Chapter 7
George's patience was wearing thin after listening to Buffy. She meant well, but still...
"You should do something about him...I tell you I saw that little girl..."
"How many times do I have to go over this? There is no proof of what you say. The child's mother says that it was all a child's prank. In fact, according to what I heard, the one who needed protection was Barnabas..
Buffy shook her head, an ineffable expression on her face, as if she was the only one who knew the truth.
"He's gotten to the child's parents, obviously. He can do that."
"Elsa Quarles can take perfect care of herself. which is more than can be said for those nuts around Sister Kira!"
"Sheriff!" Buffy was shocked.
"Go ahead, scream persecution. You people feel persecuted every time you cannot persecute someone else.."
"You are not a Christian, I see."
"I am one. But not your particular brand."
"Have you ever asked Jesus into your life?"
"Meaning I will vote like you on the issues? Too bad. I believe in unions. I was for disarmament before Billy Graham discovered the issue. I support the International Year of the Child. I am for ERA and gay rights...So you see, I didn't ask your Jesus into my life."
"You don't understand."
"I do. Believe me, lady, I do. If I believed you and your kind were all there is to it to Christianity, I'd turn Buddhist."
Had he been too harsh with her? Maybe.
"Why do you refuse to understand? " She was near tears now. George hated himself then. So Buffy was politically naive. She was uninformed and couldn't figure out that Anita Bryan's concern for children didn't include the migrant children that worked in the Florida orange groves, as if there were no child-labor laws in this country
But then, nobody of Buffy's age had any business being naive and misinformed.
Both Davenport and Redwolf were uncomfortable. They had been talking about shares and percentages, while their real concern filled their minds.
Finally Redwolf spoke.
"What are we going to do with Barnabas? He's getting very unwelcome these days. We owe him, of course, but..."
"But he's a liability now..."Xavier agreed. "What are we going to do about him?"
"He knows how important this is. He would not want to drag us down with him."
"Yes. He would not want that."
"Maybe you could make him keep a low profile" Redwolf said" On the other hand, Quentin has not made any friends in the reservation. They might like Barnabas better because of this."
"So, he might be an asset there...Well, we will have to wait and see. And ask him to keep a low profile."
There was a bottle...
Phillip moaned in his sleep.
...A bottle...a bottle... a ten o'clock bottle...
...Phillip beat against the glass, screaming...
"Phillip, Phillip, wake up." Barnabas shook him awake. "it is only a dream."
"No...not the bottle...please, not that..."
Phillip opened his eyes slowly. He looked around trying to remember where he was.
"Are you all right?" Barnabas sat down next to him.
"Yes" Phillip nodded.
"You were screaming something about a bottle."
"A bottle?" Phillip was on his guard again. "Why would I say that?"
"Why should I know? do bottles have a special meaning for you?"
Phillip shook his head. "None that I can think of." he laughed, a bit forced "Maybe I should go easy on the pizza and beer next time."
"Maybe it has something to do with those missing years you can't remember. Maybe there is something bottle up inside you."
"Spare me the amateur psychoanalysis. I just had one beer too many. ...and you, how are you doing?"
"Not good. Iris was right. I got plenty of cancellations."
"Maybe you should talk to Derek. Get hold of the stuff he uses."
"I don't need to."
"Don't need or don't want?"
"Now who's the amateur psychoanalyst?" Barnabas laughed, a bit forced "All right. I don't want to. I need human contact. If I don't have to rely on people for that..."
"You'd be left without an excuse to poke your nose in their business."
"Call it what you like. But there are many people out there who are down in the dumps, who need a shoulder to cry on, someone to listen to them and hold them in his arms..."
"Meaning you."
"Yes. Do you know what it meant to me the first time when I realized that I was giving more than I was taking? If I stopped going out for blood, I'd stop worrying about them, I'd stop caring..."
"God, they broke the mold when the made you."
Sabrina looked out the window. Roxanne was late for the meeting. Well, she probably had trouble getting away from that man...Aristide, was that his name? In any case she would come. She was scared enough for it.
She dragged out her cigarette. One good thing about the man. He was a sadist, and thus more interested in his own personal gratification than in paying attention to what was going on...unless of course he saw the possibilities for fun.
Finally the bat appeared at the window.
"Well, come in." she said "you are late already. Care for a cigarette?"
