CAL McAFFREY

I was flat on the floor, gripping Riley Biebe’s hand and yelling at the top of my lungs. I gasped for air, yelled again and scrambled like a crab, backing myself into a corner. “What the fuck! How long was I gone?”

Riley looked to John who knelt close while another pretty lady, Nat Aubrey I think her name is, brought me a glass of water.

“You were gone less than ten seconds,” Biebe said and heaved me to my feet. “S’okay. You’re safe now. Portal doesn’t hold on tight after the release.” He pulled the water from my hand and called for whiskey.

I looked around me. They were all either freaked out, terrified or shaking their heads in disbelief. “Where’d it take me?”

“Only you know that. You’re looking kinda pale. How feeling okay?” Biebe asked. I was now in a chair and most of them were sitting close too. Rally round the new dude. All we needed was a campfire and some marshmallows.

“Like fucking shit. I gotta get out of this town.”

Lachlan Curry scratched his head. “Won’t help much, mate. The Portal can find ya wherever you go. Best you stick close ‘til you can handle it.”

“Handle what?” Okay. I had collected my wits. Time for the big show. “There’s nothing to handle. Let’s just say there’s no story here and be done with it. I went nowhere, I saw nothing. Been a real nice visit but I need to get back to Washington. Let’s all move on with our lives, okay?”

THE VAMPIRE ERIC NORTHMAN
 
“Not quite,” I stepped forward. Of course it was my goal to slip unnoticed through the Portal window that opened split seconds after arrival, but I let it pass. This looked interesting. I still had another good few hours of dark and if nothing else, it could be entertaining.

Or not.

“You motherfucker! Is this your fault? I told you to leave the Portals alone, God sakes!” Biebe was in good form. If he had a hockey stick I might have been in a little danger. As it was I simply stiffened my arm as he charged and it catapulted him back.

“Chill, Biebe. Everyone, calm down. I brought your wayward traveler home. One would think you’d be grateful.”

Biebe was back on his feet and damn if all his brothers weren’t at his side. It looked like a lynching was about to happen, either that or a scene from Frankenstein.

“I said … chill. He’s alive. We were dragged through several time Portals. He’ll need rest, may have some disorientation and nausea. A few days and he should be fine.” I turned, shot a brilliant grin and wink at Daisy. She blushed, of course. I stepped toward the center of the pub and like good little mortals, they all cleared away. I had to be close enough to make the perfect exit and there was less than a minute to slip back to Shreveport and my own world. Little time to finish. I talked faster.

“John, we were seconds askew of his loop. Keep a close eye, the Portal may want him … or it could have simply been a freak accident.”

“What were you doing in there?” shouted Biebe.

I shrugged. “Sorry old boy, no time to answer.” One step to the right and poof, I was in my own office.

“I thought you said you weren’t going Portal hopping tonight?” asked Pam, my second in command.

“Portal had other ideas. Everything good here?”

“A banner night.” And she grinned fangs at me.

JOHN
 
First thing I did was look real closely at McAffrey’s exposed neck. No puncture holes, no blood. But, he was puking like a drunk after a long night. The ladies rushed to his side, Daisy fetched the mop bucket and most of us guys just looked away. It was that or start puking too, God sakes.

“All right, all right, all right. I think we’ve done as much as we can here,” I said when he quieted. “Cal, you’re coming up to stay with Riles and me for a few days. We’ll keep an eye on you, call in the doc if this gets worse. Someone get him a bag to … you know. We got three flights to climb and I don’t want the halls stinking to high heaven. Housekeeping will have my ass. Who can help me get him up the steps?”

“I got him,” offered Ben as the others prepared to head home.

“Natalie, stick around here tonight.”

“No, John. I have to get home for the kids,” she protested. Jesus, couldn’t I get anyone to be careful?

“Don’t worry,” chimed Antony. “I’ll follow her car to the farm. I’ll be happy to send Claudia to have a look at Mr. McCaffrey.”

Well, that seemed to be Cal’s cue to begin his arguments. “Everyone, leave me the hell alone. I got a room, I don’t need no babysitters and … uh …”

Yeah, he puked again.

