2 Sean Hayden (16 page)

Dead silence filled the club, no pun intended. I half expected the bar to be full of police interrogating witnesses and crime scene investigators looking for tiny shreds of evidence, but the club sat deserted, completely. Devries waited for me at the far side of the large room by a door leading to the back. I crossed the floor quickly and waited for him to either lead the way or open it for me. He led the way.

The door opened to a stairwell leading downward. I should have known. The master of San Jose hadn't been killed in the middle of his club. Somebody had gone hunting for him. That differed from all the other attacks. If they were the same people responsible, maybe the governor wasn't safe tucked inside the mansion. I pulled my cell out and texted Thompson. Better safe than sorry. I even managed to walk down the stairs while texting. I have talent.

The stairs ended in a very, very large underground facility. Apparently, the master had felt safe behind his big metal door. Usually, the lairs of powerful masters were a little more secure and hidden. Maybe the master of San Jose had a learning disability. When everybody really is out to get you, it's not paranoia.

Devries' feet echoed throughout the cavern as he strode across the empty area to what looked like a living room setup toward the back. Couches, sofas, and huge ornate chairs spread out across the area nestled on rugs of various sizes and shapes. Everything was beautiful and ornate, just horribly mismatched. Oranges, blues, reds, and yellows all clashed and assaulted the eyes like a movie made in the seventies. The Technicolor living room smelled funny, too.

The closer I got the stronger it became. It smelled like nothing I'd ever encountered before. I can't even begin to describe it. I smelled blood, and that I knew. I smelled fear and death, and those I knew. Finally I had to ask, "Devries, what is that smell?"

He looked over at me and my crinkled nose and gave a quick chuckle. "Don't tell me you've never smelled weed before, Ashlyn?"

"Oh," I said and shook my head,
no.
I've seen hundreds of movies and videos with people smoking it, but I'd never smelled it or seen it in person. It was really unpleasant. The smell filled the air like a pungent perfume. I didn't know vampires smoked pot.
Would it have any effect?

I made my way around the couches and I saw the body sprawled out on the finest couch. The silver stake in the middle of her chest probably put a damper on her festivities. A lighter and paraphernalia on the floor indicated she'd been mid puff when she died. "Where's the master's body?"

"That's her, Mary Moore."

Duh
. I'd automatically assumed the master of the city would be a man. Not in this case. She'd probably been very beautiful before somebody put the huge chunk of metal through her heart. Long blonde tresses had been tied up with a strip of leather and the rest of her attire looked Native American, but a cheap imitation. Long dangling strips of leather hung from her arms and legs and had been decorated with cheap shiny beads.
Hippie
. I closed the distance and bent to examine the body a little closer.

Her head had been turned so I couldn't see her right eye from where I stood before. I'd missed the silver stake embedded in her brain. I should have known. If you're going to take out somebody strong enough to be master of the city, silver through the heart wouldn't always do it. The stakes were the kind fired from the snuff guns the FBI used. Whoever killed her had not only been a professional, but a damn good shot.

"I have a feeling it's the same vampires who killed the others and tried to kill the governor."

"How can you tell?" In the distance I heard footfalls echoing. I turned and saw Mahoney joining us. I guess he didn't want to wait in the car anymore.

"Because I took three of them in the back while protecting the governor," I told Devries.

"You took stakes for that bloodsucker? You should have ducked. Undead fuckers running for governor, what's next?"

I so couldn't resist. I turned toward him and flashed my fangs. "I know right, next thing you know they'll want to join the Bureau." I watched him turn from red to white and back again while the implications flashed through his head. He started backing away and tripped on one of the rugs, landing hard on his ass. Priceless. I ignored him and looked around some more.

If there had been any other evidence around, the CSI team had been very thorough. I looked with my vampire eyes for anything they might have missed and came up empty. I could smell the clove scent from the dead vampire and I could smell about fifty other vampires, but I had no way to tell which one belonged to our killer. Mary probably just entertained a lot.

"Were there any witnesses?" I turned to Devries who had picked himself off the floor.

"Not that we know of, agent." Oh, look who had turned into Mr. Formal.

