“Lincoln did not take Kelly’s place in the half-dead leadership hierarchy,” Ryker stated. “Think about it. He leaves with Kelly and two others, but comes back alone and none of the others ever show up again. I can pretty much guarantee you his body’s one place and his head is in another. Plus, I saw Diane with Lin Tang that night at the banquet hall. She was being escorted by two others acting as bodyguards. I doubt Lin does that for anyone else.”
“Look, whatever she is, she’s in Ian’s pocket now,” Jesus snapped.
“Uh-huh,” Ryker snorted. “Pocket’s not the word I’d use.”
“Cantrell!” Dolores admonished.
“Alright, cut to the chase. What am I supposed to be helping Ian with, as far as Diane Simmons is concerned?”
“We’re not asking you to bring home another stray,” Dolores said, as she got to her feet and stretched her legs. “I think we can all agree she does not need to see our operations. However, I would like you to meet with Ian and Diane. He’s going to try to get her to flip.”
“Won’t happen.”
“He’s going to try to flip her,” Dolores continued. “I need you in the shadows – listening. I want to see if she is pulling the wool over Ian’s eyes or if she is genuine.”
“No.”
“Why not?” Dolores asked, perplexed. “We’re not asking you to physically meet her.”
Ryker had a knowing demeanor. “You want to use me as bait. Somehow, someway my name is going to slip out to Diane. Then, she is going to repeat it to Lin Tang. And if there is anything that is guaranteed to get that bitch out of her safety zone and into doing something irrational and stupid, it would be trying to get revenge on the man who she believes killed Lo Chang. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Neither Dolores nor Jesus said anything to contradict his words. Ryker could only shake his head. Fortunately for everyone, Jesus’ cell phone rang. Making a sour face, he answered it. He only listened for a moment before cutting the connection.
“That was Jessie,” he said. “Angelica just phoned. She thinks Pratt and Coleman just ID’ed her and Patel at the hospital. It won’t take long for them to check her out and find Marcus’s name among her known associates from her bodyguard days.”
“Well, we all knew it was only a matter of time,” Ryker noted.
“Don’t be smart,” Jesus said. “It also means your grandiose plan of taking on all sixteen clan masters is out the window. As I recall, your plan’s primary benefit was the element of surprise.”
“Enough, both of you,” Dolores interjected. “We have to leave right away, so Ian’s plan will have to wait. What I need to know from you, Cantrell, is can we trust you to at least give us time to get set up in the safehouses before you shoot up the town?”
“Yeah, yeah, I gave my word up top, didn’t I?” Ryker replied with mild irritation. “I’ll stay behind with Michael to ensure the place is scrubbed. Then, I’ll drop him off where we stashed the last car. And, like a good boy, I’ll go blow in the wind, ‘til you guys call me.”
Ryker left abruptly, before either Dolores or Jesus could say something. It didn’t matter. All three of them knew no phone call would be forthcoming.
“I don’t know what our future holds, Dolores,” Jesus began, as he stared after Ryker, “but I can guarantee that we cannot have any more people like him in the group.”
Dolores nodded in agreement and went to make preparations for departure.
Chapter 16
Ian took Diane to dinner at Sundance Square that very night and enjoyed a fantastic meal. The food and ambiance left Diane wanting more. For some reason, though, she kept fidgeting with her stiletto heels. Ian didn’t ask, though, because her ministrations gave him continuous views of her ample cleavage.
“I took a big chance retrieving those heels for you, Diane,” Ian commented, as he sipped a glass of red wine. “Don’t tell me they’re too big.”
“No, they’re not too big; one of the straps just won’t stay tight,” Diane said, after straightening up and propping herself on an elbow. “Anyway, I want to thank you for this wonderful dinner. You shouldn’t have.”
“I always have time for a beautiful woman,” Ian said, coyly.
“I mean I am a witness who is supposed to be protected, right?” Diane said. “This doesn’t look like a protective detail.”
“I was right,” Ian countered. “Aurelia said you were a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but I knew different.”
