“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this mad, Glory.” Rafe picked up the dress from the table. “Well, maybe I have. A time or two.” He grinned and winked at me. “Anyway, this would look great on you. You’d be like a snow princess.” He flushed.
“That was a nice compliment.” My mother looked him over. “You may not be as disgusting as I thought, Valdez. Shift out of here and I might start to like you.”
“Mother, please. Don’t ruin this.” I refused to spare Aggie another thought, though she was beating on the back door and calling my name. Finally she stopped. “I can’t wait to try all of these on. We’ll have a little fashion show. Wouldn’t you like that?” I took the white dress from Rafe and hung it back on the rack. With luck, the lipstick wouldn’t show. I’d save it for last.
“Love it. Valdez, perhaps you should make sure that female outside can’t get into my daughter’s apartment. A little bird told me she was busy at that doctor’s place today. Sabotage. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to do something like that to Gloriana.” My mother seemed determined to get Rafe out of the room. I didn’t argue. Checking on my place was a good idea.
“You’re right. I’m on it. I can start tossing her clothes out the back window. You two will be busy here awhile, won’t you?” Rafe pulled open the back door. “No sign of her. Which makes me wonder where she went.”
“We’ll be here. Go. Maybe the zombies got her. But if they were looking for brains to eat, they’d go hungry. I don’t think Aggie has any.” I bit my lip. Suck it up, Glory. You are not worried about her. But old habits die hard. I had to wonder where she’d gone without a purse or, um, clothes. Aggie was always enterprising. I tried to put her out of my mind as Rafe took off, making me promise to lock the door behind him. I stepped into the bathroom with the first dress. Beautiful clothes. Surely I could enjoy a few minutes with some of my favorite things.
I came out in the blue. My mother was zipping me up and exclaiming about the sad state of my underwear when the door from the shop banged open.
“Listen, lady. I don’t care if you’re the freakin’ queen of the Nile. Aggie and I are going to be late for rehearsal.” Sienna stopped when she saw me. “Glory. When did you get here? And wow. Love that dress.” She saw the rack and her mouth fell open. “So this is where you keep the good stuff.”
“It’s not for you.” My mother inserted herself between Sienna and the clothes. “They are my gift to my daughter and wouldn’t fit you anyway.”
“Fine. Whatever. Where’s Aggie? You dragged her back here a while ago.” She glanced into the bathroom. “I have her purse so she can’t have gone far. And her clothes are in the dressing room out here. Surely she didn’t take off in that fabulous dress. She was supposed to save it for Halloween.”
My mother’s smile gave me chills. “Aggie’s gone. Gloriana threw her out. She never should have touched that dress. It was not for her either.”
“What do you mean?” Sienna turned to me. “You tossed her out? Without her clothes?”
“Yes, I did. You have no idea the crap she’s pulled. The dress thing was the final straw. I’ve had it with her.” I refused to feel guilty. “Rafe checked the alley. She’s not there so I assume she got help.”
“I hope like hell you’re right.” Sienna stared at me like she didn’t know me. I just stared back. I wasn’t backing down or apologizing.
“Gloriana could and should have done much worse, Miss Starkowski.” My mother held on to my arm, in protective mode. “I’d recommend you watch yourself around that agitator. The woman is not to be trusted.”
“Okay, point taken. And it’s Star. I left Starkowski behind a long time ago.” Sienna moved to the back door. “Is she in the apartment? Like her or not, she’s my backup singer and we really need to get going. Ray’s already called me twice.”
“No, I’m not letting her back in there. Rafe’s upstairs getting her things together. He’ll be putting them in the alley as soon as he can.” I slipped on the bolero jacket that matched the dress.
“I love that color on you, Gloriana.” My mother held the matching hat in her hand. “But hats can be a pain. What to do about your hair?”
“You two are just going to stand there talking fashion when Aggie is out in the night, in her underwear?” Sienna’s voice rose. “What the hell is wrong with you, Glory? I thought you were a nice person.”
“Even nice people can be pushed too far, Sienna.” I faced her. “My mother’s right. Aggie’s a user. She’s reckless and will stab you in the back if she gets a chance. And she just made a very dangerous enemy in Ian MacDonald.” Not that Aggie cared. She’d been eager to hurt Ian. My own anger was wearing off and I couldn’t help worrying about the woman. A mortal in her underwear in an alley that had had more than its share of bad happenings?