It took a bit of orchestration but finally we had the guy settled in our guest room. Claudia had given him something to calm his stomach. Riley sat at the side of his bed while I collected his sickeningly smelly clothes. She was getting too pregnant to expect her to take care of shit like that. Wasn’t like I had great plans, I wasn’t gonna wash the shit or anything. I just dumped it into a trash bag and hauled it out to the dumpster.

But before I left I heard them talking quietly.

“You’re going to be fine. We won’t let anything happen to you,” said my wife.

“It’s all really true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Riley said and I knew for sure that finally Cal McAffrey was taking in everything.

LACHLAN

The sun was already blazin’ when I finished my shower. As I made my way downstairs I heard the sound of Manda cooing in her swing while Jessie fixed breakfast.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” I nuzzled up behind her and took a nibble on her ear. But Jess was having none of it.

She scooted away and went to move our daughter to her high chair. “You came in awfully late last night. I thought you were just going to drop some things off at the Inn for John.”

She was trying real hard not to sound like a fishwife, but I knew I’d be in trouble when I came home after three this morning.

“We had a little bit of a problem with Cal, but we took care of it.” I didn’t dare mention the Portal. I knew better than to send my wife into a fit of worry, especially now with her being pregnant again.

“So, you men staged an intervention or something? Did it work?”

Manda reached out for me and Jessie handed her over. “Would you do the honors? She’s in her I want daddy mood and she’s been fighting me all morning.”

I snuggled my daughter close as she drooled all over my shirt. I didn’t mind; it’s a damn sight better than baby poop and it smells a hell of a lot better.

“I don’t know. It’s always hard in the beginning.” I shuddered, remembering the horrible sense of confusion when I first crossed over, convinced it was either a nightmare or that I had been shot down and about to discover that heaven didn’t exist. I could appreciate McAffrey’s terror; I’d been one of the ones who felt himself being pulled back into the Portal after all the years of being here, and it was only by some sheer stoke of luck that I hadn’t been killed.

“You should have called; you know I worry.”

I smiled an apology.

“Don’t do it again, okay?”

I promised I’d be more thoughtful in the future. Better she think I’m a bit of an insensitive drongo than terrify her with the truth.

NATALIE

I was at the Inn last night when the Portal played hide-and-seek with Cal McAffrey. What a terrifying experience! I couldn’t sleep at all after that, but when I tried to reach Jack, ship to shore, he was unavailable. If we had talked, he’d have probably been concerned for me, worried that I’d driven alone late at night and upset that I witnessed the power of the Portal. We’d have most likely had an argument about my decision not to take an escort. Jack is so old fashioned.

John said he wanted as many of us together as possible to talk with Cal. Who knew what was going to happen? Of course I went alone. Eddie and Chelsea were safe at home with the nanny and East is sort of uncaring and out of the loop. You know, I really don’t blame him. He doesn’t feel like part of the family … and I haven’t seen much of the normal reaching out and acceptance going on by the family in and effort to bring him into the fold either. Jack did his part, offering him the chance to come live in Vermont. Then … Jack left.

Left. I am lost and lonely and so heartbroken. We haven’t spoken in almost ten days. I don’t think we’ve ever gone that long without talking or at least touching base through email. It’s like he’s dropped off the face of the planet. If it wasn’t for his paycheck appearing every week, direct deposited into our bank account, I’d wonder if the Portal gotten him too. I miss him so much every inch of my body hurts. Yes … hurts. The loneliness is unbearable. I need to be touched and held. Loved. I need my husband but almost more than that … I need to feel again.

Having lost Catherine was so harsh. Jack’s lack of communication during this trip is almost as bad. I am struggling with a combined need for Jack … and a desperation to satisfy my emotional emptiness. I don’t deserve to be in this position.

I was sitting on the porch. Eddie and the nanny had taken Chelsea to a picnic in the town park. They’ll be gone for hours. I felt so empty but couldn’t bring myself to go along. I just wanted to suffer my misery, maybe wallow in it. Good thing Riles doesn’t know what I’m doing or there’d be hell to pay. She always pulls me, kicking and screaming, out of my dark pits.

