The Watcher

STEPHEN RUSHES FORWARD, HIS ARMS OUT-stretched to take the woman from Culebra.

But Culebra shakes his head and brushes past him. He lays the inert form on the bar. "It's too late for her." His words are harsh. "Something else I must accept responsibility for."

"How did you get away?" I ask.

Culebra raises his eyes, reluctantly, to meet mine. It seems to take a great deal of effort for him to wrest his mind from anything except the dead woman. "When you broke the circle, you broke the spell that bound me, as well. But it took some time for me to shake off the effects. The distraction you provided when you grabbed the panther gave me time to shape-shift and free myself. But it wasn't in time to save her." His voice drops. "Burke saw me. She got to her before I could change back and free her. Burke strangled her while I watched."

I've never seen Culebra like this. For the first time, I see that the "woman" who had been hanging from the cross is really no more than a girl. Thin, pale, sixteen or seventeen years old. "Who is she?"

He touches her hair gently. "A runaway. Burke picked her up on the street, promised her food and shelter. Instead, she became a sacrifice."

His distress is so acute, it's painful to feel. I open my mind to offer him solace but he swats it away.

Idon't deserve your sympathy. All that has happened is because of my arrogance and conceit. I should have told you what the witch had planned instead of thinking I was strong enough to handle it on my own.

Williams interjects himself into the conversation. You are right to blame yourself, shape-shifter. We could have stopped Burke if we had known.

Williams' arrogance snaps my temper once again. How would Culebra have known you would accept help? You certainly didn't from me. In fact, you sent me away.

That was for a reason. You do not consider the ramifications of what you do.

Culebra emits a growl from deep in his throat. Let me guess. Did Anna think it more important to protect me than stop the demon?

Williams doesn't answer. He doesn't have to. His mind snaps shut with an almost audible click.

Culebra shakes his head. And yet Anna is the one who stopped the witch. She does what must be done. I would accept her help far more readily than I would trust my well-being to you, vampire.

The air is charged with energy. I'm caught in the middle of a supernatural clash of the titans. There's an undercurrent between the two that I want to question. Something both explosive and dangerous. But right now, Max's well-being is more important. I hold up a hand to break the tension.

We stopped the demon from rising, but Burke is still out there and so is Foley. Culebra, what happened after I left?

His eyes are locked on Williams but after a moment, he drags them away. Foley left almost immediately. I don't think he understands what he witnessed. He was disoriented and angry. He blamed Burke for letting you get away.

Whatever deal they struck is apparently void. I heard a car engine so I'm assuming he took off to find you. Maybe into Tijuana. Or maybe just back across the border.

And Burke?

She spent a little time with her followers, trying to calm them down. They knew nothing of Foley and were not pleased at the presence of an outsider. Burke offered no explanation. They demanded a sacrifice and to appease them, she took the girl. There was nothing I could do. Then they set fire to the altar and left. I just managed to get her body off the cross before the whole structure went up.

He grows quiet. His mind sinking again into a deep hole of black despair.

You did what you could, I tell him. Burke killed this girl, you did not.

This time he allows himself to take a little consolation from my words. But he lets me see that it is only because he has reached the decision to avenge her death. Burke will pay with her own life for the taking of this innocent.

I nod my understanding and pledge my help. She almost killed a friend of mine, too. This exchange occurs only between Culebra and myself. Williams is watching as if he knows we are sharing thoughts he is not privy to. His uneasiness shows.

But first, there is Foley to deal with. I turn on Williams. "You didn't tell me that Martinez has Max."

His eyes shift to Frey.

I don't let him get distracted. "Did Foley say how Martinez found Max?"

He shakes his head. "Only that Martinez set a trap and Max got caught in it."

"Then there can be only one explanation. Money. Foley was trying to collect a bounty Martinez put on Max. Originally, he may have planned to kidnap me to draw Max out. If Martinez captured Max on his own, Foley would have no claim on the money. Martinez wanted Max because he thinks it's Max's fault his family was killed. I may be the revenge Martinez is seeking for the death of his own family."

"But how would he know where to look for you tonight?"

