Part 20

As they got closer to the apartment, Henry asked, "Do we need to make any stops?"

"Let's just get to your place. I'll feel more secure then." He nodded. She feels secure at my place! Stop it Henry! You're not 17 anymore. By an incredible number of years. Vicki started digging through her bag, "Where's my phone? I need to call Coreen and let her know we made a clean getaway. That girl is going to love it when she sees what we found." Henry knew Vicki could look for the phone forever and never find it in that black hole of a purse, so he reached in his jacket pocket and gave her his. "Let's just make sure she never opens the bottle while Amar's still inside. God knows what that child would do with a djinn's power."

"Probably" Vicki grinned, "conjure up her own flamethrower factory."

He wasn't quite that convinced, "Or bring back Ian."

She shook her head in response, "No, I think she's pretty much over Ian. She's got a crush on you, though."

"Pfft."

That raised Vicki's eyebrow, "That's not a very royal sound, your highness. And she does."

"She wants what she thinks is mysterious." Henry shrugged, "Eventually, she'll realize she wants something normal." He reached for her hand, squeezing it, "As long as you don't."

"Oh, babe, I realized a long time ago," she squeezed back, "normal is just a six letter word that doesn't have a whole lot to do with me or my life."

"Good."

They pulled in front of the building, and while Henry handed over the car to the valet, Vicki walked in holding their new friend. Greg, her favorite doorman, smiled when he saw her. "Miss Nelson, good to see you again. What an interesting bottle you have there." And it's a nice change that she's not dragging Mr. Fitzroy, semi conscious, through the lobby. He'd finally gotten over seeing her half naked at Henry's door and the professional face was now fully back.

"Good evening, Greg. Yes, it's definitely an interesting bottle."

"Where'd you find it?" She and Mr. Fitzroy were always up to something.

"All night antique mall. Henry's right behind me, Greg, but I have got to go. I need to use the facilities."

"Yes ma'am."

Two seconds later, Henry came in and before Greg could say anything, Henry said, "Good evening, Greg. Did Miss Nelson head upstairs already?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you. We're in for the night. If anyone wants to come up, please let me know before hand."

"Of course, Mr. Fitzroy. Good night." Now why would he ask that? He never has before. And it's 1 in the morning, who comes ov-Idiot!

"Good night." I need to get him something really special for Christmas this year.

Vicki was waiting for him inside the apartment. She released Amar, and asked if he'd like something to drink or some food. Do djinns eat Chinese ….food?

She'd already starting asking him questions about Grimm.

"I know nothing of the deaths, Henryvicki." His face was emotionless as he answered her.

"Of course you don't. But you do know about the destruction of the three buildings Grimm owned. The fire of in the Fox Building."

"Yes."

"Did he actually set fire to that building?"

"No."

"Do you know who did?"

"They were not set."

"Was he responsible?"

"Yes." The simplistic q and a was starting to annoy Vicki and Henry could feel the tension start to rise. She wasn't really a 'we'll take our time to get answers' kind of girl. He lightly rested a hand on her arm. "May I?" Loathe to give up control, she allowed it none the less. Maybe the Prince of Darkness could get the information they needed in a less painful way.

"How was Anthony Grimm responsible for the destruction ? Be specific in your answers."

"He required the buildings be destroyed so he could acquire the wealth from something he called insurance. But he required that there be no trail back to him of illegal activities. I was to burn it, without any clues left behind."

"If you didn't set fire to the place, how did it burn?"

Amar answered with no pride, as if he were delivering the daily farm report, "It was a relatively simple spell. I caused the sun to magnify on the thing called glass." Vicki couldn't stand it, and Henry could feel the anger start to bubble up in them both. Not against Amar. He was simply a tool. It rose against Grimm who had not cared what happened or to whom, just as long as it lined his pockets. His actions had caused Vicki pain. To the former Duke of Richmond, it was unacceptable to hurt someone he loved. Someone he had sworn to protect. Henry wrapped up his anger and brought it under tight control. It would serve no purpose to rage at the djinn. Vicki, however, was taking a whole 'nother road. She had been leaning on the arm of the sofa, but jumped when she said, "Your relatively simple spell caused the death of two children!"

Her anger took Amar by surprise and when she looked in his face she thought she saw regret. "I was unaware. I felt no presence in the building."

"Did you try?"

"No." He shook his head. "I simply followed Anthony's direction to make the buildings useless."

"Well, you did a good job," tears threatened as she thought of Lainey and Kevin, "two children have been taken from their parents because of it!"

"I am sorry," the djinn looked stricken at the sight of her so near to crying. "Is there no way, have you no magic's, to bring them back? "

"No, Amar, in this reality, dead is dead." Henry stood a little taller as he answered, "Two children were taken from their parents. People who loved them and were left to wonder if they were dead or alive. Their spirits found us, and then we found their bodies. It was Grimm's fault and we need to know how to bring him to justice. Their deaths must be avenged." While he was being questioned, Amar had answered in a monotone at first. Maybe it was because he was picking up the emotional turmoil from Henry and Vicki, maybe it was the passion with which they spoke of the murdered children, but he was becoming angry at his former master. He bowed and said, "I will kill him. Vengeance would be served."

While the thought was tempting, Vicki still had enough cop left in her to want Grimm to stand trial for the murders, so, instead of saying go for it, she said,

"No, but thank you for asking Amar. We just want him to lose everything he has ever had, or ever wanted and end up in jail for a long time. Preferably with a roommate named Bubba who has a special hate for child killers. We need proof, note books, evidence, a smoking gun."

"As you say. In his home, he has what is called a set of cooked books. I do not know what it means, but I have heard him speak of it to one his associates. He has told her that if anyone ever finds them, he will be confined for many years in something called a slammer, and her," he paused, not sure he was using the correct phrase, "gravy train? would come to a screeching halt."

