, her voice taking on a decidedly sexual tone.
Malcolm considered it. If she surrendered, either he or Tapestry, or more likely, both of them, would have to keep guard over her until the Champion Authority sent someone to transport her to another location. It could take weeks, maybe even months.
That wouldn’t work. Especially not with Rose injured and Second Wind missing. I need my mobility.
“Okay,” said Malcolm. “If you surrender, and promise not to kill anyone else, and become my informant for the indefinite future, we’ll call it even.”
It was Chaste Widow’s turn to look surprised.
“You… barely know anything about me,” she said. “Why would you trust me like that?”
Because I’m lazy, and don’t really have a choice.
Malcolm kept the thought to himself. Instead, he considered what he did know about her. Her husband was dead, and she’d gone on a vengeance inspired killing spree in the aftermath, picking up men from bars and giving them her kiss of death. She’d seemed polite, controlled, and focused when he’d spoken to her in Terri’s Tavern.
“The men that you killed,” said Malcolm. “Did they deserve it?”
Chaste Widow didn’t react to the question. Malcolm wasn’t sure whether to take it as a yes or no, but he was already reasonably sure of his suspicions.
“So you’re letting me go on trust alone?” she asked.
Malcolm grinned at her.
“Maybe it’s because you’re such a good kisser,” he said.
CHAPTER 23
Getting Tapestry to accept his reasoning, as it turned out, was nearly impossible. She was still recovering from Chaste Widow’s kiss of death when Malcolm found her upstairs. After it became clear that he would have no real luck convincing her, he opted for the brute force approach, carrying her weakened body out to her car and driving her home.
“You’re a sucker,” said Tapestry, in a strained voice. “I bet all she did was drop her towel, and you suddenly were filled with sympathy for her.”
“Uh…” Malcolm tried to keep from smiling at how close that was to the truth. “Look, like I said before, we couldn’t feasibly keep her as our prisoner until the Champion Authority could send someone out here.”
“And if she keeps murdering people?” asked Tapestry.
“Then we come after her again,” said Malcolm. “More importantly, if she holds up her end of the deal, we’ll have a gifted informant. That could come in handy in tracking down Multi.”
Tapestry gave him an odd look.
“We’ve already started tracking down Multi,” she said, in a confused voice. “Do you not remember talking about this yesterday morning? The evidence we found after the bombing of the police station?”
“Oh, that,” said Malcolm, trying to sound casual. “Right. When are we going to act on that?”
Tapestry coughed.
“We would have today,” she said. “But I’m going to need some time to recover. If I do some baking I should be back to myself by tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good,” said Malcolm. “I’m going to run some errands for the afternoon. Will you be fine at home?”
Tapestry shrugged.
“Apart from friction with Melanie, I should be.” She hesitated as Malcolm pulled the car into her driveway. “About… what I said last night. While we were…”
“Tapestry…” The last thing Malcolm wanted was to have this discussion over again. He’d already done enough blundering in his attempt to keep Second Wind’s life rolling along smoothly. He still felt a deep guilt over what he’d done, and knew that it would probably drive a rift between him and his copy, if Second Wind found out about it.
I have to eject from this situation. If he comes back soon, great. If not… I’ll figure something else out.
“Look,” he continued. “I just feel a little overwhelmed right now. You know how much I care about you. Just give me some time.”
They weren’t the words that Tapestry had been hoping for, but were good enough. Tapestry smiled at him and nodded.
“I know,” she said. “And I will.”
“Do you want me to help you inside?” asked Malcolm.
“No,” said Tapestry. “I can manage.”
He gave her back her keys and watched her disappear through the front door of her house. Malcolm started walking down the street, taking out his phone and turning his attention to other pressing matters.