I shake my head. "I don't know. He thinks I'm human. Even after I turned, he didn't believe what he was seeing. And he thought the demon was sleight of hand, special effects to wow Burke's followers. How could he have connected me with that?"

"Burke saw you here with me." Culebra replies. "That day you came to feed. I think the better question would be how Burke and Foley managed to get together. Unless she has a connection to Martinez that we know nothing about."

Williams and Culebra both look to me for the answer. Trouble is, I don't know. Max has never mentioned magic in his dealings with Martinez. And it's not a subject I'd be likely to bring up. I shrug and let them know.

Williams shifts restlessly from one foot to the other. "Well, I don't see that there is anything more we can do here tonight. I need to get back. Anna, do you want to come with us?"

Before I answer, I look at Culebra. He nods that I should go, that he will be in touch soon.

Still, I'm uneasy at the thought that Culebra might go after Burke on his own. Only when he assures me that he will not attempt it, do I agree to leave.

Besides, he adds, there are many I sent away who need to be called back. I jeopardized their safety as well as my own. I have much to make up for.

That Williams picks up on. We'd better go before your compadres start reappearing. His tone is mocking. I'm sure I'd recognize one or two. Probably on that same poster that features Burke back at my headquarters.

Culebra's reply is equally curt. Probably.

Frey decides to go back the way he came to Beso de la Muerte-in animal form. Stephen asks if Frey would like company.

Ihave so few opportunities to run free, he says. There is no moon tonight. We can make it to town before daylight.

Frey agrees and they shed their clothes, leaving them in a pile that I pick up and promise to deliver to Frey in a day or two. They make the transition with an almost gleeful abandon. Stephen's other form is wolf and the two waste no time, disappearing into the darkness beyond the saloon, the wolf's bay of farewell hanging on the air long after they are out of sight.

For a moment, I envy their freedom.

Williams motions to me that it is time to go. He says nothing to Culebra. Ortiz is just about to precede us out the door when he stops, head tilted.

"A car," he says.

I hear it, too, approaching fast. There is only one narrow road in and out of Beso de la Muerte. The tension level ratchets up a notch. It's a very good bet whoever or whatever is on its way in is not a friend. The unspoken consensus between us is that it's better to stay our ground and meet the stranger on familiar turf than try to beat him out of town.

Williams and Ortiz take positions beside the bar, Culebra in front of it. I step near the door and off to the side, ready to fling myself at the intruder if necessary.

With an intense single-mindedness, we listen as the car nears. It stops outside the saloon and a door opens. There is a pause, as if the driver is deciding on a course of action. Then footsteps echo on the wooden planks and the saloon door swings open.

Foley steps inside. He is neither alarmed nor apparently surprised at seeing San Diego's chief of police standing in the middle of the ruins of a ghost town saloon. His gaze sweeps in a lazy arc to take us all in.

When he spies me, he smiles. "Well," he says, turning back to Williams, "you do keep the strangest company."

Foley's air of self-assured nonchalance takes some swallowing. I feel the hair stir on the back of my neck, a flush of rage sends adrenaline pumping. I want nothing more than to ravage that smile off his face. He acts as if he doesn't see the dead woman lying in front of him on the bar or the man beside her who hung on a cross over his head not an hour ago. Instead, he stares at Williams with the defiant posture of one who believes he is in control.

Surprisingly, Williams lets him get away with it.

Instead of attacking, Williams meets Foley's gaze with a frown. "What are you doing here, Agent Foley?" he asks, his tone reflecting only mild curiosity.

Foley's smile never waivers. "I could ask you the same." He waves a hand. "But I will tell you. I came for Anna."

"In an official capacity?"

He shrugs. "If it needs to be. I came to ask for her help, but I can make it less pleasant if I have to."

"You have no authority in Mexico, Agent Foley."

"Neither have you."

God. Another pissing contest. They're so busy marking their territories, they forget that the object of the conversation is standing right here. "Would you like to tell me what it is you want?"

Both Foley and Williams turn abruptly in my direction.

I deliberately step between them. "What do you want?"

"It's not so much what I want," he replies. "It's what I can give you."

I raise an eyebrow. "I can hardly wait to hear this. What can you give me, Foley?"

"Max," he says. "I can give you Max."