by Adele Abbott
“You’d better. The first delivery of blood will arrive at the unit at eight o’clock on Monday morning. We’ll both need to be there to receive it.”
“No problem. I’ll set my alarm for six-thirty.”
“Then we sit back and wait for the phone to start ringing with orders.”
***
As always, Greg was early. When Susan arrived at Reggie’s, he was waiting outside for her. It had come to the point in their relationship where greeting one another felt a little awkward. They were past the handshake stage, but not quite at the kissing stage. Instead, they exchanged awkward smiles and pleasantries before going inside.
“I’ve been on tenterhooks all afternoon,” Susan said, once they were seated at a table. “What’s this thing you want to show me?”
Greg looked around the restaurant as though he was expecting to be spied upon. Only when he was satisfied that no one was watching did he reach into his pocket, and produce a sheet of paper. “Take a look at this.”
Susan unfolded the flyer. “What is it?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Someone has set up in business delivering blood door-to-door.”
“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of joke? I mean, just look at that logo: A bottle of blood on wheels?”
“I’m pretty sure it isn’t a joke. My guess is that someone has realised that now all the high street outlets have closed down there’s a gap in the market.”
“Where did you get this from?”
“They’ve been handing them out in Washbridge. As far as I can ascertain, they were being very selective about who they gave them to.”
“Selective how?”
“By giving them only to vampires—for obvious reasons.”
“How did you get hold of this one, then?”
“One of the members of PAW brought it to me. He’d tried to get one of the flyers, but the woman handing them out had refused to give him one. Fortunately, not long after, there was a bit of an altercation, and she dropped a few of them.”
“So who are T & D Supplies?”
“I’ve no idea. There’s no address on the flyer—just a mobile phone number.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I was hoping that we might work together on this. Like we did when the blood was being sold through high street shops.”
“You realise that I’m still not totally convinced that was blood. I still think it may have been drugs.”
“It’s different this time. This flyer makes it pretty clear what they’re selling.”
“That assumes this isn’t all some kind of joke. Have you called the number?”
“No. I thought about doing that, but I figured they’d realise fairly quickly that I’m not a vampire, and if I spook them, we may never track them down.”
“What’s the plan, then?”
“I don’t actually have one.” He smiled. “I was kind of hoping that you might come up with something.”
“Me? I don’t know anything about vampires. I don’t even believe they exist.”
“But if you did, how would an investigative reporter go about tracking these people down? ”
“I’m not sure.” She studied the flyer again. “They must have a base where they keep the stocks of—” She hesitated.
“You can say the word. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“This is obviously a brand new business, so the chances are they only recently took over the building. If we could get a list of recently leased properties in the Washbridge area, maybe we’d find them.”
“See, I would never have thought of anything like that.”
“It wouldn’t need to be a large building, so we could rule those out. And it would have to be in the city or on the outskirts. If we restricted the search to small units that have been let in the last month, within a three-mile radius of the city centre, we should have a starting point.”
“Great. How quickly could you come up with that?”
“Me? You want me to do it?”
“I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“I hope you’re picking up the tab for this meal.” She grinned. “It’s only fair, seeing as you obviously only brought me here to talk me into doing research for you.”
“That isn’t the only reason, but I’ll gladly pick up the tab. You’ll do it, then?”
“All the people I’ll need to speak to will have finished for the weekend.”
“Monday then?”
“I’ve booked a day’s holiday for Monday.”
“That’s great! You’ll have bags of time.”
She picked up the menu. “What’s the most expensive thing on here?”
After they’d finished their meal, Susan told Greg about the deadline Flynn had given her to decide if she was going to accept the job at New Edge.
“Will you take it?”
“I don’t know. The whole point of joining The Bugle was to get away from the rat race in London.”
“You should stay in Washbridge, then.”
“It isn’t that simple. New Edge is a great publication, and from what Flynn has told me, I’d have an almost free hand to come up with my own stories. It’s basically my dream job, and the money is practically twice my current salary.”
“You told me you hated the commute.”
“I did, and I probably will again, but with Flynn gone, there’s a real chance The Bugle might sink back into the sewer. There are certainly still plenty of rats working there.”
“You have to do what’s best for you, but from a purely selfish perspective, I hope you decide to stay.”
Chapter 16
What a nightmare journey that had been. Charlie had taken the bus home, and he’d attracted more than his fair share of strange looks, ranging from curious to downright scared. One short-sighted old lady had become quite annoyed, and had informed him that cats shouldn’t be brought onto the bus.
“You’re back soon,” Neil said. “Did you get fired?”
“No, thank goodness. Andy told Draycott it was my day off.”
“And he bought that?”
“Yeah. She had to get some of the other instructors to swap their days off too, and I’ll have to cover for her one day next week, but at least I still have a job. Did you find out how to reverse this spell?”