Henry watched the wheels turning round in Vicki's head, knew she was about to ask something and spoke, trying not to patronize, "Vicki, be careful how you phrase things. One wrong word and who knows what could happen." The look she gave him made him feel like he'd just walked outside at noon. He sat back down on the sofa.

"Amar, if I ask you a question, you have to answer it, right?"

"Correct."

"Answer me this. Can you teleport the cooked books somewhere?" I can't believe I'm actually using the word teleport in a sentence and I'm not watching Star Trek!

"Yes."

"Are they protected by the wards set to keep you in and if not are there others in place?"

"No, those were specific to me. To my knowledge there are no others."

"What would be the consequence of transporting those books here?"

"Mr. Grimm's gravy train would come to a screeching halt."

"If you teleported them somewhere say, here, what would be the consequences?"

"We would have the cook books, Mr. Grimm would not."

"Cooked books, Amar." She looked at Henry, the gleam in her eyes almost scaring him, "What do you think? Worth a shot?"

Henry shrugged, her eyes reflected in his, "If we got the books to Celluci, he could open an investigation. He just couldn't know where they came from."

"Knowing that insurance was the reason the buildings were burned, with the books as evidence, at the very least Mike could make a case for negligent homicide. They'd leave a trail a mile wide."

"Even Celluci could follow that trail." Henry grinned.

"Henry."

"Sorry."

Vicki continued, "And the books would be evidence of fraud. Grimm would have a hard time getting out of it."

"It's a start."

Vicki looked at her watch. It was one in the morning and the last 48 hours had finally decided to catch up with her. She yawned. Henry looked at her tired eyes and stood up from the sofa. "Time for you to get some sleep, love." He spoke softly as held out his hand. "We'll continue this later. You should stay here, just to be on the safe side." For once, Vicki didn't give him an argument, the whole breaking and entering, finding a djinn, and finally having a way to get to Grimm had just worn her out. She nodded to Amar, and said, "Thank you for your help. When this is over, we'll talk about your future."

The djinn raised an eyebrow, "My future is to serve you, Henryvicki. You freed me from my prison, therefore I am yours to command."

"Yeah, well, that's nice. We'll talk about that tomorrow…later today… whatever. Do you want to go back into your bottle, or would you like to remain out?" The absurdity of what she said hit her, and she began to laugh. Henry looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Vicki? Are you all right?"

Once she caught her breath she said, "I'm fine. Just thinking about how my life has changed, when talking to a djinn in the living room of a vampire seems normal. What's next? Santa and his reindeer landing on the balcony?" She was already heading to the bedroom to borrow a shirt of Henry's to sleep in when she heard him say, "Don't be disrespecting St. Nick. He's a good guy." He turned to Amar, bottle in hand, "What do you want to do, Amar? In or out? He couldn't help but grin as he heard Vicki start laughing again from the bedroom. She was right. The absurdity of this had to make you laugh.

"I would be more comfortable in my bottle, if you would leave it open."

"Done. Goodnight, Amar. We'll continue this is in the--later. Please do not leave the apartment unless one of us is with you."

"As you wish. Goodnight, Henryvicki."

Note to self, explain to him tomorrow about how I'm Henry, she's Vicki. As he reached the bedroom, he felt the djinn's presence become no more corporeal than the air and closed the door.

Vicki was already wearing one of his favorite shirts, the maroon with the ruffled collar and cuffs, standing in the hallway to the bathroom, "Do you have an extra toothbrush?" He didn't answer at first. He was too busy staring at the tall woman wearing a shirt that had never come close to looking that good on him.

"What?" She could barely stifle the yawn. He forced himself to move and went to the cabinet in the bathroom, pulled out a brand new one, and handed it to her. "All yours, love." He could feel his blood reaching for hers, calling him. "Tomorrow if you like we can bring yours here, or this can be yours from now on."

"Right now, I have one and that's what matters." She unwrapped it, waggled it at him, "How many of these extra toothbrushes do you have, anyway?"

"Three. They were on sale, three for $15." The look she gave him said, he buys things on sale? "What? I can't always get out to buy things, so I buy two or three at a time, just in case."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were thinking that I keep them here for my….friends. I don't." He pulled her to him. "You're the first person to ever get a spare toothbrush, Vicki." His smile came and went, he almost whispered, "You're the first person to do a lot of things where I'm concerned." He brushed her hair back off her neck, searching her face. "If you wanted, you could move in here tomorrow. I trust you with everything I am. What I am." She brought her hand up touch his cheek, moving her thumb back and forth. He moved into the motion like a cat, her touch almost making him purr.

"I know. I have the same faith in you. But we need to go slow. I've got issues I need to work on, and you've got your own adjustments to make." She pulled out of his embrace, "And I've got teeth to brush." He let her go, and followed her into the bathroom. They got ready for bed in a comfortable silence, and when they were done, he pulled back the covers, holding them up for her, "After you, my lady." They crawled into bed, Henry pulling her to him so he could listen to the sound of her heartbeat, her blood slowing down as she started to drift off. "I love you Victoria." He kissed the top of her head and waited for her to tense. He was happily disappointed when she didn't. "Me too. But you're not getting any. I'm already asleep."

He laughed out loud, "Goodnight, love." They fell asleep that way, neither of them moving and when Vicki woke three hours later, they were exactly as they had been, wrapped in each other. She didn't say anything, just stayed where she was, listening to the quiet. Henry's head barely turned "Why aren't you asleep? You should be resting."

"I was resting." She grinned in the dark. "Now I'm…..restless. If you take my meaning."

This chapter in its entirety is at my LifeJournal space. From here it gets a bit racy.