Murder in Vein (2010) (11 page)

"See," Stacie said, "sometimes new details crop up in the
retelling. Things you might have forgotten before."

Before continuing, Madison took a drink from her coffee,
which was now cool. "I was about to get into my car when I felt
someone come up from behind and hit me hard. It happened
fast, too fast for me to react. I must have blacked out, because
when I came to, I was tied and gagged and in the trunk of a car.
Turned out to be my own car." Madison focused on the tabletop
to keep her concentration. "When the car stopped, he dragged
me out of the trunk and into a small clearing. He smacked me
around a bit, then threw me to the ground. Then ... nothing."

"Nothing?" Stacie asked. She frowned, causing her bangs to
fall farther over her eyebrows.

"Nothing," Madison repeated. "After dumping me on the
ground, he grabbed a beer and sat down against a tree, like he
was waiting for someone. When I started to struggle, he moved
over to me. That's when ... that's when..." Madison looked over
at Dodie.

"That's when," Dodie finished for her, "Doug and I arrived.
We were taking a moonlight stroll through the woods when we
saw that Bobby person crouched over her and thought he was
going to kill her."

Stacie aimed her frown at Dodie. "Too bad you two didn't
take this guy alive. We could have gotten some answers out of
him."

Dodie straightened her shoulders. "I'm afraid Douglas got a
little carried away," she said in defense of her husband. "But his heart was in the right place. Our only thought at the time was to
save the girl, not to capture her assailant."

"Then I hope the creep was at least tasty." Stacie delivered the
line in a well-timed one-two sarcastic punch.

"I can assure you, Stacie," Dodie told her, her lips pursed in
displeasure at being chastised, "Samuel gave us a thorough and
well-deserved tongue lashing last night."

Turning back to Madison, Stacie prodded further. "You saw
no one else?"

"No one, except for Doug and Dodie. But Bobby did seem to
be nervous, and whoever it was he was waiting for seemed to be
late."

"You knew this Bobby guy?" Stacie asked as if grilling a witness in court.

"Not really," Madison answered. "Like I told Notchey, he'd
come into the diner a few times. Tried to chat me up in the last
few weeks, but he didn't appear nuts or anything."

A waitress brought Madison another coffee drink. When
she started to protest, Dodie said, "Don't worry, I asked them to
make it with decaf. Can't have you up all night like us."

Madison gave Dodie a small smile and wrapped her hands
around the warm mug. The restaurant was chilly, but no one
seemed to notice but her. She looked from Dodie to Stacie and
continued her story. "Today Mike Notchey brought some photos
by for me to look at. He said they were people who had vampire
clubs or cults here in LA. Asked me if I'd ever seen any of them
before."

Stacie sat erect with interest. "And had you?"

Madison shook her head. "Nope, not unless they looked different from the photos when I did. Several were in goth makeup
in the pictures."

Madison paused to take a drink. She started to say something
else, then took another drink. Finally, she took a deep breath and
continued. "He also showed me other photos ... photos taken
of the dead women." When she started to say something else, a
choked sob came out of her mouth, but her eyes remained dry.
Slapping her right hand over her mouth, she squelched further
sobs and fought to control her emotions.

Without warning and without regard to Madison's distress,
Stacie grabbed at Madison's left hand, which was nearest to her.
Madison instinctively pulled it back.

"Let me see your hand, Madison," Stacie insisted.

After a slight hesitation, Madison let Stacie take her left hand.
The attorney examined it closely.

"What's with all the hand grabbing?" Madison asked after
taking several deep, cleansing breaths. "Notchey did the same
thing today. And last night I had a dream about a guy checking
out my hand."

Dodie looked at Madison with concern but leaned toward
Stacie, who was still scrutinizing Madison's left palm. "We told
you, Stacie, she doesn't have the bloodline."

Madison snatched her hand back from Stacie. "What in the
hell is a bloodline?"

"TMI?" Dodie asked Stacie.

"No," Madison said before Stacie could reply. "In this case, it's
not enough information. So what's with my hand?"

Instead of answering, Stacie pumped Madison for more
answers. "You dreamed about someone looking at your hand? What did the guy look like? Maybe you did see someone and it's
buried in your subconscious."

"He was a black man," Madison answered. She dug back into
the part of her brain that stored dreams. "And bald, I think. But
he didn't grab my hand rudely, like you and Notchey. He held it
gently, like a boyfriend, and traced the lines on my palm." She
took a drink of coffee. "Oddest thing," she continued. "Even
though it was night, he was wearing sunglasses."

Stacie swung her head in Dodie's direction, the end of her
long ponytail nearly hitting Madison. "That true?" she demanded.

Dodie nodded. "Yes. He came by last night to see her and to
discuss what's happening."

"Okay, guys," Madison said, holding up both of her hands in
protest. "Just hold on a minute." She turned to Dodie. "Are you
telling me that I didn't dream that guy holding my hand?"

Dodie squirmed a bit. "Technically, dear, you did dream it.
You were asleep when it happened. But, yes, someone came by
last night, and he checked your hand. And he looks exactly as you
described him."

"Whoa!" Madison pushed back from the table. A few people
nearby turned to look at them, but one steely look from Stacie
Neroni sent them back to their own business.

Madison shook her head to clear it. "Just when I'm thinking
I can go along with this whole vampire thing, something even
creepier happens." When neither woman said anything, Madison
asked again, "So what's with my left hand?"

