Texas Hold 'Em (20 page)

Bryan cursed and started tugging up his pants. Marie got up with him, and I marveled one last time at her figure before she slipped back into her dress. She scooped Bryan’s shirt off the carpet and handed it to him. He grabbed it out of her hand, not bothering to put it on.

“Nice look, Bryan. Taking the ‘shirt and shoes optional’ sign to heart, huh?” At Lacey’s words, he unfolded his shirt a little for us to see. Wrapped up in the middle of it was the stainless-steel .44 Magnum revolver and sharpened stake he had tucked into his pants.

I would have been more impressed by the sleight of hand my brother had used to keep the weapons out of the vampires’ sight, if he hadn’t given them to one to hold on to.

I couldn’t leave fast enough. Between Lacey’s remarks and my brother’s weapons, I thought we were doomed. I waited for the attack, but it never came. Contrary to my expectations, we made it up to the main level and back out through the crowded club unscathed.

We emerged onto the street in the last hours of a hot summer night. The crowds had diminished and the police were removing the barricades, preparing the streets for the morning traffic.

“Wow, a vampire named Nocturne hanging out in a goth bar. Way to perpetuate stereotypes, Texas!” said Lacey.

“Even I want to stake the guy,” said Megan.

“Aw, now that’s not cool—he means well. In his defense, embracing the theme does provide us with an endless supply of willing donors.”

Only then did I realize that Marie was still in tow. Now that we were away from the club, far from the other vampires, I sensed her more clearly. Her aura was strong; it almost totally overshadowed Megan’s.

I wasn’t happy about the waif tagging along. As a general rule, I didn’t trust vampires, even those as ditzy as this one appeared to be. Lacey was doing her damnedest to pretend she couldn’t care less about my brother’s new toy, but I could tell that she was hurt and secretly seething right below the surface. Megan disapproved, of course, but was either too polite to bring it up or hadn’t figured out how to jettison the vampire without risking a scene that would make it back to Donovan.

I was all for getting rid of her, but Bryan was still pissed at me for interrupting them back at the club, and he had put the loaded gun back down his pants.

So I sat silently as everyone piled into the van, Marie included, and headed toward the hotel. I was lost in thought when my brother’s voice rang out.

“Yo, Chance, is that the car?”

There was no mistaking it. How many gold-colored 1971 Cadillac Coupe de Villes could be in Texas? The car was parked a block off of Sixth Street. Jacob had reported it stolen earlier that day, but apparently the behemoth had somehow remained unnoticed by the authorities.

Lacey pulled the van to the curb across the street from the Cadillac.

“Now what?” she asked.

“We wait and see if anyone shows up,” I said.

“Only a couple of hours until dawn. We can only do so much waiting,” said Lacey.

“Don’t worry. She’ll have the same problem,” I said, pretty certain that Katy had made use of Jacob’s car when she had left the theater.

“She?” Megan and Lacey asked at the same time.

“Jinx,” said Marie.

“Or he,” I said quickly, in a failed attempt to cover it up.

“Spill it. Who is the chick you let steal your car?” asked Lacey.

“I’m guessing it’s the blonde.” We all turned at Marie’s voice to watch the couple walking up to the Caddy. A meathead had his arm around a trampy blonde. The two stopped alongside the car and chatted for a bit. Finally, he leaned in for a kiss and a grope. She pulled away and motioned to the car. The guy couldn’t climb in fast enough. The blonde got in after him.

“Dude, is that Katy?” asked Bryan.

“Who?” Lacey and Megan said at the same time.

“Jinx. That’s two in a row!” said Marie.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Who’s Katy?” asked Lacey.

“I don’t think you understand the game. You’re not supposed to talk after someone calls jinx,” said Marie.

“Kristi’s little sister,” I said.

“Kristi was Chance’s ex,” Bryan supplied.

“And she stole your car?” Marie asked.

“Technically, it’s Jacob’s car. It’s a long story.” They let it drop, at least for the time being. We silently watched the Caddy, waiting to see what would happen.

I was growing impatient. It had been several minutes and the car was still motionless. “What are they doing in there?”

“Did you seriously just ask that?” said Lacey.

“It’s been like five minutes!” I said, without thinking.

“Wow, I’m sorry, Megan,” Lacey said. Marie giggled, and my brother shook his head and looked embarrassed for me. In retrospect, I should have kept my mouth shut.

