Standing in the Shadows (McClouds & Friends #2)(143)

Erin closed her eyes before she could see the gore-spattered walls. "I heard all those gunshots," she said.

"We were just making dead sure," Tamara said. "Connor said you were an Amazon. He was right. I'm impressed." Tamara was pressing hard on her upper arm, her fingers wet with blood.

"You're wounded," Connor said to her. "Let me see."

"Tonia grazed me," she said. "The bitch always did have lousy aim. No big deal. I've taken worse than this and then gone out dancing."

The world widened into vast, echoing emptiness again. Erin heard their voices, but she could not take in what they were saying. Connor's hand was warm against her face. "Erin? Babe? Anybody home?"

"I'm not dead," was all that came out. What she wanted to say was too complicated, a million desperate things all struggling for precedence. "I'm not dead," she repeated stupidly.

"No, you're not, sweetheart. Thank God."

Connor's head dropped onto her blood-soaked shoulder. She smelled his warm, tangled hair against her face. He loved her, but he couldn't follow her to that frozen wasteland. No one could. She didn't know the way back to where he waited, warm and gentle, and needing something from her that she was too destroyed to give.

"It's all chaos," she whispered. "That's it. That's all there ever was. Anything else is just a lie. Just a mask."

Connor smoothed her hair back, frowning. "I think you've got a concussion, baby."

"I think she's telling you something important," Tamara said. She tilted Erin's chin up gently with a blood-streaked hand. "You know what? You've got the makings of an excellent professional bad girl."

That was so bizarre, it actually penetrated the haze and pulled her back to the room. She focused on Tamara, blinking. "Really?"

Tamara smiled. "Sure. You've got all the prerequisites. The looks, the brains, the nerve, the flexible attitude. You need a little help with the style, but that's no biggie."

Connor pulled her back against the warmth of his chest. "That's very kind of you, but it's not her scene."

"Let Erin speak for herself," Tamara mocked. "Today's a big day. Her first kill. It's all chaos, right? I've known that all along, you see. It's made me what I am today."

Connor's body was rigid. "Hey. Forget it. Erin isn't a—"

"I owe you one, beautiful," Tamara told her. "If you ever need help with something scary, leave me a message at the Honey Pot sex toy shop down in Pioneer Square. Scary things are my specialty."

"Scary like this?" Connor asked harshly. "Jesus. That's kinky."

"This situation was pretty much my outer limit," she admitted. "I plan to be very mellow for a while. Unless Erin needs me, of course."

Connor's arms tightened jealously. "Thanks, but I can help her with anything scary that comes up."

Tamara stroked Erin's cheek with a long red fingernail. There was a guttering silver lightning bolt appliquéd onto it. "Men may come and men may go, but sisters look out for each other," she murmured.

Erin let out a bitter laugh. "Like Tonia?"

Tamara dismissed Tonia with a flick of her bloodstained hand. "Tonia is trash," she said. "What you lost in her, you gained in me… and then some." She leaned forward and kissed Erin's mouth. Her lips were soft and lingering. "Keep that in mind, girlfriend."

Connor made a rumbling sound in his chest. "Hey. I appreciate your help, and this eternal sisterhood stuff is touching, but it's been a tough day. You can stop f*cking with my head anytime now. Anytime."

Tamara laughed in his face and poked him with her lightning bolt fingernail. "Toughen up, McCloud," she said. "You're such an easy mark." She rose and hiked up her skirt to holster her gun. "This place is going to be full of cops in a while, so I'll just be on my way. Cops make me itch. Except for you, of course, big boy."

"I'm not a cop anymore," he said.

Tamara's eyebrows lifted. "Once a cop, always a cop. I'm out of here." She smiled at Erin. "Ciao, beautiful. It's been intense."

"Any other goons to worry about?" Connor demanded.

She shook her head. "He was keeping a very low profile. The only ones in the house were Silvio and Nigel. They probably bolted when they heard the gunshots. The rest are scattered around the city. They'll evaporate soon." She dug her toe into Tonia's buttock as she passed. "Stop sniveling, you stupid cow. You won't bleed to death. Apply direct pressure with the heel of your hand and shut up."

"Tamara?" Erin called.

Tamara turned at the door.

"Thank you," Erin said. "I owe you one, too. You know how to find me if you need me."

Tamara's brilliant smile flashed. "Till later, then."

She vanished into the dark. The two of them huddled together in the dim room between two blood-soaked corpses. Tonia's miserable whimpering grated on her raw nerves. Connor was saying something. Repeating it. She wrenched her mind into focus.

"… still got that cell phone on you someplace, sweetheart?"

"In my purse." Her teeth chattered. "Around here somewhere."