Speaking of dark pits, I watched East walk toward the house as I sipped lemonade. He had a forlorn, broken look about him and I wondered if he felt the same way about his loneliness as I did.  I leaned over and poured him a glass of lemonade as he stepped up and sat on the porch swing beside me. We didn’t say one word, didn’t have to.

Birds chirped, early summer bugs buzzed and fluttered, the sun painted my farm and the beautiful new stables yellow. And I found myself leaning close, my head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped tight around me in comfort.

EAST

I bloody hate this. Always been a bit of a loner, but this time I’m fucking invisible. Biebe’s call for assistance with the new arrival last night didn’t come directly to me, so my guess is that my presence wasn’t needed or wanted. So … I went into town and drank at Kennedy’s. Of course, Gerry Kennedy wasn’t there. He got a direct call from the Inn. Point was made damn clear to me. Even family outsiders like Kennedy, Antony and Kevin Boyer came before needing me. Fine. Just bloody fine. Never needed them before, sure as fuck don’t need them now.

Seems I’m getting worse here. Worse in ways that push a man past his limits. All that love and family warmth and I’m still out in the bloody cold … just like before. Just like always.

There are things I want and things I deserve. No harm in collecting old debts, I reckon. One of those old debts was right in my arm. Poor darlin’ was left high and dry just like I been since I arrived in this world. I was stuck at the Temple, she’s trapped at this farm. Jack goes off to see the world. Seems I’m in the position to put a smile on her face. I deserve this and so does she.

I set my lemonade aside and stood. Gripping her small hand in mine I just looked into her sad eyes. Finally, Natalie nodded and I led her into the house. We were both gonna feel a lot better, real soon.

BEN

Samantha De La Croix stomped into my office and I rolled my eyes, wondering what the hell I did wrong now. Last week she spouted off ‘cause I made a joke about ‘womenly’ times of the month. Okay. Tracy confirmed that was a bad one. The week before, Officer De La Croix was bitchin’ because I assigned her traffic duty during the county fair. Tough, someone’s gotta do it and it was her turn in the rotation. But after all the excitement at the Inn last night, I wasn’t in no mood to cope with whatever she had to gripe about.

“Fine,” I said, my hands up.

“Fine what, Sheriff?”

“Fine, whatever you want is just fine. Close the door on your way out De La Croix.”

She blinked. “Uh … sir, I don’t want anything, except to make my report. I also wanted to take an extra shift this week. I have a hunch about the dog thefts.”

“Yeah?” Sometime the woman surprises me … right pleasantly too. “First, your report.”

She sat. It was actually ladylike, even wearin’ that uniform. I’m thinkin’ Egan’s a good influence on her. Then she started to talk. Nothing eye-batting or shy-smilin’ about makin’ a police report I suppose.

“The total has risen to thirty-eight stolen dogs in the past sixty days; twenty-nine from residents and nine from tourists staying in Stowe or passing through. The combined value of the stolen animals tops out at almost a hundred thousand bucks, ninety-eight thousand to be exact.” She passed a folder over the desk to me. “This matches closely with activity in several other cities over the past four years. Here’s the thing. I think our ring is new.”

“Why ya thinkin’ that?”

“Well, the exact same thing is happening in the Outer Banks, North Carolina … right now. Another summer tourism place. High traffic, upper income visitors. An obvious target. According to the police in Kitty Hawk, there are over two million dollars worth of pedigree pets stolen already this summer. Sir, I strongly believe we’re dealing with a copycat ring and they are real close to making a mistake.”

“What are ya plannin’?” And why was this makin’ me nervous? I really need to get the City Council to okay expenses for a real detective.

“I’ll need a pedigree dog sir.”

“And?”

“I’ll just set myself up as a target. I mean I live alone. I’ll take the pooch everywhere, let everyone see it. Even leave it tied up on the front porch while I stay inside to stake things out. It’s a perfect set up.”

