Lady of the Dead: A Lawson Vampire Mission (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  “What happened to your errand boys?”

  She frowned. “I have no idea what you did to thwart my plans, but it seems to have worked. For the moment.”

  “Guess you aren’t quite as chummy with the dead as you thought, huh?”

  La Calavera shook her head. “They are sometimes worse than dealing with the living. How did you come to know how to contact them?”

  “I have experience with them in the past. You might be surprised at how many things I can do.”

  She shrugged. “It matters not. In moments, you will still be dead. Whether I had the spirits do it or not, the end result will be the same. Your death will serve me just as well as if you had, in fact, betrayed the Council.”

  “They will send others.”

  “They will try,” said La Calavera. “And I will send them home dead as well.”

  I looked up into the night sky and marveled at the number of stars that shined down upon us. “Get on with it then.”

  She smiled. “I shall. Good-bye Lawson.”

  She turned to leave and that was when I came away from the valley wall and snaked my left arm around her neck, used my body weight to pull her off her feet, and kept her in front of me using her body as a shield.

  “You’ll never get away with this,” she gasped. “You have no weapons.”

  I cranked the choke hold around her neck for a few seconds and then released it slightly. “I don’t need a weapon to take you out. I’m sure I can find a stick around her to stake you with after I render you unconscious.”

  La Calavera laughed. “You’re a fool, Lawson. Even more than I thought. My men will never allow you to leave this place alive.”

  “They’d better,” I said. “Otherwise you’re dead.”

  La Calavera continued to laugh. “Even if they did, they know what you would do with me once you escaped. They have nothing to lose by shooting us both right now.”

  I heard the unmistakable sound of charging handles being yanked back to ready rounds to be fired by the members of her cartel.

  She was right.

  I was out of options.

  Out of time.

  And out of luck.

  The sound of gunfire tore apart the night.

  12

  I’d expected to feel the rounds impacting my chest, drilling holes through my heart as wooden splinters fragmented and sheared into my bloodstream, breaking down and starting the destructive process as they mingled with my blood, resulting in my eventual death.

  That didn’t happen.

  Instead, the men of La Calavera’s cartel were picked off quickly as the rounds tore into them from some unseen vantage point. They fell amid the rain of bullets. There seemed no pause in the destruction, but in short order, the bodies of almost twenty armed cartel members lay strewn about the floor of the valley.

  I grabbed La Calavera and dropped to the ground, but she headbutted me and then kicked me in the groin, rolling free and running through the hail of gunfire toward her people.

  Gasping for air and trying to get my nuts to drop back down, I ran for cover by one of the trucks and tried to get a fix on where the fire was coming from. It didn’t help that the gunshots echoed off the walls, making it tough to pinpoint the location of the shooters.

  I wondered if Niles had somehow scrambled a STA-F team to come and rescue my ass, but that was extremely unlikely. Niles had no clue where I even was. And even if he’d been able to reach Juarez, he wouldn’t have known where to send the team. Juarez was dead now anyway.

  So who was shooting?

  I heard the roar of an engine and peeked out in time to see one lone vehicle gunning its way out of the valley. One or two more cartel members stood trying to provide covering fire but they were soon picked off and joined their brethren on the ground.

  Dead.

  The gunfire ceased.

  The cartel had been decimated, at least those who were in attendance. I didn’t think La Calavera was stupid enough to have her entire organization here with her, so that meant she still had other bodies she could call on.

  But for right now, I had to figure out who had shot them all up just as I was about to be killed. And I had to figure out if I was still in danger or not.

  I heard very little other than the crackling of the fire. It popped as the flames licked their way through the wood.

  I risked a glance and saw movement coming down into the valley out of the periphery of my vision. From where I was, I spotted the body of a dead cartel member with a Kalashnikov still in his hands. I eased out slowly until I was able to reach the gun and then pulled it free.

  It felt a whole lot better knowing I had a weapon now. I checked the selector switch but didn’t ready a round in case whoever was coming down the slope heard the noise. It was night and sound always traveled better. Even when you thought no one could hear you.

  I kept the gun in low-ready and waited.

  Footsteps now. Careful. Measured. I risked another look and saw someone dressed all in black with a mask over their face and night vision goggles. It moved from one dead body to the next checking each one for signs of life.

  I rose and stepped out with the gun aimed. “Don’t move!”

  The figure froze and slowly let the barrel of their M4 assault rifle lower toward the ground.

  I nodded. “Let it go. Slow.”

  The figure eased the weapon down to the ground. I noticed it had a pistol strapped to its side so I motioned at that. “And the pistol. Easy. A 7.62 round will take a big chunk out of your body.”

  The figure unhooked the holster and let the entire assembly fall to the ground. I nodded. “The NVGs now. Take them off. And the mask.”

  The figure reached up and popped the goggles off before pulling the mask clear of its head.

  Jesus Christ.

  Silvia.

  “What the actual-?”