“She and Ian were already enemies. She told me the whole story.” Sienna gestured to Danny, who’d been right behind her since she’d stepped into the room. He’d been the one to shut the door into the shop. Smart, since we didn’t want my customers to hear this conversation. “Will you at least help me look for her?”
“Yes.” I stepped back into the bathroom. “Wait a minute. I have to change clothes.”
“Gloriana, don’t be foolish. You don’t care what happens to that woman.” My mother tried to keep me from closing the door. “We were having fun together.”“I can try on the rest of the dresses another time, Mother. No one else will disturb them. I’ll leave instructions with the clerks.” I patted her shoulder before gently easing the door shut. Maybe Aggie deserved to be tossed out on her fanny, but I didn’t want to become just like her, treating others with callous disregard. I threw on my clothes and led the group out to the alley. Rafe was already there, setting boxes of Aggie’s things next to the back door.
“Any sign of her?”
“No, she didn’t show up at the apartment.” Rafe joined us. “You decided to help her now?”
I stopped next to my car, glad it was still there. “I don’t know. She is just a mortal.” I turned to Sienna. “Do you have her purse with you?”
“Yes, here.” She handed it over.
I took out my extra set of car keys. I’d let Aggie drive my car to Ian’s. Had even paid for the extra gas. Doormat didn’t begin to cover it. I didn’t owe her all that help. But still a niggling worry about what would become of her now wouldn’t go away.
“All right. I get it. We’ll look around. But if we find her, it will just be to hand her a coat from one of her boxes.” Rafe bumped against my shoulder. “Right?”
“Right. I’m not backing down. She’s out for good.”
Sienna just walked off, calling Aggie’s name as she headed toward one end of the alley and looked between cars. I stood where I was and sniffed the air.
“Rafe. Do you smell what I smell?”
“Vampire? Yes. It’s familiar but I can’t place it.” He started toward the other end of the alley. “Stay here.”
“Not on your life. You’re right. Familiar and unique. I met the guy once. He’s a rogue. Just the kind of vampire who’d be happy to turn Aggie if she could come up with enough cash.”
“Surely she wouldn’t have arranged to meet him already. He charges big bucks and Aggie just started the band gig. What she gets for giving Sienna blood wouldn’t cover a down payment.” Rafe stopped at the entrance to the alley. “Hard to tell which way they went but I think Aggie must have been with him.”
Sienna came running up behind us. “Did you find her?”
“Not exactly. But we have a lead. Did you give Aggie some money, Sin?” I saw her face. Of course she had.
“She needed an advance. For something really important to her. I knew we could work out her musical issues so she’d be able to stay with the band. I wanted to help her.” Sienna frowned. “You don’t know my real history, Glory, though obviously your mother has done some snooping. When I landed in L.A. as a teenager, I could have been in big trouble and, yeah, I was messed up for a while. But then I got lucky and met a musician who helped me out, kept me safe and got me started. Aggie just needed someone to believe in her. I figured it was my turn to give back.”
“I’m sorry you had it rough, Sienna.” I really was. “But Aggie’s not you. She didn’t tell you what she wanted the money for?”
“No. It was a big secret. A surprise, she said. I made her swear she wasn’t on drugs.” Sienna bit her lip. “You think she made a fool of me, don’t you? Damn it!”
“It’s not for drugs, if that makes you feel better.” I glanced at Danny. He’d been a silent witness to this. But it wasn’t his job to interfere. As usual, his face didn’t give anything away as to what he was thinking.
Sienna looked down the alley, staring into the darkness. “Just tell me, what did she want the money for? Will I ever see her again?”
“This is just a guess, but here’s what we think happened.” I glanced at Rafe and he nodded. “We recognized a scent back here. It’s a vamp who will do just about anything for money. I have a feeling Aggie had arranged to meet him to pay this guy to make her a vampire.”
“What?” Sienna’s jaw dropped. “She’s already found one of those rogue vampires?”
“Yes, but it’s illegal according to our local vampire council.” I saw Danny nod. Guess he’d brushed up on our vampire rules. Good for him. “You know how desperate Aggie was to become vampire. I bet when she got you alone she mentioned it.”
“Sure. She wanted me to turn her. Of course I didn’t take her seriously. Talk is cheap, and what do I know about that stuff anyway?” Sienna stroked a fang. “I can’t imagine . . .”