"Great. I think I've seen enough. Would you mind taking me back to the helicopter?"

If I thought the club had been dead silent, the ride back to the chopper was worse. I didn't even get an apology. Not that I wanted one, but still. Some people could be so rude.

Chapter 16

"I'm sorry, the what?" I stared at Thompson incredulously.

"Governor's Ball," he annunciated slowly like I held the title of village idiot.

"I know what it is. I just can't believe you agreed to it. How the hell are we supposed to keep him safe?" I tried really hard not to slap some sense into him.

"You know Greer. 'I shall not be deterred by these terrorists.' I tried to talk him out of it."

"Yeah well, you shoulda tried harder. I want it in our file that I think this is a very, very bad idea."

"Me too, kid," Thompson said and took his size fifteen shoes off the coffee table in our hotel suite. With Marcel's departure, I worried that we would have to go back to our meager hotel rooms, but Thompson assured me Marcel insisted we stay right where we are. His treat.

"Where's Vic?" Thompson hit me with the news about the ball as soon as I'd walked into the suite. I guess he wanted to get it out of the way.

"She said she was heading to the ugly vampire club."

I laughed. "They're called nosferatu, Mr. Kittycat. Don't be rude."

"Whatever, all you bloodsuckers look the same to me." He winked.

I smiled at him. With Thompson, I didn't mind the vampire name-calling. I'd filled him in on what happened in San Jose on the phone once the helicopter landed. I left out the part about Devries' comments, and I debated telling him now. I'd been pretty opinionated about vampires myself; until I found out I could be counted among their ranks. Maybe I should just leave him to his prejudices. If I told Thompson, I'm sure he'd make a big deal about it and try to get Devries reprimanded. I didn't want that. The guy was a complete jerk, but he'd probably be a bigger one if I got him in trouble.

"Did you get my text about the governor's safety at the mansion?"

"Yeah, I doubled the guard at the mansion and made sure there were plenty of supes to help out. Turns out he has some werewolves on the state trooper detail. Shame they weren't working when his limo blew up. They might have survived it."

I nodded at him and debated what to do for the evening. Vic was out dancing and having a good time and Thompson seemed content to sit and flip channels between the dozen or so national news networks. My gods, he was boring. I debated sneaking up on Vic and having fun with her, but maybe she wanted a little time away from me. Then I thought of my seriously depleted closet of clothes without blood or holes in them. Maybe now would be a good time to replenish. I've never been a huge fan of shopping, but this time the thought of it didn't scar my soul.

"I'm going shopping, you wanna come?"

Thompson laughed.

* * *

The Arden Fair Mall seemed like a logical choice for shopping. I parked the big SUV in the tiny mall parking spaces and tried to seem inconspicuous as I made my way through the glass entrance. I passed by a Sears and decided to forgo looking for clothes in there. All the suits I owned (that hadn't been destroyed) seemed kind of reserved. I wanted to start dressing a little nicer. Kinda like Will Smith at the end of MIB. I wished Marcel hadn't left. I had no idea what fashionable meant, let alone how to dress that way. Marcel had more fashion sense in his little pinky than most people in the fashion industry combined.

I stopped and looked around to get my bearings. Sears was behind me, and the closest stores ahead were someplace called a Wet Seal and Chico's. I looked briefly through the window of both, and while the Wet Seal appealed to my jean and T-shirt persona, neither exactly screamed business attire. I made my way down the entire length of the mall only to stop briefly at the counter at Starbucks to sit there and smell the coffee. I think I would give an appendage to try coffee. Finally, after what seemed an eternity I came across Macy's.
Jackpot
.

Several hours later, as well as several armfuls of bags, I reached my limit. I carried the items out to the car and loaded it up. Thankfully, I put the last bag in and shut the monstrous trunk when I dropped my keys. The simple fumble saved my life, or at least a pain in my neck. I mean that literally, the silver stake that shot through the window of the Suburban would have pierced my neck.

