A/N: I've always wanted to see Denis O'Hare as Russell Edgington just break out into show tunes whenever he's on screen. And since I just found out that Anthony Laciura, who plays Eddie Kessler, is an opera singer, I really want to put a scene where they have a duet in here somewhere! :'D
Chapter 4
She followed the wolf's trail as long as she could, but she lost it at the road. She could only assume the wolf and the man in brown had gotten into a car and driven away. She would have to find some way to track them. But first, she felt the urgent need to warn the man with the half face Richard, she reminded herself, that he was about to face a danger greater than any he had ever known. She stayed in tiger form as long as she dared, then shifted again to the small cat Richard had first met her as. Luckily, cats were notorious gossips, as they went everywhere and heard everything. She met with a tom cat who was able to tell her that he saw the man with the half face and the blond one walking into the big building with the wonderful assortment of delicious garbage. He showed her which one he meant, then went about his business. She sat in front of the building...a hotel, her mother had told her long ago... and regarded it curiously. Too many people had been through the doors to pick up the scent of Richard, and given the size of the building, if he was still in there, he could be anywhere.
Her ear twitched. This was an impasse. She could make her way inside the hotel and search, but she could easily miss him. Or she could wait here and hope that he came out.
She caught the unmistakable stench of the dark one on the wind. Her ears flattened and her hackles rose. She couldn't stop the growl rumbling low in her throat. As a car pulled up in front of the hotel, she ran to hide in a shadow of the building's facade. She watched as the man in brown got out of the car. And with him was the dark one. She cowered deeper into the shadows. If the dark one found her, she would meet the same fate as her mother.
Eddie Kessler was in the middle of straightening Nucky's closet when he detected an unpleasant aroma. He finished hanging the jacket in his hands and slowly made his way to investigate.
From the doorway, he spied Nucky speaking with Eli and a man he did not know. But from the scent, it was clear the man was a vampire.
"Nucky, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Russell Edgington. Mr. Edgington, my brother, Enoch Thompson."
"A pleasure, I'm sure," Nucky said, extending his hand. He noticed the stranger's hand was very cool, but since winter was on it's way, chalked it up to the weather.
"Mr. Thompson," Russell replied. His voice was quite cultured, with an accent that Nucky couldn't quite pinpoint. "Your brother Elias tells me you're the gentleman to talk to about business proposals."
"Yes, indeed," Nucky said, smiling. "Come, let's go to my office and talk. Eddie!"
Eddie jumped, then scurried into the room.
"Yes, Mr. Nucky?"
"Send some dinner up for my guests and I."
"Yes, Mr. Nucky. Anything else?"
"No, that should be all for the night. You're free to retire for the evening."
"Very well, Mr. Nucky." Eddie bowed his way out of the room, called down to the kitchen for dinner, then wheeled it into Nucky's office when it came up. Nucky only waved Eddie away when he offered to lay it out. He bid the three men a stammered good evening, not daring to glance at Russell Edgington, and backed out of the room.
"Is Eddie acting a little squirrelier than usual?" Eli asked. Nucky just shrugged and turned his attention back to Russell.
"Now, Mr. Edgington, what is it you wanted to discuss with me?"
The cat managed to make her way out onto the narrow ledge outside of the office where the man in brown sat with the dark one and another man. The window she was perched near was closed, and the glass was to thick for even her feline hearing to understand the words. But she was able to see in, and she watched intently as the dark on walked around the desk to the man she didn't know. The dark one leaned down and looked into the eyes of the other man. It puzzled her. The vampire wasn't attacking and draining the other man, which is what dark ones did. But instead, he seemed to be just talking to the man. The dark one seemed to be emphasizing his points carefully. The other man just stared back.
She didn't know what to make of this. She wished there was someone she could talk to, but there was no one who came to mind. Her mother was dead, and she hadn't been in Atlantic City long enough to know if there were other shifters here. She thought that she had run far enough away. But she hadn't. The dark one was here, she was here, and she had a feeling she was the only one who could warn others of this danger. Which brought her back to her dilemma regarding Richard.
She had a feeling he would understand, if she could find some way to explain it to him. She just had to find him. But first, there was a plump pigeon sitting on the ledge, at the far side of the window. It, too, was peering into the room, but she didn't think anything of that. It was just a pigeon, the phrase 'bird brain' existed for a reason, after all. She didn't think the pigeon had noticed her when it flew onto the ledge. That was to her advantage. She slowly shifted herself, her eyes glued to the pigeon, who still stared intently into the window. She felt her muscles tighten for the pounce. She would have to do this quickly and precisely. It was a long way down if she missed her landing...