Scarlet Guard (House of Scarlet #2)

No. There was no one who understood that she wasn't like the rest of them. She wasn't normal like they were. There was no one. No one for her. Empty. Alone.

Hours later she realized that she'd been sitting in the dark. Her body was stiff. Still cradling the phone in her lap too. The line was dead after beeping the 'off the hook' signal before automatically being disconnected by the phone company. She hadn't even heard it when it happened.

Punching the button she was rewarded by the dial tone coming back. Stretching sideways to set the phone on it's base she paused then sat back up. Should she?

Why the heck not. Mentally shrugging she dialed the number.

A single ring. A click. Then nothing. Just like last time.

"I have some information." Callie spoke to the silence. "I'd like to trade it for an assurance that my brother will be ok. A promise you'll leave him alone."

Nothing except a barely audible hiss in the background. Callie gathered her courage.

"I know three names. Three names that you want to know. Three names. I will give those names to you if you promise to leave me and my family alone."

Without waiting for an answer she hung up.

Seven

Alone in her studio Callie stared at the empty space on the wall beside the beige leather couch. Maybe she should bring some of her trophies down. She could, maybe, put them there on glass shelves. It'd be an interesting display. Might get some of the students in other martial arts schools interested in her skills.

It's not like martial artists don't get tattoos.

As she stood there undecided her phone rang. Walking to the rear of the shop she grabbed it, sweetly announcing her business.

"Asia!"

Nothing.

"Hello?"

Shrugging, she set the phone down. Crazy people.

A moment later her front door opened. A hugely pregnant redhead walked in. Puffing in short breaths she got as far as the couch before she stopped and sat down.

"Sorry. It's hard to walk very far."

"Can I help you?" Callie moved the front of the shop. At this rate she'd wear a rut in the tile. Which she had no money to fix.

"You do tattoos here?"

"Yes. But, I won't give you a tattoo"

The woman looked surprised. "Why not?"

"Because you're pregnant. Even though we autoclave the equipment to sterilize everything and use new needles, there's still a slight risk of infection. It's small, but it's still there. I won't work on you and risk the possibility of infecting you. Or, maybe harming your baby. You'll have to wait until after the baby is born. After you're done nursing too."

"Even if I offered to pay more?"

"Even then. I care too much to risk your health."

"You'd care about me? You don't even know me."

"I care about everyone who comes in here asking for my help. They're my responsibility. I owe it to them to give them the best art I can under the best conditions possible. I owe it to them to keep them safe from harm."

"Huh. Well, I've gone this long without a tattoo. I guess I can wait some more." The redhead winced. "Can I use your bathroom? He's kicking my bladder again."

"Sure. It's back here. Let me help you."

Callie reached down helping the woman get to her feet. Wow, she was really small. Her belly was probably almost half her body weight. She wasn't a dwarf either. More like a fairy. Small bones and delicate. Walking slowly with her to the back of the shop Callie pointed out the bathroom, waiting while the woman went inside and closed the door.

A rumble of big motorcycle engines out front drew her attention. Oh! Maybe Whiskers sent some of his friends like he said he might. She could really use some business if she wanted to make rent this month without tapping into her savings again. There weren't too many times she could continue to do that. Her money was running out. Fast.

The rumble of the big bore engines stopped. Shortly afterward the front door opened again. Three hairy guys in worn jeans and leather vests came in. The odor of stale sweat and tobacco wafted through the shop to assault her nose.

"Can I help you?" Callie walked to meet them halfway.

"You the slut who stuck them cards to our rides thinkin' it was funny?"

"Excuse me?"

"Some crazy bitch stuck business cards all over our rides with some kinda glue. Business cards with your shop name on them. Somebody owes us for it."

"I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That your scooter?" He pointed a huge finger out her front window.

Callie didn't bother to look where the finger pointed. "Why?"

"The guys said the bitch who fucked with our bikes rode that scooter."

"Well, I don't know anything about gluing business cards all over your bikes. I do know I placed some cards on a few motorcycles as advertising. I was actually very nice about leaving the cards on the seats. While I was elsewhere, some jerk piled them on my scooter and stuck a muddy wet rock on my seat. Was that you?"

"You put them cards on our bikes. You owe me for some paint and chrome work."

"Really? How do you think you're going to get me to pay for something I didn't do?"

