“Wow, Jimmy. You need to bottle that stuff. Or maybe not. A person could get hooked on that really easy.” Bobby stepped back again, then turned to go upstairs. “Umm . . . thanks, I guess?”
“Nah, thank you, Bobby,” I said. I stood up and walked over to him, my hand out. He took it, and we shook. “I didn’t want to drink alone. I didn’t want to be alone, and I appreciate you sticking around. I owe you one.”
“Don’t sweat it, man. What are friends for, right?” He gave me a one-armed hug, pounded me on the back twice, and went upstairs. I heard the front door close behind him, and went back to the couch.
“So, we had a shitty night,” I said to Abby and William, who both stood looking over the devastation that was our coffee table. “How was yours?”
“Oh, the usual,” Abby said, grabbing a bottle of Tanqueray and plopping down on the couch opposite me. “Lap dances, nickel bags, broken fingers on handsy customers, bartenders skimming from the till, and annoying bachelor parties trying to get two-for-one dances in the VIP room. Is it considered day drinking if your day job only happens at night?” she asked, taking a swig of the gin. “Totally asking for a friend.”
William busied himself picking up the discarded bottles and blood bags all over the table, then looked at the mess in his arms, the mess remaining on the table, sighed, and went to the kitchen for a trash bag. It was one of those nights. The kind that can’t be cleaned up without breaking out the heavy artillery.
“You guys really got hammered?” Abby asked. “How much booze does that even take?”
“I recorded the consumption for posterity,” Greg said, plugging his phone into a cable on his desk and finally taking off his headset and VR glasses, blinking in the subdued light of our den/war room. “We could watch the whole thing if you want. But you really don’t. It wasn’t pretty.”
“Let’s just say that there was a lot of booze here when we left for work last night,” I said.
“And that we are really glad we don’t get hangovers,” Greg added.
“Did it help?” Abby asked. I looked up at her, and she had a somber expression on her face. I wasn’t used to seeing that from her. Abby’s usually our happy party girl, but this time she wore a shadow across her eyes.
“Not really,” I said. “I forgot for a little bit, but now that I’m awake everything that sucked last night sucks even more.”
“That’s not the answer I was looking for,” she said.
“Yeah, I know. You thinking about Nester?” Michael Nester was a cop, and a friend, who died when we took down the evil sorceress Lilith a few months back. He and Abby were close, maybe closer than any of us knew. She certainly looked a lot more shaken up over his death than if they were just friends.
“No,” she said. “Work sucked tonight.”
“I thought you liked being surrounded by gorgeous women and desperate men,” Greg quipped.
“Well, I do love the scenery, and watching the guys get all worked up and go home frustrated is kinda fun, but tonight . . . tonight was just no fun.”
She sucked on the bottle of gin like a drowning woman stumbling out of a desert, and I knew there was something more to her mood than she was saying. I might not be the most perceptive bloodsucker in the room, but even I can tell something’s off when a woman who literally runs a bar needs a drink when she gets home.
“What’s up, Abs?” I asked.
“Are you asking as my friend, as my kinda boss, or as the Master of the City?”
“Let’s start with as your friend, then we can decide if the conversation needs to get official,” I said. I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. Something was bothering her, and nothing bothered Abby.
“An ex-employee has been messing with my girls’ heads.”
“Okay.” I leaned back a bit. “I can’t imagine that’s a new thing. It can’t come as a surprise that somebody doesn’t like being fired, and certainly not from someplace where he was surrounded by gorgeous women.”
“It’s not a big deal if it’s a bartender, or one of the DJs, but this guy is a vampire, and a pretty old one. I don’t like him being around the girls, and then there’s the whole thing about why I fired him in the first place . . .”
Now I leaned forward again. “What happened? Did he hurt one of the girls? Do I need to—”
“It’s handled,” Abby said. “Tonight I gave the bouncers and doormen explicit instructions that if he’s seen anywhere near the premises again, they were to use the silver stakes, no warnings. This guy comes back, he’s dead. Period.”