“It’s okay, Chance—don’t feel bad. You’d be surprised how common your problem is,” said Marie.

“It’s not my problem!”

Marie nodded her agreement. “It’s really Megan’s problem when you get right down to it. But you’re the one who can do something about it.”

I was going to defend myself when the far door of the Cadillac opened, then closed, but no one got out. When the Caddy pulled away, however, it left behind a crumpled heap in the gutter.

“Damn! Now that’s how you dump someone! Should we call that dude an ambulance?” asked Bryan.

“He shouldn’t need one; he’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Megan paused to consider. “Though leaving someone asleep in the gutter is bad form. It’s just as easy to tell them to go home and forget what happened.”

“He’s not asleep, he’s dead,” I corrected. After Katy’s performance at Fred’s house, I knew the guy on the street was a goner. I felt bad for him. Wrong place, wrong time, definitely the wrong blonde to pick up in a bar.

“What?” Megan shifted to look at me. “Chance, she wouldn’t kill a man and then leave him on the street drained of blood.”

“Trust me, she would.”

“No, your girlfriend’s totally right. Things aren’t like they used to be. We can’t do that anymore. She didn’t look feral, so why would she murder someone?” Marie asked.

“Because she’s slightly unhinged. Wait, what do you mean you can’t do that
anymore
? Never mind, forget it. Get after her!”

At my words, Lacey stomped on the gas and our van sped off in pursuit. Lacey kept the van far enough back to not arouse Katy’s suspicion. We followed her for a couple of blocks. She was headed toward one of the two major freeways that cut north to south through the city.

Things were going well until the police cruiser pulled out onto the street, planting itself between the Caddy and our van. It seemed content to putt along with us for a couple of minutes, and I was thinking we were in the clear until its lights went on. It must have run the plates on the Caddy, and the car came up stolen.

Lacey tensed, not knowing if Katy would make a run for it or pull over. For a few seconds she did neither. Then the cop blipped his siren, and the Caddy slowly moved to the curb. We passed, and Lacey took a right-hand turn at the first opportunity, then circled back around the block so we could come up behind them and see how this played out.

The block wasn’t so straightforward, however, and it was over a minute before we wove our way back onto the main street. The blue and red lights were still blinking on the cop car, but the Caddy was gone. In its place, the second body of the night lay in the street, about where the driver’s- side window of the Cadillac would have been.

For the moment, no other cars were around, but it was a main street and one would be along soon. Lacey slowed down as we passed the uniformed cop lying in the flashing blue and red glow of his squad car.

“Shit—wasting a cop, that’s hard-core.” Bryan climbed over Marie and plastered his face against the window to get a better look.

“Chance, your ex-girlfriend’s sister is insane,” said Megan in disbelief.

“She didn’t used to be; at least, not until Kristi died. She lost it a little then. I don’t think getting turned into a vampire helped her any. So, now? Yeah. She’s nuts.”

“Wow, killing police makes things totally awkward, you know? It’s a real chore to cover up,” said Marie, missing the actual gravity of the crime.

“Way to pick ‘em, Chance!” Lacey accelerated, clearing the scene of the crime.

“What are you talking about? I dated Kristi, not Katy.”

“No offense, but that stuff runs in the family,” Lacey said. As Megan’s best friend, I think she felt obligated to belittle any women I might have an interest in, since Megan was usually above that sort of thing.

“Kristi was perfectly sane,” I said.

“Not if she was dating you,” said Lacey.

“Lacey!” Megan said.

“What? I’m just saying, the man makes some seriously bad decisions.” She lowered her voice to an almost sub-audible level, continuing as if no one could hear her mumble. “Drives a chick car, can’t hold onto a phone, works at a game store, majors in PE, no hope for gainful employment, can’t decide if he wants to stake vampires or sleep with them.”

“Lacey, enough—not all of those decisions are awful.” Megan was well versed at backhanded compliments.

“My Miata is not a chick car,” I said defensively.

Megan whipped around. “That’s the good decision you’re going to go with, Chance? I’m asking because I’m getting hungry and I’m wondering if I should wait until we get back to the hotel before I eat.”

I gave her a kiss, which luckily seemed to have a mollifying effect.