"How about we wreck your place unless you pay up?" As he talked the other two fanned out behind him. One of them moving over to the front tattoo couch, fingering the toolbox of equipment there.

The sound of her toilet flushing and a door opening made the guy in front of Callie pause to look over her shoulder. Callie turned slightly while keeping her eye on the potential troublemaker.

The redhead shuffled her way between Callie and the biker guy. Stopping she smiled at Callie.

"Thank you sweetie." She stood on her tiptoes to give Callie a quick kiss on her cheek.

The big guy interrupted. "Listen ho, you maybe wanna get out of here now. Otherwise I ain't gonna be 'sponsible if you get hurt in what's gonna be going down."

The redhead looked at him with her big green eyes.

"Maybe you're the one who needs to leave. I do believe you're not welcome here any longer."

"I got business here. I ain't leavin' when I got business to take care of. You think you can make me leave slut?"

"I'm not going to do anything. Those gentlemen, however, might." The redhead pointed a tiny finger past the thug's shoulder at two massively built men in business suits who had somehow come into the shop without anyone noticing.

"You all right Miss Violet?" The man on the left asked softly.

"Dude," the thug announced. "You might wanna leave before you get fucked up. Ya know what I mean?"

"Miss Violet?"

"I still need to sit down and visit. I was just going to ask for a cup of tea when these gentlemen came in an threatened us."

When the woman named Miss Violet said the word 'threatened' the bigger of the two men looked down, adjusting his cuffs in his sleeves. Callie noticed that he was wearing gold cufflinks instead of having button cuffs. The cufflinks were tiny handcuffs with little chains dangling from them. Cuffs adjusted he looked at the man in front of Callie through lowered brows.

"Leave. Now."

His voice was soft. Holding a menace in it which hadn't been there a second ago. The sound of that menace made Callie shiver as what felt like little feet made of pure adrenaline ran down her spine.

As the big man spoke, the other suit moved to the side to give each of them some room to maneuver. Callie saw it. She knew that these two had worked with each other developing tactics to use when fighting in enclosed spaces. The loudmouth in front of her had no idea he faced a trained fighting pair of enforcers who would wipe the floor with them. Of course her shop would be destroyed, but loudmouth and his pals would be the ones bleeding in the end.

"Or what? You're outnumbered dumbass. You think you two turds can take all three of us? You think you can stop me from fuckin' up your little whore here from way over there?"

Loudmouth pulled out a knife, flicking the blade open with his thumb. Once it was open he pointed it at the redhead who stood between him and Callie.

Callie moved. A block, followed by a quick grasp and pull with a slap to the elbow, let her apply a wrist lock. The blowhard, whining in pain, dropped the knife. Callie levered the wrist lock and pushed.

"Easy. Easy. Just go down. That's it. On your knees. All the way down." Callie kept pressure on the wrist lock, forcing him down and back.

"That's it. On your knees. Good boy. Now spread em. Wider. Wider. Good." Callie toed his crotch. Just enough to get his attention and realize that he was totally helpless if she wanted to kick him where it would hurt the most.

"Pay attention. You came here to try to take something that wasn't yours. By force. I don't like to be forced. I especially don't like it when people like you come into my space and threaten my people." Callie applied a bit more pressure. "That makes me really angry. When I get angry scum like you gets hurt. Bad. You understand?"

The thug nodded quickly as Callie applied some more pressure to the wrist lock.

"Good. Remember this lesson. Next time I won't be so nice. It will be more painful. I promise you, it will be very painful. Now, I'm going to let you up. We're going to walk out the door. Once we're outside, I'll let you go. I don't ever want to see you again. Got that?"

"Yes! Yes! Anything you want!"

"All right. Get up. Slowly! That's it. Easy. Now, let's walk to the door. Gentlemen, would one of you open the door for us please?" Callie directed her request to the suits. They smiled. The suit on the right opened the door for her.

"Out!" Callie jerked her chin at the other two wannabe's. They shuffled through the doorway ahead of her. Neither even looked at the two men in suits. Callie followed with their wristlocked companion. Once on the sidewalk she released his arm and pushed. He stumbled forward a few steps before he caught his balance.

"You're in trouble now slut." The brute told her as he cradled his injured arm. "You done fucked with the wrong people."

