The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (12 page)

“
Well since you did save my
life, I guess it would only be fair too.”

We both started laughing
and I am pretty sure she called me a jerk again. Fair enough, I
deserved that. 

The rest of the day wasn’t
that eventful. The mayor and Chaz both stopped in to see how I was
doing, and Argent tried to reason with me to take my post back. He
said that dad was a bit behind the times and that the people needed
me for morale. I politely told him that for the time being I was
perfectly happy to act as an independent contractor. He said he
would consider such an arrangement and get back to me.

Mom and dad finally left
too, satisfied I wasn’t going to die. Mom had made dinner for me
and put it in the refrigerator, a platter of steak enchiladas, so I
was looking forward to that. That afternoon, Liz and I took the
opportunity to sit down and talk to each other some more. I wanted
to hear more about her life, both the good and the bad, and also
share some of my life stories. It was only fair after
all.

“
What do you remember about
your parents? You said they died in the Crusades.”

“
Well, I was born in Rome
in late 989 AD to Lady Izabella and Lord Drakel. Rome at the time
was the central hub for the vampire community and my parents were
council members to the late Archduke Cesar Alexis. My parents were
well over fifteen hundred years old at that time, the oldest pair
of vampires to ever conceive a child.”

“
I’m going to be confused
during this story, aren’t I?

She laughed, “Most
definitely cowboy. I will try to keep it as simple as I
can.”

“
I most definitely
appreciate simple.”

“
Back to my tale, Archduke
Cesar and my parents wanted the world to know of our existence and
enslave the humans. They felt they were the superior beings and
should be recognized as much.”

“
Did all vampires feel that
way?”

“
No, most in fact preferred
the safety of the shadows. If the humans found out about us, there
was a strong chance with their vast numbers that they would wipe us
out completely.”

“
I’m guessing there was a
power struggle then?”

“
Yes there was. On one side
were the old world vampires who wanted to come out and the other
side, led by an old sired vampire Roderick, were the younger
vampires. They had the progressive mindset that we could live in
harmony with humans, from the shadows.”

That sounded like a recipe
for disaster. “What happened?”

“
While the Crusades against
the Holy Land were waged by humans in the later Twelfth century, a
similar war was being waged amongst the vampires. To save you a lot
of boring political intrigue, the final blow came when my parents
were assassinated along with Cesar Alexis. By this time, I had
thrown my lot in the with other side.”

“
You were fighting a war
against your own parents?”

“
Fighting for a way of
life, Vic, something I strongly believed in. If you think that is
bad, I hate to see your reaction to the fact I killed them
myself.”

“
You did what?”

“
Well, I had help.
Jonathan, my younger brother, set them up and I executed the
plan.”

“
I think I need a little
more detail than that, Liz.”

“
It is a story I do not
really feel like sharing, but suffice to say that it was both
heartbreaking and a relief knowing I was able to end such a bloody
time in vampire history.”

“
Where did your brother fit
in? It’s hard to imagine your parents having another child if they
were already old when they had you.”

“
Jonathan was turned, not
born, by my mother as to provide someone to care for me. A vampire
does not reach maturity until about the age of two hundred. When I
was around seventy-five, my mother grew tired of having to care for
me and so Jonathan was brought in. He was only nineteen at the
time, so that is why I refer to him as my younger
brother.”

“
I bet family picnics are a
nightmare with you.”

“
You hush up. You
werewolves have litters of cubs, how in the world is anyone
supposed to keep track of who belongs to who?”

She had me there. I had so
many cousins and what not that I just lost track of who was who.
“The only good thing is most of them have moved off to other
settlements in the state. Staying here in the heart of the action
isn’t for everyone.”

“
The mere fact you consider
this backwater little town action packed just shows the differences
in philosophies between werewolves and vampires.”

“
We just like to keep to
ourselves. Wasn’t that the point of your little insurrection anyway
to keep it to yourselves?”

“
That point was to not be
noticed. I, for one, enjoy walking around big cities and no one
knowing or caring who or what I am. That is what we fought
for.”

Just when I was about to do
some more pro-wolf arguing, Liz’s phone rang. She looked at the
caller ID and briskly got up off the couch and went to the back
deck. While I waited for her return, I went and grabbed a few cold
ones from the fridge. When I returned to the family room, Phil Ruud
was sitting on the couch. I looked at my clock and it was only five
pm.

“
A little early for you to
be up and about, eh?”

He ignored me and
continued, “I wanted to talk to you about last evening,
Victor.”

“
You’re a bit late, Liz
already told me about everything, including your history
together.”

He just looked at me,
almost no emotion on his face. “I assumed as much. I just want you
to know that I would not work for her unless I felt she truly
changed.”

“
I understand now she was
not the monster that Tucker wanted me to believe she
was.”

“
Do not get me wrong, we
are monsters, Victor, but even monsters get to pick their beliefs.
If we choose to be avengers of good, then that is a personal
choice. It does not change what we are.”

“
Do you think Tucker is
right in what he does?”

He didn’t answer right
away, just sat there thinking. Finally, “No, he is not right. The
fact he is using the information I wrote so long ago ruins the
intent of my words. I wanted the knights to put down a creature I
felt was out of control, not commit genocide.”

“
It’s funny how simple
words can be so grossly misinterpreted.” I handed him a beer and
enjoyed the silence for a little. Liz was still on the desk talking
to whoever, pacing back and forth. “So what do you and Reno do for
her?”

