Jack Kursed (33 page)

"I'm sorry. But we've
always been honest with each other, even when we pissed each other
off. Listen, we don't know what's going on, and it won't help to
get worked up now."

Adjusting his shirt and dark coat, he
assumed the relaxed look Victoria was familiar with.

"You're right."

It only took two minutes to ride the
elevator to the second floor and find room 212, but it seemed like
two hours. He tried to prepare himself for the worst, but felt a
tiny sense of relief when he turned into the room.

Erica was battered and
bruised. Her ankle was in a soft-cast. There were a few cuts on her
face, and both eyes were black. The hospital gown she wore was
split on the side, a barely-there piece of cloth, and the bit of
thigh exposed was one huge bruise. There was still the old scar on
the side of her face.

But she was alive.

"I should have brought
flowers."

Victoria let out a quiet laugh behind
him.

"Jack?" Erica said, barely opening her
eyes. "Is that you?"

"It's me. Victoria's here,
too."

"Victoria? I can't see
much right now."

"I'll bet. How are you
feeling?"

"Like shit. It's cold in
here."

Jack ran a hand through her dark hair.
Victoria noticed the affection in his touch. It was almost
impossible to believe.

"It's probably this gown
they got you in. Almost looks like a slutty dress. I see I was
right. Your legs are damn nice."

"Victoria, would you cover me up? This
asshole hasn't earned the right to see my legs yet."

Victoria smiled as she pulled a sheet
over Erica's waist.

"Is Tiffany okay? I've
been drifting in and out, could barely talk to the
doctors."

"She's-"

Jack grabbed Victoria's shoulder to
cut her off.

"There was a mix-up. She was actually
taken over to Agnes, on the other side of town."

"What?" Erica said, trying to sit up.
She moaned in pain, and Jack carefully forced her back into
bed.

"I know," he said, his
voice betraying his emotions somewhat. "We just got here and find
this crap out. We're still trying to put everything
together."

A tear ran down Erica's cheek and he
wiped it away for her.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "We were
just driving to get some ice cream. Everything's blurry, but I
think someone rear-ended us. Then we got T-boned. It was a crazy
accident."

His phone rang, and he
nearly dropped it when the caller ID displayed his own name. It was
the iPhone he'd given to Tiffany.

"Tiffany, honey? Where are you? Are
you okay?"

"Hello, Jack. I'm afraid Tiffany can't
come to the phone right now."

Jack glanced at Victoria,
and the vampire nodded. They didn't need to say a word. She watched
over Erica as he made his way down the hall to an empty waiting
area.

"Who is this?"

"Don't worry about that.
All you need to worry about is the little girl, and how much longer
she has to live."

He squeezed the phone and clenched his
eyes shut. "If you hurt Tiffany-"

"Just shut up, rich boy,
and listen. Bring the kid's camera, and ten million dollars, to the
lake in Cromfield Park. You come alone, or she dies. You got that?
You've got two hours."

"That's not enough time. Are you
listening? Two hours isn't enough time-"

The call went dead.

He almost collapsed into
one of the chairs. His mind wandered as he stared at the picture of
Tiffany he took on the school playground. She was hanging on the
monkey bars upside-down, a smile on her face. That same picture
greeted him every time he reached for his phone.

Tiffany had come a long
way from the abused orphan he first met to the B student she was
now. Jack thought he made some progress as well, but he could feel
it slipping away. Tiffany had accomplished the one thing no one
else had over two centuries. She consistently made him
happy.

Victoria approached him
and gently put a hand on his shoulder. He knew she heard the entire
conversation.

"Jack?"

"They've got her. Tiffany
is my responsibility, and they've got her. I didn't think they'd
make a move. Why would they? She's just a little girl, with no
credibility, who has a blurry photo."

"Who?"

He replayed the voice in his
mind.

"Mark Taylor. A dirty cop.
He was one of the six cops on duty the night I met Tiffany. He
stopped by her school, and I knew he was dirty the second I saw
him. I'm a damn idiot. It's my job to protect her."

"Do you think it's him in the
picture?"

"I do now."

She reached out and grabbed his
shaking hands.

"I know it's been a hundred years, but
I've never seen you like this."

"You mean...weak and
pathetic?"

"Jack, caring about
someone doesn't mean that."

"I hate the way I feel. I
liked my life. I didn't need some filthy little girl to complicate
things. I...love her, Victoria. And Erica, whether I'm supposed to
or not, I like her. Last night, the three of us just hung out on
the couch. That was it. And it was one of the best nights of my
life."

She wrapped an arm around his
shoulders. "I guess you have more in common with the mortals than
you think."

"Maybe you're right," he said, staring
at the floor.

"Look, we have to move. We
both know if you give that man ten million dollars, he’ll shoot you
in the head, not that it would do much, and kill
Tiffany."

"Indeed."

"So, we'll work together,
for real this time, not just jumping off of a roof. You stall for
time, and I'll-"

"No, Victoria. I don't need your
help."

"We're back to this? You can't do
everything alone. We're family."

"We are."

"Taylor probably doesn't
even have Tiffany with him, if he's smart. And I'm telling you,
that blur in the photo, it had to be a vampire. We've-"

Victoria went silent when
she noticed Jack's expression. A slight hint of a smile touched his
lips, a fire in his eye. He passed the phone back and forth in his
hands, not listening to a word she said. He'd sent a quick text
message, only a few characters, but she didn't get a look at
it.

