Vamp-Hire (16 page)

“Thomas, I can’t come there today. Maybe not
tomorrow either. You should see me by Saturday, though. Do you
think you can hang on until then?”

Thomas made an effort to suck up all the
crying sounds. “Mm-hmm.”

“It’ll be okay.” He added the next two words
with hesitation, not knowing what ‘it’ even was. “I promise.”

Thomas sniffled in response. Nick hit END on
his cell.

The time read 11:17 on the display. He’d
slipped off for four hours without even realizing it. He had to
hustle if he was going to make it to lunch in time.

* * *

Nick had taken the long trek down Livernois
to get to Thai Delight. He needed to put a heavier coat on his
short list of things to purchase, and that short list was getting
longer by the day. Not that the cold had been particularly harsh—
Nick was never bothered by the dip in temperature— it was the
stares from other people. Despite considering himself relatively
Spartan, one of the things Nick wanted most was to fit in. That
meant acquiring things to look how other people looked, which
included the latest shoes or proper outer wear to give the
impression he was just as subject to the hot or the cold as anyone
else. He didn’t want to be a vamp and tried to minimize that aspect
of himself as much as possible.

He supposed that was why he’d ultimately
cowered when P and Dwight had hit the Big Pig. It wasn’t only being
afraid of them, it was also being afraid of himself. He feared that
if that aspect of him was allowed free reign then he might lose
control of himself. Maybe he’d wind up being like those killers.
And a killer definitely didn’t fit in with the rest of society.

He’d given up hope for a cure while he was
still at the Center. It had been explained to him that science, as
advanced as it was, was still decades away from even partially
understanding what this new virus was and how it worked. Even the
way it had been detected had been a fluke. All they knew was that
it was an offshoot of vampirism, an affliction that only one man
had truly understood. Rather than only studying it for the
betterment of mankind, Walter Irvine had reactivated the long dead
virus somehow and infected himself. He had been patient zero of the
eventual vampire apocalypse and thanks to him, the world had
forever changed.

Nick crossed the parking lot of the plaza
where the Thai restaurant was nestled between a dry cleaner and a
tanning salon. Dolph’s black Hummer was already parked on the far
end, backed into a space for easy exit.

He checked the time on his cell. A couple
minutes away from noon. Nick had been surprised that Dolph wasn’t
an early riser, but was certain the man didn’t make a habit of
arriving late.

He spotted the man through the glass door
near the back of the tiny restaurant, hunched over a menu. Nick
entered and Dolph lifted his head at the sound of the tinkling
bell. The man gave no impression he’d either seen or recognized
Nick as he approached the table.

“Hey,” Nick said, meeting the cold-eyed
stare.

“Have a seat.” Dolph went back to the
menu.

Nick picked one up too. None of the names of
anything sounded familiar. While the chocolate had been great for
starting up his appetite, there had to be something that could do
the same thing by itself.

“Anything look good?” Nick asked.

“No. I’m allergic to peanuts.”

“Oh. Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“No. I’ll just order carefully.”

They spent several minutes perusing the menu
before a pretty Asian woman with shoulder-length hair came over.
She had on a golden dress, Nick recognized it as a qipao, despite
having no idea how he knew that word.

“How are you two doing today?” she asked in
near accentless English. “Can I get you anything to drink before
you order?”

Dolph lifted his head and smiled at her.
Again, the naturalness of such a normal gesture threw Nick off. It
appeared to be genuine. Maybe Dolph liked Asian women or
something.

“Water for both of us.”

“A big boy like you, I bet you have a nice
appetite, huh?”

“Re ca thả xỳāng dī txn nī̂ thī̀ khuṇ xyū̀
thī̀ nī̀,” Dolph said. “Yes, we are ready to order.”

The woman’s eyebrows lifted slightly and she
bowed her head slightly. “Oh, you speak Thai?”

“A little.”

“Your pronunciation is perfect.” Her cheeks
had turned a little pink and Nick wondered what he’d said. Language
definitely wasn’t his Skill. There’d been a girl at the Center who
could translate and read any language, no matter how obscure.

