House Sitting

Steve’s house looked exactly like she remembered it – but the feel was different. The owner was gone and for a moment, an odd pain ripped through Trin, a feeling she hadn’t associated with a human in decades. Shaking it off, she approached the door, using the keys that had been left for her to open it. A glance behind the door confirmed he’d left the blowtorch handy. He was learning, though she wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t use that knowledge against her someday. It was unsettling to realize she was gambling on his unknown sister and the familiar bond to keep him in line. Very unsettling.

And it was that sister that had brought her here tonight. The NPD had only been told he’d been recalled to service for an extended period, but nothing about where he had gone. So her only avenue to locate her missing familiar was to find the sister, Nikki.

Sitting on his desk was a journal and for a moment Trin considered opening it, wanting that contact. But it was an invasion of privacy that she simply refused to consider seriously, no matter how much she might want it. Instead, she went searching for an address book. It was easier to find than she would have expected, tucked in the middle desk drawer. Flipping through it, she was not surprised that most of the names included various acronyms that she recognized as military. Finding the R’s, she located the last address and phone number Steve had for Nikki. And was not surprised to find those same acronyms attached to her name. With any luck, she had Steve’s training, but with a healthy dose of self-control attached.

Jotting down the information in her own organizer, she put everything back where she had found it and looked around, trying to decide if there was anything she needed to take care of here. Why in the world he’d left her in charge of things, she didn’t know, but it was a trust she intended to take seriously. Unfortunately, she’d spent centuries being taken care of, with servants to deal with the day to day affairs of a home. No plants, no pets, that was a good thing. The doors and windows were all locked tight. A quick sweep through the house gave her the general layout, though it was odd giving herself this tour.

She paused in the kitchen, a faint smell coming from the garbage can. That should probably be dealt with, though she wasn’t sure what to do with it. A mental image of garbage cans along residential streets popped into her mind and she went searching for the big cans she had seen but not really seen. She finally located it out in the garage. It stunk worse than the one in the kitchen. Eeeewww.

Heading back inside she stared at the container for a moment, thinking there was something else she should do first. Looking around she realized that he really was going to be gone for awhile – and any food in the refrigerator would go bad. Opening it up, she found a few things that could rot and dumped those in the trash. Anything sealed she left alone – including the beer he’d probably need when he returned. Heck, at the moment she could use one herself. That taken care of, she transferred the whole mess to the larger can and dragged it to the street. She’d have to check in a few days, bring it back in when it was empty. No point in advertising that no one was home.

What else. Mail? Oh crap – were there bills to be dealt with? She was so going to hurt him when he got back from wherever the hell he’d disappeared to. Well, that was easy enough to deal with. She’d have her own accountant look into that, take care of whatever needed to be dealt with. With any luck he had something already in place. Though the way her luck was going lately, she doubted it.

There was one thing she wanted to see before she left. This basement he had been so adamant she stayed away from. Trin located the stairs that would take her to it and had to admit she was more than a touch impressed by the security measures he’d taken. Even Amby would be impressed and that girl was fanatical about security. She didn’t even know where to begin to figure this thing out. Trin was willing to bet, though, that the reason she hadn’t seen any weaponry in the house was behind this steel door. Shaking her head, she returned upstairs, to take one final look around. There was no reason to stay, but she wanted to, a feeling that bothered her more than anything else. Damn bond was messing with her head. Well, another week or two and it would be broken.

And it bothered her even more that she did not like that one little bit.

(Out!)