She stayed two hours on the streets before she got back to where she left her vehicle. The last five minutes, she kept looking over her shoulder feeling eyes watching her. Maybe next time she would bring someone along.
She took off in her car, screeching the tires as she turned on the main road back to her house.
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Polarus, near Costa Rica
Bethany Anne was walking down the hall back to her suite when she heard a commotion coming from the main conference room.
She walked in, hearing Ecaterina saying, “Oh my god, I love this,” in her sexy Romanian accent. Hoping she wasn’t about to interrupt a make out session between Ecaterina and Nathan, she was surprised to see what Ecaterina was stroking so lovingly in her hands.
It was a new sniper rifle.
Nathan had opened up another large box and was working to pull a gun case out.
“I’m sorry, do you need a moment between you and the… rifle?” Bethany Anne smiled at the surprise on Ecaterina’s face. Nathan didn’t stop taking the rifle case out of the packing box. Undoubtedly he hadn’t been surprised at all by her sudden appearance.
“You have to feel this, Bethany Anne. It is sex to hold, yes?” Ecaterina’s smile was mischievous. Bethany Anne was the foil to her conversation with Nathan.
Bethany Anne played along. “You mean it’s hard, strong, long and makes a bang when you pull the trigger?”
“Yes, all of that. Plus I get a total of ten bangs before it has to reload, I’ll be spent before the rifle will.”
Nathan stood up, set the carrying case on the table and opened it up. “I’m going to need a cold shower.”
Ecaterina put the rifle in the case. “I’ll warm up the water for you.”
“You’ll just steam up the place and I won’t be able to see anything.”
“Who needs to see? Can’t you use your hands to feel around in the dark?”
Bethany Anne started walking out of the room before she saw something she wouldn’t be able to un-see. She yelled back, “Get a room. Wait, you have one. Go to your room!” She heard them laughing as she continued walking to her suite. She cleaned her swords and returned them to their case. Her swords were top quality, but they weren’t special from an historical standpoint.
Seeing Ecaterina with the sniper rifle caused her to consider how to take Anton out.
She grabbed a Coke from the fridge and called Frank. It went to voicemail so she left him a message to call her when he could.
She sat at the conference table in the meeting room outside of her private quarters and pulled out a pen and pad from one of the small drawers built into the table. There was a knock on her door. She got back up and went to the door. “Who is it?”
Todd Jenkins answered from the other side, “Your security.”
She opened the door and smiled at the large Marine.
He looked down at her. “Are you trying to play hooky from your security team, ma’am?”
Bethany Anne turned around and left the door open for Todd to enter the meeting room. He could stay out in the area that was set up for security before you got into the rooms that eventually led to her suite, but here was good enough and truth be told, Bethany Anne was feeling a little lonely. “Of course not, Mr. Jenkins. However, the team needs to practice and they can’t possibly do that while being with me here, right?”
“Nice way to use logic to try and obfuscate the question. If I had used that a couple of years ago, I might not have gotten in trouble with the congressman as much as I did.”
She lifted her bottle of Coke, “Drink?”
In moments like this, Todd was almost able to see the woman behind the mask the fickle bitch of fate had placed on Bethany Anne. “Don’t mind if I do, leaded is much better than unleaded.” He walked to the fridge and grabbed a Pepsi from deep behind the Cokes.
“What the hell is that?” Bethany Anne was pointing at the plastic Pepsi bottle in his hand.
Todd Jenkins looked down at his Pepsi and decided to play along. “A Coke?”
“Hell no that isn’t a Coke! That is the vile filth from a disgusting dimension. How did that shit end up in my fridge?” Bethany Anne got up, went back to her fridge and then bent over to look inside. The view she gave Todd was pretty damn hard on his blood pressure, but Bethany Anne was thinking about the other two Pepsis somebody had tried to hide in her fridge and didn’t hear Todd’s heart rate increase or his breathing get a fraction heavier. She reached into the fridge and pulled the Pepsis out from behind her Cokes. She considered what to do about this heresy. This had to be Ecaterina since she was the one who made sure her suite was stocked.
Somehow, she would get that little Romanian back. She opened both Pepsis and poured a couple of ounces out of each one. She then tightened the lids back and stuck them in the freezer part of her refrigerator. If it didn’t take forever to freeze, she would sneak them into her bed later that night.
Satisfied that justice might be done, she turned back and sat down at the table.
Todd watched from his location near the door. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to take Anton out. So far, we only know he’s in South America, is rarely seen and is a crafty bastard.”
“How did you get Clarita?”
“She worked by some Forsaken rules of who determines the top dog. We took out some of her businesses, which made her send the protection around her to go and try to stop the team, thinking that Gabrielle was me. She didn’t realize our team had two female vampires. We spent that load.”
Todd was a little surprised hearing Bethany Anne’s casual use of what many would consider vulgar language. He had been told she did it, but he thought it was mostly on operations. “So, what’s your first thought?”
“Shoot him from afar, then go in close to finish him off. Unless we get real lucky, he could probably come back from a round to the head.”
