Marriage is Murder

Jack and Jess moved out of the pay room and back to the living room to sit down when Jess stopped and listened to Michael and Kate she smiled and nodded to Kate in reply " ow he is expert at finding the hidden answers " she said and Jack chuckled as he held Jess from behind.

" Well he is a master burglar so need to know and hear hidden answers " Jack said moving Jess to sit down " and we should let him find those answers uninterrupted " he said and both chuckled as he sat next to her.

Michael was gone about 30 minutes. In that length of time, Robert had come back downstairs and Kate had told him about the drawings. If there was one thing Robert was accustomed to, it was odd things from seers.

"What did you learn?" Kate asked Michael.

"The black scribble is a man with dark hair. Dark eyes. And he wears a suit most men could only dream about. I showed her a magazine of mens fashions. She picked one out that costs thousands of pounds. Whoever this is, he has money. And he was definitely standing in front of Khaat with is back to her, facing the werewolves. Its my bet that he was protecting her. Does she know anybody with dark hair that is definitely wealthy that would even consider handling a standoff with werewolves by himself?" Michael asked. "Or is this a new player?"

Jess and Jack listened and thought long and hard " hum wonder who he is? " Jess said and looked at Jack who shrugged his shoulders.

" leave me out I have no idea who it could be" he said and accioed a cup of coffee and sat back to drink it . Jess sat back and sighed as she too accioed a cup of camomile tea as she tried to relax.

" it bothers me that there's a man out there who helped Khaat against the wears yet hes staying hid in the shadows.

"What if he didn't help her?" Robert asked. "What if what she saw wasn't one of Khaat's memory flashes. There seems to me to be just as much of a chance that it might be a warning of something yet to come."

"Oh fabulous," Michael sighed. "Just what hwe need is that same idiotic pack chasing us again."

"They never stopped, if you recall," Robert said. "Its just something we've taken a break from. They can't find us here. Remember, less than 48 hours ago, we were dealing with them in Venice. They're not that far off our radar. And--last night, Brian mentioned to me that he still is paying for that hotel room there. He had had plans of taking her back. I don't know whether he will or not now. But perhaps I should talk to him. Especially if she's seeing things."

"But you dont' know if she is or not," Kate said.

"I'll talk to her," Robert said.

"I have the description of this man," Michael said. "I'll talk to her."

"Good luck with that. She can be a trifle stubborn when she doesn't feel like talking."

"Gets that from her father," Michael said casually, heading upstairs.

Jack stopped and looked at Robert " god I hope not but I'll put out feelers in case" he said and placed down his cup moving out of the room Jess just and hoping that things would not go back to the wears again and that they had not reformed. Jack returned and sat with her.

" stop worrying Jess " he said and looked at Robert " well my contacts were a bust" he said " nobody has heard nor seen any man I described to them" he told Robert .

Michael went upstairs and found Brian simply standing at the window watching it snow. Khaat was a bit sleepy from her father's pain spell.

"You'd like to take a walk, wouldn't you?" Michael asked Brian.

"No, I'm...oh. Yeah. I guess I'll be back," Brian said, kissing Khaat. She nodded. Brian left and Michael said with her, sitting on the bed, leaning on the headboard.

"You're leaving a bit out for us," he said softly. "How about telling us what you saw?"

"Can't talk, remember?" she signed.

"Don't play that game with me. I taught it to you. You sign perfectly and so do I. You didn't really hide anything. Abbey tattled on you." Khaat frowned at him. He showed her the drawings. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Outted by a two year old. "Now..the truth."

It was almost an hour when he came back downstairs. "Well, I went through her photo albums with her, and we didn't see anybody that matched up to what she saw. But she had the strong feeling that he was protecting her, even at the risk of his own life."

"I suppose that's a good thing then," Kate said.

"No. It isn't," Robert said. "What we dont' know is where the hell we are that he has to protect her alone."

"There aren't that many men that she knows that are that wealthy," Brian said.

"There is one," Angus said very slowly, "But you're not going to like it."

Jess looked at Robert and Micheal and gave a shiver but said nothing Jack spoke first " ok that's not good I'm taking it" he said and held Jess close to him " maybe we should find out more about this man but if he helped her we could just leave it be and wait until he comes again" Jack asked looking from one to the other and back. Cassidy and Steven walked in and sat down with them.

" trouble?" Steven asks as Cassidy looked at Jess and the others " please don't tell me another bad guy has shown his head?" Steven sat back in the chair with cassidy resting against him.

"All we know is that there is a chance that the pack is coming back," Robert said. "I don't know that we know much else." He looked at Angus. "You know something we don't?"

"No," Angus said, "Just combing my brain about the people she's been around. Either there is someone new coming into her life that is going to fall pretty hard for her, or..."

"Unlikely," Brian said. "We keep her circle of people close to her small and tight for a reason."

"As much as within your control, yes," Angus said. "But you can't lock her in a box. And, there was one man who tried, and as I recall, we went to get her out. He's cared enough about her in his own odd way that he's followed her here to try to reconnect with her." Brian frowned.

"I'm a bit foggy. Who are we talking about?"

"Its hypothetical, but the only one who matches that description is Escobar," Angus said.

"He's not going to get within..." Brian began.

"Hold," Robert held up his hand to stop Brian. That made some sense. Very few would try to hold off a werewolf pack by themselves. But a vampire might have a fighting chance. That does, somewhat, make sense."

"There are those of us who have tried that who were perfectly mortal," Kate looked at Brian, remembering he'd attempted it.

"And there are those of us who are just plain stupid," Robert said.

Jack listened and frowned at Escobar's name he didn't like that man "Wears and vampires have had a hatred that goes way back through the centuries " he said listening again to Angus and Robert knowing if it was a vamp he was in trouble being a wear. Jess looked at the both of them and sighed.

" Maybe he protects her because he cares about her, but I do hope he understands she's married" she said looking at Brian

"Oh, he knows," Brian said, "And besides, she doesn't remember him anyway. Any spell he had over her is gone. Remember, Khaat has friends with all sorts of people. Including vampires. Remember it was one of her vampire allies that defended her from him when he came here looking for her and made Escobar release her from his spell in the first place. If it is him that they saw, he'll have to start from scratch if he thinks hes going to influence her in any way. And I'm not going to give him that long with her. Ever."

"Not if you have anything to say about it, that is," Robert said. "And I'm sure that we don't intend to be caught as far off guard as what they saw. Remember, this was merely a flash. We don't know what happens before or after it. All we can do is stay on our game like we usually do. Unless someone has any other wisdom."

"Wisdom is your department," Angus said.