Her breath caught in her
chest. She'd seen that look before, right before he slaughtered the
townsfolk that tried to hang him. Mr. and Mrs. Soon were murdered,
and Jack killed eight people in return. She was afraid of what dark
thoughts were going through his mind.

There were very few men that could
match the violence of Jack Kursed.

"What did you do?"

He grinned, and it wasn't
a grin of joy.

"Maybe...just maybe, a masterpiece.
And I've done a lot of good work. All this time, I kept thinking
maybe Tiffany made me softer. I haven't been the same person since
she came into my life. But maybe it made me more
dangerous."

"Jack-"

"I'm glad to have my
family back. That's why I'm asking you to watch over Erica. I don't
think they'll try anything with her, but I was wrong before. And if
he has a vampire working for him...I don't trust anyone else with
this. Please."

She hesitated at first,
but nodded. Jack surprised her with a hug, a rare gift. She could
count on one hand the number of hugs they shared in the time they
spent together.

"Thank you."

The pair walked down the
hall to Erica's room. Jack laughed as she struggled to reach a
glass of water not far from the bed.

"This isn't funny," she said. "I feel
like I've walked through a desert."

"You look it, too. You look
terrible."

"Shut up. Is Tiffany okay?"

"Yeah. That was the
doctor. I'm gonna swing over to Agnes now and check on her.
Victoria will hang out with you."

"A girls' night out at the hospital.
This will be fun. I'll get Victoria to give me all the dirt on
you."

"That would take a long time,"
Victoria said.

"I'll call later."

"Wait! Don't I get a hug or
something?"

"Victoria's here. She can
give you a hug."

Despite her injuries, she managed a
smile, and a sexy tilt of the head.

"But what if I want a hug from
you?"

Grinning, he leaned over
the bed carefully and hugged Erica with one arm. Her cheek felt
nice against his. He pulled back a few inches, and was close to
kissing her lips, but controlled himself. He ran a hand down her
face, along her scar. Erica didn't pull away, but grabbed his hand
and held it against her cheek.

Victoria couldn't believe
her eyes. After two centuries, Jack had finally met his
equal.

"I'll help pay for anything. As soon
as I get better-"

"This wasn't your fault. This was an
accident. Don't worry," he said, strength returning to his voice.
"Tiffany will be fine."

Victoria gave him a nod
before he left the room.

*****

The ride to Cromfield Park
was a blur. His thoughts wandered all over the place. Everything
had changed since Tiffany nearly ran into him coming out of the
alley. She had stumbled into his life, and gave him purpose. For
the first time since his curse, the morning would come, and there
was something important to do. Take care of Tiffany.

Now, Mark Taylor, someone who was
supposed to protect, was threatening her.

Tiffany was Jack's family.
She was the first person he thought of as family since
Victoria.

Taylor would pay.

Jack shook the angry
thoughts from his head as pulled into the parking lot on the edge
of Cromfield Park. Patting the briefcase on the seat next to him,
he took a deep breath. Tiffany first, revenge second.

The park was nearly deserted. It had
been a week or so since he last visited. Jack once read three books
in a day while Tiffany was at school, eating hot dogs and pretzels
while watching the people live their lives.

The park was also a good
spot for shady business at night.

Mark Taylor stood by the lake. He
casually fed the geese swimming nearby, stopping to give Jack a
seedy smile.

"That's close enough," Mark
called.

Jack stopped about thirty
feet away, the briefcase swaying at his side.

His eyes moved up and down the corrupt
cop. Black jeans with a white shirt and coat. Cell phone in his
right pocket. A gun in a shoulder holster, on the left side, under
his coat. Very confident, shit-eating grin.

"Where's Tiffany?"

"I thought ten million
dollars would have needed a bigger suitcase. See? I figured you
could get the money fast, if you had the right
motivation."

Jack took a step forward.

"I said don't fuckin' move! Do you see
that over there?"

He followed to where Mark
was pointing. There was a camera aimed in their direction, hooked
to a laptop, sitting on a park bench.

"I've got friends watching. All I have
to do is wave my little hand, and the bitch dies.
Understand?"

"I want to talk to
Tiffany. Isn't that how this works?"

"I don't know. This is my first time.
And nope, you don't get to talk to her."

"What's this about, Taylor? Why go
after her?"

"Nothing fancy here. She
took a picture of me and a friend doing something bad. I have to
get that picture, and figured I could make a little money on the
side. You brought her camera?"

Jack reached into his
coat, grabbed Tiffany's camera, and tossed it through the air. Mark
caught it and scrolled through the images. He laughed when he found
the picture he was looking for.

"Are you shitting me? You can't even
make out anything. We're too far away, anyway."

Jack laughed as well. "Yeah, I know. I
said the same thing. I had it down to about six
guesses."

Mark tossed the camera
into the lake. He gestured to the briefcase.

"Is that my money?"

"Taylor, listen to me. I'm
gonna give you a chance, which is more than I give a lot of people.
I don't care what you've done, or will do, in the future. I just
want Tiffany back. We won't make any trouble for you. Just call
whoever has her, bring her here, and we can go our separate
ways."

"Look, I don't think
you're taking me seriously. I've done my homework on you, and I
know you're loaded. You won't miss ten million dollars. I want you
to throw that briefcase over here. That little girl's life is
hanging by a thread, and I'm getting really fuckin'
impatient."