“It would be, but I’m not thinkin’ Stowe’s got the budget to buy, or even rent, a fancy pedigree mutt.”

“Right, I understand. That’s were you come in. You’re close with the Biebes, right?”

I blinked.

“They own a full blooded English Bulldog. Her name is Sophie.”

“That ugly mutt is a pedigree? Worth money?”

“Yup,” she grinned. “Worth a good fifteen hundred bucks. I’m thinking you can talk them into letting us borrow Sophie for a few days.”

“And whose gonna guarantee the safety of … the decoy?” That’s all I need, a pregnant, angry and real emotional Riley Beibe after my blood.

“I will. Trust me, Sheriff. You get the dog … I’ll get the dog thieves.”

“I’ll think about this. Talk to me after your shift.” I was thinking it might be smarter to just go out and buy me an ugly mutt for De La Croix to use.

KIM

I felt it squishing beneath my shoe before I caught the odor, but I already knew; I’d just stepped into dog shit.

“Bloody hell!” I would be wearing my Italian loafers. Guess it beats stepping into the mess barefooted, but it’s a good deal easier to clean off.

I wiped my foot along the grass, quickly glancing about to make sure that no one had seen what had just happened. The smell was overpowering.

I went back to the front porch and toed off my shoes. Emily met me at the front door and her nose wrinkled up in disgust.

“Did you step in dog doo again?”

Oh great – she had to remind me. I grumbled a response before edging past her, leaving the shoes outside to air out.

“You should probably sponge them off, or it’ll dry and stain the leather.”

I think I’d rather change one of Amanda’s dirty nappies.

EMILY

I followed Kim back into the bedroom, trying not to laugh. He always tries to act so smooth and dignified and when I noticed his toe sticking out of one of his socks, I lost it.

“Did you forget to do laundry?”

He grumbled something unintelligible and I decided to leave him be. Poor guy; first the indignity of stepping into offal, and then the smartass girlfriend has to add her two cents worth.

To be honest, I’d stepped in a couple of good sized piles of the stuff this week myself, but come to think of it, up until recently we’d never had a problem with dogs using our lawn as a public toilet. There’s a town ordinance that dogs have to be leashed, and most folks in this neighborhood are pretty considerate. Our house and both homes on either side are rentals, owned by the same individual and maintained by the same property management company. Our lease contract clearly states “NO PETS,” yet for the past month we’ve been awakened at all hours of the morning by the sound of dogs barking from the house next door.

Interesting thing was, it never sounded like the same dog barking from one night to the next. I’d always wondered what strange messages from outer space our neighbor, Stacey LaPlant, must have been listening to, and I was beginning to get the feeling that maybe she wasn’t only weird and annoying, but a criminal to boot.

When Kim came out of the bedroom, I hit him with my suspicions.

He groaned and shook his head. “The woman’s too barmy to be some sort of criminal mastermind.”

“Maybe she’s not the one in charge, but would it hurt if we gave Ben a call and told him of our suspicions? If we’re wrong, no big deal. Ol’ Stacey deserves to have her cage rattled a bit – maybe she’ll think twice before she comes over again, asking for a cup of sugar.”

“And what do we do after Ben finds nothing and Stacey knows that we’re the ones who fingered her? I wouldn’t put it past her to flatten my tires or something.”

“Come on – do you really think that Ben himself would come over to investigate? He’ll more than likely send one of his officers. We’ll just ask whoever comes out to be diplomatic.”

Kim shrugged. “Okay, we’ll see what’ll happen, if anything.”

I reached for my cell phone.

RILEY

All day I’ve been feeling out of sync. It’s been a strange twenty four hours and I think I’m just trying to deal with everything.

Hormones. They should be outlawed. You’d think after a few times of coping with this, a woman would get savvy about it. But with each pregnancy, the hormonal rages seem to vary, creep up unexpectedly and rear their ugly heads whenever they damn well please. Take today, for example.

Poor Cal has been sick as a dog and I can’t help but worry about him. His stomach never completely settled until this afternoon. I almost cried seeing that big guy suffer so much.