When Dodie started to answer, Stacie stopped her. "I'll handle
this."

Stacie turned her attention to Madison and held out her
hand. "Give me your left hand again"

Madison hesitated, then scooted back to the table and put her
left hand into Stacie's cold right one.

"First," Stacie began, "you have to understand that vampires
aren't created randomly. You don't become one simply by being
bitten by a vampire or by drinking a vampire's blood. If that were
true, there would be a lot more of us running around. Certain
people are predisposed to becoming vampires. Only they can
become vampires and only if a certain action occurs between
them and another vampire. People not predisposed will never
become vampires, no matter what happens."

Stacie looked at Madison to see if she was following. Assured
she had the girl's full attention and understanding, Stacie continued. "There is only one way to tell if a person is predisposed
toward immortality-a mark, so to speak."

"And that mark is on a person's left palm?" Madison asked.

"Yes."

Madison looked down in horror at her left palm resting in
Stacie's hand. "And am I marked?"

"No, that's the thing," Stacie explained. "We were able to view
the bodies of all the other victims, or at least the ones we know
of, and they were." Stacie traced several of Madison's lines with a
fingertip. Madison wiggled her fingers when it tickled.

"You see," Stacie said, showing Madison, "people who are
marked for becoming vampires have an extra lifeline. It doesn't
always show up in the same place on the palm like the usual lifeline, but it's there. Usually, it's a dark brownish red, like brick
red, but not always. And it's not always obvious, but it is noticeable to someone who knows what they're looking for. We call it a
bloodline."

Madison pulled her hand away and studied it before looking
up again at Dodie and Stacie. "So you two have this bloodline on
your hands?"

"Not anymore," Dodie answered.

"Once someone becomes a vampire," Stacie continued, "the
bloodline disappears. It's only noticeable on people who have the
potential of becoming vampires." She shrugged. "Who knows,
maybe it was put there so we could identify those who could
become vampires, then it disappears so others can't identify us
after we've turned."

"And my not having this bloodline is big news to you guys?"

"It was unexpected," Stacie told her. "Like I said, so far, all the
victims seem to have been vampires-in-waiting"

Madison gave it some heavy thought. "You think someone is
trying to kill off these marked people before they become vampires, so more vampires can't be ... well, born?"

"Originally," Stacie answered with a shrug, "we thought it
might be something like that. But so far, it has only been women
who have been killed-again, that we know of. And now, with
you not fitting the profile, maybe that's not what's happening
here."

Dodie sighed. "Then again, maybe what happened to Madison had nothing to do with those other poor women. Maybe
Bobby Piper took her for another reason, totally unrelated."

"Hmmm, that's what I'm beginning to wonder." Stacie looked
at Madison. "Could be, Madison, you got mixed up with us in
error.

"Lucky me." Madison drowned the rest of her sarcasm by taking a big gulp from her mug.

"And if we're thinking that...," Dodie said, catching Stacie's
eye.

"So is Samuel," Stacie finished. "Shit!"

Something jolted Madison's internal awareness. "Samuel? Is
that who looked at my hand last night?"

The two vampires exchanged concerned looks, but it was
Dodie who answered. "Yes, dear, Samuel was the man you saw in
your dream."
"

"How did you know that?" Stacie asked, her eyes boring into
Madison's face, looking for unspoken answers.

I ... I don't know, exactly," Madison answered truthfully. "But
as soon as you said his name, I felt something moving around
deep inside me, like a mouse looking for a way out."

Again, the two vampires looked at each other. Their unspoken dialog was making Madison even more nervous. "What?" she
asked them, her voice raising a notch in frustration and fear.

Dodie turned her attention back to Madison. "Samuel La
Croix is the chairman of the California Vampire Council. The
council governs the vampire community in the state much as
a homeowners' association would govern a neighborhood or
condo development."

"So he's the big cheese here in vampire world?" Madison knitted her brows, absorbing the information.

"The biggest of cheeses," answered Dodie. "Before he came
and set up the council, it was like the Wild West. Many vampires were out of control; it was total anarchy. Samuel came in,
brought order-often through very violent means-then set up
the council to keep things running smoothly. Doug and Stacie
both sit on the council board."

"One of the ways Samuel keeps everything running well," Stacie added, "is by keeping outsiders from learning about us." She
gave Madison another intense study. "He's not going to like it
that you know so much without a good reason for it."

Madison's hands started to tremble as her earlier fears rose
up and took on renewed life. "So is this where you decide to kill
me?"

"Now, now," said Dodie, trying to comfort Madison. "The
council will not vote to kill you without a good reason. Not even
Samuel will overrule his own council. He can be terrifying, but
he's fair. Just don't give him or the council a reason to doubt your
loyalty."

"Loyalty?" Madison asked, incredulous. "To a group of dead
people I didn't even think existed a few days ago?"

She started to take a drink of coffee to steady herself but
stopped and put the mug back down on the table with a decided
thud. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone anything about vampires. No one would believe me if I tried. But that's also not my
style." She glared at Dodie, summoning the courage to break
through the thickness of her fear. "While I appreciate you saving
my life, you and Doug put me into this situation. Now I expect
you to do your best to make sure I come out of it in one piece."

Dodie shook her head. "It's not that simple, Madison."

ake up, Madison." A hand gently shook Madison, rousing
her from her slumber.