Texas Hold 'Em

by PATRICK KAMPMAN

  “What who’s got? What’s in my leg?” I asked.

  “Nothing to worry about,” said Lacey.

  Which meant I should be worried, but I didn’t have the time right now. I filed it away as something to pursue later and got back to finding my mom. “They have my phone. Could we track it?” I asked.

  Lacey perked up. “How long did you manage to keep this one?” she asked.

  “Only a day. It’s a burner. I threw my last phone out the window on the way to Texas. I picked this one up at a convenience store.”

  “Of course you did. Then, no, we can’t. It needs to be something you’ve had long enough or at least care enough about to form a bond with.”

  “Like a fern?” Bryan asked.

  Lacey shrugged. “Hey, it worked, so he must really be attached to whoever gave it to him.” She winked at me.

  “Forget magic, then—how about technology?” Trying my best to ignore Megan’s smile, I turned to Kevin and asked, “Can you track the phone?”

  “Assuming it’s on, and has a GPS,” said Kevin, tapping into his keyboard. “What’s the number?”

  “It was a cheap disposable, no GPS.”

  “Then sorry, man, can’t help you.”

  “Time to call the locals,” said Lacey.

  “I’d rather not,” said Megan.

  “Shouldn’t you have done that already anyway? I mean, we’ve crashed their town. I thought you were supposed to let them know the competition’s grazing in their pasture.” Lacey glanced sideways at Megan.

  “Seeing as we’re here to kill vampires, I thought it might be best to fly under the radar,” Megan responded.

  “Ha!” said Lacey. “I knew you haven’t told anyone we’re here yet.”

  “Locals?” I asked.

  “The local vampires. They might know something useful,” supplied Lacey.

  “I thought Christian was the local vampire,” I said. I had always assumed he was in charge of Texas, or at least Central Texas, much like Donovan was in charge of Northern California.

  “No.” Jacob and Megan spoke at the same time. Jacob shot her a look, then continued. “At least, not any more. After we took him down, someone else took over.”

  “Someone else? I thought you guys had cleaned up Central Texas.”

  “We did, for all of about ten minutes,” Jacob stated. “Vampires are territorial. They stake out places to call their own, and this here is a prime hunting ground.”

  Megan frowned. “It’s not a hunting ground, it’s a territory. But Jacob’s right: most of the large urban populations never go unclaimed for long.”

  “And this one has a new load of prey arriving on every plane. With all of the out-of-town consultants, especially up in Austin, there’s an opportunity to pick off a few who won’t be missed. You know, for those vamps who do kill their prey.” Jacob shot a “prove me wrong” look at Megan.

  Megan sighed. “Most of the vampires who kill are nomadic, but they’re the minority these days. It’s too difficult to not get caught. To live as a vampire in today’s world, you need a steady supply of blood without leaving a trail of bodies.” She returned Jacob’s gaze and continued. “And that requires infrastructure, which is why most of us live in cities. Even those who live in smaller towns or rural areas are still under the control of one of the master vampires.”

  Jacob nodded. “And apparently this area has plenty of those, because the second we removed Christian, another vampire was already lined up waiting to take his place. It was like Christian never left. Like all our efforts were for nothing.”

  “And you let this happen?” I asked.

  “We retired, Chance. And that was part of the reason why. After everything that happened, and losing Jeffrey and Craig… seeing someone else take Christian’s place so soon was discouraging, to say the least.” He looked morose.

  “Besides, this new one’s crafty. Christian was powerful, but this one’s far more cunning. I’ve been keeping tabs on them, of course—to make sure nothing truly egregious went unpunished. But for all intents and purposes I’ve been out of the business until you guys started back up six months ago.

  “Now, once Robert got back in the game, I started getting a little more serious. Ran out the feelers a little farther. Started getting a profile together of this new master, but I wasn’t about to let you yahoos take on the local power. Y’all wouldn’t have stood a chance against this one without more training. I needed more intel before we made our move. We weren’t ready yet.”

