Vamp-Hire (17 page)

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Dolph went on fumbling with his coat another
second before turning back to Nick. Hives had broken out on his
neck and his eyes, drained of all of his cool confidence, were
swelling shut. His head seemed to grow before Nick’s eyes.

“Pen,” Dolph strained to say. “I need…” He
put his hand to his throat and pulled it away. His eyes were narrow
slits now and his reddened face looked on the verge of bursting.
Nick leapt out of his chair and came to his side. He got on one
knee and dug into the pocket Dolph had been reaching for. Inside
was a slender plastic tube about eight inches long, “Epi-Pen” and
some other writing on the side. He looked at Dolph who was nodding
at him, reaching for it, but his already big hands were like oven
mitts. Dolph managed to get the cap off, then resorted to pounding
the table when his hands could not do what he wanted. He thrust it
back to Nick and slapped his thigh.

“You want me to give you the shot?”

Nick had never liked needles, and he could
see the man was in no shape to do it himself. He looked around for
the waitress who was nowhere in sight. They were the only patrons
here too, so it had to be him.

Dolph hit the top of his thigh with the side
of his fist. Nick thought he understood. He had to jab the needle
into his leg. What about the plunger, though? Dolph punched him in
the chest, probably to get him to focus, to hurry up, but he almost
toppled over. Even when he was near choking to death he was strong
as an ox.

“You gotta help me, Dolph. I don’t
understand!” Nick grasped the Epi-Pen and folded the old man’s
meaty paw around his hand. His palm was sickly warm. Dolph lifted
his arm and drove the needle into his thigh. Nick tried to let go
and Dolph’s crushing squeeze kept the syringe in place.

He gasped for breath and whispered, “One
more,” as he opened his hand and let the syringe fall to the floor.
Nick made a face, then reached into his coat pocket again and found
another needle. He popped the cap, raising the syringe in both
hands and stabbed Dolph in the thigh again.

Whatever was in this stuff worked fast
because Dolph seemed to be breathing easier already.

“Are you going to be okay?” Nick asked.

“9-1-1,” Dolph said and then fainted. His
breathing was heavy and labored, like something unnatural was in
his lungs the air had to get around. Angry red hives where
everywhere Nick saw skin. He snatched his cell out of his pocket
and dialed. After a few prompts he was speaking with an operator
and gave her their location and the nature of the emergency.

An ambulance was there in five minutes.
Dolph’s breathing had gone shallow. Nick could hear the congestion
in his lungs, like a ball bouncing around his rib cage. The
waitress had come out in that small space of time and had begun
speaking rapidly in Thai. The cook and one other person came out
and after the waitress had apparently spoken some choice words to
the cook they began shouting at each other.

“Where are you taking him?” Nick asked.

“Beaumont,” a tall, dark-skinned EMT with
blond hair said. The other EMT, a man with a salt-and-pepper goatee
as long as the devil’s strapped Dolph in and they wheeled him out
the door. Nobody asked Nick to ride along.

He would have left immediately, but all three
of the other people behind the counter had come and given a
multitude of apologies in both English and Thai, each bowing in
turn.

Nick walked with no idea of direction, he
just wanted to get away from there. He had never seen anything like
that before. Despite Dolph probably being old enough to be his
grandfather, he was still a powerful man and for him to be reduced
to that after doing something as mundane as eating lunch, it was
unsettling.

Nick had walked about four blocks and was
gradually feeling like his usual self when he realized he was being
followed. The only thing that stood out was the roaring engine of a
motorcycle heading east somewhere behind him. He was headed south
and saw no repeat cars. Nick picked up his pace, turning right and
left at random at the ends of the next two blocks, and still
couldn’t shake the feeling.

He walked backward a few steps and spied a
black limousine about fifty feet back. He wanted to be sure it was
following him in case he felt the need to run. The limousine didn’t
accelerate to catch up to him and he turned around again.

“Should I lose these guys or wait up to see
what they want?” he asked himself. The fact they weren’t speeding
up behind him and running him over hinted that they might not mean
him any harm. Unless they were kidnappers.