“
We put down vampires that
go rogue.” He offered nothing else, just sitting there drinking his
beer. A few minutes later, Reno joined us. After politely asking me
to pull the shades down, he kindly reminded me over and over if I
ever pulled a stunt like that again, he’d be the one to put me
down.

“
You know Vic, you’re a
smart guy. I can’t believe you would let this clown get in your
head so bad. Haven’t the three of us been good partners to have
around?”

“
You certainly keep my beer
supply low, but other than that, I can’t think of any reason to get
rid of you now.”

“
Vic, would you join me on
the deck for a moment.” I looked over and Liz head stuck her head
back in. Not one to keep anyone waiting, I got up and went out.
Once outside, she closed the door. “Alright sir, I have him here.”
She handed me the phone.

“
Umm, hello?”

“
Is this Victor
Inglewood?”

“
Yes, yes it is. Whom do I
have the pleasure of talking to?”

“
Victor, my name is Cristof
Rollins and I am the chairman of the council of vampires for North
America.”

Holy shit, this was the big
wig. “I am honored sir, I hope I did not disrespect
you.”

I am pretty sure he
laughed. “Elizabeth said you were old soul and I like that. Victor,
I asked to talk to you so I could request a favor from you. I am
flying into Santa Fe tomorrow and I want you and Elizabeth to act
as my personal escort back to Full Moon. Times are dangerous right
now and I need people I can trust. Would you do this for
me?”

“
Sir, I’m no longer sheriff
of this town.”

“
I do not care about that
Victor, Elizabeth has her full trust in you and your actions from
her reports prove to me you know what the hell you are
doing.”

“
Very well sir, if you can
send over an email with your itinerary on it, I will get up the
protection detail for you.”

“
Excellent, then I shall
see you tomorrow. Now before I go, I have one piece of advice. Say
yes to the question Elizabeth is about to ask you.” And with that
the line went dead.

I handed her back her
phone. “You’re going to ask me some sort of question?”

“
I know giving up the post
of sheriff was something that you did with a heavy heart. You are
too good at what you do to not be in a position like
that.”

“
I let Jacobs down, her
death is on me and that won’t change until I put this guy in the
ground. That is not something I can do as sheriff.”

“
It is something you can do
as the chief inspector of the southwest, however.”

I scratched me head,
vampires were good at one thing and that was confusing me. “What is
this nonsense you are spewing? What is a chief
inspector?”

“
As head of a territory it
is within my rights to assign a person to what would essentially be
the law enforcement of the entire territory. We call it the chief
inspector and it has been vacant since the last one transferred to
the northwest. I want to know if you would be up for the
job.”

“
I smell a catch
here…”

“
There is one detail you
might not be too comfortable with, but I hope that the other perks
of the job cover that.”

“
We can get to the perks
anytime. What’s the catch?”

“
You would have to move to
Arizona. Your office would be right beside mine.” 

It was late, but that
didn’t stop us from having a family meeting. I called dad and told
him what the vampires were offering. Within ten minutes, mom called
me back and said to be over at ten that evening so everyone in the
pack had a chance to discuss the matter.

When I got to their house,
my younger brother, Felix met me at the door and we walked to the
backyard, which also served as the official meeting ground of the
Red pack. Everyone else was in their wolf form, except for Felix
and, of course, me. Dad led them in the howling to signal the start
of the meeting and over the next ten minutes, I just sat there
listening. Just like every other occasion, it just reminded me of
how different I was. I also thought about the words Liz had said
about breaking off and being my own person.

Finally, after all the
formalities were met, everyone transformed back into their human
forms and my part was about to begin. Dad, being the Alpha, took
the floor. “As you all know, the vampires have offered one of our
own a great position. My son, Victor, has been offered their
position of chief inspector. If any among us see reason he should
not go, please let your voice be heard.”

I looked around; no one
said anything at first. In fact, my older brother Bernard gave me a
quick thumbs up. It seemed like I would be given the okay which
then meant the ball would be in my court. I hadn’t made my choice
yet, but if the pack supported it, I knew which way I was
leaning.

“
Let the vampires have our
reject I say! We have wasted too many of our resources on him up to
this point!”

Silence filled the air
after that outburst. Everyone was looking around to see who said
that. Our pack was the smallest in Full Moon, but we still had over
eighty wolves present. It didn’t take long to figure it out as my
cousin, Kano, made his way to the front. I was quite surprised as
we had little interaction and I couldn’t remember spitting in his
cereal.

“
Kano!” Dad’s voice boomed
through the huge space that was his backyard. “Why have you
disrespected a member of the pack in such a way?”

“
We coddle him too much! I,
for one say, we oust the Omega fully from our ranks. If they want
him, they can have him.”

Yeah, I was the Omega of
our pack. Not that anyone treated me differently, but I wasn’t
involved in most pack meetings because of my handicap and so by
rights, I was the Omega. It wasn’t a big deal to me, but to others
I guess it was. “Well Kano, you certainly won’t be on my Christmas
card list anymore.”

That brought a few chuckles
from the group, which I guess only added fuel to Kano’s fire. “How
dare you talk to me like that, Omega? I have half a mind to
challenge you for rites.”

One thing I never learned
was to keep my mouth shut. “Well, we agree on one thing, you only
have half a mind.”

I crossed the line. Dad
could not interfere on my behalf with this, as any issue between
two pack members was to be dealt by each other. My smart mouth had
pushed Kano too far now. “That’s it Victor, I challenge you to
rites of the pack!”