“Not yet.”
“You promised you would.”
“I’m doing my best. The only person who might know what to do is on holiday until Sunday. He’s promised to give me a call then if he can help.”
“If?”
“He thinks he knows how to do it, but he won’t be sure until he gets back on Sunday.”
“Couldn’t you try to persuade him to do it before then?”
“I tried, but he and I aren’t exactly the best of friends. If I push him, I’m worried he’ll tell me to forget it.”
“Okay. Thanks for doing this, Neil.”
“What are you going to do with that—err—I mean her?”
“I thought I’d leave her on the coffee table.”
“And how will you explain that to Susan? She’ll take one look at it and thing you’ve had Pretty stuffed.”
“You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that. I’d better take her into my bedroom.”
“And make sure you hide her, in case Susan goes in there.”
“Will do.”
“What’s that you’ve got there, Charlie?” Greta’s voice came through the microphone.
“It’s Pretty.”
“Isn’t that the cat you’ve been feeding?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m so very sorry for your loss. What happened to her?”
“She isn’t dead.”
“Are you sure?” Greta assumed he was in denial.
“That witch, Amelia, did this. According to Neil, it’s just a spell.”
“Can you do anything about it?”
“Neil has a friend who might be able to help, but not until Sunday. I have to hide Pretty until the
n, so that Susan doesn’t see her. I’ll slide her under this table and put these boxes in front of her.”
“I’m glad I’ve seen you, Charlie. I have some news.”
“About you and Lewis?”
“No, it’s about Bunty.”
“What’s she been up to this time? I’m rapidly losing patience with that one.”
“She’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“She packed her bags and flew away this morning.”
“For good?”
“Yes.”
Charlie didn’t react straight away, but then a smile crept across his face. “Good riddance. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know she’s your friend.”
“Not really. We’ve been together for quite some time now, but I can’t say we’ve ever been friends. It wasn’t through a lack of trying on my part, but you know what she’s like.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“I asked her, but she told me to mind my own business. She said she wouldn’t be back.”
“Won’t you be lonely, living here by yourself?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. I have a cousin, Trudy, who wants to move to the human world. Is there any chance she could have the house?”
“Is she anything like Bunty?”
“Nothing like her. Trudy is really nice.”
“That’s good enough for me. Tell her she can move in whenever she wants.”
***
When she came down from Tilly’s apartment, Dorothy once again found Neil and Charlie seated on the sofa, and once again, they both had long faces.
“It’s depressing sharing a flat with you two. Are you still sulking because that stupid cat has found someone else to feed her?”
“Shut up, Dorothy!”
She was visibly shaken by Charlie’s reaction. She’d seen him angry before, but never anything like this. He looked wild enough to turn.
“What did I say?” She took a step back.
“Amelia’s cast a spell on Pretty,” Neil said.
“What kind of spell?”
“She’s frozen her somehow. She looks as though she’s been stuffed.”
“I’m really sorry, Charlie. I had no idea.”
“That’s okay. I’m sorry for barking at you.”
“Where is Pretty?”
“I’ve hidden her in my bedroom because I don’t want Susan to see her. One of Neil’s friends thinks he may be able to reverse the spell, but he can’t do anything until Sunday.”
“We have to do something about that witch upstairs.” Dorothy sat on the armchair, opposite the two guys.
“Like what?” Neil said.
“Like get rid of her.”
“I’d be all for that,” Charlie said. “But how are we supposed to do it?”
“I have an idea.” She took out her phone and made a call. “Tilly, it’s Dorothy. Do you think that friend of yours would do me another rush job if we promised her a discount for another month? You do? Good. Give me her number, will you?”
***
Neil hadn’t expected to enjoy his second date with Kim. In fact, if he was being completely honest, he’d only agreed to meet her, to get her off his back. He’d planned to be civil, but not overly friendly, and then at the end of the evening, he would tell her it wasn’t working for him.
But things hadn’t gone according to plan. Far from being the ordeal he’d expected, he found himself really enjoying her company. She was smart, funny and easy to talk to, and unlike most of the women he’d dated, she seemed genuinely interested in him.
“Poor old Charlie,” she said. “How horrible.”
“That Amelia is one crazy witch.”
“What are you going to do about her?”
“Dorothy has come up with a plan that should put paid to her once and for all.”
“What’s that?”
“If I told you, I’d be forced to kill you.”
“Then I suppose I’d have to despatch myself.” She laughed.
Neil’s smile evaporated and he became stony-faced.
“Come on, Neil. Surely, if I can accept you’re a wizard, you can accept who I am. Is it so terrible?”
“You spend all day dealing with dead bodies.”
“So do undertakers.”
“I wouldn’t date one of them either.”
