Now or Forever (4 page)

“Figures.”

“Well...it’s hard to ignore a lover’s spat in the middle of a rainstorm, in the center of Ta Prohm Temple complex, amidst a bunch of corpses. But I did try.”

“Then, maybe since you already know the score, you’ll just sit out the rest of the game?”

“And miss this?”

“I liked you a lot better when you were silent, Stanislaw.”

“I have to point out, Boss, that I do think you’re pretty lucky. She’s damn smart. And gorgeous. No offense, uh...Miss Tassanee.”

“None taken,” she replied. Just like she’d seen in one of the movies she’d watched and mimicked.

“Do I look like I need your help here?” Len asked.

“Okay. I’ll shut up. But first, let me point out the obvious. We can either take a couple of hours getting out of this complex, doing our best to avoid any Hunters who might have stayed at their posts, followed by another couple of hours pedaling our asses off, and by the time we reach the hangar it’ll be almost dawn, and I’ll be exhausted. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much of an ass to lose. Or...we can ask your mate real nice to pick us up and take us with her to the airport. And we’d be out of Cambodia within what? An hour? And I hope you decide fairly quickly, because these bags are not getting any lighter and I’m not getting any drier standing here holding them.”

Tassanee looked at Len. Stan looked at him. Len’s face fell. It matched his shoulders within his jacket.

“Oh. What the hell. Tassanee?”

She had them both and was airborne before he finished speaking.

CHAPTER FOUR

“You’ve reached VAL Headquarters, where the contract is just the beginning. How may I direct your call?”

“Akron?”

The voice started laughing. Stan didn’t know why. It wasn’t funny.

“Oh. Classic. I can’t wait to tell him that one. Wait. Who the hell are you and how did you get this number?”

“Stan. New guy.”

“Stan. Stan. Hmm. I don’t see a Stan on any of our lists. You might wish to disconnect before one of our associates locates you.”

“Oh. Try looking for Stanislaw. Roger.”

“Ah. Here you are. Roger Stanislaw. Ex-Croatian military. How can we help you?”

“Why can’t I see you?”

The guy laughed again. Stan didn’t know why. It still wasn’t funny.

“I’m a vampire, man. I can’t be photographed. Or taped. Or filmed. Or even reflected.”

“Then why is there a video feed?”

“Wait a sec. I’ll fuss a bit with the electronic imaging and...there! See me now?”

There was a vague image of a kid, with purple fuzz around him. He was lanky. Needed a haircut. And he looked about fifteen. Maybe sixteen. Stan’s brows lifted.

“What?”

“This is the Vampire Assassin League Headquarters? Right?”

“Duh. Next question.”

“You’re...one of them?”

“Duh. Again. Next question.”

“How old are you?”

“A little over sixty... maybe closer to sixty-five. I lost count. Why?”

“You look fifteen.”

“Yeah? Well you look about as old as your IQ. And I’m being generous. And now that we have all that decided, want to tell me what you want, Coleslaw?”

“It’s Stanislaw. And I go by Stan.”

“Okay. Fine. So, what do you want?”

“Yes, Nigel. What does he want?”

A deep, booming voice came through the speaker on the laptop, sounding like it was a PA system in a concert arena. Stan jerked back and hit the volume switch, and then swallowed around the ringing in his ears.

“Oh. Crap. It’s the old man,” the kid whispered.

“Nigel. Even if I wasn’t in the adjoining room, I’d be able to hear you.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right, Sir.”

“So. Are you going to ask him what he wants? Maybe...soon?”

Stan worked at adjusting the sound so he’d be able to hear Nigel, and not get his eardrums ruptured by Akron. The leader’s voice was amazing in scope and range. Like it was the return echo off a deep canyon wall or something that vast. Stan had worked with Reika, and now Tassanee. He’d thought female vampires had tear-inducing voices. They’d just been trumped. It must be a vampire thing.

No. That couldn’t be true. Nigel sounded exactly like he looked. Like a smart-mouthed teenager.

“Yes, Sir. I was just getting to that. Apparently the new guy is calling in.”

“The new guy?”

“Yeah. You know. The guy named Roger, last name something-or-other that rhymes with coleslaw.”

Akron must have sighed. The entire room around Stan reverberated with it. He turned the volume down lower.

