His jaw firms and fire flashes through his eyes. Unlike me, he appears well rested and solid. As if he had a great night’s sleep. “I told you to go back inside.” He moves toward the vehicle and peers through the broken windows. I step up to do the same to see all of the leather slashed into pieces. “He’s a killer’ is carved into the driver’s seat.
I take a step back.
“Rosalie? What happened?” Yells an older male voice.
I look up to see Felix turn the corner and run toward us, his seventies-style jogging outfit brightening the entire day.
I shake my head. “Doc, you shouldn’t be here.”
He lets out a shrill whistle. As if on cue, elderly men pour out of my pink boarding house. I glance up at Alexei. This is a disaster. He needs to go.
A cacophony of exclamations arrive as they all bustle toward us dressed in everything from a bathrobe to a business suit.
“What happened?”
“Oh no.”
“Oh my.”
I drop my chin and then shake my head.
“Who the hell are you?” Merlin glares up at Alexei. Although early in the morning, Merlin is already dressed in a three-piece suit with a bow tie. I hadn’t realized he was going out today.
“I’m Alexei. Who the hell are you?” A slight grin tugs at Alexei’s full mouth. His gaze sweeps the group of elderly men.
I take a deep breath and hope my face isn’t as flaming red as it feels.
“Alexei Sokolov, please meet Felix, Kenny, Merlin, Ozzy, Percy, Wally and Yardley.” I swallow. “They’re my boarders.” More like my family.
Merlin holds out a hand and shakes Alexei’s, grunting as he obviously puts an effort into squeezing Alexei’s hand. Alexei looks over his head at Percy, who’s staring right back. Something passes between them, and a shiver skates down my spine.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Alexei says smoothly. He’s dressed nicely in gray slacks and a white button-down shirt he borrowed from Garik. It’s good enough for court, but the shirt is a little tight. He shakes the hands of the men and pauses with Percy. “Percy, did you say?”
“I surely did.” Percy is about six foot two, but old age has bowed his back. His eyes are a luminous black and his hair a thick silver. He was one of my first boarders, and I think he once worked as an accountant. Many years ago.
Alexei releases him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Did anybody hear anything?”
The assembled group walks around my brutalized vehicle, all of them mumbling and shaking their heads. I’m sure most of them had already taken out their hearing aids for the night when this happened.
“Where did you come from?” Wally asks, his slight Welch accent emerging. That only happens when he gets angry. He normally stays inside and rarely ventures into the world. I believe he was once a traveling salesman, and that’s why he prefers to remain indoors these days.
“I’m a friend of Rosalie’s,” Alexei says. “Do you have any idea who could have done this?”
Percy puts his hand on his hips. He’s wearing loose khaki pants and a stained red polo shirt today. “No. Although reading the message cut into the leather, it’s obviously about you. You are a killer, are you not?”
“Rumor has it.” Alexei sighs. “I’ll give you a ride to the courthouse, Rosalie.”
I’m suddenly grateful I’m wearing my navy-blue suit with pants instead of the skirt, although every time I move, my clit cries. She probably deserves it, getting drunk and all, but Alexei hadn’t been gentle with her last night. Apparently, I don’t like gentle. I am so screwed up. He sees something in me that I haven’t realized is there. A need for darkness—for what he can provide. “I do have to get to court.” Being late to Judge Lahaska’s courtroom is to be avoided at all costs. She lacks any semblance of patience.
“Should we call this into the police?” Felix asks, his headband a multitude of colors across his forehead.
“No,” Alexei says. “This is about me, and I’ll handle it.”
Wally looks at me. “What do you think?”
“I think we call the police for vandalism,” I say.
