by E. A. Copen
After a few more celebratory toasts, a black SUV pulled up. A big guy in a suit got out of the front passenger side and adjusted the bullet-proof vest he wore underneath it. From where I stood in the back of the crowd and close to the road, I could just barely make out a purple fleur de lis pin on the lapel of his suit.
“Friends of yours?”
I turned to find Tindall standing next to me, a glass of champagne in his hand. “I don’t think so,” I answered.
A black Hummer limousine pulled up behind the SUV. As soon as it parked, the roar of motorcycle engines drowned out every other sound on the street. The Tomahawk Kings rode onto the street in full force, eight men strong. Four men, including Sal, pulled in front of the black SUV while the other four took up the rear. I kept my eyes fixed on Sal as the suit approached. He had promised Hunter he would be here tonight, not riding with his biker buddies. The lie stirred an old anger in me.
“Sheriff Tindall?” said the suit. “Would you come with me, please?”
Tindall sighed. “Guess news travels fast. You work for Marcus, don’t you?” he said, putting his hands on his hips.
“The Master extends his invitation to both of you.”
“What invitation?” Tindall said, frowning.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “And if we refuse?”
The suit opened his jacket just enough to show he was carrying. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”
Tindall handed the champagne off to someone standing nearby. “I suppose a round around the block won’t hurt.”
The suit waited until both of us had walked on ahead to turn and follow. “The Master appreciates your cooperation,” he said as he opened a door to the limo for us.
Tindall and I climbed in and sat down and the suit followed, sitting across from us. Next to him was a man in a suit that cost more than everything I owned. He had a good, strong chin, slight freckles and a head of slick, auburn hair. One leg crossed over the other and both hands resting on the closest knee, he smiled at both of us, making sure his fangs were easily visible.
No introduction was needed. I’d seen him enough times to know who he was, even without the limo and the MC escort. I wasn’t surprised to see Marcus Kelley in the limo. It was the woman beside him that made the hair on my arms stand on end. A cold chill ran down my spine and my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.
Zoe Matthias. Sal’s ex-wife. One of the two wendigos from my case last summer. I’d killed her, sliced open her belly and cut a child out of her womb. Even if the body had been missing, there was no way she could have survived that. Yet here she was, tall and beautiful with dark hair and smooth skin, perfect as ever.
She turned her painted lips up in a smile and crossed her arms over her lap. “Hello, Judah.”
“You can’t be here,” I stammered. “You’re dead.”
“Am I now?” said Zoe, still smiling.
I turned to glare at Marcus Kelley. “What the hell do you want?”
“Judah Black...” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “Were I in your position, I’d be more careful with my tone.”
I stupidly opened my mouth to ask about exactly what position I was in and paused when the suit pulled his gun and sat it on his lap.
Marcus smirked and put his arm behind Zoe’s back. “I think it’s high time the four of us sat down to discuss a few things.”
“I don’t care who you have in your corner or how many guns your goons point at me. I’m not taking a bribe.”
“Don’t misunderstand,” said Marcus. “You’re free to leave at any time.”
I put my hand on the door handle.
“But, if you leave without hearing us out, the child you’ve been looking for will die.”
“My child,” Zoe added and then produced the scrap of bloody cloth I’d given to Kim.
I looked from Zoe to Marcus to Tindall. Then, slowly, I uncurled my fingers from the door handle, sinking back into my seat. “Tell me everything.”
Marcus rapped on the partition and then ordered his driver to take us to an address in Eden. Then, he smiled. “In due time, Agent Black. First, we negotiate.”
“Negotiate?” I said, crossing my arms. “I thought you wanted my help.”
“Everything comes at a price,” Marcus answered.
I eyed the gun, the vampire and the wendigo and then sighed. This was going to be a long night.
CHASING GHOSTS
Judah Black
Book 3
Chapter One
I stared unflinching down the barrel of a gun. Not because I wasn’t scared. My throat was dry and my palms sweaty. The vampire in the seat across from me had to hear my heart hammering. The one person who might not know yet that I was terrified was the bodyguard holding the gun, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him.
The vampire, Marcus, shifted his gaze across the SUV, folded his hands, and smirked at the man beside me. “Now, now. There’s no need for that, detective.”
I turned my head. I’d known Detective Bryan Tindall since the government assigned me to my post in Paint Rock, Texas. I’d only ever seen him draw his gun once before. Yet there he was, hand inside his suit jacket, resting on the grip of his gun. Holy hell, he had to be paranoid to attend his victory party in his own house armed like that.
Tindall’s cheek twitched. “You’ve got your weapon pointed at a federal officer, son.” He addressed the bodyguard in a level tone instead of Marcus. “I’d advise you to lower it.”
The bodyguard didn’t so much as blink.
“He will lower his weapon once the rules of our parlay have been established,” Marcus informed us.
I frowned and turned my attention to him momentarily, trying to ignore the woman sitting on the other side of him. “Tindall and I aren’t going to be bullied into accepting whatever terms you put forward. Why don’t you just tell us what you want?”
