Free Born Into Love by Catherine LaClaire Page A

“Mercedes, if you do not mind, I will wait in the car.”
    She brushed his cheek with her lips. “That’s probably for the best. Why tempt fate? Hospitals scare a lot of people.”
    He simply nodded agreement.
    Mercedes would sicken and the connection between them disintegrate if she saw him feed. Still, he had to tell her. But not today.
    The donation procedure proved brief. He asked Mercedes not to describe it and she spared him the details although she did fiddle with the bandage over her vein. They arrived at the museum where he left her to finish photographing the pottery.
    “More business uptown, but I will return. Then we will go home."
    “Ms. Rogers still doesn’t know there’s no manifest other than the one I’m making. And you still have to examine the sealed pitcher.”
    His conversation with the curator took less than ten minutes. The call he made to Luz, was equally short. “There,” he said to Mercedes, “the fax is on its way, the pitcher not included, and the curator understands it will not be in the exhibit. Thank you for reminding me.”
    When they parted, she squeezed his hand in a sweet gesture and left to work on objects from his past, and he, to attend a meeting with a lawyer who understood how he preferred live.
    The office provided every comfort from thick Persian carpets in muted colors, to a mahogany desk and club chairs upholstered in black leather. The thick drapes obscured the skyline. Under these conditions, the lighted paintings seemed too bold for the rest of the room.
    Alfred held a cut-glass decanter. “Drink?”
    Diego shook his head. Although they had worked together for many years, Alfred did not know all the limitations attached to Diego’s existence. “How are my holdings?”
    He returned to his desk and extracted a thick folder, the first of many they would examine together.
    “The mine in Colombia’s been sold, as you directed.”
    “Good.”
    “The money for the charities has been transferred anonymously as you required.”
    Diego nodded.
    “However, there’s something I must mention.” A note of concern limned his words. “Someone’s looking into your corporations. We are, of course, investigating.”
    Had the same person tried to hack into his computer? “Do you have a name?”
    “Not yet, but we will.”
    After covering other details they shook hands and Diego left. His skin felt too thin for his bones. Inside the car, with the dark windows providing privacy, he fed from the supply Luz hid behind a small refrigerator. Restored, he drove to the Pascuas where he hoped his neighbor would greet him with a smile.
     
     
    * * *
     
    Concentrating on her work had made Mercedes thirsty. “Why isn’t there a vending machine in the hall?” As expected, no one answered, so she licked her lips and re-examined the pottery. When she had the sealed pitcher in front of her, she frowned.
    What could be inside? She ran her finger around the rim. The seal had not decayed meaning the contents might be viable.
    Footsteps sounded in the adjacent lab. Unsure why, she took the precaution of hiding the pitcher in the cabinet. Just as she closed the door, Remy entered wheeling a huge leafy plant on a cart.
    He waved his hand. “Wait. Don’t yell. At lunch Rogers remarked she’d stuck you in this room again. I labeled that grossly unfair. So here, this ought to cheer you.”
    “She sent it?”
    “Cross my heart.”
    “You have one?”
    He opened a bag that had been hidden among the leaves. “And I took the liberty of bringing an iced tea.” He placed it on the desk. “Only one. I’m not staying.” His gaze wandered over the table. “More unexceptional ceramics.”
    “What did you expect, gold?”
    His eyes glittered. “It’s what I live for.”
    “Well, I don’t have any.”
    “Looks like you won’t need any.”
    She wouldn’t let the wormy comment pass. “Explain yourself.”
    He settled the plant closer to the workspace. “I saw how you behaved with