  “Yet?” asked Bryan. “Damn, so you were planning on sticking it to the new dude in charge, huh?”

  Jacob’s answer wasn’t verbal, but it was apparent he had been planning exactly that.

  “Do you think whoever is in charge now will know where Christian is?” I asked Jacob.

  Jacob had clammed up, realizing he might have run his mouth off a bit too much about his plans for the current Texas vampire power structure, given the present undead company.

  Megan answered for him. “They might. Christian should have checked in with them, let them know he would be staying in their territory. There are rules about these things.”

  “Oh, come on, Megan. You keep Donovan in the dark about almost everything, and you’re Miss Goody-Two-Shoes compared to Christian. Do you think he’s told the head of this area where he is?”

  “If he didn’t, repercussions would follow. Payments must be made. If he hid his presence, he would be crossing whoever is in charge.”

  “Like what you’re doing now,” Lacey stated.

  “Payments?” I asked.

  “Hey, I heard about that. Uncle Jake told me. It’s like a hunting lease!” said Kevin. “Any vampire who plans on staying awhile in another’s territory has to pay the person in charge rent or tax or whatever to stay. Otherwise they’d be a poacher, right?”

  “Something like that,” Megan admitted. “Though Christian appears to have gone maverick since Jacob and his friends killed his family, so it’s anyone’s guess. But that doesn’t mean someone here hasn’t heard anything. When a group of hunters gets taken down, people tend to find out. I’d be surprised if at least one of Christian’s posse hasn’t been bragging to someone about it.”

  “So where do we find the head vamp around here?” asked Lacey.

  Megan didn’t answer.

  Jacob shrugged. “Don’t make no difference to me. Like I said, I’m out. Packing up and moving to the beach. Live and let live is my new motto, and I’m expanding it to include the undead,” said Jacob, with a grudging nod to Megan.

  When Megan didn’t offer any more insight into the location of the head vampire, I spoke up. “Checking with whoever is in charge makes sense to me. Even if it turns out to be a dead end, it beats waiting around here hoping Jacob gets lucky.”

  Jacob sat up straighter. “Luck’s got nothing to do with it. What I do is research. Investigation. Patience and attention to detail is what I’m all about. I never ‘get lucky.’”

  “Damn, that sucks. If you want some pointers, let me know.” Bryan laughed at his own joke.

  When Kevin started chuckling, Jacob said, “Kid, I’ve been wooing the ladies since before you were born.”

  That was my cue. I stood up.

  “This is fun, but I want to do something besides listen to you two compare conquest stories. Let’s go meet this master vampire of Texas.”

  “Sorry, Chance, but you can’t come on this one,” said Megan.

  “What? Why not? Yes I can.”

  “Oh, gee, I don’t know—something about bringing a vampire hunter into a nest of vampires might not make the best impression on the host. If they didn’t outright kill us, Donovan would do it when we got back. Bringing you would be a reflection on him. He’s the one who has to get us the audience.”

  “I’m not a hunter anymore. I’m retired, like Jacob. Besides, why would Donovan be upset? It’s not like you didn’t bring me to see him last week.”

  “That was all Lacey. I was
in the trunk of the car, remember? And I still think that was an incredibly bad idea. Donovan is a lot more tolerant than most—”

  Lacey interrupted with a snort. “No kidding. He’s had you to break him in.”

  “But,” Megan continued, “I’m still surprised he didn’t kill you, and I expect fallout.”

  “You were surprised he didn’t kill me?” I asked, churning that bit of information. “Lacey, how did you know he wouldn’t kill me?”

  She shrugged. “I actually figured it was fifty-fifty. What can I say? Megan pays half the rent. I had to save her ass. Besides, you had totally trashed my house and I was angry.”

  “Hey, I was there too! Damn, woman, that’s cold,” said Bryan.

  Lacey smiled. “Relax. I’m messing with you. I figured the worst he would do is wipe both of your memories and leave you two together naked on the side of the road somewhere. Donovan’s not a bad guy. Besides, it worked out.

