Six Times Deadly: A Lawson Vampire Story Collection (The Lawson Vampire Series) (20 page)

I smiled.
 
“They certainly didn’t think much of me.”

“You see?”
 
Shampi shook his head.
 
“I’ve been trying to train them up a little.
 
Tell them to be aware of everyone, not just the prejudicial view they have of what a bad guy looks like thanks to Hollywood.
 
But man, it’s like pounding dirt into bricks.
 
It just ain’t gonna happen.”

I smiled.
 
“I’m not looking for warm bodies.
 
I need hardware.”

“A much more reliable choice anyway.”
 
Shampi pressed a button beneath the counter and a small doorway appeared behind him.
 
“Let’s take a look.”

I stepped into the portal and Shampi led us back to another room.
 
The smell of dirt and dust clung to the humidity making me feel like I was in a damp cave.
 
But when Shampi pressed a switch on the wall, I felt a flush of air conditioning scare the moisture away and then three walls parted to reveal backlit weapons racks.

“You used to favor Heckler & Koch.
 
Still a fan?”

“You know any pro who doesn’t appreciate quality?”

“Not a one.”
 
He walked over and hefted one of the assault rifles.
 
“This is the latest incarnation of the G3, so to speak.
 
The G36.”

“Barrel’s too long.
 
I need something more compact, but still capable.”

“Take the K variant of the G36 then.
 
Better flash muzzle anyway.
 
Fires 5.56 in 30-round mags.
 
Plenty of fire power here.”
 
He took it down and handed it to me.

I hefted it but it felt remarkably light.
 
“They’re using more polymer now.”

“Yeah, nice feel to it, eh?”

I nodded.
 
“Okay, this and four extra mags.
 
I need two pistols and an MP5SD if you’ve got one.”

Shampi smiled.
 
“That’s what I love about you, Talya.
 
You appreciate the finest of new technology but you still dig the old school stuff, too.
 
And yeah, I got an SD.
 
I always keep one around just in case you drop by.”

He brought out the smaller submachine gun with the sound suppressor already built in.
 
I needed weapons to cater for every contingency.
 
Normally, I would have included a good rifle that could take a scope for sniper operations.
 
But I wasn’t planning on killing anyone from far away on this venture.
 
They’d all be dealing with me close up.

Shampi watched me examine the SD.
 
“What do you want for pistols?”

“What do you have?”

Shampi sniffed like I’d hurt his feelings.
 
“That’s harsh.
 
What - you think I stock crappy Rugers?
 
Come on, this is a class act operation.
 
Only top of the line stuff.
 
I can get you USPs or SIGs.
 
Take your pick.”

“I’m buying so much H&K already, might as well make it a banner day for them.
 
Two of the USP compacts.
 
Three mags each and plenty of ammo.
 
I’ll need a gear bag for all this, too.”

Shampi clucked.
 
“I ought to make up little plastic bags with my name on ‘em, so you can be walking advertising.”

“Like you need it.
 
Everyone knows you’ve got the best.”

Shampi eyed me.
 
“Flattery’s gonna get you a discount.”

“You can put it on my tab, right?
 
I’ll have the hired help wire the money over.”

“Just so long as you don’t go dying before you make the call.”

I took the bag he’d brought out and started putting the guns in it.
 
“You’d still be okay.
 
I left you a little something in my will.”

“You did?”

“Sure.”

I felt his hand on my shoulder.
 
I turned and gave him a peck on the cheek.
 
“Gotta remember my friends.”

“You’re a classy lady, Talya.
 
Even with that welt on the side of your face marring an otherwise impeccable canvas of beauty.”

I whistled.
 
“Wow.
 
You try that one out yet?”

“Saved it for you.
 
What do you think?”

“Not bad.
 
Might be a little too much for today’s young woman on the go, but not bad.”

“Lemme wrap the boxes of ammo so they don’t jingle all the way back to your place.”
 
He eyed me.
 
“Where you staying?”

I shook my head.
 
“Now, now, that’s not a nice thing to ask a lady.”

He held up his hands.
 
“My bad.
 
I forget about the professional safeguards sometimes.”

“They keep me alive, sweetie.”
 
I hefted the bag over my shoulder.
 
With everything, I was carrying about forty pounds.
 
Shampi’s bag had two straps so I adjusted it until it hung like a backpack.

“You need anything else, come on back.”

I looked at him.
 
Were his eyes moist?
 
“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you getting sentimental on me?”

Shampi wiped his eyes.
 
“It’s just…oh man…”
 
He shook his head.
 
“Every time I see you, it’s like you’re amazing and then you’re just…gone.
 
Sucks.
 
We used to spend more time together.”

“That was a long time ago.
 
You ought to be married off and having kids by now.
 
There must be hundreds of women in this town who’d kill to be with you.”

“Maybe.”

Uh oh.
 
“Maybe not.”

He smiled at me.
 
“I promised myself that when you came back next, I’d be straight with you.
 
Tell you how much I’ve loved you all these years.
 
I know, I know.
 
We’ve been friends and all.
 
Hanging out, it’s all good.
 
But man, we could be so much more than that and have a helluva life together you and me.”

“It’s sweet, Shampi.
 
And I’m very flattered.
 
But I’m also the last woman you want to get involved with.”

“Because you kill people?
 
So what?
 
I’m addicted to Hershey’s Kisses.”
 
He spread his arms.
 
“I’m a very accepting man.”

“It’d never work.”

He frowned.
 
“Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t.”
 
