Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (13 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    T
HE SKYSCRAPERS WERE BATHED in
light as the
morning was sunny and warm.  Michael was finally able to appreciate it as he had some great news.
A struggle ensued with his new red tie but he was in a great mood.
John Shaw had phoned him saying that he ha
d an an
onymous officer willing to give
up
Lauren’s location
for a couple of grand,
of course the money had to come out of Michael’s pocket. John couldn’t
say for sure
that the information was good but he believed it to be. Michael was ecstatic and hoped that he
wasn’t too late. He assumed
she hadn’t found someone else already but life had a way of doing the unthinkable.
Lauren was such a great catch that he was sure there would be plenty of takers.
He hoped that s
he was his catch of
a lifetime and he expected
she hadn’t yet caught the attention of another, but he wouldn’t bet on it. It wouldn’t be pleasant to head back to Boston with his tail between his legs
; he was in a good enough mood to smile at the thought.

    Michael had gotten himself a cell phone for
the first time in his life. H
e s
tared at it on the small
table
beside the bed
willing it to go off. At one o’clock he called John but it went directly to voicemail. His mood went from good to
a little
nervous.
He took the tie off and tossed it onto the bed wishing that it could be smashed like a stubborn alarm clock at sunup.
Had something gone wrong? Had it been a police sting? Even worse, what if John Shaw had been sucked dry by a vampire? He had no other leads to follow, no other ropes to cling to at all
, and this one was apparently becoming unravelled.
It was
funny how the mind liked to conjure up problems that didn’t even exist.

    “Ring, damn you!” He felt like pun
ching the cell
but he didn’t.

    Michael had never paced in his life but at a little after two he started, and with another call that had gone to voicemail his mood shifted to desperate.
He knew he was most likely being unreasonable but still.
It was awful having a situation where he was totally dependent upon another. He stared out the window briefly and then continued to pace. The phone rang and he rushed to it, only to discover that it was some bullshit about lowering the interest
rates
on his credit cards. Time was moving forward as his mood
was declining. Michael
felt like punching John Shaw whether he deserved it or not.
Unfortunately, the situation that he found himself mired in was no one’s fault but his own; if you let somet
hing precious get away you shouldn’t
be surp
rised if you can’t get it back
.

    At almost three he called for a nine
inch all-meat pizza, sprinkled it with flakes of blood but
could only manage a couple of bites
. It smelled good though. It was meant
to be a bit of a distraction unfortunately
it didn’t work.
A freight train plowing through the hotel wouldn’t be a good enough distraction.
That’s what he got for letting Lauren’s gray-blue eye
s
get to him.
F
alling for a red sheriff, how stupid was that? They put their lives on the line on a daily basis.
If John had an official office he would go there, however he’d been told that his Lincoln Town Car was his office. It was just easier and cheaper, keeping the overhead at a minimum.
Technology made it easy with a cell phone, laptop and GPS in the car.
The private eye place
d
ads online and in the New York Times whenever business tipped a little too low for comfort.

    At
four o’clock Michael
was going stir crazy in the motel room and had to go for
a walk
; he grabbed his AT&T cell and took off
.
He reached incredible speeds as he blurred through the city.
He almost ran into the M10 Harlem 159
^th
bus and apologized to the driver.
He blurred to the American
Museum
of Natural History
at Central Park West at 79
^th
Street but didn’t go in. He stared up at the pill
ars and then sat on the steps and
stared at the traffic. Another call to John went unanswered. He watched tourists taking photos of one another in front of the Museum, and thought it might be fun to go inside with Lauren on his arm.
He watched a young couple walking hand-in-hand stop at a portable booth selling hot dogs and pretzels in front of the museum;
they bought a single pretzel and ate it together, when their lips touched
Michael had to look away.

    “Come on John, call me already.”

    Suddenly, one yellow taxi smashed into the back end of another yellow taxi. The drivers got out and the foul language started to fly. It was obvious who was in fault and yet the argument ensued. They talked as much with their hands as with their curses
. Another driver had to get in the middle to stop the two short men from coming to blows. Michael knew the police would soon be on the scene
; he had had enough and blurred off. 

    Michael didn’t stop until he got to Central Park West at West 72
^nd
Street; he was at the entrance to the Strawberry Fields Memorial, across from the Dakoda Apartments where John Lennon was killed
. It was then that he cell phone rang. “John, is that you?”

    “It’s me Michael,” said John Shaw. “But I’ve got some bad news.”

    Michael’s heart sank. “Bad news, what do you mean?”

    “Lauren didn’t show up for work. An investigation has started but she’s officially missing.”

    “Missing, what the hell does that mean?”

    John hesitated.
Almost ten seconds went by before he responded.
“She’s a vampire sheriff Michael, when they go missing it’s never good news. They’ve found her badge which would have enabled them to track her, but no bones yet.
It doesn’t sound good.
What do you want me to do?”

     “Find her, that’s what I want you to do!”

    “I can’t guarantee anything.”

    “I know that!” And with that Michael cut off the call.

CHAPTER TWELVE

    D
RACULA RUSHED AND STOPPED
Gage’s blade from slicing all the way through Piers Anthony’s neck
, with the wind from his movement throwing a book on the floor;
the blade hit the Master’s hand it was like hitting steel, and it was a good thing because another inch and
the author
wo
uld have been nothing but bones
.
The Master threw
Gage’s
blade
and
it
stuck into the wall
.
The
author’s
wound healed but it h
ad been a close one, Piers
had felt his skin start to turn to dust; he place
d
his hand where the wound had been and came away with a slight dusting of his skin.
It was definitely scary having been that close to death.
The Grim Reaper had been turned back but just
barely. The look on
Pier’s
face was one of relief.
Dracula appeared relieved as well.

    “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.” Annie shook her head at the spectacle that she was seeing and would never forget.

   
Wei’s blade too
k Nash and Vaile’s head off simultaneously. It was something that he had always wanted to do, but vampires had never been in the proper position before now
to actually get two
biters
simultaneously
.
He never really thought that he’d get two bad vampires at the same time.
Wei had a small bet p
laced with Bao and he turned with raised
eyebrows at him.
Moon Diamond launched itself around Gage’s neck and commenced to choke him, using its entire body as one powerful muscle.
A struggle ensued as Gage attempted to blur and run away, however he was in too much discomfort to manage it.
Dracula gestured for the others to let the cat be as he wanted to observe the end result.
Annie was fascinated by the turn of events.
The vampire threw himself down on the floor in an attempt to free himself from the Siamese, and down there he rolled and smashed at the cat with his fists, but with each passing second he became weaker. Gage
pushed himself against the wall and
managed to stand but it was too late, his head popped off and the dust of what he had been went through his bones to the floor
below
.