Dolph’s smile was still hanging by one corner
of his mouth. “I’ll have the pla lad prik. One thing, though. I
have a peanut allergy. Is there any way—”

“No problem at all. I’ll make sure to speak
to the chef. How spicy would you like it?”

His eyes flicked back to her. “Very.”

“Is that the hot or the very hot?”

“Very hot.”

“And you?” she asked, looking at Nick. He’d
almost forgotten he was in the room. For some reason the flirting
going on between them seemed wrong, like watching your parents make
out. Wasn’t Dolph married?

“I’ll have…” he looked at the menu again,
“the ginger fish.”

“Good. And to drink? Or is the water
fine?”

“We’ll have water for now,” Dolph said.

She collected their menus and he watched her
go. And go. Nick watched him watch her go and it was more
uncomfortable by the second.

“Soooo, about my dream,” Nick said. Dolph’s
eyes settled on him, the joy in them turning off like a light.

“What about it?”

“I remembered some more stuff.”

“Like?”

“Well, before we get into that I—y’know, I’d
like to… to get compensated if I can.”

“You what?” Dolph narrowed his eyes and put
two fingers to his ear.

“I want to get paid.” Nick sounded like a
whiny eleven year old even to his own ears.

“You want to get paid to do your civic duty?”
Dolph narrowed his eyes even more.

If he slits them any more he’d fall asleep,
Nick thought. The effect they had on Nick was quite the opposite.
They felt like the ocular equivalent of sniper beams.

“It’s not my civic duty,” Nick said, finally
getting annoyed. “Look, you dragged me out there to help. I didn’t
get paid a dime, but I bet you did. You have to know how hard it is
out here for a guy like me.”

“So what? Go back to the Center.”

“I don’t want to go back to the Center.”

“Why not? They took good care of you there,
didn’t they?”

They had.

“No. I can’t go back there. I just can’t.”
Nick didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t even want to think about
it. “I’m out here now. And I’m going to do everything I can to stay
out. You help me, I help you.”

“So it’s like that, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Good.” He smiled and it didn’t come off as
genuine as before. “Nothing wrong with getting paid for your work.
If what you remembered helps at all to find this guy, I’ll see to
you getting paid.”

“No. I want to get paid first. I didn’t ask
to dream about this guy and I have no idea whether or not he can
see me too. I could be in danger.” Nick had said that on the fly,
but come to think of it, there was no reason to believe he wasn’t
in danger. The thought immediately chilled him.

“So we put you in a safe house.”

“What is that going to do? If this guy can
locate me where I am now, he can locate me wherever you put
me.”

“And what’s money going to do?”

“I don’t know, make me feel like this is
worth it on some kind of level. Look, I’m hanging my neck out here;
I don’t think a paycheck is too much to ask.”

“You’re right.” Dolph finally blinked. Nick
thought he could count on one hand how many times he’d seen him do
that. “I’m used to… scrutinizing people. I’ll see to it you get
paid weekly for as long as there’s official use for you. You have
my word.”

That meant something to Nick. He told him
what he’d remembered, Dolph nodding the entire time. Their food
came and there were Dolph’s eyes, lingering on the waitress again.
She hung around a few seconds longer than necessary, looking at him
too while she refilled water glasses that weren’t yet half
empty.

“So any chance this guy is a real
vampire?”

“Not likely. Scientists reverse-engineered
the original virus Walter Irvine created and put something into the
air that was poison to them. Humans could breathe it no problem,
but all vampires were dead within seventy-two hours of release.

“Do you think this reverse-engineered virus
is the reason for people like me?”

Dolph shrugged. “I don’t know anything about
science except what I’m told. I heard it isn’t. They don’t know.
What you have is likely some kind of genetic evolutionary response
from the vampires before they died. My wording is probably wrong,
but what’s coursing through your veins isn’t the result of the
final response. At least not directly.” He took a sip of water. “So
about this dream,” he said, switching back to the subject at hand.
“I hope you aren’t hanging your hat on urban myths about vampires.
Do you know why we brought you in to view the body?”

