The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (6 page)

“
Do not worry, I have
everything all set for us. I heard your stomach growl as soon as we
left your house.”

Sure enough, Elizabeth
waltzed right up to the host stand and within seconds, we were
being seated. Complimentary wine soon followed as did a tray of
assorted appetizers.

“
Not that I am going to
complain, but how did you pull that magic trick off?”

She laughed again, like I
missed the obvious. “Easily, I am well known in the entire region
and certain contacts have been made. I really do not eat, but I
know this place has a delicious Menudo, which is a Mexican
soup.”

Soup was not for me and I
ordered the house special steak. Twenty-four ounces perfectly
cooked medium rare with all the spices one could imagine. I also
polished off most of the finger food the waiter sat down as
Elizabeth drank the expensive wine. If this was high society, I
could get used to it.

The whole evening was
incredibly nice. We talked, we laughed, and we even shared details
of our lives together. It had been so long that I forgot how good
it felt to be in someone’s company as a person, not as a defect or
law enforcement. I knew I was being stupid though, as a wolf and a
vampire could never possibly happen, but in life you can’t help
your feelings. All I could do was keep them to myself.

I was really surprised when
no bill came and our waiter said everything was compliments of the
house. He handed Elizabeth a note and bid us a good
evening.

“
I can only imagine who
owes you a favor that comped us an entire meal.”

“
Oh, it was no favor. The
owner of this restaurant is a vampire who I lent money to many
years ago to follow his dream of cooking. Now, every time I come
here, I never pay for a thing.”

“
You really are something
else. I don’t know much about vampires but I do know a lot about
people and you’re a good person.”

She actually blushed at
that. I didn’t think it was possible to happen, but you can
embarrass a millennia old vampire with compliments. “Thank you.
Some people see us as soul-less monsters, but we are truly people
at heart. I am glad you see me for who I am.”

I stood there awkwardly for
a second, not knowing what else to say. I didn’t have to say
anything though, she leaned in and kissed me. I’m not sure how long
we stood there in the parking lot and I didn’t really care. Nothing
could spoil that moment for me, except a gunshot and screaming.
Yeah, that ruined it.

As soon as we broke off,
her cell phone rang. She answered it and there was just silence for
moments. When she hung up, I got the scoop.

“
That was Joshua Greenfoot.
The shot we heard was from a party hall the Reds and Blacks around
here rented out to celebrate the young ones turning. A civilian, as
you call them came running in and shot a werewolf before shooting
himself. He is asking for our assistance in the matter since you
are a law enforcement agent.”

No matter where I was, the
law needed to be upheld. “Of course, I will assist in any way I
can. I do suggest you phone your agents who are supposed to be
meeting us in Full Moon. I am sure they are wondering where we
went.”

“
Oh yes, I did not tell
them I was taking you out of state to charm you into falling for
me.”

“
I don’t know whether
you’re joking or not, but either way it worked.”

“
We will discuss that
later.” She tossed me the keys to the jag. “You drive and I will
inform my people to meet us here.”

“
Do you have Billy’s
number?”

“
Yes; he gave it to me, I
was instructed to use it in an emergency.”

“
Good, call him and let him
know what is happening too. I want to be prepared in case this
turns out to be connected to what we are dealing with.”

We got into the car and I
have to admit, I was impressed with it. While she was making the
calls, I really put the Jag through the paces. While it didn’t roar
the way the Mustang did, it had a quiet power to it that I enjoyed.
I wouldn’t be looking to trade my car in any time soon, but if
Elizabeth asked me to drive, I wouldn’t say no either.

“
The agents will be here
within the half hour and William says he will get everyone informed
and on standby. Now quit messing around with my car and get us to
the crime scene.”

When we reached the hall
the local wolves had rented out, it didn’t take long to figure out
who was in charge here. Josh Greenfoot was not the biggest of men,
but he commanded the situation like one expects of the Alpha. The
other thing I noticed was this pack had a distinct Native American
look to it. In New Mexico, we were more Spanish and, ironically,
Irish.

Greenfoot came over to me
and shook my hand. “A pleasure, Mr. Inglewood, though meetings of
packs should be more of a happy occasion.”

“
I am sorry for your loss
and whatever I can do to help, I will. I will honor the west Texas
pack just as if it was my own.”

“
Thank you, fellow Red. We
are getting ready for our run of sorrow if you care to join
us.”

This was always awkward.
Rarely did I meet new werewolves, but when I did, trying to explain
my condition was always touch and go. Some turned those noses up at
me and others just felt sorry for me.

“
Chief Greenfoot, my
associate here suffers from an unknown condition that does not
allow him to transform. I thought I had mentioned that in my
message I sent you earlier.”

“
Oh yes, you did and I
apologize. Sheriff Inglewood, I hope I didn’t offend you as you
graciously offered to help us.”

“
It’s nothing Chief; you
learn to grow tough skin when you’re the oddball wolf. Anyway, I
thank you for treating me as an equal and I’ll stay here and do
what it is I do best.”

“
I wish you success.
Elizabeth has my telephone number and if you need to contact me
further, please do not hesitate. We will be back after you conclude
to give our fallen a proper burial.”

I nodded and one by one the
wolves filed out. Some looked at me with curiosity and others
looked at me like a bug. Soon the place was empty except for the
two of us and the dead bodies. As I was getting ready to start my
investigation, I heard the howls of the wolves in their natural
form. No matter how many times I hear it, each and every time I get
a little choked up knowing I will never get to experience that
myself. 

“
I do not see any cactus,
so am I right in thinking this was an isolated
incident?”

“
Give me a minute.” I
finally pulled myself back into my work and it was time to see if I
could pick up anything.