He was so preoccupied with looking over his
shoulder at the vehicle that he didn’t see Lieutenant Leonard walk
right up to him from the other direction.

“Good afternoon, Nick.” He looked up and saw
the man, surprised, and stopped.

“Good afternoon,” Nick said, noticing the
quaver in his voice. What was he doing here? And how had Leonard
found him?

“Don’t worry, we were following Adolphus, but
we were looking for you.”

“For me? Why?” Nick had already halted and
was seriously considering taking a step or two backward. Hell, why
not go wild with a full-out running away?

Because they had him, that was why. Leonard
was in front of him and the limo was behind. If he tried to run,
maybe someone would throw one of those nets over him that got
people all tangled up like in movies. Or maybe Leonard would take a
hand out of his coat and shoot him with a taser.

Before he knew it, the limo had pulled up
alongside them.

“You did good work yesterday.”

“Oh, really? Nice of you to drop by and tell
me. You should have called. Did you catch the guy?”

“No.” Leonard shook his head once. “Not yet.”
Nick’s heart sank a little. Not that he was worried about the
killer striking again, he wanted what he’d said to count for
something. “You gave us a really good lead, though.”

Lieutenant Leonard closed the gap between
them, standing less than three feet away.

“Listen, we want you to come back with us.
There’s some things we’d like you to take a look at for us.”

“Oh, really?” Nick said a second time. “Well,
if you have everything about wrapped up, what can I do for
you?”

“We have another case that’s ongoing. Totally
unrelated to this. Could involve some travel.”

Nick stopped himself from saying ‘Oh,
really?’ a third time. He nodded while he thought of something else
to say. “How much does it pay?”

“Pay?” Leonard half snorted. “You’d be doing
your country a favor.”

“Well, doing my country favors doesn’t pay my
bills.”

Leonard poked out his lower lip and looked
around like he was thinking. “I hear you there. I’m sure we can
work something out. I have to run it by my superiors. You
understand.” The lieutenant took his gloved hands out of his
pockets and let them drop by his sides. Empty. Nick untensed
slightly. He could be trying to disarm him.

Someone pulled up to a light on a motorcycle
at the corner about twenty feet ahead. The engine sounded like it
could have been from the one he’d heard before. Nick looked over
Leonard’s shoulder and the man turned to see as well before they
looked at each other again. Nick kept his eyes on Leonard as the
person on the bike look in their direction.

“Well, that sounds nice. Maybe let me think
about it?”

Leonard’s smile didn’t reach those dead brown
eyes. Nick heard an electronic hum come from the limo and he turned
to see the rear window sliding down and a double barreled shotgun
poke out in his direction.

Nick froze.

“We don’t have to do it this way,” Leonard
said. “I said we don’t have to do it this way!” Nick looked at him
and saw Leonard facing the limo. The weapon hung out the window a
few seconds longer and withdrew.

“Sorry, boss,” a pretty face said after
hovering into view. Nick could tell instantly that she was a vamp.
She was as pale as milk and her lips were crimson.

The light must have changed because Nick
heard the motorcycle take off. Nobody looked and that was the
mistake. Several rounds slammed into the limo, pinging off the
metal and shattering the windows. Nick instinctively ducked and
Leonard did the same.

He could smell blood and knew someone had
been hit. Several voices inside shouted and then the car screeched
away, racing to the other side of the street and hitting an
electrical pole, leaving the two of them out in the open as the
motorcycle spun around and began speeding back.

There was nowhere to run. The building
closest to him was closed and abandoned. There was only sidewalk
and street and seconds before the rider reached them. Nick thought
about grabbing Leonard and using him as a human shield, but the
likelihood was that Leonard would grab him. He was shorter,
compact, and strongly built.

Whoever it was stopped about a dozen feet
away from them, took a handgun out of his jacket pocket and shot
Leonard. Nick leapt back in shock. Leonard hadn’t merely fallen
over dead. His legs melted and he hit the ground hard, twitching.
There were two wires coming from somewhere underneath him,
connected to the weapon the rider held in hand. Leonard’s head
smoked like it was catching fire and his face blackened.