Marcus crossed one leg over the other and brushed his fingers over the front of his expensive-looking suit. He lifted his intense green eyes to mine, and I immediately dropped my gaze. I knew better than to stare into a vampire’s eyes, especially one as old and powerful as Marcus Kelley. “I am a busy man. I don’t have time for intimidation. Make no mistake, Ms. Black. You are not in control here. I hold all the cards. You two are only sitting here, enjoying your present blessings because I have willed it.”
“Present blessings?” I scoffed. “And its Agent Black to you.”
Marcus dismissed my words, waving his hand. “I’ve asked you here so that the three of us could come to an understanding.”
“What about the kid you said was in danger?” Tindall said. His arm shifted, and the bodyguard’s finger tightened on the trigger. Tindall froze.
I slid my eyes away from the gun to the woman sitting beside Marcus Kelley. Tall, thin, and beautiful with all the presence of a professional performer, she returned my glare with a smirk. She might have looked human, but she was far from it. A human doesn’t come back from what I did to Zoe Matthias.
I shifted my attention back to Marcus when Zoe did. “That is a matter for after,” Marcus said. “Between Zoe, Agent Black, and I.”
“Say what you want to say,” Tindall growled. “My arm’s getting tired, and if I lower it, I’m afraid your brute squad will make the biggest mistake of his big, dumb life.”
“Before we discuss anything else, you both must swear yourselves to secrecy. Not one word of our conversation can be repeated once you leave the car. Ever. If any of my eyes or ears—of which there are plenty among you—reports back to me that you’ve spoken about our conversation—”
“You’ll kill us?” I said raising an eyebrow.
“No. I will kill your friends. Your families. Everyone you ever knew or loved, right down to the boy who bags your groceries at the checkout line.”
Tindall and I glanced at each other. Both of us had families. I had my twelve-year-old son, Hunter. Tindall had a wife to protect as well as all the men on th
e force who had just helped him secure the vote for county sheriff. We didn’t have to speak to communicate that we both believed Marcus could and would make good on his threats. Marcus had backed us both into a corner.
“All right.” I turned back to Marcus. “So long as nobody dies because of our arrangement, I agree to your terms.”
Zoe opened her mouth in protest, but her jaw snapped shut when Marcus raised a single finger from her bare knee.
“I accept your condition.” Marcus nodded. “What about you, Tindall? Do you agree to the terms?”
“Sure,” he said and then mumbled, “But why do I get the feeling this is going to come back and bite us both in the ass?”
Marcus removed his hand from Zoe’s leg and leaned forward. “Then let’s get the obvious conversation out of the way. I know that you’ve both been putting your nose into my business, asking questions about what I do and where my money comes from. Judah, you’re looking for any discrepancy that will allow you to open a formal case against me. You have a thing for taking down corrupt men in positions of power, believing that doing so always serves the greater good. It’s what destroyed your career in Cleveland and got you relocated here. It would seem you haven’t learned your lesson.”
I clenched my jaw, knowing he was right. Ever since I’d come to Paint Rock, I’d been waiting for him to make a mistake so that I could untangle his empire one thread at a time. No one got as rich as Marcus Kelley without leaving a trail of broken lives and dead bodies behind them. Still, it wasn’t just that. Every time something bad happened in Concho County, Marcus was marginally connected to it. LeDuc, the mad scientist and cannibal serial killer who had been kidnapping kids, had been his business partner. Marcus’ daughter had nearly brought the wrath of an entire clan of vampires down on the city of Eden thanks to her debt. People turned a blind eye to those connections because Marcus also invested heavily in the hospital and other charities. He also ran Fitz Pharmaceuticals, which had an exclusive government contract to provide supernatural testing materials. Marcus made friends everywhere from congress to the hardware store. Yet, inside he was as rotten as a bad tooth. I knew it. I just couldn’t prove it.
Marcus folded his hands in his lap. “Those investigations will cease immediately.”
It wasn’t a request. I didn’t offer him a reply. I’d agreed to silence, not to letting him get away with murder.
But Marcus wasn’t looking for a reply either. He’d already made his threat implicit, so he turned to Tindall. “As you step up into your new position as county sheriff, I expect you and I will be working much more closely, Tindall.”
Tindall frowned. “If you’re going to try extortion or bribing me, you might as well just tell your man to shoot me here and now. I don’t have anything left for you to take, and I’m too old and stubborn to roll over on my morals now.”
Marcus nodded. “Not at all. Are you familiar with the Tomahawk Kings?”
“The motorcycle... er... enthusiasts?” Tindall said, tripping over the last word.
“The ones escorting this car.” Marcus nodded. “If any cases involving their ‘club’ cross your desk, I expect to be the first person you call.”
I clenched a fist. It had only been a few weeks since I discovered Sal’s involvement with the Kings. Sal was my neighbor, friend... and, I guess, now something more. I still had no idea what the club did, though; he implied they were involved with something illegal. To find out they were connected through a protection arrangement with Marcus Kelley... Maybe Sal wasn’t the person I thought he was.
Tindall chewed on the idea for a moment before asking, “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Marcus repeated. “That and I expect you to keep your word, Tindall. The county police department is almost hopelessly corrupt and full of officers who shoot and detain supernaturals at five times the rate of humans. I expect to see those numbers decline once you’re wearing your shiny, new badge.” He didn’t say, or else, but the implied threat hung in the air.
