The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (14 page)

Wow, the way the story
ended made it sounded like there wasn’t much cause for celebration.
“He is still there then? Alive and well?”

“
Oh yes, him and his band
of misfits still rule that forsaken island. Rod goes out there
every ten years to make sure the barrier is holding. Peter is
always waiting for him in the same spot too, just glaring at him.
To be honest, I have no idea how they are all still alive without a
reliable blood source, but that is a mystery I am not interested in
solving.”

Another vampire tale and
all it did was bring about more questions for me. “So it took place
in England, but you never said who sired Peter?”

“
It is a little close to
the heart, but Jonathan was the vampire who sired him. It was his
first and last attempt at creating another.”

“
Oh wow, your brother,
huh?”

“
Yes, he was trying to do
the right thing. He had made a vow to never bring another into this
life, but he broke it to save the boy. I tell him all the time it
was not his fault.”

Another fate that wasn’t
mentioned was the human who didn’t die. “You said three humans died
and one was critically injured, did he end up dying
too?”

“
No, I was on scene for the
capture of Peter and came across the young man who was lying there
bleeding out. He asked me to save him so I did.”

“
So far the attempts at
saving lives by turning them into vampires haven’t worked out so
well. How did this guy fare?”

“
For once, this one did not
end in travesty. The young man was a Spanish immigrant who had not
enjoyed an easy life so when I turned him I also gave him
employment.”

“
Was that guy
Reno?”

“
Yes, Reno Tavares was
there that awful day. Do me a favor and never bring up Peter’s name
in his company. That day, Reno was gutted like a fish by
Pan.”

After that story, I quickly
switched the topic back to Cristof and what I needed to know. I
know I should have been paying attention, but the idea of kid
vampires causing so much destruction was quite unsettling. Not that
werewolves didn’t have problems, because we did, but being that
young forever was something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

“
So basically just be
yourself around him. His personality is quite laid back and he does
not feel the need to throw his power around for show.”

“
Well, that’s good. Me
being me is one of my top talents.”

“
I have firsthand
experience; you do not need to remind me.”

I looked at the clock and
time sure had flown by. It was a little after six and lead foot had
gotten us into Santa Fe quicker than I expected. “We are about
fifteen minutes from the airport. I suggest we grab a bite to eat
and then get up there and case the area. I doubt Tucker would try
anything here, but being in the city isn’t the most comfortable of
feelings. Too many things happening for my liking.”

“
Do not worry, this is my
area of expertise and I will take the point here. I have been
blending into cities for a long time; I know what to look
for.”

She was right, this was her
area and I would have to just drop back into support and back-up in
the recon stage. Once we got Cristof in the car, I would be a lot
more comfortable and could get us out of here in a moment’s notice,
if needed.

We popped into a local sub
shop and a Philly cheese steak later, I was feeling good. We
continued on to the airport and made a few laps around the terminal
outliers. So far, everything seemed normal. Nothing jumped out at
Liz as not belonging and no funny scents hit my nose. I knew not to
be too optimistic though, things with vampires were never easy I
learned.

“
Let’s park the car and go
to the terminal. I would feel better about meeting him as soon as
we can and providing an escort all the way.”

“
An excellent idea. I take
it you have your gun with you?”

“
It’s like a credit card,
never leave home without it. What about you? I doubt we can hide
one of my grandfather’s tantos anywhere on you. By the
way…”

“
If you are about to
lecture me on the way I dress, you have a long night coming cowboy.
Last time I checked, it was considered a good thing to wear nice,
form fitting clothes. Look at you in those dusty old jeans and that
buttoned down shirt that may in fact be older than
myself.”

I looked down and I thought
I looked pretty damn good. But I opened a can of worms I shouldn’t
have and the entire walk into the terminal was a full-on lecture.
By the time we got to the information board, I had another
headache. Liz finally stopped critiquing me and was looking for
Cristof’s flight.

“
The flight is on time.
Excellent, that means in about thirty minutes we should have
contact with him.” She handed me the keys to her car. “Would you
mind driving back? You know the way better than I and if anything
should happen, your driving skills are superior to
mine.”

“
Don’t mind if I do.” I
couldn’t even help but grin, I enjoyed driving her car. “But for
here and now, let’s each take a side and do a quick perimeter scan.
Meet back by the board in fifteen.”

Liz went her way looking
like an FBI agent. After the comments about her clothing, I
certainly wasn’t going to tell her to take her sunglasses off if
she didn’t want to. Sighing to myself, I went my way and soon it
became apparent that no one was here for any vampire business. It
was all families and business people. Satisfied, I made my way back
over to the board and saw that Cristof’s plane was coming in for
its final descent.

“
I did not spot anything
unordinary, but I did hear something fascinating.”

I turned around and Liz was
walking right up to me. “I can only imagine what you consider
fascinating.”

“
A family just landed from
Florida and the children were going on about this place that is
full of magic. When Cristof gets here I should inform him
immediately.”

It took me a moment, but
then I started laughing, and hard. People were starting to look
over at us and Liz punched me in the arm. I composed myself enough
to tell her what that magical place was. “Liz, those kids were
talking about amusement parks, not real magic.”

I could tell she felt
stupid afterwards and me laughing at her didn’t help. We didn’t
have long before the big boss man showed up and I didn’t want him
to see any chinks in the armor, so I wandered over to an airport
shop and bought some grossly overpriced flowers. When I came back
over and gave them to her, I saw her smile return.