Todd couldn’t help but feel a little awe for the vampire, he had seen the results of sniper rounds. “He can shrug off a sniper shot?”
Bethany Anne looked over at him. “Not easily, no. If it was a non-killing blow, he wouldn’t be able to move himself for a while. But if he’s in a car then all we’ve done is make him aware he’s a target. After he heals, he’ll be practically impossible to track down.”
“He doesn’t already know he’s a target?”
She thought about that. “He should, but the rules he’s lived by for hundreds of years have preconditioned him to think the most that might happen is a slap on the hand. Unless Michael himself shows up, he won’t believe there is anyone stronger than he is. I’m sure his siblings are probably close in strength, but they can’t overpower him. Since Michael has never killed one of his kids, that leaves humans. His defense against humanity at large is a strong ability to implant suggestions in human minds.”
“Like hypnosis?”
“Not sure. We took out a grandchild of his by the name of Adrian. Adrian talked to me as if he expected me to simply obey him and he expected immediate results. Very traditional ability attributed to vampires in popular fiction. Since it didn’t work on me, I can’t tell you how accurate that guess is.”
“What happened to this guy when his coercion didn’t affect you?”
“Incredible pain when I impaled him and threw him down on the concrete. He was very surprised, I assure you. In fact, we used a sniper on that job to get me close enough to Adrian. That reminds me, I wonder where Killian is. Have you seen him around the ship?”
“Yes, he was up top in his hide a couple of hours ago.”
“That’s right, I forgot he’s always on duty up there. Or it seems like he’s up there all of the time.”
“Well, there are a lot of boat bunnies out on the smaller yachts that float around a yacht this big. I imagine he needs to confirm that none of them are hiding an AK-47 in their bikinis.”
“Yes, I see where that might be a benefit to an otherwise incredibly boring job.�
�� Bethany Anne started doodling on her paper.
Todd thought about that statement. “I don’t think you understand the makeup of a sniper. They have patience that is beyond understanding. I’ve known a few to go out and get in position for a hot LZ days in advance.”
“Hmmm, I’ve never held a long conversation with Killian to understand what makes him tick. I might have to locate him sometime to have a discussion. But this isn’t getting me closer to my goal of figuring out how to take Anton out.”
“Well, anything that talks, even tangentially, to the subject has the chance of providing an idea. You mentioned that you don’t know how to find him. Does he have any attributes we can look for?”
“You mean, like a missing arm?”
“No. For example, we know he has to get around at night, or I guess be very covered up…”
Bethany Anne interrupted, “Holy crap, that could be a point.” She put a hand to forestall anything from Todd for a second. “If I was Anton, I would move around covered up during the day from one location to another. Easy enough to do, jump in a covered van in one garage and get out in another garage.”
“They don’t sleep during the day?” Todd asked.
“It isn’t necessary. It’s practical, if you can’t walk in the sun you’ll probably start staying up later at night when you can move around more freely. Hmmm, a lot of Anton’s power comes from his persuasion or mind ju-ju, whatever he has. I need to see if Gabrielle knows more about it. Hell, I should just ask TOM.”
“The alien?”
“Hmm? Yes, sorry. TOM is an acronym for his full name. He has insights into the way vampires have changed and how their different powers might conceivably work. We have a specific injection that we could use on Anton. If we shot him with this stuff, he would die within a couple of weeks. It’s a slow death, but an assured death.”
TOM, did we make sure that Gabrielle is protected against the same serum used on Adrian?
No, everything was corrected, but I did not think about protecting her from what we did to Adrian.
Ok, it’s something we need to deal with for those who are on our side. If we thought about changing the nanocytes in Forsaken, the idea can be used against us as well.
Wouldn’t they first have to figure out how to work with the nanocytes?
Yes, but this technology is something that scientists are working on right now. I’m pretty confident that the earth doesn’t have something as advanced as what you have implemented, but that doesn’t mean they can’t figure out enough to turn it against us.
You humans are a challenging species.
That we are, that we are.
As far as Todd could tell, Bethany Anne was still in his conversation. “How else could we inject him?”
Bethany Anne got her head back into her conversation with Todd, “So long as we injected him with enough nanocytes, they would eventually saturate his body. If he drinks blood, he would…”
Todd recognized the ‘eureka’ moment. “What are you thinking?”
Bethany Anne turned back to face him. “If we could figure out how to get his blood supply contaminated with the nanocytes it would work, but that has to be, like, plan ‘F’ or something. Why can’t this motherfucker be an arrogant ass that just has to show himself all of the time? He sure is messing up my life right now.”
“You could always skip killing him, but make it so that he is impotent.”
“Sounds like a great plan, but then he would just make more kids. Since he’s first generation vamp, they would be powerful. No, we have to neutralize him, we just don’t have enough information to make a plan. This sucks.” She sat back in her chair, feeling defeated before she began.
Todd thought to some of the team’s operations. “Seems like you need to grab some of his inner circle and ask them.”
Bethany Anne sat back up. “That might be possible.” The next thing Todd knew, he was in an empty room and the door behind him going out to the hallway was open.
