\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked her.<\/p>\n
She paused a moment to light her cigarette, the flame sparkling like fireworks in her hazel eyes. \u201cBrianna.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cNot your stage name. The real one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smoke curled up and out from between her lips. \u201cYour money buys my time,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of money.\u201d She said nothing to this, only quietly smoked her cigarette. \u201cOkay,\u201d he said finally. \u201cBrianna it is.\u201d He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the surface of the wooden table. \u201cYou\u2019re not what I expected.\u201d Still, she said nothing. \u201cYou\u2019re more beautiful than I had thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a purpose to this meeting?\u201d she asked. \u201cI have better uses for my time if not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to get something for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flicked the ash from her cigarette onto the kitchen floor, ignoring the ashtray on the table in front of her. \u201cAnd what is this something you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated, and then said, \u201cA book.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps you should go to the library, Mr. Charles. I understand they have quite a collection there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot like this. Not in any library I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
She put her cigarette to her lips again. \u201cGo on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are only three copies of this book in existence. One is rumored to be hidden in the Vatican library, although of course there is no definitive proof of this, and the Pope isn\u2019t talking. One I\u2019ve tracked as far as Berlin during the war, but there\u2019s no record of it beyond the point where the Russians rolled into town. Perhaps it was destroyed in the shelling, but then again perhaps not. It may have been taken to Moscow, but again, there is no proof of that either.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far you are telling me nothing that I have any interest in hearing,\u201d she said. \u201cYour time is almost up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third copy is in France. The price I paid you for this meeting is pocket change compared to what I\u2019ve spent tracking down that book. I mean to have it, and I need you to get it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must be a very good book,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a very good book at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes this book have name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Libro de Sanguine et Os<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn English,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Book of Blood and Bone<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n She sighed and stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray. \u201cWritten in blood, bound in human flesh, right? Just like in the movies?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo they say.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course they do,\u201d she said. She put her hand on her pack of cigarettes as if contemplating lighting another, but didn\u2019t take one out. \u201cWhere in France do you think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a manor outside of Beaujeu, near Lyon. The book is there. I am certain of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why do you need me, if you know where it is?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe man who possesses this book will not give it up willingly. Neither will the men guarding it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow many men?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt least ten at any given time. They will of course kill to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the name of this man who has the book?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis name is unimportant,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll pay you twice your asking fee to bring it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis name,\u201d she said again.<\/p>\n \u201cS\u00e9raphine Sauvage. Do you know him?\u201d<\/p>\n She ignored his question. \u201cTell me about the manor.\u201d<\/p>\n He leaned forward and put his arms on the table. \u201cIt\u2019s old, a few hundred years. There\u2019s a stone wall around the property, motion detectors, dogs. The usual security walking the perimeter. The manor itself is three floors and a cellar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny way into the cellar without going through the house? Tunnels?\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t know. The information I was given didn\u2019t specify anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho gave you the information?\u201d<\/p>\n He grinned. \u201cSauvage\u2019s mistress. She has expensive habits and questionable loyalties. It\u2019s a combination I find very appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is the book?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHe keeps it in a safe in his study. Cliche, I know, but very secure. And before you ask, I don\u2019t have the combination. He is understandably reluctant to share that sort of information.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnything else I should know?\u201d She picked up the pack of cigarettes and slipped it into her coat pocket.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly what I already said, that I will pay you double your fee for the book. Triple, if you kill Sauvage before leaving the manor. I\u2019d prefer him dead rather than trying to steal it back from me.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded. \u201cI\u2019ll consider your offer. May I have some water?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d he said, and pushed away from the table. He stood and walked to the cupboard, took down a glass.<\/p>\n \u201cI should kill the mistress as well,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to tie up loose ends.\u201d<\/p>\n He filled the glass at the sink. \u201cTrying to up your fee even more?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to be secure on your end,\u201d she said, \u201cthe fewer people who can be linked to you in this, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI see your point.\u201d He walked back to the table and held out the glass to her.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re sure there\u2019s nothing else you can tell me before I start?\u201d she asked. She took the glass from him.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d she said, and then without warning grabbed his arm in her free hand and threw herself backward in her chair, pulling him down as well. As they fell, she drove her knee into his stomach and flipped him over her body, above her head, and slammed him onto his back on the tile floor. She allowed the momentum from the fall to carry her through a roll, and she slipped over him, ending her move by straddling his chest. She smashed the top of the water glass off against the cabinet beside them, and then in one vicious swipe slashed it across his throat, opening a tear that began gushing instantly. She rolled off and away from him before he had a chance to do anything more than put his hands against the wound, futilely trying to hold it shut. In less than a minute, his thrashing had stopped.<\/p>\n She was irritated to see that as quick as she\u2019d been to get off of him, she hadn\u2019t been fast enough to keep from getting speckled with blood down the front of her shirt. She would change once she got back to her car. She kept a spare outfit in the trunk for reasons such as this.<\/p>\n She took a cell phone from her pocket, speed-dialed the one number she had programmed into it. Momentarily, the call was picked up.<\/p>\n \u201cI know where it is,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be harder to get than I\u2019d anticipated. Your bill is going to be higher. Don\u2019t call this phone again. You won\u2019t be able to reach me on it.\u201d<\/p>\n She hung up and put the phone into her pocket. She would dispose of it later, when she burned the clothes she was wearing now. She picked up the broken pieces of glass and cigarette butt from the ashtray and put them in her coat pocket. She hadn\u2019t touched anything else in the house.<\/p>\n She would make flight arrangements in the morning, and decide which of her dozen passports would best suit her needs. Her French was rusty, but it would suffice.<\/p>\n Once she had the book, she would decide if her fee was high enough. If not, maybe she would keep it for herself.<\/p>\n The more she was learning about the book, the more interested she was becoming.<\/p>\n Very interested indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked her. She paused a moment to light her cigarette, the flame sparkling like fireworks in her hazel eyes. \u201cBrianna.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cNot your stage name. The real one.\u201d Smoke curled up and out from between her lips. \u201cYour money buys my time,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s all.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[163,164],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-2","tag-blood-and-bone","tag-brianna"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kamekomurakami.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}