“
You are an impossible man
Victor Inglewood, but at least you have charm and heart. I accept
your bought apology but I will get you back later.” Well shit, that
didn’t sound good for yours truly.

“
Can’t we call it even? Or
at least consider my much shorter lifespan as fair
punishment?”

“
You have at least a good
two hundred and fifty to three hundred years left! I have plenty of
time to exact a fair measurement of punishment!”

I knew I was beaten and put
my hands up in protest. “You can’t treat your new chief inspector
like this. Show some respect for the job.”

“
Vampires do not believe in
human resource departments. Any complaint you have you can file
with your immediate supervisor, me.”

“
I’d like to file a
complaint then.”

“
Sorry, it is passed normal
business hours, which are Monday through Friday eight to five. I
would be more than happy to address this tomorrow.”

“
You’re a bloody vampire!
Ninety-nine percent of your business happens at night!”

“
Hmm, that sounds like
insubordination. I might have to write you up.”

I had a lot to learn. It
was her little world and I was now along for the ride. Thank
goodness Cristof’s flight had landed and people were now coming
off. We stopped our nonsense and went back into protection detail.
I inspected every passenger as they came through security and
nothing tripped any alarms with me. Liz was doing the same thing
and she seemed to be calm, which I took as a good sign.

Then he caught my eye. An
impressively large man, easily six foot three and well over two
hundred pounds came walking into the room. Perfectly combed blonde
hair and a suit that probably cost as much as my house told me this
was Cristof. His shoes shined so bright, I could only guess how
long he spent polishing them. He caught sight of us and in three
strides was walking up with his hand extended.

“
You must be Victor, a true
pleasure!” I shook his hand and his strength put dad’s to shame.
“Elizabeth, looking as stunning as ever! Alicia sends her regards
and wished she was here to see you again as well.”

“
A pleasure to meet you,
sir.”

You could tell right away
he was not a born vampire, even though Liz tipped me off already.
He looked to be around the mid thirties range. I assumed born
vampires looked to be around Liz’s age.

“
We can talk more in the
car back to Full Moon. I am most eager to meet with Mayor Argent at
his first available convenience.”

“
I can arrange that, sir.
Do you have any bags to be picked up at the luggage
claim?”

“
No Victor, I will arrange
my needs to be shipped overnight once I get to your residence and
have an address for my assistant. I hope that poses no
problems?”

“
Of course not, I am
already hosting Liz and her two agents here.”

“
Oh, I did not realize you
already had a full house. Maybe your mayor can set me up with a
temporary situation. Anyway, that is something to figure out when
we get there. Too much has happened recently to linger in public
for too long.”

“
You are right, Cristof.
Vic, would you mind taking point and getting us to the car
quickly.”

I nodded at Liz’s
suggestion and we were off. We were able to navigate the airport
pretty easily and soon made it to the car. I jumped in and got the
engine going and we were on the road to Full Moon. Cristof and Liz
were playing catch up for the first leg of the ride home. About an
hour outside of Santa Fe is when I started to feel
better.

“
We have about three hours
to Full Moon. Liz, could you text dad, Chaz, and Argent and let
them know we are on the way back?”

She pulled out her phone
and within moments all the texts were sent with confirmation
replies. Argent was calling a meeting at six in the morning for
everyone to attend. These people are their penchant for early
morning nonsense was out of control.

“
So, Elizabeth, Victor, can
you catch me up on this Cactus Killer case? There seems to be so
much in play right now.”

We both took turns telling
him what we had discovered. Leaving no details out, including Liz
using me as a donor and vice versa, Cristof took everything in. We
finished our account with the discovery of Tucker’s Holy Water
experiments and how it is made of vampire blood.

“
This is not good,
especially when coupled with the news I received from London last
evening after my phone call with you.”

Liz’s ears perked up at the
mention of London. “What news did you receive?”

“
Jonathan came to
Roderick’s office with news of a disturbance in Rome. Someone broke
into your parent’s tomb.”

“
But there is nothing in
it, all the family heirlooms are either with me in Arizona or Rod
has them locked up in the Tower of London.”

“
Nothing from what we can
tell was disturbed, just that someone broke in and carved this.” He
handed his phone up to Liz. After she looked at it, she turned it
to me and I saw the same engraving from the church, just on a much
larger scale.

“
Does that say what I think
it says?”

“
Yes Vic, it says the
Hammer of Jehovah.” 

Cristof was talking to Reno
and Phil and getting their input on the situation. Meanwhile, it
was up to me to get Liz’s head back in the game. “Listen, I know
it’s disturbing that the sign appeared in your parent’s tomb, but
we got to remain focused. Whoever this guy is, he’s playing mind
games now.”

“
I know this, but still for
someone to go to these lengths is disheartening.”

“
Our first order of
business is to put Tucker down. Once he is out of the picture, then
we can turn our attention to what your brother found. Tucker is
just as dangerous as this Hammer guy is, maybe even
more.”

“
You are right, of course.
It is just hard to fathom that someone is out there and can pull
the strings from the shadows so well.”

“
If he has to use puppets
to try and kill us, it seems to me that he can’t do the job
himself.”

She smiled again, “I never
thought about it like that.”

“
This is why you hired me,
I do fine work.” I couldn’t stifle the yawn that snuck up on me.
“Well, I think it is time for some shut eye. We have the blasted
meeting at six with Argent. Obviously, that guy doesn’t consider
the needs of others.”