I crouched low and spun around. I looked everywhere before I spotted him on the roof of the mall.
Motherfucker, how the hell did you know I would be at the mall?
Even I hadn't known I would be at the mall. I stood and ducked between my SUV and the next. As soon as I stepped out to run over to the building another stake buried itself partially into the asphalt in front of my foot. Seconds later, I heard the telltale
snuff,
of the air-powered rifle. At least he wasn't running, that gave me a shot of catching the bastard.

I backed up a step and ran with all my vampiric speed. I heard
snuff, snuff, snuff
and the sounds of the stakes hitting around me, but I moved too fast for him to pick me off. Finally, I reached the exterior wall of the mall. The outside had been entirely constructed of large blocks of stone. I had never been rock climbing before, but I figured I would give it a shot. There wasn't enough purchase to grab on to the stone, so I made holes with my fingertips to pull myself up. The stone made a peculiar crunching noise as I dug the little holes into it, like puncturing Styrofoam. Within a few seconds, I flipped myself over the ledge.

The first stake caught me in the shoulder; the second one caught me in the thigh. Then my mysterious sniper's gun clicked empty. I saw him at the far edge of the roof. He'd backed up and hid behind an air-conditioning unit while I made my climb. I roared and charged. He threw his weapon at my head. I'll give him this, it was a good shot. If I hadn't held up my hand to deflect it, I'd have a snuffer rifle handle shaped dent in my forehead. As soon as he threw the weapon, he jumped over the ledge. By the time I got to where he'd been standing, he disappeared from sight. I had zero chance of catching him with a silver stake in my leg.

I gave another roar of displeasure, hoping he could hear me, but I doubted it. He'd probably made it to Mexico by now. I reached down with my good hand and pulled the stake from my thigh. I was so pissed I almost forgot the one in my shoulder. With a horrid slurping sound, I freed that one too and held onto both stakes in my right hand while I dropped off the side of the roof and down to the ground. I probably should have waited for my leg to heal. The pain that shot through my thigh reminded me to take some don't-be-stupid lessons later.

But my mind was on other things. I wanted to know how he found me. The only thing I could think of was that he had gotten lucky and trailed me here from the hotel.
The hotel
,
Oh shit.

I grabbed the cell out of my pocket and frantically dialed Thompson's number as I ran for the Suburban. My first dial went straight to voicemail. So did my second, third, fourth, and every other time I dialed on the way back to the hotel. I wanted to get back as fast as I could because I had a very bad feeling. Of course the traffic would be horrible on the way back. Nothing ever goes the way you want it to. Everybody was probably pulled over to rubberneck somebody changing a tire. As it turned out, I'd come to the wrong conclusion. They had slowed to look at the burning hotel. My hotel.

* * *

I drove the SUV up onto the curb and ran the rest of the distance to the hotel. People standing around gawking barely noticed the breeze as I passed by, but by the time they looked around I was gone. I was still far enough away that it took me a few minutes to get there. I stopped at the police barricade and flashed my badge. The officer holding back the perimeter lifted the tape and I ducked under. He looked like he knew about as much as I did so I darted around looking for somebody barking orders. He'd be the one in charge. I found him coordinating with the fire department. I ran up to him and his hand went to his gun instinctively. I held up my badge when I got close enough for him to see and he relaxed.

"Are you in charge?"

He nodded and eyed me warily. "I was until you showed up, what can I do for you?" Apparently he'd met somebody from the FBI before.

"My partner was in our room, have you seen him? He's about six-five and 300 lbs. He's a big black guy who goes by the name of Thompson."
Please let him say yes.

"No. Most of the hotel guests made it out okay; the flames seemed contained on the top floor for the better part of the fire. It spread lower, but they're getting it contained, slowly."

"Fuck," I said and bolted past him. I heard him yell out to me vaguely, but I ignored him. I burst through the door into the smoke filled lobby. Remembering my lessons, I avoided the elevator in case of fire and bolted for the stairwell. I would be faster anyway.

Floor by floor sped past me as I took the stairs by threes and fours. I made it to the top probably in record time. I held my hand against the fire door and heard a faint sizzling. It was hot, damn hot. I heard firefighters on the other side yelling as they tried to contain the blaze. I flung open the door and a burst of flames enveloped me. It singed my skin in a searing wave of heat. I closed my eyes to protect them and jumped through to the hall.