Roxanne took one from the package Sabrina extended, looking distrustfully at her.
"Why did you ask me to come here?"
"Because I need you, and you need me."
"I don't need you."
"They will kill you both. You and Sebastian."
"They won't. They need me."
"With those tapes soon they will be able to control Maggie without you. And you are way out of your league with them. Add to it is that Washington is a lousy place to have a vampire. Here everybody spies on everybody else."
"No... they need me. They couldn't have gotten to Maggie without me."
"Now they got her, and your usefulness is over. They'll use Maggie to bring in new prospects. You were a fluke. An operation like this does not depend on the wild chance of meeting a vampire who has something on a Congressperson."
"Would you like to know what I have on her?"
"I'll tell you myself. You are a recovered addict. So's Sebastian, probably. You were already a recovered addict in 1970 when you attacked Maggie. Contact with her blood make your addiction flare up, because Maggie was an addict herself then. She hooked you again, and that's why you could not keep away from her."
"How...how could you know that?" Roxanne couldn't hide her surprise.
"It is my job to know these things. How did you go about making her pay without complaint?"
"I made clear that it would be a small sum and that no political favors would be asked."
"Yes, you were a smart blackmailer. You never got greedy. But the people you are now involved with...they are something else. You never know what they'll do next."
"Only that you will not like it." Roxanne finished for her.
"You are in trouble. Don't kid yourself. Your only chance is to help me undo this mess."
Tammy cleared her desk. She was aware of the glances that Chris and Joe gave her. She could almost hear their thoughts.
"To blow a good salary like this just to follow a Bible-touting fanatic."
Well, at least they would not have to put up with her anymore.
"Miss Graham wants to see you before you leave." Angelique said.
"I'll be there" Tammy growled " But still I can't figure out what else she could want."
Angelique knew the real reason why se was "quitting" but she would never let on in front of the others. Let them tell all about it the next time they stopped at the Blue Whale, and help Tammy's cover.
As Tammy entered the office, Angelique turned to the men.
"Don't you two have something better to do than just stare?"
"Is Megan offering her a raise if she stays?"
"What business is it of yours?"
Joe coughed. "I've been boning up on white collar crime since..."
"Since you heard she might be leaving. Well, you talk to Megan about that. But it will take more than boning up to replace her."
"She's a bitch." Chris said.
"She's a bitch who knows her job."
Inside Megan's office Tammy opened her collar.
"Do you think this will do the trick?" she whispered to Megan.
"It should." then Megan added in a louder voice "You can reconsider."
Tammy answered aloud, choosing her words "I will not reconsider. It is a matter of principle. I know what you stand for, and what Sister Kira stands for."
Megan bared her fangs. "Keep talking" she whispered..
"I don't expect you to understand. If you did, you'd never have thought of bribing me. You know the price of everything and the value of nothing..."
And so she went on while Megan drank, forming the connection between their minds.
Harry Redwolf kept the phone receiver at some distance from his ear since Phillip was screaming too loud at the end of it.
"Well, what's your answer? Are you going to help him or not?"
"Calm down, will you? I can barely make out what you are saying."
"You know very well what I am saying. You owe him a favor. You nearly got him killed with your schemes once."
"What sort of help do you have in mind?" Harry was wary. There were as many cons as pros in helping Barnabas. For one thing he was accused of being a child molester or equivalent. On the other hand, being attacked by Quentin's people made him popular with Old Munsungan's followers. "I can sort of give him a character reference. But this project is important. More important than Barnabas. Or than myself. Barnabas understands it too."
"He has trouble feeding. He is running out of sources."
"And you want me to sell to the tribe to let him...?"
"You can do it. They'll listen to you. There's no danger in it. He's always careful..."
"No danger except to my political career. And to the project."
"You can at least try!"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Barnabas asked Willie.
"What kind of question is that? Of course, I want to help you."
"This way?" Barnabas could not help being uncomfortable. Feeding from Willie brought back too many bad memories..
"Yes, this way." Willie opened his collar.
"Would you be more comfortable if I took it from the wrist?"
"After knowing each other all these years? Come on, Barnabas."
Roger watched the maid carry linen up the stairs.
It was going to be like this all morning. It was a big cleaning day and the house was in an uproar.
Which was good. With all that going on, no one would pay much attention to him.'
He had a lot of free time, maybe even a whole day, to search for traces of that U.F.O. in the woods.