I got closer to the body of
the shooter and took it all in. Overwhelming scent of LSD and the
crazed look in his eyes told a story of a drug addict who went off
the deep end. I was about to right this off as just unfortunate
when I took a closer look at his jacket. Sticking out of the left
pocket was the corner of a book. I picked it up and it was a pocket
version of the King James Bible. I opened the cover and my fears
were confirmed. Under name was Rev. Warren Tucker from Holy
Methodist.

“
Looks like we have another
reason to see the good reverend tomorrow. Our drug addict here had
a Bible with Rev. Warren Tucker’s name in it. Whoever this guy is,
it seems he is getting his word around.”

“
If his operation is
expanding, what does that mean for us?”

“
It means someone is
getting a lot ballsier about their agenda. I think it is time to
put the fear of God back in this guy. I’ve got a feeling he might
just know who the Cactus Killer is and he might be the reason the
killer feels the need to murder our people.”

The doors came flying open
behind us as I pulled Roscoe out and pointed it at the two
newcomers. Both were dressed in high dollar suits and wearing
sunglasses. I lowered my gun, as I recognized these two as
vampires.

Elizabeth looked up and
shook her head. “Sheriff Inglewood, let me introduce you to Reno
Tavares and Phil Ruud. Pardon their enthusiasm; they sometimes
forget how to conduct themselves.” She gave them a stern look, but
neither man really seemed to care.

With my gun back in its
concealed holster, Reno and Phil walked over and we all shook
hands. Reno was a bit shorter with dark brown hair pulled back into
a pony tail. Phil was a much larger, bald man who looked like he
could bench lift a car.

“
Gentlemen, it is a
pleasure. You can just call me Vic, everyone else does.”

Phil just grunted, I
figured he was the muscle of the group. Reno on the other hand was
most definitely the spokesman. “Okay Vic, just what are you and the
Ambassador doing out here in El Paso? This doesn’t look like
protective duty to me.”

“
Reno, that is enough. I
was taking the sheriff out as a show of thanks for the job he has
done so far. Remember your place and the fact that Victor did not
have to help us to begin with.”

“
You are right ma’am.
Sheriff, I am sorry for steeping out of bounds.”

That was the second time
tonight she stepped in and made someone apologize to me. No one can
resist the old Inglewood charm. “No harm done; you just wanted to
make sure I was doing my job.”

Reno and Phil then took in
the situation, “Just what in the hell happened here? There’s a dead
werewolf and a human?”

“
The human was carrying a
Bible that came from the same church as the guy who attacked
Elizabeth the previous night. I think we got ourselves a religious
group that discovered our two societies. Tomorrow we are going up
to pay them a visit.”

Reno seemed not to like
this. “Ambassador Swansea, you two aren’t going up during the day
are you? Ruud and I will be of no help until nightfall.”

“
Do not worry Reno, Vic and
I will be just fine. We are just going to have a little chat that
is all.”

“
I promise you two boys we
will wait until you can join us before we go busting up the place.
I have no desire to bring the locals into this. Speaking of which,
I am surprised the El Paso police haven’t shown up.”

Reno started laughing. “Oh,
when Ruud and I got here there were two cops pulling up. I kindly
suggested to them that there was a meth lab two blocks over they
should investigate.”

Huh, another vampire trick
I’m guessing. “Well then, if you two want to take a quick look
around, I’d be more than interested to see if I missed
anything.”

Phil gave a grunt and Reno
followed him. As they started looking around, Elizabeth and I took
a seat at one of the tables.

“
Another exciting night in
the southwest it would seem, Vic.” Even though she smiled, I could
tell this was disturbing to her.

“
Whoever this Cactus Killer
is, I think he has bigger goals in mind than just causing some
panic.”

“
That would make sense,
seeing how the murders went from one or two over the course of many
years to a rash of them in such a short amount of time. Do you
think it is this Warren Tucker?”

“
I don’t know. I wouldn’t
be surprised, but I would expect more from a man of the cloth. They
take a vow and if it is him, he won’t be answering to
us.”

She stared at me for a few
moments before responding. “Are you a believer?”

“
Of course, I’m Irish after
all. Just because I am a werewolf doesn’t mean I don’t have a soul.
Even you have one ma’am.”

“
Oh Vic,” she started
laughing, “I’ve seen many things in my life, but nothing to suggest
that faith is any more than a myth.”

“
If it was easy, than it
wouldn’t be worth it in the end now would it?”

I could see she was still
amused with me, “Now I know the lifespan of an average werewolf is
about three hundred years, with exceptions of course. You seem to
be quite young for your town.”

“
My generation is the
second youngest in Full Moon. The population was starting to shrink
so all three packs asked families to bring the numbers up. They
didn’t quite get where they wanted to, so not too long after mine,
there was another population boom. Felix, my younger brother, was a
part of that one.”

“
How old are your
colleagues William and Talia?”

“
Billy was a part of my
generation, so he is just a few months younger than me. Talia, on
the other hand, is a little over one hundred I think.”

“
It is so hard to judge
your ages. You blasted wolves all look the same, no matter how old
you are.”

I was about to point out
that vampires have the same problem when I heard something, like
metal being crunched. “Do you hear that?”

“
No, should I be hearing
something?”

“
I could’ve sworn I heard
the sound of metal crunching up. Sometimes my senses are more of a
curse; I hear every bloody thing within…”

I didn’t have time to
finish my thought. I grabbed Elizabeth and dove to the floor. Reno
and Phil turned around to see what the commotion was, but before
either could react, a car came crashing down through the roof of
the building. When the dust settled, I looked up and saw it was a
police cruiser and inside were two police officers. Or what
remained of the two officers that is.