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JUSTIFICATIONS: By Lori Titus

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

The Marradith Ryder Series: The Art of Shadows, Part 67

Uncle Jake’s house was feeling crowded.

After Harley went to sleep, Marradith went downstairs and sat on the front porch.

The California sky was full of stars. The night was quiet around her, except for the chorus of crickets that chirped in the yard.

She slid her phone out of her pocket, and texted Justin. He replied back immediatly.

You are up late. What are you doing?

Nothing much, she replied. Stayed up until 2 playing video games with Harley.

A pause and then Justin’s words flew across the screen. Sounds like fun.

What’s going on there? Any new information on Xia?

Marradith could just about feel him trying to figure out exactly what to say.

Yes and no.  We have a theory about Miranda Vega having summoned her. We’re working on things to bring her under control. Daria’s back in one piece. My daughter’s here.

Marradith sighed. Well I wish I was there, too.

I know. I don’t sleep all that well when you’re gone. But it’s ok.

How about I just take a plane back tommorow? My birthday is not that important, she typed.

Yes it is, came Justin’s reply.

Marradith bit her lip. This is a secure phone, right?

Yes.

I saw Scott today. You knew he was out here, didn’t you?

An extended pause.

Yes, Marradith, I knew. I have been tracking him for a while. I did not tell your Father that I  found him.

Why?

Because, officially, I am not supposed to know anything about his whereabouts.  One thing we both agree on is you, so I asked for him to keep an eye out.  Until Xia is not a threat.

You could have told me.

I could have, Justin wrote back, but that would have been another complication. I didn’t want you to have to lie to Paul.  It’s bad enough I have to lie to him.

Does Mama know?  Marradith asked.

No.

We have too many secets, Granthem. I don’t like this shit.

I know. I trust you. But Scott is in a bad position. If he gets brought in, I don’t know how much I can do for him. And it’s better that we don’t have to find out.

Alright then.

Marradith, don’t be angry…..

Not angry, so much, as dssapointed. I keep finding out things way after the fact that you should have told me up front.

Well, I can’t change it now. What would you like me to do?

Other than stop treating me like a CHILD?  she replied. I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?

Marradith.

WHAT?

First off, calm down. I’m going to call you.

Marradith turned her phone off as Justin’s number flashed across the screen.

She closed the door and went back to her room. Climbing into bed, she was envious of Harley’s peaceful slumber.

From his place in the darkness of the hallway, David Brennan smiled.

__________________________

©2011 Lori Titus

Join Lori with her co-host Tonia Brown on their radio show on Tuesday nights (6pm PST/9pm EST) on tmvcafe.com . You can keep up with her other forms of debauchery on Twitter as Loribeth215, or via her blog, on: http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/

 

 

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TO CATCH A VEGA: By Lori Titus

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

The Marradith Ryder Series:  The Art of Shadows,  Part 66

 
Daria found Miranda Vega easily enough.

As she had suspected, Miranda was laying low in a cheap motel in East Los Angeles. She followed her as she left in her car one morning, headed north, towards the freeway.

Daria sensed the presence of a trap, before she knew one was there.

Daria followed Miranda’s car onto the freeway, always staying behind in the packed traffic, dodging behind other cars when she could to remain outside her prey’s line of vision.

They winded through mountain passes, and down into a valley.

Daria realized that as the roadway narrowed to a single artery, it would become more difficult to follow without being seen. But the narrow road offered no way to turn back.

When a view of the lake opened to her left, Daria took the exit down to the lakeside, leaving the freeway behind her. She parked in the farthest spot in the lot, and walked carefully down to the shore. There were very few people around. A father and son were in a canoe, out in the middle of the lake.

Daria knew a path through the trees that she could take on foot.  She would reach the house Miranda was headed for, and with her speed, she could be there long before Miranda reached it by car.

For a moment, she stood, enjoying the clean air and the smell of the water. In five minutes, she decided, she would head out.

The scent of a predator was carried to her on the air before the reflection appeared on the water.

Turning, she saw the woman’s face, her yellow brown skin and dark eyes.

She caught Daria by the throat.

“If you so much as move, I’ll snap your neck, and that will be just too bad, because that’s not why I was sent here.”

She stepped back and let her hand drop, flashing a look of warning that told Daria she’d better not scream.

“Who are you?” Daria whispered.

“My name is Lysette,” the woman said. “I go by the last name Vega, but Justin Granthem is my father.”

**

Though it was Daria’s natural inclination not to believe the woman, she knew Lysette was telling the truth. She was the spitting image of Granthem, the smaller, feminine translation of his masculine form. She recognized the cheekbones and wide brown eyes, and something in the way she looked out of them.

“Well what are you doing here?” Daria asked, turning her head slightly. She winced from the pain where Lysette had jammed her fingers against her neck.

“I’m doing a favor for Justin. I live in Los Angeles so I was only an hour or so away from you. I gather from what he told me that in order to get one of his people out here he’d have to put them on a plane from Colorado. He asked me to bring you back to New Mexico. If you had bothered to report in over the last few hours, I am sure that he would have told you himself.”

“Why?”

“Because he wants you to let Miranda go for now. More than that, I can’t tell you.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

Lysette smiled, and something about it made Daria cringe. She wondered how Marradith was going to react when she met her.  She looked just as young as Marradith, though Daria knew she had to be somewhere in her seventies. She was a powerful young Wolf. That much was evident in how she carried herself.

Lysette turned to walk away, and Daria was too curious to do anything but follow. “I don’t understand what could possibly change that would make Justin want to let Miranda go,” she said. “After what was done to Rafael, there has to be some form of retribution.”

“Oh, I am sure there will be,” Lysette replied. “Just not yet. There are better ways.”

“And you have something to do with that?” Daria arched an eyebrow.

“I’m just doing a favor for my Dad,” Lysette tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t really intend to get myself tied up in Sojourner business.  It’s not my thing.”

“That’s probably best,” Daria sneered. “And you ever come at me like that again bitch, I have no problem making Justin childless. He’s gotten by all this time without you.”

_____________________________________

©2011 Lori Titus

Follow the author on Twitter as Loribeth215, or catch up with her via her blog on: http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/

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