  She smiled at me. “So. You did survive.”

  “Barely. Thanks to you.”

  She bowed her head a little. For some reason, SIlvia didn’t seem anything like the woman I’d met back at Juarez’s house. Now she seemed confident, self-assured. And she was obviously a great shot.

  “You want to explain this to me?” I asked. “Because I’m feeling a little bit in the dark here.”

  “Where’s Juarez?”

  “Dead,” I said simply. “I’m sorry.”

  “Did she do it?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” I didn’t want to get into details, but if Silvia stuck around this scene long enough, she was going to find Juarez’s head. I needed her focused on the situation right now.

  “Seriously, what the hell is going on?”

  “My real name is Silvia Delacruz. I’m with the Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional.”

  I smirked. “CISEN? Really?”

  “Yes,” she said. And the expression on her face told me that she was dead serious.

  “Well, this an interesting development.” From what I knew about the Mexican intelligence agency, it had evolved in the late 80s and had since become a pretty damned good spy outfit. But that didn’t fully explain Silvia’s role in this whole gambit. Nor did it explain how she’d managed to become a Loyalist.

  She held up her hand. “I know what you’re thinking, so let me cut right to the chase before you decide to kill me.”

  “Who said I was going to kill you?”

  She smiled. “Do us both a favor and stop pretending that I’m still the bitch you met back at the house, all right? We both know that’s not the case anymore. I’m in the game, like you. And if I was you, my first concern would be the fact that I’ve been exposed to certain things that humans are most definitely not supposed to know about.”

  “All right. Keep talking.”

  “Like how I was brought in as a Loyalist.”

  “Like that.”

  “I’m not really Juarez’s wife.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. This was getting better by the minute. “Explain.”


  “Juarez and his wife Silvia were originally recruited into your organization years back. They were inseparable. Deeply in love. But she developed brain cancer and died a few years back. Juarez was inconsolable.”

  “How the hell did you even know about Juarez?”

  “He’s my cousin.”

  I frowned. “All right.”

  “In a moment of sadness, he let a few things slip. Not much, but enough to, shall we say, pique my curiosity. So I told him that if he was ever contacted to help and assist, that he should bring me in and I would pretend to be his wife.”

  “That’s kinda messed up, Silvia.”

  She shrugged. “Like you haven’t gone above and beyond for a potentially spectacular piece of intelligence?”

  “No comment.”

  She laughed. “None needed. I know the game. You would have done the same thing in a heartbeat.”

  “We’re not discussing me,” I said.

  “Well, that’s pretty much it. Juarez called me when he heard from your organization. I wasn’t doing anything and I jumped at the chance to find out more about your...people.”

  This was not good. It’s bad enough if an ordinary human knew about vampires. But for an actual member of the intelligence community to know...that was just not good. I had no doubt that Silvia’s first allegiance was to her country. I wasn’t going to fault her for that. She was a patriot doing patriotic work.

  But it ran counter to my job, which was to protect the existence of my race.

  At all costs.

  “Who knows you’re here?” I asked.

  “No one,” said Silvia. “And that’s the honest truth. I put a homing device on Juarez’s car and followed you guys as soon as you left. I got a little lost once Juarez got snatched up by the cartel and then again when I was trying to find your location here. But better late than never, huh?”

  “I guess you could say that.” I eyed the scene. Multiple dead bodies. Vehicles. Blood and guts. And a dying fire on a cold desert night. The local authorities were going to have a hellish time cleaning this up and explaining it.

  “So what now?’ asked Silvia.

  “What do you mean?”

  She sighed. “Don’t play with me, Lawson. It’s insulting. And I’m not some naive newbie out in the field for the first time. I’m guessing you’re not too thrilled to learn that I infiltrated your organization and you’re wondering if I told anyone about it.”

  “Did you?”

  “Would it change your mind if I told you no?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “I went off the books on this,” said Silvia. “No one knows what I was looking into. And I didn’t write anything down.”

  “You could just be saying that in the hopes I don’t roll this up right now.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I could be. But there’s no honor in lying. We do that enough anyway in our daily job. But it’s just the two of us here now. I saved your life. You would have been dead without me.”

  “Speaking of which, where’d you get the ammo necessary to kill...them?”

  “There was enough at the house. When Juarez let slip what he did, I figured you guys had your own special brand of killing power. I’d rather err on the side of caution that stubbornly using my own ammo.”

  “Smart.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me,” I said. “I’ve got a problem here and I’m not entirely sure how to proceed.”

  “La Calavera is still a threat to you. And she got away.”

  “I’ll handle her,” I said. “My focus right now is you. And whether I can trust you or not. Because, honestly, it’s not a good thing that you know about us.”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps we could just let me go on being Silvia the Loyalist. Nothing really needs to change.”

  “You’re a goddamned spy, Silvia. You don’t work for us. You work for the government of Mexico. I wouldn’t dream of putting you in a position where you might one day have to choose between loyalty to your country over loyalty to my people.”