  “He even helped us get rid of Jacob’s urn, even if it was self- serving.” Lacey turned to Jacob. “Hey, old man, you do know that thing almost leveled a church? And I ended up possessed?”

  Jacob was momentarily startled by the attack, but quickly recovered. “It’s not my fault! Chance didn’t follow directions. It should have been easy.”

  Lacey laughed. “With Chance, it’s never easy. Anyway, Megan, it all worked out. Donovan’s cool with it.”

  “Maybe, but I still think it’s going to come back to bite us. Not every vampire is as tolerant as Donovan. I can’t think of any vampires that would be comfortable having a vampire hunter know where they lived, recently retired or not. And I suspect that will hold true with the ones back home. Jessica and Gregory certainly haven’t forgiven us, and I doubt the Master of Texas would either,” Megan said.

  Gregory was Megan’s ex. Jessica was his new girlfriend. One or both of them had already betrayed us once, almost getting us killed. Though I wasn’t sure how much of it had to do with me being a hunter, and how much had to do simply with Jessica’s jealous dislike of Megan.

  In general, Megan was right, of course. The vampires had been cordial enough while I was a guest and under Donovan’s implicit protection, but they would be apprehensive about me, to say the least, and eager to put their minds at rest by putting me at rest, if given the opportunity.

  Still, I had to find my mom, and this was a good lead.

  “Come on, Megan—this master won’t know I’m a hunter. Can’t you pretend I’m part of your crew or whatever it is you vampires call it?”

  “Blood bags,” said Jacob, disgusted.

  “When it’s a group of blood bags together, I think they refer to it as an entourage—it’s more pretentious,” Lacey said. “It’s true, Megan, you guys bring humans around with you all the time. You can tell them you brought your own food. Maybe even offer to share.”

  Lacey’s last suggestion gave me second thoughts about tagging along. Megan didn’t look thrilled, either. I had been thinking she would simply introduce me as a friend, but what Lacey said was more likely. It made sense that vampires would travel with brainwashed humans to use as a food supply. It would make feeding much easier. Plus they would have someone to protect them during the day.

  Megan knew I was stubborn and would prevail in the end, but as she was not one to give up without a fight, she tried again. “You can’t go, Chance. We don’t know that Christian won’t be with them. It’s too much of a risk. He would recognize you and then we’d really be in trouble.”

  “If he’s there, even better! We’ll just take them all out.” I said it before I thought.

  “All of them, huh? Me included? Or were you going to let me live so I could explain to Donovan why someone under his name slaughtered a bunch of innocent people, including the Master of Texas?”

  Occasionally I forgot what Megan was. I knew I was putting her in an awkward situation, testing her loyalties. She wouldn’t want to go in and kill “innocent” vampires. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to back down on this one. If one of these vampires knew where my mom was, they were going to tell me one way or the other.

  “Of course not. I wasn’t thinking. I promise it will be a nice peaceful meeting. If we see Christian, I’ll sneak out and we can get him later.”

  “And if he sees you first?” Megan asked.

  “Then we’ll figure something out. I’ll make a break for it, and you can deny knowing what I was. Look, I’m sorry, Megan, but I’m going.”

  “Me, too,” added Bryan.

  Megan stared at the ceiling for some sort of divine interference. “Oh, Lord; this will end wonderfully. Chance, you realize if you come we might all die? If Bryan comes, we will die.”

  Lacey shrugged. “Face it, Megan—in the long run, this meeting doesn’t matter. Once someone kills Christian, the Texas vamps are going to assume you’re involved. The entire community in California knows you’re sleeping with the enemy.”

  “Lacey!”

  “What? They do. Between you and Toni, Chance is like the supernatural stud muffin. You don’t think news like that isn’t going to spread? If you go and ask the locals about Christian, and then Chance swoops in and kills him, they are going to put two and two together.”

  “Who’s Toni?” asked Kevin.

  “Some hot werewolf my brother’s banging,” said Bryan.

  “Damn,” said Kevin.

  “I am not sleeping with her!” I insisted.

  Despite my assertion of innocence, Jacob did not look pleased by the revelation.