Tindall matched Marcus’ intense gaze. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me, then.”
“If you need any assistance, I’m only a phone call away,” the vampire added with a fake smile. He rapped twice on the partition separating the passenger compartment from the driver. The SUV slowed to a stop. The bodyguard lowered his gun, pushed open the passenger side door, and got out, holding it. The sounds of Tindall’s victory party, still going on in his yard, drifted into the car. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Tindall.”
Tindall hesitated, looking to me.
“Go. I’ll be fine,” I said, answering his unasked question. “Just make sure Hunter gets some sleep. He’s got school in the morning.”
“Take care, Judah.” The words were simple but layered with meaning. Both of us knew I’d stepped in something bad, and it was only going to get worse as the night went on.
He got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk. The bodyguard climbed back in. I waved to Tindall as he closed the door behind him.
“Now...” I turned back to the vampire and the Zoe the wendigo. “What do you know about the missing little girl? You said she was in danger. Where is she? How do you know?”
Zoe looked down at her hands and opened her mouth, her jaw quivering. “She’s...dying.”
Marcus put a comforting hand back on her leg and squeezed. “We don’t know that. In fact, the problem is that we know almost nothing, and yet, everything at the same time.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“I think it will be better if you see.” Marcus tapped on the partition.
The SUV slid forward and back out into traffic. I swallowed, closed my eyes, and decided that I should focus on the problem in front of me. For months, I had been itching to find out what happened to this little girl, and now I knew she was in danger. For some reason, Marcus and Zoe thought I could help. I needed to find out as much as I could as soon as possible.
“I have to say, I’m surprised you’re alive,” I said to Zoe.
A year and a half ago, I’d gutted her and left her for dead in a cavern in the desert. But Zoe was a wendigo, a monster that subsisted on the flesh of others. I knew from experience that wendigos did not die easy.
Her smile never touched her eyes. “Why should you be surprised? Did you think I would spontaneously burst into flames? Did I not tell you fire was the only way to finish me before I came back as a monster?”
“If you’ve been alive and your daughter’s been in Concho County all this time, why am I just now hearing about it? Did Sal know you were around?”
“Vampires, werewolves, and fae have all managed to hide themselves from human detection for well over two thousand years.” Marcus gave another dismissive wave with his hand. “And there are hundreds of other non-humans out there still in hiding. We’ve gotten very good at keeping secrets from the government.”
My hands clenched into fists. “But you knew I was looking for her and said nothing.”
Marcus raised his chin. “You think very highly of yourself. Tell me, what right do you think you have to that child?”
“What right do you have?” I snapped back without letting the words filter through the rational part of my brain. I couldn’t help it. Sometimes, dumb things just fall out of my mouth.
Marcus’ face hardened and his posture stiffened. “You must think of me as some sort of villain, a great criminal mastermind spinning many plates and heading some sort of evil, underground empire. You are Sherlock Holmes and I am your Professor Moriarty. You’ve been waiting for me to get caught up in a crime since you came to town. Nothing would be more satisfying for you than to see me behind bars, to validate your distaste for wealth and power. We are all the heroes of our own stories in our own heads, Judah.”
“Are you saying you’re an innocent man, Marcus?”
“I don’t believe in innocence. If such a thing did exist, however, I would be far from it. As would you. Your hands are not clean either
.”
I bit my tongue and turned my gaze to the tinted windows, watching as empty desert passed by under a blanket of stars. “I’m nothing like you.”
The SUV cruised past the neon lights of Aisling, the local strip joint. I wondered how the proprietor, Robbie, was faring after his brush with death. I had meant to look in on him, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. After that night, I needed to keep my distance from the Kelley family, for Hunter’s sake.
As we drove into Eden, it sank in that I had left my son behind. I hadn’t said goodbye to him. But Marcus wouldn’t keep me for long. He couldn’t. If I didn’t show up for work in the morning, someone would start asking questions, wouldn’t they?
We took an exit off the freeway and came down the ramp near the hospital. The Eden Memorial Research Facility and Hospital was more than just one building. The main structure took up most of a city block. The hospital had purchased the land across the street, too, and was in the process of building another tower and a skywalk to connect the two. All that space wasn’t just for show. Eden Memorial was one of the best hospitals in the nation, and the only one with specialists on staff for supernaturals. Counting the dozen or so satellite offices and clinics scattered throughout Central Texas, it was also one of the largest privately owned healthcare systems in the country. And I was sitting across from the man who owned it all.
I turned away from the window and searched his face for any hint to why we were pulling into the hospital’s underground parking garage. “Is she sick?” I asked, referring to the kid.
“You might say so,” Marcus answered with a frown. “It’ll all be clearer momentarily.”
The SUV stopped in front of the parking garage elevator, and Marcus opened the door. The roar of eight motorcycles echoing off the concrete walls filled the car as Marcus stepped out. The bodyguard got out stiffly. Zoe put her hand on the door, hesitating before turning back to me. “You’re here to save my daughter’s life. Don’t forget that.” She pulled herself out of the car.