  “Isn’t that what’s happening right now?”

  I sniffed. “I suppose it is.”

  “It’s possible to do both, Lawson.”

  “Is it? Really? Because in my experience, people cannot choose between two loyalties. It’s a rare individual who can do that and spies are the worst at doing it. Allegiances are a bitch and the emotional baggage treason comes with isn’t anything to take lightly.”

  “I’m not taking it lightly. But I am trying to save my life.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” I said with a smile. “Who knows you’re here?”

  “No one. I told you that.”

  “In that case, we need to get out of here. Dawn is a few hours away and I want to be long gone before anyone stumbles across this scene.”

  “So…?”

  I nodded at one of the trucks still in the valley. “Find the car keys. You’re driving. For right now. I’ve got to think on this a little bit.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Back to Juarez’s house. I need to change and recharge. Then I’ve got to go after La Calavera.”

  “Let me help you.”

  I eyed her. “I’m not even sure I can trust you, Silvia. Why would I let you help me?”

  “What better way to prove my loyalty than by helping you track down La Calavera? I might just be able to find out where she is, too.”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t want to risk any more exposure. You going around asking questions will bring too much attention down on La Calavera and it might raise some eyebrows. If, and it’s a big if, we do this, it’s got to be just the two of us.”

  “So...partners?” She smiled at me.

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. “But for the time being, let’s just say I’m drafting you into the service of my people. You don’t have a choice because if you refuse, I’ll just shoot you dead right here and let the vultures pick your bones clean.”

  Silvia frowned. “Are you always this graphic?”

  “Only when I’m annoyed,” I said.

  “How often is that?”

  “Lately, it feels like every day.”

  13

  Mexico City, Six Hours Later

  We’d made it back to Juarez’s house in record time, thanks to Silvia driving with a serious lead foot. We ran into no police, which I found extraordinary, and she kept us at nearly 90 miles per hour the entire way home.

  Once there, I grabbed a shower and a meal followed by some juice to supercharge myself. Silvia, for her part, stayed dressed as she was and worked the phone and laptop, digging up information on La Calavera. I’d asked her to make sure she didn’t reveal too much while she went digging for information. She reassured me that this wasn’t her first time in the field and that she could get us what we needed without anyone asking too many questions.

  I was most concerned about the cartel getting wind that we were on their trail. It was to be expected, of course, since La Calavera had only just escaped with her own life intact. She knew that I would be coming for her. I had to. That was the job.

  But if I could keep her guessing, then I’d at least have a modicum of surprise to work with. And the fact that I now had a capable operative watching my back didn’t hurt, either.

  I was doing my best not to think about the fact that I had to do something with Silvia. She was a human who had basically infiltrated the Loyalist program. Juarez would have been sanctioned for that crime if he was still alive. It was a serious infraction, and one that the Council wouldn’t tolerate.

  But Juarez was dead now, so that loose end was neatly tied up.

  Silvia, though…

  That was something else entirely. I knew I had more than enough justification to kill her for what she’d done. It was an action the Council would support in the interests of preserving the secret of our race.

  I didn’t want to do that, however. SIlvia had saved
my life and call me old fashioned, but when someone saves your ass, it’s kind of bad etiquette to go shoot them in the next breath. I was hoping that before this gig was up, I’d have a solution I could live with and one the Council would approve.

  Truth was, I could easily allow her to continue on being a Loyalist without even telling Niles or the Council. The problem with that was if word got back about her true identity or - worst case scenario - the Mexican government somehow found out about my people, then everything I’d spent my life working for would have been for naught.

  I’m not exactly crazy about wasting my life. It’s part of what drives me to do what I do: the belief that what I’m doing is helping my people. That even if I’m not publicly recognized for my actions, they are nonetheless appreciated by those who know the sacrifices that I’ve made so that they can sleep soundly at night.

  Then again, maybe I’m just a naive optimist.

  Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s accused me of that very thing.

  I grabbed a quick combat nap and when I awoke, Silvia had a map of Mexico City spread out on the table.

  “What’s all this?”

  She jabbed a finger at a spot on the map. “This. Is where we need to hit tonight.”

  “What is it?”

  “Night club. El Fantasma.”

  “The Wraith, huh?” I leaned closer. “What’s the surrounding neighborhood like?”

  “Tepito? It’s the hub for black market goods in Mexico City. During the day, it’s sketchy. At night, it’s dangerous. Lots of drug activity, lots of assaults,” said Silvia. “The club is owned by a cartel member but that is not well-known. In fact, the presence of La Familia Catrina within the city limits of Mexico City hasn’t even been discovered yet.”

  I looked at her. “Should I ask how you came by this information?”

  “No. But suffice it to say that the information is accurate.”

  “You trust your life with that?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely. I have a contact within the Federal Police. That’s how I got the information.”

  “Lover?”

  Silvia smiled. “I don’t know yet. She hasn’t asked me out.”