“Hey, I’m hungry, too!” Marie said. She gave me what was probably supposed to be a friendly smile, but its insinuation was not comforting.

“Fantastic. Eat Bryan,” suggested Lacey.

Hostility radiated off Lacey, and she hadn’t even been the target of Marie’s comment. It was hard to believe, but she was actually jealous of the waif. That meant she had at least some sort of feelings toward my brother. The more it became obvious, the more my brain rebelled, refusing to accept it.

“Dude! What am I, some sort of vampire Happy Meal?” Bryan asked as he settled back down in his seat, now that the view of the corpse was gone.

“Aw, well, you sure know how to make me happy.” Marie was purring. I, for one, was no longer hungry.

“Hey, Chance, I don’t suppose you have any idea where this Katy might be going? Because otherwise I’m heading back to the hotel,” said Lacey, as she drove aimlessly down the freeway.

“Beats me.” I shrugged.

“I think I know.” Everyone turned toward Marie, including Lacey, who was forced to turn right back around quickly after our van swerved across two lanes of traffic, eliciting a panicked honk from a drunk driver doing fifty-five in the slow lane.

“You know where she’s going?” I asked Marie.

“Sure. I recognize her. She’s one of Christian’s.”

“Yes…” I said.

“Well,
he’s
staying at the Holiday Inn, so she would be too, right? I mean, it’s almost daylight; where else would she go?” She stated it with an implied “duh.”

“And you’re sharing this now? You knew we were looking for him!” Lacey said.

“No, I didn’t.”

“You were in the room when we were asking Nocturne where Christian was,” said Lacey.

“Oh, is that what you were all talking about? Wow, sorry, I wasn’t listening at the time.” She looked back at Bryan, who put both arms up over his head in a loud stretch.

“You saw us following her.” Megan pointed out, not wanting to get left out of the jump-on-Marie bandwagon.

“So?”

“And you weren’t even the teensiest bit curious why?” asked Megan.

She shrugged. “I didn’t think about it.”

Lacey snorted. “Bet that’s not a first!”

“And Nocturne knows this? About Christian staying at the Holiday Inn,” I cut in, before the insult could register with Marie.

“Well, sure. Reginald was there when Christian told me.”

“Reginald?” I asked.

“Sorry—Nocturne. Reginald is his actual name. When I forget sometimes and use it around him, he gets upset and sulks for days.”

“Poor guy,” said Lacey, rolling her eyes.

“I know, huh? He’s really sensitive.” Marie either didn’t pick up on the sarcasm or chose to interpret it as empathy.

“And yet, Nocturne—er, Reginald—didn’t tell us,” I said.

“I guess old Donovan doesn’t have the clout he thinks he does if old Reggie is simply going to ignore our questions,” said Lacey.

“I wouldn’t take it personally. Reginald’s not normally, you know,
forthcoming
with his knowledge. Especially when it’s not his to give. He’s more of a live-and-let-live kind of guy.”

“So to speak,” said Lacey.

“Huh? Oh, I get it. Well, yeah, so to speak. Though it’s not too cool, you know, making fun of us for our affliction. Even if we’re technically dead, that doesn’t mean we don’t have feelings.”

Lacey managed to remain silent, which, though not an apology, was good enough for Marie to continue.

“So, like, I’m sure Reginald wanted to tell you where Christian was and all, but to be honest, Christian is a whole lot scarier than you guys are. Maybe Reginald was worried that Christian doesn’t want you to find him?”

“Oh, trust me: Christian wants to see me, all right,” I said.

“Really? Why? Are you two lovers?” She seemed genuinely curious.

“Hardly. He and I have some unfinished business.”

“That’s awfully generic.”

I turned around in my seat so I could face her in the back row of the van, thankful to find that she and my brother were still clothed.

“Here’s the short version. About twenty years ago hunters killed Christian’s family, or nest-mates, or whatever it is you guys call them. They thought he was dead. Lo and behold, Christian resurfaced a few months ago and has been tracking down the hunters and killing them and their families.”

“How do you fit in? You look a little too young to have been hunting vampires twenty years ago,” asked Marie.

Megan shot me a look, which I ignored. “I was part of the new crew of one of these old hunters. Christian ambushed us and I got away. Now he’s after me. I guess he’s a completionist.”

“So, you are a vampire hunter?” Marie’s eyebrows rose in amusement.