“Jeez, Abby,” Greg said. “What did this guy do?”
“He was offering extra services from some of the girls to particular clients, if you know what I mean.”
I felt the scowl grow across my face. “Were the girls willing participants in this prostitution ring?”
Abby took another long swig from the bottle. “No.”
“Compelled?” Sabrina asked.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” I asked, feeling my face flush. “Compelling humans, or vampires, into basically sex slavery, is a capital offense in my city.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Abby said. “This guy’s old, Jimmy. He has friends all over the place, even outside of Charlotte. He’s old, and he’s strong, and I didn’t want to put you or your position in danger. If you tried to pass sentence on Ian, you’d have to fight him. And I don’t know if you can win.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I can’t protect anyone in Charlotte if I can’t keep the monsters in line, not even the monsters. Especially not the monsters.”
“Well, he certainly deserves the name ‘monster,’” Abby said. “I fired him a couple months back, and thought it was all done. But tonight, one of my bartenders tells me that she saw him and one of his friends out by the back door, and when I went out there, I found three of my dancers brain-blasted to mush, just staring at the stars.”
“You think he tried to compel them and couldn’t? Or got interrupted?” Greg asked.
“No, I think he knew I was coming, and turned these girls into vegetables as a message. They were gone, Greg. They couldn’t remember their names, nothing.”
“What did you do?” Sabrina asked.
“I removed the compulsion. It was actually pretty simple, once I got over being panicked. I just told them to ignore any orders given by a vampire between the time they got to work and the time I came out the back door, and they snapped back. But it still had me on edge the rest of the night.”
“Thus the kill on sight order,” I said. “Makes sense. I still wish you had come to me sooner.”
“Like I said, it’s handled. I made sure Ian won’t be coming around the club anymore, and I sent his friend packing, too. I’m sure the thing with the girls was just his last little wiener wave on his way out of town. Still sucked, though. And the girls were too shaken to dance worth a shit the rest of the night.” She knocked back another slug of the vodka and laid her head back on the couch. “Why couldn’t I have been a dentist?”
“Because your grades sucked?” Greg offered with a totally not helpful grin.
“Because of your irrational fear of teeth?” I added.
“Because you died before you finished undergrad?” Greg asked.
Abby shot us both the finger, but I could see the smile on her face as she did.
“I’m going to go get a shower,” Sabrina said, standing up. “Then I’m going to sleep for a bit. I’m going to set my alarm for three. Sean’s getting to the station at one to deal with paperwork, but eventually we’re going to have to deal with the fact that there’s no body.” She put her bottle of Scotch on the table and started toward the stairs.
“I’ll come up with something to explain that away,” I said. Sabrina wave
d at me over her shoulder.
“I can handle that, sir,” William said. “Making people, living or dead, disappear was something I handled for Master Tiram often. I will make some calls this afternoon, and there will be an accidental cremation. Mr. Reed will be completely blameless, but a newly hired intern will unfortunately lose his job for the oversight.”
“And that intern will only exist on paper,” Greg guessed. He started gathering up trash and tossing it into the bag William held. I sat there, observing the first sighting of Greg Knightwood IV cleaning. My best friend since middle school, he had never exhibited even a passing knowledge in the use of a garbage bag before this moment.
“Exactly, Mr. Knightwood,” William said.
“I’ve told you, don’t call me that. I keep looking around for my dad.”
“I shall try to remember,” William lied.
“Then we can all get a little rest before we get onto the important work tonight,” I said.
“Lap dances and backroom weed sales?” Abby asked with a cockeyed grin.
“Not even close,” I said. “We’ve got to find out who’s stupid enough to think he can make a new vampire in my city without me kicking his ass.”