“The detective is just jealous,” Diane said, with a slight laugh. “You must know that she wants you very badly, Ian. A woman can tell. She’ll tell you lies to get what she wants.”
“And are you telling me lies, Diane?”
Diane looked mortified.
“How can you say that?” she gasped. “After I’ve cooperated so far. And I’m sure you know I haven’t been faking it when we’re together.”
Ian suddenly put his wine glass down. He stared directly at Diane, as if he were trying to see into her soul. She looked away, feeling both guilty and uncomfortable.
“Diane, we need to talk,” Ian finally said. “But, not here.”
“What is it?”
“Not here,” Ian repeated. “Too public. Come on. I know a place where we won’t be bothered.”
“Weren’t you waiting for a phone call?” Diane asked. “You said it was important.”
“No, it was only important if they didn’t call,” Ian replied. “They haven’t, so we can go.”
Diane shrugged, fiddled with her heels one more time, and got up to follow Ian out of the café.
Riordan was in much better spirits when he received Lin Tang that night. She was dressed in workout clothes and looked as if she had just finished a session at the gym. Riordan sniffed the air and knew she had, indeed, been working out, and so, he did not give her his customary kiss on the cheek.
“Are your people ready for action?” he asked, taking his seat behind his desk.
Hmm, does he not trust you to do the job?
“They have proven to be worthy warriors, my master,” Lin replied, obediently. “There were some who were reluctant, but they have come around.”
Ryker decided not to ask how Lin had gained their compliance.
“That is good to hear,” he said instead. “I have just received some very important information. We may end up needing your new enforcer unit.”
“I must take offense, my master,” Lin retorted, looking hurt. “My half-deads and I are more than capable of carrying out your missions. And you do have Pratt. I thought the enforcer unit was strictly to placate our new allies.”
It seems you thought wrong.
“And that is why I am in charge and not you, my dear,” Riordan shot back, his voice quiet but his gaze so intense that Lin bowed in deference to atone for speaking out of turn. “The enforcer unit was created so we could sweep through the state and put pressure on the other smaller clans to join with us. Several of them reside on our borders, in case you have forgotten. Plus, I believe we need to send a clear message to the Supreme Council to stay out of our affairs.
“But that’s neither here nor there. The reason I called was, initially, to find out where we stood on finding Duke’s killer. Now, however, I may have answered that myself.”
Lin straightened up and looked at her boss with wanting eyes.
Go ahead, Lin. Beg him.
“Travis called from the hospital,” Riordan continued. “What do you know of Angelica Morales?”
“She is, excuse me, was a professional bodybuilder from Fort Worth,” Lin replied, wondering what her boss was getting at.
“She was seen escorting a doctor,” Riordan explained. “A hematologist who has been working on a serum that supposedly counteracts the vampire enzyme.”
“Surely, Travis is wrong, my lord,” Lin said, stunned. “That is impossible, isn’t it?”
Afraid of losing your half-deads? What will they do if they find that there’s a cure for you?
&nbs
p; “I wish I could be sure,” Riordan answered. “This revelation has left me rather shaken, I must admit. It could very well be that Pratt was clutching at straws. He got his information second-hand. However, the subject is not something even to be joked about, so we must treat even a rumor with concern. As for Angelica Morales, we discussed her before, along with a colleague of hers.”
“Marcus Van Niekerk,” Lin said.
“Yes, thank you, mademoiselle,” Riordan said. “Both are among the last vestiges of the Fifty. By themselves, they pose no threat, but if Senorita Morales is, indeed, escorting this doctor, she now poses a serious threat.”
“Begging my master’s pardon, but surely she can’t really hurt us.”
Riordan sighed and stood up. He walked over to his favorite window and peered out across the city.
“It is true, the list of the Fifty has been treated more as a novelty in recent years, since Moonrise went away, but it seems we may have erred gravely in the matter,” Riordan said after a moment. “Still, Morales is not quite as important as this doctor. The man’s name is Ravi Patel. He has friends who were part of Moonrise.”