Callie took a step in his direction. "You ever come back here again I'll hurt you. I'll hurt you every day for the rest of your very short life."

"If she doesn't, I will." The bass growl was a surprise. A quick sidestepping half turn to see the bigger suit had followed her out the door. The other suit was standing in the doorway blocking the tiny redhead from coming outside. He nodded at his partner's statement of violent intent.

Loudmouth and his two buddies mounted their bikes and took off down the block. They cast glances over their shoulders as they rode away, their exhaust pipes roaring and echoing off the buildings. Callie watched a bit longer. When she was satisfied that they were gone, she headed back inside her shop. The suit who'd come out with her walked in front of her as they headed toward the door. Inside, both men stood on either side of the redhead. Who was once again seated on the leather couch. The men gave Callie a half bow. In unison.

What the heck is that all about? She wondered to herself.

The tiny readhead patted the couch next to her indicating that she wanted Callie to sit. When Callie just looked at her, she patted the cushion again.

"Come sit with me. Maybe some tea?" The redhead asked hopefully.

"Uh, sorry. I don't have any tea. I have some spiced cider. It's warm. Would that do?" Callie indicated the stainless steel coffee urn on the small table near the couch.

"Oh. That would be wonderful!" Turning to suit number one she looked at him then at the urn. "Just a small cup though."

The suit poured cider from the spout into a paper cup on the table. Half full, he handed the cup to the redhead.

"Thank you Paul."

"My pleasure Miss Violet."

The woman patted the couch again. "Please. I want to talk to you."

Callie eased over to sit on the edge of her own couch like a schoolgirl about to be scolded. "Who are you?"

"Oh. Sorry. My name is Violet. A couple of friends of mine would really like to meet you. So they asked me if I would come down here to visit with you. To see if you'd like to meet them."

Violet set her cider cup down on the low table in front of the couch. She pulled a red rectangle from her bag handing it to Callie.

Callie took the card. It had nothing on either side. She gave Violet a quizzical look.

"If you are the person I believe you are; you already know what's usually printed on there. If you aren't, you don't need to know."

Callie looked down at the card in her hands. "I know what it says."

"Good. My friends would very much like to see you. Please. If you're ok with that, call the number. Any time." Violet paused. "Please say yes. You can set the time and place if you want."

"And if I don't? Want to meet your friends I mean."

"Just don't call the number. Simple."

Callie thought a minute then nodded her head. She gave the card back to Violet.

"Anything else you want to know? I warn you, I can't tell you much more than I have. I've been forbidden to do that. Paul here would stuff a gag in my mouth if I tried to disobey that order. Wouldn't you Paul?"

"Never, Miss Violet. You know that's a House hard limit."

"Spoilsport." Violet stuck her tongue out at Paul then returned to seriousness again. "Well? Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Can I take your picture?" Callie held out her cell phone. "I have two little sisters who are not going to believe I met a fairy princess unless I have a picture to prove it."

Violet laughingly agreed. Callie took six pictures. The tiny woman was gorgeous. As they were leaving, Paul stopped to speak to her in a low voice.

"You have any trouble with them, sister, you call and ask for me. I'll come help you deal however you need."

"Why? I don't know you. It isn't your fight."

"It is our fight. You did our job for us. We owe you." Paul placed his huge hand gently on her shoulder. "Call. I'll be here. If you need them, I have some friends who will help."

"Paul!" Violet called as she was about to get into the long black limo parked at the curb. "Hurry up. You can ask for a date later."

"Coming Miss Violet." Paul started moving toward the car. "Call," he told Callie over his shoulder. "Don't forget."

Eight

Callie swept the shop just before she was going to lock up to go home. No one had come in after everyone else had left. Locking up Callie patted her pocket to be sure she had her cell phone with the pictures on it.

Her plan was to stop at the art store on the way home to pick up some gold metallic powder. A few pinches of that twisted up in some colored tissue paper would make good imitation fairy dust. Tulip was getting to the point where she was old enough to disbelieve. Hopefully, the pictures would make her hesitate to say it was all fake and ruin it for Poppy. Hopefully.

Callie needn't have worried. When she got home Poppy and Tulip were doing homework on the kitchen table. Callie dropped a small folded paper packet of gold powder in front of each of them. The girls looked up at her.