Speaking of dog … after about … oh … thirty seconds of consideration, I kindly (and loudly) refused Ben’s request to put our Sophie in harm’s way. I understand it’s a police matter, but my bulldog has never been trained at the academy. I’d just die if something happened to her. She’s nine years old and a grand dame now.  It would be so wrong to let him borrow her. I can’t even believe he asked.

Nathan hasn’t taken to our guest yet (it might be all that gagging), so he’s gone all daddies’ boy again on me, so I’m feeling all alone in the world; me and my rolling six-month baby belly, my mounting concerns and frustrations.

Then, just before dinner I got a phone call from Natalie. Some of it was great news, Jack’s coming home early and she’s happy as a clam. But, she also told me some other things. She said that East was feeling unloved. Well, she didn’t say it exactly like that, but it seems he’s a little upset that the family … specifically John … isn’t reaching out to him more. We agreed that East has gotta make us feel okay about the reaching part, but Nat’s concerned. Me, like an idiot, I mentioned it to John. I’m not sure if he’s pissed or just on overload. My poor John carries way too much. Sometimes I think we should just sell the Inn and move to Alaska. Then I come to my senses.

Two a.m. and my apartment was finally quiet, except for the snores coming from Cal’s room and John, asleep in our room. Now what? I’m wide awake. No way I was going to fall asleep. I sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of vanilla ice cream and sliced jalapeños in front of me, and tried to figure out what had me so rattled. The answer was simple. That damn Portal.

I took my ice cream down to the quiet, dark empty pub and sat at a table near where Eric Northman disappeared. Maybe if I thought real hard, mentally reenacted last night’s events, I’d figure something out? Seems I’ve been way too cavalier where the Portals are concerned.

Poof!

If I was ten inches closer, who knows what might have happened to me. I gripped my bowl close to my chest and gasped. “Jesus, Eric. Can’t you knock or something?”

He smiled. Such a handsome … dead … vampire-type guy. But I couldn’t shake the fact that he could be very dangerous too. I purposely ate a spoonful of melting ice cream topped with a bright green pickled jalapeño. It worked.

“Okay, that’s gross. The smell alone could kill a vampire,” he said and sat across from me. “Are you well?”

“Fine.” Another pepper and I was full. “I’m glad you popped by. I have a few questions for you.”

His brow rose.

“Why are you still screwing around in the Portals?” I really did try to be polite and kind, not pointing any fingers or anything like that. After all, it appears the Portals belong to a multitude of creatures, characters and times. Guess the hormones were on high potency.

“Back off, Riley. I don’t respond well to accusations like that.”

“I didn’t accuse you of anything; I simply asked why … when John was very clear about the dangers to us … you still travel the Portals.”

“Because I can.”

“Oh. Well, I can breathe and give birth and cook for a hundred guests, but I don’t come to your world and force you to deal with me.”

His head tilted. “Is it truly me you are bothered with, or is it something else?”

“Yes … no … yes … Eric, how much of Cal’s slip into the vortex was because of you?”

“None of it. In fact, I had no intention of traveling last night. The Portal simply … took me.”

“Oh God,” I reached my hand and placed it over his long, cold fingers. Just what I needed, someone else to worry about.

“Don’t be concerned. The moment I was sucked in, I ran into your Mr. McAffrey. It was my intention to get him back here safely, but I’m unsure if I can do such a thing again. It was very, very difficult. I admit, I’ve mastered shifting from Portal to Portal, but last night was … challenging, even for me.”

“And you came here to tell me all this? You know, John’s pretty pissed with you.”

“First of all, John is wasting his anger. I have honored my promise to him and will never interfere or cause harm to his family.” He stood, stepped to the right and I sensed he was preparing to leave already.

“And second,” he said, his crystal blue Viking eyes locked on mine. “I did not come here to tell you anything, woman. I came because you called to me.”

“What? I didn’t …”

“Now, off to bed with you. Perhaps I’ll purposely visit again when the child arrives. I may even bring a gift. Until then.”

Poof!

Damn. Why can’t I have a normal life like everyone else? I gathered my bowl and spoon and went up to bed.