“Moonrise was destroyed utterly,” Lin reminded. “No one survived, if the official reports are to be believed.”
“But, it shows that this doctor is still working hard, if he is still in the game,” Riordan explained. “This serum may or may not be a reality, but he’s working on it as if it is. Besides, somebody ashed Kane and also killed Duke. Angelica Morales’ presence here could mean the mercenary is here as well. He is more than capable of carrying out the hit on Duke.”
Lin fought to keep back her anger at the mention of her right-hand man. She’d had virtually no success in finding his killer. All she had was Diane and a hunch about Ian Hendricks, but that failed to bear fruit. It was becoming extremely frustrating, a feeling she thought she’d let go long ago.
This conflicts with your theory about the Supreme Council’s involvement, doesn’t it?
“Which brings us to another matter,” Riordan said, turning away from the window to look at his main enforcer. “Travis is sure he spotted Heidi Nguyen with Morales and Patel. Mademoiselle Nguyen, if you remember our earlier heated meeting with Porter Coleman, is the woman who was attacked by Kane before his demise. According to Detective Hernandez, the woman lost enough blood to begin the turn. More than likely, she was the new vampire we sensed.
“However, Coleman said she did not appear to be a vampire. While I’m not going to say Porter is psychic, he has been around us long enough to recognize a vampire, especially a new one. Yet, to have lost so much blood and to have the sensing of a new vampire, so soon after her attack, can only imply that this so-called serum works.”
Here it comes, Lin. He is going to add to your burdens with yet another mission.
“I want your enforcer unit ready to move at a moment’s notice,” Riordan ordered. “Things are very delicate right now. The future of this alliance, as well as my own mission to lead it, could hang in the balance. It is doubly imperative we find these people immediately. Whatever it takes, Lin. No egos, please. And, as always, keep me informed.”
“Yes, my master.”
See, he still doesn’t trust you, Lin. He dismissed you rather easily. Are you going to continue to take that?
“Oh, shut up,” Lin said, after she had left Riordan’s office. “Why must you torment me so?”
Suddenly, the cell phone clipped to her waistband buzzed. Tossing a stray tress of black hair out of her eyes, she checked the Caller ID. Surprised, she answered.
“What? Where? Get the others and meet me at there.”
She hung up.
“Very interesting,” she said, stepping into one of the elevators to the lobby. “I have a mission much sooner than even my master realized.”
You had better call those enforcers, like your master wants.
“I won’t need them,” Lin shot back. “My half-deads and I can take care of this. I will show my master that I can do this myself.”
She smiled devilishly as the elevator doors closed.
Dolores and Jesus finally got the room quieted down. Their Hunters had all gathered in the makeshift meeting hall, except for Ryker, who manned the monitor room. Everyone else had at least one backpack with them, save for Patel, who had nothing. All of his equipment sat in the lab, waiting to be loaded.
“Okay, you all know your assignments,” Jesus announced. “I know this is a rush job, but we’ve got a serious problem. Angelica was spotted in Patel’s company by Travis Pratt and Porter Coleman. We have to assume he found out about Dr. Patel’s serum experiments in the hospital lab.
“So, we have to leave a little earlier than planned. We will break off into teams. Wesley, you help Angelica and Dr. Patel. Marcus, you go with Manuel, Jessie and Horace. Heidi, you and Kelly will go with Dolores and myself.”
“What about Michael?” Jessie asked.
“He’s staying behind to shut down the monitor room,” Dolores replied. “He’ll leave with Dolores and myself. Ryker will make sure the place is locked down tight and then go. We will all communicate when we get to our respective safehouses. Questions?”
Heidi raised her hand, tentatively.
“Yes?” Dolores acknowledged.
“Kelly and I volunteer to go with Ryker if you need us to,” Heidi said. “Safety in numbers.”
Dolores smiled at the suggestion. It wasn’t all that long ago Heidi wanted nothing to do with Ryker. She was sure Kelly had something to do with Heidi’s change of mind.