He sighed.
 
“Is there someone else?”

I smiled.
 
“There’s never been anyone else, Shampi.
 
Never.
 
I don’t have time for it.
 
My work keeps me way too busy to settle down with anyone.”

“Oh.”

“And I’d miss it, if it wasn’t in my life anymore.”

He nodded.
 
“I wouldn’t want you to be unhappy.”

“You see?
 
That consideration right there.
 
It’s going to make some woman very, very happy.”

“You think, huh?”

“Well, sure.
 
But you’d better get out there and start meeting people.
 
You aren’t getting any younger.”

He chuckled.
 
“Thanks a lot.”

I kissed him on the cheek again.
 
“I’ve gotta go.”

“Take care of yourself, Talya.”

“You called me Belladonna once.”

“You still go by that?”

I shrugged.
 
“Professional moniker and all.”

“Well, you’ll always be a beautiful to me.
 
Even if the plant itself is highly poisonous.”

I tossed my hair back.
 
“Eurasian beauty at it’s finest.
 
Take care of yourself, Shampi.”

Outside, the sun was waning fast.
 
That was good.
 
Walking back to my hotel with forty pounds on my back would leave me a sweaty, disgusting mess when I wandered through the lobby.

Ordinarily, I would have grabbed a taxi as soon as possible.
 
But again, with my status compromised, there was no telling if I had surveillance on me.
 
I knew someone would be looking for me.
 
And the police or other interested parties might have teams watching Shampi’s place.
 

I needed to make sure I was clean before I led anyone back to my new home.

Using a series of backtracks and cut-arounds, I was able to ascertain no one was on my tail.
 
At least as much as I could tell.
 
Surveillance is like that.
 
The real pros can tag you and stay on you and you’ll never know it.
 
What you try to do is eliminate the lesser idiots and amateurs.

I made it back to the hotel two hours later.
 
The front desk gave me a curious glance as I walked through with the large canvas bag on my back and sweat staining my shirt.
 
It was more attention than I wanted.
 
Hotels are notorious hotbeds of bribery and information peddling.
 
But beggars can’t be choosers.

Back in my room, I slid the bag off and flexed my back.
 
It felt great getting the load off.
 
But before I did anything else, I got one of the USP Compacts out, loaded two mags and slapped one home, jacking a round into the chamber before applying the safety.
 
If someone came through my door, I’d just slip the safety off and be ready to fire.

I shucked the rest of my clothes and let the artificial cool air wash over me.
 
I wanted that shower in the worst way.
 
But I had a phone call to make.

I listened to the clicks as the international phone call made it’s way up into the satellite’s orbit and then bounced back down to my office where my handler answered the phone with her usual crisp voice – even though it was just after six in the morning at her location.

“Vector Solutions.”

“It’s me.”

The voice on the other end of the phone gushed.
 
“Thank god.
 
You went dark without warning.
 
I was worried.”

Christie’s worked for me for years.
 
She’s as trustworthy as they come, but then again, we’ve never met.
 
I prefer it that way.
 
“Yeah, I got jumped.
 
Took some time to work my way out of that.
 
Had to move base and get some supplies.”

“Hope you’re okay, Tal.”

“Tired.
 
A new temporary beauty mark.
 
But nothing a good shower and sleep won’t cure.
 
I need some things, though.”

“Go ahead.”

“Wire twenty thousand to Shampi.
 
Use an offshore account.”

“Isn’t that a bit steep?”

She was right.
 
The weapons wouldn’t run me nearly that much, even at retail.
 
But I had a soft spot for the guy.
 
“Do it.
 
I’m giving him a bonus for always being reliable.”

“Done.”

“And I need a detailed work-up on who’s in power in Kuala Lumpur.
 
Give me the dregs and who runs them.
 
Someone knew I was coming and set up a party for me.
 
I need to know how they knew.”

“Word travels fast from Japan?
 
What with the shipment not exactly making it.
 
I bet there were a lot of questions.”

“I’m sure there were.
 
But someone put my name to it and I need to know who would have the capability to organize the soiree that was waiting for me earlier.
 
I want to be able to thank them personally for all their efforts.”

“Got it.
 
I’ll need some time.”

“I’ll call you in twelve hours.”

“Get some sleep, boss.”

“I intend to.”

I dropped the cell and checked to make sure I’d disconnected.
 
In my peripheral vision, I spotted the hotel room phone and smiled.
 
There was no way I’d ever make a call on one of those things.
 
Everyone from the kitchen help to rival intelligence agencies usually taps them.

And right now, I had more fans than I wanted.

The steamy water felt utterly luxurious.
 
I stepped out and into one of the hotel’s wonderful terry cloth robes.
 
It felt incredible on my skin.

Five minutes later, I was sound asleep.

Author’s Note

Thanks so much for reading - I sincerely hope you had a fun time with it.
 
The Lawson Vampire series is always growing and there are currently seven novels, three novellas, and seven short stories for sale as ebooks available at these fine retailers:
 

Amazon Kindle (
http://amzn.to/lawsonbks
)

Barnes & Noble Nook (
http://bit.ly/lawsonv
)

iPad & iPhone (
http://bit.ly/jfmibooks
)

Smashwords (
http://bit.ly/lwsnsmsh
)

I just released the 7
th
Lawson novel, THE RIPPER, along with a short story collection, and new short story.
 
The series is also being developed for television and you can see what we’re doing at
http://thefixer.tv
- in other words, now is a terrific time to get completely bonkers over Lawson!