Chapter 12
SIX HOURS LATER, I was showered, rested, and sitting around the giant tabletop LCD display that served as a conference table in the war room just off our den. William had the place looking habitable, and even had coffee going for Sabrina. She sat on one end of the table, while Greg and I took up opposite sides. William stood behind Abby at the other end, and I turned to Sabrina to start the meeting.
“What did you guys come up with at the crime scene after we left with the body?” I asked.
“There was no clear forensic evidence at the scene. It’s a popular destination through most of the day and night, so our killer chose his dump site well.”
“Dump site? You don’t think she was killed there?” Abby asked.
“Our investigation had her disappearing somewhere between her job at Landmark and her home in the Sheffield neighborhood, less than two miles away,” Greg said.
“That’s not really close to South End,” Abby replied.
“That’s why we’re pretty sure it was a dump site. Plus, the lack of blood at the scene,” Sabrina said, pulling a folder out of her bag and tossing it onto the table. “That’s a copy for you. I would have brought a thumb drive, but . . .”
“But you know I’ve already gotten anything I want from the department’s servers,” Greg said with a nod. Sabrina gave him an exasperated look, but he just shrugged. Back when we were less official, I cared a lot more about Greg hacking into the police computer network, but since we were in pretty good with Sabrina’s boss, I figured it was fine.
“There was no blood at the scene?” I asked.
Sabrina looked up from the folder at me. “None. Why? I thought you knew she was completely drained. I thought that was the only way . . .”
I held up a hand to cut off her questions. “It is. She was. But even when a victim is completely drained, that’s a lot of blood to consume in a very short time. It’s hard to drain someone of ten pints of blood without stopping, and it’s hard to stop arterial blood flow without at least a little bit of spray. So, you’re right. She was killed someplace else.”
“But where? And more importantly, by whom?” Sabrina asked, frustration seeping into her voice.
“I have no actionable idea,” I admitted. “I smelled vampire at the scene, but it was no one I recognized. It didn’t even smell like a particular part of town . . .” I paused as something hit me. I closed my eyes and let the scene come back to me, immersing myself in the memory to try and jog loose whatever was rolling around in my head.
There was Julia, already in a body bag when I arrived. I opened the bag, and the whiff of dead human rushed out. All the fear, and bile, and sweat, and other things that get secreted when a human dies, those were all there. But under that, underneath the strong plastic smell of new body bag and the powdered scent of the latex gloves Bobby wore when handling corpses, there was something else. What was it? It was faint, but present. . . .
“Dammit!” I said, slamming my fists down on the table, pulling back just at the last second so I didn’t shatter the screen. “How could I miss this? What an idiot!”
“What?” Abby asked.
“That stink!” I said, whirling to Greg. “There was dried sewer funk. That’s the smell I remembered underneath everything else. Whoever had her, she was kept in an abandoned sewer tunnel, just like—”
“Just like Morlocktown,” Greg said. “Do you really think Rabbit did this?”
“No. I don’t think Rabbit had anything to do with it, or even knew anything about it. He seemed genuinely upset when we saw him, and besides, the smell was different. It was sewer, but it wasn’t Morlock. Does that make any sense?”
“Not to me, but I can’t smell in the spectrum you guys can. So for the humans in the crowd, what’s the next step?” Sabrina asked.
“I think you work the case with Deputy Dingleberry just like you normally would. Talk to the folks in the neighborhood. See if there’s any connection between the employees at Landmark and anyone that works at any of the Mills shops where the body was found,” I said.
“But it’s just busywork. You don’t think I’m going to find anything, do you?” Sabrina didn’t look at all thrilled about working a bunch of dead-end leads.
“No, but it’s all we can do while you’re saddled with Sean. I can’t exactly haul the two of you down into the sewers on a vampire hunt, can I?” I felt her frustration, but there was exactly nothing I could do about it. Not even pleading with her Lieutenant had gotten Fitzpatrick moved to another partner. Even as new to town as he was, he had some kind of connection to the higher-ups in the department, and his wagon was hitched firmly to Sabrina’s star, at least for now.
