by Lara Nance
“I’m thinking King Pip here saw the location when he followed the pretty lady.” He looked at the boy whose eyes brightened.
“You’re going to go looking for it with Pip?” A chill of fear shot through Talia, and she rubbed her arms. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not if we ride around in a taxi. I know the general area Pip wandered to. He can tell me if he recognizes the deserted store.” Drake sipped from his glass of blood then ran his tongue over his lips. “All I need is the address and I can give it to Carlotta. It shouldn’t be dangerous at all.”
“Yippie, I want to help,” Pip shouted. He smacked his fist in his hand. “King Pip won’t allow bad Vampires to live, only good ones. We’ll track them down and smash them to bits.”
“There will be no smashing,” Drake said, putting a calming hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Pip crossed his arms, pouting. “I’m not afraid.”
Talia bit her lip. She didn’t want Drake and Pip to get hurt, but the plan seemed innocent enough. “We know you’re not afraid, Pip. But Drake’s right. Find the place and leave the smashing to others.”
Gerri smiled. “You can write a death warrant for them and we’ll put the address on it to deliver to the vampire queen. Then it will be like you’re ordering her to smash them.”
Pip’s bottom lip retracted and he smiled. “I like that. I’ll order their execution.”
Drake sank his head into his hands, and Talia laughed. Who knew her friend had such a vivid imagination? “That’s right. Let others do the dirty work. Never do something yourself that you can delegate.”
Pip jumped up and started playing a king ordering an execution, waving his whisk around at imaginary soldiers.
“When will you start?” Talia turned to Drake.
“We have lots of time until daybreak,” he said. “We’ll start tonight.”
“Wheee,” Pip yelled and ran around the room slashing his whisk at imaginary foes.
***
Talia yawned as she pushed open the door to Saracin’s offices the next morning. These late nights were taking their toll on her. She tugged at her tight waistband as she strode down the hall. Drake’s delectable meals were also taking their toll on her figure. She didn’t dare step on the scales. She wished Drake had been awake when she left, but he and Pip had fallen into vampire hibernation. She wanted to know what they'd discovered last night.
“My, aren’t we a ray of sunshine this morning,” Felix said as she entered her office. He thrust a latte into one of her hands and a file folder into the other. “What happened to you last night?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” She placed the items he’d handed her on the desk and shrugged out of her coat. Then she gave him a rundown of their exciting discoveries.
“Oh.” He bit his bottom lip. “Another batch of vampires?”
“Right.” She settled into her chair and flipped open the chart he gave her. “What’s this?”
“More fabulous news. The Romanians wanted some deadlines put in the contract. If they aren’t met, the association with Saracin can be severed.” He crossed his arms.
“What?” She pressed her fingertips to her temples. “That’s ridiculous. Did Harvey tell them what tall building to jump off?”
“No, he agreed to it. Check out his signature on the contract in the folder.” He pointed to the documents on her desk. “It’s all final now.”
Her mouth went dry, and she shook her head in disbelief. This campaign was her idea. The Romanians didn’t have the right to take it and run to another agency just because Saracin missed one of their arbitrary deadlines. How could Harvey had done something so stupid?
“I’m going to kill him,” she muttered, flipping through the pages of the contract. She slammed the file shut and stood, ready to march to Harvey’s office and read him the riot act. Then her shoulders slumped. It was too late. He’d already signed the contract agreeing to their terms. Now it was her ass on the line. She had to make it happen or Saracin would lose the account. What a bunch of crap.
“He brought the file in a minute ago, and said now that they have the idea of DraculaVille, they can leave us anyway. It was the only way to save the account.” Her assistant rubbed his chin.
“Those bastards.” She sank back in her chair. Harvey was right. They were stuck.
She turned to the page that showed a timeline of events. No surprise that the first deadline was the production of the teasers Cosmin had mentioned at the meeting yesterday. She took a deep breath. Okay, that was doable. She ran a finger down the page, scanning the timing. It was tight. Not impossible, but tight. She would kill herself to make all this happen.
No getting around it now, though. Harvey had made the commitment and she wasn’t going to give up her commission. She slammed the file shut.
“So, we make it happen. Right?”
“No choice really,” he said. “They’ve got us by the balls.”
“Exactly. So we'll work our magic, as usual.”
“Okay, boss.” Felix pulled his smart phone from his pocket. “I called Anton to set up the photo shoot for Friday night. He’s fine with that.”
“Good.” She nodded. “We have to stay on top of this, Felix. I won’t let them screw us if I can help it.”
“The next deadline after the teaser ads is to provide them with architectural plans they can use in presentations to sponsors.” She made notes on her iPad. “Call Brent and tell him it’s a go. We’ll need detailed plans and drawings right away.”
“Got it.” Her assistant ran his finger over his phone’s keyboard. “Then what?”
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. According to the timeline, the Romanians wanted confirmation of a presentation booklet in two weeks and a teaser ad placement in four months. That meant the big focus for Saracin was production of those ads. The presentation book would take little time to produce. Its elements were already finished. Drake was going to be busy sooner than she’d thought.