“Well, it wasn’t to identify her,” Nick said.
“She’s a vamp, right?”

“How would I know? Besides, she’d been
murdered. That hardly matters.”

So either Dolph didn’t know or the guy was
just that cool. Nick had hoped to surprise it out of him. He
decided to switch tactics.

“Maybe I’m curious. I mean, I don’t get to
meet too many people like me. I’d like to know. Maybe I’ll ask
Leonard.”

“You still haven’t met anyone like you. She
was dead. And remember what I told you about Leonard.”

Nick wasn’t sure if Dolph was right about
that. They certainly didn’t like each other and if Dolph was a
consultant, then he officially wasn’t on the team. After the way
he’d been dismissed, for all Nick knew, Dolph would like to solve
the case himself to show them up.

“Let’s cut the crap here,” Dolph said after
shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth. “You don’t know
anything, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You just so happen to remember a dream you
had of the girl being murdered? That seems a little convenient to
me.”

“No. I really had the dream. And it was
her.”

“Are you sure it was her?”

“Yes. A hundred percent.”

Nick felt on the defensive. He wasn’t
counting on being doubted and his dream was all he had to go
on.

“I don’t know. Maybe you really just want it
to be her.”

“Why would I want that?”

“Because you want to get paid.”

“Okay, how about this? I’ve had other dreams.
Matter of fact, I had another one last night.”

Dolph cocked an eyebrow.

“I saw through the killer’s eyes again. He
was behind the guy and jumped on him, biting him and sucking his
blood.”

“He killed this one too?”

“Yes. He threw the guy’s body at his friends
as they busted into the room to save him.”

“How many friends?”

“I’m not sure. Three or four. I could only
see what the killer was looking at and he didn’t seem too concerned
about them. He knew he could kill them, just wasn’t interested in
trying.”

Dolph took a healthy swallow from his glass.
“How did he get away?”

“He jumped out a window.”

Both of the old man’s eyebrows went up.

“How is everything?” the waitress said from
behind Nick.

“Very good,” Dolph said. “Just the right
amount of spice.” There was that smile again. He didn’t bother
turning to look at her, simply nodding his head.

“Do you need anything at all?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Dolph said. “I’ll let you
know.”

She nodded, lingered again, and left.

He couldn’t take it anymore. “Aren’t you
married?” Nick said.

“Yes, I am.” The shutters behind his eyes
went back up. “Why are you asking?”

“I—” He quickly considered the segue and
decided it wasn’t worth pursuing. “Never mind.”

“So, you were saying how our killer jumped
out a window of a high-rise apartment building. Any idea which
one?”

“No. Any idea where that woman was
killed?”

“I like your thinking. Sometimes serial
killers travel. For all you know he did this in Ohio. The next time
he might be in Kentucky.”

“All the more reason for us to jump on this
now, right? The longer we take, the harder he is going to be to
catch.”

“Actually, the opposite tends to be true
about these things, but I catch your point. What made you think
that girl is a vamp?”

“A hunch. Do you really not know or are you
pulling my leg?”

Dolph made a face. “I really don’t know. It’s
classified. I asked.” Nick wished he’d been able to check her eyes.
Not every vamp had eyes like him, but it was a good indicator more
often than not.

He could see in Dolph’s face it bugged him to
be out of the loop. Everything about the man screamed military—his
haircut, his demeanor, the way he dressed, even the vehicle he
drove. He was on the outside looking in, though. Nick could
sympathize.

Dolph coughed and wiped his mouth with his
napkin. He was more than halfway done with his meal and Nick hadn’t
even eaten a quarter of his. Another fail. Thai food tasted as
bland as everything else. He was about to ask Dolph if he had any
more of those chocolates from the other day when he coughed
again.

“You okay?” Nick asked. Dolph made a face and
nodded. He still held the napkin up to his mouth as if he were
nauseous, and Nick waited for him to actually speak. He could tell
something was off.

“No.” Dolph’s voice was constricted, like he
had something caught in his throat. He dropped the napkin onto his
plate and began reaching for the black puffy coat on the back of
his chair.