“No, you can’t, but I don’t have to like it,” she said, getting up from the table. She walked around and gave me a quick kiss. “I’m going to the station. Sean will already be there, I’m sure.”
I watched her walk to the stairs, reflecting on the fact that while I hated to see her go, I really did love to watch her leave. Then I turned back to the table, ignoring the smirks from my friends.
“Feel better?” Abby asked. “Wanna go chase her down and make out on the porch?”
“I do, but I’ll pass on that kind of incendiary passion,” I said. “Still a little too much daylight for my tastes.”
“Okay, so what’s my part in your little vamp hunt? Unlike some people, I’m both gorgeous and perfectly capable of going into the sewers to kick some ass.” Abby gave me a cockeyed grin. She wasn’t kidding, either. Physically, she was one of the strongest vampires I knew, despite her youth. She was also turning into a shrewd businesswoman and a second-in-command who struck fear into the hearts of bad guys all over Charlotte. Her presence out and about in Charlotte was what I needed right then more than another heavy by my side in the sewers.
“You’re on the sidelines, too, sorry to say.” I held up a hand to cut off the protest I knew was coming. “I need you up here with William to keep an eye on things. Some of the children are starting to push their boundaries, and you might have to step on a few necks to keep them in line.”
Abby relaxed when she realized that I wasn’t benching her, and asked, “Anyone in particular?”
“Terry from the Panthers is skimming, but you knew that. He should be around tonight or tomorrow with enough cash to make up the difference, but if he no-shows, you’ll have to go break his leg or something.”
“I like ‘or something,’ gives me creative freedom.”
“Freedom away,” I said. “I’m also hearing rumors of somebody slinging meth out of a roving goth party somewhere around NoDa. Baby vamps like to hang out with the go
th kiddies, so find out if the dealer is one of our people and teach them the error of their ways.”
“Educator,” Abby said with a smile. “That’s a new job description for me.”
“Then you and William can look into reports of this Dark Lady that have been coming in from all over the place.”
Abby’s eyes widened just the slightest, and I felt like this wasn’t the first time she’d heard of the Dark Lady. She recovered in a blink, and asked, “Who’s the Dark Lady?”
“I don’t even know if it’s really a who, or a what, or just a new urban legend. But there have been rumors about Lilith coming back and hunting down criminals.”
“That doesn’t sound like Lilith’s MO,” Greg said.
“Yeah, no kidding,” I agreed. “The only time Lilith ever hunted down a murderer or rapist was when she was on a recruiting drive.”
“Or if the murderer had an unpaid bar tab,” Abby agreed. “But we’ll poke around. If there’s anything in these Dark Lady rumors, me and Slick Willie will find it, right, Willie?”
William looked pained, but he forced a smile. “Absolutely, ma’am.” He turned to me. “You’re sure you will not require my services while underground?”
“Nah,” I said. “We got this. Me and Greg’ll go downstairs, see what Rabbit knows about a new nest of vampires under my city, hunt down this bad vamp, rip his head off, crap down his throat, and be back for breakfast.”
I gotta learn to stop making stupid pronouncements like that.
Chapter 13
“I SWEAR TO GOD, Jimmy, I didn’t hurt Jules! I loved her!” Rabbit fell backward over a chair in his haste to get away from me. He was a quick little dude, but he couldn’t deal with me and Greg in a confined space, so he just tried to get his back to a wall quickly and talk me out of killing him.
“I smelled sewer on her, Rabbit. She was down here somewhere the night she died. That means either there’s a new player under the city, or you were lying to me. Which is it?” I advanced on Rabbit, ignoring the two vampires that stood beside his sprawled form. Rabbit had been in a “meeting” when we burst into his ramshackle office. His meeting consisted of three vampires smoking weed and debating who was stronger: Thor, the Hulk, or Thing. Greg blocked the door, and I flipped a table into the air before they even got to their feet.
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