He turned around and started walking and mumbling to no one in particular, “How the hell are you supposed to guard someone that can run so fast you don’t have a fucking clue where they went? I need to GPS tag her ass…”
You could hear him asking people every few seconds as he passed them walking down the hallway, “Have you seen Bethany Anne? No? Thank you.” It took him a few minutes to find her back in the conference room with Ecaterina, getting contact information for Clarita’s kids.
She was talking as Todd came into the room. “Yes, I know I have to wait based on the time. But they should be up in a couple of hours, right? Good.” She turned around. “Oh, hi Todd. Sorry, I should have told you where I was going. Good job on the idea, by the way.” She started walking past Todd again. “Heading to the suite, see you there in a minute!” She blitzed away again leaving Todd staring at Ecaterina and Nathan.
Ecaterina shook her head. “You might get used to it, but I doubt it. She is usually better about not leaving her security behind if that is any consolation. What is she so worked up about?”
“Trying to figure out how to take Anton down.” Todd replied.
Ecaterina said, “You should ask her what the bait is.”
“I’ll see if I can work it into any conversation.” Todd nodded thanks, waved to the two of them and started his walk back to her suite.
Frankfurt, Germany
Ivan got up and went into the bathroom, the incredibly small bathroom, and splashed a little water on his eyes. It had taken him the better part of an hour to get to sleep after saying goodnight to Stephen.
He walked out of his room to find Stephen sleeping on the couch. He had his phone in his hands and it looked like he just laid his head back and fell asleep.
“Stephen?”
Stephen’s eyes flew open and his head came upright and immediately surveyed the room. He finally focused on Ivan. “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” He looked down at his phone. “Ah, it is almost 11:00 AM. The morning is already gone.” He looked at Ivan. “So, shall we get dressed and go get something to eat?”
Ivan shrugged. “Sure, what’s the plan for today?”
Stephen stood up. “I’m thinking that we will deposit you in a safe hotel, one not connected to this one, for tonight. If, for some reason, I do not make it through the night you have enough money to make it out of Frankfurt, correct?”
“Sure.”
“Well, I doubt anyone would be looking for you directly if they have taken me out. Unfortunately, individual humans do not normally rank very high on a vampire’s danger scale.”
“Yes, I remember how Petre didn’t give Ecaterina a second’s thought even though he was running from Bethany Anne.” Ivan remembered a bit late that Petre was Stephen’s child. “Sorry.”
Stephen waved at him. “It is no worry. After speaking with Josef yesterday, I am getting to a point I am regretting not taking care of Petre myself. I only have more appreciation for my Queen the more I learn about this underground Petre was a part of. That comment about Ecaterina. What is it she says about catching her prey?”
Ivan smiled. “If you want to catch something, you need the right bait.”
Stephen smiled and played with his phone. “I think I know what the right bait is, or rather who the right bait is.”
Ivan’s voice turned incredulous. “You would use Terry as bait to get Mathis to come to you?”
Stephen shook his head. “No, but I would use Terry’s voice to get Mathis to come to her. Or, at least where he thinks she is. He is the type that won’t expect a double-cross, because at the end of the day what woman can contain herself around him? That she has been pushing him off is what makes him need her so badly. She is causing a disconnect with his ego. If he could get her to bed him because she wants to, it will set the world back in the right orbit. One that revolves around Mathis.”
“How are you going to get her to play along?”
“Well, I can use my vampiric powers of mental control and comman
d her to say what I want her to say.”
“Shit! You can do that?” Ivan’s face was the picture of surprise.
Stephen paused, then answered Ivan’s question. “No. But you should have seen the look on your face when I said it.” Stephen put his fingers to his lips and kissed them, “Priceless!”
“You vampiric ass-munch.”
Stephen laughed at the embarrassed Ivan. “No, I cannot command her to do this, and Bethany Anne might find the idea repulsive as well. Terry has a personal stake in making sure Mathis is unable to harass her anymore. Plus, I told Mathis to meet me at nine tonight and sunset is a little after four fifteen. He will have plenty of time to meet with Terry, get his ego stroked and plan on meeting me.” Stephen paused as he thought about what he just said. “Maybe that was a poor choice of words.”
Ivan just snorted. “How are we going to get Mathis’ phone number?”
“Well, Josef should have it. If he doesn’t, I’m sure he knows someone who does. I haven’t informed him that we met Mathis last night, so hopefully I won’t raise any concerns asking for his phone number. It would be a bit annoying if he turned my ambush against me.”
Both men got ready and Stephen called Terry. He got her voice mail so he left a message where he said he would provide another drink if she would answer one question for him and left his phone number.
17
Las Vegas, Nevada
Jeffrey Diamantz and Tom Billings were closed up in the conference room at Patriarch Research. They had cold pizza and beer bottles on the table while Chinese food detritus awaited its eventual retrieval from the trash by the late night janitors.
Nathan Lowell had called them and outlined the technology infrastructure he wanted to have built to bring on the software code that had caused them so many sleepless nights for the last two years. They changed the name of the project to Adam and all hoped they didn’t need to change it to Cain in the future.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 78