“That is admirable, my dear,” Dolores said. “But it is better if Cantrell goes off by himself. I’ll explain it to you when we’re safely on the road.”
“Are we going low key, Dolores?” Horace queried, as he helped Jessie cinch up her backpack.
“To start, yes,” Dolores answered. “We don’t want to attract undue attention.”
Jesus went to the room’s lectern and reached behind it. He pulled out a small radio and keyed it. A moment later, Ryker answered.
“Cantrell, are we ready?” Jesus asked.
“I’ll be able to cover you completely,” Ryker replied. “Michael and I replaced all the heavy duty cameras with smaller hidden ones. Hard to spot. We can access the system remotely, drawing power from the solar panels hidden on the roof.”
“What about the cars?”
“All ready and waiting. I passed out the keys, once you leave through the various emergency exits, the vehicles will be waiting. I’ve got cameras on all of them.”
“What about you?” Dolores chimed in.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ryker answered, rather curtly. “I’ve got a way out.”
“Okay, okay,” Jesus relented. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, where the hell is Ian?” Ryker asked, sounding miffed. “Wasn’t he going to help escort you guys out of town?”
“Michael, didn’t you call Ian?” Jesus asked.
“Left a message,” Lee replied, suddenly looking guilty. “Sorry, I was so caught up with last-minute stuff, I forgot to tell you. His phone went straight to voicemail.”
“Well, Ian’s a grown man,” Dolores commented. “We’ll call him when we’re safely away.”
“Say, Jesus,” Ryker called out. “Remember that thing we talked about earlier? You don’t suppose the right situation came up tonight, do you?”
Jesus looked at his wife in horror.
“Oh, God.”
“What are we waiting for?” Diane asked, looking, around the empty warehouse.
She and Ian had arrived here a half hour earlier, the latest stop on a confusing evening. After leaving the café, they had gone to another warehouse only to see it surrounded by fire trucks. Then, Ian had taken her to another of his safehouses, where they made passionate love for almost an hour. And now, instead of cuddling, Ian had checked his cell phone three times and dragged her out to another warehouse.
“Ian, you’re scaring me,” Diane said, her voice edgy
. “What are we doing here? You’re not making some kind of drug deal, are you?”
Ian stepped out of a large office that had a single dust-covered metal desk, which was almost as dirty as the large window in front of it. He was very anxious and kept looking at his watch. It was clear he had something other than Diane’s body on his mind.
“Ian, I swear, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to walk out that door,” Diane threatened.
Just then, Ian’s phone buzzed. He answered it, listened and smiled broadly. With a puzzled Diane looking on, he cut the connection, shoved the phone back into its holder on his waist and walked up to her. Taking her by the shoulders, he gently guided her to the nearest wall.
“Diane, I know what you are,” he said.
Diane suddenly shivered.
“W-what do you mean?” she stammered.
“I know Aurelia Hernandez put you up to this,” Ian expounded. “She believed that I was something besides her friend and wanted you to find out. Of course, we both know that you are under the thrall of Lin Tang and her bite, so we know who’s really pulling the strings on this whole charade.”
Diane tried to pull away from Ian but he held firm. She refused to look at him, but he was constant and relentless in not letting her go. Finally, as tears began to flow from her eyes, she looked directly into his.
“Oh, Ian, I-I’m sorry,” she cried. “You don’t know what it’s like. Th-the bite. Her bite. It’s incredibly addictive. After she turns us, she…she lets us feel what it’s like to not have it. It was so horrible; I vowed never to go through that experience again. I have to do what she tells me.”
“And I’m here to tell you that you don’t,” Ian countered. “Can you listen to me for just one moment? Please.”
Reluctantly, Diane nodded.
“I know you were sent here to spy on me,” he began. “And, whatever Aurelia and Lin Tang told you, it’s true. I do have friends who are enemies not just of Riordan, but vampires in general. They can help you.”
Dark Tidings: Volumes I & II Page 26