Chapter Thirteen
A loud gurgling sound woke Cassandra when she opened her eyes and moved her fingers through the soft chest hair. Peter made a contented sigh as she moved her head to his shoulder and looked at the three chains lying on his chest. On the end of the shorter chain was what looked like a tiny cross or a bullet or an interesting, little wooden stake and she slid her fingers under it, running the pad of her thumb over it. The middle chain had a more detailed cross and she moved her fingers over the cross. The last chain had what appeared to be a golden key and some sort of religious medal. She wondered why he wore them as she poked his chest with the gold key and he smiled, placing his hand on top of her hand. She felt his soft skin under her fingers as she looked up at him and Peter smiled at her.
"What time is it?" he asked with a growl to his voice and she heard him make a tiny grunt as she climbed over him and looked at the clock on the night table. She gasped when he gently tapped her bottom and she looked over at him with a grin on her face. "Hey, you were the one sticking your ass in my face!"
"Hmph, well, it's a quarter after five. Looks like we've nearly slept the day away," Cassandra said as she crawled over his body and settled on top of him. Wrapping his arms around her, Peter sighed as she placed her hands on his chest then rested her head on the back of her hands and he moved his fingers along her back.
"Fuck, I'm starved," he said then she kissed his chest, got off of him and picked up his leather coat, sliding it on. He watched her tie the leather coat closed when she headed for the door and he watched her walking toward the door. Opening the door, she turned then smiled at him and he waved before plopping his head down on the pillow. Closing the door behind her, Cassandra walked down the hallway while she headed for the stairs as she hoped that Jane and Charlie were out and walked down the stairs. The floor was cold as she stood in the living room and looked toward the window. The sun was going down as the sky was bright in dark purple and red colors and the first lights of the buildings came on. Sighing, she turned to head for the kitchen when she heard a low cough and saw Darcy sitting on the high back chair with the brown and white cushions and Darcy arched an eyebrow.
"Ah, so that would explain the flu," she said with a blank look on her face and Cassandra sighed, folding her arms under her breasts.
Charlie couldn't believe he could be so stupid. He normally scanned for viruses before he opened any program, but he was in such a rush to help Peter that he opened the Who's Who program without scanning first. Jane was looking through some dvds that were on sale while Charlie stood at the help desk and the young man behind the desk looked at the information on the screen. Charlie had dealt with him before and he was a nice guy.
"Sorry, Charlie, but I'm afraid she's fried," he said as Charlie rolled his eyes and puffed air out of his cheeks. "What the hell did you do to her?"
"I was downloading something Eddie leant me," Charlie said and the young man nodded.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't load any shit that comes from Eddie's computer. Stupid fuck never scans thing."
"Yeah, I know."
"Still no word on him, hunh?" the young man asked and Charlie shook his head. "Shit, out of all the guys that come in here, he was the last one you'd think would run away. You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"There's talk going around that he finally got caught and someone killed him," the young man said and Charlie's eyes widened.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know that weird shit he was always spouting about vampires and shit like that? Well, I heard that he got caught snooping and the fucker killed him," the young man said and Charlie felt his stomach flip.
"Yeah, right," Charlie said with a nod of his head and the young man slid the laptop toward him.
"Sorry that I can't fix her," the young man said and Charlie nodded, took the laptop and walked to Jane.
"Was he able to fix it?" she asked and Charlie shook his head. Sighing, Jane patted his back as they headed for the door and she slid her arm around his shoulder. She knew she couldn't afford to get him a new laptop as they headed for the car and she looked up at the sky. She never minded when it was dusk, but after Jerry came into their lives, she had this nagging feeling to get inside before the sun came down. Getting into car, Jane smiled at Charlie as she patted his leg and Charlie slightly smiled. The car moved down the street while he watched the sun going down then sighed and placed his head against the glass, watching the scenery going by.
"And what does that mean?" Cassandra asked as Darcy got up and walked toward her, standing in front of her.
"Oh, come on. We all had a go at Mister Tiny Dick. Guess it was your turn," Darcy said as she slid her fingers under the long collar of the leather coat and flipped it up.
"Ah, so you think that I just tossed my legs up and let him have his way with me?" Cassandra asked and glared at her.
"Just saying," Darcy said while she held her hands up when Cassandra glanced over at the stairs and saw Peter sitting on the top step. He was wearing his black, silk boxers and black silk robe and had a cigarillo and his silver lighter dangling between his legs.