  “A werewolf, Chance?” Jacob said it in a quiet voice. Like he’d found out his kid was not only having sex, but was also knocking off liquor stores to support a drug habit.

  “Fine. Megan, tell me where this master vampire lives. I’ll go in alone and sort it out. I’ll wait until you guys get back to California before I do it; that way you have plausible deniability. Granted, they might know we have a history, but if you’re fifteen hundred miles away when it all goes down, they can’t exactly hold you accountable for what happens.”

  Of course, my likelihood of success would be zero if I went alone, and Megan knew it. As I looked into her ice-blue eyes, I knew she would be coming with me regardless of the consequences.

  The realization was enough to change my mind. I was about to call it off and work on a new plan for rescuing my mom that didn’t involve killing any vampires, when Megan hung her head and said, “Okay, we’ll all go, but you have to follow my lead. Let me do the talking—that goes double for you, Bryan—and no threatening anyone. Please.”

  “Shit, I’m a lover, not a fighter,” said Bryan.

  “I promise we’ll behave.” I vowed to myself then that no matter what, regardless of what happened to me, Megan would walk out of this alive.

  “I’ll call Donovan and set it up,” she said.

  “Do you really have to call Donovan?” I asked. “Can’t we pop in and ask around on the down low? You know, get the information out of someone not connected to the master? Maybe we can do this without anyone knowing we’re here.”

  Megan shook her head. “I don’t know anyone in Texas, let alone someone who would be willing to feed us information. It’s too risky for us to go snooping. If we’re caught, not only will we be in trouble, but so will Donovan. I can’t do that to him.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what? Why can’t I do that to him? Because he’s a friend. I’ve known him for a long time, and I won’t betray him. Why would he have to pay? I’m under his protection. I’m not supposed to be staying in another master’s territory without formal notice. I shouldn’t have waited this long, but I kind of hoped we could get in and out a little faster and quieter.”

  “You said you don’t know anybody around here; how could they know who you are or who you belong to?” I asked.

  “They’re tagged, like stray cats and seals,” said Lacey.

  “Seriously?” I asked.

  Megan rolled her eyes, but didn’t elaborate. Instead she said
, “Donovan will contact the master of this area and let them know I’m here and would like to meet with them. Then someone from their house will contact me with a time and place for the meeting. I know it’s formal, but that’s how it works.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do,” Megan said. “And remember, no one can know why we’re here. We can’t kill a vampire, even Christian. That would cause a major situation not only for us, but also for Donovan. Ideally, if we could prove the crimes Christian’s committed, he will stand trial under our law. For making those vampires and letting them go rogue, he might be put to death.”

  Megan was reaching and we both knew it. “But since I know you’re not going to go for that, once we do find Christian, we have to find a way to get rid of him without anyone knowing it was us.”

  Kevin spoke up. “Why not let Chance do it? He’s a hunter. It’s what they do. You can go back to California before he kills Christian. Then if he gets caught you won’t get in any trouble.”

  “We could do that. At least, if Megan was willing to let Chance out of her sight and head back to California. And if Chance was actually capable of pulling anything off on his own,” said Lacey. “But since neither of those are likely, we need to bump him off so no one knows it was us. As it is, it’s going to look mighty suspicious if we go around asking about the guy, then he ends up dying.”

  “Man, can y’all please stop your bitching? Give me a stake and point me in the direction of this Christian dude and I’ll cap his ass,” said Bryan.

  “We’re all going to die,” said Lacey.

  Chapter 13

  Megan insisted on no obvious weaponry, and considering where we were meeting this vampire, I didn’t protest. Getting arrested was something I wanted to avoid. It also reminded me that both my handgun and knife were missing, along with Jacob’s submachine gun. All of them were lost in the scuffle at Fred’s house.

  Fortunately we had the goody-bag, so I took Robert’s backup Browning Hi-Power and a stake. As usual, Bryan brought along the .44 Magnum, tucking it into the front of his pants like an idiot. The girls were, of course, naturally armed.