“Antagonize him later, Nigel. For now, find out the particulars. And before I expire of old age.”

“Oh. Very funny, Sir. Well? You heard the man, Stan. You’re on. Speak up. How can we help you? And make it quick. We’ve only got eleven seconds left on this call.”

“Len told me to call. He needs a 4D team.”

“He what?”

Stan jumped. Good thing he’d put the volume knob on the first notch. The thatch above him started shaking over Akron’s two word question. And then bits of straw, and whatever else they’d roofed this shack with, started filtering down, catching the light in little specks.

“What happened to Angkor Wat?”

“Nothing, Sir.”

“Nothing?”

“No, Sir.”

“Then why do you need a 4D Team?”

Before Stan could speak, the stool that was the lone piece of furniture in the only other room of this place came through the wall. Or the bit of cardboard-thick paper that went for a wall. Stan barely ducked in time. And then, Len’s voice came through the gap. It sounded like he’d changed his tactic. He might be trying to plead now. Stan peeked over the table edge at the screen.

“We’ll call you right back, Stan. Don’t move.”

Don’t move. That wasn’t a hard order to follow. It wasn’t safe to move. Nothing was safe near Len and the vampire chick. Nor could Stan help eavesdropping. Maybe he should have kept the volume up. Or stuck cotton in his ears. Or started whistling. Because Len’s words came through the hole in the wall just fine.

“Look. It won’t work. Okay?”

That was Len. Yep. Stan had been right. Len was pleading. He couldn’t hear Tassanee’s reply.

“You’re wrong. Come on, babe. See sense. Or at least, reality.”

Stan still couldn’t make out her words. She really had a wonderful range of tone. This time it was light. Like a wind crossing through the drapes. He decided to invent her responses.

But you’re my mate, Leonard.

She said Leonard in a really cute, foreign way, too. She had trouble with the "r." Stan thought it was cute. Len was immune or something. All he acted was angry.

“I’d have to quit, damn it.”

We could work together. Be vampire assassins.

“Shit. Of course I know. I have three exes,” Len told her.

Stan’s brows rose at that information. His expression was reflected in the dark gray tone of his blank monitor. It matched the tone of Tassanee’s reply. Even if he couldn’t make out her words, he had zero doubt about their content.

What do you mean... three?

“And I like to keep my stuff, okay?”

Oh. Bad move, man
. Never. Ever. Under any circumstances, give any woman ammo like that. Wow. Accusing her of not only being a next ex, but taking his possessions, too? Stan didn’t have to be a relationship expert to know where this was going. He crawled beneath the desk and reached up to pull the laptop down with him. And then he started whistling.

“Stanislaw? You there?”

Stan rolled his finger on the mouse pad. The image was a split screen. Nigel’s purplish toned visage came into view on the left side. The right side contained a desk, backed by a lot of books, a stone wall, and a dark spot shadowed by a slant of some kind. Maybe a staircase. Looked rich. Old world rich.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“We did a bit of checking while we reconnected, Stan. It seems that absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened at Angkor Wat, Cambodia,” Akron informed him.

“I know. I told you that.”

“It also appears that one of our private jets has been seized and is being dismantled by the authorities while they look for drugs. We don’t traffic in drugs.”

“They’re not going to find any, either.”

“So why do they have the jet?”

“The Hunters are smart, Sir. They must have noticed our arrival or something. Apparently somebody called in an anonymous drug tip while we were handling the pickup. And when we got to the hangar, they were waiting. The plane had already been seized and moved. And there was a lot of legal heat on site. Guns. Uniforms.”

“You got arrested?”

“Oh, sweet! And so you need us to get you out of jail? This is so cool!”

“Nigel. Focus here. They’re not in jail.”

“How do we know that, Sir?”

“Because Stan’s signal is coming from somewhere in southern Laos. And that is even more mysterious. How did you get to Laos?”

“That’s as far as Tassanee could fly. Before dawn, anyway.”

“Why didn’t you just go to Thailand? We have contacts there.”

“Len, Sir. He said Hunters knew we’d been at Angkor Wat, they knew how we’d arrived. He didn’t know how far up the chain their knowledge went. They might be waiting for us in Thailand. So, when things get this messed up, you do the unexpected.”

“Well. That was unexpected, all right.”