The rider tossed the taser aside and unslung
what looked to be a mini cannon, aiming it at the limo and firing.
The car flipped over onto its roof, the explosion making Nick
flinch again.

A few cars had driven by before the rider had
begun firing and now cars raced away quickly.

The figure held a hand out to Nick.

“Let’s go,” came a woman’s flat voice. Nick
stood on shaky legs, afraid to go with this person and afraid to
stay where he was. The carnage had only taken seconds and it had
all been dealt by one person.

The police would be here any minute and Nick
didn’t want to count himself amongst the bodies. He took her hand
and hopped on.

She wore a backpack and Nick crushed up
against it, feeling hard objects inside he could only imagine were
weapons of some sort. The motorcycle took off and Nick clutched her
waist, closing his eyes. He saw no other choice as he probably did
the worst thing imaginable given what had just happened.

They weaved in and out of traffic, Nick
feeling and hearing every car they passed. He dared to open his
eyes and saw they were passing by cars with a margin of error of
inches. Each time she leaned left or right, he stiffened, expecting
them to spill across the street. Soon they were out of the city,
away from the bulk of midafternoon traffic.

The motorcycle curved up a small slope and
quickly came to a halt. She cut the engine and slapped his
thigh.

“Get off,” she said. Nick peeled himself away
from her and slowly dismounted. They were in the parking lot of an
old shoe store. The woman took off her helmet and ruffled a
leather-clad hand in the single afro puff at the back of her jet
black hair.

Nick stared in awe. She had bright hazel
eyes, dark ebony skin, and lips so full they looked on the verge of
bursting.

“Something wrong with your eyes?” she said
flatly. She had a slight accent. Maybe Jamaican.

“Uh, no. I was just looking at you.” Nick
averted his gaze, not meaning to say it like that. “You’re so
pretty.”

Dammit! It just spilled out. What was wrong
with his mouth?

She cocked her head. “You’re a vamp, aren’t
you?”

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

She laughed. The sound sent shivers down his
whole body and he shifted his feet. “Ma’am? How old do you think I
am?”

“I don’t know.” Nick found something
interesting by the curb to look at.

“Go on. Guess. I won’t be mad.”

“I don’t know. Thirty?”

The smile dropped off her face.

“Let’s go inside.”

Nick didn’t like the look she’d given him.
She put the kick stand up and got off the bike. Nick followed close
behind her into store. She took off the leather jacket and folded
it over her arm. They went to the rear of the store where she
picked up a pair of cuffed, low cut boots and sat down on a bench
to take hers off.

“Are you buying those?” Nick said.

“What do you think people come into a shoe
store for?” she said, her back to him. He supposed that was a good
cover, actually buying something from the place they were hiding
out. He didn’t even know her, though, and she seemed already mad at
him.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No.”

“Are you going to shoot me?”

She looked at him over her shoulder, a half
smile returning to her face. She stood and walked up and down the
aisle, her long slender legs attracting his eyes like magnets.

“How do they look?” she asked.

“What?”

“The boots. Do they look good on me?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. You wait here. I have to find the
facilities.”

She handed Nick her jacket and he watched her
walk off, appreciating the view. She stopped and said something to
an employee and the shorter woman pointed over her shoulder. He
realized she hadn’t answered his question. He also realized he
didn’t know her name.

Dutifully, he stayed put. For a moment he
thought she had left him, but shortly after she returned.

She had unpinned her hair and it flowed
wildly around her head. The backpack was gone, replaced by a purse,
and she had changed her clothes, wearing a yellow dress with slits
in the sleeves to show off the skin of her arms. It made her look
like a teenager.

“How do I look?” she said, spreading her
arms.

“Like a dandelion,” Nick replied. His voice
had a dreamy quality he couldn’t help. He felt a half second of
regret at letting his first thought come out of his mouth but her
roar of laughter eased his mind.