Part of her tingled with suspicion. Why the stringent terms to the contract? It was very unusual. Everyone recognized a project of this magnitude could have unexpected setbacks. Were they trying to sabotage her? If so, why? This was a good plan, and Saracin was one of the few agencies that could pull off something this big. It didn’t make sense to erect so many boundaries that could practically doom the campaign to fail.
“You suspect something, don’t you?” Felix’s eyes narrowed.
She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m not sure. This is very unusual, let’s just say that much. The only other explanation is that they’re in an incredible hurry for some reason.”
Harvey poked his head into her office. “I can tell by your face you’ve seen the contract.”
“Why the early deadlines?” She leaned back in her chair.
He came in and sat across from her. “I’m not sure. Last night I got a call from the secretary. She said they like the idea, but they have strict needs in terms of timing. If we didn’t agree, they threatened to go to an agency that could meet their needs. I didn’t have a choice, Tiger.”
She bit her bottom lip. If she was Spiderman, her spidey senses would be tingling. “Any idea what’s pushing them so hard?”
“Economics is all she would allude to.” He shrugged. “They need dollars and they need them fast.”
“So, we kill ourselves making it happen, or they walk.”
“That’s the ticket.” He pressed his forefinger against his cheek. “Look, Tiger, you’ll have the resources of the entire agency behind you for this. Even if it seems crazy, we have to recognize that the contract represents a huge chunk of money. Whatever you need, just ask.”
“Okay.” She grasped her hands together on the desktop. “We’ve worked too hard to let someone else take over my ideas. Felix and I need a twenty percent increase in our salaries starting right now.”
Harvey blinked several times, then nodded. “Fine. We’ll do it. Just don’t lose th
is account. We’re now looking at a rough figure of five billion dollars in advertising and publicity expenditures over the next two years.”
Five Billion. She swallowed, stood and reached over the desk to shake his hand. No looking back now. They had a tough few years ahead of them, but she was determined to see this through. Harvey gave her assistant a slap on the back and left her office. If this deal went south, Harvey’d be more than happy to lay the blame on her. She wasn’t going to let that happen. It wasn’t the money, now. Her pride and reputation were on the line.
“Thanks,” Felix said. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I know this much, they can’t take back salary. But if we fail, they can kill bonuses.”
Felix pursed his lips. “True. Good thinking, boss.”
“Now let’s get busy. We need to make some magic happen.” Romania had just officially pissed her off.
Chapter 21
“Um, Drake?” Talia stared at the dining room table. An array of dishes spread over its surface with formal place settings at five seats. Black candles burned in the elaborate silver candelabra from the first photo shoot. The aroma of butter, garlic and spices hit her like a savory boulder, and her stomach rumbled.
What was going on? She peered into the kitchen where he stirred a pot on the stove.
Pip sat on a bar stool at the island, smearing cream cheese on ham slices and wrapping them around the lower half of a spring onion.
“Hey.” Drake turned from the stove and gave her a wave. “How was work?”
She dropped her purse and briefcase on the floor and climbed onto a stool beside Pip. “Strange.”
“How?” He poured red wine in a glass and handed it across the island to her.
“The Romanians have decided to play hardball. They made a bunch of timeline demands to the contract and we had to agree.”
“How will that affect the campaign plan?” He paused his stirring.
“It means if we miss a deadline, they can break the contract and go to another agency.” She raised her glass and took a drink. “If it happens, all our hard work and ideas will go down the toilet.”
He stared at her a moment then returned to his cooking. “Seems like the Romanians have some needs we don’t know about.”
A sheen of perspiration moistened Talia’s brow. She worried the same. Some strange unknown need pushed the Romanians. A hidden secret agenda. “Got any ideas?”
“Try one of these, Mom. Dad showed me how to make them.” Pip handed her one of his ham wrapped onion creations.
She took a bite. Mmm, simple but delish. “That’s very good, Pip. And stop calling me ‘Mom’.”
He grinned and continued his rolling.
“I have to suspect the root is money.” Drake poured thickened sauce over a dish of cooked tortellini and then topped it with chopped, sun-dried tomatoes. “Find out who needs the money, and you find the source of the problem.”
“In my opinion, changing agencies could cost them more time than a few missed dates with us.” Talia plucked another onion wrap from Pip’s neat little pyramid.
“Are they looking for a way to get rid of you?”
“I can’t imagine why. I came up with the idea and they say they love it.”
The doorbell rang. She slipped off the stool and answered it. Felix and Gerri entered. They smiled at the sight of the table full of food, then followed her into the kitchen.
“Are we giving a party?” Talia asked. She’d made no invitations.
“I thought it would be nice for you guys to have a good meal. You can eat while Pip and I go out and continue our search for the deserted store.” Drake handed wine to Gerri and Felix.
“No luck last night?” her friend asked.
He shook his head. “I divided a map into sections so we can be methodical. It may take a few nights to cover the area I’ve targeted.”
Talia’s heart sank. She’d hoped to talk with him tonight and discuss her concerns about what the Romanians demanded. Maybe she imagined their uneasiness. Maybe they only wanted to ensure steady and constant progress.
“Thanks for inviting us.” Felix reached across Talia and nabbed one of Pip’s creations.