“I don’t think he was caring where we got to, Sir, as long as it was off the grid.”

“Well, that does explain why you’re in a two-room vacant shack just outside the
Phu Chong Na Poi
National Park. Everything else go okay?”

A thump hit the dresser beside him, startling Stan, and sending an echo through the area. He also hunched his shoulders. He thought they were out of objects to throw.

“What is going on over there?” Akron asked.

“That’s why I called. Tassanee... uh. She...uh...well.”

“Oh. Speak no more, Coleslaw. We got it.”

“You’re reading it wrong, Nigel.”

“Oh. I don’t think so, Sir. I’m just wondering why I’m surprised. Duh. It was right in front of me. It’s obvious. Roger Stanislaw there, starts with us a couple of months ago, and already he has not only found his eternal mate, but he gets the most rocking hot vampire chick this side of the Atlantic, too.”

“I think you mean the Pacific, Nigel.”

“Thank you, Sir. Thank you. Like I need help with my lamenting. You know, if I wasn’t already dead I’d go kill myself.”

“Nigel. Stop. Focus. And then think. Would Stan be hiding under a desk if he was Tassanee’s mate?”

“You’re hiding under a desk?”

“Uh...”
How the hell does Akron know that?

“But I don’t understand, Sir. If Stan isn’t—oh. No. No. Not Leonard Griggins. You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking, Nigel? How about Stan? Does he look like he’s joking?”

“But...Len? And Tassanee? No. Somebody tell me it isn’t true. The guy’s a menace to relationships. He’s still got claw mark scars on his chest from his last uh...significant other.”

“Claw marks?” Stan asked.

“According to Len, the prettier they are, the crazier they get. And he likes them pretty. So he gets them crazy. And that one was over the edge, even to his standards.”

“He really has ex-wives?”

“We make sure the court ordered payments are deducted from his account every month. Like clockwork. And she’s a real piece of work when the money is due. We have eight numbers set up every month to field her calls and re-route them. Isn’t that right, Sir?”

“What all that means, Stan, is yes. Len has an ex-wife. It also means no. He doesn’t have multiple ex-wives. Does that answer your question?” Akron inserted.

“Then why would he tell Tassanee he has three of them?” Stan asked.

This time it was Akron laughing through the speaker system. Stan decided it still wasn’t funny.

“Oh. Forgive me, gentlemen. This is very amusing. And I don’t get much of that in my position.”

“He told Tassanee he has three ex-wives?” Nigel asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is he stupid or what? Is he trying to drive her off?”

“Very good, Nigel. Very good.”

“What did I say?”

“Can either of you think of a better way to halt a woman’s interest?” Akron asked.

“Don’t look at me, Sir. I spend most of my time trying to get their interest.”

Akron laughed again. Even with the volume at the lowest range, it was impressive. The wood beside Stan’s ears shuddered.

“I do like you Nigel. If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now. You are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise tainted un-life. Where was I? Oh yes. Think of this from Len’s perspective. Len’s never managed a relationship with a woman that ends well. Can you imagine how things might work should Tassanee become a disgruntled ex? For eternity? You think fielding calls from a human ex-wife is fun. I can’t imagine having a vampire ex-wife with a vendetta.”

“Oh.”

Both men said it simultaneously.

“Which does explain Len’s argument...doesn’t it? Sit tight, Stan. We’ll send a 4D Team your way. And try to stay out of the way of projectiles.”

“Are you sure he’s Tassanee’s mate?” Nigel asked.

“Oh. Yes,” Akron replied. “I’m positive.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“She hasn’t killed him yet. Oh, Stan? Ditch that laptop. It’s been hacked. And a trace was just started. Nigel? Scramble.”

Binary code started filling Len’s screen. He flipped it over and slid the battery out. And that just made it easier to hear the other two again. Len was past pleading. Sounded like he was begging.

“Come on, babe. It won’t be so bad. You’ll see.”

Some more lightly spoke words.

“If you cry, that’s it. I’ll call another timeout. Debate over.”

Tassanee may have replied again. It could be the breeze through the open window just as easily, too.

“Women always use tears. It’s their biggest weapon. And if that happens, there goes reason and accountability, and any ability to argue logically. Right out into left field.”

Stan decided that was as good a time as any to start whistling again.

CHAPTER FIVE