"It's fairy dust. I swept it up off the floor after a fairy princess came by work today." At the skeptical looks she indicated their paper packages. "Open it and see. I wouldn't lie to you about a fairy princess."

T Rose came in from the living room. "Fairy dust? This I gotta see."

Callie handed her the last of the three packets she'd made up at the art store. T rose ripped hers open, the gold powder inside the paper going airborne. Glittering in the bright lights of the kitchen it hung twinkling in the air.

"Oooo." Poppy was impressed. Tulip looked skeptical but stayed silent.

"I even have pictures to prove it was a real fairy princess." Callie pulled out her phone opening her picture gallery to the images of Violet. "See?"

Everybody crowded around as she flipped through the images.

"She's tiny." Poppy commented as Callie stopped at the picture of Violet and Callie together on the couch.

"She's bigger than Tinkerbell." Tulip was still skeptical.

Poppy looked at her sister with scorn. "Tinkerbell's a cartoon."

Callie headed off the impending argument. "Her name is Violet. She's named after a flower just like us. Isn't she pretty? She's going to have a little baby fairy soon. She wanted a tattoo but I wouldn't do it."

"Why not?" Poppy wanted to know.

"Because I didn't want to hurt her or the baby. If she got hurt she might get mad at me and do things with her magic. I don't think I'd like being a frog. Ribbet. Ribbet." Callie faked a shocked look. "Oh dear. Maybe I should have, Ribbet, given her a tattoo after all. Ribbet."

T Rose burst out laughing. That set off the younger girls. Callie smiled, leaning over and tickling each of them until she had them squirming.

The doorbell sounded, both girls jumped up to run into the other room shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Pizza's here. Pizza's here."

Callie looked at T Rose who just shrugged. "I didn't feel like cooking."

"Well, save me a couple of slices. I'm going to go clean up."

Callie undressed to take a quick shower. Stepping out of the bathroom she saw T Rose sitting on her bed with Callie's phone in her hand. She was looking at the pictures of the fairy queen. A plate with two slices of pizza and a paper towel was on Callie's night table.

"So, who is she really?" T Rose didn't look up when Callie came out of the bathroom. "What's her real name?"

"Well, I think that Violet is probably her real name. That's what the two guys who were with her called her. Miss Violet."

"What did she want?" T Rose indicated the pictures. "You and I both know she wasn't there for a tattoo. Anyone with skin that flawless isn't into body art."

Callie sat down next to her sister making the bed bounce. As she picked up her dinner plate from the bedside table she considered how much to tell Rose.

"She came in to give me an invitation."

"To what?"

"A meeting. With some friends of hers."

"Friends? Who?"

"I don't know. She didn't say."

"Ok. I'm not getting this."

Callie explained. "She came in. Asked if I would have a meeting with some friends of hers. She gave me a red card."

"A red card? Like the one Henry has?"

"Well, this one was blank. She said that if I was the person she was looking for, I'd know what was supposed to be on the card."

"And?"

"I told her I knew."

"Callie! Are you stupid or something?" T Rose sounded exasperated.

Picking up the phone Callie shrugged. "Probably."

"Why are you getting involved? It's not your problem!"

"Henry is involved. I'm the only one who can do anything about it if he's in trouble. Me. No one else. That makes it my problem."

"So, you're going to the meeting?"

Weighing the phone in her hand Callie was silent. Making up her mind she dialed the number for the third time. As before, only a single ring, a click, then just the barely audible background hiss.

"Yes." She said succinctly.

There was a moment before a woman's voice came on the line. "Thank you. Do you have a preference for when or where?"

"No."

"Tomorrow then?"

"That's fine. Where are we meeting?"

"I will send a car to pick you up. If that is acceptable."

"Yes. Send Paul. That way I'll know."

"Very well. Until tomorrow."

The line went dead.

"You know you're an idiot. Right?" T Rose looked first at her sister then at the phone in

Callie's hand.

Callie just nodded.

Up early the next morning Callie started digging through her closet for some paints and brushes. The water based paints were perfect for face art. Holding the box she went into the kitchen to set up.

When Poppy came in for breakfast Callie held her finger up in front of her lips so Poppy would be quiet. Pointing, she sat her little sister in the chair before beginning to apply the paint. Quickly she painted a pink and white kitty face with long black whiskers on Poppy's face. Meow, she mouthed silently to Poppy and winked.