“Everything’s ready.” Drake carried his pasta dish into the dining room and placed it on the table. They followed and settled into chairs, eyeing the delicious looking dishes.
“Have fun and enjoy the food.” He smiled. His eyes focused on Talia an extra beat.
Her face grew hot, and she gazed at her plate. “Be careful,”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” Pip said, putting his hand in Drake’s.
“Felix told me about the contract,” Gerri said, as Drake and Pip headed for the door.
Talia spooned tortellini onto her plate and passed the dish to her assistant. “Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“We’re not giving in, though.” Felix topped a toasted French bread slice with bruschetta. “All we have to do is stay one step ahead and have a backup plan for every scenario. No biggie.”
She snorted, despite her chewing a bite of tortellini. “And that’s really easy.”
“Aren’t you worried about Drake and Pip out there?” Her friend glanced sideways at Talia.
She swallowed. They had no idea how much she worried, but she schooled her features and said, “Drake knows what he’s doing.”
“I guess.” Gerri scooped tomato and mozzarella salad onto her plate.
“He’s right,” Talia said. “We don’t know anything about the vampire world. If he’s in danger, he needs help. Providing Carlotta with information on Maron may give us the information and protection we need.”
“Talia?” Her assistant stopped eating and stared at her.
“Yes?”
“Did you ever wonder if there are vampires in Romania?”
She put down her fork. A tremor of dread crawled up her back. “It makes sense that if they’re here, they must be everywhere.”
Her friend stopped eating and glanced at Felix. “Do you think this plan has something to do with them?”
“The campaign request or the rushed deadlines?” Talia swallowed against a lump in her throat. She’d really wanted to avoid thinking about this.
“I’m not sure. But if Transylvania is really the birthplace of vampires, I have to think they’re involved in some part of their country’s plans.” Gerri took a drink of wine.
Talia and Felix shared a look of worry. She tried to imagine why vampires in Romania needed an influx of tourist. The only conclusion sent a wave of nausea coursing through her. Blood. No. That had to be farfetched.
“You think they could be involved in the government?” Felix rubbed his chin.
“Why not?” Her friend shrugged.
“They can’t be out in daylight. How can they hold a position in government? Something like that would be hard to hide.” Talia pointed to a dish of toasted almond Brussels sprouts topped with sautéed prosciutto.
Felix passed the dish to her. “That’s true. Maybe they have a secret lobby or something.”
“You guys are making me crazy,” she said. Not to mention the headache pulsing behind her temples. “Influential vampires? Seriously? Let’s talk about something else.”
“Dessert.” Her assistant grinned.
“Excuse me?” Talia popped a Brussels sprout in her mouth.
“Did Drake say anything about dessert?”
Gerri let out a laugh. “I’ll check the fridge.” She pushed back her chair and hurried into the kitchen. A moment later, she returned holding a cheesecake topped with strawberries. “Eureka.”
“Holy cow.” Her assistant ran his tongue over his lips. He glanced at Talia. “Are you sure I can’t come live with you?”
“I’m positive.” She eyed the cake with misgiving. The waistband of her skirt already dug into her stomach. She reached around and undid the back button.
He finished his meal and put on a pot of coffee. By the time they
’d consumed slices of cheesecake and sat slumped in their chairs sipping coffee, Drake and Pip returned.
One glance at them and relief sucked the strength from Talia’s limbs. Drake’s eyes glowed, and Pip skipped along beside him.
“We found it,” Drake said, a slight smile curving his lips.
“That was fast,” she said
He went to the opposite end of the table and sat. The boy took a chair beside him.
“It was on the second street we checked.”
Pip puffed out his chest. “I know it’s the same place I saw before. I remember there was a red circle painted on the door. Dad said I was really smart to remember that. It might be a mark they use, or somethin’.”
She tapped her fingernails on the table top. This Dad and Mom thing was getting way out of control. She was pretty sure Drake encouraged it. Did having Pip call him Dad make up for his inability to have a normal family now that he was a vampire? She could only imagine the repercussions of creating her own dysfunctional family.
“Hey, that was smart,” her friend said, patting Pip on the head. “We’re proud of you.”
“Thanks, Aunt Gerri.” He beamed.
Drake pulled out his cell phone and the card with the vampire queen’s number. “I’m going to call Carlotta and let her know where it is.”
“What do you think she’ll do?” Felix asked Talia in a low voice as he leaned close.
She glanced at Drake who talked into his phone. “I don’t know. She said she was going to take matters into her own hands.”
“Like attack Maron’s group?” Gerri whispered.
Her assistant hummed a spooky tune. “The vampire wars of New York, coming soon to a theater near you.”
Talia snorted, but fear formed an icy knot in the pit of her belly. She didn’t want anything to happen that would draw Drake into danger. If Carlotta wanted to go after Maron, it was fine with her as long as she left Drake out of it.
“Well?” she asked when Drake ended the call.
“She was very appreciative,” he said.
“That’s all?”
“She didn’t say what she was going to do. She did say that I was welcome to visit her and she would share information about vampires. I’m an honorary member of her flock now.” He smiled.