"Well, maybe I did," Cassandra said as she went face to face with her and smiled. "But he isn't a tiny dick. In fact, he is a two hander, which makes me wonder if you really had him. If you had, you would have known that!"
"To be honest, I wouldn't touch him if he was on fire. Who knows what he's got," Darcy said as she scrunched up her face and Cassandra saw that Peter was now sitting half way down the stairs. She watched as he opened the silver lighter then lit the cigarillo and puffed on the cigarillo.
"What I got is a curiosity about why you're in my house," he said as the smoke puffed out of the corner of his mouth and he placed the silver lighter in the black, silk robe pocket.
"How long…how long have you been sitting there?" Darcy asked while he walked down the stairs and tied the black silk robe closed.
"Long enough," he said as he walked to Cassandra and slid his arm around her middle, pulling her against him. "So, what are you doing here?"
"The management wants to know when you're going back to work," Darcy said as he slid his hand inside the leather coat and stroked Cassandra's side, making her shiver. He let go of her when he walked closer to Darcy and went face to face with her, his dark eyes glaring at her.
"Tell them that I'm feeling much better and will be on stage tomorrow night. Now hand over the key and get your ass OUT of my house!" he growled as she reached into her pocket and took out the key ring. He wiggled his fingers as she placed the key ring in his hand. He watched her turn around and head for the hallway when he called to her and she turned around, looking for her. "Just so you know. You're fired. Go pack your shit and don't let the door hit you on the way out. And if you say one word to the other girls, well, I don't think the management wants to waste more time while I look for new girls."
Darcy growled as she stormed out of the room when he walked to Cassandra and smiled, taking her hand.
"Want to order room service? They make a killer steak and chips!" he said as she nodded and he walked to the telephone, picking up the receiver.
The remains of the steak and chips dinner sat near the gas fireplace while the fire crackled and Cassandra tried not to laugh as Peter tried to get the bar refrigerator open. They had gotten dressed and Cassandra was glad she had gone back to her house for some clothes and necessities or she would have been wearing one of Peter's shirts instead of jeans, a pink t-shirt and white converse sneakers. Jane had called to tell him that she and Charlie would be eating out and Peter growled, pounding his fist against the refrigerator door. The ping from the lift filled the room as he looked up then saw Jane and Charlie walking into the room and Peter stormed over to her, holding his hand out while wiggling his fingers at her.
"Gimme!" he said as Jane softly smiled and Cassandra and Charlie covered their mouths with their hands.
"Give you what?" Jane asked as she arched her eyebrows up and Peter glowered at her.
"Look, I have been a good boy all day…"
"You've been sleeping all day," Jane corrected and Charlie was shaking from silent laughter.
"That's beside the point. I want a drink. So, please, give me the key!" Peter said with a sad look on his face and Jane patted his shoulder, led him to the high back chair in front of the window and sat him down. They watched as she walked to the bar then went around to the other side and knelt down. A few minutes later she walked to him with a glass of Midori in her hand and he grinned at her. Patting the top of his head, Jane sat on the high back chair across from him and Cassandra sat on the high back chair to his right. Charlie sat on the high back chair with the brown and white cushions as Peter looked at him and sipped on the Midori. "Were you able to get the laptop fixed?"
"No," Charlie said as he shook his head and Peter sighed. Charlie had told him the night before about what happened to his laptop and Peter sipped on the Midori.
"Shit, I really wanted to see what that Who's Who was all about."
"What I don't get is why the virus didn't hit the moment I logged on. It happened after I typed in that guy's name," Charlie said and Cassandra frowned.
"That's odd," Cassandra said while Peter shifted in the chair and dangled his left leg over the arm of the high back chair. He slightly grinned as she looked at the slight bulge in his tight jeans and he crossed his right leg over his left leg. "Does anyone else feel like he doesn't want to be found?"
"That's what I'm thinking," Charlie said while Peter sipped on the Midori and tapped his fingers on his right leg.
"Well, there is another way to find him," Peter said when he stood up and walked to Jane, handing her the glass. "Refill that for me, please."
"But…" she said as he gave her a sad puppy look and she softly laughed, got up and walked to the bar. After Jane brought him over another glass of Midori, Peter pointed with his hand toward the hallway to the left and they got up, following him out of the room. They walked down the hallway when he stood in front of a pair of large, oak doors and he took of a sip of the Midori then opened the door. Standing back, he did a little bow as they walked inside the library and Charlie's eyes widened at the sight of the bookcases standing against the walls.
"Fuck," Charlie said as they walked further into the room and Peter smiled, leaning against the doorframe.