Without warning, she stood up, walked around the table and gave him a long, lingering kiss, which left him breathless. Then, once back in her chair, she said, “I guess there’s no future for us then, is there?”
“Err—I—err didn’t say that. It’s just—err—”
“We had a laugh tonight, didn’t we?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it that you find me unattractive?”
“No, of course not. You’re beautiful.”
“So, how can we make this work?”
“I don’t suppose you’d consider changing your job?”
“It isn’t just a job to me. It’s much more than that. It’s who I am.”
“Could you—err—pretend to do something else?”
“I already do that when I’m with humans. Fable thinks I’m a hairdresser.”
“Okay, that might work. Why don’t you pretend I’m a human, and never mention your real job when you’re with me?”
“I could do that.”
This time it was Neil who walked around the table to kiss her.
***
When Neil got back from his date, Charlie and Dorothy were in the living room.
“She didn’t despatch you, then?” Dorothy grinned. “That’s what reapers call it, isn’t it?”
“Ignore her, pal,” Charlie said. “Tell us how it went.”
“Actually, and I know you’ll laugh, I think Kim might be the one.”
Dorothy didn’t disappoint him; she laughed hysterically. “The one? You? You couldn’t stick with a relationship if your life depended on it.”
“Kim’s different.”
“I’ll say she is. She spends all her day despatching dead humans. That’s as different as it gets.”
“We’ve come to an agreement on that.”
“Is she giving up the reaping?” Dorothy still had tears of laughter in her eyes.
“No, and I wouldn’t expect her to. Like she said, it’s more than just a job to her. She’s going to pretend she’s a hairdresser when she’s around me.”
“When are you going to see her again?” Charlie said.
“I need to work on my new act, so I said I’d give her a call in the week, to arrange something for next weekend.”
“Is Susan in her bedroom?” Dorothy said.
“No, she’s not back yet.”
“In that case, why don’t I show you my premises?”
“I’d like that,” Charlie said. “It might take my mind off Pretty.”
“There isn’t a load of blood down there, is there?” Neil screwed up his face.
“No, you’re safe. That isn’t going to be delivered until Monday. We’ve got the fridges in, though.”
“Okay, then.” Neil grabbed his coat.
“This is a great location,” Charlie said when Dorothy unlocked the door to the unit. “You can be here in five minutes.”
“I know. I’ll be able to have a lie-in every morning.”
“I doubt that.” Neil followed the other two inside. “Once you’re running your own business, you’ll never have a minute to yourself again.”
“Even if that’s true, I won’t mind. At least I’ll be the one enjoying the profits.”
“Will you still speak to us when you’re rich?” Neil said.
“I’ll still speak to Charlie.”
“Charming. You didn’t exactly overspend on the furniture in here.”
“This is all we need. The fridges are through here.”
Neil and Charlie followed her into the second room.
“You can hold a lot of blood in those,” Charlie said.
>
“We’re hoping we’ll need more fridges eventually.”
“Where will you put them?”
“In there.” She pointed to the spare room. “It’s empty at the moment, but if things take off, we’ll install more fridges in there.”
“What will you tell Susan when she asks to have a look around?” Neil said.
“I don’t know. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
***
When the three flatmates got back to the apartment, Susan had returned.
“Where have you three been?”
“Err—” Charlie stuttered.
“We were at Craig’s place,” Dorothy jumped in. “He’s bought a new sound system; he wanted to show us.”
“Nice. What make is it?”
“Some non-descript brand. It was pretty pants, actually.”
“I hope you didn’t say that to him.”
“Of course not. You know me—always the diplomat. Where have you been, anyway? Hitting the bars again?”
“Actually, I’ve been for drinks and dinner with Greg.”
“I hope you didn’t drive.”
“I was on soft drinks all evening.”
“If you say so. How is your nutty friend?”
“Greg isn’t nutty.”
“He believes in fairies, doesn’t he?”
“He’s interested in the paranormal, but that doesn’t make him nutty.” In an effort to change the subject, Susan turned to Charlie. “Has Pretty turned up, yet?”
“Pretty?” Charlie froze like a rabbit caught in the headlamps.
Neil came to his rescue. “She came around earlier, didn’t she, Charlie?”
“Err, yeah. Earlier.”
“Was she okay?”
“Of course she was,” Dorothy said. “It was like I told him. Someone else has been feeding her. She looked really stuffed.”
Susan couldn’t understand why both Charlie and Neil looked daggers at Dorothy, but then she didn’t understand half of what her flatmates did or said. “Good, I’m pleased she’s okay. I think I’m going to call it a day. Goodnight, everyone.”
“Goodnight,” Charlie and Neil said in unison.
“Hope the hangover isn’t too bad,” Dorothy called after her.